Just then, the youth butler motioned for them to follow. Lisi trailed obediently behind him, looking like a little sister following her big brother.
When Igola walked over, the scene instantly turned into a beautiful young matron with two angelic children.
Yaxiu subconsciously kept some distance from them, lest he drag down their average good looks.
Banjie led them on a tour of the other rooms on this floor, but Yaxiu was still pondering what Igola had said earlier.
Because the escape from the Blood Moon had been devised and executed by everyone together, and even after traversing the passage and encountering a series of incidents, Igola and Harvey had continuously displayed the high caliber of criminal competence expected of death row inmates, Yaxiu had never thought they would feel any panic over being in an unfamiliar place.
Yet thinking carefully about it, even during Yaxiu's most rebellious phase when he craved escaping his family the most, going off to college alone in another city had still filled him with awkwardness and fear. And this time, their escape from the Blood Moon meant they would virtually never return within their lifetimes. From now on, they had to survive in this unfamiliar land with a completely different culture and political system.
Perhaps they would soon adapt to their new life, but during this transition period, they would have to battle their own longing, their regrets, and their loneliness.
The only reason Yaxiu was completely unfazed was that this was already his second transmigration. The first time, he had switched universe servers entirely; this time was merely changing regional servers. How could Yaxiu possibly feel nervous?
Most importantly, Yaxiu was different from Harvey and Igola.
He was no longer alone.
Therefore, the proper cure for Igola and Harvey ought to be...
"Igola," Yaxiu walked over, patted the Swindler on the shoulder, and said with concern, "Look, you're not getting any younger. Isn't it time you fell in love and found a partner?"
The look Igola gave Yaxiu was as if he were staring at a pile of shit.
After showing them around, the youth butler said, "Feel free to enjoy the food and drinks, but please be mindful of maintaining your weight—no dieting or binge-eating. If you need anything, just call for me; I'm usually in my room. Personally, I recommend watching the documentary *Book of Gospel* first, which will give you a rough idea of how Gospel Country is structured... Any other questions?"
"Brother Banjie, Brother Banjie!" Lisi looked up at the youth butler. "How old are you this year?"
*Good question!* Igola and Yaxiu cheered inwardly. From their earlier interactions, they had already vaguely guessed that Banjie's age far exceeded his appearance—or rather, Banjie hadn't bothered hiding it at all.
They had still been wondering how to steer the conversation and drop subtle hints, not expecting Lisi to pitch a direct fastball. This was the advantage of being a child; even if she struck a sore nerve with Banjie, she could act cute and gloss right over it. If Igola or Yaxiu had asked, one wrong move could have made the atmosphere excruciatingly awkward.
Banjie glanced at them, took out a hairband to tie up his long, light-blue hair, and tilted his head. "I'm sixty-one this year."
Sixty-one?!
Are you sure you don't mean sixteen?
Yet Igola's eyes lit up. "If you're sixty-one, then the previous Weaving Ceremony..."
"Do you know why the young lady is willing to spare no expense to pave the way for you?" Banjie smiled. "I'm actually an outlander, too. Or at least, I used to be."
"So... you were an Echoer from the last one?"
Banjie nodded and poked the dimples on his cheeks with his finger. "This is my Echo reward."
Seeing this, Lisi also poked her cheeks, putting on an innocent, adorable look.
Yaxiu looked between them twice and shook his head. "Lisi, you lose."
"...I didn't ask you, Papa."
"If there are no other questions, feel free to do as you please. Lunch starts at twelve; I'll notify you." Banjie waved and left.
"I'm going to watch the documentary *Book of Gospel*." Igola decided to take Banjie's advice.
"I want to go to the simulation game room and try the virtual games here," Yaxiu said enthusiastically.
The two vicious adult criminals looked toward the little girl. Lisi raised her hand and chirped, "I'm going to the library to read! I can take care of myself! Papa Yaxiu, Auntie Bogin, go do your own thing!"
"Yaxiu, allow me to discipline your daughter for you—"
"Wait, I have a contract with her, I have to protect her! If you want to spank her, you'll have to cross over my dead body first!"
"There's a bonus like that?"
...
Lisi paid no mind to these two adults acting like children. She dashed straight to the library and shut the heavy doors.
Finding a mirror in the library, she spoke to the pretty, white-haired little girl inside it:
"Secret Princess Diya, are you there?"
"Little Witch Lisi, I'm here."
When Lisi blinked, she was already Diya.
Diya spun around in place, rolled her neck, hopped twice, and secretly grumbled in her heart that this body was simply far too inconvenient. She would rather the Bronze Dragon had turned her into an old crone than this form that could only survive by playing cute...
Still, she finally had some free time!
