"Go," she commanded, her voice carrying an unquestionable resolve. "No matter what you hear, do not look back at me."
Amidst the storm of dust and rubble, the dragon beast turned into a galloping black shadow, disappearing at the end of the moonlight.
Su Cheng wandered curiously around the exhibition hall. The various items collected here could all be considered antiquities.
And unlike ordinary objects with a long history, the vast majority of these possessed some kind of magic.
Some were blessed, while others carried curses from enemies.
The various traces left by war, after a long period of time, still remained on them, silently telling of a certain hidden past.
"Fernand's Heart of Fortitude..."
She looked up at a huge, cracked bronze shield, which looked as if it had been pieced together from fragments.
The display case recorded the relevant story.
A high-ranking cleric of the Holy See, who was also a deeply experienced and knowledgeable scholar, led a team to explore an ancient ruin one day and was attacked by the legion of the Eternal Night Secret Cult.
Although the enemy numbers were extremely large, enough to be called a medium-sized troop, and reinforcements kept arriving, the cleric still led her people in a fierce battle until all her colleagues were killed in action.
Although she faced a legion composed of a few humans and a large number of mixed-blood darkspawn all by herself, with her strength, she actually had a chance to escape.
She had countless such opportunities, but she didn't take any of them.
She wanted to send a message to the Holy See's army, but the enemy mages had cast a restriction, making most spells used for communication uncastable.
Fighting to the very last moment, she used some kind of sacrificial holy art to forcefully carve out a path, letting her mount dragon go.
Because of that holy art, the drake carrying the letter barely escaped without being intercepted and killed by the cult's legion, managing to deliver the message to a nearby temple.
That cleric was torn to pieces by demons and vampires.
It is said that the enemy also admired her quite a bit, and later returned her weapon.
Standing outside the display case, Su Cheng could vaguely feel a certain sacred, familiar aura lingering on the shield, which was probably the power of light she had experienced many times.
"...I remember this person," Su Cheng suddenly said. "She was elevated to the God of Courage after her death, right?"
"Yes," Ian didn't seem surprised. "Some people who don't know her think she was the kind of person born for battle, like a Paladin Commander charging into enemy lines, because they think courage is the quality of a warrior and the nature of a knight, and it is only right for them to bear such a godhood."
Su Cheng pondered for a moment. "It does give that impression, just like the God of Mercy was a High Priest in life, who healed many, many people, even some who were considered enemies, right? So they would have similar thoughts about other deities?"
Ian nodded slightly. "The courage to stick to one's post and fulfill one's duties is indeed worthy of praise, but I feel that what better embodies this concept are precisely those unexpected moments. Just like how we are always moved by a flower growing in a crevice of a rock, whereas it would be completely different if it grew in a courtyard—someone who has the chance to save herself, whose identity and dreams are calling her to retreat, yet she chooses to sacrifice herself. She knows she will never again have the chance to complete her research and exploration, that her lifelong pursuit will end at this moment, but she still chooses to keep moving forward. You see, that is not a honed courage, but something purer and more essential."
Su Cheng's heart stirred. "You're absolutely right... Actually, I've seen her statue, and she didn't dress like a scholar."
"Clerics of that era, especially those exploring dangerous areas, almost all wore armor and carried weapons. Only the priests and bishops who usually faced the public would wear robes."
They came to another display stand, which showcased a necklace. The pendant was a round, bright sapphire as deep as the sky.
Su Cheng saw that there seemed to be some kind of pattern on the gemstone, which also changed constantly with the light.
She looked down at the introduction information, her gaze suddenly pausing.
It read that this necklace came from an artisan named Hammerfield, and this surname was engraved on the back of the pendant, almost blending in with the necklace.
Su Cheng still remembered the set of Hidden and Dangerous Spells she had bought before. The author didn't sign their full name, leaving only the surname Hammerfield.
Now, the necklace in the display case seemed to carry some kind of curse. It was said that clerics would feel uncomfortable touching it.
And its history was quite ancient. The record on it stated that this item also came from the Cyan Moon Calendar, an antiquity from thousands of years ago.
Once, an elder of the Mirror Concealment Society deliberately murdered a bishop, then infiltrated the Holy See, wanting to steal the necklace, but failed.
Su Cheng's pupils quaked. "...The Mirror Concealment Society? That organization that worships the God of Illusions?"
Ian glanced at her. "You came into contact with one of their members?"
Su Cheng didn't want to mention the fact that she had killed a prince. "I've heard people talk about it."
She was just about to make a joke to gloss over it when she was suddenly pinned in place.
A large, warm hand covered her entire shoulder blade, and layers of warmth seeped into her bare skin.
Perhaps because of her affinity with the power of light, Su Cheng instinctively relaxed, and that comfortable feeling of being washed and purified surged up again.
She almost wanted to fall asleep right then and there.
Not because she was sleepy, but because of that lazy feeling of basking in the sun, as if her bones were filled with heat, her body became light, and she wanted to take an afternoon nap.
