Chapter 011: Evil in the Light

The sunset had completely disappeared, and the crescent moon hung in the sky at some unknown time. In the back garden of the imperial cathedral, sparse noises could be heard. A figure dressed in a white robe rushed out from among the bushes. Perhaps due to his haste, his face and hair were covered with dead branches and leaves.
This person was naturally Du Fan. As he patted his robe, he grumbled to himself, “Damn it, why are the people in the cathedral so lazy? They don’t even keep the back garden clean—it’s so messy.”
As he continued patting his robe, several priests nearby stared at him in shock. After a long while, one of them said, “Isn’t that Priest Du Fan? If I’m not mistaken, you came out of the forbidden area. Don’t you know that this dense forest in the back garden has been off-limits to ordinary believers for hundreds of years?”
“Is that so?” Du Fan looked astonished. “It seems I’ll have to go apologize to the archbishop. Everyone here must testify for me—that I entered by accident.”
With that, Du Fan took out a few gold coins and walked over to those priests with a flattering smile.
The priests glanced at the gold coins in Du Fan’s hand and nodded repeatedly, saying, “Yes, yes, Du Fan, you entered by accident. We can all testify to that.”
“You all?” Du Fan looked at the priests. “So, are there only you guys here? No one else saw me come out of the forbidden area? Right?”
The priests exchanged glances and nodded.
Du Fan weighed the gold coins in his hand and sighed. “Then I’m relieved. If I give you these coins, will you forget everything you just saw?”
“Of course! Of course!” The priests nodded again, rubbing their hands eagerly. You see, the Holy Church had been facing a lot of troubles lately, making it difficult to manage funds. As ordinary priests who couldn’t even qualify as white-robed clergy, they received very limited allowances each month, leaving them with no chance to go to the brothels to watch the beautiful dancers. But now, with the chance to make a big profit, how could they pass it up?
One of the smarter ones among them already started thinking about how to exploit this situation to strip Du Fan of all his wealth. After all, this guy was different from the others—he was a true noble!

Du Fan showed a hint of hesitation on his face. After searching around for a while, he finally took out a large handful of gold coins. “How about this… I’ll give you all the gold coins I have. Can you pretend nothing happened?”
“Of course! Of course!” As more and more gold coins appeared, the eyes of those priests began to glow.
“Too bad…” Du Fan’s eyes sparkled. “Even though you say that, I don’t believe you. But I’ve known something for a long time—only the dead can keep secrets well. But don’t worry. Today, I’ve learned something new—that the living might also be able to keep some secrets.”
At this point, Du Fan wore his signature holy smile. “Gentlemen, you didn’t see anything just now. You didn’t see me, nor the gold coins. In fact, you’ve even forgotten why you came here… Right?”
The expressions on the priests’ faces kept changing as Du Fan spoke. After his last sentence, confusion appeared in their eyes. They exchanged glances, all thinking the same thing: Yes… what are we doing here?
Seeing their expressions, Du Fan smiled in satisfaction. But the next second, he said something vicious with a smile: “Gentlemen, have you forgotten why you came here? This one… yes… this one here…” He pointed at the most handsome of the priests. “Have you all forgotten? You all fell in love with him. Today, we’re here to see which one of you he will choose… How could you forget such an important thing?”
Hearing his words, the priests understood at last. One of them, a bearded man, rushed forward first, embracing the handsome priest and shouting, “Romia… how could you do this to me… You know how much I love you…”
The other priests also rushed at him. In no time, the frail body of the priest named Romia was surrounded by them, like chrysanthemums withering in the wind.

Watching the shameless scene unfold in this sacred place, Du Fan sighed melancholyly. He raised his head solemnly to look at the sky and said, “Great God of Light, right under your watchful eyes, what disgusting things are your followers doing? Has the Holy Church truly degenerated to this extent?” While maintaining a pious posture, he kept running fast. In no time, he reached the back door of the church. At that moment, Chenchen, now in the form of a kitten, poked her head out from Du Fan’s collar. With a disdainful look, she scanned his face and said in his mind, “You’re shameless, a bastard, despicable…” Du Fan laughed and stroked Chenchen’s head. “Maybe you don’t understand. Humans have endless greed. Take those priests earlier—although they just happened to encounter me by chance, if I’m not wrong, they planned to exploit me thoroughly before selling me off for the greatest profit. You understand our situation too. If someone discovers our secret, it’s not just a matter of life or death. In the past, the only option would have been to kill them to keep quiet. But now that you’ve given me the power of Word Magic, wouldn’t it be a waste not to use it properly?” Chenchen snorted. “Don’t think Word Magic is that useful. Though it can instantly alter people’s memories, influence their thoughts, and disrupt order, it’s only temporary. If you don’t take advantage of that moment to deal with them, aren’t you afraid of future troubles?” “Future troubles?” Du Fan rubbed his nose, his hand concealing his uncontrollable smile. “Girl, what do you think a few men do after shouting ‘I love you’ at each other and kissing and hugging? Nothing but disgust. Though a sudden genetic mutation isn’t entirely impossible.” Chenchen glanced at him curiously. “What do you mean by ‘genes’?” “Ah? Sorry, I messed up the timeline!” Covering his mouth, he stuffed the kitten’s head back into his clothes before walking out of the church’s back door with a holy expression. The Temple Knights guarding the door greeted him friendly. Unlike the serious knights elsewhere, those who guarded the back door were usually those who didn’t fare well inside the Church, so they weren’t as formal.

Seeing Du Fan come out, one of those who had met him a few times before smiled and said, “Young Master Du Fan, your family’s carriage has been waiting for you outside for quite a while. What’s the matter? Are you going to a court banquet tonight?”
Du Fan nodded slightly and tossed a few gold coins into his hand, saying, “Yes… I don’t know when I’ll be able to return tonight. Please give me some face—if I’m late, just act like you didn’t see me.”
“Of course!” The gatekeepers laughed heartily, waved their hands, and winked.
Du Fan left through the back door with a smile. Outside was a magnificent street, and just across the wall lay the imperial palace of Gavin’s empire.
A not-so-grand carriage was parked by the roadside, looking rather shabby under the dim streetlights.
A pure-white horse pulled the carriage, adorned with tattered decorations.
Old Mark was standing by the carriage, lost in thought. Noticing Du Fan’s arrival, he quickly bowed respectfully and said in a tone that was hard to tell whether it was angry or indifferent, “Third young master, why are you so late today? If we don’t hurry, the banquet will start soon.”
“Hmm, Grandpa Mark, I’m really sorry. I had some matters to deal with, so I was delayed. But it doesn’t matter if we go now—even if we’re late.” Du Fan wasn’t too arrogant in front of Old Mark. After explaining, he quickly climbed into the carriage. Inside, aside from a carpet and a small square table, there was only a pile of clothes.
Old Mark seemed to sigh but didn’t say much. Instead, he jumped to the front of the carriage and drove off at full speed.
To be honest, since following Du Fan, Old Mark hadn’t had much good luck. Besides acting as a part-time butler, servant, and bodyguard, he sometimes even had to play the role of a coachman. From this, it could be seen just how poor Du Fan used to be.
There was still some time before reaching the palace, so Du Fan wasn’t in a hurry. He took out the little cat from his collar and placed it on the table, saying, “Girl, isn’t it tired being a cat? There are no outsiders here, so you can safely turn back into your human form. Don’t worry—no one other than me will see you!”
The little cat rolled its eyes, and immediately a voice sounded in Du Fan’s mind: “Pervert!”