Compensation

Liao Ji knew the way to Irin's home, but he was helpless against the locked door before him. After all, his relationship with the girl hadn't reached the point where she would give him a spare key.

For this, Liao Ji silently apologized to Irin in his heart before asking the nun beside him to step back.

Maria didn't say a word the entire time. She stood by the corridor, silently watching the young man's actions until Liao Ji bypassed the key and violently kicked the door open. Only then did a sweet smile appear on the nun's face.

Of course, it vanished in a flash.

"Come in." Liao Ji didn't look back at Maria; he simply beckoned toward the back before stepping into the room first.

"Ex-excuse the intrusion."

After Maria followed him in, she spoke in a soft, timid voice, offering a greeting even though there was no one else in the room. It perfectly embodied the persona of a very polite and slightly shy little nun.

In reality, however, she quickly scanned Irin's home. Although she had guessed as much from the location, Maria couldn't help but frown inwardly.

The tiny space of thirty or forty square meters was crammed with all sorts of antique furniture. It was extremely cramped; in her eyes, there wasn't even a place to set foot.

The heavy rain outside lashed against the old windows. Every gust of wind caused the rusted window frames to emit a creaking, unbearable sound, as if they were about to collapse at any moment. In fact, there were already cracks, and one could see that the floor beneath the window sill had leaked and soaked through quite a bit.

The only thing that allowed Maria to endure it without exploding right now was that the room was relatively tidy. At least there were no grease stains in the kitchen, the furniture was old but had very little dust, and the daily trash was tied up in bags, leaving the room free of any foul odors.

But.

How dare she!?

One could imagine what kind of person lived in a dump like this. Why could even someone like this obtain the "Contract" brand of Lord Ash? Why? How dare she! How is she worthy! How dare she use her filthy, lowly shell to defile such a noble and sublime Contract? She! She!!

The nun's hands, hidden within her sleeves, clenched tightly. Her eyes began to turn red uncontrollably until the young man's voice rang out beside her, pulling her back.

"The conditions are a bit crude. Just find somewhere to sit."

"No, no, it's already very good here!" Maria waved her hands repeatedly, indicating she was very content.

"I'm going to the inner room to find some divination mediums for you. You... since you're idle, see if you can find a towel or something to dry yourself off first."

"Mm, okay."

Not long after, Liao Ji walked out of the inner room carrying a large box of items and placed it in front of Maria.

After picking and choosing, the nun finally selected three or four items to serve as the mediums for the upcoming divination.

Liao Ji glanced at what Maria had chosen. Without exception, they were all items Irin had used, and the timeline was very close. There was the Scavenger outfit she had changed out of just this afternoon, a deactivated Kobold statue, and the dagger that had once "held him hostage."

As the intermediary, Irin was the root cause of his mission to rescue Nolan. From the perspective of divination mediums, she was indeed even better than her mother. Furthermore, Liao Ji had intentionally brought a large box, partly to test Maria. Judging by the nun's performance, being able to precisely pick these items meant she had passed the first hurdle in Liao Ji's mind.

"Um, there's one last thing missing, but this... it's a bit special."

"What is it?"

"Your blood, sir."

Maria spoke with an apologetic tone. Seeing Liao Ji frown, she quickly explained:

"If, if you mind, we can use something else instead, but... the results will be somewhat incomplete."

"It's fine. Wait a moment."

Liao Ji interrupted Maria. Without further ado, he brought his finger to his lips and bit down hard, causing bright red blood to flow from his fingertip.

"What now? Should I find a bowl to put it in or something?"

"Maria? Maria?"

Liao Ji, having bitten his finger, asked the nun opposite him, but Maria seemed not to have expected the young man's actions to be so sudden and swift, and she fell into a daze.

Her eyes were fixed intently on Liao Ji's bleeding fingertip, as if she were somewhat soul-lost. It wasn't until Liao Ji called out several times that she suddenly snapped back to reality.

"So-sorry!"

"Don't put it in a bowl! Use this! You... just drip the blood onto this!"

As Liao Ji's blood flowed, Maria appeared very flustered. While apologizing profusely for her momentary lapse, she took a handkerchief from her bosom.

It was a pure white, clean handkerchief, with silver patterns on the edges, giving off an incredibly holy aura.

The nun was soaked through by the rain.

Yet, the handkerchief in her bosom showed no signs of being touched by the rain. Although Liao Ji found it a bit strange, he could tell that this handkerchief was likely very important, which was why it was so well-protected, so he didn't ask further.

He held his finger over the handkerchief and squeezed hard a few times. The bright red blood droplets fell vertically, quickly staining the center of the pure white handkerchief a deep crimson.

Gulp.

Maria's throat moved quietly.

Inside the boots at her feet, her ten toes were already gripping the ground tightly, as if using this method to endure some immense stimulation.

One drop. Two drops. Five drops.

"That's enough, sir!"

