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With the help of Aunt Mary and Aunt Winnie, today's lunch was sumptuous. Ever since Madam Jenny's visit with Eunice, Karen went out of his way to make every meal as exquisite as possible whenever conditions allowed. The three main dishes were Dongpo pork, Suzhou sweet-and-sour ribs, and crab-roe lion's head meatballs. The three side dishes were scrambled eggs with Chinese chives, braised dried tofu shreds, and vegetarian chicken. The three cold appetizers were cucumber salad, cold dressed wood ear mushrooms, and drunken shrimp. Finally, there was a pot of old duck soup. When Diss returned, Karen rang the bell outside the kitchen. He felt he would surely miss this moment in the future, as well as the dynamic sight of the family members emerging from upstairs and downstairs to take their seats at the dining table once that sound rang out. So, as he shook the bell, Karen closed his eyes, hoping to etch the crisp ring deep into his memory. Today, all three clerks and all three children were home. With so many mouths to feed, there were naturally more dishes and varieties prepared. After all, given the Inmerlais family's assets and income, eating them out of house and home under normal circumstances would not be easy—unless someone in the family decided to make investments like Uncle Mason again. Unsurprisingly, the most popular dish on the table was the sweet-and-sour ribs. The Ruilan people's obsession with sweet flavors was practically carved into their bones. The vegetarian chicken also received high praise. What surprised Karen a bit was how popular the drunken shrimp turned out to be. Uncle Mason and Ron in particular devoured them with utter delight, without showing the slightest psychological aversion. "Eat this. Come, one for each of you. It took a lot of hard work to make, and it's bound to be very nutritious." Aunt Mary ladled a large lion's head meatball into the bowls of each of the three children. Diss was still the first to set down his knife and fork, though this time he sat at the table a little longer before standing up and saying, "I'm finished. Take your time, everyone." After he went upstairs, the dining table instantly became lively and noisy. "I'll go make some tea for Grandfather." This had practically become a routine the family took for granted. Diss was always the first to leave the table, and a short while later, Karen, who had overseen the meal, would head upstairs as well. Karen walked up to Diss's door and knocked. "Enter." Stepping into Diss's study, Karen noticed Diss was lighting a candle. Karen sat down in the chair opposite the desk and said, "Grandfather, I also feel that the flame of a candle has more of a soul than an electric light." Diss looked up at Karen. "Oh," Diss replied, pointing upward. "The bulb burned out." "..." Karen was speechless. "Tell your uncle this afternoon to replace the bulb." "All right, Grandfather." Diss reached for his teacup. Karen stood, picked up the thermos to pour water for his grandfather, and sat back down. The thermos in his grandfather's study was refilled with hot water every day before noon. "What is it?" Diss asked. "About last night." "The circus people fled. I wrote a report, and the Regional Administrative Office will assist with the investigation and handling." "Grandfather, I didn't mean the circus. I meant that gentleman." "Rasma?" "Is that his name?" "He is a High Priest of the Church of Order, one of the representative figures within the church's secular hierarchy." "I see." Karen nodded. "Did he come to investigate the god descent ritual in Belwin City?" "No. It is because my belief system has reached a critical threshold and resonated with the Temple of Order. It could no longer be hidden, so the temple sent him to look into my situation." Hearing this, Karen felt a sense of relief. It seemed to be this way every time. Diss rarely volunteered information on his own, but whenever Karen asked, Diss never concealed anything. This feeling was very comfortable. It spared him from remaining in the dark after things happened, and prevented him from having to dig through notebooks or left-behind clues to investigate some so-called 'truth' step-by-step only after an accident had already struck someone in the family. "They want me to enter the temple, become a Temple Elder, and serve the God of Order." "Does the God of Order reside within the Temple of Order?" Karen asked curiously. Diss shook his head. "The temple is a special place. Every orthodox church possesses an existence similar to a boundary realm. That is the true core area of the church, where its deepest secrets are hidden. "Such an area is known in the Church of Order as the Temple of Order. "It is said that within the temple, the remains of the true god are even preserved." "Have you seen them, Grandfather?" "Twice. Once was inside the Temple of Order, when I had the opportunity to enter for a trial in my youth." "And the second time?" Karen asked instinctively. With certain matters, if you didn't ask, Diss likely wouldn't bother mentioning them. "The second time was because of Purr. It involves a century-old secret of the Allen family. You will learn about it in the future." So the item the Allen family obtained back then, which was destroyed by Purr—was that it? "Understood." Karen pursed his lips. "The Church of Order intends to invite you into the temple to become an elder, Grandfather. And you plan to decline?" "Yes." "All right." Karen nodded. "Are you done asking?" Diss asked. "Yes." "I thought you would ask why I refused." "I can understand your pride, Grandfather, and I agree with your choice," Karen said. "Only if you had agreed would I have asked for a reason." Diss nodded. Indeed, talking with this grandson of his was always remarkably comfortable. He felt a twinge of regret that he hadn't dragged Rasma over so he could ask him right now: *Was I right?