Chapter 177

Pei Xi took a deep breath. There was no doubt that Wen Jian, the man behind the Blood Flower incident, was his enemy. If he chose to accept this bodyguard job, it’d mean betraying his adoptive parents.

He found it very strange. He’d heard that Wen Jian was already critically ill, and the church was preparing to elect a new Pope. Under such circumstances, would Ye Zheng or any of Wen Jian’s other enemies still take the risk to assassinate him?

Pei Xi looked at the letter from the Pope again and again.

The other party had specifically requested that he serve as his bodyguard on December 1st, pinpointing the exact date. Why would Wen Jian know that he’d be in danger on December 1st?

Even if there was danger, Wen Jian was surrounded by experts. Why would he specifically invite a novice student like him to protect him? Moreover, there was old enmity between them, which made it seem even stranger.

The only thing Pei Xi could be certain of was that something extremely important would happen on December 1st.

He picked up his pen and wrote a reply on the letter paper. He decided to accept the invitation.

He'd pretend to accept Wen Jian’s offer. Perhaps he could extract information about his biological mother from him. If Ye Zheng or anyone else wanted to make a move against Wen Jian, he wouldn’t stop them. In fact, he might even lend a hand. A person like Wen Jian should’ve died long ago.

After making his decision, Pei Xi didn’t feel the slightest bit relieved.

During this period, there were rarely any pressing matters to handle, so he had the time to train more intensively. Only by becoming stronger could he cope with the coming storms and changes.

Both 【Metal Aberration】 and 【Death Regression】 were extremely powerful abilities. Pei Xi felt ashamed of himself; his development of these abilities was still far too limited.

After replying to the letter, Pei Xi pulled his two teammates along and headed to the training grounds for high-intensity practice. Cloud Soarers Academy had specially dispatched two teachers to guide them, hoping that all three of them could pass the upcoming Royal Knight Order trial and become honored alumni of the school.

As he trained until he was drenched in sweat, Pei Xi had a fleeting thought of Lu Qi, the girl who had said she would achieve glory together with them. If Lu Qi were still here, she’d definitely be training desperately alongside them, right?

He found himself wondering what Lu Qi was doing at this very moment.

Over the next few days, aside from his grueling training, Pei Xi received a reply from the church detailing the specific arrangements.

On December 1st, he left home early, bringing along the mysterious white pigeon figurine. It was the emblem of the Colonna family, and the letter had explicitly reminded him not to forget it. Today, he was to enter the church as a bodyguard representing the Colonna family.

✧✧✧✧✧

December 1st.

On this day, the church lifted martial law and announced that the candidate for the new Pope would be revealed at five o’clock in the afternoon. Fourteen archbishops, along with noble representatives sent by the royal family, had been invited to the church. Saintess Ye Zheng was also among those invited.

The God of Hope gazed down with solemn majesty from the painted dome above. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting sharp illumination over the stern, timeworn lines etched into every elderly face. They were seated around a long rectangular table. Among the fifteen present, only one young female face appeared, strikingly out of place.

Ye Zheng lightly tapped her knuckles against the wooden tabletop. The sudden sound drew the archbishops’ attention toward her all at once.

“Esteemed bishops, are we waiting for the Pope to arrive and preside over this meeting?”

The old man seated across from her knit his thick white brows together. “Saintess, until the candidate for the next Pope is formally announced, all of us must remain here to prevent any unforeseen incidents.” 　

Ye Zheng let out a soft “Ah,” then continued, “Isn’t every Pope traditionally chosen through a secret vote conducted by the archbishops in a closed session? Has something changed this year?”

“Nothing has changed. Before you entered this conference room, the voting had already been completed. The final result will be announced at five o’clock this afternoon.”

Ye Zheng interlaced her fingers and rested her chin atop them, the curve of her smile deepening. “Then does that mean the reason for summoning me here is simply to keep you all company while waiting for the new Pope to be revealed?”

A dull thud echoed as someone slammed their hand heavily against the table.

“Saintess Ye Zheng, it’s already an exception that you were permitted to enter this conference room and sit among us. What exactly are you dissatisfied with?”

Another elderly bishop with a more benevolent appearance reached out and patted the angry elder on the shoulder. His gentle eyes turned toward Ye Zheng as he spoke in a tone of advice, “Ye Zheng, you’ve always been a good child. We’ve all witnessed your virtue and your contributions. Today, just quietly keep us old men company, alright?”

Ye Zheng looked at him. Bishop Colonna, the eldest brother of the current head of the Colonna family, and one of the most esteemed and senior figures among the fourteen archbishops.

Riley, who might become the next Pope, was a member of the Colonna family. The white pigeon, symbolizing peace and goodwill, was the emblem of their lineage.

The old man’s seemingly gentle yet clouded eyes flickered with something deeper. His words carried a veiled warning.

Do not attempt anything. You’ve already received enough. Conduct yourself properly and wait in silence for the emergence of the new Pope.

Ye Zheng sat at the lower right side of the long table. Her gaze swept across each archbishop present one by one, as though she were the one seated at the head, presiding over the meeting.

Several bishops grew irritated by her discourteous scrutiny and were just about to speak when Ye Zheng suddenly rose to her feet. All eyes immediately gathered on her standing figure.

“Saintess, what are you doing?”

“Leaving. Then I’m going to find Wen Jian.”

Ye Zheng smiled, stating her intention plainly without the slightest effort to conceal it.

Behave herself? Not a chance. Her objective was to become the next Pope.

The kindly appearing Bishop Colonna’s expression dimmed slightly. His thin, parched lips shifted as he said, “Ye Zheng, the entire Church is currently under the highest level of alert. The church, and even the royal family, have deployed people here. You…”

“So what? I’m in a hurry to inherit the Mother of All—”

“Ye Zheng!”

