Mr. Thumb, Don't Look Back

Luo Qi looked at Isaiah, who was leisurely sipping tea across from him, lips pressed tightly together as he remained silent.

"Bishop Luo Qi." Isaiah set down his teacup and said unhurriedly, "You seem rather nervous?"

"Nervous? What kind of joke is that? Why would I be nervous?" Luo Qi was like a startled cat with its fur standing on end. "Who do you think you are? I am the Eastern Bishop of Rhine. Why would I be afraid of you?"

"I said nervous, not afraid." Isaiah smiled and lowered his gaze. "I know my question is somewhat presumptuous, but your reaction is simply too obvious."

Luo Qi subconsciously lowered his head, only to realize that his leg beneath the table was trembling on its own, making even the tea on the tabletop shake incessantly.

He fell silent for a moment before stubbornly trying to save face. "I'm not nervous. I just have a bit of... hyperactivity."

"Oh~ I understand, I understand." Isaiah nodded with a smile.

If anyone else had made that expression at Luo Qi, he would have slapped them across the face already. But this was Isaiah. The moment Luo Qi recalled the world-ending scene from last night, all his anger vanished.

Luo Qi truly did not want to deal with Isaiah, especially after guessing that Isaiah already knew his identity. He wanted to stay as far away from him as possible.

So when Isaiah had first sent Mina to invite Luo Qi for "tea," Luo Qi's first thought had been, This old bastard is going to make a move on me. He refused without even thinking. But only a few minutes after his refusal, Isaiah had come in person.

In broad daylight, with representatives from every major church watching, continuing to hide would badly damage Rhine's reputation and make it seem as though he had something to hide.

Thus, Luo Qi could only agree through gritted teeth. However, he chose an extremely open location, where he could see the Obedience of Heavenly Voice just by looking up. There were also watchful eyes from the major churches and Contract Land all around them. It projected an air of having nothing to hide... and safety.

"Mr. Isaiah, what exactly did you want from me?" Luo Qi decided to take the initiative, asking forcefully, "If it's nothing, then please excuse me... I still have plenty to do."

"Don't be so hasty, Bishop Luo Qi." Isaiah smiled. "We're merely having tea."

"Then why not drink tea with someone else? Why did it have to be me?"

"Because we are the same kind of people." Isaiah looked at Luo Qi meaningfully. "Isn't that right?"

Luo Qi's eyelid twitched.

With such an obvious threat, Luo Qi could no longer insist on leaving, lest Isaiah expose him as well.

"What do you want?" Since the cards were already on the table, Luo Qi stopped playing dumb. He lowered his voice and said coldly, "Do you want to make a move against me here too?"

"I never had any intention of making a move against you. In fact, throughout Peach Blossom Paradise, the only Corpse Piece that interests me is the other eye."

"So you have already obtained the Three Corpse Pieces, but you still want that eye?" Luo Qi said. "You're far too greedy."

"That is precisely the key issue." Isaiah said. "The truth is, I never obtained those Three Corpse Pieces."

When Luo Qi wore an expression that clearly said, Are you fucking kidding me? Isaiah remained perfectly calm.

"I know you don't believe me. I will tell you the truth, but before that, could you tell me something?"

"What?"

Isaiah looked into Luo Qi's eyes and asked, word by word, "After that, did Hand Eye open Peach Blossom Paradise?"

Luo Qi frowned slightly. "Why should I tell you?"

But in Isaiah's eyes, that reaction was already an answer.

"So he really is alive." Isaiah spoke softly, then slowly raised his left hand beneath Luo Qi's suspicious gaze. "If I told you that on that night, all I obtained was a finger like this, would you believe me?"

At those words, Luo Qi frowned even harder, clearly not understanding what Isaiah meant. But once he came back to his senses, his eyes slowly widened.

Naturally, Luo Qi's changing expression also fell into Bai Wei's eyes from afar.

Bai Wei was not surprised that Isaiah had approached Luo Qi. After all, from Isaiah's perspective, Luo Qi was the only openly identified Corpse Friend.

