She Really Winked at Me!

"She moved?"

A flicker of confusion crossed Xilin's face.

She had been watching His Holiness the Pope closely too, and she was certain she hadn't seen any movement.

"Master, could you have seen it wrong?" she asked. "Freeze is a supreme spell cast by His Holiness the Pope and several other Demigods. It can even freeze time. In theory, no one can move, not even the casters themselves."

"But I really saw it!"

Bai Xuan's voice was firm.

He was certain he had seen the Light Pope blink—

And she had blinked only her left eye.

Like... a wink?

There was no way he had imagined it.

Xilin felt a flicker of doubt herself.

"Your Holiness?"

She called out tentatively, but received no response.

Yet with time frozen, they couldn't touch the Pope directly, making it hard to check any further.

"Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me," Bai Xuan said with a soft sigh. "I'm a little tired. Xilin, let's go back."

There was no point wasting time here on something he couldn't verify.

"Mm." Xilin nodded slightly.

Bai Xuan activated the Teleportation Array. Golden light flashed, and the two of them vanished from Aeria World.

As soon as he got home, Bai Xuan began sorting through what he had learned on this trip to the other world.

First, he could confirm that everything in that world was motionless. For now, nothing could be changed or even touched.

The mission area was the only exception.

The mission required them to defeat two Phantom Angels. Both were D+ rank, and both shared Xilin's Holy Attribute. Worse, they worked together seamlessly, making them more dangerous than the sum of their parts...

"I need to keep at least one of them occupied for Xilin," Bai Xuan murmured.

If he could hold one off, Xilin might be able to win.

"There's no need to rush. We can get stronger before challenging them."

"But..."

The image of the Light Pope seated on the Sun Throne surfaced in Bai Xuan's mind again. He had told Xilin that he might have seen it wrong, but deep down, he was certain—he hadn't.

The Light Pope had moved!

He just didn't know why.

Maybe... she was trying to convey something?

Or perhaps she wanted to give him a task?

He had no way of knowing yet. But as Xilin's character mission progressed, he might uncover the truth.

"Too late?"

Late that night, Li Hongyou rushed to the school as soon as she sensed a disturbance.

But when she saw the state of the classroom building, she frowned.

"Little Red Pomelo, how did you end up one step behind again?"

The space behind Li Hongyou suddenly warped slightly, like folding glass.

Then Liu Mufei stepped out of the mirror in high heels and gave her a friendly smile.

"Because of you!"

Li Hongyou shot her an irritated glare. "If you hadn't said you had important intelligence, I would've stayed near the target!"

"But the intelligence really was important~"

Liu Mufei gave a light shrug and smiled. "We found traces of Three of Clubs, didn't we?"

"Tch!"

Li Hongyou rolled her eyes, then looked around and said thoughtfully, "The target wasn't hurt, though. Someone got here first and saved her."

"Who do you think it was, Little Red Pomelo?" Liu Mufei asked with interest, folding her arms.

"Who else?" Li Hongyou said impatiently. "There's no one in Ninghang City besides that guy in the Slime Mask. And judging by the traces here, it looks as if the target arranged to meet him. They might even have made some kind of deal."

"That young man in the Slime Mask again?" At the mention of him, Liu Mufei pictured the mask.

Mm~ It was pretty cute.

"Hmph! Those useless fools from the Evil Organization always wait until I'm gone to make their move. Cowards!" Li Hongyou snorted angrily.

"What else would they do~? You are the best Junior Investigator, after all~"

Liu Mufei touched a fingertip to her cheek, then smiled faintly. "Little Red Pomelo, I have an idea. Want to hear it?"

"What?"

"Well..."

"?"

Li Hongyou froze for a moment after hearing her out, then asked, "Don't you still have a pile of messes to clean up in White Sea City? You have time to get involved here?"

"Heh-heh~"

Liu Mufei lifted her chest slightly, making the two soft mounds sway. A hint of pride entered her voice. "Don't underestimate me, Little Red Pomelo."

"I haven't stopped working for a moment. Even now, I'm still sitting in my office."

"?" Li Hongyou narrowed her eyes, then realization dawned. "Don't tell me you've already..."

"Shh—"

Liu Mufei pressed a fingertip to her lips, her smile turning wicked. "That's our little secret. Don't tell anyone~ I don't want both 'me's working."

The next day.

Bai Xuan woke up and, while washing up, noticed a flood of messages in the class group chat.

He opened it and learned that, for some unknown reason, a huge hole had been smashed through six floors of the classroom building. It needed urgent repairs.

Fortunately, the damage wasn't catastrophic. At the pace construction moved in this world, the building would be back to normal in about a week.

Even so, the school hadn't canceled classes. Instead, it had moved all the students to other areas for lessons.

Bai Xuan didn't think much of it. Things like this had long since become commonplace in this world.

He ate a couple of cookies and hurried to school.

With his usual classroom unusable, Bai Xuan had to go to the school auditorium.

The huge auditorium could hold two thousand people, though few students had arrived yet.

He found a seat in a corner and activated Legendary Perspective.

Through it, he saw Xilin sitting in her room, meditating. Marée Alaira, meanwhile, was quietly guarding Su Yue as he had instructed.

Su Yue hadn't come to school today. For safety, she had stayed at her Lakeside Villa.

Through Marée's perspective, Bai Xuan also noticed people from the Public Security Bureau and the Investigation Bureau stationed around the villa.

Su Yue's family probably called them... Bai Xuan guessed.

Just as he focused on Legendary Perspective, a voice sounded beside him:

"Kid, can I sit next to you?"

Bai Xuan turned and was a little surprised to see Li Hongyou.

If her target was Su Yue, why was she at school?

Shouldn't she be guarding the villa?

"Go ahead." Bai Xuan nodded, then took out his phone and pretended to scroll through videos.

He needed to do something a student would do, or Li Hongyou might grow suspicious.

As soon as she sat down, Li Hongyou looked at Bai Xuan. "What are you watching?"

"Fishing videos."

"Fishing? Shouldn't boys your age be watching videos of pretty girls dancing?"

"?"

Bai Xuan paused, then asked, "Where did you hear that?"

"That's what people say online."