America: I came here to study, not to show mercy.

Chapter 204 Enjoying the Trip
There were no adults, only two children.

The girl shook her head and explained, "Oh, they must be brothers."

"Well...I see."

Li Xiaoen nodded, glanced at the time, and saw that it was already 5:30 in the afternoon before speaking, "Do you know where they live?"

"I don't know about that. Perhaps you could ask a priest at a Catholic church."

The girl shrugged. "They serve as altar servers in the church."

"..."

After exchanging a glance with Su Feier, who had already finished speaking and was listening quietly, Li Xiaoen hesitated before speaking again.

"Tomorrow is Wednesday, they should be at school, right?"

"I think so, they are students from there."

"Ok, thanks."

Li Xiaoen took a deep breath, nodded his thanks, and after the girl turned and left, he turned back to look silently at Su Feier.

"I can't rule out the kind of crime you're thinking of, but I've also had someone investigate the priest's background, and he doesn't seem like that kind of person."

Taking in the meaning in the young man's eyes, Suffer replied helplessly and pushed the phone towards him.

On the phone screen was a photo of the Catholic priest I had just met and his resume.

Influenced by his family's faith from a young age, he applied for the priesthood as soon as he came of age. For more than a decade, he has served the church diligently and conscientiously, treating believers with care and love, and rarely having conflicts with others.

In particular, due to his personality and status, he has a wide circle of friends, ranging from homeless people in the city to high-ranking political figures and business elites, making him seem impeccable.

Let's maintain this level of skepticism.

Li Xiaoen sighed, both amused and exasperated, and pushed the phone back. "It's just too much of a coincidence, Su Feier. You should know what I mean."

The boy, who comes from a poor family and whose parents are missing, works as a deacon in a church. Anyone who doesn't know him would instinctively think of the dirty crimes that Catholicism has been exposing.

"We don't need to ask that priest. We'll go directly to the school to find those two kids tomorrow, or we can wait for them to get off at the church and then stop them on the way."

Letting out a long breath, Li Xiaoen took a sip of his coffee and couldn't help but laugh, "Let's enjoy our trip tonight."

Sophie readily agreed, nodded, took a sip of coffee, picked up a Sfogliatella pastry that had just been served to the two of them, took a bite, and the crumbs that fell were caught by her other hand below.

"How about it?"

Li Xiaoen raised an eyebrow. "Enjoying delicious food is also the most important part of traveling."

"If you're looking for someone, just say so. Why waste time with all that nonsense?"

Instead of answering, Sophie asked a question, looked up at him, and spoke calmly.

Li Xiaoen paused in his action of picking up the snacks, looked up, and met the girl's intriguing gaze.

……

It was just a short afternoon tea break, and the two of them spent almost an hour eating and chatting. They didn't order many snacks.

In addition to the maximum tip, Sean Lee gave the young woman an extra five hundred dollars before driving with Sophie to their reserved two-story wooden suite by the lake, not far from the resort.

"what--"

Before even entering the house, Li Xiaoen used his [Eye of Insight] to survey the area, carefully confirming that there were no problems. The car was also parked smoothly in front of the house. He opened the door and went inside, raising his hands and letting out a long sigh.

Because it was converted from an old building, the first floor of the suite has functional areas such as a living room, kitchen, dining room, and bathroom. There is even a corner that is built on the lake, with a small hole cut out for ice fishing. The second floor has a regular three-bedroom apartment with a bathroom.

There are quite a few rooms, after all, he booked the highest-standard suite, which should be able to accommodate six people.

The long sigh echoed through the empty suite, even reverberating.

"Stop yelling nonsense."

Suffering a sidelong glance at the young man, Suffer raised her hand and tapped his arm. Instead of immediately pulling away, she wrapped her arms around him.

"What's wrong? Are you scared?"

It was easy to notice Suffer's condition, and Li Xiaoen couldn't help but chuckle and tease her.

After all, being in an unfamiliar place, in such a large and unfamiliar suite, and having to spend the night here, with other rooms that I haven't seen before, and even the entire second floor, gives me a sense of unknown insecurity.

If it weren't for the observations of the [Eye of Insight] before, Li Xiaoen might have had the same mindset. He increasingly felt that the system's [Eye of Insight] was incredibly useful.

Unfortunately, it's not permanent. After being turned on so many times intermittently and sparingly, the remaining time is now about ten and a half hours.