If possible, Bai Wei believed Isaiah would rather have approached him or Diana directly instead of Luo Qi.

But Isaiah had no choice. Now that he was surrounded by enemies, Luo Qi was his only potential ally.

What remained was to see how he would convince Luo Qi to believe him.

Bai Wei was in no rush and watched leisurely.

After listening to Isaiah's account, Luo Qi's expression was extremely complicated.

He felt that this explanation was far too absurd. The tongue and Hand Eye being the same person? Everything being Hand Eye's scheme? It sounded as though Isaiah were insulting his intelligence.

Yet it was precisely because the explanation was so absurd that Luo Qi could not help wondering whether it might actually be true.

And there was only one way to prove it...

Luo Qi lowered his head and looked at the middle finger on Isaiah's left hand.

"Prove it to me." Luo Qi said. "As long as you prove that finger is real, I'll believe you."

"I will prove it, but not now." Isaiah said calmly. "You should know that this place is filled with devices that detect Visas's power. The moment I use a rule, it will be detected immediately."

Only then did Luo Qi remember where they were.

Contract Land was the region most sensitive to Visas's power in the entire world. After all, it had been built to seal Visas's corpse. And just as Isaiah said, the moment they used rules here, they would be noticed instantly.

Especially when countless eyes were watching them right now, snapping his fingers would indeed be walking into a trap.

But...

"If you can't prove it, how am I supposed to believe you?" Luo Qi said in a deep voice. "I have reason to suspect that you deliberately chose a method you cannot verify. Otherwise, why didn't you prove it to me when we were far from Contract Land?"

"In fact, I had planned to prove it to you this morning." Isaiah said lightly. "We were still in Nameless Town this morning. We were originally going to travel together for quite some time, and we could have talked things over slowly then. But I did not expect you to leave that very night, giving me no opportunity at all."

At those words, Luo Qi's old face reddened, though he quickly returned to normal.

"At the end of the day, this is only your side of the story. I have absolutely no reason to believe you."

"If you truly want proof, it is not impossible." Isaiah looked into Luo Qi's eyes. "I have a way to evade Contract Land's surveillance. At that time, I can show you whether this finger is real or fake."

"Evade Contract Land's surveillance?" Luo Qi said. "Don't tell me you intend to find some blind spot and have me come over without telling anyone?"

"So you still think I intend to harm you."

"Only an idiot would place hope and trust in someone who could take his life at any time." Luo Qi said word by word. "Don't try to fool me, Isaiah. I saw you kill the tongue with my own eyes..."

"Did you really see it with your own eyes?"

"...Fine, not with my own eyes, but you were definitely the one who did it." Luo Qi said. "Otherwise, where did the tongue go?"

"Are you sure the person you encountered in Dela Town was the tongue?"

"Of course."

"Did he use the tongue's rule?"

"Of course..."

"Think carefully before you answer." Isaiah said lightly. "There is no point concealing anything in a place like this. You will only harm yourself."

Luo Qi was immediately at a loss for words.

"Then think again. If the person I killed was the tongue, where did that Forbidden Scholar go?" Isaiah said. "Did he vanish into thin air? Don't tell me I killed him too. Nameless Town did have survivors. Enough people saw that on the night I fought, there was only one person."

For a moment, Luo Qi could not find anything to refute him with. He truly had not considered these questions. After "witnessing" Isaiah kill the tongue, all his attention had shifted to Isaiah. Naturally, he had not paid further attention to the supposedly dead tongue.

"To be honest, I truly did not want the only person I could contact right now to be you." Isaiah's gaze gradually turned cold. "You hold such crucial information, yet you have neither doubts nor initiative. You let Hand Eye scheme despite such glaring holes, believing whatever he says. And you still regard him as your mortal enemy? Wake up. With his methods, even if he slaughtered you, you would still wonder whether you had committed suicide."

Isaiah's blunt mockery left Luo Qi unable to react at first. Once he did, he wanted to slam the table and rise. "You fucking..."

Before he could finish the curse, Luo Qi met Isaiah's eyes.

