A world polluted by evil gods (9): Chattering mirror

Si Qi didn’t look at Chu Feng’s reaction. He lowered his head and hastily tidied himself up, threw on his cloak, and leapt out of the window.

When they met again in the office, Si Qi’s demeanor seemed no different from usual.

But Chu Feng couldn’t stay as calm as Si Qi. Just yesterday, he had received what felt like the best thing in the world, only to be coldly pushed away today.

And the reason given still left him baffled.

Although he could understand why the Commander wanted to keep his identity hidden—after all, the Commander had done quite a few questionable things in front of him while disguised as a young man—exposure would surely drive the usually cold and dignified Commander absolutely mad.

Still, did it have to be like this? After all, they had already “laid everything bare” and become so intimately familiar. To turn around the very next day, ruthless and unrecognizing, after such a beautiful night—that was just heartbreaking.

Si Qi’s eyes occasionally glanced at Chu Feng and noticed his head still drooped low, looking dejected. A wave of guilt rose in his heart.

Alright, he admitted—he had indeed been in the wrong.

Thinking from Chu Feng’s perspective, to be treated coldly the day after such an intense night… yeah, it would be upsetting.

But Chu Feng wasn’t entirely innocent either! He clearly already had the young master—he shouldn’t have become obsessed with the Commander in the first place. Wasn’t it normal for Si Qi to be angry?

Chu Feng had cheated.

Even though the one he cheated with was still Si Qi himself…

He even wanted to take off his mask and question Chu Feng—why did you agree last night? Didn’t you know this would break the young man’s heart?

But he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

So he held the frustration in, fuming silently on his own.

Xiu Xiu looked on in confusion at Si Qi’s anger. Its little paw, now as thick as a toothpick, scratched its head, making it look adorably dumb.

Yep—ugly cute, ugly but cute.

“The master of this world is really hard to understand…”

Life was tough. Xiu Xiu sighed.

Si Qi, wearing a stern face, told Chu Feng to stay and handle official duties while he went to find the deputy commander and retrieved the sealed object—the gavel.

Then, he went alone to the place where he last saw Igor.

It was a chapel on the outskirts of a small town. From the outside, it didn’t look unusual at all. The building, in shades of brown and gray, held a solemn and tranquil atmosphere within. Devout believers dressed as farmers prayed quietly, and children helping to clean the candlesticks received little bags of cookies from the nuns. Everything felt peaceful and serene.

Si Qi walked through the chapel and entered a small room in the back.

Inside the dark room, cluttered with various tools, he pushed aside an old wooden cabinet. Behind it, a hidden stone door silently opened, revealing a long, deep underground corridor.

At the end of the corridor was the stone coffin.

The place was freezing cold—well below zero—so cold that his breath turned to white mist.

Si Qi raised his hand, took out a flask from his coat, and gently poured warm water onto a blue crystal resting on the table.

As the crystal’s temperature rose, the surrounding air quickly warmed up. Si Qi glanced at the frozen clock on the wall. The hands clicked and began to move again.

He approached and opened the sealed coffin. Time, long dormant, began to flow once more through the blood-red body inside.

Thump, thump.

The heart beside the body started beating again—strong and healthy.

Si Qi’s cold expression softened slightly. He took out a severed hand from a container and used it to place the gavel back beside its former owner.

—Forbidden objects are shameless creatures. They only submit to humans when they know they can’t resist and when the human offers worthwhile benefits.

But once a better “owner” appears, or their current master is in danger and someone else gains control of them, they’ll often abandon the old master without hesitation—sometimes even helping the new one harm or devour the old.

Si Qi hadn’t killed the cult follower because he didn’t want to interrupt the month-long “trial” in progress.

He also avoided touching the gavel, so it couldn’t abandon its current master and bond with him instead.

Now, with the gavel back at Igor’s side, reunited with its previous owner, a new “trial” was initiated.

The case that had been midway through its trial was nullified—the logic had collapsed when the judge became the accused. All court records were wiped clean, no longer existing.

Organs returned to Igor’s body, flesh covered the exposed muscles, his sunken eyes filled out again, and the breath that had been absent for days returned.

Si Qi removed his cloak and placed it over Igor.

The cloak, clearly displeased, made rustling sounds in protest. It hated being touched by others, especially being used as such a lowly covering—what an insult!

Si Qi ignored it. His gaze landed on Igor’s face.

Igor’s tightly shut eyes moved, his brows furrowed lightly. His mind was still in the villa outside the city, and he finished the last few words: “Commander…”

Si Qi’s lips curled into a faint smile. “Mm.”

Igor’s body jolted. He opened his eyes, startled.

Then he realized he was lying naked inside a cold coffin, covered only by that familiar cloak—which still carried Si Qi’s warmth.

