Who hid My Corpse!

So, Bai Wei did as he stood considering from Ulu's perspective, proactively informing Ulu of the only way out—abandon everything he had, run as fast as he could, and as far as he could. That way, he might still survive.

But would Ulu choose that path?

The answer was quite obvious.

Ulu hesitated only for a few seconds before shaking his head repeatedly, "No, no, no, it's not that time yet. I understand what you mean, Lord Visas, and with your help now, I should not be afraid of anyone."

"Heh, to be able to understand this is also progress," Bai Wei said, "barely resembling the demeanor of my disciples."

Bai Wei's words slightly startled Ulu, "You, what did you say? I am your... disciple?"

He was quite astonished.

In his recollection, this was the first time in these two days that Bai Wei had "praised" him. Although he couldn't be certain that this counted as praise, Bai Wei's willingness to acknowledge him as his disciple was already enough to surprise Ulu.

"Heh..." Bai Wei again made an effort to straighten his body, or rather, this finger of his, as if standing up taller made him appear more imposing, "My soul is within you, and you can wield my power. If you are not my disciple, what else could you be?"

Looking at the middle finger standing erect toward him, Ulu felt an indescribable emotion welling up inside him.

During these few days, one could say he had experienced the greatest ups and downs of the human world.

The high was acquiring the finger of Visas, obtaining a power that transcended the mortal coil, while the low was, in order to gain this power, he had nearly lost everything, and even his identity as a Rhein Priest would not be preserved in the days to come.

And most of Bai Wei's treatment of him was mockery and pressure, which made Ulu feel... very lonely and scared.

Truth be told, since fully experiencing that famine twenty years ago, he had not felt like this in a long time. He felt as if he had returned to those days twenty years ago, having lost everything, starving to the point of death, yet there was no one to lend him a hand.

But now, Bai Wei had acknowledged him as his disciple.

This moment gave Ulu an expressible... sense of belonging.

And his acquaintance with Bai Wei had lasted only two days.

"I understand, Lord Visas," Ulu's heart gradually settled, "with your support behind me, I have no reason to be afraid."

"Heh, before you say that, take care of yourself first," Bai Wei said with a light smile, "you look so downcast I don't even want to glance at you anymore."

Ulu was startled and then quickly cast several healing spells on himself to make his complexion look better before he sighed with relief.

Seeing his words had once again had an effect, Bai Wei was very pleased.

What? Are you saying it's shameful for a legendary figure to provide psychological support to someone as ordinary as Ulu?

So what, didn't Ma Xiteng also act like a caring big sister and a close little sister, chatting with others before Penguin took off?

At least Bai Wei didn't have to change his gender.

And he wasn't planning on stopping here. Since he had already started, there was no point in stopping short—which would be uncomfortable for everyone—better to probe a little deeper.

So, Bai Wei turned his body and focused his gaze on Ulu's bookshelf.

Feeling a phantom pain as he saw his middle finger turn, Ulu couldn't help but feel distressed, "Lord Visas, what are you..."

"Find me a couple of books about Rhein to look at," Bai Wei said, "I've slept too long, the world has changed too much, better to get acquainted with it first."

Ulu immediately took down the "Rhein Covenant" from the shelf. As the Holy Book of the Rhein Sect, it should be the book that best interprets the word Rhein.

Then Bai Wei noticed that this "Rhein Covenant" was much more worn than the other books on the shelf.

But it was not from poor storage—rather, it was clear it had been flipped through many times, completely unlike those "new as the day they were given out at the start of the semester because they've never been touched" textbooks.

Could it be...

Bai Wei kept his composure as he let Ulu open the Holy Book, and then he discovered, just as he had thought, that the book was filled with dense notes, just like a top student's textbook.

"Are all these annotations yours?" Bai Wei asked.

"Uh, yes."

Ulu nodded subconsciously, then immediately felt regret.

After all, he was now considered a disciple by Visas (in his opinion), yet he had shown so much devotion to the "Rhein Covenant," which seemed somewhat...less than devoted to Visas.

But there was no helping it; he hadn't opened the book in a long time and had forgotten the traces he had left on it.

"Why did you make these annotations?" Bai Wei asked. "Doesn't turning the book into this count as a desecration of the Rhein God?"

"Uh, sort of," Ulu admitted somewhat awkwardly, "but this book is for my personal use, not for preaching, so it doesn't matter. As for using it like this...mainly for examinations."

"Examinations?"

"Yes," Ulu said, "the Great Cathedral holds an exam every four years, which the clergy from various smaller cathedrals can enter."

"What exactly does it involve?"

"Uh, those with outstanding performance can be directly promoted to the Great Cathedral, becoming a Divine Servant beside the Archbishop, or even next to the Pope." Ulu, anxious that Bai Wei might think he still held loyalty to the Rhein God, hastily added, "But that's all from when I was young and ignorant. The last time I took it was ten years ago; I just took it casually, without really trying."

Took it casually, without really trying...

Bai Wei looked at the almost worn-out pages and the densely packed notes.

"It doesn't seem very convincing," Bai Wei said calmly. "How many times did you take it?"

Ulu fell silent, seemingly recalling something, and only after a long sigh, did he say, "Three times."

Three times, that's twelve years.

A person's youth.

"Did you never pass?"

Ulu squeezed out a wry smile. "If I had passed, I wouldn't be here."

"Why didn't you pass?"

"There's no particular reason," Ulu said, subconsciously trying to scratch his head but realizing he had raised his left hand, which felt highly disrespectful. He quickly switched to his right hand, but that seemed rather deliberate, so he answered in an awkward manner, "Just didn't score high enough, I guess. They said I didn't pass, so I didn't."

After hearing this, Bai Wei silently took note.

Honestly, Bai Wei felt a bit surprised. Through Ulu's description and the rundown "Rhein Covenant," he could almost see the image of a young man who had studied hard for twelve years just for a better life, but now, that young man had grown into Ulu...well, a middling man of no virtue. The stark contrast made Bai Wei somewhat uncomfortable.

In the game, Ulu was just an insignificant character with little plot relevance, and the players wouldn't care about him—the least character discussed by players had to be someone on the level of Biter Roger.

Therefore, Bai Wei couldn't get more information about Ulu in the game, like his past, which meant Bai Wei needed to "see" it for himself.

But Bai Wei wasn't without resources; he had information that could completely change Ulu's worldview. However, it wasn't time to reveal it; Bai Wei felt that combining it with the news of Ulu's studious past would be truly earth-shattering.

"It's about time," Ulu glanced at the sky again and closed the "Rhein Covenant," "Lord Visas, I should go to work."

"Go ahead," Bai Wei said indifferently. "Don't forget, I'm behind you."

Ulu nodded firmly, then stuffed the "Rhein Covenant" back into the bookshelf.

As if sealing away the young man of the past in his memories as well.