The Angel Hunt Begins

The demon maid's answer was utterly absurd. She had been a demigod in two lifetimes, meaning she must have sat through the demigod exam twice and walked the Path of Origin twice. How could she possibly not know?! Yet Yaxiu did not question her. After a moment of contemplation, he asked, "There's something I've been meaning to ask you for a long time... Do you still remember the Golden Fish, Prismatic Tail, and Colorless Dream secret poisons?" Weixi shook her head. "I don't." As expected. After Weixi had been resurrected, Yaxiu had noticed that the number of people infected with secret poisons had not increased, which had already given him a faint premonition. "You actually know about secret poisons? Not bad." The maid blinked. "Secret poisons are vital resources that you ought to cherish. In my case, having been reborn once, I lost almost all of my secret poisons. But the bright side is that I can be infected with them all over again." Yaxiu found it incredible. "Why would you lose them?" "Because the Void Realm took them back," Weixi said. "Don't you understand yet? This isn't knowledge that the Void Realm permits sorcerers to possess, which is precisely why it's considered 'poison' to us." Yaxiu nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly asked, "Then do you want to know about them?" "Not right now." The maid shook her head repeatedly. "Honestly, if I wanted to know, I could deduce it myself from the details of my memories. But I don't need it right now, so why should I go and infect myself with secret poison?" "Wait," Igola said, instantly catching the loophole in her words. "In other words, you could deduce the contents of the demigod exam right now?" "I can." "Yaxiu." The fraudster turned toward the cult leader. Yaxiu gave a slight nod and looked earnestly at Weixi. "Deduce the contents of the demigod exam right now and tell us." However, Weixi only looked back at him with a beaming smile, saying nothing at all. Seeing this, neither of the two men grew angry; instead, their expressions turned increasingly grave. "Miss Weixi," Igola asked, "did you fail to carry out the command because it conflicts with your highest-priority underlying directives?" "The three underlying directives of the highest priority are: first, you are forbidden from doing anything to harm Yaxiu and must actively protect him; second, provided it does not violate the first directive, you are forbidden from harming myself, Harvey, Rose, Feili, Niya, and the others; third, provided it does not violate the first two directives, you must preserve yourself as best as possible." Igola looked at her. "Which directive did it conflict with?" "All three," the maid replied. "Which means merely knowing the contents of the demigod exam poses a hazard to us," Yaxiu said thoughtfully. "Earlier, she mentioned that 'any legendary sorcerer can take the demigod exam at any time so long as they wish'... The demigod exam is very likely a special mechanism that triggers immediately once one learns about it!" The sorcerers looked at one another in dismay. Harvey suddenly spoke up, "I noticed you've been constantly referring to it as the 'fifth layer of the Void Realm.' Don't demigods have a name for the fifth layer? Something like the Knowledge Sea or the Time Continent?" "It has a name." "Yet you can't speak it?" "That's right." Weixi nodded. To be fair, Yaxiu and the others had long guessed where the fifth layer of the Void Realm was. After all, the Knowledge Sea, the Time Continent, the Distant Sky Realm, and Ruby Mountain were widely known, and among places that had mythical legends across every country just like them, there was really only one candidate. They had previously wondered why no one ever stated it outright and whether they had all guessed incorrectly. Never had they imagined that the reason behind the truth was actually so strangely considerate—a demigod exam that even Weixi feared to this degree was likely far beyond the ability of an ordinary legendary sorcerer to pass. The deliberate evasiveness across various nations was very likely intended to prevent legendary sorcerers from confirming the truth, immediately triggering a surprise exam, and ending up dead on the spot. Weixi continued, "You'd better not let your minds wander toward it either, because