Chapter 195
Chapter 195
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 195 – The Great Love Poet Is for Real This Time
No one knew how much time had passed.
The second-floor storage room of Cat Boss’s restaurant was dimly lit. Weak beams of light barely pierced through the heavy rain and curtains, forming scattered spots on the floor.
It didn’t feel like a typical storage room, but rather a hidden chamber. Only a few yellowish hanging lamps provided illumination, and the sturdy wooden planks felt heavy and unyielding with age.
In the center of the room, a man was bound to an iron chair. His body leaned forward, head slightly bowed, eyes tightly shut, cheeks pale, hands and feet securely tied with strong ropes. His dark clothes showed dust in the faint light, as if he had been dragged across the floor.
When the door was closed again, the storage room fell into a deep silence. Only the light patter of rain against the windows echoed, a continuous lullaby.
The room remained like this, unchanged.
“……”
Until Phoenix’s eyebrows finally furrowed, and his eyelashes quivered—a sign he was regaining consciousness.
His lips twisted, and a low growl escaped his throat, as if tormented by some pain.
He tried to recall, but his mind was shrouded in foggy memories, leaving him exhausted.
Slowly, Phoenix opened his previously closed eyes, revealing cold and piercing sharpness.
He felt the rigid chair backing against his spine, his hands tightly cuffed to the armrests. While trying to make sense of his surroundings, anger and resentment surged within him.
The curse on him had yet to dissipate—an extraordinarily powerful spell far beyond his level, leaving him weak, almost like a seriously ill person.
The lingering mental trauma that had knocked him out earlier still caused his mind to tremble.
He forced himself to lift his head and looked ahead. A dark wooden table occupied the center of his vision, with several documents and two teacups on it.
On the other side of the table sat two figures he knew all too well.
Lan Qi leaned back calmly in his chair, steam rising from the teacup in his hands. He gently blew on it, savoring a brief moment of peace.
Huperion sat beside him, pen paused above paper, ready to record every detail that would follow.
Besides them, the Great Love Poet had adjusted the lamp on the table so its beam shone directly onto Phoenix’s face. Phoenix squinted instinctively, his facial muscles tightening against the sudden glare.
“Do you know why you were brought here?”
Lan Qi put down his teacup and looked at Phoenix calmly.
“Lan Qi! You have no right to tie me up! I want to see our academy’s professors!”
Phoenix quickly regained his composure, speaking with righteous indignation.
Even if he had failed, these people had no proof of his identity and certainly couldn’t convict him.
At the restaurant, the civilians had been manipulated by The Great Puppet Theater, leaving no witnesses to his failed assassination attempt on the duchess.
Lan Qi observed Phoenix’s attitude but said nothing.
“Phoenix, male, 19 years old, born May 11, 1778 (Solar Calendar), citizen of the Kingdom of Yaloran, unmarried, currently attending Yaloran Royal Academy, no criminal record, no loans, parents deceased, has a younger sister.”
Lan Qi picked up a document from the table, reading it while glancing at Phoenix.
These were profiles of the Yaloran Royal Academy academic delegation, investigated by Frey before he arrived, including personal information, social connections, and family backgrounds.
“You hid deep, resurrection cultist.”
Lan Qi put the document down and muttered, impressed.
“This is defamation, slander, and violation of my personal freedom!”
Phoenix roared angrily.
He believed that as long as he refused to admit it, Lan Qi had no way to prove he was a resurrectionist.
Here in Hedon Royal Capital, no one could detain him indefinitely or punish him arbitrarily.
Otherwise, if Ikerite Academy discovered a missing student from the Yaloran delegation, an investigation would ensue, and Phoenix could retaliate against Lan Qi.
“Phoenix…”
Lan Qi’s voice was gentle but authoritative, each word deliberate and clear.
“You know, I’ve been in this line of work for years and seen all sorts of bad students. Some repent, some never do. But eventually, they’re all corrected. How long do you think it will take for you?”
Lan Qi patiently sat at the table, fingers interlaced under his chin, smiling at Phoenix.
It unnerved Phoenix for a moment.
He wanted to reason, but whatever he said, Lan Qi wouldn’t listen.
As the saying goes: the soft fear the hard, the hard fear the twisted, the twisted fear the reckless, and the reckless fear the insane.
Lan Qi was clearly the last type.
Phoenix lowered his head, grinding his teeth in thought.
Upon reflection, he still didn’t understand why his perfect plan, smoothly progressing, had suddenly turned and ended up in Lan Qi’s hands.
From the moment he arrived in Hedon Kingdom, he had truly become the prey.
Everything was off.
Clearly, Lan Qi had been controlling the situation all along!
Phoenix’s heart filled with fear and regret.
Why had he provoked this person? From the first encounter in the Purgatory Corridor Academy, he had instinctively known this individual was dangerous.
At that time, Phoenix didn’t even recognize that the Radiant Demon Principal would be the challenger, nor did he know about Lan Qi, until after returning to the real world and receiving intelligence from the Resurrection Church.
That Radiant Demon had been impersonated by a student of Ikerite Academy named Lan Qi.
“Phoenix, whether you admit it or not, and whether we have a way to make you confess, it’s irrelevant to me, because it is the truth.”
Lan Qi picked up the teacup, sipped it, then glanced at another figure beside him.
“Teacher Lanfu, please conduct some ideological education.”
The Great Love Poet, who had earlier directed the lamp at Phoenix, nodded, released the lamp, and approached Phoenix, circling him as she examined him.
“Who exactly are you?!”
Seeing the gray-haired female demon clearly, Phoenix trembled with instinctive fear.
He was certain that this person had treated him like an ant just moments ago.
Now she had shed her disguise, revealing her true self, no longer hiding her evil behind a cold mask.
Yet, before she acted, she still appeared as only a first-level being!
“I am the Great Love Poet.”
She wore a black jacket, the hem of her skirt fluttering in the wind. A warden-like hat rested atop her head. Recently, she had asked Lan Qi to buy her new clothes, though her taste was peculiar.
“Too bad the three priests aren’t here. Otherwise, you wouldn’t need to trouble me.”
The Great Love Poet sighed faintly.
Those three clergy members, influenced by her and Lan Qi, could pry Phoenix’s mouth open in less than an hour.
Huperion twitched at the corner of her eye, remembering exactly what “the three priests” referred to.
She could only hope that when she and Lan Qi went on holiday to the North Continent, those three wouldn’t become too famous.