Setting up a rolling ladder, she pulled several reference books from the library shelves: *How to Trigger a Void Realm Storm with Bare Hands*, *100 Interpersonal Rules You Must Know*, *Introduction to Void Realm Creatures*, *Brief Analysis of Sorcery Factions*, *Essentials of Royal Guard Sorcerer Combat Techniques*, and *Wilderness Survival: Starting with Only a Dog*.
To prevent someone from bursting in unexpectedly, she grabbed a few cute picture books, opened them, and set them beside her before delving into these dense, weighty tomes.
Perhaps one might have already noticed a clue from this reading list—Diya had actually never attended school, nor had she ever received formal sorcerer education.
She was literate, could sing, played instruments, understood meter and rhythm, and was skilled in painting. Put simply, she dabbled in every refined art that had nothing to do with real life, yet she possessed virtually zero knowledge of sorcery factions or survival skills.
Her current sorcery factions, survival skills, and even interpersonal techniques were all acquired in the Void Realm by reading the sorcerer manual and consuming Experience Orbs.
Had she not been able to acquire knowledge in the Void Realm, she would probably still be that princess in the high tower, looking at the sky cut into squares by the window frame, wearing a foolishly innocent smile, and complacently accepting her fate.
After using the Bronze Dragon's power to escape the tower, one of the goals Diya set for herself was to patch her knowledge gaps as quickly as possible, flesh out her sorcerer knowledge base, and learn various survival skills to prepare for a future life in exile.
Diya had originally wanted to cultivate the time faction, but since Banjie had said it was best not to cultivate it, she had no intention of disobeying that order.
Because she genuinely wanted to join the plan to "Blaspheme the Gospel"!
Although she had first transmigrated into the Four Pillar Cult's territory, been captured by the cultists, and then caught Annan's eye, forced to become a pawn of the Purple Moth, this chain of events aligned precisely with Diya's needs!
The reason Diya had done everything possible to trigger the Bronze Dragon's Favor at this time was to wash away everything from her past, enter the Weaving Ceremony as a clean slate, and thereby become an Echoer to seize the divine wish!
Becoming Annan's pawn was not just danger for Diya; it was an opportunity she had dreamed of!
Diya only knew that to exploit the loopholes of the Weaving Ceremony, she had to erase her "past" via the Bronze Dragon. But as to how to actually exploit those loopholes, she was still entirely in the dark.
And right at that moment, Annan appeared.
It was like a starving knight encountering a greedy dragon: either the knight slew the dragon to fill his belly, or the dragon fattened the knight to satisfy its appetite. But either way, one of them was bound to achieve her goal!
Without a doubt, Annan and Diya crossing paths had been intentionally orchestrated by the Bronze Dragon!
As the rarest Void Realm mechanic on the Time Continent, the "Bronze Dragon's Favor" had granted Diya not merely a curse, but also the Bronze Dragon's blessing—steeped in wicked humor.
Her current situation was exactly as described in the sorcerer manual: while bestowing trials, the "Bronze Dragon's Favor" would also do everything possible to help the trial-taker fulfill their wish, yet this process was often as "romantic" as a fairy tale—which is to say, the Bronze Dragon would constantly pull terrible stunts, dead set on playing pranks on the trial-taker.
Diya had been buffeted by hardship every step of the way, yet in a blessing in disguise, she had ended up joining Annan's agency, effectively taking a shortcut toward seizing the divine wish. This twist of fate was clearly the Bronze Dragon pulling its stunts.
Were it not for this series of coincidences, Diya could never have met a blasphemer like Annan whose goals aligned with her own; yet it was also due to this very string of accidents that Diya was forced to act cute just to survive, falling indirectly under Annan's thumb.
Complain? The stunt the Bronze Dragon pulled had indeed turned out well. But feel grateful? The stunt was also pretty awful.
It truly made one grind their teeth in frustration, yet unable to genuinely stay angry.
Fortunately, Diya's newly crafted little sister, the "Little Witch," was clever enough to avoid contracting directly with Annan. Instead, she had chosen to form a contract with the silly-looking Yaxiu. Not only did that leave room for defiance, but it had also gained her a pawn she could exploit.
The only issue was that this minion didn't seem very useful... If only Lisi had chosen Igola as her papa back then. But since Lisi hadn't, it showed that Igola was highly vigilant and had high resistance to acts of cuteness—he wasn't a low-quality human who could be easily charmed.
Still, if Lisi called Yaxiu Papa and called Igola Mama, would there be a chance to drag Igola into the water as well?
Diya recalled Annan's style and felt that terrifying woman certainly wouldn't mind adding another set of shackles. She couldn't help sighing inwardly—Lisi had still been too cautious, or else they would have two servants by now.
Chapter 204