Chapter 154: Luring the Tiger Out of the Mountain
Eva, carrying large and small bags, entered the house humming a little tune, her mood clearly good.
Then, she saw a special scene before her. A girl, naked from the waist up, had her back to her, and Chen Ran’s hand was resting on a sensitive part of the girl’s body, as if in a caress. No matter how you looked at it, it was very ambiguous. A man and a woman sitting on the spacious sofa, clearly engaged in something.
A pile of things fell to the floor. Eva, who had been in a good mood just a moment ago, stood there in astonishment.
When Nicole realized someone had come in, she panicked instinctively. Even though she was a seventh-tier genius young woman from the Holy Church, she was still a young girl. To be caught at such a critical moment was probably the first time she had encountered such a situation in her life. Her first reaction was to quickly pull up the blanket that had fallen on the sofa to cover her exposed charms.
“Jeral, what did I do wrong? Why would you bring a woman into the room in front of me?” Eva’s eyes were misty, filled with endless grievance.
“Ahem…”
Chen Ran was embarrassed. He hadn’t expected to encounter such a cliché situation. Leif had specially instructed Eva not to disturb Chen Ran’s daily life, so as not to interfere with his work. But she still occasionally came to see her “boyfriend,” Chen Ran, and thoughtfully brought him some things, only to run into this scene.
Before, Chen Ran had used the spiritual crystal to hypnotize Eva into being his girlfriend. Eva’s current performance was also that of a normal girlfriend. This kind of cheating behind the “main wife’s” back was absolutely unforgivable, so it was no wonder Eva had such a reaction.
However, fortunately, Eva was not a girl with a truly independent consciousness. To avoid trouble, Chen Ran chose to use the soul crystal again and switch to the maid mode…
A subtle magic fluctuation spread out, affecting Eva, who was still brewing her emotions. Suddenly, Eva’s eyes wiped away the impending tears, and she actually smiled. “Oh, I’m interrupting. You two continue. I’ll go inside and pack up.” Then, she picked up the pile of fallen things and obediently walked into Chen Ran’s bedroom.
Nicole looked on in surprise as the misunderstanding passed just like that. And just now, she had felt a fluctuation of power. It seemed that that fluctuation had affected the girl who had just come in.
She was not an inexperienced person. She frowned and said, “Consciousness domination?”
She was naturally no stranger to one of the most classic spells of the dark forces.
Seeing the change in Nicole’s face, Chen Ran was helpless. He knew what the so-called “consciousness domination” meant and did not deny it. Moreover, Nicole might be of great help to him in the future, so he did not hide it.
“You felt it too. I don’t deny that I used this power.”
Next, under Nicole’s half-believing, half-doubting gaze, Chen Ran explained everything he had done in the Lost Plains, including the process of the surprise attack on the Dark Temple’s branch, and then the accidental rescue of Eva, a woman who had already been hit by a spiritual spell. Seven parts true, three parts exaggerated.
“The rest is easy to say. I followed this line and got involved here, fighting against the people of the Dark Holy Court. I admit that using this kind of spell is a bit wrong, but at least it’s within the acceptable range of morality. You have to make some sacrifices to do anything. It’s nothing for me to sacrifice a little of my body. Am I, a big man, afraid of being taken advantage of?”
After listening to Chen Ran’s explanation, Nicole’s face finally improved a lot, but she still said, “But it’s still not right to use a girl like this. A person under consciousness domination, although much better than being controlled by a soul, generally won’t live for too long, at most ten years.”
“Well, I don’t have a suitable method either,” Chen Ran shrugged helplessly. “I was thinking that after the matter here is finished, I would restore her. I’m sure the Holy Church is so big and has been fighting against the Dark Holy Court for so long, there should be a corresponding solution. Although I’m not one of you yet, after doing so much, I should get some benefits, right?”
“I have a way, and I can do it. But it will consume too much of my body’s power for now. I have to save it to deal with those guys,” because of the misunderstanding before, Nicole’s face gradually returned to normal, and her power had also recovered. That cold and beautiful temperament could be felt from her again.
“You can?” Chen Ran hadn’t expected Nicole to be able to do it. But as for the explanation after that, he didn’t mind. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a little earlier or later. It’s not a matter of a day or two. The top priority now is how to deal with those guys from the Dark Holy Court. We have a common goal now. Now, almost half of the city’s power is under their secret control. With just my little bit of power in front of them, I’m so busy that I’m worried about them coming to my door every day.”
Nicole nodded in agreement, then pulled the blanket over her entire body and got dressed inside. She could finally get out of bed normally.
It had to be said that after recovering her spirit, Nicole was radiant and beautiful, a very charming girl, so beautiful that it was breathtaking. But she just lacked a bit of femininity, always putting on a straight face, with a “stay away from me” feeling. When she was serious, she was even more serious than a man, which completely destroyed that kind of cuteness. On this point, for a girl of the same type, the former Elena was much better than her.
