There are many creatures on the mainland, ranging from dragons, orcs, humans and other races, to snakes, worms, and ants. Each has its own soul.

However, most lives in this world will eventually perish. The decay of the physical body does not mean the end.

As long as the soul remains, one can enter the cycle of reincarnation.

According to the traditional belief in the eastern part of the continent, the previous life of an individual is called the "past life", and the next life they will experience is called the "next life".

Regardless of any race, they must follow the several ironclad rules represented by the cycle of reincarnation, which are just a small part of the rules of the world:

1. Reincarnation can change one's race. For example, if a girl is human in this life, she may become a vampire in the next life.

2. Regardless of how many cycles of reincarnation one goes through, the gender symbolized by the soul does not change. A boy will always be a boy, and a girl will always be a girl.

However, this second rule does not conflict with external intervention, as demonstrated by Wang Xiaole, who changed his gender through external means.

3. Higher races cannot become lower races. Just as a human cannot become a cat or a dog, the reverse is also true.

4. Demons are not allowed to participate in reincarnation (because the rules of reincarnation are determined by the underworld, and unfortunately, the underworld, in some aspects, has a similar attitude to the gods, which deprives demons of their basic right to reincarnation.)

5. Souls that have experienced abnormal deaths in seven consecutive lives are excluded from the cycle of reincarnation.

The concept of normal death includes diseases (including sudden terminal illnesses and sudden death), short lives, and dying of old age.

The concept of abnormal death includes being killed, suicide, death due to uncontrollable circumstances (such as drowning), and self-inflicted death.

6. After a soul goes through the cycle of reincarnation, they are not allowed to retain memories from their past life (except for those with powerful connections and backgrounds).

This is the explanation given by the Holy Maiden.

Wang Xiaole has memories of Freya in his mind, but he only understands the concept of "reincarnation" and has not previously learned such detailed information.

He remains silent, which signifies his approval of the lengthy explanation. The Holy Maiden gently opens her lips:

"Now that you believe in and accept this explanation, can you believe me?"

"What do you want me to believe in you?"

Wang Xiaole lies on the tree trunk, and the surrounding space is not spacious enough for him to move his body freely.

Even so, he moves his limbs slightly, places his right elbow on the surface of the tree trunk, and uses his palm to support his cheek.

"Are you asking me to accept a possibility? In that possibility, I am the reincarnation of the deceased person you know. Do you want me to accept such a claim?"

The gesture of supporting his cheek represents seriousness, while the Holy Maiden sitting across from him becomes even more serious, especially in her tone:

"If you are, that would be the best case scenario. And if in the future, I prove that the speculation is correct, even if you try to evade it, you won't be able to change the reality."

"You are really stubborn, young lady!"

Without asking, Wang Xiaole has never considered himself as someone the Holy Maiden favors.

He came from the Celestial Empire, and until now, he has only been in this otherworldly place for a few days.

Not to mention experiencing the cycle of reincarnation, he hasn't even experienced enough of this new world while being alive.

Precisely because Wang Xiaole understands this, he wants to persuade the other party. For this, he reasons and appeals emotionally:

"Would the young lady be willing to listen to me for a moment? Actually, you..."

"I'm not listening!"

"Just listen to me for a bit, I..."

"I'm not listening!"

"Just one sentence, I promise it won't exceed fifteen words! The truth is..."

This time, the Holy Maiden did not refute with words. She simply raised her hands to cover her ears and looked away, avoiding any possible lip-reading of what Wang Xiaole might be trying to convey.

With her stubbornness reaching this point, how could others deal with her?

Wang Xiaole was not a very persistent person, so he raised his hands in surrender;

He thought to himself:

Since the other party is so stubborn, then just go along with it;

One day in the future, even if the Holy Maiden realizes today's misunderstanding, he wouldn't be the one to blame.

Anyway, it's not his time wasted!

"But speaking of time, I suddenly have a question."

Feeling that Wang Xiaole had no intention of continuing, the Holy Maiden put down her hands and took on the role of a listener.

"What is your question?"

"Um, well, even though it's not appropriate for a boy like me to ask directly, I still want to understand: how old are you this year, miss?"

"Age? Please don't use such difficult words."

"I mean, how old are you, miss?"

Seemingly euphemistic words, not easily accepted by girls from another world, the language barrier was a disadvantage.

Since he was asking a girl's age face to face, Wang Xiaole was mentally prepared. As soon as he saw the other person spitting with a hint of anger, he immediately moved aside.

"My age? If you want to know such a trivial matter, I'm willing to answer anytime, even if I have to answer the same question hundreds of times."

The Holy Maiden covered her mouth and smiled, her fair hand back looking like a bud, and her hidden thin lips like a tightly closed flower bud.

"I'm eighteen this year."

"Oh, so when you like that man, you're just a teenager? And he's already an old man?"