the name of the fifth layer of the Void Realm concerns the truth of the demigod exam. Although if you die, I would also... but for the sake of my favorite handsome master, I must remind you: if you dig any further, you might realize the exam's contents on your own, causing the examination to begin." "Let's end today's lesson here..." "Thank you, Master!" Caught completely off guard, Yaxiu was embraced by the maid. Goosebumps erupted across his skin, and he shoved her away in utter revulsion. Igola asked, "What does it feel like?" "Do you remember what I had for lunch today?" "Blazing Lalafell?" "Right. Exactly that feeling of turning into food." Yaxiu glared at Weixi. "No matter how you disguise yourself, entice me, or act intimate, I'll only ever be stung awake by your spikes. Give it up, Spectre Prophet." "Sigh." The maid let out a sigh. "Ever since Master went on a date with that little sheep, you haven't liked me anymore. Who knew Master was into blonde college girls? If I'd known, I would have dyed my hair blonde long ago..." "At least half of what you said was true," Yaxiu replied. "She did indeed successfully cultivate my resistance against you. But I was merely rehearsing a date with her. We're just good friends." The necromancer furrowed his brow. "You? With a woman? Just good friends?" "Hold on." The fraudster raised a hand to cut off the necromancer's skepticism. "Let me see what other nonsense he can spew." "What's with those looks?" Yaxiu said helplessly. "I'm not Igola. I'm not popular with women!" Igola said, "See?" Harvey nodded. "He's started babbling." "First, I've known Feili for less than two days. Second, Feili already has someone she likes!" Yaxiu said. "Do you understand now!?" "Understood," Igola said. "I must say, Yaxiu, you've gotten slack. You even managed to bag a legendary figure like Silver Lantern, yet now you're challenging a normal-difficulty college girl? The 'already has someone she likes' trait is at most a three-star normal tier, isn't it?" "No," Yaxiu said, feeling utterly bewildered. "Why on earth do you think I'd get into a relationship with Feili?" Igola said, "Harvey, explain it to him." "Yaxiu," Harvey said, "you might not know this, but I'm actually very fond of corpses." Yaxiu stared at him quietly for a good while before giving a slow nod. "Right, couldn't tell at all." "That's normal, considering I usually hide it very well," the necromancer continued. "Yet at times, I still can't help exposing my preference for corpses—like enjoying the smell of a cadaver, liking to sleep where maggots have crawled, or spreading specially made corpse-oil jam on bread..." Igola sprang to his feet, veins practically bulging on his forehead. "I... A few days ago, I saw you eating bread with jam on it..." "Condensed milk flavor," Harvey said. "Seasoned quite nicely, wasn't it?" After a second of silence among the group, Yaxiu immediately rushed forward and grabbed Igola tightly. "Hey, Igola, calm down! He didn't do it on purpose. Who told you to crave condensed milk... Weixi! Rose! Hurry, help me hold him down!" Once the enraged fraudster had been pinned to the sofa by the three of them, Harvey continued, "I only mean to say that even if you won't admit it with words, your true inner thoughts will always be exposed through your actions." Yaxiu glanced at the despondent Igola and, holding back his laughter, said, "Right, but what does that have to do with me?" "Yaxiu," Harvey said in all seriousness, "in the Gospel Nation, the most critical woman for us was Annan." "Yes." "In Senluo, the most critical women for us were two people: Mercury Trojan and Silver Lantern. But later we realized Silver Lantern was the truly important one." "Huh?" "So according to my observations," the necromancer said, "unlike a promiscuous type like Igola, you're the targeted type who only ever gets entangled with critical women. And in the Country of All Stars, the most critical woman for us is clearly Feili." "If there had been a critical woman in Shattered Lake Prison, I'm certain you wouldn't have missed the chance to win her over either." The maid leaned in toward Yaxiu's ear. "Master, I'm very important too, you know!" Yaxiu was stunned for a long while before offering a feeble rebuttal: "Those were all coincidences!" "Understood." Harvey nodded. "Once