Once the affection level is maxed out, the rivalry begins!

Bai Ze currently knows and has met only four people whose "affinity level" he can see.

Lin Tingwan and Lu Xingyao couldn't possibly be here, and the other one left Dongming long ago, so let's not mention her. There's only one left... Xia Xingzhi's sister.

Xia Yunli.

Could the person wearing the fox mask in front of me be her?

The older sister is a detective, and the younger sister is a witch and a phantom thief—what kind of police and criminal gang is this? Are you guys acting in Mr. & Mrs. Smith or a parody movie?

Of course, it could also be a newly emerged witch.

However, before her identity was confirmed, this suspected phantom thief already showed signs of trouble.

The longsword she held, whether it was the stolen [Silver Star] sword from another world or not, was indeed remarkably effective against evil spirits.

However, his strength was limited, and he was struggling to defend himself when surrounded, even appearing somewhat flustered.

This is different from what we previously speculated—didn't the phantom thief steal the core and Mingming to lure them here, intending to use the other world as a trap to harm them?

Why do I feel like I'm getting caught up in it too?

While she was pondering, a shadowy monster resembling a wild beast broke through the thief's encirclement and opened its mouth to bite at her!

But before the sharp teeth could touch his body, the phantom thief suddenly vanished from the spot.

The evil spirit, having lost its target, was only momentarily bewildered before it refocused its attention on Bai Ze.

So he stepped across the lawn, opening his arms as if to embrace the surging tide of evil.

Moments later, the gathered shadows of wild beasts died along with the withered grass and trees, the student-like spirit screamed and turned into dust, and the remaining fox was strangled by thorns.

Now that things have come to this, there's no need to spend time dealing with these grunts anymore; simply unleashing the Pale Knight's powers is enough to clear the area.

Although two or three evil spirits that hadn't been surrounded were still alive, they let out terrified whimpers and scattered like students caught out of the school by the headmaster.

Bai Ze withdrew the cursed poison from his body and walked to the place where the phantom thief had disappeared.

There were no traces on the ground; it was indeed moved out of thin air.

Are you looking for me?

Then, the girl's indifferent voice rang out from behind.

The next moment, Bai Ze summoned the Blade of Judgment and slashed at it.

"Wait, wait a minute!"

Miss Thief rolled awkwardly, barely dodging the sword light, and then leaped into the air with superhuman jumping ability, seemingly wanting to escape.

But the blade of judgment is deformable!

The sword blade, which had been swung into the air, instantly disintegrated, transforming into countless threads that extended outwards and automatically looped into a lasso. Bai Ze, like a Western cowboy wielding a lasso, forcefully flung it out!

"Wow!"

The lasso drew a graceful arc, binding the phantom thief's upper body precisely to the bullseye.

Losing her balance, she fell like a swallow. Bai Ze, not satisfied, fired another shot, tightly binding her legs.

Then, the phantom thief landed heavily on the withered grass with a thud.

"Gotcha, Phantom Thief Saint Tail."

He squatted down next to the girl who was wriggling like a shrimp, with great interest.

The ropes binding her body went around her crotch, tied a knot at her back, then passed from behind her neck through her armpits back to her chest, forming a diamond-shaped structure resembling a tortoise shell around her abdomen.

Because it was tied too tightly, the thin silver rope meticulously conformed to the petite curves of the girl's body, from her collarbone to her thighs, outlining her slender waist, while the knots that passed through her cleavage sensually accentuated what was originally unremarkable.

Seeing him approach, the phantom thief girl tried to back away in fear, but the bound position that forced her legs to curl up was obviously too difficult, causing her neatly combed gray hair to become messy and her swallowtail-like forks on her dress to stick up high.

She threatened, her voice laced with bravado but her heart pounding: "Don't come any closer! I was entrusted with this task by the Eternal Serpent! That newly risen anomaly-collecting organization around Dongming, they've even defeated witches, haven't you heard of them?!"

"How scary, how terrifying!"

Bai Ze was delighted, his entire body covered in a silvery metallic fluid, activating his long-unused Old White Knight Mode.

"Then let me ask you, when did we hire you to steal the witch's power?"

The phantom thief immediately wore an expression as if the world was ending.

Seeing that she remained silent, Bai Ze reached out to the mask she was wearing.

Let me see your true colors!

"No! I don't want this one!"

She twisted her bound body, resisting fiercely, "If I take off the mask, I will be completely devoured by this other world!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Ze stopped what he was doing.

Since he already had a strong suspicion in mind, there was no need to let her die here just to verify the identity of the phantom thief.

—If she is telling the truth.

"Why were we swallowed up? Didn't you steal our things and set this place as a trap?"

"...I didn't steal it."

The phantom thief replied humiliatingly, "When I was trapped in this other world, I used a remotely established prayer ritual to persuade the remnant of the god you were carrying to come here on his own, and then sent you a notice to inform you of the location."

The phantom thief's pre-announcement letter has the unusual characteristic that it "will eventually reach the victim," and therefore it will not be blocked by other worlds.

This greatly increases the possibility that her true identity is Xia Yunli, to the point that it is almost certain.

The fact that she was almost worshipped in the underworld signifies that a deep connection has been formed between them—or rather, cause and effect, karma, all mean the same thing.

After repeated tutoring from Leia and Lu Xingyao, Bai Ze now has a certain understanding of anomalous knowledge. If Xia Yunli masters the relevant mystical ritual skills, she can definitely do what the phantom thief said.

Thinking about it this way, was it all part of her plan to be targeted by the cult and become the object of an abnormal ghost marriage?

She wanted to gain something from getting close to Mingming, but her plans were disrupted by her sister and Bai Ze who had mistakenly entered the scene.

So the favorability rating actually decreased?

Afterwards, she used her karmic connection with Mingming to monitor Bai Ze through his eyes—just as ancient priests and prophets could connect with the vision of their gods to judge the future—and persuaded Mingming to come to this other world.

I just don't know how she managed to bring the core member here.

Oh, my god... you actually came running to the dangerous other world and betrayed us, just like a straight woman who had rejected you once!

You simp!

Bai Ze was furious and decided that when he got back, he would stuff her into a washing machine and spin her around for three days and three nights to teach her the lesson that simps never get a good death.

"What is your purpose in going to all this trouble to lure us here?"

He asked, puzzled.

Although the fox mask obscured his vision, a sense of shame could be discerned from the way the phantom thief turned his head.

"I want... to ask someone for help to rescue me from this other world."

So you've really fallen for it!

And to make matters worse, he even had to ask the detective who arrested him for help!

You shameful phantom thief!