Night deepened. Ye Chui set protective measures around Fiore’s small courtyard, and Turtle Baby added a defensive magic array. Any intruder would be detected instantly.
Only then did Ye Chui sit on the moonlit veranda and begin trying to contact Bart, Evans, and Celty.
His [Browser Search] ability had grown immensely stronger. By using keywords he could now trawl almost the entire capital for information.
He quickly located Bart and Evans.
“Those outsiders who arrived today were brutal. I personally saw one half-man, half-puppet fighting someone from the Frenzied Dragon Courtyard.”
—thoughts of a drunkard
“Sherath of the Frenzied Dragon is still terrifyingly strong. The Frenzied Dragon phantom beast he summoned today was incredible. That foreign bow-swordsman was no match at all; one blow left him gravely wounded.”
—thoughts of a street vendor
“According to the latest gossip I heard, the young man who fought Sherath might be Sheral’s illegitimate son. The Frenzied Dragon Courtyard has just summoned several doctors.”
—thoughts of a veteran gossip-loving auntie
“Father is too harsh with me. He beats and scolds me all the time. Today, because of those two fellows from the Star Empire, he nearly flayed me alive. I’m exhausted.”
—thoughts of a certain eldest son of the Frenzied Dragon clan drinking anonymously in a tavern
From these snippets Ye Chui pieced together that both Bart and Evans were currently inside the Frenzied Dragon Courtyard. They were injured, but their uncle Sherath, the clan leader, seemed to be treating them well and had no intention of harming them. Ye Chui breathed a small sigh of relief.
His [Browser Search] could harvest was limited to memories the grimoire could access. People with strong wills or powerful mental-shielding artefacts were immune. The “anonymous eldest son,” for example, was a formidable expert himself; Ye Chui had only caught his thoughts because the man was drunk and heartbroken in a tavern.
Next, Ye Chui tried to locate Celty. He searched for “Celty,” “talking head,” “talking ball,” everything he could think of, but nothing came up. He began to worry and even considered sneaking out to look for her.
Despite acting unconcerned earlier, the thought of big sis existing as nothing but a head still tugged at his conscience.
Suddenly an idea struck him. His eyes lit up. He hurriedly opened his grimoire.
He remembered he might be able to summon Celty directly.
Throughout his adventures, whenever he witnessed a time-echo related to the fall of the gods, a video file automatically formed in his grimoire. He now possessed four:
Prologue: The Dragon’s Fall
Chapter 1: The Land of Buried Swords
Chapter 2: Rebirth of the Goddess
Chapter 3: The Headless Spirit
Each file had granted him a divine gift: Dragon Baby, the Golden Recommendation, the elven baby, and the third chapter corresponded to Celty. Perhaps he could use the summoning card from that video to bring her here?
He immediately opened The Headless Spirit and played it to the end. The headless knight’s summoning card appeared. Ye Chui tapped it gently. The summoning progress bar began to fill.
A ball of light formed in front of him. Celty’s silhouette gradually became visible inside.
It really worked!
Just as Ye Chui felt a surge of delight, the almost-solid head of Celty suddenly turned and looked straight at him. “Eh? You’re summoning me?”
“Celty? You can hear me? Great! I’ll bring you over right now… Where are you anyway?” Ye Chui asked curiously. Through the hazy image he could see Celty seemed to be placed on some kind of stand, surrounded by plates of fruit and meat…
“Wait, don’t tell me you’re on someone’s dinner table about to be eaten!?” Ye Chui exclaimed in horror.
“You can see my side? That’s because…” Celty started to explain, but the signal suddenly faltered. The light flickered, her voice became garbled, and all Ye Chui could make out was a shadowy figure approaching her holding what looked like a kitchen knife…
Ye Chui let out a strangled “WTF!” and started spinning left and right. Debbie, Green, and the others inside the room noticed his strange behaviour and hurried out. “Ye Chui, what are you doing?” Debbie asked, puzzled.
“Looking for signal… why is the Wi-Fi so rubbish here?” Ye Chui muttered, leaping onto the roof. “Better reception up here!”
Debbie, Green, and the rest: “???”
The summoning orb stabilised again. The scene now showed Celty happily chewing. The figure with the knife was carefully slicing roast meat from the plates and feeding it to her…
Er… this was not quite what he had imagined. Ye Chui quickly asked, “What exactly is happening over there!?”
“Oh, don’t worry about me. Actually, don’t bother fetching me for now…” Celty said, mouth full. “Some commoners found me by the river and took me home. When your illusion magic wore off they were shocked by my appearance, but I told them I’m a river goddess come to save them. So now they’re worshipping me as a deity…”
She turned away from Ye Chui and called to someone, “Hey, give me a piece of that meat. Smells delicious.”
“Y-yes, Lady River Goddess…” came a timid girl’s voice filled with awe.
