Chapter 2400: The Evil God's Faithful Love 05

The cold moonlight pierced the high window, spreading a silver frost across the room's icy floor tiles.

Samuel returned to his lodgings, standing quietly by the windowsill for a moment, and the aura he had brought back from the dark place gradually faded.

His black hair, as if washed by moonlight, flowed with a pure golden sheen, becoming soft and curly again, falling over his shoulders.

Those icy, blood-red pupils also settled back into clear, immaculate white.

He shed the outer robe stained with night dew and dust, and walked barefoot toward the inner chambers.

A modest hot spring pool exhaled warm, humid vapor.

He stepped into the water; the warm spring instantly enveloped his cool skin, and his golden hair spread out like seaweed, floating on the surface amid the rising steam.

Beneath the surface lay a body so fair it was nearly translucent, holiness and allure intertwining in the misty water.

Samuel immersed his hands in the water, interlocking his fingertips and pressing them to his forehead.

His eyelids drooped, his pure white eyes brimming with devout sorrow; he whispered silently into the void, confessing to the sole presence that could stir his soul.

He spoke of that noble's sins.

"……He is unworthy……such a tainted soul is unworthy to defile yours……"

Samuel had eaten several petals, and the power of faith had gradually shifted to Jin Chen.

In the distant void, Jin Chen clearly sensed the anguish contained in each syllable.

He gazed at the faintly trembling form beneath the water, lifted his hand slightly, and ripples like a touch spread across the surface, gently brushing Samuel's shoulders and neck, as tender as a lover's caress.

Samuel's body tensed, then was overwhelmed by a surge of warmth.

He lifted his damp cheeks and indeed saw several bewitchingly dewy rose petals, appearing like a miracle, floating down onto the water's surface.

He hesitated not, pinched one petal, placed it in his mouth, and the petal turned into a familiar warm current.

"Father God……Father God……"

Samuel called out urgently, his voice thick with tears, his pure white eyes looking especially fragile in the mist: "……Do you still……still wish to have mercy on me."

"……Will you still allow me……to continue believing in you, serving you?"

He desperately needed that figure to descend again, needed the deity's personal promise, to dispel the faint dread born of darkness that lurked deep in his heart.

Jin Chen's fingertips hovered in the void.

He casually conjured a water mirror; having absorbed the chaotic, fervent dark faith of the borderlands, the face reflected in the mirror bore strange markings on the brow, vastly different from the Light God.

Appearing in this state before his fragile, sensitive believer would frighten Samuel.

Jin Chen pondered, then turned into an intangible, substance-less form.

He came to the hot spring, gently encircling Samuel's body immersed in the water, lightly pressing against his trembling spine, and ever so softly stroking the taut muscle lines.

At the same time, a kiss lighter than moonlight fell upon Samuel's brow and the corners of his eyes.

Warm and pure golden divine power, like the gentlest tide, lightly brushed over Samuel's whole body, quickly suffusing his fair skin with a moving, blossom‑like crimson.

Samuel's tensed nerves completely relaxed, his thick lashes lowering like butterfly wings to veil his pure eyes.

He leaned against the warm pool's edge, his body cradled by that gentle force, and slipped into a sleep utterly unguarded.

His breathing was even and prolonged, damp gold hair clung to his cheeks, and water droplets slid down his graceful neck.

【Villain Heartthrob Value +8, total 18!】

——

Dawn replaced the moonlight, casting a golden grid through the window onto the floor.

Samuel awoke by the pool, his whole body wrapped in a warm blanket.

Last night's lingering fatigue vanished completely, and the depths of his soul filled with the lightness and satisfaction of being thoroughly cleansed.

He rose and walked to the full‑length mirror.

The steam had long since dissipated, and the mirror clearly reflected his restored, pristine holy visage.

Samuel gathered his soft hair to the side of his neck, turned slightly, and saw beneath his shoulder blade a pinkish mark, as if lightly kissed, left on his fair skin.

Samuel made a self‑embracing gesture, his fingers lightly stroking that spot, and his eyes filled with happiness about to overflow.

This is the trace left by Father God's favor.

He solemnly donned the soft undergarments, then put on the immaculate white holy robe that signified his priestly status, carefully concealing the divine‑bestowed mark beneath the fabric.

In the afternoon, Samuel alone came to the vast, ancient library of the Holy See.

Beneath the lofty dome, the air was thick with the dusty, aged scent peculiar to parchment scrolls.

Sunlight streamed through the stained‑glass windows, casting mottled light and shadow.

A tall, golden‑haired priest wandered between the deep shelves, his fingertips brushing over one dust‑covered ancient scroll after another.

Records of the "Dark Evil God"—in the Holy See of the continent‑wide Light Faith—were treated like forbidden weeds, deliberately buried or destroyed.

Jin Chen lurked in the shadows of the shelves, watching his devotee search with near‑stubborn earnestness, and couldn't help but smirk mischievously.

He silently extended a finger; an invisible force swept past like a breeze.

He also furtively tampered with a few……self‑portraits.

A heavy tome that looked extremely ancient and mysterious slipped without warning from the shelf above Samuel's head.

With a slap, it landed right beside Samuel's feet.

Immediately afterward, several scrolls bound with dark ribbons, their edges badly worn, also came loose and rolled within his reach.

Samuel bent to pick up the heavy tome, brushing dust from its cover.

Opening the yellowed pages, the obscure records of the ancient gods came into view.

He pored over them attentively until reaching one page.

There, fine brushstrokes depicted a full‑body portrait of a deity.

In the painting, the deity stood tall, the face shrouded in a hazy halo, the features indistinct, yet the outline, the spirit in the brows……

Samuel's heart gave a sudden jolt.

How could……

How could the Dark Evil God's statue resemble that of the Light God Zephyros so closely……

His heart was filled with unprecedented shock, and he even overlooked the possibility that the scroll had fallen by such an incredible coincidence.

Just then, the sound of the heavy Main Gate of the Library Pavilion being pushed open rang out, accompanied by a deliberately softened familiar voice.

"Samuel? It turns out you're here."

Samuel almost instinctively closed the book in his hand, quickly gathering the few scattered scrolls at his feet that he hadn't had time to examine, along with that suspicious tome, and shoved them all into the spatial magic ring worn on his index finger.

Brandon walked over with a gentle smile on his face, his gaze casually sweeping over Samuel's empty hands and the surrounding shelves.

Brandon could not suppress the jealousy and confusion surging in his heart—why did the Father God's favor descend so frequently upon Samuel?

He urgently wanted to peek into its secrets.

"Are you looking for any special data?" Brandon said in a light tone.

Samuel turned around, his pure-white eyes calm, even somewhat haughty: "Nothing much, just casually glancing at some old scrolls."

A flicker of disappointment crossed Brandon's eyes.

He obviously had no interest in these dusty ancient books.

But he quickly adjusted his expression, revealing a smile full of reverence: "Don't waste time here, Samuel. Let's go pray to the Father God? Basking in His glory is what we should be doing, isn't it?"

Jin Chen clicked his tongue, gazing toward the circular dome situated in the exact center, where a faint holy light shimmered, the radiance of the Light God's power.