Although Anbaixiu claimed they were close to success, Catherine sensed something was off and asked, "Is something wrong? You look like you're under an awful lot of pressure."
Surprised, Anbaixiu replied, "You can even tell that?"
How could a lich have facial expressions? Whether a skeleton or a mechanical body, he should have been utterly expressionless. Even though Anbaixiu had shapeshifted into human form, he had not altered his expression at all. How on earth had this girl noticed?
Catherine said, "You don't usually talk like this. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I can just feel that your mood isn't right."
Anbaixiu remarked with feeling, "Impressive, Catherine. You've grown. You've actually learned how to read other people's emotions."
The naive, sweet Elven Queen was beginning to evolve into a clever person. Truly, you took on the color of your company—after spending enough time around Anbaixiu, most people grew smarter.
Catherine was like that, and Harvey was too.
Anbaixiu only hoped that everyone around him would experience such a massive boost in intelligence in the future; that would save him a lot of trouble.
"So what is actually going on?" Catherine asked, puzzled.
Anbaixiu could only explain, "So far, our plan has gone too smoothly. I have a bad premonition."
"Smoothly? We took such a roundabout route, and you call that smooth?"
Catherine looked baffled. How could this trip to the past count as smooth?
At first, they were trapped in an underground ruin with no way out, then ran into a bunch of disgusting toads. After finally finding a way out, it led straight to the junkyard where the gods banished aberrant abominations. Who knew how much brainpower Anbaixiu had expended before they finally managed to return to the desert.
And he called that smooth?
What would not smooth look like, then?
Anbaixiu said, "At least we haven't run into any unsolvable problems. You have to realize that we're exploiting a loophole in fate. Knowing what I do about Fate... she isn't just ordinarily petty. There's no way she would let me off so easily."
"Could you be overthinking things?" Catherine phrased it very diplomatically, though what she really wanted to say was that Anbaixiu was far too pessimistic.
From the moment she met this lich, Catherine had felt he was not only greedy, but also suffered from a bit of persecution paranoia, practically assuming the worst in everything.
She did not quite understand the habits of liches, but neither did she approve of such a way of living.
"Of course I'm not overthinking it. In fact, I can already sense that something big is about to happen. Unfortunately, I still don't know what it is," Anbaixiu said.
"Can't you use your abilities to divine it?" Catherine asked.
Anbaixiu shook his head. "It's not time yet. The real crux is fabricating the false prophecy for Harvey. I haven't done that yet, so the ensuing repercussions haven't manifested, making divination meaningless. This warning is actually Fate granting me a choice. If I stick to the original plan, huge trouble will definitely arise. If I turn back right now and abandon Harvey, misfortune will not befall us."
Having dealt with the Goddess of Fate for so long, Anbaixiu understood her temperament quite well.
The Goddess of Fate, who seemed like a massive schemer, was actually quite particular about fairness in certain regards. Anbaixiu had thought of altering the prophecy to exploit a loophole, so the Goddess of Fate gave him that opportunity—yet fooling fate inevitably came with a corresponding price.
What that price was remained unclear, but it certainly would not let Anbaixiu off easily.
However, as the saying went, since they were already here, there was no way Anbaixiu would give up now.
"Be prepared. If things go wrong this time, we could really die," Anbaixiu said.
Anbaixiu's words made Catherine a little tense, but she did not panic. Since leaving the Silvermoon High Court, Catherine's horizons had broadened considerably; adventure after adventure had made her far more mature than before. No matter what danger arose, she had the confidence to face it.
Catherine said, "Unless a deity makes a move, with the two of us together, what real danger could there be?"
Anbaixiu felt Catherine had a point. With the power of the Golden Throne bolstering him, he ranked among the very strongest legends, and paired with an Elven Queen clad in artifacts from head to toe, the odds of them losing in a fight were exceedingly small—not to mention that even if they could not win, they could always flee.
Even so, the necessary preparations still had to be made.
"For the next few days, stop running around with me. Make your preparations, and try praying to the elven gods."
"Huh?" Catherine asked in confusion. "But the gods haven't answered me in a very long time. They probably haven't forgiven my mistakes yet."
Catherine's expression turned somber. Her pitiful, delicate look prompted even Anbaixiu to comfort her: "Time is a funny thing. The elven gods might not realize you've traveled back to the past. If you pray to them right now, it might just pique their curiosity."
Aside from Ao, no god was omniscient and omnipotent. Some deities held authorities resembling omniscience and omnipotence, but were still restricted to their own portfolios.
Take the Goddess of Magic, for instance: her omniscience was confined to the sphere of magic, whereas Oghma, the Lord of Knowledge, was closer to the domain of inspiration and ideas. Among the elven gods, none seemed to hold a portfolio related to time, meaning they most likely could not sense that Catherine had returned to the past.