Understanding dawned quickly. His ears flushed red, and he said awkwardly, “Did… did you hear what I said?”

Si Qi: “I heard you calling me.”

Igor didn’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. He said to Si Qi, “I’m sorry. I caused you trouble.”

“It’s nothing,” Si Qi replied.

He was merciless to enemies, yet unfailingly gentle with subordinates. That was why the enforcers adored the Commander so fanatically—charisma can be powerful enough to drive people insane.

Everyone knew the leader of the Temple Knights was ruthless, but it was also true he treated all who followed him with sincerity. Cruelty and tenderness could indeed coexist in one person.

Otherwise, that cultist who tried to sway the Commander away wouldn’t have acted like that. If given the chance, those cultists would probably love to get rid of the current archbishop and put Si Qi in his place.

But alas, Si Qi was their enemy—an enemy whose soul was far darker than their bishop’s, more devoted and brutal than any of their own.

Igor stood up, cloaked, a little shy as he tried to cover himself.

“How long was I asleep?”

Si Qi replied, “More than forty days.”

Igor let out a breath of relief.

“But a lot has happened during that time,” Si Qi continued in a gentle tone, calmly recounting the various events that had occurred within the legion. At the end, he said, “…Chu Feng joined the legion. He has a natural compatibility with sealed objects and is a born warrior. You’ll need to work well with him.”

When Igor first heard that Si Qi had killed Senator Will and wiped out most of the Omniscient Church’s bases in the capital for his sake, his face lit up with a joyful smile. But when he noticed Si Qi’s tone subtly change upon mentioning Chu Feng’s name, his expression flickered.

Barefoot, Igor walked with Si Qi to the dormitory in the church and found some clean clothes.

“Could you… turn around?” Igor asked, a little embarrassed.

If it had been the Si Qi of the past, he might not have thought much of that request, maybe even laughed and asked why.

But this time, there was a strange pause. He looked at Igor for a moment before silently turning his back.

Seeing that, the vague sense of unease Igor had been feeling grew stronger.

To put it in Xiu Xiu’s words: it was like the cabbage he had carefully raised for over ten years had suddenly been rooted up by a pig while he was asleep. “Heartbroken” couldn’t even begin to describe how he felt.

Or, considering how Igor saw Si Qi, maybe it was more like “the god he had admired for years was suddenly seduced by some seductive tramp from the sky.”

Either way, it was a tragedy.

After returning to the legion, Igor soon met Chu Feng under Si Qi’s arrangement.

He had previously served as Si Qi’s assistant, meticulous and gentle by nature. Though not skilled in combat, he was extremely knowledgeable about everything in the legion. Whenever something happened, people just had to find him and it would be sorted out.

Si Qi clearly intended for Chu Feng to take over his position someday, so he had Igor and Chu Feng work closely together to start building chemistry early on.

When Chu Feng saw Igor, he quickly remembered that he was the boy he had met at the orphanage not long ago. Piecing together Igor’s recent disappearance and the fact that Si Qi had retrieved the forbidden object just to save a subordinate, he easily understood the situation. With a surprised expression, he greeted Igor as if he hadn’t expected to meet a casual acquaintance in such a setting.

Igor, an excellent actor in his own right, pretended to take a moment before recognizing Chu Feng and said with a smile, “What a coincidence, we meet again.”

Si Qi asked, “You two know each other?”

Igor explained briefly, while Chu Feng stood by, smiling the whole time.

Three best actors on one stage.

At the same time, always observant and sensitive, Igor noticed the faint trace of grievance in Chu Feng’s eyes when he looked at Si Qi… and his inner alarm instantly shot to the highest level.

So, when Si Qi wasn’t around, Igor approached Chu Feng under the pretense of asking about recent work assignments, probing about what had been happening lately.

What he learned was… “not ideal.” For example, Chu Feng was now with Si Qi every day, had been entrusted with many important tasks, and held a level of authority second only to the deputy commander.

The more Igor heard, the more alarmed he became.

Not because he was jealous of how much trust Si Qi had placed in Chu Feng.

But because of what Si Qi’s actions implied.

Unlike Chu Feng, who had only known Si Qi for a little over a month, Igor had been by Si Qi’s side for many years, devoted all his thoughts to him, and knew him inside and out.

When the possibility struck him, he didn’t even have the energy to feel jealous. With a heavy heart, he left quickly after the conversation and went to find Si Qi.

Chu Feng, faintly curious, couldn’t help but follow him—but was quickly shaken off by the slick and experienced Igor.

In the end, he never found out what Igor said to Si Qi. All he knew was that afterward, Igor’s eyes carried a hint of blame when he looked at him. For someone with such a gentle nature, that was extremely rare. Chu Feng even started to wonder if he had wronged Igor somehow.

It wasn’t until later, when he discovered that Igor had a crush on Si Qi, that he finally understood the “reason,” and started feeling a little embarrassed whenever he saw Igor.