Can you be serious for once?

Rolling her eyes at him, Sophie gripped the young man's arms even tighter. "Weren't you paranoid before? Why are you so at ease with this suite that can't be seen from so many places now?"

As she spoke, Sophie seemed to realize something and frowned suspiciously as she looked over. "Sean, could this be another one of your superpowers?"

"You're here again, aren't you?"

Li Xiaoen rolled her eyes and went into the living room with Su Feier.

"Based on so many different situations before, you either possess a lot of superpowers..."

With a slight frown, Sophie looked up at the young man scrutinizingly. "Either you possess a superpower, but superpowers can change..."

Li Xiaoen couldn't help but raise his hand to touch his forehead, finding Su Feier's imagination both amusing and exasperating.

"If it's really as you say, then let's pray that one day I can gain the superpower to change other people's clothes without permission, Sophie, your..."

Before he could finish speaking, the grip on his arms tightened suddenly, and Li Xiaoen shrugged helplessly, changing the subject, "Sufiel, I'm continuing from your guess."

"Yes, you can continue."

Sophie gave a gentle smile.

The two stared at each other without flinching. Li Xiaoen took a deep breath, turned around, hugged the girl, pinned her against the wall in the living room, and roughly kissed her full red lips.

"Huh... um..."

Sophie's breath hitched. After a brief response, she pushed the young man in front of her away.

"It's too early now."

Breathing heavily, Sophie looked up, her expression troubled. "And, here..."

"What do you mean, too early?"

Li Xiaoen blinked his innocent big eyes, and under his gaze, the girl's pretty face suddenly froze, quickly turning gloomy.

Just as he felt a sense of awe, a sharp pain shot through his waist, causing him to grimace and let out a long hiss.

"I think it's getting late, now's the time to teach you a lesson."

Gritting her teeth, Suffer looked up and stared intently at him, her hands beginning to spin.

"Sufeil...Sufeil..."

Unable to pull her away with his bare hands, Li Xiaoen could only force a smile, call out to her gently, and then open his arms to hug the girl. "Just kidding, it's just a joke. Of course I want to be with you all the time..."

After saying that, he felt it still wasn't enough, so he lowered his head and pecked at those red lips again and again. After several times, the pain in his waist finally began to subside, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"You may want to, but I don't."

Rolling her eyes, Sufi pushed the young man away as he continued to lean in for a kiss. She turned and looked around at the living room's furnishings. "This suite has a lot of rooms, so we can each have our own. That'll make better use of the space." "That works too."

Li Xiaoen nodded in agreement, and as the girl turned to look at him, he smiled and raised an eyebrow at her, "You choose first, I'll choose your room."

"brazen……"

Suffer couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.

"I prefer to call it initiative and striving."

With a chuckle, Li Xiaoen placed his hand on Su Feier's shoulder and pulled her into his arms, saying gently, "Alright, let's check each room one by one first, and then we can consider other things."

"Oh, right, I should call ahead and make a reservation for dinner tonight."

After saying that, Li Xiaoen took out his phone and made a call, then led Su Feier through each room, keeping the lights on.

To his amusement and dismay, all the rooms in the suite were fully equipped with the necessary facilities and equipment. For example, someone had already cut a small hole for the ice fishing spot in the corner, and fishing gear was thoughtfully provided nearby. The steam room in the large bathroom on the first floor was already turned on...

Without exception, there are always charges. According to the resort, they have already provided the services, and whether or not guests use them is their own choice, but they all have to pay.

After exploring the entire suite from the first to the second floor, the two finally returned to the most spacious master bedroom on the second floor.

"what……"

After putting her bag down on the bedside table, Sophie realized what was happening and turned to look at Li Xiaoen, "We didn't bring any change of clothes."

"Are the shopping malls in town closed at this time?"

Li Xiaoen paused for a moment, then looked out the window and saw that it was already pitch black; it was 7:30 in the evening. “I saw that there’s a washer-dryer combo in the suite. We can make do with it tonight and buy a set tomorrow.”

"..."

Upon hearing this, Suffer frowned deeply, her expression remaining unchanged. Clearly, this was not something easily accepted by the young lady – after all, even on her two hiking trips, she had to change into a new set of underwear the next day.

"Oh, yes."

Li Xiaoen then remembered, "I prepared some clothes in the car beforehand, wait a moment."

