Aisi nodded indifferently, thinking that as the dignified God of Mercenaries and a B-class mercenary, she had tasted all sorts of delicacies.
Li Xi absolutely would not let a chance to be alone slip away. He proactively steered the conversation to topics Aisi found interesting, "By the way, what happened later? Did the City Lord's mansion offer any explanation?"
Aisi sighed, her eating speed slowing down. "Don't even mention it. Everyone involved is dead. They whitewashed the entire affair so cleanly, it's unbelievable. The City Lord's reply was that he was recuperating in the castle and knew nothing of what happened outside."
"Dead men tell no tales, then?"
"Yes. But it's not all bad news. Bauer is confirmed dead, his cause of death being backlash from abyssal energy. The young master has also been found."
Li Xi was very surprised by the cause of death, as he had never heard of anyone dying from abyssal backlash. After all, everyone knew that demonization by the abyss was safer than drinking water. Even with drinking water, people could choke, but no one had ever died from abyssal demonization. If people knew that they could die from containing abyssal energy, who would be willing to betray their own kind?
"What rotten luck. Bauer probably couldn't believe he died in such an unprecedented way."
Aisi sneered, "He's lucky. If he hadn't died and we caught him, holy water would have been his only sustenance."
Aisi's words sent a shiver down Li Xi's spine. Being demonized and then forced to drink holy water daily would be like exposing a vampire to sunlight, or a normal person quenching their thirst with sulfuric acid.
Aisi quickly finished her meal, wiped her mouth and hands. "I'm done. I still need to go to the City Lord's mansion to demand an explanation today. If you have nothing else to do, you should go home and rest your injuries."
Clinging wasn't the best way to pursue a girlfriend; maintaining a certain distance and allowing each other personal space was.
Li Xi happily returned to his new home. It was a small two-story Western-style house, occupying over a hundred square meters on the ground floor, totaling three hundred square meters across two floors, plus a small courtyard. Compared to his previous dwelling, this was a leap towards prosperity and a better life.
Just as Li Xi was contemplating what furniture and decorations to buy, his courtyard gate was knocked. Puzzled, Li Xi walked over and opened the door, expecting it to be a friend of the previous owner. Instead, an unexpected person stood outside.
A well-fitting silk robe could not conceal her alluring figure. Her exquisite beauty was like a ripe peach, making one want to take a bite. Unfortunately, as Li Xi looked at the visitor, a chill shot from his heels to the top of his head. The hairs that had not stood up even when facing an inferno demon were now erect, facing this woman who seemed to possess no strength whatsoever.
"Oh, little brother Li Xi, is that you?" Avril was also surprised.
Li Xi quickly closed the door halfway and asked defensively, "Madam Avril, how did you find this place?"
Avril pointed to the house next door. "I just moved in yesterday. I was planning to get to know my new neighbors and didn't expect it to be you, little brother Li Xi."
"Uh, this scene is so familiar. It feels like I just went through this with Aisi."
Li Xi was again speechless. While the housing prices here couldn't compare to the enchanted carriage, it was still not something a normal person could afford.
Li Xi managed to acquire this house in a single day by paying a five-fold premium. What did Avril, a woman who had just been rescued from a bandit's den, rely on?
As Li Xi pondered, his gaze towards her shifted.
Avril looked at Li Xi's gaze as if she had been defiled, and became a little annoyed. "I'm not the kind of person you think I am. This house was a reward from the City Lord."
"Why?"
Li Xi didn't want to talk to this strange woman much, but his curiosity could not be contained. He hadn't heard of the stingy old City Lord being so generous.
"After I parted ways with you, I ran into a strange old man while looking for a house. He was dragging a child, and it was obvious the child had been kidnapped by him. Without thinking, I snatched the child away. Then, that old man pointed at me and, without saying a word, seemed to have a relapse and died. Later, I found out that child was the young master of the City Lord's mansion. After I returned the young master, the City Lord rewarded me with this house and some gold coins. He even wanted to adopt me as his goddaughter, but he was too old, so I refused."
Li Xi felt as if he were listening to a fairy tale, his eyes almost popping out. "You… you, it was you who completed the City Lord's bounty!!!"
Avril blinked her innocent eyes. "I don't know anything about a City Lord's bounty. I just saved a child casually."
The more innocent and casual Avril appeared, the more Li Xi's heart ached. It wasn't that he feared others making a lot of money; it was that others were making money that he should have earned. He had risked his life fighting demons and infernal fiends, yet he hadn't earned a single coin and was still being plotted against by a certain old man.
But why could Avril so casually rescue the City Lord's young master by the roadside, as if she had simply bent down and picked up a copper coin?
Li Xi couldn't help but clutch his chest, leaning against the door, feeling as if his heart had been ripped out at that moment. All of this should have been his!
Seeing Li Xi looking as if he were ill, Avril asked with concern, "What's wrong? Are you sick?"
Li Xi took a few deep breaths. "Madam Avril, I'm fine. From now on, we're neighbors. If you have any difficulties, feel free to come to me."
However, Li Xi couldn't help but change the subject. "I believe Madam has such good luck that she can handle any difficulties herself."
