The door of the interrogation room opened again, and Luo Ling, dressed in a neat work suit, walked out. When Ji Yijun saw the smile on her face, he always felt that she was like a cunning little fox. When Luo Lin walked past him, she gently patted his shoulder and said, "Learn from this in the future."
Ji Yijun stared at her blankly as she walked by, not knowing what she was referring to. But then he saw Rhodes walking out of the interrogation room and he understood about 70% of what was going on.
Completely different from when he was interrogated, the man's face no longer had that indifferent and arrogant attitude, but instead had a sense of relief. He saw Ji Yijun staring at his face, laughed lowly, and said, "This is why I stay away from magicians. They are always very smart and aggressive, but it is difficult for you to oppose them."
"What? What did she ask you to do?" Ji Yijun asked.
"Heh." Rhodes stretched out a hand. Ji Yijun was stunned for a moment, and shook it with some doubt. Rhodes shook it vigorously, and coughed several times again: "From now on, we are colleagues. I will serve Master Luo Ling, oh no, this place. I will help you dig out those temple bugs that are secretly causing trouble. After that, maybe..." He did not continue to speak, but smiled slightly.
"Are you going to join us? I remember you had no intention of staying here a day ago. You still want to take advantage of us." Ji Yijun said as he withdrew his hand.
"Ahem, Master Luo Ling is a very persuasive person." Rhodes spread his hands, turned around and slowly walked out.
Ji Yijun chased after her and asked, "Did she promise you any benefits?"
Rhode covered the bandages on his body with his hands, walked forward slowly, and said, "If a truth can be considered a good thing, then it is. I hope she is right."
"What did she say?" Ji Yijun asked.
Rhode shook his head and said nothing. Instead, he asked, "Do all of you really have no natural respect for God?"
"God? It's such an illusory thing. It would be strange to believe in it." Ji Yijun answered naturally.
"It's not about belief, it's just like the believers of the God of War don't believe in the God of Harvest, but they still have basic respect for him."
Ji Yijun stopped and looked at Rhodes with a scrutinizing look: "I don't like people riding on my head, let alone respecting me. Be it God or someone who uses God's name. No one can be more noble than myself."
"But even if there is no God, there will be a king. Even if there is no king, I think Miss Luo is watching over you."
"If I want, I can replace her one day! But I am naturally unhappy that gods are placed on an invisible seat and no one can reach them."
Rhode thought for a while with a calm expression and said, "In the past, I would have argued with you with sword. But now... maybe these words are exactly what I should listen to."
After saying that, he waved to Ji Yijun and walked slowly towards the door.
"What's wrong with this guy? He's always talking nonsense." Ji Yijun muttered to himself as he watched the other person leaving.
———————————
Count Arias sat on a wooden chair. He was still wearing the formal dress he wore at the banquet, but now he had lost all the dignity he had then. He hunched his back, with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together under his chin, like an old stone statue, staring at Serinda lying on the bed without saying a word.
Pinto stood beside the Count with a serious expression, and it was unknown what he was thinking. Meanwhile, beside Serinda's bed, Master Banderas was holding a glowing crystal in his hand, moving it back and forth over Serinda.
Li Jia stood at the head of the bed, anxiously looking back and forth between the Earl and Serinda. Xiao Chen leaned against the wall and quietly observed the Earl's expression.
As for the rest, each of them held a weapon and confronted the Earl's guards on the periphery.
With a bang, the crystal in Master Banderas's hand flashed and then shattered into a piece of white powder. The powder scattered around Serinda, and some even floated onto her face. Banderas waved his hand, and a breeze blew away the scattered dust. He looked up at the Count, then shook his head and said, "Dear Pani, this matter is beyond my ability. I can't judge Serinda's current condition. However, one thing is certain, her current condition is not good, and it won't last long."
"Do you guys in the Tower of Medicine or the Tower of Spirit Refining have any solution?" the Earl asked in a hoarse voice.
"Whether they have a solution or not, they are far away in the capital. Even if we set out now, I doubt whether Serinda can hold on until then. Maybe..." Master Banderas glanced at Xiao Chen, "We should listen to this young man's advice."
The Earl stood up, looked up at Xiao Chen, and asked, "Sir Xiao Chen, you really can't give me a guarantee?"
"There is no guarantee. I have already said that I have never dealt with anything like this. This is just a post-event remedy that we did our best. As for the outcome, we can only leave it to luck."
The Earl pursed his lips and after a long while he made his decision: "Then let's do it."
Xiao Chen looked at Serinda, then looked at the maid Nina who was lying on the bed and ignored at the other end of the room, and said, "Then Li Jia will try to repair Serinda's consciousness, and I will try to repair Nina's meditation world."
