Su Cheng thought to herself, wondering if the area had been expanded or if the Holy Church had simply pushed others out.
After all, this place was the true center of the town.
Thinking this, she naturally wouldn't say it out loud. On the surface, she just nodded. "Hello, I am just a foreigner passing by to see the historical sites."
The silver-haired man took two steps forward, keeping a distance from her, and did not come any closer.
"Hello, foreigner," he said faintly. "Why did you bow to her? She never saved your ancestors."
Su Cheng was taken aback for a moment, then realized he was talking about the statue. "...I think she is great? Even if what she did has nothing to do with me, it doesn't prevent me from showing my respect, right?"
What was wrong with this guy?
If it were anywhere else, she would suspect the other party was a believer of the God of Darkness, but this was the temple of the Holy Church.
Wait a minute.
Su Cheng couldn't help but take two steps back.
Could it be the God of Lust coming to mess with her again?! And deliberately choosing such an ascetic-looking appearance...
"She was a six-star warrior."
The silver-haired man suddenly spoke.
Su Cheng: "?"
Su Cheng: "Oh, you mean this mayor. That is very impressive. Looking at the years of her birth and death, she was not even fifty when she sacrificed herself."
Her cheap uncle was also at the fifth tier and about the same age. In a place like Jinpo City, he was considered one of the top experts, and the local nobles had to show him some respect.
The people from Nanhe Academy looked down on him because they were stronger; they were considered experts across the entire empire.
Although Iron Cage Town was prosperous, it ultimately could not compare to the city. For the mayor here to have such strength was a rare thing no matter how you looked at it.
The silver-haired man glanced at her, seemingly wanting to say something. After a few seconds, he slowly spoke.
"...This means she could at least have escaped with her life," he said in a deep voice. "Even taking her children with her would have been enough, but she insisted on protecting everyone in the town until she shed her last drop of blood."
Su Cheng shrugged. "Making that choice when she had other options only makes her seem even greater."
The silver-haired man frowned slightly. "I thought you would consider it very stupid."
Su Cheng blinked. "If you must know, if it were me, I wouldn't do it, because I am a selfish, cold-blooded, and morally flawed person."
The silver-haired man: "..."
His expression was somewhat subtle.
"Yes," Su Cheng crossed her arms. "I don't know why, but I feel like you wanted to hear a similar answer, or get me to agree with you. It doesn't matter, it's the truth anyway. And just because I wouldn't do it doesn't mean I don't admire people who would. I shouldn't need to repeat this logic, right? Furthermore, what do you think? Do you think this..."
"I think it is very stupid."
The silver-haired man said decisively.
Su Cheng was silent for two seconds. "Alright, we all have the right to keep our own thoughts. And you are... sorry, how should I address you?"
The silver-haired man glanced at her. "Wayne."
Su Cheng suddenly realized. "Oh, you share the same surname. You are a descendant of this mayor."
Although Mayor Wayne and her children all died, if she had siblings, the surname could still be passed down.
Besides, if she married a bit early, becoming a grandmother in her forties was quite normal.
Su Cheng's imagination began to run wild. "Speaking of which, the mayor's children sacrificed themselves. Did they die in battle voluntarily? Is that the reason for your anger?"
She couldn't help but guess whether one of Mayor Wayne's deceased children was a direct ancestor of the man in front of her.
But that was too long ago.
Even if that were the case, he shouldn't have so much resentment unless there was some other reason.
"Yes," the silver-haired man said coldly. "But a so-called voluntary choice can also be the result of guidance and molding."
Su Cheng understood. "Oh, so your family has a similar ancestral teaching..."
So that was why he was unhappy? To the point of resenting an ancestor from a thousand years ago?
"Stop analyzing me," the silver-haired man said in a deep voice. "You know nothing."
Su Cheng couldn't help but roll her eyes at him. "Right. After all, I am just a passerby bowing to a memorial statue. I am naturally supposed to know all the stories and secrets from a thousand years ago."
The silver-haired man ignored the sarcasm and just continued to gaze at the statue.