Maria raised her voice by several decibels to stop Liao Ji. She was afraid that if the young man dripped even one more drop, she wouldn't be able to hold back. These five drops of blood were already her limit.

"Then what's next—"

"Leave the rest to me. You, you just wait a moment." Maria seemed even more anxious than Liao Ji.

From the nun's hands, specks of holy light began to bloom, enveloping all the medium items. Immediately after, Maria closed her eyes, as if she had already entered a state of divination.

The entire process was much faster than Liao Ji had imagined.

It probably took less than half a minute?

When the holy light faded, it revealed the nun, who was panting heavily, her forehead hair matted with sweat, and her chest heaving violently. Although the time was short, Maria looked as if she had expended a great deal of energy.

She was swaying, struggling even to stand steady, and stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.

Fortunately, Liao Ji, who was nearby, was quick-witted and caught Maria. Unfortunately, the nun seemed to lack the strength even to stand straight, and she could only collapse softly into the young man's arms.

"I found her. She is in the Church's... underground. I saw many... dangerous monsters around her. She... she hid herself. In a safe corner, not discovered by... the monsters."

"But her state... is very poor. She doesn't want to... also become a monster. She is still resisting. Must not be... stimulated."

"Also... at the very center of the underground, two floating emblems... brownish-red mist... permeating. Must first weaken them, only then... can..."

Maria's voice grew quieter as she spoke, and at the end, her little head tilted to the side, and she fainted in Liao Ji's arms.

This immediately gave the young man a headache.

How did another one end up "lying down"?

He didn't doubt that Maria was faking it.

After all, while you might be able to fake an expression of exhaustion and weakness, the physiological panting and limpness would be too difficult to act out.

Moreover, the subject of Maria's divination involved the level of a "Great Emperor's Relic," which was indeed a bit beyond the scope of people five hundred years later.

His thoughts returned to the nun's divination results just now.

From the keywords Maria mentioned—"Church," "underground," "monsters," and even "emblems" later on—Liao Ji had no reason to doubt the authenticity of her "divination" ability.

Based on the intelligence provided by the nun, although it was intermittent and vague in many places, Liao Ji could still summarize quite a bit.

First, it seemed that the greatest danger to Irin's mother currently did not come from the outside, but from herself.

If one were to compare it to Kalleva's factory, the underground space of the Church should also be like a large petri dish. If he were to rush in rashly, referring to the violent reaction of the Corrupted Source Essence toward him in the factory at that time, he estimated that it would instantly release a large amount of Corrupt Calamity, causing the environment within the "petri dish" to change drastically.

And since Irin's mother was already on the verge of losing control, if she were suddenly subjected to such intense stimulation, she would likely mutate immediately. This was probably the reason why Maria had to stop him—the so-called "unfortunate future."

Hmm.

This was indeed a point he hadn't considered thoroughly.

As for the countermeasures, it seemed that either he shouldn't go down there himself, or he should follow Maria's last sentence and find a way to weaken the "relics" so they wouldn't be so agitated by his presence.

However, regardless of the method, there was definitely no chance tonight; he would have to wait until Irin and Maria woke up the next day.

Since that was the case...

Hoo!

Liao Ji let out a long breath of stale air. Once he relaxed, sleepiness began to wash over him. He wasn't a superman; who could have imagined that half a day ago, he was just a dead-inside otaku sitting in front of a computer screen, and half a day later, he had become the focal point of the whirlpool in the Black Cave.

After all the tossing and turning, it was already nearly three in the morning. Since he had decided not to take further action, he should seize the time to rest.

Time to sleep!

Liao Ji carried the unconscious Maria to Irin's room, tossed the little nun onto the bed, took off her boots and coat, tucked her in, and then closed the door as he left.

It is worth mentioning that even though the nun was fast asleep, her fingers were still clutching his lapel. It took several attempts for Liao Ji to finally pry Maria's hand off.

As for Liao Ji himself, he hesitated about whether to go to the room of Irin's mother, Nolan, but after some thought, he ultimately chose to find a blanket and make do for the night on the broken sofa in the living room.

Finally, the house at three in the morning returned to its proper darkness and silence.

If one had to say, only the sound of the rain "pattering" outside remained, and the rain seemed to be getting heavier, for only in this way could certain strange sounds be covered up beneath the noise of the rain.

Inside Irin's room.

Maria, who should have been tucked in with only her little head showing, sat bolt upright.

She recalled the young man's actions just now; Lord Ash was still as gentle as ever. Stia could not imagine how much willpower she had used at that time to maintain her state of feigned sleep.

Stia carefully took a blood-stained handkerchief from her bosom. She took a deep breath, and the mellow fragrance of the Great Emperor's blood, which rushed to her nose, made her indulge.

The red mist of Corrupt Calamity had already permeated the room at some point, making it swirl with smoke and clouds.

Under the brownish-red light and shadow, the room was filled with an eerie haziness, and the nun's eyes were already filled with madness.

"Lord Ash." She clutched the blood-stained handkerchief and whispered to herself, filled with pleasure.