The villain, caught in a chaotic situation, only wants to boost his popularity.

"And the price is..." He moved closer, his warm breath brushing against her earlobe, his voice extremely low.

She then realized that Mu Jing had not intended to do so. The power of a psychic is never free; every time it is used, a price must be paid.

—But he did overuse his psionic powers to save me, and that's why he paid the price.

As the distance suddenly closed, Xue Li felt the unique scent of pine needles from Mu Jing at dawn lingering around her nose.

"The cost is a supplementary 'contact'," Mu Jing said in a very low voice, "and the efficiency of repayment depends on the area and duration of the contact."

Xue Li was suddenly stunned—the cost was the Achilles' heel of a psionicist; exposing it was tantamount to handing one's throat to the enemy's blade, yet Mu Jing had told her about the type of the cost without reservation.

She recalled the sharp question she had posed to him in the Wunian layer: "Don't you trust me?"

At this moment, he felt a sense of relief—it turned out that from beginning to end, she was the one who held on tightly and refused to let go, while he had already entrusted his back to her.

"But..." Her gaze swept over the scattered remnants of the demon, then she suddenly came to her senses, "How did you defeat it?"

Before she finished speaking, she stood on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around Mu Jing's broad back.

She heard Mu Jing's voice resonate from her chest: "Essence! When I know the essence of things, I can [divide]."

"The essence of that demon?" Xue Li's golden eyes suddenly lit up, reflecting Mu Jing's face in their glassy luster. "Could it be...?"

"It's the resentment of those guests and servants," Mu Jing's fingertips lightly brushed against her slender waist, her gaze as clear as a lake, "a demon gathered through the authority of the [Heartless Layer]."

"You guessed it back in the Wuneng layer?" Xue Li's voice tightened. "Why didn't you say so beforehand?"

"No need to memorize it." Mu Jing shook his head, pointing to the scattered afterimages of guests and waiters in the distance. "The moment they entered, their appearance, their clothes, even the folds in their cuffs, were already imprinted in my mind."

"I only knew that the authority of the Heartless Layer was related to 'loss of mind' until I saw the formation process of that demon just now, and that's when I was completely certain."

"So I used [Divergence] to separate this demon formed from their resentment. Once separated, it will dissipate."

Xue Li stared into his eyes, where there was no evasion, only complete honesty.

Just then, Mu Jing suddenly raised his left hand that was on her waist.

Xue Li followed his gaze.

A stone gate engraved with ancient runes suddenly broke through the void, and three large characters on the lintel were as red as blood: The Third Layer [The Eyeless Layer].

"On the next level, we must unconditionally trust each other." Mu Jing's voice deepened. "What we need to do next is—"

Xue Li looked up in confusion.

Why did he repeat it again? They were already partners who could entrust their hearts to each other.

Then she listened attentively to what Mu Jing was saying.

…………

Meanwhile, at the Holy Spirit Bureau, in the Director's Office.

The image of Xue Li and Mu Jing embracing on the mirrored screen stung Xue Hua's eyes.

She stood in front of the screen, her fingers gripping the hem of her clothes, turning white, her nails almost digging into her flesh.

"I was here first," she murmured softly, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, yet tinged with a hint of grievance.

—I had already promised that I would pay the price for Mirror-kun…why…

Although she knew they were in danger.

Although she knew they were just partners for now.

Although she knew that Mu Jing could not possibly have feelings for her aunt, otherwise he certainly wouldn't have embarrassed her when he first entered the Holy Spirit Bureau.

Although she knew that her proud and arrogant aunt would never fall for someone who had attacked her.

—But…but…

For some reason, Xuehua felt a burning pain in her heart, as if it were being scorched by a raging fire. She seemed to be finding it increasingly difficult to deceive herself about her feelings for Mu Jing...

"Xiaoxue... Xiaoxue..."

The director's voice interrupted her thoughts.

Xuehua snapped out of her daze and turned to look over.

"We've found out exactly how this incident happened." The woman in the classic maid's outfit looked at the pink-haired girl beside her with a serious expression. "Kyo, why don't you tell us?"

"Crunch," Qiongren was tearing open a bag of potato chips, the crisp "crunch" sound particularly abrupt in the quiet office.

She mumbled while munching on potato chips, "Xiao Tian used [Spirit Analysis] to detect that there are no traces of magic in the Sixth Holy Spirit Tower..."

"No trace of magic?" Xuehua asked in confusion.

"But! Suitcase!" Qiong Ren mumbled, "We found subtle traces of magic on the surface of Ms. Xue Li's suitcase."

"A suitcase?" Xuehua's pupils suddenly contracted. "My aunt is always very careful with her belongings, how could she...?"

"So the most reasonable explanation is," Director Sui continued, his tone grave, "that the incident did not occur in the Sixth Holy Spirit Bureau, but rather before Xue Li arrived here."

"Someone tampered with her suitcase—and only people from the Holy Spirit Administration had access to it."

Xuehua's expression also turned serious: "Director, are you saying that there are traitors within the Holy Spirit Bureau?"

"Yes." Director Sui nodded, a hint of worry in his eyes. "You and I both know how vigilant Xue Li is. The only person who could plant something on her suitcase is someone she trusts or a staff member—there is a traitor within the Holy Spirit Bureau who is trying to make peace with the demons."

At this point, the [real-world comment section] was also buzzing with discussion, but the most frequent comments were:

Xuehua: I was here first! I'm destined to be a loser!

"Oh my god, this is a classic 'White Album' moment! Poor Xuehua!"

"Let's see how Hakeem ends up! I'm waiting for a chopping block ending!"

"Abuse of China TV, now airing!"

"Is there a demon traitor within the Holy Spirit Bureau? The plot twist is too exciting!"

"This anime world is so illogical! Humanity is almost wiped out by demons, and yet there are still people acting as traitors to the demons?"

"I guess the production team ran out of work, so they just created a behind-the-scenes boss."

"Upstairs, putting aside the world of anime, isn't there really none? Like, in real life, for example..."

"Stop arguing, look! A new boss has appeared!"

Following Director Sui's worried gaze, the camera shifted to the mirrored screen—

The space behind the stone gate was distorting, and a huge outline was vaguely emerging from the black mist...

"Is this what they call 'Blindness'?" Director Sui's voice carried a hint of worry. "The power of the 'Crippled' is so bizarre! I hope they can get through this smoothly..."

Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on the suspended mirrored halo.

Xuehua clenched her fists, staring intently at the man and woman in the mirror.

.....................