Lin Zhen watched the retreating back of the blonde young man, patting his niece's shoulder with extreme satisfaction in his eyes.
He also felt the gratifying relief of a parent seeing their child finally snag a good catch.
"You slept for so long, and then ran out without saying a word when you woke up. I was worried. You never used to like going out..."
He nagged a little, but there was no blame on his face; in fact, he looked quite happy.
In his memory, this child had always been withdrawn and introverted, cooped up in the house all day, unwilling to go out.
Now it seemed it was mostly because she couldn't cultivate Battle Aura and was often mocked by their relatives, making her even more reluctant to face people.
He had actually disciplined the younger generation in the family, even resorting to beating them, but he was ultimately too busy to keep an eye on them every day.
When those people bullied her behind his back, as long as they didn't seriously injure her and only threw a few sarcastic remarks, there wasn't much he could do.
Thinking this way, Lin Zhen felt everything made sense.
What seventeen or eighteen-year-old kid likes being cooped up in a room? Now that no one dared to disrespect her anymore, she was definitely thinking about going out to have fun.
Moreover, whatever her relationship with the Archbishop was, whether they were genuinely attracted to each other or just good friends, it was a wonderful thing.
A smooth and tactful figure like him never put on airs, even to a mere vice president of the merchant guild like himself. He was polite every time...
However, Lin Zhen always felt that the way the Archbishop looked at his niece held more than just polite respect.
As his mind raced, he couldn't help but think of the family matters again. "Sigh, it was all my fault in the past. I know you've suffered a lot of grievances since you were little..."
"Actually, most people only awaken their Battle Aura after they turn ten," Su Cheng chuckled, "so I wouldn't have been mocked for that when I was really little."
Lin Zhen looked a bit embarrassed. "I've told them off several times, and I even went to their parents—"
"No, I'm not trying to point fingers," Su Cheng shook her head. "Um, by the way, Uncle, how much do you remember about my past?"
Lin Zhen looked blank, then suddenly wondered: was his niece asking if he had paid attention to her?
He couldn't help but rack his brains to recall all sorts of past events.
Su Cheng listened calmly, confirming that almost everything matched Lin Yun's character settings from the book, with no gaps or vague areas.
It was as if Lin Yun had been completely replaced by her.
"I also asked many people why you couldn't condense Battle Aura, and I even wrote to several masters, but unfortunately—"
Lin Zhen talked on and on, afraid she wouldn't believe him, even wanting to go fetch evidence.
Su Cheng shook her head again. "No need, I believe you."
In the original novel, he had done such things for Lin Yun, so this should be the truth now as well.
Lin Zhen carefully observed her expression. Seeing no trace of anger, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
His gaze paused, landing on the oil-paper bag in Su Cheng's arms. "What is that?"
Su Cheng: "Fried potato balls."
Lin Zhen gasped, looking closely at the packaging. "You bought this from a street stall? Or a little tavern? You took him out and fed him this? Why didn't you go to our family's hotel? Or those other—"
Su Cheng looked up at the sky. "It's not like he lacks money. Besides, those places are probably packed with people wanting to curry favor with him. How could we eat in peace?"
Lin Zhen: "..."
She said eating, but he felt it was definitely more than just eating.
Lin Zhen suddenly looked up toward the road ahead.
The street was quite quiet. The moonlight was obscured by clouds, and the silhouettes of the towering mansions on both sides were faint and shadowy. Suddenly, a figure appeared not far away.
As a fifth-tier warrior, his senses were naturally sharp. With just one glance through the dim, hazy moonlight, he saw clearly who it was.
Lin Zhen took a slight step forward, shielding the girl beside him diagonally behind his back. "Mr. Murong."
Su Cheng raised an eyebrow and also looked at the blurry shadow in the night.
What was Murong Yue doing here?
They had just crossed paths in the lower city. He couldn't have followed her here, could he?
Su Cheng thought uncertainly.
