Chapter 010: The Little Fox and the Old Fox

The early spring sun shone purely upon this land, its warm rays bringing immense comfort to both body and mind. Under this sunlight, the various flowers in the church garden appeared especially vibrant, their colors enhanced by the reflections of dew, creating a sight of breathtaking beauty.

Du Fan stood in front of a delicate cottage in the church’s back garden, hands clasped behind his back. His expression was calm, his gaze shifting from flower to flower covered in dew, as if there was something on them worth paying close attention to.

After a while, the door of the cottage creaked open. Archbishop Anthony, unusually, was not wearing his old robes but casual clothes as he stepped out.

Hearing the noise, Du Fan turned and bowed slightly, saying, “I greet you, Your Eminence.”

“No need for formalities,” Anthony replied, clearly in high spirits. He walked over slowly, took Du Fan’s hand, and patted it while saying, “Du Fan, you really never give me a moment’s peace. I thought I’d finally finished dealing with matters at Roland Academy, but then you had Joshua send me that message. Are you trying to annoy me on purpose?”

Du Fan felt uncomfortable under Anthony’s patting, his skin prickling. He wondered if this old man might be into men.

At that thought, he found the old fox’s smile as he held his hand to be extremely lewd. Yet, no matter how bold he was, Du Fan wouldn’t dare express such thoughts. He quietly pulled his hand back, wiped it on his clothes, and said, “Lord Anthony, how could I ever mean to annoy you? I’ve recently learned something extraordinary. I felt it would be a blasphemy against my faith not to report it to you right away, so I rushed here early in the morning.”

“Oh? What could be so urgent?” Anthony seemed less impatient now, as if what he was about to hear was unimportant.

Du Fan cursed the old fox in his heart but still smiled and said, “I think you’ll be interested in this, Lord Anthony. For example, a sacred palace that has existed for thousands of years yet remains undiscovered.”

Anthony seemed not to have heard clearly. He suddenly narrowed his eyes and said, “Priest Du Fan, what palace did you just mention?”
Du Fan smiled and replied, “The Divine Palace!”
Anthony’s narrowed eyes snapped open. He stared at Du Fan for a moment before saying, “Du Fan, do you realize that if the Divine Palace you speak of truly exists, then it will surely become a holy site for my Sacred Church? And in all these thousands of years since our church was founded, we have only discovered a few such holy sites. Do you understand that if there’s even the slightest truth to this, I can charge you with blasphemy at any time and have your soul burned forever on the execution platform?”
Du Fan sighed and said, “Lord Anthony, why scare me? Since you’re willing to meet me now, it at least shows that you believe at least 80% in the existence of this Divine Palace I mentioned. Are you saying this now just in case I ask for too much later? Please be assured, Lord Anthony. Although I’m not mature, I am still a believer of the Light God. It’s only natural for me to do such things. How could I dare to ask for any benefits?”
Perhaps Du Fan’s words pleased Anthony. He made a gesture and walked slowly ahead, saying as he went, “Then explain everything in detail.”
Du Fan replied, “This… I dare not say.”
Anthony turned to look at Du Fan and said, “You’re eager to tell me about this, yet you say you can’t. Do you think just because you’re from the Green family, I, Anthony, won’t dare touch you?”
Du Fan smiled and said, “How dare I? It’s just that if I don’t speak about it, it stays hidden. But once I do, it will cause a tremendous upheaval. Moreover, it might damage the good relations between my Sacred Church and Roland Academy. So, if Lord Anthony insists that I speak, could you promise me one thing?”
Anthony snorted and asked, “What is it?”
Du Fan smiled slightly and said, “Please promise me, Lord Anthony, that no matter how the Sacred Church handles this matter, it has nothing to do with me. Whether the Sacred Church goes to that place or not also has nothing to do with me.”
Anthony pondered for a moment and said, “I can’t promise that. If the Sacred Church really decides to deal with this matter, it would be odd if you, the one who started it, aren’t present. At most, I can promise that no matter how much your words damage the relations between the Sacred Church and Roland Academy, I won’t blame you.”

Du Fan sneered inwardly. He had known all along that old fox would say such things. If he hadn’t used this tactic of advancing by retreating, you probably wouldn’t have allowed me to go to the Divine Palace either. Yet despite his sneer, a hint of disappointment appeared on Du Fan’s face. He shook his head and said, “If that’s the case, then I hope Lord Anthony will agree to one more thing for me.”

“Say it.”

“Well… this…” Du Fan suddenly seemed shy. “Last night… I accidentally… killed… Elvis. Could you please help me cover this up, Lord Anthony?”

“Elvis is dead?” Anthony showed an expression as if he had already expected this. “How many people did you use to do this?”

Du Fan replied, “It’s not really about how many people I used. After I rushed into the Duke’s mansion, Elvis followed in as well. Unfortunately, his skills weren’t good enough, and the magic traps in the mansion were quite powerful. In a moment of carelessness… I knocked him out, and then…”

“And then what?” Anthony waved his hand impatiently.

Du Fan sneered inwardly but half-truthfully described how he had gotten information from Elvis. As for the matter of the Divine Palace, he described it in great detail.

After a long while, Anthony finally sighed and glanced at Du Fan strangely before saying, “You must have predicted this all along. Even if you hadn’t killed Elvis, I would have ordered you to do it. That’s why you dared to act, right?”

Du Fan thought to himself, How could I possibly have predicted that? If it weren’t for my insufficient strength, would I have to give you such a huge advantage?

While thinking this, Du Fan’s expression became extremely devout. “Of course not. I just heard that people from Roland Academy wanted to take control of the Divine Palace, so I couldn’t help but get angry and killed him in a fit of passion. I really didn’t do it on purpose.”

Anthony said, “Enough, enough. Whether it was intentional or not doesn’t matter. Hmph, I already received news that Bruce brought such a large force to our territory with ulterior motives. But… I never expected them to target the Divine Palace. Anyway, they won’t succeed this time. How about this, Du Fan? Go back and get ready. I’ll assign some people to you to lead a team and stop Roland Academy’s actions.”

Du Fan knew that although Anthony spoke nicely, he didn’t trust him 100%. So, this so-called leadership was actually meant to keep him in line. If there was anything untrue in what he had said just now, his life would likely be at risk. After a brief thought, Du Fan put on a resolute expression and said, “For the Holy Church and the God of Light, I am willing to give everything I have. This time, I promise I will never let those bastards from Roland Academy succeed in their schemes. Sacred artifacts are not something these people can defile.” Anthony watched Du Fan’s behavior and nodded in satisfaction. After a moment, he waved his hand, signaling for him to leave. Du Fan bowed and quickly retreated. Anthony, who had remained enigmatic, suddenly sighed and asked, “So? Is there anything wrong with this Du Fan?” A soft voice replied, “I’ve been watching him closely since he entered this garden until he left. His heartbeat remained steady, his breathing was regular, and even his behavior and expressions seemed overly natural. So…” “So what?” Anthony frowned. “So, everything Du Fan said about the sacred palace is likely true. As for analyzing this man, I can’t conclude anything for now, but it’s one of two possibilities.” “What possibilities?” Anthony asked. The voice replied, “The first possibility is that he is an extremely pious priest, even more so than Joshua. But I’ve never met such a person in ten thousand. The second possibility is that he is an extremely cunning individual. Given time, even you might not be able to match him. It’s surprising that the Green family produced someone like this. Considering his talent over the past few months, Old Green was right to send him here.” “Utter piety and utter cunning?” Anthony sighed and murmured, “Du Fan, Du Fan, what should I do to deal with you?”