But he couldn’t exactly bring it up, and saying sorry would just make things even weirder—so he pretended nothing happened.

Honestly though, the commander had been rather “troublesome” lately—often showing up beside him in the persona of the young master, asking in a quiet voice about who he’d been with during work hours, why he came home so late at night, where the red marks on his neck came from, and whether he had fallen for someone else… Watching him fumble and fail to answer, the commander would look at him like he’d just been betrayed—what a wicked sense of humor.

He didn’t even realize that the commander was jealous of himself. And every time he couldn’t come up with an answer, he’d have to go all in—say something sweet to coax him, or just kiss him outright to shut up that troublesome mouth, kissing him dizzy until he forgot everything, only then managing to escape.

He found that although the commander looked cold and intimidating on the surface, he was actually incredibly easy to push over when he took the initiative—delicate and weak, and collapsed with just a touch…

Tsk, tsk.

What a thrill.

Maybe the commander, used to being dominant, actually preferred this kind of thing. Chu Feng thought about how Igor always acted obedient and well-behaved in front of the commander, and shook his head—confident that even a hundred Igors couldn’t compete with him. Only he could satisfy the commander’s private, special preferences.

Although he personally preferred the commanding and charismatic version of the commander over the soft, fragile young master type, as long as the commander enjoyed this game, he could play along. After all, it was quite enjoyable.

Of course, he absolutely couldn’t let Si Qi know what he was thinking. If he did, Si Qi would be furious—because in reality, it was Chu Feng who liked the soft, gentle young master. He had secretly crushed on that boy for ages, had no interest in the cold, dominant superior. So Si Qi had been the one to play along with his preferences all this time—carefully hiding his identity, never daring to slip up…

In the end, it was just a big, messy misunderstanding on both sides.

Time passed slowly in this seemingly peaceful life. A month later, Chu Feng had fully adapted to life in the legion. He was gradually becoming an outstanding enforcer, capable of standing on his own, now a fierce “knight” who made certain enemy factions tremble at the mention of his name.

The assassination attempts from the Omniscient Church against Chu Feng had never stopped. However, as long as they didn’t launch large-scale attacks, thanks to his world-blessed “luck” and seemingly innate “combat talent,” they ended up just serving as experience points for him.

Although Igor was very unhappy that Si Qi had lost his divine essence and drastically shortened his lifespan because of Chu Feng, his personality didn’t allow him to voice blame. He could only silently feel sorrow, while continuing to assist Chu Feng—who now bore Si Qi’s hopes—in growing stronger, step by step.

That day, intelligence from abroad came flooding in like falling snow. Ever since the invention of wireless telegraphs, message transmission had become exponentially faster, and compiling global intelligence had become a simple task.

Igor looked at the urgent letters on the desk, clearly several times thicker than usual, and sat down to read them carefully. After a while, his expression turned serious. He set down the letter in his hand and quickly flipped through the others, his eyes grave, then went directly to Si Qi: “Sir, starting from 6 PM yesterday, strange phenomena have been happening simultaneously all over the world…”

“All the residents of the island nation became the living dead. On the other side of the strait, men and women suddenly swapped genders. In one region, time keeps rewinding. Animals in a neighboring city started speaking human language…”

There was also sudden snowfall in summer, seawater flowing upward toward the sky, the sun not setting for more than 24 hours, and so on. Igor summarized the situation, his face dark: “If all of these were caused by the birth of forbidden objects, then the whole world is about to fall into chaos…”

Si Qi frowned and took the stack of reports, reading through them one by one, mapping the locations in his mind to search for a pattern. Xiu Xiu suddenly spoke: [Master, this is probably caused by Divine Power…]

Even though he tried to ignore the hallucinations caused by the forbidden object, Si Qi immediately recalled the previous description Xiu Xiu had given of “Divine Power”

According to it, Divine Power was said to be a force capable of controlling wind and rain, altering the laws of the world—whoever controlled it held the power of a god.

Xiu Xiu said:  [It’s a very important thing. We must obtain it and hand it over to the Lord God]

Si Qi lowered his gaze. Igor, looking solemn, said, “Disasters on this scale will surely make many people aware of the changes in the world and the existence of forbidden objects. Human panic is the best fuel for evil gods. We must contain these forbidden objects immediately…”

But even with the legion’s reach and strength, it was overwhelming to handle dozens of high-grade forbidden objects simultaneously.

Worse still, organizations like the Omniscient Church would undoubtedly seize the opportunity—rushing to snatch the objects and attack the temple knights. This would be a major challenge.

After a moment of contemplation, Si Qi said, “Call up Drake. You and I are going to the containment facility.”

Igor’s expression shifted. “You’re going to seek the Mirror of Truth again? With so many forbidden objects, you—”

Si Qi cut him off: “This isn’t the time to talk about that.”

