Su Cheng was almost deafened by them.
Of course, that was impossible; it was just an exaggeration.
Restricted by her posture, she subconsciously looked down at Jellal.
The God of Envy glared at her in annoyance. His slender body, which required no breath, trembled slightly, and his smoothly muscled chest heaved with anger.
They still maintained their top-and-bottom positions. She was half-kneeling on the steps, with smooth, water-like silk piled up between their pressing legs and hip bones.
Su Cheng tried to pull her right hand out, but the person behind her held it tightly. Lusha pressed close, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"Do we have to be like this every time?" the God of Lust rubbed gently against the side of her ear. "You really do like Him—"
"Strictly speaking," Su Cheng said coolly, "the fake one didn't happen the first time, but that was in the pony's temple, so I thought you were the one who liked this kind of thing."
Lusha: "..."
Jellal gritted his teeth and was about to lash out, but then suddenly shut his mouth.
The figure of the God of Joy had disappeared without a trace.
Even though he couldn't see it with his own eyes from his position, as a deity, he could naturally sense the change.
Frowning, he rose slightly and reached out to pull the girl in front of him into his arms. His forearm wrapped around her lower back, only to bump into the other person.
"...Can't you stay a little further away?"
He said with utmost disgust.
"Why?" Lusha glanced at him. "Why can't you just keep lying down?"
"I was the one who invited her here!" the God of Envy said, burning with anger. "The only reason I tolerate you being here is because—"
"Because you have no choice but to tolerate it," the God of Lust said faintly. "What else can you do?"
Su Cheng looked silently at the sky. "I'll be going now."
She really didn't want to be the meat patty in a burger anymore.
As a result, both of them cast subtle glances at her simultaneously, as if she were a heartless scoundrel who took advantage of them and ran away—though literally speaking, it wasn't far from the truth.
"...Seriously."
Su Cheng stood up and straightened her drooping skirt. The trembling sound of water as they separated was masked by a sigh.
Lusha leaned over to wipe her damp clothes. "You know, there are actually others who want to see you. Of course, after that scene just now, they will probably be delayed for a while."
Su Cheng didn't speak.
In truth, there were no other spectators anyway.
But for the deities, even if they didn't know what the three of them had said or done here, they could still sense that the God of Joy had been here.
Therefore—
Anyone with a brain could figure out the root cause.
Su Cheng: "For example, the Grand Magus must think I'm completely hopeless, ha."
She said it in a joking tone, yet the two lesser gods still stared at her.
Lusha stood up. "What a pity. He really is very... inflexible in this regard."
"That is the Lord, after all," Jellal was still sitting on the steps. "If he had been here just now, he would have probably chased away your beloved God of Joy in all seriousness, and then left without looking back."
He spoke while slowly pulling his open robes together. "But I can understand your regret. You're always interested in these seemingly serious guys."
Su Cheng rested her forehead in her hand. "I'm mostly just a sucker for Charles's face, and that horse. What I'm most interested in..."
"Yes," he said without hesitation. "It must be His Supreme Majesty, the Black Dragon King."
Seeing his expression, Su Cheng really wanted to anger him, so she immediately replied, "Of course."
Jellal: "..."
The God of Envy disappeared in a huff.
Lusha had been watching with interest from the side. It wasn't until he met her gaze that he smiled and leaned close. "It's enough for me to know that you like me."
"Oh," Su Cheng cupped his face and gave him a kiss. "I do like you a lot. So, could you introduce me to another one of your colleagues? If you two are on good terms, that is."
Lusha also kissed her on the lips. "If you want to meet the cook, you probably don't need my introduction. Judging from what happened in the Echo Plane, he obviously likes you a lot."
Su Cheng was stunned. "You know about my interactions with him in there? Wait, pfft, do you all call him the cook?"
"Oh no, only Vorey and I call him that," Lusha saw her disgusted expression and added, "Don't misunderstand, I don't have much contact with the God of Greed; he has always considered me a worthless existence. As for Gradon... he stays by himself most of the time. His Holiness feels that neither he nor Vorey are very suitable to interact with you. Folhart goes without saying; the reason he is the God of Sloth is probably just because he is genuinely lazy. And Saron has a terrible temper. Obviously you don't like that type, otherwise you would have had more contact with the Fire Dragon King. You seem to like pretty men, but clearly, just having a good-looking face isn't enough to catch your eye."
