absurd deduction game.

The night was thick, like ink that couldn't be dissolved, tightly enveloping the town of Yolikev.

The streets were deserted, save for the whistling of the wind through broken window frames and piles of garbage, and the occasional, incomprehensible, faint sounds from the darkness in the distance.

After the actor directly pointed out that the archbishop was a fake, Yu Xing and Qu Xianqing also raised their eyebrows. There was no light source in the depths of the alley, and only the faint daylight from the distant street corner outlined their blurry silhouettes.

"The acting is exaggerated and full of flaws." Yu Xing's voice rang out in the silence, calm and still, yet carrying a cold quality that instantly cut through the stagnant air.

The "archbishop" who had just passionately pointed all the clues to the desolate hills west of the town in the church's underground archives was really not good at acting.

Qu Xianqing crossed his arms and leaned against the damp, cold wall, his aura concealed as if he didn't exist.

She nodded slightly and said succinctly, "The archbishop cannot leave the church. No matter what happened in the town before, he has never left the church once in all these years. And his visit to see us today is not too urgent, so I don't really believe what he says."

"Moreover, the archbishop already knew there was a mole in the Harvest Church. Considering this person's reaction just now, it's likely that this person doesn't know how much information the archbishop has in his mind, which is why he acted so angry in front of us."

These flaws easily exposed the deception.

The real cardinal, bearing the heavy responsibility of suppressing the sealed artifacts within the church, would never easily leave his post for a contact point that had just been destroyed. Moreover, the real cardinal had previously hinted to Yu Xing that he knew about the internal infiltration, yet this "cardinal" acted as if he were discovering it for the first time when he saw the patrol map, which was the biggest loophole in itself.

"Judging from the facts, sacrificing a crucial contact point that has been cultivated for many years, just to lure us and the remaining main force of the church to the desolate mountains in the west..." Yu Xing's fingers fiddled with the buttons on his trench coat, a glint of light flashing in his eyes, "The price is not small, and the goal must be even greater. I think... it's a diversionary tactic."

"The final ritual of the Tantric sect is actually set up in the town, so they hope that we, and most of the priests of the Harvest Church, can shift our focus to outside the town in the next few days to reduce obstacles to Tantric activities."

The performer chuckled softly, a low, husky laugh carrying an indescribable pleasure that echoed through the narrow alleyway, sounding somewhat eerie.

“Yes… it’s a classic trick, but it often works.” He slowly straightened his neatly tidied cuffs, his tone languid. “After all, who can refuse a seemingly clear ‘final battlefield’ that the enemy has willingly delivered to them? Especially after paying a heavy price.”

He didn't look at Yu Xing or Qu Xianqing; his gaze seemed to pierce through the alley walls and land on some distant, unseen place. He continued, to himself, "First, create chaos to raise people's spirits to a tense state. Then, let them discover important contact points on their own. When they are already deeply convinced... give them a gentle push."

"Boom."

He mouthed a soft sound, and as he mimicked it, a wooden plank standing on the wall by the street suddenly fell down.

Yu Xing: "..."

He ignored the actor's usual ambiguous tone; after all, what this man said was half true and half false, often with hidden meanings, and it was unpleasant to listen to.

Let him play by himself.

He looked at Qu Xianqing and gave the order with clear thinking: "Tomorrow, you will go to the dense forest with the church team."

Qu Xianqing had no objections, but simply looked up at him, waiting for him to continue.

“Their goal is to draw away their main force. There must be some preparations in the dense forest, but it won't be the core. Your task is to confirm the situation there with your own eyes, and find out their ambush forces and intentions,” Yu Xing said. “Take the paper doll Carlos gave you and keep in touch. If it is confirmed to be a trap, notify us immediately.”

"Understood." Qu Xianqing replied crisply.

“As for you,” Yu Xing finally turned her gaze to the performer, her tone flat and devoid of emotion, “just don’t cause trouble.”

The performer shrugged: "How could that be? I've been as well-behaved as could be in this instance."

Yu Xing scoffed.

He didn't say it explicitly, but his meaning was clear.

