Take Me Away

"Wait, isn't that really bad?" Harvey, biting on his cat grass smoke, asked, "If every job wipes your memories, how are we supposed to gather intel in the surface city?" "I can moonlight as a memory master and retrieve your deleted memories," Igola said. "However, as the intelligence states, memories of these 'Work Revelations' do more harm than good to the person involved. Plenty of people have already tested those waters for us. Far too many sorcerers tried to uncover loopholes in the 'Infinite Revelation' through 'Work Revelation,' but whether it was them or their test subjects, the outcome was the same: complete extinction and decay of the soul." "Decay?" Harvey knitted his brows. "Their souls died of old age?" "More or less. Those work memories are like poison, accelerating the aging of the soul," Igola said. "Still, recovering memories once or twice is fine. We're still young, after all. However..." Yaxiu paused slightly, then glanced at the pale-faced Banjie. Despite Banjie's appearance as a graceful, handsome blue-haired youth, he was actually in his sixties. Becoming a sorcerer might strengthen soul quality, but it did not extend soul lifespan—just as a remarkably strong body could fight off illness, but could never resist aging. "...Not everyone needs to go on reconnaissance," Banjie said, standing up. "I can stay in the underground city and wait for you, then join you to infiltrate the imperial palace on the day of the operation. You only need to guide the way, and I can provide your strongest support!" "Except we don't need support," Igola said calmly. "In the imperial palace, we can permit at most one battle—the battle against the tower guards. Any combat beyond that spells failure for the mission. Once an alarm is raised, the palace won't give us a second chance." "Indeed." Annan looked seriously at the butler who had looked after her for so many years. "Banjie, you're of no use here anymore." The blue-haired butler sank back down dazedly. His spirits plummeted so severely that even the color seemed to drain from him, leaving him in dull monochrome. Yet the Purple Moth continued, "Yaxiu goes without saying; he's the core of the assassination plan. Igola and Harvey are listed candidates, and they're competitors for the divine wish, so I must keep them at my side. Only you and Lisi have become dispensable to this plan." "Annan..." Yaxiu could not help calling out. "Moreover," Annan paused, "your suggestion earlier about sending Lisi to Qinna is completely unfeasible as well. Do you think Qinna wouldn't dare use Lisi to threaten Yaxiu, or do you think Fanmula's white mist can't bewitch Lisi into joining the Six Emblems?" "Don't you know how cruel and merciless Qinna is toward anyone who isn't of her bloodline or someone she has no interest in? Not to mention that Yaxiu and I pertain to the continuation of the Sennheiser family... One moment you send Lisi over, the next we might see photos of her covered in wounds, and the very next day Yaxiu would be locked in Qinna's dark room." "Madam Qinna surely wouldn't..." Banjie murmured, his voice trailing off with fading conviction. "Then what about Miss Cleios or Miss Evalyn—" Annan shook her head. "Evalyn is a dominance sorcerer whom even Igola can't fully contend with, and Cleios is a Red Hat devoted entirely to protecting the Isu royal family. Lisi knows all our plans—do you want us to fail before the operation even begins?" "Entrusting Lisi to anyone else's care is unsafe, whether for her or for us... If you're unwilling to look after Lisi, our only choice is to let her die." Igola's eyes flared with sharp light. Harvey habitually scrutinized Lisi, while Yaxiu immediately pulled Lisi behind him and said loudly, "Eldest Miss, I have a Contract with Lisi!" "Oh, right. Yaxiu must protect Lisi." Annan spoke as though she had only just remembered this condition. "Which means we would have to dispose of Yaxiu and Lisi together. But Yaxiu is the core of the assassination... Banjie, what do you think we should do?" Banjie was practically begging. "Lisi and I can wait in the underground city to coordinate support..." "Since we plan to enter the imperial palace, we never expected to come back." The Purple Moth flicked her earring. "Staying in the underground city is no different from going back to Azula. The only difference is that the latter would grant us peace of mind." "Just think of it as freeing me from worries." Annan smiled. "Banjie, permit me one last indulgence of willfulness." It was as if an incantation had been cast; Banjie's remaining breath of resolve completely collapsed. Despondent, he stared down at the floor, tilting his head slightly to cast a hopeful look at Lisi. Lisi was dumbfounded on the spot. *I was counting on you to persuade Annan, and now you're relying on me?!* While looking in her hand mirror earlier, Lisi had already consulted her sisters countless times, attempting to find a legitimate reason to stay. The final conclusion: there wasn't one! This definitely wasn't an idea Annan had come up with on the spur of the moment. Perhaps from the day the Happiness Board was issued, she had already planned to send Banjie and Lisi away—and they had to be sent away together. In truth, Annan did not care all that much about Lisi; what she cared about was the remainder of Banjie's life, a man who had been like a father and elder brother to her. Banjie was the biggest stumbling block on her road to death. Annan knew full well that she was Banjie's sole pillar of life. If the plan failed and everyone perished, even if Banjie survived, he would suffer a mental breakdown and might even follow her through Hell all the way to the Void Realm. Therefore, Annan had to find Banjie a new pillar of life. Since Banjie was losing a daughter, she would provide him with another. Perhaps when she first took Lisi in, this Purple Moth had already foreseen this day. Excuses like "Banjie can't become a Gospel worker," "there are no battles to fight in the palace," and "fostering Lisi with anyone else is unsafe" were all trivial. There were a hundred more reasons to keep Banjie than to drive him away, but at the core, Annan simply wanted Banjie to leave, and so Lisi had to leave with him. That way, even if Annan truly ceased to exist, Banjie could rediscover a meaning to life by caring for Lisi, just as he had once cared for Annan. Conversely, unlike Banjie, there were a hundred more reasons for Lisi not to stay here than to stay. Or rather, from the very beginning, she had had no reason to participate in this perilous, Gospel-desecrating scheme. Yaxiu, Annan, Harvey, and Igola had clearly conferred beforehand. Even Yaxiu agreed that Lisi couldn't remain here, not to mention the others. Lisi even suspected Yaxiu had discussed this with Annan long ago—come to think of it, ever since the princess assassination plan was formed, Yaxiu's attitude toward her had grown much gentler. How tightly Yaxiu embraced her right now was a direct measure of how resolute his determination was to make her leave. The witch sisters had never imagined that their greatest obstacle to staying here would be the very person who cherished them most. A cage sturdier than any high tower was love. Only before, Banjie had served as the tower protecting Annan, and Lisi had served as the cage binding Yaxiu. Now, everything had flipped. *What do we do, what do we do, what do we do...* *The key is Xiao Xiu—we have to persuade him!* *You can't even break free of his arms, who can you persuade?!* Just then, everyone's Book of Gospel suddenly popped open on its own. Everyone froze for an instant, their expressions shifting drastically—barely three days had passed, and the Weaving Ceremony was already releasing the sixth board! The pace of the Weaving was accelerating faster and faster! Taking advantage of everyone's momentary daze, Lisi blurted out, "Daddy, take me away!" Before Yaxiu could even process what was happening, he was already holding Lisi's hand and dashing out the door. Seeing this, Igola stood up immediately to give chase, but a hand clamped down on his shoulder from the necromancer. "Let go." "Igola, you really don't understand the human heart." "Oh?" The Swindler laughed out of sheer fury. "A necromancer wants to discuss the human heart with a mind sorcerer?" Harvey replied, "Even Alice knows a coffin can hold at most two people. Not because the coffin isn't big enough, but because sometimes, only two people are allowed to be face-to-face." "Let them work it out themselves."