Chapter 110
Chapter 110. The Xino Covenant (12)
"The specific content of the conversation I can't remember at all—but it was mostly personal experiences. As for the time……it should have been not long after Her Highness Serela entered Xino Palace, all the way up until about half an hour ago." Anya bit the corner of her lip, doing her best to recall every piece of information she could still remember.
At this point, even she could sense that the person she had spoken with was problematic!
Aina's disappearance very likely had something to do with him/her!
"Wait!"
Slap—Anya struck her palms together, her expression flashing with sudden realization.
"What else did you remember?" Luo Nan's face lit up, and he asked quickly.
"Although I can't recall that person's physical features, he/she seemed to say he/she was an author."
"An author?"
"That's right, yes, an author!" Anya paused. "He/she even gave me a personal name card. Let me look……"
At that, the young woman instinctively reached into her chest.
"Found it! It's this……huh?"
She produced the name card, expecting everything to finally become clear—but when she looked down at it, she found that all the personal information on it was completely blank.
Luo Nan walked over to her side and looked down. The personal portrait on the card had been warped into an unrecognizable blur of color, while the information beside it was likewise a complete blank, as if someone had deliberately erased it all.
"Let me see." Luo Nan held out his hand.
"Oh, oh……" Anya reflexively handed the name card to him.
Taking it, Luo Nan held it up above his head, using the corridor's light to examine it carefully.
At the same time, information about "her" surfaced in his mind.
"Aeldelin Xueting—a Chrono Phantom Demon, known by the title 'Wandering Drama Author,' Minister of Ceremonies of the Salya Demon Kingdom, the right-hand confidant of that future supreme Demon King."
"According to what Anya said, the person claimed to be an author—which matches Aeldelin's title. And she additionally had the ability to erase, alter, and even control the memories and consciousness of others……"
"That person is ninety-nine percent certainly her!"
"In the original storyline, the reason I 'colluded with the Demon Race' was because I was beguiled by her—but just as with the original plot point at the Homecoming Banquet, my being beguiled by her must have had a reason behind it."
"What exactly is there about me that caught her attention?" Luo Nan lowered his head in contemplation.
"Right, Anya," Luo Nan seemed to think of something, and raised his head, his gaze fixed steadily on the golden-eyed young woman. "You mentioned earlier……you talked with her about personal experiences, correct?"
"Yes, but I can't remember what we talked about—though I'd estimate it was recent experiences."
"That checks out. Apart from going to Apartment No. 23 and the Limestone Mine Shaft together with me, do you have any other relatively……hmm, harrowing experiences recently?"
Anya thought it over and replied with uncertainty: "There shouldn't be……any others?"
Luo Nan nodded, his mind settling on an answer.
"You know that person's identity? You recognize them?"
"Naturally."
He gathered himself, his gaze turning grave. "Take me to the place where you and she talked first. I believe that's the last location Aina was at before she went missing."
"Alright, follow me."
Clack, clack, clack—
The two turned—and found a Xino Palace maidservant walking toward them from the opposite direction.
"Young Master Luo Nan," the maidservant curtsied to Luo Nan, then rose and spoke in an utterly toneless voice: "The Moonlight Greenhouse. The master requests your presence."
Having said this, the maidservant lingered not a moment longer, and turned to walk away with mechanical strides.
"This one……doesn't seem like a living person!" Anya was given a start by the maidservant's vacant expression.
Luo Nan instinctively felt for the Silent Hammer at his waist, as well as the Truth-Piercing Star Spike he had fashioned into a pendant.
Feeling his greatest sources of backup at hand, the slight tension that had been building in his heart gradually settled.
He glanced at the young woman beside him and said quietly: "It seems……we don't need to go in person anymore."
"This Moonlight Greenhouse……what kind of place is that?"
Anya tilted her head and couldn't help asking.
She had never heard that name before.
Luo Nan produced the Silent Hammer, gave it a fresh once-over in his hands to confirm everything was in order, then smiled in reply: "The Moonlight Greenhouse is an interior garden within Xino Palace; it is not normally open to outsiders."
"How do you know?"
"……" Luo Nan shot her a glance and said casually: "I used to come here often. Naturally I'd know."
"Haha, fair enough……" Anya lowered her head, her fingertips absentmindedly rubbing the fabric of the rented formal gown she was wearing.
It always felt a bit coarse.
"Anya, focus," Luo Nan holstered the Silent Hammer back into the hip holster beneath his formal attire, smoothed the hem of his jacket out of habit, and flicked the brim of his hat. "Just now, Serela already sent people to search the Moonlight Greenhouse, but found nothing out of the ordinary."
"Hard to say?" Anya immediately snapped to attention.
"Indeed. That is her greatest strength—the 'Observation Blind Spot.' Unless she herself is willing, even a Demigod-tier presence would find it extremely difficult to detect her."
"A De-, a Demigod can't detect her?"
Honestly speaking, the moment she heard the word "Demigod," Anya's heart gave a tiny lurch.
That was a Demigod!
Tier Six Demigod!
Strictly speaking, a Demigod had already transcended the realm of ordinary mortals. For Demigods who could collapse mountains and split seas with a wave of their hand, the petty quarrels of the mundane world could hardly hold any interest.
And yet the enemy she and Luo Nan were about to face—even though her true power was unknown—just on the basis of that phrase "even a Demigod would find it difficult to detect her," Anya felt a chill run through her entire body.
"What's wrong……scared?" Luo Nan noticed the apprehension on her face.
He produced the Truth-Piercing Star Spike from its pendant and smiled: "Don't worry. I'm not about to lead you off to your death. For certain reasons, she cannot directly unleash her power in Opalia—otherwise……"
"Otherwise what?" Anya immediately pressed.
"Otherwise she would be sensed by that person."
"That person? Who is that person?"
Luo Nan shook his head, maintaining the fine tradition of speaking in riddles: "Cannot be said. You only need to know—as long as that person remains in the Imperial Capital for even one day, she will not make a direct move in the Imperial Capital."
As he said this, that person's silhouette flickered through Luo Nan's mind for a brief moment.
"I wonder when I'll ever get a chance to make contact with that person—it would be best if I could cling to their leg."
"The Chosen Hero is the female protagonist, yes, but that person's power is the genuine, uncontested supreme of the Material Plane."
"Best to cling to both legs in rotation."
"Let me think, just how should I go about currying favor with that person……" He had begun letting his mind wander entirely.
"Luo Nan? Luo Nan?"
Noticing Luo Nan had drifted off somewhat, Anya even extended her jade-white hand and waved it in front of his eyes.
"Mm, nothing," snapping back from the involuntary 'Ingratiating Sycophant Ecological Niche,' Luo Nan continued: "In short, she cannot make a direct move against us. On top of that, I have a Supernatural tool on me specifically designed to counter her."
"Our goal is not to defeat her—our one and only objective is to rescue Aina and make a clean getaway from Xino Palace."
Luo Nan leaned down beside Anya's ear. "Listen carefully. Your task is……"
"Mm-hm……"
"All of this—have you got it memorized?"
Only when Luo Nan raised his head again did Anya belatedly sense the ticklish sensation at her earlobe, caused by the man's breath.
The young woman tilted her head away with a somewhat stiff air, and replied with mild uncertainty: "Should……all be memorized."
"……"
"Let me go over it with you once more. These instructions absolutely cannot be mixed up—a miss by an inch is a miss by a mile."
Luo Nan let out a breath, lowered his head again, and repeated each of the instructions he had just given, one more time.
"Got it this time!"