"What!" The Earl stood up suddenly, and said angrily, "Sir! You have more powerful power but you use it on that maid?"
"This is the solution provided by the Book Spirit of the Holy Scripture. He believes that this configuration is the most appropriate."
“Is this revenge?”
"Your Excellency, from the beginning of the incident until now, everything I have done is to better save people. Serinda made a mistake, but mistakes are meant to be corrected, not for revenge. You can believe my sincerity in this matter, otherwise, I can choose to do nothing." Xiao Chen said word by word. Although his voice was not loud, every word clearly expressed his attitude: "Serinda is a magician after all, and she knows something about mental power. Li Jia is also a close person to her, which is very helpful in awakening consciousness. But Nina is not, so her situation requires a strong mental creation ability. For you, you care about your daughter far more than others. But for me, both of them are patients I want to save, and I must choose the most appropriate plan."
"Your Excellency, please believe in my ability. Apart from you, I am the one who cares most about Serinda's safety here. I will not joke about her life." Li Jia also said.
The count glanced at the two of them and whispered something to Pinto. Pinto ran out the door and soon brought back a middle-aged knight. The knight was a little thin and his face was full of panic. He ran in hurriedly. He first saluted the count, and then his eyes were fixed on Nina lying on the bed.
"Holmes, what do you say?" the count asked in a gentle tone.
The middle-aged knight named Holmes knelt on one knee in front of the earl and said in a panic: "My lord, Nina failed to stop Miss Serinda from reading the book. She... She is guilty."
He did not stand up, but turned his head to Xiao Chen and said, "Mr. Magician, please do your best to save Miss Serinda first, and then if Nina can survive, please save her. This is my request as Nina's father."
Xiao Chen looked at the middle-aged man kneeling on the ground without saying anything, but his companions behind him burst into a low voice. Ye Zi approached Xiao Chen and said, "Senior, you can't listen to these people. This is simply a farce. What do you think?" She looked at the others.
Roger said with some embarrassment: "This man is a loyal knight. He did not break his promise to defend the lord's family."
"Although I don't like this choice, it seems that the Earl's daughter is more important?" Shi Hao said softly with an uncertain tone, "Besides, this is also their family affair. The doctor has to look at the family's opinions before performing the operation."
"Why are you doing this!" Ye Zi looked at Li Jia, but Li Jia avoided his gaze and said nothing.
“Senior, you!” Ye Zi was about to explode, but was pulled back by Xi Luo.
"What for?" Ye Zi glared at Xi Luo, thinking that this guy was also going to speak for Serinda.
But the middle-aged businessman whispered to her in a mosquito-like voice: "Don't worry. Master Xiao Chen will not be easily influenced by others."
Xiao Chen indeed turned a deaf ear to these discussions. He reached out to pull Holmes. The middle-aged knight wanted to resist, but he didn't expect Xiao Chen to be so strong that he dragged him up with one hand.
Xiao Chen loosened his hand. He wanted to kneel down, but he heard Xiao Chen say, "I don't like people kneeling down to beg me, especially when they use love and loyalty as bargaining chips. Stand still and listen to me!"
Xiao Chen's tone was not harsh, but it sounded like thunder to Holmes. Holmes took a step back, tripped over the foot of the bed, and sat down on Nina's bed.
"Look behind you. Think about what you want." Xiao Chen said.
"What are you doing? Using magic to teach my knight a lesson?" asked the count.
"I didn't use any magic. Each of us must face the test of our own inner will. If we fail, that is the source of vulnerability." Xiao Chen said to Holmes. The latter only looked at Xiao Chen for less than a second before he lost the courage to look up.
Xiao Chen ignored him and walked up to the Earl and asked, "Mr. Earl, please tell me, what is the basis of the cooperation we discussed before? Is it coercion and pressure? Or trust and equality?"
"Does it have anything to do with this?"
“Not only is it relevant, it’s the most important step right now.”
The two looked at each other. The silence in the room made everyone feel that time had taken an extremely long time.
"You people seem to live in another world." The Earl turned his head and his eyes fell on Serinda again. "I don't know why you are always as unruly as a donkey walking backwards on some trivial matters. But... okay. Our cooperation is of course equal."
"Then I think we must ensure that we have enough say in our respective fields. Only when we perform our duties can we display our strengths."
"Humph, everyone can show their strengths only if they perform their duties?" The Earl sighed, raised his hand and nodded at Xiao Chen, saying: "Please always remember what Serinda means to me!"
"I know it very well." Xiao Chen tapped the book in his hand and said, "So we shouldn't waste time here."