Camus stared at her with a dark expression for a few seconds, then suddenly slammed his hat down onto her head.
Su Cheng was almost pushed to the ground by his force. She took a step back to steady herself. "...Hey!"
"A lot of people will be watching you," he said coldly. "There was someone following you on the street outside, not to mention the ones who are actively looking for you."
Su Cheng held the brim of the hat. "Alright, thanks. Do I need to go take care of them?"
"No, I've already made them leave."
The blood mage said irritably, then turned and walked away, seemingly unwilling to say another word.
Sasha had been looking at her with an indescribable gaze.
Kai, meanwhile, seemed to be pondering something. Noticing her slight embarrassment, he simply put an arm around her shoulders. "Let's go back."
But even after they returned to the hotel in the East District, the stiff atmosphere did not completely ease.
Under the watchful eyes of the greeters, they walked into a five-story building.
The creamy white exterior walls featured windows inlaid with stained glass that sparkled in the sunlight. The first-floor lobby was extremely spacious. Most of the passing guests were dressed in extravagant clothes, while the rest were mercenaries in mage robes or battle armor.
The hotel was built in a hollow square layout with a large garden in the center. It was obviously expensive, and the guests staying here were certainly not short of money.
Su Cheng headed straight for the bar area, but was immediately held back.
"Upstairs," Kai said in a low voice. "Unless you want to make small talk until tonight with people who are eager to get close to you."
"Oh, I just thought you wanted a drink," Su Cheng said, a little surprised. "Unless they followed me here, does everyone really know me?"
"You really are considerate of the commander."
Sasha glanced at her. "Do you think your looks are so unremarkable that you couldn't be picked out of a crowd?"
Su Cheng: "Well, that's true... Wait, this is the imperial capital. There are plenty of good-looking men and women here."
"Is that so?" Sasha immediately retorted. "Do you think, if I were a well-informed noble or wealthy merchant, and I had heard certain rumors about looking for a very beautiful, black-haired young mage, that upon seeing you for the first time, I wouldn't suspect you were that person and come strike up a conversation? Even if I wasn't sure it was you, just looking at the clothes you're wearing tells me that getting to know you wouldn't be a loss."
Su Cheng: "...Thanks, I get it."
Sasha stared at her for two seconds, then suddenly said with a hint of resentment, "I thought you liked light-colored hair. Weren't you and the God of Purity—"
"Upstairs first."
Camus stood ahead of them, a few steps away from his teammates. Without the hat to cover his face, he looked even angrier.
The blood mage said in a deep voice, "People are already looking at you."
Su Cheng turned and stepped onto the spiral staircase. "...There is nothing between me and the God of Purity. He simply hates me, and I simply think the pony statue looks nice."
Sasha rolled his eyes at her. "Hah, pony. What an intimate nickname."
Su Cheng looked up at the ceiling. "It's not a nickname! It's not like I'd call him that to his face! I don't want to die!"
They bickered their way up to the third floor and entered a luxuriously and elegantly furnished suite.
The gold-inlaid fireplace in the living room was unlit. A soft, thick rug was spread out in front of it, with several sofas scattered around. Everyone took a seat.
Su Cheng picked up the invitation and waved it. "I'm already prepared—"
Camus took it and looked at it.
Before he had held it for even a few seconds, Sasha snatched it away. "Hmm, it looks real."
Su Cheng also rolled her eyes at him. "The time and location on this are real. What other purpose would there be in sending me a fake one besides messing with me? To humiliate me?"
The vampire tossed the invitation back. "That's hard to say. I've heard that some of the followers of the God of Joy do things like this to fool each other. If they succeed, they might even gain more of your god's favor."
"Really?" Su Cheng frowned. "Does a prank of this level even count? I thought it would be something worse, like humiliating someone for fun."
Sasha stared at her for a few seconds. "So you humiliated the Grand Inquisitor of the Church for fun? Can you give us some more details? Did you force yourself on him?"
Su Cheng: "......No."
Sasha snapped his fingers. "Look at your expression. Attempted."
Su Cheng facepalmed. "You know that everything that happens in the Domain of Law isn't real, right? If you do something bad in a dream, it doesn't mean you actually did it in reality."
Seeing the vampire about to speak again, she hurriedly interrupted, "And it wasn't attempted. I didn't even want to do that. His Highness probably just thought I would be looking for some fun. Good heavens, can we change the subject?"