In a situation like this, Lin Yun would probably mock him, saying something like, you broke off the engagement, so stop obsessing over me.
She didn't have that kind of thought at all; she couldn't even be bothered to say half a word.
"...Su Cheng."
Murong Yue was the first to speak.
He walked closer slowly, stepping out from the shadows of the green trees lining the street, and stood before the gated fence of the Lin residence.
"Since you were involved with the people from the Church early on, why didn't you propose breaking off the engagement?"
His gaze bypassed Lin Zhen, looking at the young person behind him, staring intently at her. "With your status, plus those people, even my father would have only agreed to it."
The so-called status naturally referred to being a God's Favored.
In his view, her connection with the Church must have been built on this foundation as well.
Su Cheng scoffed.
Naturally, she wasn't going to tell the truth to explain. "Well, it's like this: because I was greedy for your broken engagement compensation, I had to wait for you to bring it up first."
"You—" Murong Yue's face darkened. "As a God's Favored, do you really lack that little bit of money?"
Su Cheng tilted her head. "The Favored of the God of Wealth are all rolling in dough, countless times richer than me, and none of them have stopped making money. Who would ever complain about having too much money?"
The deity she mentioned was naturally one of the main gods. It was said that this god favored those with a head for business and a thirst for wealth, choosing Favored ones from among them and granting them certain powers.
They could be major jewelers, collectors, masters of the black market, bankers, and so on.
It was said that mithril and gold flowed in their veins, and they had to chase wealth forever. In fact, they themselves wouldn't want to stop either.
Of course, these were all rumors mentioned in the book. The God's Favored were ultimately too rare an existence, and no one knew whether the various stories about them were true or false.
"If you don't want to tell the truth, then forget it," Murong Yue closed his eyes. "Su Cheng, when you go to the Imperial Capital in the future, I will defeat you fair and square."
"Yeah right, a fifth-tier warrior beating a second-tier mage must be so difficult. If you win, it'll definitely be a glorious achievement!"
Su Cheng sneered, "And don't bring up all this nonsense. Don't forget what happened before. Just wait to get sued! You owe me compensation!"
Regardless of whether she was actually going to sue or not, when it came to talking tough, she had to say it first!
Su Cheng: "We'll see who the clown is then."
Murong Yue seemed to want to speak, but his expression turned ugly again, clearly knowing she wasn't afraid of blowing things out of proportion.
He gave her a deep look, turned, and left.
Watching his retreating figure disappear, Su Cheng couldn't help but casually complain, "Thank goodness I didn't marry him. I really can't understand how this guy's brain works."
Lin Zhen, watching from the side, shook his head upon hearing this. "He thinks everything you have is because of your status as a God's Favored. Hmph, why doesn't he consider that being chosen by a deity is the greatest ability of all? Otherwise, why wasn't he chosen?"
Su Cheng blinked. "So he's jealous of me?"
"It might not just be jealousy," Lin Zhen looked at her. "Chengcheng, don't blame your uncle for being nosy. Since you look down on this person and don't care how he sees you, don't argue with him out of spite in the future. If there are any competitions between your academies and he deliberately provokes you into not using your powers as a God's Favored, you absolutely must not listen to him. Just do what you have to do."
Su Cheng nodded. "That's what I thought too. Who does he think he is? Why should I listen to him?"
Lin Zhen sighed and mentioned a friend he once had, one of the head bodyguards of a merchant caravan. Although not a peerless genius, he had good talent and cultivated both magic and martial arts. One day, he made a bet with some bandits they met on the road and didn't use magic during the fight. He fell for their trick and died as a result.
"... In terms of skill, Murong Yue can't compare to you, but reaching his current rank at his age means he absolutely shouldn't be underestimated."
"I understand, Uncle. But don't worry, he's just a jinx to me. I don't want his approval; it's completely worthless to me."
She wasn't Lin Yun, who was always afraid of being looked down upon, constantly getting triggered over it, with a fragile ego made of paper.
