Ash was soaking naked in the bathtub, the cool night breeze rippling the warm water surface.

Next to the bathing pool is a row of bamboos that serve as a partition, and you can vaguely hear the girls' fascinating laughter on the other side.

"You are so smart with your sense of touch. You found my mark so quickly."

Rose sat in the bathtub, and her wide sleeves embroidered with beautiful patterns floated on the water.

She rubbed Ash's cheek as usual, as if this was the etiquette of the Firefly Princess. She grabbed Ash's left hand and explained, "When a hairband appears on your wrist, it means that you have entered the realm of longing and have completely become mine."

Ash looked around. Rose knew what he was thinking and said, "Yes, you are still in the realm of longing, but now the situation is exactly the same as your reality. If you wish, the person who should appear will appear behind this row of bamboo."

"Why did I enter the realm of longing?"

"Because you were thinking about me." Although Rose had no expression on her face, the fact that she was hugging Ash and rubbing his face against his was enough to show that she was in a good mood: "My sense of touch is very good, come and hug me."

I see.

After recounting how many important events in his life Igula and Harvey had participated in, Ash really couldn't bear the helpless and worried expressions of Sonia and the others. Just then, Deda Rose said that the bathtub was ready, and he felt relieved and found an excuse to escape.

He never thought that one day he would use the excuse of taking a bath to escape from the attention of girls.

When he was alone, Ash, naked in the bath, seemed to take off all his armor and let the weakness flood his heart. It was like experiencing a grand fireworks display, once the prosperity faded, all that was left in your eyes was the loneliness of the night.

He didn't miss her on purpose, he even tried to avoid missing her, but he was finally tired, so the longing caught up with him.

Ash reached out, put his arm around Rose's waist, and pulled her into his arms.

Rose hugged him tightly, as if she was hugging a big doll, and asked curiously: "Such a comfortable and pure longing... But I am right beside you, why do you still miss me?"

"Because I'm thinking of the Source Angel," Ash asked softly, "Rose, what do you think is your relationship with the Source Angel?"

"It doesn't matter." Rose shook her head: "I don't know her, how can I have anything to do with her? But why do you miss her and make me feel that you miss me?"

"Because I can't tell the two of you apart yet, sorry." Ash tried to force a smile, but only a trace of bitterness flowed through his brows: "To me now, you are like her shadow, her substitute, the last trace she left behind. When I see you, I always feel that the rigid and omnipotent assistant appears in front of me."

"I swore that I would never treat someone else as a substitute for someone else again," he sighed, "but sometimes magicians are unexpectedly weak. They can't escape fate, can't change the ending, and can't even control their own thoughts."

"No one likes to be seen as someone else's shadow. I know this very well. I promise that I will distinguish you from the Source Angel later, but at this moment..."

"Can you forgive me for missing you and Rose at the same time?"

Rose tilted her head, looking at the apologetic touch in her eyes, wondering why he was apologizing.

Did he think I would be mad at him for missing the Source Angel? Angry at him for confusing himself with the Source Angel?

It did sound like he should be angry, as if he still wanted to be the Source Angel's sense of touch. But when Rose saw that he would rather fight all the enemies alone to protect the Source Angel than let the Source Angel get hurt, she suddenly found herself missing the sense of touch.

Moreover, the elements of longing are very complex, including the joy that makes you smile, and the heartache that makes you want to cry.

Therefore, Rose was not angry at all, but now the feeling of admitting the mistake was very interesting, so she nodded, grabbed Ash's hand, and only held one of his fingers. She didn't know why she did this, but holding one finger would make her feel more at ease.

"Source Angel, is her name also Rose?" Rose asked.

"Yeah." Ash nodded, "She looks exactly like you."

"Who is prettier then?"

“They are all very beautiful.”

This standard wrong answer satisfied Rose. She quietly savored the tenderness of the moment until Ash's level of yearning began to decrease. She then spoke, "I am satisfied, sense of touch. Your yearning allows me to feel more areas - regret, pain, courage, sacrifice, persistence, etc."

"You are such a great touch to me." Rose rode on Ash, staring at him with eyes that seemed to have fireworks in them, "Your thoughts are pure and full of color. I feel like I understand the world better."

"Your praise really doesn't make me happy." Ash smiled bitterly.

"But a very cute little sister told me that although touch is the best, ordinary people can also help me expand my understanding of the world." Rose said: "She taught me to use touch to gather mortals to believe in the Firefly Princess, then I can quickly return to reality and don't need to continue sleeping in the realm of thoughts."

Ash's expression changed instantly.

Rose blinked and shook Ash's shoulder: "Why did your longing stop? You can't rest yet, sense of touch."

Ash asked, "What's the name of the person who taught you?"

"Hmm, I think she's Sister Xue?" Rose thought for a moment, "She never introduced herself."

"She should be the other four pillars, your compatriots, your predecessors." Ash said calmly: "So Rose, are you going to do this?"

