GULP.

Alphonse swallowed hard. He didn't want to see anyone; he just wanted to live...

"Can I not die?"

Alphonse knelt on the ground, weeping. "I'm actually a good person! They forced me to come here, I really, I..."

"Oh." Xu Lai feigned a sudden realization. "So that's how it is."

"Yes, yes, that's exactly right." Overcome with terror, Alphonse scrambled for words. "I, Alphonse Brody, swear on my name to God that I am absolutely a good person! Please let me go. I promise to keep my mouth shut about what happened today, I..."

PFFT.

Before he could finish, a peculiar sound was heard. Alphonse's pants were soaked through, and a strange-smelling yellow liquid pooled on the floor.

Watching the elevator descend from the tenth floor, Xu Lai, not wanting to get his hands dirty, said with disgust, "Fine. But you should remember that Heaven is always watching."

"What... does that mean?" Alphonse asked, his face a mess of snot and tears, looking utterly bewildered and pathetic.

"Liars will face divine retribution."

Xu Lai's figure flickered and vanished into the elevator.

When the elevator doors opened on the first floor, several female hotel guests were chatting and laughing as they waited. They froze, then recoiled, covering their mouths and noses at the sight of the man inside who had been frightened into soiling himself.

"I survived..." Alphonse said in joyful disbelief, heedless of his disgraceful state. "I survived the devil's clutches, hahahaha!"

He staggered toward the parking lot, leaving a trail of odorous puddles with every step.

***

Back in the room, Xu Lai slapped his forehead in annoyance.

You really can't entrust the kitchen to your wife. He had only been gone a few minutes, and the roast suckling pig was already completely charred...

"It wasn't my fault, it was the oven!" Ruan Tang said guiltily. "Xu Lai, you know there's something wrong with this oven, right?"

"This oven cost 3,200. There's nothing wrong with it." Xu Lai said, his face dark. "It's obvious that you messed with the temperature while I was gone. And... how many chilis did you put in the stir-fry?!"

Ruan Tang mumbled, "Well, you don't like sour things, so I had to make it spicy. Besides, Sautéed Cabbage with Vinegar is delicious!"

Xu Lai was speechless. That's not a reason to add an entire basin of chilis.

"Just go sit down," he said helplessly. "I'll cook."

"Is it salvageable?" Ruan Tang asked, looking at the chaotic kitchen. Her voice was tinged with sadness. In this world, good food is the one thing that should never be squandered, and she had wasted so much.

"Is it salvageable?" Xu Lai asked, turning to the suckling pig in the oven. He then answered in a low voice, "Nope, it's a lost cause."

PFFT!

Ruan Tang burst out laughing and gave Xu Lai a light punch on the shoulder. "You're never serious!"

Still, she entrusted the kitchen to him with peace of mind.

Half an hour later, the burnt smell was gone, replaced by an enticing aroma that filled the air. Ruan Tang took a couple of deep breaths, her beautiful eyes brightening.

"Xu Lai, you're amazing!"

"That compliment is better used elsewhere," Xu Lai said with a sly smile.

Ruan Tang paused. She suspected she was being teased again, but what he said didn't sound entirely wrong, either.

After shooting Xu Lai a look, she picked up her chopsticks and began to enjoy the sumptuous feast.

***

「Elsewhere...」

After fleeing in a state of absolute terror, Alphonse reached a manor in the suburbs. The hall was spacious, at least a hundred square meters in size.

He sat on an exquisite leather sofa.

Five meters away stood a large bed draped in red curtains. A woman was lounging on her side within, her features obscured by the hazy fabric, revealing only a graceful and delicate figure.

She gestured with her hand, and the foul stench emanating from Alphonse was immediately confined to a one-meter radius around him.

"Speak," an emotionless voice drifted from behind the red curtains. "What exactly happened to make you rush here in such a panic? And where is the person I sent you for?"

Alphonse swallowed hard and didn't dare look toward the bed.

Having worked for his boss for so long, he had never seen her face. But from the vague, graceful figure behind the curtain and the distinct feminine scent filling the spacious hall, Alphonse knew that his boss, Daphne, must be an unparalleled beauty. Her heart, however, was as venomous as a viper's. One careless move and the venom would slowly erode a person's nerves, which is why Alphonse kept his head down.

"Boss, all three of your subordinates were killed by Ruan Tang's husband..." Alphonse reported through his tears. "He's terrifying. With just a wave of his hand, Spike and the others were melted by flames."

"Oh?"

Daphne's interest was piqued. She pushed aside the curtains and stepped down from the red bed.

With his head lowered, Alphonse could only see a pair of snow-white, bare feet stepping onto the floor and walking toward him.

He immediately bowed his head even lower, afraid of seeing something he shouldn't.

But Daphne simply reached out her hand. She lifted it through the air, and Alphonse's head was forced up. He finally saw his boss's face.

He was utterly stunned.

Daphne appeared to be wearing nothing, yet Alphonse couldn't see a thing, for her body was bathed in clusters of sunlight.

No. To be precise, it wasn't sunlight, but holy light.

The purest, cleanest, most sacred light enveloped Daphne. Behind her, a pair of snow-white wings were unfurled.

His boss wasn't human. She was an angel. Alphonse gazed at Daphne, feeling it was only natural. Such a dazzling and radiant woman could only be an angel. As for the past, her impatient or irritable voice was completely forgotten. The Daphne before his eyes had become the most holy existence in Alphonse's view, and now, his only faith!

He knelt on the ground and bowed respectfully, his voice trembling as he spoke.

"Boss, may I kiss your hand... no, your foot? From this day on, I will be your most devout follower!"

Daphne tilted her head, looking down at her human subordinate with a hint of disdain. Just a fat pig, she thought. And he dares to make such a request?

"Tell me what happened from beginning to end," she said coldly. "I want to hear every detail."

"Yes, it is my honor."

Alphonse didn't even dare to feel a flicker of disappointment. He obediently recounted everything that had occurred, his fear of Xu Lai now completely gone.

In the presence of an angel, all demons must be purified!

Just then, Daphne suddenly looked up at the sky. A bolt of lightning crashed through the ceiling of her hall.

It struck Alphonse directly, incinerating him into a pile of fine ash.

Daphne staggered back several steps, staring at the spot where Alphonse had perished. All that remained was a pit tens of meters deep.

Alphonse had just recounted every detail of his groveling, including Xu Lai's warning about divine retribution.

"A brand, huh..." Daphne's eyes narrowed. "It seems Earth has other cultivators from abroad."

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