we get out, we won't tell Sword Princess about any of these coincidences. Yaxiu, feel free to do whatever you need to do!" "Yaxiu," Igola, still pinned down, suddenly said, "the demon Feili is very important to us." "I know." "You're unwilling to hypnotize her, and you're unwilling to train her. That puts us in a very difficult position," the fraudster said. "Wouldn't it be great to make her fall for you so she becomes your tool?" Beside them, Rose and Weixi nodded in agreement as well. Seeing this, Yaxiu sighed softly, sat down to one side, looked at his well-defined hands, and said quietly, "I don't want to, and I'm not willing to." Igola asked, "Why? Back then, you—" "Back then, it was because I hadn't confirmed my relationship with Sword Princess and the Witch. I hadn't figured out my own feelings," Yaxiu said. "Yet now, I was almost able to meet Sword Princess... Perhaps she has already seen me. "We've been safe for so many days; clearly, she's the one taking care of our physical bodies. I have no idea how much trouble that has caused her... or whether it will affect her future... "Right now, she must be desperately trying to rescue us." Yaxiu looked at them. "All I want now is to leave this place as quickly as possible and see her. "Beyond that, I have no other thoughts." Weixi sighed quietly to herself, thinking how terribly unlucky she was to have ended up with a love-struck master. Yet when she glanced sideways, she saw no disappointment on Igola's and Harvey's faces, but rather a subtle expression that said, *You say that every single time.* "There's something I'd like to mention," Harvey said, suddenly raising a hand. "But Yaxiu, you're not allowed to get mad." "What is it?" "Well, once I'm settled in, I plan to prepare coffins as gifts for everyone," Harvey said. "So I memorized the recipients, such as you, Annan, Qinna, Tamashi, Igola, Anfeier..." Igola raised an eyebrow. "Are you close to Qinna?" Harvey replied, "No, but Yaxiu is close to Qinna." A foreboding sensation welled up in Yaxiu's chest. "And then?" "To make sure I didn't forget, I had Alice carve their names onto the coffin lids," Harvey said, "and draw a relationship chart." "A relationship chart?" "For example, Yaxiu and Annan are lovers, Annan and Qinna are mother and daughter, and Yaxiu and Qinna are also lovers..." "Yaxiu, calm down! Harvey didn't do it on purpose—hurry, help me hold him down!" A grief-stricken and indignant Yaxiu was pressed onto a chair by the other three, feeling as though his reputation had been completely destroyed. Igola consoled him, "Sword Princess might not even look inside the coffin lid. Even if she does, she might not believe it. And even if she believes it, she might not do anything to you..." Yaxiu gave a heavy nod. "That's right, you're right. I have a clear conscience, so what do I have to fear!" Weixi said, "Master, you're trembling so hard you're about to shake me off." Once Rose had wiped the cold sweat from Yaxiu's forehead, the legendary sorcerer finally suppressed the panic in his heart. Taking a sip of tea, he said, "Let's disperse. It seems there's nothing out of the ordinary today. "By the way, remember not to tease me about Feili, especially in front of her," Yaxiu said, glancing at the group. "It wouldn't be good for me, nor for her." "Understood." *Boom!* Right at that moment, a sudden tremor swept through the sorcerers' souls, nearly causing them to lose control on the spot; even Weixi was not spared. Yaxiu fell against Rose. Without pausing to apologize, he immediately bolted out of the villa. Drifting feathers. Across the entire canopy of the sky, silver feathers were floating down. Yaxiu reached out to catch one, and it dissolved into flecks of light in his hand. He looked around; as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but silver feathers drifting through the air. The entire city of Jiashi looked like something out of a fairy tale. "If all of these are the silver feathers of an angel..." Weixi walked out and stood beside Yaxiu. "Then its Silver Wings must be colossal." The fraudster stood dazed at the doorway, practically mesmerized by the stunning vista. "No wonder..." he murmured. "No wonder it takes an entire country to imprison an angel..." "Yaxiu." "Hm?" The Spectre Prophet said, "The angel hunt has begun."