Igor bit his lip, unwilling: “Then why not bring Chu Feng along? Isn’t he supposed to be your successor? Shouldn’t he be involved in this and learn from how you—”

Si Qi knew Igor wouldn’t stop him, no matter how much it hurt him. That’s why he kept doing this—hurting him again and again.

Si Qi paused in his movement to stand, his sharp eyes sweeping over Igor. A moment later, upon seeing the sorrow on Igor’s face, his expression softened slightly.

He said, “Don’t worry. If we’re lucky, this might be easier than it looks.”

Igor said nothing, eyes slightly red, and went to find the deputy commander.

The Mirror of Truth was delighted by Si Qi’s return. Beautiful and intricate blood-red text appeared on its surface, like a work of art: “I was so afraid that our last farewell would truly be our last. After all, you rarely visit me, and you only have a little over a month left to live.”

“Maybe you should use what’s left of your life to ask me a few more questions. Not like you’re going to need it anyway, right?”

Igor snapped, “Shut up!”

“Oh ho~ Gentle and honest Igor, even if you speak so cruelly to me, you still won’t win your beloved. After all, two ‘bott—’”

“Enough. Tell me everything you know about Divine Power.” Si Qi’s voice was cold.

“Oh my, where did you hear that term?” The Mirror of Truth, who had just been taunting Igor, now sounded shocked. “I monitor you constantly, and not once have I seen you learn about Divine Power from the outside… Don’t tell me you heard it in a dream?”

Si Qi: “Answer my question.”

“…Fine.” The Mirror of Truth, displeased at discovering something it didn’t know, wrote: “Year 12 of Chenghui.”

Si Qi sliced open his wrist and let blood flow onto the mirror’s surface. Igor clenched his fists. “That’s too much. It’s just one question—why does it cost so much?”

“This is a friendship price, only because you’re the commander! I’d never be this generous with anyone else!” The Mirror of Truth drank the blood greedily and cried injustice. “Your doubt wounds me deeply! I curse you never to find a partner!”

As it turns out, information brokers can easily stir up anger. Even the usually mild-tempered Igor had had enough. “I don’t need one!”

“Oh? Really~” The Mirror of Truth said slyly, “Don’t you want me to tell you how to break up the commander and that pretty boy of his? Just twenty years of your life, and I’ll help you win his heart.”

Igor: “…”

Si Qi: “Igor.”

Igor immediately swore, “I didn’t waver!”

“He’s lying,” the Mirror of Truth said. “His heart rate just spiked.”

Si Qi: “You still haven’t answered my question. Looks like you’re no longer useful.”

The text on the Mirror of Truth trembled. It knew exactly how Si Qi dealt with useless forbidden objects and quickly said, “Of course not—Divine Power is the force left behind by this world’s original god. It’s from the same source as the divine essence you’ve used before, just with a different attribute. Right now, it’s in the hands of King Alexander—that middle-aged man who’s occupied most of the neighboring continent. He wants to use it to rule the world. But with his aptitude, there’s no way he can perfectly master such power. If you want to reclaim the Divine Power, you’ll have to defeat him first.”

The Mirror of Truth tended to ramble, like an old man who hadn’t spoken in years, but the information it gave was always crucial.

Si Qi asked, “Can Chu Feng absorb this Divine Power?”

The Mirror of Truth, which had been chattering nonstop, suddenly froze. This reaction made Si Qi raise an eyebrow.

“You’re too cunning,” the Mirror of Truth said in dissatisfaction once it recovered. “You actually took advantage of my weakness.”

Forbidden objects cannot do anything that would harm an evil god, even indirectly by helping someone powerful enough to threaten one.

If Chu Feng couldn’t absorb the Divine power, or if absorbing it would be useless, the Mirror of Truth would have happily answered Si Qi’s question.

But its sudden inability—or refusal—to answer meant that Chu Feng likely could absorb the Divine power, and that doing so would greatly help him defeat the evil god.

This kind of help far exceeded the mere physical enhancements he had gained from acquiring divine essence.

If that was the case…

Then the reason the forbidden object in Si Qi’s mind had encouraged Chu Feng to obtain the divine power became quite interesting.

Xiu Xiu: [ (：з」∠) Xiu Xiu is really a good kid, never lies. Master, look at my sincere big eyes!]

Si Qi: […………]

Having obtained the answer he wanted, Si Qi, satisfied, turned and left with the two others behind him, once again displaying his ruthless and unfeeling side.

But this time, the Mirror of Truth suddenly spoke: “Are you really not going to ask any other questions?”

Igor: “Of course not!”

“Very well, then,” the Mirror of Truth slowly etched out a line of text across its surface that made Igor’s eyes widen in disbelief: “Farewell, Commander.”