* Diss gently tapped the rim of his teacup with his fingertip and said, "I can protect all of you and let you continue living here in peace. "How about this— "I will ask you one last time. "Wien— "do you truly want to go?" "I do." "Mm." The grandfather and grandson continued sitting across from each other. Their conversations were rarely long, because so many of their thoughts were understood tacitly without needing verbal explanation. Yet when life lacked the filler of idle chatter, it was inevitable that certain moments felt overly quiet. And when certain words lacked prelude and were spoken abruptly, they could sound extraordinarily blunt and harsh—though both grandfather and grandson were adept at swiftly taking them in stride. "Grandfather, I feel I should still ask you seriously: will you die?" "No." "All right." Karen's gaze began to drift around the room as he considered whether there was anything else he needed to ask. Diss quietly sipped his tea, giving his grandson ample time to think. After a long while, Karen stood up, looking at Diss. "I don't think I have anything else to ask, Grandfather." "Oh." Karen walked to the study door, let out a soft sound of realization, and turned back with a smile toward Diss. "Grandfather, I thought of it. The time." "Sometimes, not knowing the time makes things more comfortable," Diss said. "Yet the few days of vacation right before school starts often taste the sweetest." "One week from now, at this exact time, you should be able to see the outcome right from where you are standing." "Mm, all right." "Also, have you written on the bookmark I gave you?" "I haven't written on it," Karen replied. "Hesitating?" "No. It's just that whichever name I write, it's hard for me to find enough amusement in it. So for now, I probably don't plan to write anything." "If you don't write on it within a week, even if you write on it later, it won't work anymore." "Madam Jenny's change in attitude made me very aware of how precious that bookmark is, but strangely enough, I don't feel any regret over it. "Likewise, "I think that when Ankara received the bookmark sent by the God of Order back then and wrote down the names of those deities, she might not have truly hated or despised them. "It was a father's way of expressing love to his daughter, and a daughter's response to a father's love. "All in all, "it was a family tale of deep affection between father and daughter. The deities who fell because of it were merely incidental accompaniments, unworthy of even entering the background." Diss reminded him, "Yet for the dignity of the Light of Order, the God of Order personally cast his offending daughter into the mouth of a ferocious beast." This was the scene depicted in the religious painting *Light of Order*. Karen had seen Linda's reproduction at Piaget's home, and it was also recorded in detail in that book. "He had the side of a doting father who indulged his daughter, not hesitating to offer the fall of several deities just to bring her joy; "and he had the majesty of a god who, for the sanctity of Order, personally cast his beloved daughter into the mouth of a ferocious beast as punishment. "A loving father, and a true god capable of extinguishing his own humanity for the sake of Order. "I must admit, "such a depiction truly matches believers' imaginations of the true god above them." Diss smiled and asked, "So what is it you want to say?" "What I want to say is, since they could wipe the mythological accounts of the God of Light completely clean, could this story also be a deliberate embellishment?" "You mean the painting *Light of Order* is false?" "I think it is probably real. But sometimes, telling only part of the truth produces far greater effect than telling a lie. "The beast in the painting is truly terrifying. "But— "what if— "what if that ferocious beast was originally just a pet raised in the God of Order's home? "Or perhaps, "what if that beast was merely another... Purr?" Diss fell silent. Karen closed the door. After a long while, Diss let out a chuckle. He looked at the neatly arranged desk before him. His laughter gradually grew louder, until in the end, it reached the point of being nearly arrogant and unrestrained. Yet not a trace of this sound leaked beyond the study. After laughing for a very long time, Diss finally ceased amidst a pair of coughs. He drew a deep breath and murmured, "What you said makes a great deal of sense." ... Stepping out of his grandfather's study, Karen habitually sat down by the third-floor windowsill and gathered Purr into his arms as usual, tucking his hands beneath its fur for warmth. Having eaten chopped chili fish head at noon, Purr indulged his presumption. However, next, Karen laid Purr flat on its back. "Mrow..." Purr's tail instantly curled upward. Every time it was placed in this posture, it would use its tail to cover its modesty. "Open your mouth." Karen reached out, gently parted Purr's jaws, peered inside, and then let go. "What are you looking at?" Purr asked in bewilderment. "Checking to see if you're deliberately holding something