The cultists, posing as archbishops, wanted to transfer them all to the west of town. Whatever their purpose was, and regardless of their ability to handle the unknown dangers, they were not going to simply comply with the cultists' arrangements.

Therefore, apart from Qu Xianqing, Yu Xing herself definitely won't go tomorrow afternoon at 2 PM.

It's highly unlikely that actors would also do that.

He doesn't need to know exactly what the actor is going to do; he only needs to ensure that this unstable pawn won't interfere with his plans. If the actor can play a role from an unexpected angle at a crucial moment, that would be a pleasant surprise.

The actors seemed quite satisfied with Yu Xing's almost "laissez-faire" arrangement.

The curve of his lips deepened, and he nodded slightly, which was considered an agreement, but he did not reveal any of his own plans.

That mischievous, almost malicious, intention to give everyone a "surprise" was practically written all over his smiling face.

“Let’s go back to the office first,” Yu Xing said finally, as if summarizing or announcing his own plans. “Let’s rest for a bit, exchange information with Carlos and the others, and then wait for any possible changes.”

He glanced at the performer: "Do as you please."

The plan was finalized in just a few words.

Without detailed deductions or redundant discussions, the three quickly reached a consensus based on a clear understanding of each other's capabilities and the current situation.

Yu Xing let Qu Xianqing go back separately from him, hoping that they could still sense some surveillance on the way.

"Okay, then I'll be going." Qu Xianqing straightened up first. Without any hesitation, her figure disappeared at the other end of the alley in a few leaps, heading towards Carlos's office.

The performer gave Yu Xing a cryptic smile, then took a small step back, disappearing without a trace as if swallowed by the darkness of the alley, leaving not even a trace of his presence.

In the blink of an eye, only Yu Xing remained in the narrow alley.

He stood there, not leaving immediately.

The sky in the distance was already turning white, but large swathes of darkness still enveloped the surrounding area.

The night wind ruffled the stray hairs on his forehead, carrying the stale air from afar. He tilted his head slightly, gazing at the night sky, which, even after being washed by the chaotic rain, still appeared murky and oppressive, his eyes filled with thoughts.

The esoteric sect set up this scheme to divert the main force of the church and these three biggest variables.

So, who will take care of the other "investigators" who remain in town?

Furthermore, someone capable of impersonating an archbishop certainly wouldn't appear overnight. The archbishop holds a unique position within the church, and many high-ranking officials have close relationships with him. It might be easier to impersonate an archbishop in front of ordinary clergy, but to maintain that identity in front of higher-ranking officials, one would need someone who is very familiar with the archbishop's usual way of speaking and acting.

Suppressing the archbishop, even preventing the real archbishop from appearing, could be the result of the cooperation of the esoteric clergy, but impersonating the archbishop can only be done by one person.

Yu Xing is inclined to believe that the actor playing this role must have been infiltrating the church for a long time.

He sniffed, and a faint scent, reminiscent of foie gras, rose in his nostrils. ...Ah.

Could it be that old nun?

Given the current situation, Yu Xing wasn't too worried about the real archbishop's current predicament. The original archbishop gave him the feeling that he was quite capable, which shouldn't be a misperception. Moreover, the archbishop had told him that he had made arrangements and preparations for the undercover agents, and that he would never fall into the undercover agents' trap so easily and die inexplicably.

Perhaps the archbishop's move was also a case of turning the tables on them?

Furthermore, it is certain that some things within the church still need to be suppressed by the blessing of the Mother Goddess on the archbishop. Therefore, even if a cultist impersonates the archbishop, he would never, ever dare to, kill the archbishop.

Even more so, Yu Xing speculated that the real archbishop should still be within the scope of the church.

He exhaled softly, and white mist appeared briefly in the cool air before quickly dissipating.

Without lingering, Yu Xing turned around and walked slowly toward the Carlos Detective Agency in the direction Qu Xianqing had left.

……

The office was completely closed at this time, with only a faint light shining through a crack in a second-floor window.

Yu Xing opened the door with her key, and a familiar scent, a mixture of coffee, old paper, and a faint hint of gunpowder, wafted out.