“Who taught you your holy magic? The effect is not the same as ordinary healing spells, and it’s also particularly effective,” Nicole moved her body. Every cell in her body had recovered its former vitality, and it even felt better than before she was injured. She couldn’t believe that she had been a patient who couldn’t get out of bed before. “It’s so good that it’s unbelievable.”
“I comprehended it myself. Is that not allowed?” Chen Ran couldn’t explain the system he had, so he just made something up. “Who do you think I could have learned it from?”
“You comprehended it yourself?” Nicole’s eyes flickered, and she said seriously, “Then you are definitely a genius. But I don’t understand. Since you have such an ability, why don’t you have any practical combat power? Even a Holy Priest, whose main task is to preach, although their combat power cannot be compared to us Discipline Priests, they also know some offensive spells, at least they wouldn’t be beaten up by a group of small hoodlums.”
Chen Ran was depressed at that moment.
Damn it, do you think I want to? If I were an offensive class, I would find a good place to train diligently. With my efficiency, I would probably be close to a tenth-tier sword saint or magus by now, and then I would be all kinds of powerful, and unifying the world would be just around the corner. But now, I haven’t even reached the mother-level, and I’m still a priest with no offensive skills, still struggling to find a suitable team…
However, Chen Ran tacitly accepted the word “genius.”
Just as Chen Ran picked up the invitation that had been sent, he suddenly realized something.
“By the way, can you sing and dance?”
Remembering Nicole’s gorgeous, dance-like move that night, Chen Ran still had a deep memory of it. His eyes narrowed like a fox’s as he looked at the girl in front of him, sizing her up and down, and found that all the conditions were met.
Perhaps that gaze was too penetrating. Nicole couldn’t stand being sized up like that. If it weren’t for the fact that Chen Ran had saved her before, she would probably have had the urge to beat him up.
Nicole suppressed the urge to beat him up and replied, “My singing ability is very average, but I can dance a little.” As if to avoid any misunderstanding, Nicole added, “The girls who come out of the City of Holy Light have all received special dance training since they were young.”
“Then there should be no problem,” Chen Ran finally solved a troublesome matter and handed the invitation to Nicole. “Look.”
Nicole took the invitation and read the contents. Her brows gradually furrowed, and she instinctively sensed a conspiracy. She said in a deep voice, “What do you want to do?”
“It’s an emergency!” Chen Ran rubbed his hands and said with a slightly lewd tone, “We’re in the same boat now, so we should help each other. I’ve run into some trouble. The Crown Prince here wants me to attend a banquet, a noble event. It would be very bad if I didn’t go. But I’ve been struggling to find a suitable person. I’m afraid there will be trouble if I find someone at the last minute. I’ve seen your strength, and I’m sure you won’t disappoint me…” “You want me to attend such a ball!” Nicole’s face flushed, and her voice couldn’t help but rise a few notches.
“Hey, hey, don’t get the wrong idea. The upper-class nobles are very particular about their affairs. It’s not as chaotic as you think. It’s called a ‘female slave,’ but it’s actually at the level of a geisha, selling art but not her body. And if you perform well, there will be good rewards. You can ask the Crown Prince to grant you one of his collections,” Chen Ran explained. “For example, today, he bought a piece of Divine Spirit Jade that I was determined to get. You also know the use of the Divine Spirit Jade. And if I can get on the Crown Prince’s line, I’ll be more confident in the upcoming confrontation with the group of people from the Dark Holy Court, right?”
“Divine Spirit Jade?” Nicole hesitated for a moment. She knew the value of this thing. It had a good enhancement for light magic and was a rare material that was not easy to come by. The price was very expensive, and it was not something that could be bought with just money.
At this, Nicole did not refute. “If I had a piece of Divine Spirit Jade to enhance it, I could increase the power of my holy light magic a lot. There are many puppet war slaves in the Dark Holy Court. I was held back by them at that time. If I had the enhancement of the Divine Spirit Jade, I really wouldn’t have been hit by that dark mage’s sneak attack.”
She looked carefully at Chen Ran’s eyes and confirmed that this guy was not lying. Nicole hesitated for a moment and said helplessly, “Can you let me think about it?”
“Please,” Chen Ran said, his face serious, but he was laughing in his heart.
Girls were mostly reserved. To be able to reach the seventh tier at such a young age, her talent would naturally not be lacking. She should still be a girl with the innate Holy Light Magic Mark, and it was nothing for her to be a little proud. After all, a ball like that was indeed misleading. An ordinary girl might not think much of it, but for the type of girl who was born a young lady…
He roughly estimated Nicole’s measurements. Chen Ran prepared in advance. Seeing her hesitant face, compromise was only a matter of time.
Secretly, Chen Ran had already thought of the most gorgeous dancer’s costume in history…
