Chapter 352: Qin Chu and Shaye’s Confrontation
Shaye Shub-Niggurath was puzzled by her own feelings.
She had a good memory and was certain she had never met Qin Chu before.
It was understandable.
He was the Second Hero, summoned less than a year ago.
And she had been in the Demon King’s Palace for years, this being her first time leaving. A meeting would have been impossible.
So, where did this familiarity, this strange kinship, come from?
Listening to her, watching her, Carlos’s irritation grew.
Have we met before?
It was a clichéd pick-up line, but coming from this beautiful woman… was she interested in Qin Chu? Was she trying to flirt with him?
The thought of her calling him a clown while flirting with Qin Chu drove him mad.
Beneath his charming smile, a jealous rage burned, threatening to consume him.
He had never hated anyone so much.
But neither Qin Chu nor Shaye noticed him.
Qin Chu wanted to know her reason for visiting the Imperial City.
Shaye wanted to understand this strange familiarity she felt towards him.
The poor clown, utterly ignored.
Qin Chu, maintaining his polite smile, as if his earlier outburst hadn’t happened, feigned thoughtfulness: “I believe you’ve mistaken me for someone else, miss. We haven’t met before.”
“Is that so?” Shaye pondered his words.
She also believed they had never met.
But the familiarity was so strong…
His face, his figure, even his voice, seemed… familiar.
“I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of learning your name,” Qin Chu said, breaking the silence.
“Shaye… Shaye Shub-Niggurath.”
Carlos’s jealousy intensified.
He had asked her name repeatedly, but she hadn’t answered. Yet she had told Qin Chu so readily?
Such blatant favoritism.
“A beautiful name,” Qin Chu complimented her. “As beautiful as its owner.”
Shameless, fawning over a woman like that. You’re an embarrassment to all men.
Carlos cursed inwardly, forgetting his own earlier, even more pathetic, attempts.
Shaye giggled, Qin Chu’s compliment, unlike Carlos’s, not at all repulsive, even… pleasant.
Despite his familiarity with Shaye’s appearance, her smile still momentarily captivated him, and Carlos stared at her, entranced.
“You’re quite the charmer, Hero. By the way, would you invite me to dinner?”
Her phrasing was slightly awkward, but he understood immediately: “Of course. It would be my honor…”
“How about that place?” He pointed to a nearby dessert shop, its cakes and milk tea quite good.
Shaye’s eyes lit up. He had guessed her preferences.
She was about to accept when Carlos, sensing an opportunity, stepped forward again, a smug look on his face: “Miss Shaye, such a… common establishment is hardly befitting your status.”
“And milk tea and cake are… unrefined. I know a much finer establishment, the most luxurious and sophisticated hotel in the Imperial City. Perhaps…”
He rambled on excitedly, oblivious to Shaye’s increasingly cold expression.
This idiot dared insult milk tea and cake?
Seeing him continue, she finally snapped: “Sir, your voice is as irritating as a baboon’s.”
“So, would you kindly… leave?”
This was the true Shaye Shub-Niggurath.
Carlos froze, watching as she walked into the dessert shop with Qin Chu.
He shuddered, as if snapping out of a trance, then gasped.
A baboon?
He, Carlos Alran, president of the Adventurer’s Guild, heir to a marquisate, compared to a baboon?
Being called a clown had been humiliating enough, but this was worse.
He glared at their retreating figures, his eyes blazing with fury.
You bitch. You’ll pay for this.
And that bastard, Qin Chu, deliberately sabotaging him. This wasn’t over.
He would have both Shaye and Natia.
“It seems we’ve offended someone,” Qin Chu said, ordering a coffee for himself and, without asking, a chocolate cake for Shaye.
Shaye’s eyes sparkled, her smile widening.
While she had been slightly annoyed by his presumptuousness, he had ordered her favorite. Her annoyance vanished, replaced by a feeling of… connection.
Was this fate?
Qin Chu, however, felt a pang of unease.
He had instinctively ordered her favorite, forgetting this was their first meeting.
She was smiling at him. Had he aroused her suspicion?
He needed to be careful.
“Miss Shaye, you’re not from the Imperial City, are you?” he asked, breaking the silence, initiating their… duel.
“How did you know?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“A beauty like you would be famous throughout the city,” he said, his tone sincere.
Why had Carlos’s compliments been so repulsive, while this man’s words were so… pleasing?