"The people of the Mirror Concealment Society left a mark on you," Ian said lightly. "It looks like you've become a 'target'."
Su Cheng: "..."
She already knew about this latter matter.
But as for the so-called mark, she didn't feel it at all.
Since that organization consisted of followers of the Illusion God, and the God of Illusions was an ally of the Dark God, it was equivalent to being an enemy of the God of Light and the Holy See, belonging to one of the heretical false gods they spoke of.
Therefore, high-ranking clerics of the Holy See were probably more sensitive to the aura of their power.
Su Cheng: "Can you clear it away?"
"I can," he nodded. "But for some reason, it has lost its meaning now. Even if I don't intervene, it will dissipate in a few days."
Su Cheng was about to ask when she suddenly felt a heat on her shoulder, and black mist spilled out from between the fingers covering her acromion.
He raised his hand, as if drawing out some kind of existence. Wisps of black mist were pulled out and quickly dissipated into the air.
Su Cheng vaguely felt a little lighter.
"You must have had some wonderful experiences these past few days," the blonde young man looked down at her. "Did I miss anything important?"
"Thank you," Su Cheng didn't want to talk about the Commander's private affairs, so she had to skip the part about the Marigold Palace. "Long story short, it's nothing more than me and some people scheming against each other, and I survived."
"Oh," Ian instead revealed a slight smile. "That sounds really familiar. I actually think that the reason we can stand here today is precisely because we both have had many such experiences."
They continued walking through the exhibition hall. Among those heroic epics and secret-laden antiquities, some of the introductory information was incomplete, so Ian filled in a few stories for her.
Although she still did not have a clear understanding of the war between the Holy Church and the Secret Cult, or between the God of Light and the God of Darkness, she was able to piece together some of the events intermittently.
Su Cheng listened with rapt attention. "...So why are they placed here? I thought these things should be in some collection gallery in the Holy City?"
"The Holy City does indeed house many collections, but most of what you see here represents certain unknown pasts, and the people of the Holy Church do not really wish for them to be revealed."
Ian met the young girl's questioning gaze. "You are not a fanatic of history. Some things are just stories to you, but to others, they might use them to dig up some... less than honorable truths."
"Of course," he paused for a moment, "only those people in the Holy City would care. But if you ask me, I don't mind at all. Before the Siege of White Night, the war had already officially begun. This was inherently a struggle for interests without glory. The power to decorate history is nothing more than a small accessory among the victor's spoils. Looking through the past and present, the true beneficiaries never care about how the creatures on the continent view them."
When he talked about these things, the expression on his face was quite calm, and his tone was very casual.
It was as if he were merely discussing the taste of dinner, rather than making some treasonous remarks.
At least for a cleric, these words were enough to get him dragged into the Inquisition.
Because he sounded like he was "slandering" the God of Light.
At the very least, this viewpoint seemed completely contradictory to the image shaped by that Supreme God.
Su Cheng did not speak.
She still remembered the first time she entered the temple, how those Holy Knights had so confidently sugarcoated it as a holy war, saying that the crimes of the Eternal Night Secret Cult were heinous and too numerous to record, and that the Holy Church was purifying the land defiled by them.
At that time, she didn't have much of a real sense of it, but after entering the ruins of Misseros, after seeing the memories of Lord Montagne—
She realized with immense clarity that this was not the case.
The ghosts of the deceased residents still wandered eternally in that forgotten, empty city.
She remembered the baby chopped into two halves along with its father, remembered the child picking up toys on the ground, and also remembered the desperate shop owner praying to the God of Darkness.
In the eyes of the people from the Holy Church, they were inevitably polluted heretics, not worthy of salvation.
Of course—
Like those Holy Knights in the temple, perhaps they didn't know much of the truth. The reason they firmly declared it to be correct and just was that they truly thought so.
Or perhaps the Holy Church simply did not allow any other voices to emerge.
Su Cheng: "...Why are you saying these things in front of me?"
If Ian were like those people, linking the Eternal Night Secret Cult with evil and defining it as something that ought to be eradicated, she would definitely find it boring.
However, this person always seemed to have a knack for saying certain things that interested her at specific moments.
Ian tilted his head and looked at the black arrows in the exhibition hall. His gaze fell on the shafts, as if he saw a certain distant past.
"To let you know me," he said slowly. "I am showing myself to you, a self that even I am about to forget—"
Su Cheng suddenly heard her own heartbeat.
This couldn't really be considered a confession.
He probably didn't like her to a special degree either; at most, he had a bit of a favorable impression.
But she suddenly felt an attraction.
—Part of it came from the man himself, and the other part from this behavior of his.
Under the witness of those legendary antiquities, they seemed no longer to be two figures with identities, but rather two souls gazing at each other across space.
The entire noisy world seemed to be isolated outside the bronze doors, leaving only this quiet space flowing with soft light.
"Alright," Su Cheng took a deep breath. "I understand. Then I can also tell you that, for various reasons, I've stirred up a bunch of trouble."
