Chapter 14

“If I am, then I would like to drink a potion, wouldn’t I?”

Back home, Xia’er entered a state of sleep directly, just like the previous simulation, attempting to regain some energy.

When she woke up at four in the morning, she felt that her physical body within the simulation had recovered quite well, but her mental recovery was still negligible.

In short, this sleep was no different from not sleeping at all.

It seemed that trying to exploit a bug by sleeping in the simulation to recover energy was not feasible.

To ensure that subsequent developments remained consistent with the previous simulation, Xia’er waited until 4:45 AM to quietly open the door and leave.

At the opposite alley entrance, Xia’er saw the familiar figure wearing a beret, and also noticed Yulis, who was praying with her back against a lamppost under the dim light.

Yulis seemed to notice Xia’er stepping out of the doorway. She stopped her prayer and turned her masked face toward Xia’er’s direction.

To Yulis, there was no difference between night and day. She could feel Xia’er’s presence passing by, and she lunged straight towards the tracker sleeping in the alleyway.

Splat —

The sound of the dagger piercing the chest echoed through the alley. Yulis closely followed Xia’er, only pausing slightly when passing the corpse.

The killing was done with practiced precision, one fatal blow without giving the man any time to react.

Yulis felt little sympathy for the dead man. She had seen him tailing Xia’er and had no goodwill towards the gang.

She followed Xia’er until they reached an alley not far from the Hammer Inn. However, Xia’er did not hurry to proceed; instead, she lingered in the alley for a moment.

Is this the right place?

There was indeed an extraordinary aura… but very faint.

Yulis did not continue following Xia’er. Instead, she walked straight to the inn’s entrance and listened to what was happening inside.

The two people arguing inside did not notice someone standing outside.

Once the black-robed man finished drinking the potion, the girl named Xia’er slowly approached.

“He has already drunk the potion; this doesn’t match what you said,” Yulis said.

“It might be due to some issue in the process…” Xia’er shook her head and said, “In the future I saw, I killed the stalker in the previous alley, and dealing with the body took some time.”

Yulis didn’t listen to much of Xia’er’s explanation. By now, she was almost certain that everything Xia’er said was true.

As for the remaining doubts, they would depend on whether the person inside had the same two notebooks.

Ding-dong —

Yulis pushed the door open and extended her right hand toward the faint extra-dimensional force ahead.

In Xia’er’s view, the kerosene lamps in the inn suddenly flickered and went out. After several blinks, everything changed.

The black-robed Thomas, who had been turning his head to look this way, and the leader of the Heishuidang behind the bar counter, knelt down in front of Yulis like devout worshippers.

Xia’er couldn’t see what exactly happened.

All she could see was Thomas’s right hand moving uncontrollably and stiffly reaching into his robe, pulling out two notebooks and a bottle of potion, respectfully raising them above his head and offering them to Yulis.

It was as if someone invisible was pressing him, forcing him to make these movements.

What is it? Why can’t I see?

Xia’er widened her eyes, trying to see what was happening inside, but she could only see the two notebooks floating along a trajectory into Yulis’s hands.

It was as if a transparent person was handing them to her.

Could it be that she couldn’t see because she wasn’t an extraordinary person?

Two notebooks floated to Yulis’s left, and she held the other two in her right hand. All four notebooks were opened simultaneously, making a rustling sound in the silent night.

“Exactly the same…” Yulis muttered to herself.

“Xia’er.” After flipping through the last page, Yulis walked up to Xia’er, removed her mask, and looked at her seriously, asking, “Are you… interested in the Salvation Goddess Religion?”

“Huh?” Xia’er was somewhat stunned.

What kind of development is this?

She had expected the other party to continue pursuing…

She asked herself about the ability to see the future, but she didn’t expect the other party to start preaching directly.

“Yes,” Yulis took a deep breath and began, “Do you know what the fragments of the future you’ve seen mean?”

“These are all the guidance of the Goddess. She is guiding you to find me, so that I can lead you into the Salvation Goddess Church, which is all the oracle she has sent down.”

“Xia’er, you may very well be our new Holy Maiden of the Salvation Goddess Church.”

“As long as you return to the papacy with me and tell them everything, you can become the second Holy Maiden of our Salvation Goddess Church.”

“Are you willing to go with me to the Salvation Goddess Church?”

This misunderstanding was huge.

Xia’er immediately reacted.

She knew very well that she was not a Holy Maiden. If she really went to the church with the other party, her non-Holy Maiden status would be exposed.

Although she didn’t know what would happen next, Xia’er wouldn’t let herself fall into such a helpless situation.

“My lady Yulis, please listen to me first,” Xia’er thought carefully and slowly said, “This might be hard for you to understand, but neither you nor I are real right now.”

“What’s happening now is something I’m seeing in the future… none of these things have truly happened yet.”

“When I wake up, everything will return to how it was before we met. You won’t have any memory of seeing me.”

After hearing Xia’er’s words, Yulis fell silent for a moment before nodding slowly. “It doesn’t matter, Miss Xia’er. You can still follow me to the church, as if you’re getting familiar with the scenario in advance.”

“On the way, I can also tell you where to find me, so we’ll meet faster in ‘reality’.”

Yulis seemed to quickly accept this explanation and offered a flawless proposal, leaving Xia’er no room to refuse.

“Wait, before that, I have some questions for you,” Xia’er did not directly respond to Yulis but instead asked, “What is a potion? And what is a replication ritual? What is the ‘Avenger’ potion in Thomas’s hand?”

“You know this potion… yes, maybe the Goddess has already told you,” Yulis shook her head and said, “You’ve read the notes. The replication ritual is about retracing the steps the Goddess once took, and the most important part of the ritual, besides replication, is the potion.”

“The process of replication is also the process of digesting the potion.”

“And the ‘Avenger’ potion and the ‘Reformed Monk’ potion share the same origin; they both come from the most basic potions of the Salvation Goddess Church. The only difference lies in their materials and rituals.”

“The path of the ‘Reformed Monk’ is the mainstream of the church, while the path of the ‘Avenger’ is too unstable, with a high chance of collapse. Only those selected by the Tribunal have the qualifications to walk this path.”

“Duwen pursued the wrong path and ended up like this… he just hadn’t had time to take the potion when he was killed.”

“Currently, there is only one Holy Maiden on the path of the ‘Reformed Monk’ in the Salvation Church, so I suspect that you might be the Holy Maiden on the ‘Avenger’ path… of course, this is just my guess.”

“Do you have any other questions?”

Yulis answered Xia’er’s questions without reservation, but at the same time, she moved closer to Xia’er, as if afraid that the newly caught Holy Maiden would slip away under her watch.

“I have another question,” Xia’er looked at the potion floating behind Yulis and asked, “I want to know… what would happen if I drink the ‘Avenger’ potion directly in a dream?”

“If I am indeed a Holy Maiden as you say… drinking that potion should not cause any problems, right?”

After hearing Yulis’ description of the two different paths within the Salvation Church, Xia’er had a bold idea.

Buying potions outside costs 100 Mortality Points… after simulating this, she only had 10 left. She didn’t know when she could earn 100 Mortality Points.

But if she completed the ritual directly during the simulation?

What would happen?

Though Xia’er wasn’t sure about the specific changes, she was certain that if she completed the ritual, when the system settled, the Mortality Points given would definitely not be few.