"...Regardless," Kai spoke up in a deep voice, "I hope you can put on a disguise. Don't let anyone know that you're interested in the dragon bones of the Lightless Ruins."
Su Cheng shot him a grateful look, which then turned into a questioning one. "A disguise?"
Camus tossed another invitation to her. "The Olu family reserves a few invitations every year to send to some of their collaborators. Among them is my teacher, who is one of the advisors for the Ring of Silence. These invitations are unsigned, and any orthodox elemental mage is qualified to use them."
Su Cheng glanced at him.
This guy possessed magical knowledge in more than one field; it wasn't surprising that he had a teacher.
Su Cheng: "What is the Ring of Silence?"
"It's a scholarly organization," Camus explained. "It's also a secretive aristocratic society with all kinds of mages..."
Su Cheng nodded, half-understanding. "So is it this organization that has a relationship with the Olu family, or is it your teacher who has a relationship with them?"
Camus looked at her, seemingly just remembering that they were still in a one-sided cold war.
"Both."
The blood mage said, putting on an aloof front.
Kai leaned back against the sofa, relaxing his long legs. "Whether you can get an invitation or not, I wanted to use this method. At the end of the day, you're just helping me. If it were possible, I'd rather go myself."
Su Cheng tilted her head. "I'm happy to help, but I'm just asking out of pure curiosity. You guys aren't going because none of you know elemental magic?"
"This is a gathering of elemental mages hosted by human nobles. The majority of the participants are human, and a few are mixed-blood. They only receive guests who meet their standards."
Sasha deliberately emphasized the word. "Other races might have some ways to use elemental magic, but it's different from the magical composition in your bodies. We wouldn't be able to pass through the detection magic array at the entrance of the Marigold Palace. Even if we did, the Olu family would pay close attention to us, and their relationship with the Church is also quite tight—"
Su Cheng immediately understood. "You don't want to attract the Church's attention."
Given the way these guys operated, they had probably done other things detrimental to the Church's interests. After all, they were so casual about stealing things from the temple.
Su Cheng: "...So I really should disguise myself, otherwise, if I run into people from the Church, they might pay a little attention to me too."
Or maybe it wouldn't just be a little attention.
Su Cheng asked, "Is there any disguise method that absolutely won't be seen through?"
Camus shook his head slightly. "I can't guarantee 'absolutely'. If a deity were to appear, they could easily identify a soul."
"Are you serious?" Su Cheng looked at him in disbelief. "Should that even be within the scope of our discussion? Would a deity show up at a banquet for trading magical items?"
"I don't know," Camus glanced at her. "Normally, the God of Joy shouldn't appear in a puddle-filled alley behind a tavern either."
Su Cheng's head was full of question marks. "Is that the same thing? That was because that guy named Qin was picking a fight! Or are you trying to say I have some sort of physique that attracts deities?"
The three men looked at her simultaneously.
Su Cheng: "..."
Their faces all clearly said that she absolutely did.
Su Cheng: "Fine, how exactly do we do the disguise?"
"I can do this for you," Camus said in a deep voice. "Let's try it once now to see the effect."
Su Cheng: "?"
Su Cheng suddenly turned and hugged Kai, or more accurately, tightly clung to his muscular arm resting on the side of the sofa.
"Commander," Su Cheng wailed loudly, "can we find someone else? I have plenty of money! I don't want to be his guinea pig anymore!"
Kai obviously hadn't expected her to do this.
"?"
Although with his reflexes he could have completely dodged it, he still allowed the girl to cling to him.
Her soft, warm body pressed against him.
It was just a pleading gesture between familiar companions, tinged with a joking manner.
Even so, his corded, muscular arm couldn't help but tense up.
That young human body radiating warmth was like a piece of freshly baked, softened honey, fermenting amidst the scent of wine and roasted meat.
Through the thin shirt, a substantial softness faintly brushed against the side of his elbow, pressing against his sharply defined tendons like a cushion.
The hot breath exhaled by the young girl brushed over his bulging triceps. His arm stiffened for a moment, and the dormant blood vessels beneath his skin seemed to be steamed hot.
Su Cheng tightly hugged his arm. "I remember there are all sorts of weird illusionists or other eccentric mages who can achieve a similar effect, right?"
"That may be true," Kai sighed softly, "but we just want as few people to know as possible. Plus, it's not a potion this time."