In other words, if Catherine prayed to the elven gods now, they would sense the existence of two Catherines.
Once a deity's curiosity was piqued, they would naturally respond to Catherine's prayer.
Between deities and believers, as long as there was communication, anything was possible; perhaps Catherine could regain the gods' favor. Anbaixiu explained this to Catherine, but she shook her head and said, "Praying with that kind of mindset would be a true sacrilege against the gods. The gods bestow every wonderful thing upon the elves, and elves should offer only gratitude from the bottom of their hearts. How could I use such petty tricks to manipulate the gods? If I did that, it would only disappoint them further."
Anbaixiu: "..."
As a faithless lich, Anbaixiu truly had not considered it from that angle. Still, he had little say in matters of faith; since Catherine said it was wrong, he might as well defer to her.
Yet to Anbaixiu's astonishment, just after Catherine refuted his words, she suddenly froze.
"What is it?" Anbaixiu asked with concern. Could she really have committed blasphemy and been punished?
A layer of silvery-white radiance lit up around Catherine, making her seem bathed in moonlight.
Fortunately, the two of them had already returned to the inn, or else the people of Sweetdew City would have crowded around to gawk.
After quite a while, the silvery-white moonlight flowed into Catherine's body like running water, and then the Elven Queen opened her eyes.
"Catherine, what was that just now?" Anbaixiu asked.
Catherine said excitedly, "It was the Moon Goddess! She said the gods have forgiven my transgressions, and she bestowed upon me the Moonlight Blessing. Under the shine of moonlight, I won't suffer any harm anymore!"
"Heh... well, congratulations... indeed," Anbaixiu said through gritted teeth.
Envy, jealousy, and indignation surged wildly through Anbaixiu's soul. Wasn't this blessing a bit ridiculous? Catherine had made a huge blunder before, and even if what she just said pleased the gods, forgiving her should have been enough—why toss in a blessing on top of it?
Looking at the ecstatic Catherine, Anbaixiu could not resist asking, "Could you help ask the Moon Goddess if I can become her follower?"
Catherine rolled her eyes at Anbaixiu. "Are you trying to make me commit sacrilege? Do you have no clue whether you'd actually worship a deity sincerely?"
Anbaixiu: "..."
Damn it, what was wrong with being a casual worshiper? As long as the elven gods gave enough perks, it wasn't as if he couldn't believe in them a little more.
He was truly jealous. The deities Anbaixiu had encountered before all talked about making him their chosen, yet gave him zero benefits in the end. Look at the elven gods—so generous!
Helpless, Anbaixiu said, "Go rest. I'm tired."
Returning to his room, Anbaixiu temporarily put aside the irritation from before and began preparing for the unforeseen troubles they might face next. Though he did not know what they were yet, overcoming them would certainly require every ounce of effort.
Naomi had been sleeping in his personal space for so long that she should be more or less recovered by now. There were also all those miscellaneous materials he needed to sort through, and maybe craft something while he was at it.
While Anbaixiu busied himself, things were wrapping up on Harvey's end as well.
Harvey lay in bed with an expression of complete despair. Sitting at the head of the bed, Serrated Blade said rather contentedly, "I didn't expect a scrawny human like you to last so long. Though you clearly don't have much experience. Don't worry, though—I'll teach you step by step."
Harvey sighed, not even sure whether he should feel resentful.
At first, he had resisted, but later he realized that upon closer inspection, this female orc was actually quite pretty.
Though her skin was dark, it was smooth as silk. A few faint scars didn't look unsightly at all; instead, they lent her a touch of feral beauty. Although she had an orc's tusks, her facial features were actually closer to an elf's, with her lips only being slightly fuller.
Harvey was no innocent boy; thinking about it carefully, he hadn't really lost anything.
However, as pretty as this orc was, while he didn't mind a brief tryst, he couldn't spend the rest of his life as her boy toy.
He still had to find a way to escape. He just needed the right opportunity, and he had to conceal his intentions well—no more foolishly blurting out that he was going to run.
After pondering long and hard, a vague plan began to form in Harvey's mind.
Harvey said to Serrated Blade, "How much money does the tribe still need right now? Didn't you say you wanted to replace everyone's weapons?"
"Probably four or five hundred gold coins short. This time I want to get some enchanted weapons. Why bring this up all of a sudden?"
"I was thinking we could head back to the tavern tomorrow and win all those gold coins back together," Harvey ventured tentatively.
"Sure! I said before that winning enough in one go is better anyway; going multiple times is just asking for trouble." Serrated Blade cupped Harvey's face happily, then said, "How about another round while we're at it?"
Harvey gave a bitter smile, feeling as though his lower back were about to snap.
Still, to lower her guard... Harvey could only muster a smile and say, "Let's do it. Just let me drink a Vigor Potion first."
Chapter 218