A few seconds passed.
He spoke as if muttering to himself: "I too was once proud of my mother, of her courage, integrity, and kindness... but later, I wished she was someone like you."
Su Cheng: "?"
The man continued: "Selfish, cold-blooded, and morally flawed..."
Su Cheng: "..."
Although she had said this herself, hearing it now felt a bit strange.
The silver-haired man turned his head to look at her. "Then I wouldn't have had to piece her corpse together in the ruins."
Su Cheng completely understood.
It turned out his mother was a person just like Mayor Wayne. It seemed certain spirits of this family were indeed hereditary.
"Although it is impossible for me to put myself in your shoes and truly feel what you felt..."
Su Cheng sighed. "But I roughly understand what you mean. I am very sorry to hear that."
The silver-haired man did not speak. He just silently bent down and crouched, looking at the monument in front of him covered with scattered blades of grass. His expression was cold, but he seemed lost in thought.
Su Cheng couldn't help but look at him.
The curves of his eyebrows, eyes, nose bridge, and even his jawline were incredibly beautiful, as if forged and sculpted from the first snow.
His drooping eyelashes were like ice crystals formed on pine needles on a winter night, concealing those cold, quiet eyes that buried deep sorrow.
"...Hey," she said softly. "Don't be sad."
The silver-haired man turned his head slightly to look at her.
He was very tall, but crouching down made him shorter than her after all.
Looking from this angle, that face was breathtakingly beautiful, and the fleeting confusion and gloom in his eyes were so pitiable.
Su Cheng couldn't help but pat his head. "Your mom wouldn't want to see you like this."
Her fingers sank into the man's hair. The silver-white curls were almost translucent in the sunlight, like washed silk, and felt slightly cool to the touch.
It was like a thin layer of snow in early winter, soft and slightly cold, the curly strands lightly brushing against the skin between her fingers.
It felt like rubbing a cloud, or stroking the fur of some precious animal, delicate, smooth, and slightly fluffy.
For a moment, she almost wanted to bury her fingers in there and never take them out.
Su Cheng: "..."
Wait.
A moment too late, she suddenly realized her behavior was extremely bizarre and impolite.
She had just petted a stranger's head!
Su Cheng froze.
The man was also stunned.
They stared at each other wide-eyed for a few seconds.
The silver-haired man abruptly stood up. The shadow cast by his shoulders enveloped her, and his face revealed a mixed expression of indignation, embarrassment, and annoyance.
For a moment, Su Cheng felt he simply wanted to hit someone.
It was like the state of someone who had been offended and was ready to slap a hooligan at any moment.
Su Cheng: "I just wanted to..."
They had been discussing a rather serious topic, and she genuinely hadn't had any other thoughts. She just thought he looked a bit pitiful, and combined with how handsome he was, she wanted to comfort him.
How did things turn out like this?
Perhaps it was also because he wished his mother was like her, which inexplicably triggered her maternal instincts?
This was way too absurd!
Su Cheng: "...Sorry."
She stiffly stepped back. "You look like a warrior. After all, you—"
Su Cheng couldn't help but look him up and down as she spoke.
The silver-haired man was incredibly tall, though not exceptionally burly. However, beneath the elegant lapels and tailored lines of his trench coat, one could see a broad chest, a lean waist, and full thighs that stretched the shafts of his boots, pulling the leather taut.
"You—"
The man's fingers, hanging by his side, suddenly clenched. His knuckles pressed against the hem of his coat, creating a sharp crease.
His shirt was buttoned all the way up, fitting snugly around his neck. The Adam's apple above his collar bobbed slightly, making it look as though he was suppressing his anger.
The skin behind his ears burned hot, blood rushing uncontrollably to the surface, revealing a faint flush beneath his cold, pale complexion. And because his skin was so fair, it was incredibly easy to notice.
His jaw tightened, and his thin lips pressed into a sharp line. "If you keep looking at me like that—"
His voice was kept extremely low, as if ground out from the depths of his throat, carrying a barely perceptible tremor.