"That bastard was probably talking about research value," Su Cheng said speechlessly. "Indeed. So, the God of Darkness assigning you to win my favor was the right choice. As for Horowitz, that's more like a coincidence. After all, he is indeed a serious person. If he wanted to interact with me, it would just be interaction, not trying to recruit or seduce me. Ha, it's funny when you think about it—"
She briefly told Lin Yun's story. "In that person's dream, you seemed to be the only one who gave him authority."
"Is that so," Lusha showed a hint of boredom. "According to my tastes, he absolutely wouldn't make the cut. After all, there are just too many people like that, with no distinguishing features whatsoever. I might not be known for my strength, but I'm not willing to take in just anything."
Mentioning this reminded Su Cheng of another thing. "Oh, Metashil altered the memories of Lin Yun's relatives."
Her current body's parents were both dead, leaving behind only a mansion in a remote town and a small fortune. If it weren't for her connections with the Lin family, she would definitely have no foundation in Jinpo City.
"But considering that the real Lin Yun and the previous soul of this body were both swapped to another world..."
On a whim, Su Cheng wanted to go see her nominal uncle, so she mentioned it casually.
Lusha froze.
"Me?" he said, a bit uncertainly. "You want to go with me? I would have thought His Majesty the Black Dragon King would be more suitable for this kind of thing—"
"My god," Su Cheng looked at him in disbelief. "What do you think this is, our engagement ceremony? Even if we were really getting engaged, I wouldn't go to these fake relatives' houses!"
Not knowing which part of that sentence struck a chord with him, his gorgeous and handsome face showed slight emotion, and the golden cracks in his dark red eyes began to flicker.
"Darling," Lusha lowered his head and kissed her again. "Leaving aside the fact that you'd probably have to hold many ceremonies in that case... well, it would be a lot of trouble if we all went together, though I wouldn't mind."
Su Cheng's face darkened with exasperation. "I was just asking casually."
Returning to Jinpo City after several months, she teleported to the entrance of the Magic Guild and happened to hear a few people chatting with the guild staff.
An out-of-towner mentioned that they lived in a neighboring town and planned to bring their child next year for the spring academy admissions, so they came early to scout out the situation.
That employee was quite chatty and immediately started talking non-stop, "You guys definitely don't know! That Lord God-Favored used to be from our hometown..."
Gasps immediately rang out around them. Some people had faces full of surprise, while others were completely confused and asked what that term meant, becoming even more shocked after the explanation.
"...Someone chosen by the gods?"
"Yeah! It's just unknown which two Highnesses it actually is, but that Lord was even invited to be a guest at the temple. It's said that His Eminence the Archbishop personally hosted her..."
"An Archbishop," someone's eyes widened as they counted on their fingers, "My goodness—"
Even if they were relatively unfamiliar with the term "God-Favored," these people often had church temples in their hometowns, so bringing this up instantly made them understand.
Even holy clerics of the priest or official rank were already considered unimaginably high and unattainable in their hearts.
The Magic Guild's building was extremely magnificent. A group of people gathered near the main entrance talking, which didn't affect the coming and going of others at all.
Soon, two more employees came out and eagerly joined the conversation upon hearing the topic.
"I heard that the Church keeps it a secret for her because the power of the God-Favored can be affected..."
"What does that mean? If they say it out loud, it won't work anymore?"
"That's not it, different deities have different authorities..."
One employee tried hard to explain, but the rest had already shifted their attention and started gossiping about another area.
"I heard there was even a Grand Duke in the imperial capital who proposed to her..."
"Really? How come I heard it was a Prince?"
"I thought she and His Eminence the Archbishop, ahem, well, Lord White should be promoted to Cardinal soon..."
"Ah, whatever it is, she rejected them all anyway!"
"How do you know?"
"Huh? If she hadn't rejected them, there would be rumors about a wedding by now, right?"
"Right," someone said mysteriously, "My cousin in the imperial capital wrote to me saying she seems to be a Dragon Knight, or at least has ancient dragons pledging allegiance to her, because of some rumors..."