“You’re quite the charmer, Hero. I imagine you’re very popular with the ladies,” she said, her gaze playful. She was surprised by her own forwardness in his presence.
“But you’re right. I’m not from the Imperial City. I live in… another city, quite far from here.”
“Then what brings you to the Imperial City? Sightseeing?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
She smiled, her finger tracing the rim of her spoon: “Are you interrogating me, Hero?”
“Of course not. I’m not very good at… talking to girls…”
“But we need a topic of conversation,” he said honestly.
“You’re quite honest…” she said, smiling softly. “I’m here… looking for someone. Two people, actually.”
“Oh? Who are they?”
“One is a woman, impersonating me.”
Qin Chu’s heart skipped a beat.
A test.
She was testing him.
She clearly knew something, but not everything. She was fishing for information. Otherwise, why would she reveal her true purpose so readily?
Every word from now on would be a test. He couldn’t slip up.
He feigned surprise: “Someone impersonating you? A beauty like you? Who could possibly impersonate you?”
Shaye sighed, puffing out her cheeks slightly: “I don’t know who it is, but it’s very irritating.”
She was surprised by her own candor in his presence, her usual caution abandoned.
“And the other person?” Qin Chu asked.
“I don’t know if it’s a man or a woman, but most likely a man. His name is Horus.”
Shit!
He almost spilled his coffee.
Horus?
The one impersonating Shaye was the other Shaye residing within him.
And Horus… was him.
Confirmed.
She had come for him. He had been so careful, yet she had found him. How?
This wasn’t good.
“Hero, do you know this Horus?” she asked.
He forced a smile: “I’m sorry, Miss Shaye, but while I’m the Hero, I spend most of my time training. I barely know the streets of this city, let alone someone named Horus. I’ve never heard of him.”
“Is that so? What a pity.”
The cake arrived, and she, as he was accustomed to seeing, fell silent, focusing on her dessert.
He sipped his coffee, its taste suddenly bitter.
After a long while, she patted her slightly swollen belly, a satisfied smile on her face:
“Mr. Qin, I enjoyed this dinner. Thank you.”
Enjoyed it?
Qin Chu’s heart lurched. What did she mean?
Had she found something, some clue to his true identity?
Chapter 353: Call Me Big Sister
His suspicion made him overthink everything she said.
As she left, doubt gnawed at him.
Why had she said she “enjoyed” the dinner? Surely it wasn’t just because of the food.
He felt a hidden meaning in her words.
And his own Shaye had been strangely quiet during the encounter, hiding within his body, not even attempting to confront her other self.
“Damn it! You’re the imposter! The imposter!” she finally burst out, after the other Shaye was long gone.
Her beautiful face was contorted with anger.
He rolled his eyes: “If you’re so brave, why didn’t you confront her earlier? Now that she’s gone, you suddenly find your courage?”
“Are you crazy?” she retorted, shaking her head. “Do you think I have a death wish?”
He had to admit, she had a point.
But being completely overshadowed by her other self had clearly stung her pride.
It was a humiliation.
She was the real Shaye Shub-Niggurath, and someone had stolen her identity. She wouldn’t tolerate this.
“Qin Chu, I need power! Give me some of your power…” she grumbled.
“How? Haven’t you stolen enough of my experience already?” he said, rolling his eyes.
If not for her, he would be much stronger.
“Besides, power isn’t so easily obtained.”
“Blood. We need the blood of an Evil God,” she said, having found a solution. “With enough of it, I can regain my strength.”
He facepalmed.
While the Evil God’s blood had enhanced his strength, the effect had been minimal, most of the benefits going to the parasites within him.
He was more concerned about its side effects.
“Have you forgotten what happened earlier today?”
Shaye froze, her face flushing crimson.
That experience was undoubtedly unforgettable.
Her crimson eyes glistened.
After a long moment, she muttered: “I can… help you next time.”
He raised an eyebrow. Help him? How? Her energy form had dissipated.
As if realizing her slip-up, she said quickly: “I can’t stand that imposter running around, pretending to be me! There can only be one Shaye Shub-Niggurath. And that’s me!”
He sighed. They were the same person. Why the rivalry?
“But Evil God’s blood isn’t easy to find. I don’t know where Wadsworth got it. And in his current state, I doubt he’ll tell us,” he said thoughtfully.
Shaye, seemingly having overcome her embarrassment, her expression turning serious, said: “The blood Wadsworth gave you is the same as the blood Nagath gave me in the Demon King’s Palace.”