The old man shot up in fury, cutting her off at once. He stared at Ye Zheng in disbelief, his eyes trembling as if saying, “How do you know about 【Mother of All Things】!”

Ye Zheng’s expression turned slightly cold as she took in the faces of the fourteen archbishops present. Bishop Colonna reacted with visible agitation, two other archbishops showed subtle shifts in their expressions, while the rest mostly looked at her and old Colonna with confusion, as if they didn’t understand what the two of them were talking about.

Retracting her gaze, Ye Zheng gave Bishop Colonna a light, playful wink. “I believe Bishop Colonna doesn’t have any objections. I’ll convey your regards to His Holiness the Pope.”

With a somewhat perfunctory nod, Ye Zheng took her leave from the conference room. She brushed past the guards at the door and, under everyone’s watchful eyes, went to visit Pope Wen Jian.

Inside the conference room, old Colonna nearly collapsed from rage. The bishops on either side hurried to support him. The old man still couldn’t understand how Ye Zheng knew about its existence!

From the archbishops’ reactions, Ye Zheng confirmed she hadn’t been wrong. Only a very small number of people knew about the existence of 【Mother of All Things】. The creative power comparable to that of a god, which came with succession, couldn’t be known by too many people, or the entire church would fall into chaos.

Wen Jian had deliberately invited her into the Church, intending to use the eyes of many people to trap her. Rather than letting a fierce beast roam freely in the forest, it was better to keep the beast within sight and restrict it with rules. It was a clever plan.

Unfortunately, all she had to do was play a small card, revealing that she knew about the existence of 【Mother of All Things】, to break those visible restrictions. Because the other party would instead fear exposing 【Mother of All Things】 and wouldn’t dare to openly stop her from meeting the Pope.

This was an open scheme! Ye Zheng had used her own open scheme to defeat Wen Jian’s open scheme. But from now on, it would enter the realm of hidden schemes.

Ye Zheng walked along the spacious and magnificent corridor. Exquisitely carved half-columns were embedded into the painted walls. The long walkway held only her figure, yet she could feel more than one pair of eyes on her back.

A person who had lived a complete life might be filled with kindness on the verge of death, but someone whose hatred remained unfulfilled would only become even more insane as they approached their end!

From the moment she had entered this Church, the conspiracy targeting her had already begun to operate. Ye Zheng was certain that even if she had obediently stayed in the conference room with those old men, Wen Jian wouldn’t have allowed her to leave alive.

At this moment, the news that she had left the conference room had probably already reached Wen Jian’s ears.

As Ye Zheng walked, she suddenly saw a maid passing by with a broom and dustpan, quietly sweeping the floor. The maid seemed to turn her head as if by accident. For a brief instant, their eyes met, then quickly shifted away as they continued on their respective paths.

Ye Zheng lowered her head and looked at her own footsteps. The maid from just now was someone she had planted inside the Church.

During this critical period, she had forbidden her from sending out any information, because once she was exposed, the maid would undoubtedly die.

Ye Zheng knew her decision was a bit too soft-hearted. She shouldn’t be like this. The more critical the situation, the more important intelligence became.

But it didn’t matter. Truly valuable intelligence received today wouldn’t be too late.

Ye Zheng walked into a hall. The tip of her foot lightly touched a small ball of paper beside the wall — this was the spot the maid had just swept.

“Holy Grail, wine, paten, bread, Divine Revelation… divine blood?”

Ye Zheng decoded the hidden message behind the words on the paper and silently repeated them to herself.

These were the items Wen Jian had prepared over the past few days. They were likely things needed for inheriting 【Mother of All Things】 today.

Items like the Holy Grail, wine, and Divine Revelation were commonly used in ordinary rituals to worship gods and were not rare. However, the appearance of divine blood confirmed to Ye Zheng that these were preparations for the succession of 【Mother of All Things】.

Ye Zheng was no stranger to divine blood. More than a month ago, during the Holy Verdict, she had personally held it in her hands and secured her position as God’s Chosen, although she had used some small tricks to make it come closer to her.

Besides that, the crumpled paper also contained a brief layout map of the Pope’s Palace, with one location heavily marked on it.

It was the altar located at the eastern end of the Pope’s Palace. She would first have to leave this building, cross a small garden, and only then reach the altar.

Wen Jian would pass on 【Mother of All Things】 to the next Pope there.

Ye Zheng’s original plan had been to locate Riley first, then disguise herself as Riley on the day of the inheritance and deceive Wen Jian into passing her the succession. Unfortunately, they had hidden Riley far too well, and she couldn’t find them at all.

She paused by the windowsill, lowering her gaze to look downstairs. The Pope’s Palace was grand and luxurious, with solemn knights patrolling in tight formation. They wore identical uniforms and hats, yet Ye Zheng easily picked out Pei Xi from the rows of similar-looking figures.

It wasn’t because she was so familiar with him that she could joyfully recognize him at a glance. It was because she had been monitoring his correspondence for a long time.

Not only had she intercepted every single letter sent to him, Ye Zheng had even personally imitated the Pope’s handwriting and seal, forging fake letters in the Pope’s name and mixing them together with the real ones.

Ye Zheng raised her head and glanced at the clock tower opposite. The time showed 12:00 noon. In another thirty minutes, Wen Jian would send someone to receive Pei Xi at the northern auditorium. The purpose was still unclear.

The person coming to receive Pei Xi might be nothing more than an ordinary servant or subordinate, but it could also be an important figure, such as Riley.

She still had a chance to replace Riley. No matter how well Riley had been hidden before, today they would definitely appear inside the Pope’s Palace, breathing the same air as her.

There were still five hours left until the announcement of the new Pope.