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“What do you mean all the flowers in the world bloom because of her? Flowers bloom because they put in their own effort! The sun in the sky wasn’t placed there by the Goddess of Light. Have you studied astronomy? Do you know the Earth is round?”

The woman angrily cursed for a while, then fumed, “Forget it, I don’t want to talk to brainwashed people like you. Get lost, get lost, seeing you makes me feel unlucky.”

Gu Zhan confirmed that the woman truly had an issue with the Goddess of Light.

Seeing that she was about to leave, Gu Zhan quickly said, “Wait a moment, I’m sorry. I just wanted to confirm your attitude toward the Goddess of Light. I think the same as you, but there are too many people here who revere the Goddess of Light, and I couldn’t confirm it easily... Sorry for making you angry.”

Gu Zhan’s words were sincere enough to make the woman stop in her tracks.

The woman turned around and eyed Gu Zhan suspiciously.

Gu Zhan stood still, letting her scrutinize him. After all, the cloak was tightly wrapped, hiding his face completely.

After a long silence, the woman said, “You seem to have some troubles. Hmm, mainly I think you and I are fated. Fine, I’ll help you with one reading.”

Gu Zhan curiously asked, “You know what I want to ask about?”

The woman said, “I can see your fortune. Right now, you’re troubled by something. It’s very dangerous for you…”

She carefully observed him, then suddenly appeared puzzled, not quite understanding. “But you don’t think it’s a bad thing. In fact, you seem to be somewhat enjoying it? Huh?”

The woman looked at him, her mouth agape in confusion.

“Ahem, ahem.” Gu Zhan hadn’t expected that this NPC in the instance would be so powerful, easily seeing through his thoughts.

Although he didn’t intend to deny it, hearing someone else speak it out loud still made him feel somewhat embarrassed.

Gu Zhan unconsciously lowered his voice: “But I still want to resolve this issue.”

The woman seemed taken aback by Gu Zhan’s words, and she remained silent for a while.

Gu Zhan asked again, “If this continues, I might encounter some danger. Do you have any solutions?”

The woman regained her composure and stared at him intently. After a while, she said, “Can you extend your hand for me to see?”

Gu Zhan extended his hand from beneath his cloak and offered it to her.

His skin was unusually fair, and even just one hand emanated a strong aura of light element.

The woman grimaced in slight distaste but still took his hand in her own.

She stayed silent for a moment, then clicked her tongue. “This is strange. You actually want it, and it looks like it wants you too. What a strange preference.”

“Based on your current thoughts, you won’t find a solution. You have the destiny of a king. Maybe changing your perspective will solve this.”

“Changing my perspective?”

Gu Zhan thought for a moment.

The woman, however, became excited, pulling him toward the deeper alley.

At a set of stairs, she released his hand, sat down on the steps, and pulled out a few tarot cards, placing them face down on the ground. She waved for Gu Zhan to come over.

“Come, draw two cards, let me see if you’ll succeed.”

Gu Zhan was still trying to figure out what the woman meant by “changing perspectives” but walked over anyway.

Without much thought, he casually drew a card from the ground and placed it before her.

It was a card filled with chaotic black lines, one he’d never seen in the Tarot cards back on Earth.

But the woman, upon seeing it, became ecstatic. She held the card in her hands and exclaimed, “Success, great success! Smooth sailing all the way!”

She looked up, locking eyes with Gu Zhan. “You must go!”

“Wha—” Gu Zhan still didn’t understand what he was supposed to do, yet the woman had already placed such high hopes on him.

Her gaze was so intense that Gu Zhan dared not question further. He could only nod, confused.

The woman, clearly pleased, gathered all the cards back into her cloak and cheerfully rose, murmuring to herself as she walked toward the alley’s exit.

Gu Zhan sensed that going after her wouldn’t help anymore.

After a brief moment of silence, he decided to explore other places.

Yet, her words lingered in his mind.

Gu Zhan returned to the lively main square, only to find that the tarot readers in black cloaks were gone. Perhaps the guards had chased them off. All that remained were the townsfolk, strolling around the streets.

Gu Zhan wandered a little longer but had no more encounters. He eventually made sure to return before midnight.

Back at the holy palace, the maid complained that he had been out for too long.

She chattered from the gate all the way to his quarters. Just before he entered the sacred bath, Gu Zhan stopped her.

“Today is the Goddess of Light’s festival. I went out to celebrate her. If you keep talking, you might anger the goddess.”

The maid finally fell silent.

Before Gu Zhan entered, she reminded him, “I’m not criticizing the Son of Light, but in a few days, it’ll be your evaluation ceremony. If you fail the test, you’ll lose your status as the Son of Light. Until then, you should be more careful and diligent.”

Gu Zhan’s heart skipped a beat. The life of the Son of Light was far more colorful than he’d imagined.

An evaluation?