"No, no, no!"
Su Cheng felt a massive headache coming on. "I just wanted to say, if you want to duel, we should at least take it outside. After all, there are so many statues and monuments here—they're history. Let's not break them."
The silver-haired man frowned and glared at her, as if he was so angry he found it funny. A sarcastic expression appeared on his face. "Do you really care?"
Su Cheng kept retreating, having already left the garden and backed into the corridor. "I came here specifically to see the historical sites. If I thought this stuff wasn't worth mentioning, what would I be doing here? Wouldn't it be better to spend this time drinking and eating cake?"
He seemed stumped by her question.
Su Cheng was about to say something else when she suddenly felt a burning heat on her back. A fine, searing sensation rose from her spine and spread outward through her veins.
Su Cheng: "..."
You've got to be kidding me!
She took two steps back and gripped the railing, unable to stop herself from gasping for air.
The halo rippling at the corners of the young woman's eyes flickered, gradually outlining a faintly glowing golden goblet, with bizarrely beautiful purplish-red grapes spilling over the rim.
Even her breath carried a sweet fragrance, drifting out in wispy tendrils.
The silver-haired man: "..."
He caught the scent. It smelled fresh and sweet, yet it seemed to carry hooks that tore at a person's sanity.
An ordinary person could instantly ascend to pure bliss because of it, reaching the climax on the spot.
This was the manifestation of the God of Jubilation's power, or rather, a form of divine power that largely depended on the intentions of the God's favored.
There are many ways for people to obtain pleasure, and the favored ones could immerse people in different types of joy and euphoria.
Sex was one of them.
A fleeting look of fury appeared on the man's face, as if he thought she was doing this on purpose. But then he realized something was wrong.
The girl was leaning against a pillar in the corridor. A flush spread across her snow-white cheeks, sweat beaded on her forehead, and a few strands of damp hair clung together.
"I advise you not to come any closer," she took two breaths and irritably tugged at her collar. "...You'll probably get hurt. I... just assume I have an illness, the kind that hurts people when it acts up."
Su Cheng babbled incoherently.
The man in front of her certainly looked like he was in good shape, but muscles didn't necessarily equal strength. She couldn't judge a book by its cover and assume he was a mid-to-high-tier warrior.
Even though he was a bit weird, she was the one who had messed with his hair first.
"So—"
The silver-haired man looked at her with an indescribable gaze and slowly walked over, as if examining some kind of monster.
"You've been..."
His voice was very soft. "And someone like you... actually..."
Su Cheng felt her head spinning. Amidst the dizzying swirl, her forehead bumped into his chest.
The tall, solid male body in front of her suddenly went rigid.
She could only hear broken, intermittent words.
She realized she was using the power of the God of Jubilation, and this seemed to exacerbate her hazy state.
Although she had used it unintentionally, it was mostly due to the curse's influence, making her instinctively want to find someone who could alleviate her condition.
Right.
The commander and the others were still in town. It wasn't too far from here; riding a horse over would definitely be fast enough.
But no matter what, she had to get out of the temple first. She couldn't keep doing this kind of thing in the temple.
However, her brain was becoming more and more like mush. That intoxicating pleasure seemed to reflect back onto herself as well.
She suddenly understood why Qin Jing was so neurotic. It was certainly because he himself was a lunatic, but the power of the deity itself also had other effects on these favored ones.
Especially when using it.
Combined with this garbage curse, the effect was doubled.
"I can't keep doing this," Su Cheng tried to rein in her power. "If I do it again, I'll be killed by what's-his-name. He definitely wants me dead..."
A soft snort suddenly sounded above her head.
"Who would kill you?"
The silver-haired man said in an annoyed tone. "If you..."
His voice came to an abrupt halt.
The girl's burning fingertips unconsciously slipped into his cuff. Her soft finger pads pressed against the inside of his wrist, brushing over his veins like a feather, constantly stroking back and forth.
"Little Ma hates me!"
She whined, "Even though his temper is terrible, Little Ma is really handsome!"
His words paused.
