Chapter 66: The Death of Sera

"We were all packing our luggage, planning to meet at the horse market once we were ready, but we waited a long time and didn't see her, so we said we'd go to the nunnery to check."

"A nun passing by said... she had touched a nerve with Miss Anna and was... slashed to death by a soldier with a sword."

"Adrian."

Su Mian called his name once, bringing Adrian back to his senses.

"Before I left, what did I say?"

Beneath the calm statement was a sharp questioning that was about to break through the ice.

Bruce wanted to step forward to explain: "Evelyn, everyone was very tired at the time, so we didn't think about clues or anything—"

"Did I ask you?" Su Mian swept a glance over, and Bruce instantly fell silent.

Her gaze locked back onto Adrian's face, and she walked closer step by step, until the distance between them was close enough to feel each other's suppressed breathing.

"I said no matter what, you had to protect her."

Suppressed sobbing came from the crowd; it was unknown who was crying for Sera, but this cruel Infinite World was just like this—no protection, no power.

Perhaps if it were Su Mian, she would also have died there. Fate is hard to defy; who could she blame?

Su Mian closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, the surging emotions had been forcibly suppressed.

"Where is the body?" she asked.

"... We couldn't bring it back," Taylor replied in a low voice. "It was dragged away by the 'Scavengers'; it might be... by the Mill River."

Su Mian did not hesitate in the slightest and immediately turned to speak to the servant beside her, "Prepare the horses."

"Yes."

Bruce's eyes widened, "Evelyn, you're going back..."

Su Mian nodded, her lips slightly parted; only by looking closely could one see them trembling.

"I want to see her."

"Don't... maybe... it's already been cleaned up by the DM."

Someone shot a sharp glare over, and Taylor finally shut his mouth. Su Mian ignored everyone; she turned and boarded the carriage. Just as she was about to lower the curtain, Adrian suddenly spoke.

"Evelyn." He stepped forward, his eyes filled with deep self-reproach, "I'm sorry."

Su Mian lowered her eyelids and let down the curtain without responding.

The carriage moved further and further away in everyone's sight, and another group of people suddenly gathered.

"Since we're still alive, let's solve the case together; there aren't many days left until the game settlement."

Duncan walked over with his hands clasped, followed by a group of city-state players.

Adrian took two steps back, his gaze vigilant, and Bruce and the others' eyes instantly filled with hostility.

"Don't think we don't know the quarantine was your doing."

"So what?"

Duncan shrugged indifferently, smiling in a very annoying way, "Without Evelyn, what ability do you have left? You couldn't even protect a woman, let alone survive in the city-state."

Adrian clenched his fists, his brows locked tightly.

Tiffany emerged holding a pile of herbs, her smile naive and cute.

"Don't say that, Adrian. Your father helped you a lot; can't you let him tell us more clues?"

The air was silent for a moment, and the two forces were deadlocked. Adrian's mind was in chaos; the girl's disappointed gaze still echoed in his mind.

In the end, he only said hoarsely, "I'll go back to my father's laboratory and check."

"That's right~ Finding the real murderer is our common goal. So, players from Mofangdu, happy cooperation?"

Tiffany reached out, smiled, and tilted her head.

Adrian glanced at her coldly, brushed past her, and left the church, followed by the crowd.

Her hand was still hanging in mid-air, and her expression had a slight crack.

Just as the city-state players were also preparing to leave, a voice appeared in everyone's mind simultaneously.

【Ding-dong—Random level event triggered. Trigger level: A-level. Trigger location: Weibens City-State Center.】

——

The decision came too suddenly, so Su Mian hadn't considered the time factor; it was already dusk when she left the city-state center.

The feeling of pain had faded a lot; there was no other way but to accept it. She didn't like internal friction. If she could see Sera's body, it would be a resolution to her brief knot.

She didn't know when Cain had sat in her carriage; when she suddenly came to her senses, he was already resting his chin on his hand, looking at her.

"Do you want me to recite the Bible so you won't feel so bad?"

Su Mian hummed a laugh and muttered, looking away, "Don't bother, you can't even remember the words and you still want to recite."

Cain didn't move his gaze, but smiled, "How did you find out?"

"I stole your parchment; you had crib notes on it."

He wasn't ashamed at all when exposed, but leaned close to Su Mian, lifted the girl's chin, and forced her to shift her attention.

"Yeah... I hinted so obviously, Evelyn."

Su Mian looked at him blankly, and strange images appeared inappropriately before her eyes. She suddenly spoke on a whim.

"You are also a demon, right?"

As the words fell, the man finally bloomed with a huge smile, held the girl in his arms, and whispered against her ear, "So smart, my kind."

He didn't remember the Bible, didn't have the compassion a priest should have, and could even make people see illusions.

Why did Cain save Evelyn in the first place? It wasn't because he was a priest, but because he, beneath this priest's cloak, saw another exiled existence.

He raised a little alien by hand, playing the role of a kind and amiable "Guide."

In fact, whenever he saw the disgusted expression she showed when praising God, or how she was exhausted from helping the elderly, or when she occasionally had the whim to design a prank, he would let out a bored chuckle.

His little demon was different from him; a body nourished by evil thoughts yet temporarily harboring warmth, feeding on all negative emotions yet never greedy.

When he first saw this character, he felt Su Mian was very suitable, as if it were tailor-made for her.

A cold and arrogant, yet righteous and brave little cat, unable to blend into the secular world, yet standing at the top of it.

But now, his little cat was sad.

"Do you want to see what I really look like?"

"What?"

Su Mian was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized that Cain was talking about his demon form. Although she didn't understand why, she still nodded curiously.

In just an instant, Su Mian's pupils were illuminated by crimson. She saw his hair change from white to red, and that mask was also familiar—too familiar.

It was Si Shi.

Su Mian opened her mouth, her heart filled with mixed feelings for a moment. A strange palpitation brought by the reunion made her heart beat violently with her gaze.

The wind blew gently, lifting the gauze curtain of the carriage, revealing the bright and tranquil moonlight.

"I know the stubborn Detective Miss doesn't want to cry in front of strangers."

He patted her back gently and pulled her into his arms, "But we have already accompanied each other through three games."

He pressed the mouth of the mask against the girl's head and whispered.

"Mian Mian."

"I don't count as a stranger anymore."

"If you want to cry, just cry."

...... ===== CHAPTER 67 =====