Seeing that he was about to be labeled an unrestricted trash can, Yaxiu had a sudden flash of inspiration and remembered something. "Wait! Igola and Harvey have had lovers show up at the Weaving Ceremony before. The Gospel God can vouch for me!"
"I get it!" Felix exclaimed in sudden realization. "You're not lovers, you're ***!" Thump!
Daidalos smacked Felix hard on the head and dragged her out of the game room, saying politely, "We'll go prepare afternoon tea."
Although the suspicion against Yaxiu had basically been cleared, everyone remained uneasy. If Igola and Harvey had merely sent five or six bottles of knowledge essence, no one would have thought much of it. The problem was that this was an enormous amount of resources, enough to feed them all up to sixth-tier Hell Wings. Sonia and the others felt it was strange; after much thought, they concluded that Yaxiu had sold his looks again—at least, that was the most reasonable explanation.
"Have you considered another possibility?" Yaxiu said. "Maybe they really did line their pockets and rob Hell blind, but once they moved to Heaven, the Supreme God-Leader caught them by the throat. No matter how many resources they had, they had to hand them all over. Perhaps they thought that rather than let the God-Leader profit, they might as well let me, their dear friend and kin, profit instead—so they stuffed it into my hands."
"That is possible," Vichy said thoughtfully. "But their corruption is a bit too blatant, isn't it..."
"What's so strange about it? They're the type to take a taste of a passing manure cart," Yaxiu said, spreading his hands. "When we step into Heaven, we'll ask them then. We can't fail to appreciate their kindness. When the time comes, rescuing them from the God-Leader's hands will count as repayment."
No one objected. In fact, they were simply shocked by the lavish gift. Yaxiu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Yaxiu had seen with his own eyes that this was the spatial ring Igola had given him, but he knew better in his heart: even if they drained the fourth and fifth Hells completely, they could not squeeze out this much knowledge essence.
Moreover, he clearly remembered that Igola and Harvey's Hell Wings were only fourth-tier. For two demigods who had entered Hell less than half a year ago, that was already impressive, but if they had truly handled this much knowledge essence, why hadn't they raised themselves to sixth-tier Ancient King Hell Wings first?
Then, who on earth had given this enormous amount of knowledge essence in the spatial ring?
When Yaxiu had fallen unconscious, besides Igola and Harvey, there had been one other person beside him. Or rather, a Supreme of Sorcery.
"Now there is no reason at all to stop you from rescuing Igola and Harvey." Weise propped her chin on her hand and smiled. "I feel that even saving them from Heaven would not be enough to repay this gift."
"It is also possible that someone felt they owed me too much and is paying a debt." Yaxiu picked up a bottle of knowledge essence, tapped the side lightly, and said calmly, "Let's enjoy it with peace of mind."
"Besides these, they also found a special gift."
Yaxiu took out a dark purple orb of light from the spatial ring. It was hazy and dreamlike, with light and shadow flowing within it. Everyone's hearts trembled, feeling their souls being tugged. Vichy suddenly stood up, staring blankly at the orb. Her expression was lost, as if her soul had left her; in her eyes, there was less greed than a powerful attraction.
As that familiar yet pure aura of evil spread from the dark purple orb, everyone vaguely guessed what it was. After a long while, Vichy sighed, sat down limply, and asked, "Say it."
"Say what?"
"How are you going to humiliate me this time before you're willing to return my soul to me?" The maid looked resigned. "Do I have to complete a certain number of good deeds? Help ten thousand old ladies cross the road, or do several thousand hours of volunteer work?"
"You look like the type who would help the same old lady ten thousand times," Yaxiu quipped, pushing the dark purple orb toward her. Everyone watched as the orb slowly approached Vichy; for a moment, no one spoke. Even when the orb floated before her eyes, Vichy did not reach for it. Instead, she stared fixedly at Yaxiu.
This was the Spectre Prophet's soul fragment in Hell, the final piece needed for her complete resurrection. As a Soul Demigod, no one understood the importance of a complete soul better than Vichy. Although she had essentially awakened all the memories of her past life, the soul fragment was still crucial to her.
A soul was like a blank board, and information was the writing upon it. Through constant erasing, updating, and revision, the information on the board grew more numerous, and the writing grew deeper. When Vichy had resurrected, she had transferred only the words on the very surface; she could not take the marks on the board with her.
Information had no owner; memories could be illusions. Only deep marks were proof that she had lived.
The benefits of fusing the soul fragment were enormous. For example, Vichy's memories were currently like books in a library: to find a memory, she had to follow the catalog and index step by step to the corresponding area. After fusing the soul fragment, her memories would become a chaotic room, but when she recalled something, she would not need to think at all; by intuition alone, she could find the corresponding item in the chaotic room.
The soul fragment was so important that Vichy had prepared herself to be extorted by Yaxiu. Although, theoretically, Vichy—body and soul—belonged to Yaxiu, compared with these external things, Yaxiu had always been more eager to tarnish her inner self. He would use any means necessary, determined to warp her into a good person. Even in the occasional tender embrace after a deal, he would murmur against her, trying to erode her heart with pillow talk. Now, with the soul fragment as his trump card, whatever outrageous terms Yaxiu proposed, she could only accept.
What was going on now? He was not raising any conditions at all. Could her reverse pillow talk have succeeded?
"Take it," Yaxiu said. "This is a gift from Igola and Harvey to you, too."
"Really no conditions?" Vichy asked tentatively. "For example, making me pay attention so that the might of my wonders does not affect ordinary people..."
"Vichy." Yaxiu shook his head. "I was wrong before."
"To make you follow the rules, I can only rely on force or self-discipline. The one thing I should never try is to change your personality. After all, you are a demigod who has lived for thousands of years. The time I have lived is not even a fraction of yours. Your personality was set long ago. How could I possibly change it?"
"I cannot smooth away your evil nature, and you cannot meet my expectations. If we continue like this, it will only be awkward. From now on, I will not keep testing you like this to change your personality... You are not my demon maid. You are the Spectre Prophet."
Vichy subconsciously took a step back, deliberately moving farther away from her own soul fragment. She stared blankly at Yaxiu and said, "But am I not first your prisoner?"
"But I don't want to be your warden anymore." Yaxiu flicked his fingers, flicking the soul fragment into Vichy's body. The dark purple orb merged into Vichy's soul body, quickly fusing with her. Her whole person glowed, but her expression was extremely tense.
"I have always wanted to trust you, but I never dared. Ever since the Six-Wing Trial, I removed all your restrictions, and I haven't added any until now. So let's use this chance to try," Yaxiu said. "I will not add any restrictions on you. You can do whatever you want freely, but if you violate my principles once, I will recapture you. As for all losses you cause, I will cover them. Even if someone dies, I will pull them back."
"As long as you do not touch my bottom line, I will never bind you again," Yaxiu said. "Except for this thin chain of trust."
"Haven't you heard the saying 'Never test human nature'?" Vichy said. "What's more, my evil nature?"
"But have you not always wanted freedom?" Yaxiu smiled lightly. "I dare not promise you forever, but I can promise you one chance at freedom—"
Whoosh!
When the maid moved, Sonia, the Witch, and Silver Lantern all moved with her like thunder. Vichy suddenly lunged at Yaxiu. Sonia grabbed Vichy's wrist, Weise pressed down on Vichy's shoulder, and Diya wrapped her arms around Vichy's waist. But Vichy ignored them all. She straddled Yaxiu, pressed her hands on his shoulders, stared into his eyes, and asked:
"What are you hiding from us?"
Chapter 1239