"Don't mind it, Professor, you're completely right."
Clutching the bamboo sword tight, Feili said softly, "I really am a bad woman who wants to break up someone else's relationship. The reason I'm learning swordsmanship is actually because I want to replace Jianjian. At least... at least I could become the fourth party."
Voslodar could only force out, "Actually, bad women are quite popular these days. Besides, when it comes to relationships, the most important thing is being happy..."
He truly couldn't keep going. Pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, he had just lit one when the cigarette was flicked right out of his hand.
Voslodar stared dumbly at Feili, who had drawn her sword. Ever since he had learned to smoke and wield a blade, she was the very first person who had ever dared flick away his cigarette.
"Smoking is bad! Professor, you're not allowed to smoke!" Feili puffed out her cheeks, indignant. "Good men shouldn't smoke!"
*“Smoking is bad! Daddy, you're not allowed to smoke.”*
Voslodar spaced out for a moment. Just as he went to put the cigarette pack back in his pocket, he saw Feili beckoning, leaving him no choice but to hand the pack over to the little lamb.
"Does that kid smoke?"
"No."
"Well, he's not a good man either."
Feili sat down gloomily and retorted under her breath, "He's not bad either... He really, truly loves them, it's just not only one person!"
Voslodar thought for a moment and said, "Then let me tell you a story about a friend."
"My friend was born into a prominent clan. He was pampered in wealth from childhood, and had a childhood sweetheart of equal social standing. As they grew up, my friend became a handsome young man, and the childhood sweetheart became the prettiest girl in the whole city. Naturally, they fell in love and got engaged, and everyone had high hopes for this model couple.
"Later, while working away from home, my friend encountered a mysterious woman during an incident. He and the mysterious woman went through many life-and-death adventures together. He realized that she was his true soulmate, someone he could depend on through life and death. Yet his childhood sweetheart was also the love of his life, someone he could never bear to let go."
Feili was enthralled. "Then what did he do?"
"He tried having them get along together, but neither could accept it, so they could only live apart. As time passed, the childhood sweetheart grew more and more distant from him, and the mysterious woman grew increasingly cold to him. Later, each bore him a child—a son and a daughter. Both women poured all their focus into their children, and any love between the three of them was gone.
"Later, an accident occurred, and the mysterious woman died. My friend brought their daughter back home. As I mentioned, he came from a powerful house, and his childhood sweetheart feared that another woman's daughter would steal away her son's inheritance, so she naturally didn't treat the daughter well."
Feili asked, "Didn't your friend know his daughter's situation?"
"By that time, my friend had become clan head, spending half of each year away from home. Many things were beyond his control," Voslodar said. "He certainly wronged his daughter, but had he not also mistreated his childhood sweetheart and his son? On the rare occasions he came home, he always had to visit his son first, making his stance clear to his childhood sweetheart that he favored his son the most. Only by doing so could he lessen her hostility toward his daughter. If he showed that he valued his daughter more than his son, the moment he left home, an 'accident' would surely happen to his daughter."
"Couldn't he take his daughter with him?" Feili scratched her head.
"My friend was basically going to the most perilous and remote places to expand their business. Leaving aside how inconvenient traveling with a child was, the bigger issue was that such environments made 'accidents' even more likely. If he fostered her somewhere else, accidents would happen just the same. Only at home could he guarantee his daughter faced the least threat. Besides..." Voslodar shrugged. "That mysterious woman wasn't exactly a good person, and my friend feared her relatives would lead his daughter astray."
Feili frowned. "He already let down his childhood sweetheart and the mysterious woman, failing to be a good husband. But couldn't he at least be a good father and stay home to raise his son and daughter?"
Voslodar looked at her quietly, nodded gently, and smiled wryly. "Yeah. Why couldn't he?"
Feili looked at Voslodar with sympathy. "Professor, this friend you're talking about..."
"He lived in Canaan City. I usually hated him, and his death ought to be considered good riddance," Voslodar said quickly. "Let's not talk about that cursed fellow anymore. I only told this story to make you understand: falling for the wrong person only leads to the wrong outcome. Not only will you fail to get the love you want, but you might even drag the next generation into it.
"Besides, you're not even twenty yet. There's no need to rush. Once you meet more people who are better and faithful, you'll realize that kid isn't worth your affection at all."
Feili gave a small nod. "I understand. I've actually thought seriously about it."
"Really?"
"Really! I wondered whether I just liked his money, his power, or the perks he brought me," Feili said. "My friends also warned me that I might just idolize him too much, dazzled by his halo, and that once I got close, I'd probably find out he's just an ordinary man not worth mentioning."
"Mm-hmm, exactly right!" Voslodar nodded vigorously with folded arms.
"Then I found out he donated all his money to the post-disaster reconstruction of Canaan City," Feili said. "He even had his company develop support programs, helping Canaan City recover its vitality even without making a profit.
"And after spending more time with him, I found being around him feels so comfortable. To make a comparison, dealing with most people drains my energy; just chatting exhausts me. Only a handful of people don't drain my energy. But when I'm with him, I feel like I'm recharging. Even if I spend an entire day with him, I never get tired. He watches TV with me, talks about the books he's been reading lately, invites me to play games with him..."
"The more I get to know him, the more I realize he's even better than I imagined. When I posted about him online, the comments were either accusing me of making things up or asking for his contact info." Feili opened her innocent, wide eyes to look at Voslodar. "Professor, what do you think of him?"