in your mouth." "Is something wrong with your head today?" "Diss said there are seven days left." "Seven days?" Purr turned its head and glanced at the study door. "I'm looking forward to it." "I'm not particularly looking forward to it," Karen said. "Though I understand." Karen stood up and looked out at the street through the French window. Purr returned to the windowsill, raised a paw, and gently tapped the glass. "Though the glass is transparent, it keeps you from feeling the wind and rain outside." Karen reached out and flicked Purr's forehead. "I don't need you feeding me chicken soup." "What I mean is, you can totally open the window and feel the wind outside." Karen opened the window. The wind was fierce today, and it was the dead of winter. The icy wind whipped Karen's hair and ruffled Purr's fur. Both human and cat shuddered. Then, Karen shut the window. Purr said in a slightly shivering voice, "See... after experiencing it... when you feel cold... you can just shut the window again... Meow-tchoo!" ... "Those were his exact words." Inside a guest room, Rasma sat on the bed. Projected onto the three walls around him were three figures clad in black priestly robes. "I do not wish to permit his insolence any longer," a woman's voice sounded from one of the walls. "His heart has clearly and unmistakably strayed from Order." "Yet we have no other choice. It has been a long time since a newly ascended elder who comprehends the profound mysteries of Order has joined the temple. The operation of the temple may very well face a gap in succession. "We need him. That is a fact." "Yes, and what is even more awkward is that in the best-case scenario, we accept his entry, effectively replenishing the temple's core, and together we safeguard the glory of the temple and Order. "Whereas in the worst-case scenario, not only will the core of the temple fail to receive fresh blood, but he also possesses the ability to inflict casualties upon the temple. "A Temple Elder is not conferred by our human hands; recognition is bestowed by the core of the temple itself. "The moment the core of the temple recognized him, he acquired the authority to face the core directly, just as we do. "He knows that alone, he could never be a match for the entire Church of Order, yet he possesses the power to turn our net gain into a loss. The disparity between those two outcomes represents far too great a cost." "Heh. Then why didn't you punish him back then, when he said to your face that Order was merely a mask worn over one's features?" the female elder demanded. "I have already told you: it was because I cherished his talent. As facts have proven, I was not wrong. Compared to him, Rasma—upon whom we pinned great hopes and showered immense resources and cultivation—is practically a fool and an idiot." Rasma, sitting on the bed, rolled his eyes. "So we must truly wait for him for seven days?" the female elder asked. "Wait." "We must wait. We will gamble on the chance outside that eighty percent." "I do not wish to wait. If he insists on acting like a child playing with building blocks, I wouldn't mind being the mother who, in a fit of rage, wants only to spank the child's bottom. "If he wants to act mad, "then I will show him what true madness really is!" "Sidi, please restrain yourself." "Sidi, prioritize the temple above all else." "Heh, you two are truly..." Rasma sat there obediently, listening to the three Temple Elders bicker. Then, he suddenly realized that the three elders' voices had cut off abruptly. Rasma immediately looked up and saw that the three figures had all turned to face eastward. "The location of Belwin City—it is not far from where the super-standard god descent ritual was held last time." "The aura of a super-standard god descent ritual... and the principles being used are still our Church of Order's descent laws." Elder Sidi's voice rang out: "Rasma." "Here." "Go to Diss's home at once and confirm his location." "Understood." Just as Rasma was about to depart, he suddenly heard three exclamations of shock: "What is being summoned is an evil god—an authentic evil god's aura!" "I sense the sealing aura of the great God of Order! This evil god is an entity sealed by the great God of Order! Someone is attempting to summon it to descend from the abyss of seals!" "It is Rielsa! Rielsa of the Church of the Mural God! It is undoubtedly her aura! Someone is guiding her descent!" At that moment, Rasma finally detected the distant fluctuations of that powerful, eerie aura, though his perception was far slower than that of the three Temple Elders. "Let us go! An entity sealed by the great God of Order can never be permitted to return!" The illusory projection of one elder transformed into a streak of flowing light, shooting eastward. "Do they truly believe our Church of Order has no one left to defend its name?" Another elder's phantom also turned into a streak of light and flew east. "Rasma, confirm whether Diss is at home. If he is, inform him that we agree to his demand for negotiations in seven days." With that, Elder Sidi's silhouette followed right behind. Rasma narrowed his eyes. Compared to Diss's matter, the descent ritual of the evil god Rielsa could not brook the slightest delay. For Rielsa was a 'true god'—or rather, an 'evil god'—personally sealed by the God of Order, a sworn enemy of the Church of Order. If she successfully descended, it would inevitably spell catastrophe for the Church of Order in the days to come. If it were an evil god