Ways to Offer Comfort

The scenery around him coalesced like a fading oil painting being restored, and Xia Lun blinked. The familiar air of the dungeon—damp, musty, carrying the chill of blood and iron—flooded back into his lungs. He was back inside the original cell.

“Are you alright, Xia Lun?” Aina’s concerned voice came from beside him. “Your eyes might feel a little strange... don’t worry, once we go back and you get some sleep, you’ll be fine by tomorrow.” Her tone was light, dispelling the lingering oppression of the surroundings.

Xia Lun shook his head as his vision slowly sharpened. “That was...”

“A fabricated truth,” Aina explained. Her expression turned slightly serious, a faint trace of gravity flickering across her delicate brows. “But it was only a wisp of its aura, possessing that Elesha... When did it even manage to infiltrate this world? I didn’t even notice.”

“Then it...”

“Its main body is hiding too far away. I searched for a long time before but could never find it,” Aina said, her tone as calm as still water, as if stating the most ordinary fact. “And that one just now? I already took care of it.”

Along with Elesha. Aina gave the answer directly—no euphemism, no need for one.

Xia Lun fell silent for a moment, offering no comment on Elesha’s fate. “How did you figure it out?”

“That so-called ‘revelation’ isn’t simply a conferral of power,” Aina said, crossing her arms and tapping her fingers against her sleeve, as if organizing her thoughts. “It’s the truth that the thing has tampered with. When it only acts on a single person, granting power that doesn’t match them, the impact it can have on this world is negligible, so I didn’t notice. I always felt that this ‘revelation’ thing seemed oddly familiar...”

“So you decided to pull that stunt just now?”

“Exactly.” Aina shrugged. “And sure enough, it got spooked right out into the open.”

Clearly, things weren’t nearly as simple as Aina made them sound. The crimson magic circle that spread out from beneath her feet at the very start... Xia Lun had seen it clearly with his own eyes.

The fabricated truth was clearly afraid of the power of that circle, which was why it had scrambled to reveal itself in panic. The presence on Elesha was merely a fraction of its aura; it had no reason to fear that. Presumably, Aina could use that earlier circle to locate the main body of the fabricated truth, or even directly affect it. It was that threat to its very essence that forced the thing to expose its aura, risking detection just to stop her.

Xia Lun let out a quiet, long sigh.

“What’s wrong, Xia Lun?” Aina tilted her head, bouncing lightly in front of him like a spirited young girl. “What’s bothering you?”

“That thing... we don’t know when it’ll show up again.” Worry flickered in Xia Lun’s eyes.

That was a dark god, one with clear hostility toward them. Its mere existence hung over them like a sword suspended by a thread.

“Don’t worry, I’m here. It can’t stir up any waves with me around.” Aina patted Xia Lun on the shoulder. “And sure, it has some sinister tricks, but you’re actually already a threat to it too, Xia Lun... you just lack experience fighting dark gods.”

Aina seemed to sense that Xia Lun had been rattled, and she was trying hard to help him rebuild his confidence.

“Honestly, with your strength, most dark gods are no match for you now. And the fabricated truth is a tricky one even outside this world—since it’s dedicated to hiding, even I can’t track its location...”

“Aina...”

“What?”

“That’s not how you comfort someone.” Xia Lun tapped Aina on the forehead. “You need to back it up with action.”

Aina froze for a moment, then shot him a playful, reproachful glare. “Pervert.”

“I haven’t even said what I want to do yet.” Xia Lun’s expression turned innocent. “You’re the one who jumped to conclusions.”

“And I never said what I was thinking either,” Aina retorted with a soft huff, refusing to back down. “You’re the one assuming I’m thinking something dirty.”

“Come on, let’s go. The people upstairs are still waiting for us.” Xia Lun smiled and turned, making as if to head toward the passage.

“Hold it!” Aina grabbed his wrist—her grip firm enough to stop him, but gentle all the same.

“What is it?” Xia Lun turned back with a grin.

“You look like you don’t need my comforting anymore.” Aina narrowed her eyes.

“Right.”

“I don’t accept that.” Aina reached up and pinched his nose. “You SHOULD need me to comfort you... go on, tell me what you want!”

“Well...” Xia Lun obediently leaned in, bringing his mouth close to her pale, delicate ear.

Whisper, whisper, whisper.

“Xia Lun... you are, without a doubt, an utter pervert,” Aina remarked with a sigh.

“You won’t do it?”

“We’ll talk about it tonight, after we get back.” Aina cast him a sidelong glance, full of charm and allure.

...

“Father, these...” Lidi’s voice trembled with disbelief.

On either side of the passage, the originally sturdy stone walls and support beams were now riddled with devastation, as if trampled by some colossal beast. Massive cracks sprawled across the floor and walls like spiderwebs, chunks of rubble collapsed everywhere, and the air was thick with dust and...

The half-blood guards lay scattered across the ground, motionless—whether dead or alive was anyone’s guess. Their limbs were twisted, as if all strength had been ripped from them in an instant.

“Bloody hell, what did all this?” Hemi muttered under his breath.

“Cough...” La Di’s voice came out hoarse. He didn’t seem to know how to accurately describe that hair-raising moment earlier. “All this... it was Xia Lun’s doing.”

After Xia Lun had called him over, La Di had followed behind the man, trembling the whole way.

What shocked him most was that Xia Lun never even seemed to lift a finger. He simply strode forward with steady, confident steps, looking perfectly ordinary—yet the surrounding structures kept shaking as if struck by invisible hammers. The half-bloods that howled and lunged at him never even got close. They slammed into an invisible wall or were slapped aside by an unseen giant hand, flying off in bizarre angles before collapsing to the ground.

Xia Lun’s control over his power was so precise that he could channel it through his mere footsteps, transmitting force through the very environment around him. Those half-bloods—if they’d kept both feet off the ground and flown at him, maybe they’d have escaped.

Xia Lun walked into the blood factory as if it were nothing, like he was strolling through his own backyard.

“Sounds bloody terrifying,” Hemi said without a filter. “Who are those two, Mr. La Di?”

“We’re just adventurers passing through by chance,” Xia Lun’s voice came from right behind Hemi.