The next morning.
Warm sunlight streamed into the hospital room, falling directly onto Teresa’s sleeping face.
Under such conditions, it was naturally impossible to stay asleep for long. Before long, the nun’s long, dark eyelashes began to flutter.
She instinctively raised a hand to shield her eyes, but a mild stinging sensation from her palm drove away the last remnants of sleep, and she quickly woke up.
Last night, after Adam brought Teresa to the hospital, he’d immediately called in the on-duty doctor for emergency treatment.
After disinfecting, applying ointment, and bandaging her wound, it was already close to midnight by the time she returned to her room and was ready to sleep.
Accustomed to the convent’s early schedule, Teresa was exhausted and passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow.
She hadn’t been awake long when a gentle knock came at the door.
“Come in.”
Hearing Teresa’s voice, the visitor pushed the door open and walked in.
“I thought you’d still be resting—didn’t expect you to be up so early.”
The woman was tall and striking, with long, wavy hair cascading down her shoulders—the very picture of a modern urban beauty.
It was Anne Hathaway.
“Or am I disturbing your recovery?”
“No, I just woke up myself…”
Teresa’s eyes were full of admiration.
The first time they’d met, she’d been stunned by Anne’s beauty.
But the situation had been urgent back then, and she hadn’t had time to take it all in.
Now, seeing her clearly, Anne was truly in a league of her own—her temperament, her looks, her figure—all unmatched by ordinary people.
“How did the examination go?”
Anne walked over to the bed, pulled up a chair, and sat down with concern.
“When the doctor treated the wound, he said it wasn’t too serious—just be careful not to bump it, change the dressing regularly, and it should heal quickly.”
Teresa paused for a moment.
“Su Fan’s talismans helped a great deal.”
“I could tell.”
Back at the studio, Anne had seen with her own eyes just how badly Teresa’s palm had been torn open.
“I’m sorry. If I’d reacted faster, you wouldn’t have had to endure so much pain.”
“The demon moved too quickly—no ordinary person could have reacted in time. You did well to scatter those talismans when you did.”
Teresa shook her head gently, her tone warm and reassuring.
Seeing her like that, Anne quickly pulled herself together.
“Here I am, needing comfort from someone who’s injured—how pathetic is that?”
She realized that heavy topics weren’t appropriate for the moment, so she steered the conversation elsewhere.
“How did you figure it out, Teresa? The demon’s move came completely out of nowhere.”
One second it looked like it was about to fight Su Fan to the death, and the next it turned and attacked the defenseless, non-threatening civilians behind them.
Demons really were demons—utterly despicable.
“It wasn’t a reaction—it was a guess.”
“Bathsheba was the first real exorcism case Teresa had ever been involved in, and it taught her something incredibly important.”
“Evil spirits and demons aren’t mindless monsters without thoughts—they’re cunning, treacherous, and willing to do anything to achieve their goals.”
“Especially Malthus. Earlier, he’d gone after a mother and child, and he had a taste for the blood and souls of the weak and innocent.”
“Once he realized he couldn’t defeat Su Fan head-on, it was highly likely he’d turn to controlling the much weaker bystanders as leverage.”
“I couldn’t directly intervene in the fight between Su Fan and the demon.”
“But at the very least, I had to protect the people around us and do my best to eliminate any unstable factors that might interfere with Su Fan’s exorcism.”
“I just did what I had to do.”
“You did wonderfully—truly admirable.”
After hearing that, Anne’s respect for Teresa grew even deeper.
Along with a faint hint of envy.
If only she could contribute in some meaningful way, too…
After a bit of casual chat, Anne remembered why she’d come.
“Haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? When my assistant went to pick up my meal, I had her grab an extra portion.”
It was only then that Teresa noticed Anne was carrying a bag.
“Would you like some coffee?”
“I haven’t really tried it.”
Teresa shook her head, but her eyes never strayed from Anne’s bag.
“What’s inside?”
“Just some simple pancakes with maple syrup and bacon.”
At the mention of bacon, Teresa suddenly remembered something, and her earlier look of eager anticipation crumpled.
