"I won't make things difficult for you."
"If you praise the Sun, I can consider helping you for free in the future."
"Only occasionally, though. I need to eat too."
Alice said, gritting her teeth, a little pained.
"Hmph, you want me to betray the Goddess?"
"Dream on."
Xia Ai'er drew a scarlet moon on his chest, his attitude very firm.
"I'm not asking you to betray your faith. Just praise the Sun once, and I'll give you a bottle of Sun Holy Water for free, how about that?"
Alice threw out another bargaining chip.
"Heh heh, if you praise the Goddess, I'll give you 100 pounds."
Xia Ai'er rolled his eyes disdainfully.
The two looked at each other and said in unison:
"You heretic!" x 2
"Young Master, Miss Alice, I will arrange for the servants to prepare the food."
Martin stepped forward, bowed to the two of them, and then quickly walked into the villa.
"Want to eat something before you go?"
Xia Ai'er, seeing that he had already walked back to his doorstep, asked the blonde girl who was still following him.
"The Sun will bless you."
Alice made the gesture that the mendicant monks of the Church of Evernight would make when giving thanks, then she touched her somewhat hungry stomach.
"The Moon will also bless you."
Xia Ai'er tapped his chest four times in quick succession, then led Alice into the villa. Martin had already arranged for the servants to prepare some food urgently.
After he finished a small cake, he looked at Alice, who was still stuffing fruit pudding into her mouth, and stood up, saying:
"I'm going back to rest first."
"You're my friend, no need to be polite."
"Martin, you don't need to bother with her either. Go rest. Just arrange for the on-duty servant to look after her."
Xia Ai'er finished speaking and walked towards the stairs.
"Martin, you go rest, don't mind me. Oh, by the way, this place is so big, it should be able to let me rest for one night, right?"
Alice rubbed her stomach contentedly, looking at Martin and asking.
She didn't want to walk back after she was full.
"Of course, please rest assured, Miss Alice. A maid will lead you to the guest room later."
Martin was also a little tired, but he still diligently completed the aftermath work.
...
Bedroom.
Xia Ai'er sat in front of the mirror and closed his eyes.
In his personal Mind Island, he smiled as he watched the Wraith Steve struggling in terror in the mirror.
Fishing indeed requires baiting the spot first.
The holy light summoned by Alice could, to a certain extent, protect against long-distance Wraith possession.
The approach of the Machinery Hivemind team forced the Wraith, who had come to provide support, to quickly resolve the trouble and clear all traces from the field.
At such a time, all he had to do was control his position, just outside Alice and Martin's line of sight, right at the edge of the holy light's coverage, and wait.
History had already proven countless times how dangerous it was for an old Nascent Soul monster to try to possess a Transmigrator.
"You don't need to be nervous or afraid. There's nothing difficult to understand about this."
"In fact, most Secrets Supplicants are like this; I'm still on the conservative side among them."
"You didn't see the True Creator's projection in my spiritual world, only a mirror. Isn't that lucky enough?"
Xia Ai'er explained with a smile.
The way Secrets Supplicants operate is like this: mastering sacrifice and ritual magic, and being proficient in the art of summoning help.
The spectral glow in the eyes of the Wraith Steve in the mirror grew brighter. He opened his mouth, wanting to let out a Wraith shriek that would strike directly at the soul, but a song rang out first in his ears:
"Spring and autumn turn, old friends are gone, the lonely tomb is cold."
"High mountains and flowing water are only for you."
"Lingering dreams revolve, the melody ends, never to be played again."
The elf's song echoing in the mirror completely overpowered the Wraith's increasingly shrill shriek.
Xia Ai'er retreated far away. Under his control, his spiritual world formed layers of air walls that blocked the shrieks emanating from the mirror.
Not long after, the terror and madness in the Wraith's eyes gradually turned into numbness and dullness.
The Spectator's methods are truly insidious.
"This way, I have a Spirit World creature that can respond to me."
Xia Ai'er looked at his creation and nodded with satisfaction.
What Secrets Supplicants fear most is being disorganized, not even knowing who to sacrifice to.
Although it is a bit difficult for a Sequence 5 to respond to prayers.
But as long as the distance is close enough, Secrets Supplicants can still get a response.
"Is this the principle of a humanoid Sealed Artifact?"
He snapped his fingers, the mirror surface vanished, leaving only a portrait of the Wraith, placed on a sacrificial altar that automatically appeared in his Mind World.
Xia Ai'er inserted three incense sticks into the censer, materialized various paper money, paper figures, and paper ingots. Spiritual flames ignited these items, and the sacrificial materials transformed into specks of glowing light that dissipated, becoming real existences within the Wraith's inescapable illusionary dream.
The Wraith, originating from the Libidinous Brothel, could not resist the temptations of the mundane world. He began to fully enjoy the offerings provided by Xia Ai'er, thereby completing a mystical secret ritual with Xia Ai'er.
"And then… 'invite the deity' to possess me?"
"You can't just eat offerings and not work, right?"
Xia Ai'er looked at the three rapidly burning sandalwood sticks. It seemed the Wraith really liked this smell.
He pointed at the portrait hanging on the altar.
His spiritual body changed into a black tailcoat and dark red cape, identical to those worn by the Wraith Steve.
In the real world, Xia Ai'er opened his eyes, and his body began to float ethereally, transforming into a shadowy figure like a Wraith.
His palm swept across his face, and his features began to change, becoming those of a forty-something-year-old, expressionless middle-aged man.
Not only did his appearance change, but even his aura was consistent with the Wraith Steve.
"Arrodes, create a mirror image of me sleeping in the room."
"And help me locate the Libidinous Brothel's temporary stronghold in Backlund."
As a Wraith for the first time, Xia Ai'er couldn't wait to go out and have some fun.
"Understood, Xia Ai'er."
Arrodes directly sent information to Xia Ai'er through Spirit World revelation.
After all, a Wraith could directly communicate with the Spirit World.
It first helped Xia Ai'er create a mirror image substitute, and then directly located the current positions of the two Libidinous Brothel members.
The Werewolf and the Zombie's passive anti-divination abilities were as good as non-existent to Arrodes.
After Arrodes connected the mirror in Xia Ai'er's room to a certain mirror in the East Borough, Xia Ai'er directly teleported over through the mirror.
A certain stronghold in the East Borough.
"Living Corpse" Jason and "Werewolf" Tyer were both waiting here.
Because Xia Ai'er did not provide help, this Sequence 7 Werewolf had not yet been arrested by the Machinery Hivemind.
The trio from the Libidinous Brothel also had a Sequence 3 Saint as their leader behind them.
At this moment, Thale, who appeared thin but was actually very muscular, directly tore open the flesh where he had been shot. His fingernails elongated, picking out the bullet. The holy aura clinging to the bullet, which could not remain for long, was also eroded and erased by the Darkness spells mastered by the Werewolf.
Xia Ai'er's illusory figure appeared like a ghost through the mirror in the room.