Su Cheng then said she needed to head out. She went straight to the center of the commercial street and returned to the Mercenary Guild.
As soon as she pushed open the door to the meeting room, she let out a long sigh of relief.
The two guild members who had gone to the temple to steal had both returned.
"Good evening—"
The silver-haired young man sat on the table with one long leg bent and the other dangling, greeting her with a lazy posture.
"Did your date with the Archbishop go well?"
He stared at her with those crimson eyes, his expression revealing neither joy nor anger. His gaze then shifted to the bag in the young woman's arms.
"Yeah," Su Cheng hugged the oil-paper bag tightly and silently shuffled over to the guild leader's side. "For you."
Kai was still sitting in his original seat, a pile of empty liquor bottles by his hand. He was surrounded by the sweet scent of cherry wine, yet his face showed no signs of drunkenness.
Those golden eyes still looked gentle, the slit pupils a bit rounder now, making him look like a harmless big cat at first glance.
"Thank you."
The black-haired man said softly. He reached out to take it, then immediately started eating from it.
Sasha raised an eyebrow, looking at the fried potato balls in the leader's hand, and then at Su Cheng. "Did you really take White to that rundown tavern on Embroidered Nail Street to eat this?"
Before Su Cheng could speak, the vampire burst into laughter. "His reaction must have been hilarious—"
"... He thought it was pretty good," Su Cheng said, speechless. "Though I can't tell if he was just being polite."
She turned her head to look at Camus.
The blood mage sat at the very back of the meeting room, leaning against his chair with his arms crossed. He was frowning, seemingly annoyed by his teammate's laughter.
Su Cheng asked them if their mission went smoothly and what those two earthquakes were all about.
"No idea," Sasha said casually. "We were both already back by then. Darling, who do you think we are? It was just a little theft. The people from the Holy Church wouldn't even know. Why would we make such a commotion?"
"Huh?" Su Cheng felt her brain tie into a knot. "But you said earlier that if the Archbishop was there—"
Sasha shrugged. "Didn't you lure him away? That made it even simpler. Actually, even if he were there, he probably would have turned a blind eye."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he might have released his spiritual power to monitor us, and upon seeing we only stole a little bit of that, he wouldn't care. That guy is very shrewd. He weighs the pros and cons. The cost of catching us isn't small, but the benefits are few. After all, we're just nobodies, not succubi who escaped from the Church's prison."
The silver-haired young man spread his hands. "Of course, this is all speculation. We'd also have to show some of our strength to make him drop the idea of capturing us. Besides, if he happened to be in a bad mood, we'd be in trouble."
Su Cheng pondered for a few seconds. "So what was with the earthquake?"
"No idea," Sasha said casually. "But after leaving the temple, I did sense a very uncomfortable spiritual power..."
Su Cheng stood up abruptly.
The three men in the meeting room all looked at her.
She suddenly remembered the Archbishop's words and wondered if that Grand Inquisitor had arrived and gotten into a fight with the people in the temple.
—Yes, even though they were both from the Holy Church, that guy would fight without hesitation.
This kind of thing had happened in the book too.
Su Cheng silently sat back down. "It's nothing. I just suddenly thought that if one day I get into a fight with some weirdo, you guys should hurry up and hide far away."
The identities of these three didn't seem simple.
If they provoked a cleric of that status, it would definitely be a lot of trouble.
But then again, that person was very proactive. If he wanted to find her, he probably would have already barged in by now.
"I suggest you don't think about other things right now."
Camus took out a small crystal bottle and placed it on the table. He stood up and began to clean the crucible, clearly about to brew the next batch of potion.
Su Cheng's scalp tingled at the sight, instantly throwing everything else to the back of her mind. "Can the taste this time just be normally bad? Instead of anti-human levels of bad?"
The blond man shot her a glare and said nothing.
Su Cheng: "?"
She couldn't help but feel that this guy was a little unhappy, but she didn't know why.