Without waiting for Suffer's reply, Li Xiaoen quickly went downstairs to the trunk of the car parked at the door. He blocked the view from the window above with his body and pretended to take out a few shirts and pants from the storage space.

Turning back, Li Xiaoen pondered for a moment, then used his [Superhuman Sense of Smell] to sniff around. He didn't find any subtle odor residue, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

The system generously granted him permanent access to his sense of smell, but he had mostly only used it for food, making it seem rather useless compared to the [Eye of Insight]. He never expected to be able to use it for this purpose one day.

Thinking this, Li Xiaoen couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. He returned to his room and handed the clothes to Su Feier.

"This is what I prepared for a hiking trip. You don't mind, do you?"

"Um……"

She glanced at the clothes casually, her brows furrowing slightly, but she still nodded with a slight smile. "Although it looks terrible, there's nothing we can do about it now. It's barely acceptable."

"is it?"

Li Xiaoen raised an eyebrow and reached for the clothes in Su Feier's hand. "Then forget it. I don't like to force others."

Unfortunately, he couldn't grab the clothes. After receiving a disdainful look from the girl, Li Xiaoen could only watch as she walked briskly out of the room.

"..."

With a helpless sigh, Li Xiaoen looked around the empty room, put his hands on his hips, and didn't know what to do for a moment.

Suddenly remembering something, he caught his breath, grabbed his change of clothes, and hurried downstairs to catch up with Suffer.

"Sufeil..."

Arriving at the spacious bathroom door, Li Xiaoen pounded on it, saying, "The hot spring pool inside is so big, I want to go in and soak in it too."

No sound came from inside. Li Xiaoen hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and patted it again. "If you don't say anything, I'll take that as a yes..."

After saying that, Li Xiaoen shrugged helplessly.

Given his relationship with Suffer, he could have simply walked in, but considering the girl's previous experience showering in his dorm room, he felt he had to respect her feelings in this situation.

"I was taking a bath in there, what... are you doing coming in?"

Only then did Suffer's faint, barely suppressed voice come from inside.

"Take a bath."

Li Xiaoen chuckled, "I can also help you scrub your back while I'm at it."

"No need!"

After a loud refusal and a long pause, just as Li Xiaoen was about to give up, Su Feier finally made a faint, almost inaudible reply, whether from the thick bathroom door or the distance to the bathtub.

"The bathroom door isn't locked, come in."

Taking a deep breath and suppressing the restlessness in his heart, Li Xiaoen slowly pushed open the door and entered. The first thing he saw was Su Feier lying in the spacious bathtub filled with steam.

The girl's skin was smooth and delicate, as white as snow. She seemed a little shy, curling her arms and legs in front of her and turning her head to the other side.

Li Xiaoen suddenly froze on the spot, forgetting to breathe.

"you……"

Seeing that the young man didn't react for a long time, Sufi took a deep breath and glanced at him, "Could you please close the door quickly?"

"Oh……"

Realizing what was happening, Li Xiaoen quickly nodded in agreement, closed the door, and swiftly took off her clothes before immersing herself in the pool.

Although it was an artificial hot spring, listening to the gurgling sound of the hot water flowing down from the pool and feeling the slightly hot yet surprisingly comfortable temperature enveloping her whole body, Li Xiaoen couldn't help but completely relax.

Looking at Sufiel's trembling appearance, he sighed, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

“Sophie, this really doesn’t look like you…”

"What's wrong with me?"

Suffer tried to remain calm and glared at him.

Without saying a word, Li Xiaoen swam towards the girl.

"what are you up to?"

Her heartbeat, which had been slowly calming down, suddenly started to race again, and Suffer exclaimed in surprise.

"We're already in this kind of relationship, what haven't I seen in you?"

Swimming up to her, Li Xiaoen met the girl's slightly flustered, light blue eyes, leaned down and kissed her, saying softly, "It's just taking a bath together. We'll experience many more of these things in the future, won't we?"

Seeing that Suffer was staring at him with wide eyes but had no reaction, Li Xiaon didn't say anything more. He raised his hand and grabbed the arm that was blocking his way. There was some resistance, but he slowly pulled it away and couldn't help but look down at her.

"..."

"So, it really can float..."

boom……

Before Li Xiaoen could finish speaking, the hot water beneath him suddenly surged, and a foot kicked him in the stomach from underwater.

(End of this chapter)