Of course, some previous events were out of her control, but the terrible experience at the Marigold Palace was entirely voluntary, and she would not regret it.
Ian looked down at her. "...Did you think of someone?"
Su Cheng was taken aback. "Huh?"
He reached out and touched her jaw, his fingertips almost touching the skin but maintaining that final distance, then slowly sliding upwards.
His slender fingers seemed to be tracing the outline of her lips.
"You smiled," the blonde young man said in a low voice. "Although it wasn't very obvious."
Su Cheng was bewildered for a few seconds. "Did I?"
His drooping eyelashes trembled slightly, and the scattered, fine lamplight was like stars, falling into those golden eyes that seemed to ripple with dawn light, before being entirely swallowed up.
"Yes," Ian nodded. A certain gloomy expression surfaced on that handsome and ethereal face. "Since you didn't even feel it yourself, it means you are even more..."
He raised the corners of his mouth, but the smile did not reach his eyes. "I suppose that must be a very important person."
Su Cheng only felt a row of ellipses floating above her head.
She rolled her eyes. "Probably. I have important people, and if you have them too, I wouldn't mind anyway."
"If I had, I might not be here."
He gave a soft, self-deprecating laugh, but did not press further. "...I hope tonight's arrangements can still satisfy you. This place is actually considered my house, but I haven't been here in many years."
"Oh, this is really great!" Su Cheng gave a thumbs up. "I like it very much. Although it's different from what I imagined, oh, I'm definitely not giving backhanded compliments or making insinuations. This sentence is entirely complimentary, because if it were the same as I imagined, it would be too cliché. I've already had similar experiences, and doing it again would just be more of the same—"
Saying this, she couldn't help but pause again.
If the past of this identity was exactly the same as Lin Yun's, then she probably had no dating experience at all, having been cooped up at home since childhood.
But let alone whether he would go investigate, even if he did, he might not be able to 100% reconstruct the events of these past few years.
Especially since the people involved were very inconspicuous.
Even if many people frequently mocked her for being a good-for-nothing, precisely because of this, she wasn't like those talented children in the family who received a lot of attention.
The servants of the Lin family were all hired, and they often came and went. In case she had dated some young gardener or cook, even her family might not know.
A series of thoughts quickly rolled through Su Cheng's mind, pondering that at worst, she could claim she had dated her teammates.
Though if she could avoid doing so, she shouldn't, as it felt like ruining other people's reputations.
"I understand," Ian raised his eyebrows slightly. "I also hope I can leave you with some special impressions."
"...That is absolute."
"Good," he nodded in satisfaction. "So how do you wish to proceed next? Shall we end it here and I escort you back to the hotel, or will you take me back to the temple?"
Inappropriate cinematic scenes suddenly popped into Su Cheng's mind. "It's a pity it's summer. Otherwise, if it snowed a little after our date, it would look quite romantic. Ha, I'm just joking. By the way, if I want to schedule a meeting with Archbishop Johnson—"
Ian lowered his gaze. "Because of those things in your hand?"
"Yeah," Su Cheng sighed. "This is the Duke of Aulu's proposal."
"May I take a look?"
Su Cheng figured that this wasn't classified information. Besides, according to formal procedures, even if the Archbishop agreed, this proposal would still be circulated among multiple clerics.
So she handed it to him.
Ian took it and flipped through it. He didn't read it page by page, only glancing at the most important parts at the beginning. "This can be approved."
"Really?"
"Yes," he nodded. "It wasn't allowed before because of certain Church policies, but things happen to have changed over the past few months."
Su Cheng blinked. "Are you sure? Don't go cashing in favors or anything for this. This is between him and me—"
"I'm not lying to you," he shook his head. "I swear that even if you and I weren't involved, as long as Galen VII asked one more time, Flavia would agree to it."
Su Cheng thought that since he knew her identity, he wouldn't dare swear an oath so casually. It must be true.
"If you were a cleric, I would explain it to you in detail."
Ian closed the proposal. "Now you can think about it yourself. The Northern Continent will soon become increasingly chaotic, and the Church will no longer suppress the rise of these forces..."
Su Cheng: "?"
What forces?
The favored of the God of Wealth?
He didn't give her a clear answer, leaving her to figure it out on her own.
Su Cheng: "Then how should I reply to Galen? Or should I just ignore him? Once the proposal is approved, the Church's permit will be sent to his mansion anyway, or he'll receive the news regardless, right?"
"Selfishly, I'd suggest you ignore him."
"?"
"I mean," he looked at her with a half-smile, "the Duke of Aulu might sooner or later realize that the outcome of this matter comes down to a change in the Church's attitude, but that won't happen right away. For now, let him think it's due to your extraordinary influence over the Archbishop. He was trying to test your weight anyway."
Su Cheng: "..."
As they walked out the doors of the collection hall, Su Cheng suddenly felt the crisp, damp air brush against her cheeks.
She looked up and saw snowflakes drifting down from the sky, like countless soft feathers, gently and freely blanketing the entire ancient and deep street.