“Today is Friday…”
Hearing that, Anne suddenly recalled—Friday is the day of Jesus’s crucifixion, so nuns aren’t allowed to eat meat.
“I didn’t think of that… How about this—you can just have the pancakes?”
Teresa let out a small sigh and was about to agree when a familiar voice came from the doorway.
“Those pancakes wouldn’t even fill a gap between her teeth. That little bit of food would be torture for her.”
Both of them turned to see Su Fan standing at the entrance, having appeared out of nowhere.
“Su?”
Su Fan gave a slight nod and stepped into the room.
It was only then that Teresa and Anne noticed he was carrying—and clutching—an armload of things.
A bouquet of warm yellow lilies, a fruit basket filled with apples, bananas, kiwis, and other fruits, plus a paper bag that faintly gave off an appetizing aroma.
“This is…”
“The hospital-visit starter pack, plus breakfast for four.”
Su Fan walked over, set the flowers and fruit basket on the side table, and began pulling food out of the paper bag.
Steamed buns, hot soy milk, fried sesame balls…
“Breakfast for four?”
Anne watched as Su Fan kept pulling things out like Mr. Bean, and only then did she realize something was off.
“Two portions for her—one for each of us.”
Anne didn’t know, but Su Fan had been with Teresa long enough to be very familiar with her appetite.
They’d been too busy with the exorcism to eat dinner last night, and by this morning, that food-loving nun had gone nearly eighteen hours without a single bite.
One serving of breakfast wouldn’t even come close to satisfying her.
Anne looked at Teresa’s slender, delicate frame and found it hard to believe that her tiny stomach could hold so much food.
Teresa’s mouth was already watering from the breakfast aromas, but before digging in, she asked one question.
“Is there any meat in it?”
“No. The buns come in two fillings—vegetable and red bean paste—and the sesame balls are also filled with red bean paste. You can eat them.”
“Red bean paste?”
“It’s a sweet filling. Don’t worry—you’re good to go.”
After getting Su Fan’s confirmation, Teresa was ready to dive in, but the movement was cut short by a jolt of pain.
“Let me help you.”
Anne set down her own bag, picked up a bun, and brought it to Teresa’s lips.
“Thank you, Anne. You’re so thoughtful.”
Teresa was deeply touched, her big eyes gazing at Anne, which made the slightly self-interested Anne feel a bit awkward and look away.
After Teresa had her fill, Anne started on her own breakfast.
Beside her, Su Fan ate at a leisurely pace.
Before long, all the food Su Fan had brought was gone.
But Teresa still looked a little unsatisfied.
Su Fan wasn’t surprised. He pulled out the fruit knife he’d bought along the way, grabbed an apple, and began peeling it.
As the curling apple peel grew longer and longer, Su Fan finally spoke.
“How’s your recovery going?”
“As long as I don’t touch it, it doesn’t hurt. The doctor said it should heal in about a month.”
“A month is still a bit long… I’ll draw you another talisman later to speed things up.”
The complete apple peel fell to the ground, and Su Fan sliced the peeled apple into easy-to-eat pieces, placing them on a plate.
“You’ll be traveling back to the Vatican alone. Having an injured hand will make things inconvenient—try to recover before you leave.”
He paused, then turned to look at Anne Hathaway.
“What about you?”
“…The doctor said nothing serious, just that I’m a bit fatigued and need rest.”
“Then the filming schedule should be put on hold for now.”
“That’s right. The director and the crew were pretty shaken up—they need some quiet recovery time.”
Su Fan thought for a moment, then spoke.
“This time, the demon targeted you mostly because of me. Something similar might happen again in the future…”
“As compensation, if you ever run into trouble with evil spirits down the line, feel free to drop by the antique shop anytime and grab some talismans for protection.”
“Those are on the house for you.”
“No—just charge me the usual price. I can afford it.”
The moment Su Fan finished speaking, Anne immediately replied.
That wasn’t what she wanted anyway.
Su Fan glanced at Anne, a bit surprised.
Then he thought about it—she was already a rising star in Hollywood. Five or ten thousand dollars for talismans was truly nothing to her.
He simply assumed Anne was just wealthy and generous and didn’t think much more of it.