"True," Su Cheng puffed out her cheeks. "Alright then."
She turned her head reluctantly. "Are we going to the room next door?"
The blood mage's face was extremely ugly, as if he was going to tear the roof off in the next second.
Sasha silently leaned back, as if afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
The suite they booked was huge, a living room with four bedrooms, perfectly dividing them up.
The moment Camus stood up, Su Cheng braced herself and followed, praying in her heart that there wouldn't be any more terrible potions.
The bedroom was very bright and spacious. On one side was a floor-to-ceiling crystal glass window. The double bed had cushions and an exquisitely embroidered blanket spread over it.
A ceramic plate on the small bedside table held berries and candied fruits. The colorful wild fruits were very bright and had been washed clean. A translucent vase held fresh red roses, their petals dotted with dew.
Su Cheng walked over, picked up the vase, and took a look. "This color is really beautiful."
The blood mage stood to the side, staring at her. "Now you are not afraid?"
"We're already here, might as well get it over with," Su Cheng pulled out the bouquet of flowers and handed it to him. "For you."
Camus looked at the flowers, then at her. "What are you doing?"
Su Cheng shrugged. "You seemed very unhappy, so I'm giving you some flowers to cheer you up."
He sneered, as if feeling she was being too perfunctory. "Then you should at least buy them from outside, shouldn't you?"
Su Cheng sighed. "Weren't you guys rushing me to come here? Should I go out and buy some now? I actually did see a flower shop's loca—"
The blond man looked at her with gloomy eyes.
Hearing this, those steel-blue eyes shifted, seemingly a bit more satisfied.
But then, not knowing what else came to mind, he seemed even more displeased.
Su Cheng: "..."
He was really hard to understand.
Su Cheng raised her hand and waved it in front of him. "Hey, snap out of it—"
Then he grabbed her wrist. His scalding, powerful large hand wrapped around her wrist bone, his thumb forcefully rubbing against that delicate skin.
The various deep and shallow scrapes and abrasions from before had all been healed by holy magic, leaving no traces behind.
The blood mage's expression was truly terrible, looking as if he would erupt in anger at any moment.
Su Cheng coughed lightly. "So, what are we going to do?"
Camus didn't speak, just continued to grip her wrist.
She could clearly feel the lines of his palm, the burning touch stirring up a faint itchiness.
The young girl's fingertips were slender. The bruising and purple marks around her nail beds had faded, but some of her nails had been split while pulling on reins, making them look a bit uneven.
The blond man lowered his eyes to examine them for a moment, then suddenly bowed his head, his thin lips pressing against the pad of her index finger.
His warm breath brushed over her skin a step ahead.
The next second, he took her finger into his mouth.
Su Cheng: "?"
Before she could ask a question, sharp canines tore into the pad of her finger.
It wasn't actually that painful, but it still made one instinctively want to pull their hand back.
The man's fingers tightened their grip. The teeth that had sunk into her flesh slowly withdrew, and a warm, wet heat lingered over the wound.
The tip of his tongue licked the small split, like some sort of intimate comforting, or a delicate tasting, as if it were some delicacy.
Though this should just be a necessary process for casting the spell.
Su Cheng thought to herself.
He parted from her finger.
Saliva and traces of blood drew out a slender, intermittent liquid thread.
The blood mage's Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he chanted a few obscure-sounding incantations in a low voice.
The traces of blood at the corner of his lips seemed to be granted life, flying up strand by strand like swimming snakes, intertwining and drifting in the air, before drilling back into the wound.
Su Cheng: "..."
The pain had become blurry, and a strange tingling sensation shot from her arm to her spine.
The blood controlled by magic burned within her body. Soon, heat rushed to her head, and she felt the muscles in her face twitching.
A slight tearing sensation roamed across her cheeks.
Camus took another vial of blood from his pocket, poured a little into his palm, and silently recited a few incantations.
Su Cheng guessed that it was someone else's blood.
The drops of blood in his palm slowly rose into the air, transforming into a spinning red sphere, and then fell drop by drop onto her eyelids.
She subconsciously wanted to dodge, but he pinched her face. "Don't move."
The blood mage looked down at her, staring at her transforming facial features, seemingly wanting to confirm something.
Su Cheng could feel that blood merging with her.
After about half a minute, he released his hand. She touched her own face, feeling that her nose had become a bit rounder, and couldn't help but get up to look in the mirror.