"Also—" Sasha spoke up faintly. "Why did you only buy fried potato balls for the leader? Didn't the leader tell you that I like eating from that place too?"
Kai hadn't joined their conversation at all, silently eating his potato balls. It wasn't until this moment that he looked up at him. "No."
Sasha: "..."
Su Cheng couldn't help but laugh.
If it were any other time, she would have definitely retorted, but he had just helped her.
Su Cheng: "There are dozens in that bag. The boss gave me all his remaining stock. It's definitely enough for you guys—"
Kai placed the empty paper bag on the table. "Sorry, I thought you really got them just for me."
Su Cheng froze for a second. "Didn't you say you already had dinner?"
Sasha rolled his eyes. "It's already his late-night snack time. Even if you bought a few hundred, there might not be any left."
Su Cheng: "......"
These were fried potato balls the size of a baby's fist, filled with high-calorie stuffing! A whole big bag of them! She had carried them all the way here!
Su Cheng silently pulled two small oil-paper bags from her pocket. "I also bought some black pudding chunks and crispy pork cracklings—"
Sasha snatched them right away. "Thanks."
Su Cheng pulled another paper bag from a different pocket and dawdled over to a certain blood mage. "These are fried apple rings. I had the boss sprinkle extra powdered sugar on them."
The blond man glanced at her, silently took the bag, slowly opened it, and took a bite.
In that instant, the displeased expression on his face seemed to soften a bit.
"... It won't be that bad," Camus said lightly. "I mean your potion."
Su Cheng didn't know if she could trust him.
By sunrise, the second batch of potion was finally finished.
She went home again and brought back two books. While a certain someone was brewing medicine, she curled up in the conference room, reading with great relish.
Sasha leaned over to read with her. After reading a few lines, he rolled his eyes. "What is so interesting about this? These people look like they were all cut from the same cloth."
Su Cheng looked up in surprise. "Huh? You have read them all?"
"The Seven Gods of Glory, right? They all choose people based on similar standards. The ones they pick are just beasts of burden for the Church—"
The vampire gave a disdainful cold snort. "I know that without even reading it."
"You do not know anything," Su Cheng said in annoyance. "Even the same deity will choose favored ones with different, or even completely opposite personalities. The people in the book are quite different from each other, okay?"
He gave a light scoff. "That is only on the surface. In reality, they all share many of the same traits. That 'sameness' actually comes from the deity themselves."
Su Cheng was stunned. "Are you saying the personalities of the favored ones are similar to the deities themselves?"
The silver-haired young man spread his hands.
Su Cheng could not help but want to retort.
Leaving the God of Law aside for a moment, how was she anything like the God of Contracts?!
She did not have such a twisted sense of humor at all!
"Come here and drink your medicine."
Camus's voice interrupted them.
Su Cheng slowly stood up from her chair and trudged toward the other end of the long table. Those short few steps felt like they took half a lifetime.
"Stop dawdling."
Pushed beyond his patience, the blond man grabbed her and pressed her against the edge of the table. "I have already tasted it. It is not as... bitter as last time."
Su Cheng found that pause highly suspicious.
But this guy had been brewing the potion all night, yet the smell in the conference room was not strong—just a faint sour scent. So, she picked up the bottle with half-hearted belief.
Then, the very first sip nearly dissolved all the teeth in her mouth from the sourness.
Su Cheng: "..."
The men in the conference room were all looking at her.
She silently tilted her head back and downed the whole bottle of aged vinegar—no, potion.
Su Cheng set the empty bottle aside, then peacefully lay flat on the table and quietly closed her eyes.
Camus: "..."
The other two men shot him meaningful looks.
"And so it goes," Sasha summarized in a poetic tone. "This poor child has finally perished under the potion of the wicked blood mage."
Kai, who was reading a collection of stories about the favored ones, gave a soft sigh upon hearing this. "We will always remember her."
Camus: "......"