In an instant, overwhelming terror flooded Luo Qi's heart, swallowing every other emotion and making him feel an involuntary urge to bow his head.

"You..." The pride of Rhine's Bishop kept Luo Qi from bending over. He stared fixedly at Isaiah. "Are you planning to make a move here?"

Luo Qi's right hand beneath the table slowly rose as well, his only remaining thumb gradually pointing upward.

Your rule may be powerful, but mine is no joke either!

At worst, we'll both blow up together!

Luo Qi hardened his resolve inwardly.

But just as the disturbance was about to activate, the tidal pressure abruptly receded like water withdrawing from shore.

"Don't be nervous, Mr. Thumb." The coldness in Isaiah's eyes disappeared, returning to his usual calm. "We are not enemies. Hand Eye is the only one who would be pleased to see us oppose one another."

Luo Qi continued glaring at Isaiah. "Isn't it a little late to say that now?"

"I bear no ill will. I merely wanted you to experience the pressure I am under right now." Isaiah said lightly. "But your pressure should not be any less than mine. At present, you and I are the only two in Peach Blossom Paradise whose identities have been exposed, so we should naturally be allies. Especially since... we are both under Hand Eye's watch now."

Luo Qi frowned deeply. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. Hand Eye is here too. I can sense his presence. Or rather, he has not concealed his presence from me." Isaiah said. "He is like a cunning Hunter, personally setting this trap. Once the prey falls in, he waits quietly at the side to reap the harvest... Yes, he is watching you and me right now."

Isaiah's words were rather frightening. Luo Qi raised his head doubtfully and looked around.

However, as mentioned before, countless eyes were monitoring this place. Luo Qi had no way of knowing who Hand Eye was, but the more he looked, the more unsettled he became.

Luo Qi withdrew his gaze and said stiffly, "I think you're fucking lying to me again."

"A clever prey begins to save itself the moment it falls into a trap." Isaiah said. "A foolish prey, even when covered in wounds, still wonders whether it merely stumbled by bad luck. Ah, don't look at me like that, Mr. Thumb. I am talking about you. I have no intention of saving such prey either. You may leave."

"You called me here just to demean me?" Luo Qi said. "What do you think I am? That if you insult me, I'll obey your every word?"

"I have no interest in your strange proclivities, nor do I demand that you help me." Isaiah said. "I am merely reminding you that we are both in the trap. If I die, you will be next, and dealing with you will be far easier for him than dealing with me."

After saying that, Isaiah took one final sip of tea, then rose and left, leaving Luo Qi standing there with his face alternating between red and white.

At that moment, Mina, who had been waiting nearby, approached him.

"Teacher." Mina glanced at Luo Qi. "Do you think this Bishop of Rhine will believe you?"

"It does not matter whether he believes me." Isaiah said calmly. "I have never placed my hopes on him."

"Then what did you mean?"

"Why do you think I agreed to meet this Luo Qi in such a public setting?"

"This... your student does not know."

"It was for someone else to see." Isaiah faced the countless watching eyes openly and spoke in a voice only Mina could hear. "I believe there are more than just the three of us here."

Luo Qi returned to his residence with a deeply aggrieved expression.

He had been scolded for absolutely no reason!

That damned bastard was clearly already at death's door, yet he was still putting on airs here. He must have wanted to drag Luo Qi down with him.

But Luo Qi was no fool. Even if the truth came out and his identity in Peach Blossom Paradise was exposed, his crime would absolutely not warrant death. At worst, he would be dismissed from his post. There was no way it would cost him his life.

So that damned Isaiah was most likely lying to him!

But...

What if what that bastard said was true?

Luo Qi hesitated again.

Just then, a deep, rich male voice sounded behind him.

"Mr. Thumb, don't look back. I am Ring Finger."

Goosebumps instantly rose all over Luo Qi's body.

Thanks to the great "You." for becoming a guild leader! Thank you, thank you!

My family has been forcing me into blind dates these past two days, and it has driven me half out of my mind. I only just saw it.