"Nothing special," Voslodar stated categorically. "You're naive and inexperienced in the world, that's why you're taken in by him! Just looking at the fact that he has two lovers, you can tell that kid is a bad seed!"
"Actually, I never planned to confess. Even though I might really like him, I only want to stand by his side and watch quietly," Feili said softly. "It's just..."
"Just what?"
"It's just... I realized I might not only like him... I might, might also be lusting after his body!"
"Huh?!"
Feili covered her face in embarrassment. "Forget it, I won't say any more. Let's get back to training, Professor."
"Leaving such a huge cliffhanger makes it impossible for me to pretend I didn't hear," Voslodar said. "You can put it more delicately."
"Mm... I told an upperclassman and senior girl about it before, and she teased me about it every day." Feili asked, "Professor, can you promise not to laugh at me?"
"No problem."
"The truth is, I've been having dreams frequently lately, and they're always about the same thing."
*Dreams?*
Voslodar possessed common knowledge of the Country of All Stars and knew that dreams were actually the shadows' subconscious perception of their original bodies' real activities. For instance, Feili had dreamed of learning swordsmanship before, which was actually Felix cultivating.
"You dreamed of going on a date with that kid?" Voslodar guessed. "Holding hands? Kissing? Or...?"
Feili's face turned beet-red. "Taking a bath together!"
Voslodar froze.
"A few days ago, in the dream, I was still dressed while washing him. But recently, the 'me' in the dream seems to have gotten bolder and bolder—stripping completely to bathe with him! And I washed him so thoroughly, every part, every spot, carefully cleaning every inch. He was like a doll, totally under my control, letting me do whatever I wanted... I can even still remember the sensations from the dream..."
Feili really couldn't go on, so mortified she could have dug out a three-bedroom apartment with her toes. She looked up and asked, "Am I too weird?"
Right at that moment, a drop of golden rain landed on the steel beams.
Feili startled, looking up at the golden rain gradually blanketing the city. Her expression instantly warped, and she scrambled to her feet. "Professor, something's come up, I have to go. Goodbye!"
Only when the White Ox vanished and the golden holy grail appeared was Voslodar's mind snapped back by the colorful nectar within. He cast a glance at the golden holy grail, then bounded up several times to the top of the crane, seeing a vast expanse of people fallen asleep on the ground across the slums.
"Everyone gets one; drinking it puts you into a deep sleep, and mortals can hardly resist such temptation..." Voslodar swiftly analyzed the current situation. "However, if any mortal can resist the temptation, they will become walking overseers for the mysterious chains. Therefore, unless backed by a demon, one must still try to maintain a mortal identity...
"This is almost too simple; it doesn't quite fit the Prime Angel's malice toward sorcerers..." Voslodar glanced around, catching sight of Feili rounding a corner with her phone in hand. His train of thought instantly snapped from operational mode back to father mode.
He should have thought of it earlier: Feili liking that kid in the Country of All Stars likely meant that Felix had crossed paths with him in the Starry Kingdom too! He just hadn't expected Felix's progress to be so far ahead of Feili's!
He couldn't even say anything. After all, analyzing the dreams, it seemed Felix had already devoured that kid whole...
Right then, a purple beam of light rose from the slums behind Voslodar. A giant eight-eyed weaver spider crept silently out from beneath the construction site, swiftly closing in on the vagrant atop the crane.
Yet Voslodar remained steeped in the sorrow of a father: "Yilina, our daughter... has grown up."
*Skree!*
Displaying agility contrary to its massive frame, the eight-eyed weaver spider leaped to snap its jaws at Voslodar. Voslodar used no weapon; he merely formed a sword-finger and swung it back.
*Slash!*
The eight-eyed weaver spider was sliced cleanly in two, purple spider blood splattering across Voslodar's cloak. He gazed with bewilderment at the spider's carcass. He vaguely recalled that this troop type possessed many abilities, yet just now it hadn't displayed a single one. It was practically...
Practically just a normal, oversized spider.
A realization struck him. Looking at the Spiderweb Legion thronging the entire construction site and surrounding him—completely indifferent to the sleeping civilians in the slums—he instantly grasped the true peril of this Angel Hunt.
"So that's how it is." Voslodar looked down at the few drops of rainbow nectar in the golden holy grail. "Drink it, and you won't be hunted by the legions. But the longer you wait to drink, the more accumulates in the grail. As long as a sorcerer isn't greedy, they won't be in danger.
"Then again, what sorcerer in this world isn't greedy?"
Voslodar leaped into the air, the howling wind throwing back his hood and sending his messy blonde hair flying wildly. In this moment, the filthy vagrant descended from the sky like a noble duke.
......
...
Heath's Pillar Cultural Co., Ltd.
In the office, Rose had spent ten minutes brewing a cup of light-roast Geisha coffee. Savoring the floral and fruity notes in the aroma, she had just taken a sip when she saw golden wind and rain whipping up outside, blowing straight into the room.
She went over and shut the window. Just then, a lazy meow sounded from behind. Turning around, she found her plump blue British Shorthair licking the rainbow nectar from a golden holy grail, after which it collapsed directly into a deep slumber.
Incidentally, this cat's food was expensed on the company account under the line item "Maintenance of Emergency Food Supply."
Rose walked over, placed the cat on her lap, and stroked it for a while, paying no mind to the golden holy grail quietly vanishing. She resumed going through the backlog of paperwork from recent days, while outside, a Blood Tomb dracolich flew through the golden rain, flashing past the window.
Chapter 867