Su Cheng listened with great relish. Most of the claims were half-true and half-false. Saying they were entirely rumors didn't seem right, but they were also far from the truth.
She tugged at Lusha's hand, "It's a pity people here don't dare to casually discuss deities, otherwise someone might have even made up a story about you and me tying the knot forever."
The latter curled his lips, "You really should go play in Highgarden more often; that way you could hear even more outrageous rumors."
"Really?" Su Cheng was a bit surprised. "You all frequently appear there, and they still dare to do that?"
Lusha was about to speak but suddenly stopped.
They were walking hand in hand along the tree-lined avenue of the Upper District. Before they even reached the entrance of the Lin family mansion, Su Cheng spotted a familiar figure from afar.
Beside the neatly trimmed emerald green bushes, a certain Crowned God of Light stood calmly, while her cheap uncle was speaking to him with a face full of reverence.
Su Cheng: "..."
Even though Lin Zhen didn't know Ian's true identity—if he did, he might have fainted on the spot—he could at least tell this was a VIP.
So his attitude now was very cautious, with a hint of fear on his face, obviously because he didn't know the other party's purpose for visiting.
Lusha was silent for a few seconds. "He looks like he's looking for you."
"Oh no," Su Cheng said expressionlessly, "Maybe he just wants to get close to the people and chat with the vice president of the Jinpo City Chamber of Commerce."
Lusha wanted to laugh a little. "...Then I'll leave first?"
"Why?" Su Cheng pulled him back. "We'll go over together."
The God of Lust and Filth once again showed that subtle, slightly touched expression on his face.
Perhaps infected by this strange emotion, he didn't even have time to object before being pulled straight over.
And then he came face-to-face with his boss's old rival.
"Uncle!"
Su Cheng greeted with a smile, then nonchalantly turned her head. "Hello, busy man. I thought you'd be up there contemplating how to ascend, or running off to some world to stir up trouble."
The blond, golden-eyed deity slightly raised an eyebrow. "If I don't have the honor of your company, going anywhere is meaningless."
Lin Zhen was originally quite surprised to see his niece, but figuring she was about on vacation now, he was instantly overjoyed.
Just as he was about to speak, he was stunned for two seconds by the eerie atmosphere, then revealed a knowing look, as if some speculation had been confirmed.
Su Cheng crossed her arms. "What are you doing here?"
Ian looked down at her, his golden eyelashes drooping like butterfly wings, his expression looking somewhat innocent.
"I already said it," he said softly, "I hope you can share your time with me, so I'm trying to make this wish come true."
Su Cheng had initially planned to have a verbal sparring match with him, if he mocked her for going to Highgarden or something else.
She hadn't expected him to suddenly act like this.
And she really was a sucker for that face.
Su Cheng tilted her head and leaned on Lusha's arm. "We were originally going to get food. You can join us if you want."
Actually, she had no such plan at all; she just wanted to see his reaction.
"Of course I can, after all, I'm the latecomer," Ian slightly turned his head. "Long time no see, Your Highness."
The God of Lust and Filth looked a bit stiff, but quickly responded, "...It indeed has been a long time, Your Holiness."
"Truly magical," Su Cheng squeezed Lusha's fingers. "He speaks to you more politely than to your colleagues—is he always like this? Or is he just acting right now?"
Lusha sighed. "Darling, this is our first time talking."
"Really?" Su Cheng was astonished. "What about on the battlefield?"
"...What makes you think I have the qualifications to fight him on the battlefield?"
"Alright, pretend I didn't say anything."
Su Cheng turned her head helplessly, just in time to see her cheap uncle instructing the servants in the distance to set up a banquet. She originally wanted to say there was no need, she just wanted to come back and organize some things.
Lin Zhen saw her expression and misunderstood again. When she walked over, he pulled her aside and whispered, "Both of them are, right?"
Su Cheng: "?"
Both are gods?
Su Cheng: "...Yeah, actually, you can tell just by looking at their faces."
Lin Zhen patted her shoulder. "This is ten thousand times better than that previous guy. But, which of them is the older one and which is the younger one?"
Su Cheng: "???"