There was a very small bathroom in the room, containing a wooden tub and a bronze mirror hanging on the wall. In the mirror, she saw an unfamiliar face.
Her hair had taken on a bit more brown, her face could still be considered delicate and pretty, and there were small freckles on her cheeks.
"How long can this last?"
"...Right now it's only about fifteen minutes, because very little blood was used. When the time comes, it will at least last you until dawn."
Camus stood up and walked to the window. "Is the flow of your magic affected?"
"No problems."
Su Cheng casually formed a wind blade and let it dissipate.
However, once at the gathering, she probably wouldn't have the chance to fight with magic anyway. After all, that place would be full of powerful mages.
"Speaking of which," Su Cheng sighed, "can't I bring a plus one?"
The blood mage glanced at her. "What do you think this is? A noble's matchmaking ball?"
"Alright, one more question about the Ring of Silencers," Su Cheng raised her hand. "What kind of society is it exactly? Do they just study various forbidden spells? Study dangerous magic?"
"...They are indeed pursuing forbidden knowledge," Camus paused. "But their ambitions don't stop there. They are trying to find entities that have vanished into history."
Su Cheng was listening intently, but he didn't continue.
"I have a question too," the blood mage suddenly spoke. "Did your curse act up again?"
Su Cheng slowly nodded.
"How did you resolve it?"
"I ran into someone I had met before in the Holy Church—"
"Someone you met before?" Camus's expression turned subtle. "Not White?"
Su Cheng: "...No."
She had originally wanted to discuss why someone could resolve it just by using their hands, but after getting his answer, Camus stopped asking entirely.
Thinking about it, it was most likely due to the special attributes of the power of light.
—If it were any other elemental power, things like the plaza blessing would be impossible.
The Holy Church's current status and influence were inherently tied to this.
Su Cheng: "If you're going to disguise me as someone else, this person should have an identity, right? Otherwise, if other guests ask, how should I introduce myself?"
"Vanessa Kahn."
Camus glanced at her. "A member of the Ring of Silencers, a seven-star novice wind mage, and a two-star warrior."
He then explained Miss Kahn's background and family situation.
Su Cheng nodded. "What type of battle aura did she cultivate?"
"At that gathering, no one will pay attention to your battle aura," he said flatly. "If you really get into a fight, just use magic."
"Fine," Su Cheng felt exasperated. "Where is Vanessa herself?"
"She died three months ago, but the people who know of her death won't be at the gathering."
"How did she die?"
"She blew herself up studying forbidden spells."
"...Alright."
Su Cheng wouldn't question why a mere tier-three mage was studying forbidden spells.
The concept of forbidden spells was broad. It didn't have to be a spell capable of destroying a city to be considered forbidden.
Some spells with a smaller area of effect but enough power to harm at least one or two people would also be classified as forbidden due to their high uncontrollability.
Su Cheng: "Are you a member of the Ring of Silencers? Shouldn't you brief me on the situation inside? What if someone asks?"
Camus was noncommittal. "The mages at the gathering probably won't ask you that, and even if they do, you don't have to answer. Besides, Vanessa was just an outer member. Like most people, she joined the society merely to access more advanced magic. At their age, they would be rejected by top magic academies, and they only managed to join the Ring of Silencers relying on their noble bloodlines. People like that wouldn't know many of the organization's core secrets. If you are really questioned, just say the invitation was given to you by Mr. Loki. As for the reason, say you gave him a bag of delicious jam-filled bread."
Su Cheng: "...?"
Su Cheng: "Does your teacher have the same taste as you?"
Camus shook his head slightly. "Not the same as me."
He remained silent for a few seconds before suddenly saying, "I originally didn't have any taste preferences. It was them who liked sweets; I was influenced and then got used to it."
"Ah?" Su Cheng looked at him blankly. "So that means you actually like it too, right?"
Camus seemed to ponder for a moment. "It seems so."
Su Cheng couldn't help but laugh. "Then isn't that enough? As long as you aren't forced, and as long as you can find joy in it, then there's no problem."
The blond man fell silent again for a moment, then slowly raised his hand, pinching a fading strand of hair by her ear, seemingly observing the color change on it.
"You're right." He looked at her thoughtfully. "I did gain some... things from it."
Su Cheng nodded vigorously. "Right?"
"Yes," he looked a bit uncertain, but still slowly nodded. "Sometimes it feels very sweet, but sometimes it also seems bitter."