bearing enmity toward some other church, the Church of Order might well have chosen to stand idly by. Just like back then, when evil gods sealed by the God of Light descended one after another, the other major orthodox churches had tactfully chosen to watch the fire from across the river, sitting back as the Church of Light fell into severe turmoil. In the sky above Belwin City, to the east of Rojia City, the clear weather gave way to rolling storm clouds. Amidst the dark clouds, the figure of a giantess loomed indistinctly. She appeared to be attempting to break through the seals binding her to seize the source of this summoning. Yet that source was growing increasingly faint, clearly incapable of sustaining itself, forcing the descent ritual into decline. The giantess's unwilling roars echoed through the air. She was bitter—supremely bitter. She wanted to try once more, and hoped the person summoning her could hold on just a little longer, though she likely knew that everything was practically irreversible. What was crueler still, three rainbows split the heavens. From within the rainbows emerged three colossal figures robed in black priestly vestments. "The majesty of the God of Order brooks no violation!" "An exiled evil god shall not return!" "The Light of Order shall not be desecrated!" The three colossal figures struck simultaneously. In an instant, the giantess's form in the sky shattered and vanished into nothingness, and the rolling storm clouds swiftly dispersed alongside it. However, the three towering figures also dimmed considerably as a result. "Was it you?" Sidi reached out, grasping a nearly transparent wisp of a soul from midair. "You are the one who attempted twice to use a super-standard god descent ritual to summon an evil god." Linda's silhouette appeared within Sidi's palm. A smile lingered on her face as she said, "Filthy Order is unworthy of borrowing the name of Light. I have painted countless religious works, and the one that sickens me most is *Light of Order*." "Hmph..." Sidi did not argue. Instead, she clenched her fist. Without surprise, that wisp of soul collapsed and dispersed, its final trace erased. ... "Still want to come in for tea?" At the entrance of the Inmerlais residence, Diss stood beneath the eaves, looking at Rasma, who stood at the courtyard gate. Rasma shook his head. "No. Diss, I detest you, and by extension I loathe everything associated with you. I wouldn't step foot inside your home for anything. I fear it would dirty the soles of my shoes and sicken my soul." Rasma turned, calling out as he walked away: "Seven days!" ... In the living room, Karen held the telephone receiver. From the other end came Piaget's voice. He was laughing: "Hahahahaha! I saw it, Karen! I saw Linda's final masterpiece! It was truly breathtaking, truly magnificent! I have never seen such a grandiose canvas! Hahaha! Now that is art! That is true art!" "Congratulations," Karen said. "And congratulations to Linda." Immediately after, he began to weep: "Uuuu... sob..." A grown man was weeping heartbrokenly on the other end of the line. Karen quietly listened to his crying. After a long while, Piaget's tear-choked voice came through the receiver: "Karen, I have lost my beloved once again. My dearest Linda has left me once more." Karen spoke into the receiver, "Stop crying. You have to learn to adapt; don't weep and wail every single time. Because there will be a third time, a fourth time, and many more times in the future." "Sob... pfft... sob... pfft... hahahahaha!" Piaget was reduced to tears and laughter all at once by Karen's words. Only after a good while did he calm down: "Karen, it seems I owe you another psychological counseling fee. Twenty thousand lubi, right? I'll withdraw it for you once I get back from Belwin." "Oh, my dear friend, do you know how steeply prices have risen lately?" "So?" "That costs extra." "Good heavens, my friend, you can't be so cruel! I just lost my beloved, and you're already thinking about making money off me? Don't you feel any shame taking that kind of money?" "Not in the slightest, because my family specializes in doing business with the dead." "Friend, what you say makes so much sense, your argument is so well-supported, that I honestly don't know how to rebut you. "But why is the second time more expensive than the first? "Aren't regular customers supposed to get discounts?" "Because in all the years my family has been in business, hardworking as we are, this is the very first time we've had a repeat customer." "Uh..." "So, I need you to pay extra." "That doesn't make sense!" Piaget yelled. "From a psychological perspective, it makes total sense." "Huh?" "Doing the same thing over and over breeds irritation and fatigue. It increases my psychological burden, which means the cost of my service has gone up. "When you come weeping to me a third and fourth time in the future, if the service fee doesn't increase incrementally with each visit, I'm afraid I won't be able to stop myself from cursing at you. "Because I'll feel like you're deliberately flaunting in front of me again and again." "Flaunting?" "Others are enduring the grief of losing a loved one. You, on the other hand, are continually reaping the joy of your loved one's return." *Smack!* A crisp slap sounded from the other end of the line, followed by a groan of pain. Karen guessed that Piaget had just slapped his own thigh with tremendous force. Immediately after, a hurried voice came through the receiver: "Ha! I'll pay extra!"