"No. The year I met that adult, I happened to be eighteen."

"According to your logic, you were eighteen that year, and if I am the person you're looking for, wouldn't your real age be eighteen plus my age?"

"That would be too complicated, so don't overthink it. I was eighteen that year, last year, this year, and next year, I will still be the same age."

Forever eighteen, this sounded like a sentence to describe a purple-haired old lady---describing a purple-haired young girl.

No one knew he was using a meme, but Wang Xiaole still wanted to say:

"Are you a member of the 'Eighteen Religion' by any chance?"

"Sometimes you speak in mysterious ways...I don't know which religion that is, but I have nothing to do with it, and I haven't lied to you about my age."

"The fact that you don't admit to lying to me means that unless you're not human, age simply doesn't make sense."

"I am human, but my entire body has already 'ceased to grow'!"

A person's life, like a constantly rotating gear.

After a certain number of rotations, the human body will age;

When the gear completes its required rotations, all functions of the body will cease, in other words, 'death'.

If we agree with this metaphor, then imagine this:

By the intervention of external forces, we can artificially halt the operation of gears and achieve "permanent stagnation" of human aging;

Without aging, there would be no death, and the human body could stay in its prime forever.

The above idea is easy to explain in theory, but extremely difficult to implement in practice, as very few people have achieved it throughout history.

The girl in front of Wang Xiaole is an exception!

"I have told you the secret of age, and I have said a lot of things. Aren't these enough to make you believe me?"

Indeed, Wang Xiaole thinks:

If the other party deliberately fabricated a lie to deceive him, why would they tell him so many things?

And why would they make it so complicated?

Surely the Holy Maiden of the Holy Pope's Kingdom wouldn't find the greatest pleasure in deceiving "honest people," right?

"I...only ask you one thing. If your answer can make me accept it, then I will believe you."

"Please, go ahead!"

The thing Wang Xiaole actually wanted to ask, is of varying significance. After hesitating for a moment, he finally decided to say it:

It was just one sentence:

"Would you deceive me?"

Asking a question about "honesty" to judge the other person's honesty.

It sounds somewhat contradictory.

"That's a familiar sentence. You already asked me this question in the past, and my answer is the same as it was then."

Moving on the tree trunk is extremely inconvenient, especially when there are two people crowded nearby.

But even so, the Holy Maiden still faced Wang Xiaole, bowed her head, and assumed a "kneeling" posture.

"There may be times when I hide something from you, but I will never deceive you..."

Some images truly appear in the mind for no reason at all.

Like just now, a few intermittent scenes blinked in Wang Xiaole's consciousness;

The scene in the pictures, somehow, slightly resembled the current scene.

If it weren't for the shout that came later, he would have needed some more time to recover from his daze.

"Say it again!"

In the silent night, under the rustling layers of tree leaves, Isabella's shout disrupted the stillness.

The two people on the tree trunk initially thought they had been discovered, and their eyes, shooting in different directions, immediately followed the source of the sound.

After seeing clearly, they realized that their whereabouts hadn't been exposed;

The reason Isabella shouted so loudly seemed to be related to Sister Glasses, who was also standing under the tree. Wang Xiaole was very familiar with both of them.

"These two, when they get together, something fun will definitely happen. But it has nothing to do with us. Let's leave quickly, so we won't have trouble later."

Taking advantage of the opportunity when his disciple was distracted, Wang Xiaole and the Holy Maiden slid down the tree trunk one after another;

Sliding down from the back of the old tree, they used it as a cover. They quickly rolled into the grass, producing only the faint sound of the wind rustling through the grass.

After rolling away from the place, the only thing left to do is to return the way they came, with the final obstacle still being the patrols of the guards.

One continued to rely on agile movements, while the other continued to use forbidden spells for hypnosis, and as for the effects of the forbidden spells, the Holy Maiden had no intention of revealing them to anyone for the time being.

Once they were far away from the palace, it was customary to bid farewell.

Wang Xiaole waved goodbye to the Holy Maiden and strode away.

His reaction was firm, thanks to the promise he had made earlier;

In the dream, the Holy Maiden had promised with her own mouth that she would not bother him again tonight.

"I can finally return to the hotel room and lie down comfortably!"

The thought was always pleasant, but unfortunately reality often did not cooperate.

Before he had taken a few steps, he heard footsteps behind him.

There was no mistake, someone was definitely behind him, and it couldn't be an illusion;

Because the intensity of the footsteps was highly consistent with his own pace.

A scene from a ghost story was playing out in front of him.

However, in this world, sometimes humans are scarier than ghosts!

During the brisk walk back to the hotel, the person in question had been praying diligently, although he couldn't produce a cross, his heart was extremely devout.

"Please don't let it be her, I won't look back, please don't let it be her!"

The answer was finally revealed at the moment of returning to the room.