Chapter 73
He took the cigar from his lips, glancing at the book in his hands, and said casually, “Me?”
Xia'er smiled slightly. “I’m not changing my chips.”
“If you’re not changing your chips, then you…”
The man cursed under his breath, lazily lifting his gaze toward Xia'er. But when he saw the mask on Xia'er’s face, his legs went weak, and he slid off the stool.
It seemed he had missed the best moment to close his eyes. His expression shifted from terror to a twisted grimace, his eyes wide open, bloodshot and frantic.
What he saw was merely a beautiful girl in a mask, yet it felt as if he had encountered something indescribably horrific.
“May the Mother Goddess bless you.”
Xia'er casually took a few chips from the table and walked past the man.
It wasn’t until Xia'er opened the door and stepped into the next room that the man seemed to snap back to reality, erupting into a wail of despair. He cried out, tossing aside his cigar, frantically clawing at his own eyes, then grabbed a knife to pierce his eardrums, shoving the burning cigar into his nostrils…
Only when his world faded into a black, silent void did he collapse to the ground, muttering “Mother Goddess above,” as his blood flowed away, drop by drop, taking his life with it.
Xia'er entered the next room, where a transparent glass partition separated him from a poker table still occupied by the corpse of a man in a suit. This was an old actor; Xia'er had seen him here the last time he visited.
“Sir…”
A maid wearing a red chip mask approached, quickly bowing her head and removing her mask. “Greetings, Your Grace…”
“Where’s Jidi?”
Xia'er inquired.
“The Manager is in the office on the third floor. I’ll take you there…”
The maid kept her head down as she walked ahead of Xia'er. This time, she didn’t lead him through the gambling areas but directly down a small corridor to the right.
This corridor allowed them to bypass the gambling zones, preventing more people from seeing the Bishop.
After all, not everyone here was a believer; many members of society and other extraordinary individuals came to gamble or exchange items.
Xia'er followed the maid up to the third floor, finally stopping in front of a wooden door.
Knock, knock, knock—
The maid knocked on the door.
“What is it?”
Jidi’s voice came from inside, tinged with impatience, as if she were troubled by something.
At that moment, Jidi was staring at a backgammon board, her brow furrowed.
The dice rolled to the lowest number and the plans that had been falling apart left her feeling restless.
She hadn’t revealed any flaws, yet the plans were being dismantled piece by piece.
It felt as if invisible eyes were watching her every move as she devised her strategies.
She still couldn’t figure out how Xie Lun had been discovered, or how Aivina and Adele knew they were being monitored.
Had she overlooked something?
She had to patch up this growing hole before the Bishop arrived to hold her accountable… at the very least, she needed to ensure her identity remained confidential and prevent the Dutton Manor from being discovered…
Knock, knock, knock—
The knocking outside interrupted Jidi’s thoughts, and she impatiently shouted, “What is it?”
“The Manager, the Bishop is here.”
As soon as the maid spoke those words, cold sweat drenched Jidi’s back.
What was happening? Why had her failure been discovered so quickly?
“Come in.”
Jidi quickly closed the backgammon board, but since the pieces weren’t all on one side, many scattered across the floor.
She couldn’t worry about that now. Jidi hurried to the door, tossing aside her black chip mask, and slightly bowed her head as she opened the door.
As soon as she opened it, her distracted gaze met a terrifying mask.
Mad whispers screamed in her ears, and her eyes began to flicker with hallucinatory images. In those visions, she saw the illusory bell tower church, boundless green mist, and the circular eyes lurking beneath the ground…
No!!!
Drawing on the “Missionary’s” formidable resistance, Jidi forced herself to bend her knee, half-kneeling before the “Bishop,” lowering her head even further.
Once she stopped gazing at that horrifying mask, the maddening whispers in her mind began to fade, but the images continued to flicker, distorting everything she saw.
These injuries were irreversible…
Cold sweat nearly soaked through Jidi’s clothes. She never imagined the Bishop would be so… petite, nearly causing her to be the first High Priestess to be driven mad by the Mother Goddess’s relic carried by the Bishop.
As the “Bishop” stepped inside, the maid closed the wooden door and retreated.
Before Jidi could fully turn around to say anything, a letter wrapped in something was tossed in front of her.
“Your Grace… what is this?”
Jidi didn’t doubt the Bishop’s power. Although this Bishop felt like a first-tier, the Mother Goddess’s blessing and the seal at her waist were enough to confirm her identity.
The higher-ups wouldn’t react so quickly; the Bishop might just be here for other orders…
“Open it and see.”
The Bishop said calmly.
Jidi shifted from half-kneeling to fully kneeling on the ground. Before her, the illusory double images still danced, but when she opened the contents of the letter, she felt her veins freeze.
It was a letter of authorization from the Radiant Bishop, granting the bearer of the envelope the authority to manage the Bell Tower Church in Boren City, complete with the Radiant Bishop’s seal.
The sudden arrival of a second-tier individual named Yulis in Boren City had already left Jidi in a panic, and now another at least second-tier “Missionary” was coming.
This would completely seal her fate.
“What have you done?!”
Smack—
Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind hit, and Jidi felt a sharp pain on the left side of her face, her mind swirling in confusion.
“I’ve dealt with the person.”
The Bishop’s voice was laced with anger. After taking a deep breath, she continued, “Although I intercepted the letter, the person has been missing for so long; they’re bound to become suspicious.”
“Do you… know what to do?”
Do you… know what to do?
Was this giving her a chance?
The once despondent Jidi felt a sudden warmth in her chest.
“Thank you for your grace, thank you, Your Grace! Jidi knows what to do!”
Jidi cried out, bowing her head several times before crawling a few steps forward, her left hand cradling the Bishop’s leg clad in white stockings, her right hand holding the Bishop’s small boot, and she began to fervently kiss the Bishop’s shoes.
At that moment, Xia'er felt a slight twitch beneath his mask.
No, I didn’t add a subject to what I just said, nor did I mention anyone disappearing or being suspected. How did you come to that conclusion on your own?
Is “Fate’s Dice” really that powerful? I only used that ability when giving the coachman money.
Is it the “Art of Conversation” at work? Or is it the “Pages of the Otherworld” disrupting her mind?
Or maybe it’s all of it combined…
In any case, to Jidi, Xia'er now appeared to be a higher-up in the cult, even more so than her own position.
And…
Why is your Holy Assembly thanking someone by kissing their shoes? Do you have a mobile game with a four-character title on your phone?
The shoes are soaked in saliva! Let go already!!!
Xia'er suppressed the urge to pull his foot back and calmly continued the conversation. “So… what’s your plan?”
“Plan… plan… yes, I have a plan… please wait…”
As soon as Jidi was asked this question, she began to sweat profusely, like a student caught without their homework.
Xia'er watched the scene unfold, feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Just hours ago, Jidi had been high and mighty, controlling herself to drink the potion that brainwashed her.
Now, she was sobbing and kneeling before him.
Misinformation is truly a powerful tool… even false information can be useful.
**Chapter Sixty-Nine: The Mad Bishop.**
“I… I plan to…”
A drop of sweat slid down Jidi’s forehead, pooling at her chin before finally dripping onto the carpet.
Not only had she failed the plan, but she hadn’t even managed to capture Aivina, who had disrupted it; she had only brought back an extraordinary individual who frequently interacted with Aivina, a student of Xie Lun.
Jidi’s mind raced. She had to come up with a convincing plan before the Bishop’s anger erupted.
“Your Grace! The plan… the plan hasn’t completely failed yet!”
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