There was no one in the living room; Carlos was probably still busy in his room.

Qu Xianqing has returned and is sitting on the sofa, eating breakfast with food stored in the firm.

She heard Yu Xing push the door open, glanced up, and then lowered her head to continue what she was doing.

Yu Xing nodded to her, said nothing more, and went straight to her room.

He closed the door behind him, shutting out everything from the outside world.

Then he leaned against the door, quietly closed his eyes, and remained silent for a long time.

A sense of fatigue slowly crept in like a tide. Since he had grown stronger, he rarely felt tired as easily as he did at the beginning. But this time was different. In the City of Terror, his spirit and memories had been eroded by that indescribable power. Even though he won every time he clashed with it, it was impossible for him to be unaffected.

Add to that his distorted perception...

The cognitive distortion caused by the Cursed Tongue has completely dissipated. Unlike the time at the snow mountain scenic area when he suddenly regained his senses, this time he "ate" multiple times, and his human cognition gradually returned without any interruption.

But precisely because of this, his spirit was more vulnerable than usual during the reply process, making him more susceptible to external influences. At this moment, he truly felt exhausted.

He needed to rest, and he had just tried to lie down and take a nap in the church lounge, but unfortunately he couldn't rest for more than a few minutes.

Even just a few hours of sleep would be nice... Yu Xing yawned, opened her eyes, and slowly focused her gaze, looking at the soft bed in the room with a longing look.

As he walked back, the sky grew brighter.

Yu Xing walked to the window, intending to draw the curtains, but just before his fingers touched the heavy curtain fabric, he caught a glimpse of something extra out of the corner of his eye.

The thing lay quietly on the windowsill, and it's unclear how long it had been there.

It was a card.

A neatly folded white card lay quietly on the inside edge of the slightly dusty windowsill, as if it had been carefully slipped in through a crack in the window.

Yu Xing raised an eyebrow slightly.

Who? When? And how did they put this here?
Did you enter his room when you placed this card?

Instead of immediately touching the card, he first spread his senses out like the finest spider web, covering the entire room and even the area outside the window.

There was no unusual residual energy, no prying eyes, and no lurking danger.

everything is normal.

Apart from this extra card.

Yu Xing hesitated for a moment, then finally reached out and picked it up with two fingers.

It felt cool to the touch, the paper was stiff, and it carried a faint smell of high-quality ink and turpentine—the distinctive scent of an art studio and paints.

This gave him an immediate idea of ​​who he would have to hand over the card to.

He slowly turned the card over.

There was no salutation, no signature, only a short sentence written in elegant yet undeniably powerful cursive script, the ink deep black, as if containing some kind of will:

"Tomorrow at 10 a.m., my companions and I will be waiting for your arrival at the Flowing Light Gallery. If you want to know the answer about the 'starry sky,' please don't miss this opportunity. Of course, whether you see this as a threat or an invitation, I believe you will make the right choice."

There was no signature at the end; instead, the same ink was used to outline an extremely concise yet distorted and dynamic star symbol.

Tsk, it's that gloomy painter.

Yu Xing's fingertips lightly brushed over the star symbol on the card, a hint of understanding flashing in his eyes. Then, a very faint, almost cold smile silently appeared on his lips.

As expected, the invitation should have arrived much earlier than he had anticipated. If it weren't for the change in the flow of time in the City of Terror that caused him to disappear for two days, his ancient god follower and his fellow cult members would probably have already contacted him.

Coercion can also be an invitation.

A trap can also be a passage.

He closed the card again and held it between his fingers. The fact that things were going as he wished made him feel a little relieved. Coincidentally, the painter from the Ancient Gods faction invited him to meet tomorrow morning, so he had a perfectly legitimate reason to miss the church service at 2 p.m.

Even if a fake archbishop comes to investigate, he should be much more relieved after learning that he was held back by his allies.

His opportunity to infiltrate the esoteric sects has finally arrived... However, he needs to sleep now, even if the ancient gods themselves descend, he will still need to sleep, and no one should disturb him. (End of Chapter)