Chapter 011: A Precious Gift

The alley, already damaged from the battle, was now completely deserted. Even those who knew about this place would turn and leave at the sight of someone waiting at its exit.
It was a special time—no one wanted to get into trouble. The cost of trouble was often death.
As the day slowly passed, and the sun set and the moon rose, a dark hand suddenly emerged from beneath the ruins of the alley. Then, as if an eye was peering outside for a long time, it finally moved when nothing was detected outside. With a soft rustling sound, a figure climbed out.
Laku gasped heavily. Though his wounds were still there, they no longer bled. He glanced around before muttering angrily, “Damn it! They destroyed my puppet… Du Fan… Remember this, our feud isn’t over!”
After saying that, he slowly stood up, panting. Clearly, his broken ribs had damaged his lungs, and even the slightest movement caused excruciating pain in his chest.
At that moment, a soft sigh came from behind Laku. He tensed up and quickly turned around, asking sternly, “Who’s there…”
A plump figure slowly stepped out of the shadows. Staring at Laku, he said calmly, “King of the Night? Is that all you’ve got? Can’t even handle a mere Du Fan… It seems I really chose the wrong person this time!”
Hearing this voice, Laku’s tense nerves relaxed slightly. “It’s you… Hmph, the information you gave me was all fake—nothing like that Du Fan at all… If I hadn’t dodged quickly, I’d be dead now!”
The plump figure sneered, “Failure is failure. Why make so many excuses? Anyway, I never expected you to defeat Du Fan… Even Francis isn’t his match. With your skills, how could you possibly be?”
A flash of anger appeared in Laku’s eyes, but he knew he couldn’t afford to offend this person. He could only swallow his anger and say, “Lord Evan, rest assured. I will complete my mission no matter what!”

“Is that so?” Viscount Evan finally appeared in the air, holding a glass of red wine and dressed in fine attire, as if he were about to attend some important banquet.
“Never mind,” Evan sighed. “I guess you can’t complete the mission… And since you missed your strike, Du Fan was already prepared. How could he let you succeed again? Let’s just give up on this mission…”
“But…”
“There’s no but,” Evan said, walking up to Raku with a smile. “Although you failed the mission, I won’t take back the money I paid. After all, we’ll have another chance to cooperate soon… Consider that money as a deposit from me for our next partnership!”
Raku’s eyes flickered slightly. “What mission?”
Evan let out a soft sigh. “This mission is actually both easy… and difficult… Lord Raku, I’d like to borrow something from you. Would that be alright?”
Raku tensed up. “What thing?”
Evan smiled. “What thing? Naturally, your head!”
Raku was shocked and stepped back, but before he could move far, he suddenly spat out more blood with a “waah—” sound and collapsed to the ground. He looked down at his chest in disbelief.
Evan still held the wine glass elegantly in one hand, while the other held a pulsating lump of flesh…
Smiling, he whispered, “Raku, come and see… Didn’t you complete this mission very well?”
Then came a “crack” sound—as the pulsating flesh was crushed into pieces.
Raku’s expression was strange. He stared at Evan, seemingly wanting to say something, but ultimately couldn’t utter a word.
Evan stepped forward, placing his razor-sharp fingertips gently on his throat, smiling. “I’ll borrow this head now!”
Before the blood from his neck could spill, a black flame enveloped his entire body. Looking at the valuable head in his hand, Evan sighed and said, “I wonder what my dear Lord Du Fan will think of this gift he’s given me…”
…
Above the cathedral, everything was sacred and elegant.
Clad in simple robes, priests and nuns moved about the cathedral, and the believers passing by all wore expressions of piety. No matter what they saw, they never showed any unusual reactions.

Du Fan wandered above the church, gazing at the great cathedral not far away, feeling uncertain about his emotions. There was a time when, no matter what day it was, he would stand on the high altar praying, while taking in the perfect figures of the nuns beneath in their robes. But now, those memories seemed so distant. Does one change once they gain power and desire? It was a nearly unsolvable question. Standing there in deep thought, Du Fan couldn’t quite define his feelings… All he could think was that life was truly as lonely as snow… and he was even lonelier than fireworks. Just as Du Fan was at his most melancholic, a devout-looking nun suddenly approached him and whispered, “Lord Du Fan… Lord Anthony is waiting for you…” The atmosphere he had painstakingly created vanished in an instant. He could only lower his head with a bitter smile before following the nun deeper into the cathedral. After passing through a long corridor adorned with reliefs, the nun finally stopped in front of a small chapel. She knocked lightly on the door twice, said nothing more, and quickly stepped back. Du Fan frowned slightly at the door before hearing an aged voice say calmly, “Is it Du Fan? Come in! I was guessing you would arrive these days…” Du Fan took a deep breath, adjusted his emotions slightly, and then slowly pushed the door open and entered. Inside was a chapel filled with the scent of time—the murals on the walls had yellowed and developed mild mold, and most of the seats around had decayed into wood scattered on the floor. The statue of the God of Light on the altar was also somewhat damaged, yet still radiated such brilliance that it was hard to look directly at. Anthony stood with his hands behind his back atop the altar, still gazing up at the statue of the God of Light. Du Fan followed his gaze and immediately felt a sharp pain in his eyes; they turned red, and hot tears streamed down… Though his strength had greatly improved, he was still just an ordinary man… How could an ordinary man dare to look up at the glory of the gods? As if sensing Du Fan’s gaze, Anthony finally turned his attention away from the statue. He glanced back at Du Fan, a hint of surprise in his eyes, before saying after a moment, “Du Fan… It seems you’ve made quite a progress in these few days!”

Although Du Fan knew that his current aura was likely impossible to conceal from this Archbishop in red, he was still slightly surprised when Anthony pointed it out right away. However, in Anthony’s presence, Du Fan didn’t dare be reckless. Though he had cursed that old fox countless times in his heart, he still spoke solemnly, “How could Du Fan have made any progress? It’s all thanks to Lord Anthony…”
“Is that so?” Anthony cast a half-smiling gaze at Du Fan before saying after a moment, “Well, my Reverend Priest in white… I’ve already sent someone with an invitation, saying I would pay a visit… I didn’t expect you to come in person… I suppose you didn’t come for no reason either.”
Du Fan smiled and nodded, saying, “Lord Anthony is truly remarkable. Your servant Du Fan does have a matter that requires your help…”
“Speak then.”
Du Fan paused briefly before briefly recounting today’s events, then added, “As for what’s going on here, I beg Lord Anthony to make a decision…”
“Someone wants to assassinate you?” Anthony smiled. “That’s quite interesting. Well… I’ll have you go and investigate… But I can’t guarantee any results.”
Du Fan quickly said solemnly, “As long as Lord Anthony is willing to help, it would already be a great favor…”
Anthony shook his head slightly but didn’t pursue the topic further. Instead, he sighed lightly and said, “Du Fan… Do you know why I originally intended to pay a visit?”