Chapter 15: Xu Huai

What Yi said left Chen Fan in a daze.

His identity has been exposed? What should he do now? How would his so-called mother treat him from now on? Should he report this to the church or pretend nothing happened?

Countless questions flooded Chen Fan's mind.

Click...

Just as Chen Fan was lost in thought, the sound of a door opening came from the next room.

...

Xu Huai, who had just stepped out of her house, was clearly startled by the scene before her—Chen Fan was standing in the hallway with a dark expression, mumbling words she couldn't understand while waving his right hand in front of him as if he were doing something invisible. He looked like someone who was possessed.

"Chen Fan?"

Xu Huai instinctively took a half-step back, eyeing him warily, even raising her hands defensively across her chest.

Upon hearing her cold voice, Chen Fan snapped out of his daze. "Huai, Huai Jie?"

"Don't call me Huai Jie, we're not close," Xu Huai retorted coldly, turning to push her door open, clearly intending to return inside. "Also, stop making a scene in front of my door."

"Wait!!"

As she was about to close the door, a look of urgency flashed across Chen Fan's face. He instinctively reached out his hand to grab Xu Huai's shoulder, trying to stop her from closing the door. "Huai Jie..."

In the next instant, Yi's voice rang in his mind.

[Chen Fan! Be careful!!]

Almost simultaneously, a great force struck his arm.

Boom!

In the midst of spinning, Chen Fan felt a sharp, blunt pain in his arm and chest. After a brief moment of dizziness, through the blood-red holographic projection in front of him, he realized his situation—he had fallen onto the dusty cement floor.

A pale, delicate hand was tightly twisting his right arm, while another hand pressed firmly against the back of his neck. Both hands worked together, preventing any movement from him.

"This is your last warning. We're not close, so don't bother me," Xu Huai's calm voice rang in his ears, but her words were chilling. "There have been plenty of examples of Chosen Ones dying. Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're one."

Chen Fan's eyes widened, his expression frozen in shock.

Many Chosen Ones had died?

Could it be...?

Stunned, Yi's voice came again, sounding almost exasperated.

[I warned you earlier, why didn't you react sooner?]

Warned? In that short amount of time, who could react to something like this?

Chen Fan couldn't help but mentally complain about Yi's unreliability: "Stop with the cold remarks and help me out!"

[I know you're in a hurry, but calm down.]

[This girl is not ordinary. Her grappling techniques are specially trained, and her strength far exceeds that of an average person.]

Yi continued in his mind: [She's holding back for now.]

[So, theoretically, she won't kill you immediately.]

Theoretically? For now?

Before Chen Fan could react, Yi cheerfully added:

[Of course, the more important thing is, in visitor mode, I can't deploy any lethal weapons. The best I can do is scare her with a scary holographic movie.]

What the hell!!!

At that moment, Chen Fan felt completely paralyzed. What did he do to deserve this? He just wanted to get some information, was that really so bad?

"Don't move. You won't escape," Xu Huai said calmly as she squatted down to look directly into Chen Fan's eyes. "Tell me, what do you want to do?"

Cough, cough...

Chen Fan, enduring the pain in his arm and back, coughed painfully. "Huai Jie, I—I was just passing by..."

Xu Huai let out a cold laugh.

"Passing by?"

"Do you think I'll believe that?"

"Didn't you just lose to Aunt Shen, and now you want to regain your dignity as a Chosen One?"

Chen Fan: "…???"

A misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding!!

What kind of dignity as a Chosen One is she talking about?!

Seeing the bewildered expression on Chen Fan's face, Xu Huai paused for a moment before subtly relaxing her grip on him. "What, did I say something wrong?"

Chen Fan nodded repeatedly. "Huai, Huai Jie, I just want to ask you one question..."

Before he could finish, Xu Huai tightened her grip once more.

Hiss...

Feeling the sudden surge of pain, Chen Fan's face turned pale as he gasped for air.

"Still not telling the truth?"

"A question?"

"As a Chosen One, you should ask your so-called god, not me!"

"Tell me, what do you really want?!"

The pain didn't cloud Chen Fan's thoughts. On the contrary, it made his mind even sharper.

All the information he had gathered from the original's notes and the surrounding environment formed a perfect loop in his mind.

Chen Fan gritted his teeth, a glint of determination in his eyes.

He was betting on this!

He glanced sideways at Xu Huai behind him. "Is there really a god in this world?"

This time, he no longer called her Huai Jie but addressed her directly: "Xu Huai, you know exactly what I mean!"

"What... what?!"

Shocked by his words, Xu Huai instinctively loosened her grip on him.

Once freed, Chen Fan quickly scrambled to his feet.

After taking a few deep breaths, he fixed his bloodshot eyes on Xu Huai, who looked horrified:

"The god we worship, its true identity..." Ugh!!!

A faint, fragrant scent wafted into Chen Fan's nose as a warm, soft hand covered his mouth, stopping him from speaking the earth-shattering truth.

"Are you crazy?!"

Xu Huai whispered fiercely in his ear, "How dare you speak such blasphemous words against the god? Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

Looking at Xu Huai's panicked expression, glancing around nervously, Chen Fan's eyes twinkled with a hint of amusement.

He knew he was right!

Just as he had suspected, Xu Huai knew something about the truth of this world.

In a sense, she wasn't repelled by Chen Fan, but rather by his identity!

Although the original's notes didn't mention it, Chen Fan could still infer that before becoming a Chosen One, Xu Huai and the original had a decent relationship—otherwise, the original wouldn't have referred to her as Huai Jie.

Once she confirmed no one was around, Xu Huai calmed herself down, and her voice softened a little. "Don't speak yet, come inside and I'll explain."

Seeing that Chen Fan agreed with a nod, she slowly loosened her right hand.

As Chen Fan watched, Xu Huai opened the door and gestured for him to follow with a tilt of her head.

"Come in."