"Why not?" Rose asked, "It would be boring to stay in the realm of longing for too long, and I also want to return to reality to find you as soon as possible. If Sister Xue is the Four Pillars God, then she shouldn't harm me, right?"

Ash exhaled, looked at Rose for a moment, and said seriously, "I don't know if the Four Pillars will harm you, but I know they are looking forward to your birth more than anyone else, and they also know how to help you."

"But if you really become the Five Pillar God," he said word by word, "I will not continue to be your sense of touch."

"Why?" Rose looked at him: "Do you think I'm bad for your sense of touch?"

"You are very good, but I will never help you develop believers." Ash said, "Because once you have other believers, I will no longer think you are good."

Ash was not blinded by Rose's love for him. He knew from the beginning that Firefly Princess was the evil god companion that the Four Pillars Gods had been waiting for for a long time.

The reason why he was willing to become Rose's touch was, first, because of the Source Angel, second, because she helped him snatch the Holy Grail, and third, because... Rose was not yet an evil god.

There is no need to consider whether the Four Pillar Gods are evil gods. Ash believes that the Four Pillar Gods have their own impeccable and self-consistent worldview to explain their actions. In their cognition, they must be correct.

But being right can also be evil.

Even if the Four Pillars of God said anything, based on Ash's experience from Blood Moon to Gospel to Senluo, he would be mentally ill to want to understand the Four Pillars of God. Although the Starry Four Pillars of God had pulled down the test score a little, it still couldn't save the impression score that was close to a disaster.

If Rose really mixed up with the Four Pillars, then Ash would immediately cut off all contact with her and regard her as an enemy. This was not only for himself, but also for the people around him.

As for whether he could cut off the tactile connection, Ash might not have been able to do it before, but now he is a quasi-demigod, and he has operators like Ghost Prophet and Eternal Night Silver Lantern who specialize in treating difficult and complicated diseases around him. He will definitely be able to do it after spending some time.

"So Touch, you don't want me to develop other believers?"

Hearing Ash say that he was fine, Rose felt relieved and asked Ash seriously what he thought.

"That's right," Ash thought for a moment, "I don't want you to have other believers. If I'm not your only believer, then I will never miss you again."

This threat sounded quite kindergarten, with a kind of childish innocence of "If you make other friends, I will ignore you in the future." Ash felt a little embarrassed after saying it. He was also prepared for Rose to refuse, but in this case, he would have to find other opportunities to repay Rose for helping him.

However, Rose thought about it and nodded: "No problem."

"I'll be your only Firefly Brilliant Princess, and you'll be my only touch, okay?"

Ash was slightly startled, looking at Rose's expressionless face, and realized that his almost joking request actually received a serious response.

Perhaps in Rose's eyes, this was just like a pet asking to keep only her, and then she agreed, which was not a big deal. After all, in her long life, the hundreds of years that touch demanded to be hers alone was just a tiny period of time.

But Ash was still very happy, because he knew very well how much potential Rose had. If the source of power of the Lord of Billions of Lights was the mortals' yearning and fear for violence, the source of power of the Lord of Wind, Rain and Snow was the mortals' pursuit and expectation of wisdom, the source of power of the Eternal Burning Heart was the mortals' love and awe for life, and the source of power of the Dreamy Free Soul was the mortals' desire and fantasy for joy, then the source of power of the Princess of Firefly Brilliance was the mortals' longing for the good old days.

Because your loved one is not around, because your parents have passed away, because your youth has disappeared, because regrets cannot be remedied... you may not pursue violence, you may not pursue wisdom, and if you are in good health you may not feel how important life is, but as long as you are alive, you will definitely have regrets, dissatisfaction, mistakes and misses, and therefore you will miss them.

If Rose were to enter the ranks of the Five Pillar Gods, her power would surely make the Five Pillar Gods more popular than ever before and more able to subvert the order.

Ash knew that he couldn't keep Rose for too long. Not to mention the persuasion of the Four Pillars, even if he let Rose stay for him for the rest of his life, when he died, Rose would naturally return to her compatriots. But even so, Ash was already content.

"It's settled then."

Ash smiled and said, "You are my only faith, and I am your only believer."

"Yeah." Rose rubbed Ash's face, "You're starting to miss me again. It feels good."

"However, your thoughts alone are still too little. I can choose not to recruit other believers, but you must give me all your thoughts."

Ash was a little surprised: "Do I still miss you?"

"I can hear your thoughts, but there are others who miss you too."

Rose tapped in the bath mist, and several threads of different colors appeared: "These are thoughts coming from the baths next to her, but they are thinner because their thoughts have been satisfied."

Ash blinked, "But the people who miss me should be around, right?"

"more than."

Rose pointed in the mist again, and four threads appeared from the distant void. One of them was a thin, fleeting blood-red color, while the other three were no longer thin threads. They were almost pillars of blazing light, in pink, purple, and black.

"What I want is these thoughts that have not yet reached their destination." Rose looked at Ash: "Touch, I need your help."

"Help?" Ash was stunned.