This was Li Xi's true feeling. Avril truly possessed an inexplicable and mysterious aura, as if something were protecting her from the heavens, like a child of destiny, a daughter of the goddess of luck.
Li Xi was startled. This other world was not like the feudalistic cesspools of his past life that were all scams. There were real gods here. Li Xi always lived his life here as if it were his past life, and his reactions to many things were slow.
Thinking about it now, he found Avril very strange. Could she be a subordinate of some deity?
With this thought, Li Xi's gaze towards Avril changed again and again. If his guess was correct, he absolutely could not offend her. In his past life, such individuals were worshipped in temples!
His previously distant expression twisted into a smile that was more like a grimace. "I apologize if I offended you in any way before. Please feel free to come to me anytime. We are neighbors, and it's better to have a close neighbor than a distant relative. Just give me any command."
He secretly added in his mind, *if you can find me.*
Avril didn't understand why Li Xi's attitude changed so drastically in an instant, but she was very happy to receive his acknowledgment. She took out a small lunchbox from her spatial ring. "This is homemade. I originally intended to give it to my neighbors to build a good relationship. Now, I'll give it to little brother Li Xi to repay your life-saving kindness."
"You are too kind, Madam." Li Xi accepted the bento box with both hands. If his guess was correct and this person was a subordinate of a deity, then facing those bandits, or even the abyss, was nothing for her, given her immense 'low-level' power. Why would she need his help? He might have just been a tool!
The key point was whether the events that transpired in that bandit den over the past year were as he imagined. Hah!
"I have some private matters to attend to shortly. Madam, perhaps you could..."
"Of course. Go ahead with your business. I'll be home most of the time. Just knock if you need anything."
Li Xi flashed a bright, eight-toothed smile, the most proper and impeccable smile one could offer. "Certainly, certainly."
Avril returned home happily. For such a long time, only Li Xi had treated her as if she were a plague. Everyone else had treated her very well. Now that Li Xi could smile at her, it was progress.
Li Xi returned to his room. He dared not eat the food in the lunchbox. Although he knew it wasn't poisoned, he just couldn't bring himself to eat it. He simply stored it in his spatial ring.
After checking the time, he got up and headed for Gadolo Street, No. 109. He had taken the potion, so he had to know the true intentions of this big shot, Demanja. What if it could lead to another massive profit like Mont, the Gift-Giving Boy, Ko? That would be wonderful!
Li Xi soon arrived at Demanja's house according to the address. It was an ordinary, dilapidated door, a stark contrast to the bustling Gadolo Street. One side was a vibrant young man, the other an old man on the verge of death.
Li Xi raised his hand to knock, but the double doors suddenly opened without any wind. "Mr. Li Xi, the master is waiting for you."
Li Xi could only hear the voice but couldn't see who was speaking. He didn't move his feet but stuck his head in to look for the speaker. It was just an ordinary, unremarkable small courtyard with a few clusters of grapes hanging from a grape trellis.
"Mr. Li Xi, what are you looking for?"
The second voice came, and Li Xi finally located its source. It wasn't a person, but the door itself.
Li Xi asked in terror, "Are you speaking?"
The Door, True·Expressionless, replied, "Mr. Li Xi, please don't be alarmed. I am merely an animated life form. If I have caused any disturbance, please forgive me. I am simply a gatekeeper for my master."
Li Xi couldn't help but envy it. This seemingly dilapidated old door was actually alive. Compared to it, other doors, even those made of pure gold, were inferior. This old mage, though not a great person, had a fitting gatekeeper that matched his status. This single door was worth more than Mont Ko's entire fortune.
Li Xi stepped into the courtyard and suddenly noticed the space twisting and changing. Before Li Xi could react, the grape trellis and the grapes he had just seen disappeared like an illusion in water, replaced by a majestic black mage tower dozens of meters tall. If the energy fluctuations Demanja had released underground earlier were like the ebb and flow of the sea, then the energy fluctuations emanating from the mage tower were the breath of the world. The entire black sky trembled under this surging energy.
Looking at the scene before him, Li Xi finally realized that he was no longer in the main world but had been teleported into Demanja's demiplane.
Although he had inquired about Demanja's strength before coming, he only now understood what that level truly meant. To smaller life forms, this level was akin to a creator god, the entire world itself.
As for the specific level, Demanja was a Archmage. Above Archmage was Grand Archmage, then Archmage Saint, and then Demigod.
Archmage Saint and Demigod were almost legendary figures, rarer than actual gods. Therefore, an Archmage like Demanja could be considered truly at the pinnacle of the world.
As for the difference between Archmage and Grand Archmage, Li Xi could only say, "Hah, what's the difference for a normal person facing an atomic bomb and a hydrogen bomb? Both result in death. It's not just Archmage and Grand Archmage; even facing an Arcane Master is the same. The fact that a cruise missile is less powerful than an atomic bomb doesn't mean you'll survive. This is why mages have always held dominance over other professions."
At this level, mages were almost indistinguishable in terms of power. Mages capable of casting forbidden spells could destroy cities and nations at will. If angered, they could cause a continental shift, becoming living gods on earth.
Just as Li Xi was immersed in the majesty of the demiplane, a voice echoed, "Young friend has arrived. My potion was good, wasn't it? Come in quickly, come in quickly."