He had a bad feeling. He was certain that the black markings on his body would make him fail the test without a doubt.

But his face remained calm as he nodded, indicating that he understood.

That night, Gu Zhan had a dream.

He finally saw Mo Tuo.

It was the same familiar scene, with Mo Tuo standing in the shadows, half of his body hidden.

Gu Zhan asked in surprise, “You’ve been locked up again?”

Mo Tuo raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you wish for me to have some good fortune?”

“Being locked up isn’t bad?” Gu Zhan said flatly. “It seems you like it.”

Mo Tuo gritted his teeth. He knew that Gu Zhan was doing this on purpose, trying to provoke him, but he wasn’t going to let Gu Zhan succeed.

His expression twisted for just a moment before quickly returning to normal.

But the “thing” behind Mo Tuo didn’t calm down so easily.

It scrambled out from behind him, its body as dark as night, soft and agile… That feeling was very familiar.

Gu Zhan suddenly realized, remembering everything that had happened in the confessional room. He couldn’t help but laugh, but at the same time, he felt like, “Of course it’s like this.”

The strange thing that had pinned him down in the confessional room… was Mo Tuo!

Mo Tuo seemed to be unable to control his tentacles. He glanced back, frowning. Those things didn’t listen to him and surged toward Gu Zhan’s direction.

Mo Tuo didn’t seem to want Gu Zhan to get close to them, so he stepped back a little.

Then, he said to Gu Zhan, “This is my instance. Its permissions are different from other instances. Here, I will forget some things. Some things, I can’t control. You’d better…”

"Get away from me."

Before the words were even finished, Gu Zhan took a step forward and closed the distance with Mo Tuo.

Mo Tuo was taken by surprise, but before he could react, the tendrils eagerly surrounded Gu Zhan. In just a few seconds, they had enveloped him entirely and pulled him towards Mo Tuo.

Gu Zhan made no effort to resist and walked towards Mo Tuo willingly.

The dark tendrils completely surrounded the two of them, and in the small space, their heartbeats could be heard, along with shallow breaths that brushed against Mo Tuo’s neck. Gu Zhan whispered, “Someone told me today that I could try thinking differently. My evil god, do you have any ideas?”

“What?”

Gu Zhan pressed his body closer to Mo Tuo and spoke softly, “In here, your role should be the evil god opposed to the Goddess of Light, right? Hmm, I don’t know what to call you exactly, but let’s call you that for now.”

“At present, I’m playing the role of the Holy Son. The Goddess of Light loves me very much. I can always feel her gaze from head to toe, not even sparing me while I bathe…”

His tone was gentle and persuasive.

Even the tendrils surrounding them seemed to pause, listening to his words.

Mo Tuo’s gaze was fixed intently on Gu Zhan.

He squinted, seemingly puzzled, wondering why Gu Zhan’s attitude had changed so drastically.

Gu Zhan lifted his chin and gently kissed him, whispering in his ear, “Do you remember? In the Confession Room.”

Mo Tuo’s pupils suddenly dilated.

Although he was affected by the scenario of the copy, that was only during the progression of the plot, and this dream clearly wasn’t part of it.

He remembered everything that had happened in the copy, and he naturally remembered what he had done to Gu Zhan, pressing him down in the Confession Room.

“When you did all those things, the Goddess of Light was watching from high above.”

“That position must have been wonderful. When I saw it, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if I were sitting up there.”

Gu Zhan’s voice was full of temptation, and for a moment, it was hard to tell who was the monster and who was the player.

Mo Tuo finally reacted, and only then did he realize that Gu Zhan’s way of solving his predicament was like this.

“This is really new. What are you doing? The Holy Son of the Goddess of Light, are you…”

Mo Tuo squinted and smiled, his tone full of teasing. “Trying to seduce the evil god?”

He grabbed Gu Zhan’s hand and pulled him in with more force, pressing him against himself with a firmer, more determined grip.

His hand settled on Gu Zhan’s lower back, and with a hard push, he pressed him closer.

Their bodies were pressed tightly together, and Mo Tuo even thrust his hips toward Gu Zhan.

He lowered his head, lightly sniffing near Gu Zhan’s neck, and whispered, “But I’m the devil. Do you know what happens when you make a deal with the devil?”

This chaotic, devilish personality was exactly what Gu Zhan had expected, but his reaction was too intense, and Gu Zhan found it difficult to adapt.

He unconsciously moved back, trying to create some distance between them, but Mo Tuo wasn’t about to let him escape.

This fresh, tempting prey had already stirred his desire.

The surrounding black tendrils tightened again, wrapping them in an airtight cocoon.

The cocoon blocked out all light, and in the pitch-black space, Mo Tuo lowered his head, decisively taking what he wanted.

“Don’t make deals with the devil. Devils are always greedy.”

Mo Tuo’s deep voice echoed in the darkness.

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