Celty continued speaking to Ye Chui, “So just carry on with whatever you’re doing. I’m going to enjoy a few days of luxury here.”
“Lady River Goddess, w-who are you talking to?” the nervous girl asked.
“I’m chatting with my divine friend. We’re discussing how to bless you all together. You’ve hit the jackpot,” Celty replied cheerfully.
“R-really, Lady River Goddess!?”
“Of course. But I’m starving right now. Let me finish eating first, then I’ll grant you blessings…” Celty finished, then looked back at Ye Chui. “That’s it. Talk later. Don’t worry about me for now.”
The summoning ended.
Ye Chui: “…”
As expected of a twenty-thousand-year-old monster. Her divine-con-artist skill tree was fully unlocked!
After climbing down from the roof, Ye Chui recounted Celty’s situation to the others. Dragon Baby and the turtle babies relaxed visibly. Then he updated everyone on Bart and Evans.
By now it was very late. Fiore suddenly approached looking worried. “It’s really late. Everyone should hurry inside and sleep, or something very bad will happen.”
“Something very bad?” Ye Chui looked curiously at the little miko.
“Evil spirits are sealed within the Ancestral Temple. At night they come out to cause trouble. Every room has powerful exorcism arrays that keep them out, but if you stay outside after dark, they will attack you,” Fiore explained with complete seriousness.
Ye Chui and the others exchanged glances and chuckled, treating it like an adult’s bedtime story to make children sleep early. But seeing how earnest Fiore looked, and since they were all exhausted anyway, Ye Chui said, “Alright then. Let’s get some proper rest. Today has been exhausting.”
The problem was there were only three rooms in the courtyard.
Ye Chui and Green could share one. That left eight people (Resha, Debbie, Gu Ni, Celty (absent), Shaleme, and the three baby turtles) needing at least two rooms. Where would Fiore sleep?
“Little sister, you can sleep with me tonight,” Resha said fondly, ruffling Fiore’s hair.
Fiore’s face instantly went pale. Cheeks flaming, she shuffled sideways until she stood beside Ye Chui. “C-can I sleep with Mr Ye Chui instead?”
The room fell silent for several seconds.
“Ahem…” Ye Chui coughed, feeling awkward. “That really wouldn’t be appropriate…”
“Mr Ye Chui, actually I’ve been meaning to tell you, I… I’m actually…” Fiore said nervously, face tense.
Wait, was she about to confess right here?
Ye Chui hurriedly cut her off with a helpless expression. “I know, I know. I’m incredibly charming (…), but you don’t have to say it. Big brother has always seen you as a little sister, understand? I’ve always wanted a cute little sister like you…”
Fiore looked ready to cry again.
Ye Chui panicked and quickly tried to comfort her. “D-don’t be like that. Look, I have mountains of beautiful girl clothes. They’re all yours.”
“I don’t want girl clothes…” Tears slid down her cheeks.
“That won’t do!” Ye Chui felt guilty. He had to make it up with gifts. He exchanged a huge pile of clothes and dumped them into her arms. “You have to wear a different outfit every day from now on!”
“…”
Fiore’s nose wrinkled. Suddenly she burst out “Waaah!” and clutching the clothes fled to her room.
Yep, definitely heartbroken after being rejected…
“It’s really troublesome being so handsome and charming. I wonder how many girls’ hearts I’ve unintentionally broken,” Ye Chui sighed dramatically.
Debbie walked over and kicked him squarely in the backside, glaring with utter contempt. Everyone else wore identical expressions of “we have never seen such a shameless person in our lives…”
In the end, the girls took the remaining two rooms. Ye Chui and Green laid out bedding in the main hall. After everyone retreated to their rooms, Green produced mattresses and blankets from his storage space. Ye Chui extinguished the candles. The hall fell silent and dark.
…
The night grew deeper. Moon and stars shone brightly.
Every light in the Ancestral Temple had been extinguished; this was temple rule. At the half-moon hour all flames must be put out, or evil spirits would be drawn near. The Church missionaries staying in the temple obediently stayed in their rooms. The shrine attendants had been strictly taught since childhood never to go out after dark.
A breeze passed.
A few dry leaves rustled to the ground.
Insects chirped once, then abruptly stopped.
In the darkness, a blurry silhouette slowly materialised. It simply appeared from nowhere, a mass of concentrated black mist vaguely humanoid, only two red points of light for eyes.
It crawled on all fours like a beast through the empty temple grounds.
It passed gardens, scaled walls.
It lingered briefly outside several attendants’ doors, then drifted away disappointed.
Finally, it reached Fiore’s little courtyard. It sensed unfamiliar presences. A ripple of something like joy passed through its long-dormant heart. Silently it floated into the main hall.
Neither Ye Chui’s nor Turtle Baby’s protective measures hindered it in the slightest.
Slowly, it crawled towards the two sleeping figures of Ye Chui and Green…