“But their sources must be different.”
It was understandable. Both Wadsworth and Nagath would have kept the blood’s source a closely guarded secret.
“Do you remember the information from Phil? A thousand years ago, during the war between the gods, the most powerful Evil God was dismembered, his remains scattered across the world.”
Qin Chu understood.
Wadsworth and Nagath had likely found a fragment of the Eighth Evil God’s remains: perhaps his head, an arm, or a part of his torso.
Of course, it might not have been the Eighth Evil God, but some other powerful being, perhaps even a god of the Heavenly Continent.
“And do you remember the heart mentioned in the Second Jie Luo’s soul fragment?”
Qin Chu’s eyes narrowed.
The giant heart, still beating after all these years…
While the Second Jie Luo was a monster, he was still a powerful being, created by an Evil God. Yet, he had been terrified by the heart, fleeing instantly.
That heart must possess immense power.
Shaye’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
If her theory was correct, and the heart was the source of the blood, it would be an unlimited source of power.
With enough of it, she could regain her full strength… no, she could become even stronger than before.
Then, she could confront the other Shaye, declaring: You’re the imposter! Call me Big Sister!
“Qin Chu, don’t you want to investigate?”
“It would be… interesting.”
She sounded like a true Witch, her voice filled with a seductive allure.
…
Meanwhile, Carlos had returned home.
Remembering the humiliation, his eyes burned with rage, his handsome face contorted.
That bitch dared call him a baboon?
And that bastard, Qin Chu, deliberately sabotaging him again. This wasn’t over.
He would have both Shaye and Natia.
Crack! He crushed the hilt of his sword in his hand.
“I seem to have chosen a bad time. You seem upset, Mr. Carlos,” a seductive voice said behind him.
Carlos spun around, his face darkening as he saw the beautiful woman standing there, clad in a white Saintess robe.
It was Loseweisse.
While still Loseweisse, she seemed different, her saintly attire doing little to conceal her alluring aura.
She was like a whirlpool, drawing him in, almost making him want to kneel and kiss her feet.
He felt as if he were facing a Succubus, not a Saintess.
But he quickly regained his composure, his suspicion growing.
Her strength was comparable to his. How had she approached him undetected?
Was it because of his anger, or… had she become stronger?
“Saintess, is there something I can do for you?” he asked, forcing a smile.
She smiled seductively: “I thought… perhaps we could cooperate.”
“What’s in it for me?” he asked, his tone skeptical.
“You can have what you desire. For example… Miss Natia,” she said, her voice smooth and unhurried. “Without my help, you’ll never have her. She’s devoted to Qin Chu.”
“Don’t even think about defeating the Hero. You’re no match for him. Without my help, he’ll crush you like an insect.”
A flicker of anger in his eyes: “And what about you, Saintess?”
“I’ll also get what I want. For example… the Hero.”
…
At the Hero’s Residence.
Athena had returned.
Violet sat quietly on the sofa.
Sylph sat on a chair, one leg crossed over the other, a rather… dominant pose, not even bothering to maintain decorum despite Qin Chu’s presence.
Norma, Heloise, and Angelica sat together.
Anastasia and Iyeta stood silently, their arms crossed.
Ekaterina leaned against a cabinet, her greatsword in her arms.
Even Anthea had awakened, still clad in her chained armor, standing behind Qin Chu like a loyal guard.
“Athena, how did it go?” Qin Chu asked.
“Loseweisse has a lead on a possible soul fragment location, in the Momore Kingdom. She wants me to investigate,” Athena replied.
He nodded: “Go with Sylph. There’s safety in numbers.”
Athena nodded, a warmth spreading through her. He still cared about her.
Sylph, however, was reluctant. She would rather stay and receive treatment. She still had many threads within her soul.
But she wouldn’t disobey his order.
“Violet, Norma, Ange, Anastasia, stay in the Residence. Don’t go anywhere.”
He was about to embark on a potentially long and dangerous journey to find the heart. He needed to make arrangements.
Violet had wanted to accompany him, but with Anthea by his side, there was no need. And her presence here would reassure him.
“Ekaterina, you stay with Loseweisse. Inform me of any developments.”
Ekaterina nodded.
He sent messages to Candice and Saint Monique, issuing instructions.
Then, he left with Anthea, Heloise, and Iyeta.
He didn’t notice the figure watching them from outside.
Shaye Shub-Niggurath.
Her crimson eyes gleamed in the moonlight.
