The young man apologized repeatedly, deeply reflected on his mistakes to his Godfather, and promised that such a thing would never happen a second time.
Not long after, the King found him again.
This time, it was the King's most beloved princess who had fallen ill.
The King told the young man that if he could save the princess, he would allow the young man to divorce his current wife, marry the princess, and make her his second wife.
The young man had already made up his mind not to save anyone who was meant to die.
But the princess's beauty moved him.
This time, Death still stood at the foot of the princess's bed.
The young man's heart was in fierce turmoil.
On one hand, he wanted to save the princess and marry the beautiful maiden; on the other hand, his Godfather's warning had not yet faded from his ears, and he feared the consequences of angering Death.
The young man said nothing and did nothing; he asked the King for three days to think about a cure for the princess.
The King agreed.
As night fell, the young man, troubled in his heart, went to a tavern in the capital to unwind.
He drank a lot of wine and met two Wizards who were traveling together and passing through this country.
In vino veritas.
He poured out everything that had happened to him to the two Wizards.
"We have a way to help you escape Death's punishment."
The black-robed Wizard spoke first:
"First, you need to kill a person and create a Horcrux."
"Remember, this Horcrux must be a relative with whom you have a blood connection."
"Normally, a complete Horcrux must be an inanimate object. But you can also choose to attach a torn fragment of your soul to a living person's soul, thereby turning that living person into an incomplete Horcrux."
The white-robed Wizard then spoke:
"Once the living Horcrux is made, come find me. I will help you hide the Horcrux in the 'past.' Then, you can kill this Horcrux."
Both the white-robed Wizard and the black-robed Wizard said together:
"This way, you will have created a 'Blood Horcrux.'"
"Blood Horcrux?" The young man looked at the two Wizards in confusion, "What is it for?"
"It can keep you immortal," the black-robed Wizard replied.
The white-robed Wizard took over, saying:
"And it is hidden in the 'past' of time, relying solely on the blood connection between you and the Horcrux to transcend time and fulfill its intended purpose."
"It can never be destroyed, because the 'past' can absolutely not be changed."
"Don't worry about Death; Death has no ability to control time whatsoever."
"Death cannot enter the 'past' to find your Horcrux. It cannot destroy the Horcrux and then kill you; as long as the Horcrux exists, you will live forever."
The young man was cautious:
"So, what's the price?"
The two Wizards smiled mysteriously:
"The price is eternal life, forever."
"What kind of price is that?" The young man muttered softly, then asked loudly, "Then what reward do you want?"
"Reward?"
The two Wizards burst out laughing.
"We don't need a reward."
"To trick Death is an honor for the two of us!"
The princess's beauty appeared in the young man's mind.
He was obsessed.
Reason was fleeing.
Under the influence of alcohol, the young man returned to his temporary residence in the capital, raised his knife, killed his wife, and turned his own son into a Horcrux.
"What are you doing?"
When his wife lost her breath, Death appeared beside him.
Under its hood was a skull face, with two black holes for eyes, wide as brass bells.
Death wanted to stop the young man.
The white-robed Wizard suddenly appeared.
While chanting spells and drawing a magic circle, he told the young man to quickly kill the Horcrux.
So the young man's hand rose and fell, and his son's heart immediately stopped beating.
Death stopped all movement.
It calmly glanced at the young man, then vanished on the spot.
The young man was overjoyed and rushed to the palace, wanting to save the princess.
But when he arrived at the princess's bedchamber, the maid told him that the princess had just passed away.
The King was furious, believing the young man to be an incompetent liar.
He sentenced the young man to be hanged.
On the day of the execution, the young man was suspended on the gallows. For an entire day and night, he repeatedly experienced the agony of suffocation, yet he could never truly die.
So the King then sentenced him to be beheaded.
Three executioners collapsed from exhaustion.
Whenever they cut off the young man's head, the severed head would jump back onto his neck.
Finally, the King could only helplessly banish him.
From then on, the young man wandered across the world. He was immortal, but he could not escape illness, pain, aging, and decay.
He transformed from a young man into a walking skeleton.
One day, at the edge of the world, in a dirty, dilapidated small bar.
The skeleton wrapped himself in a thick cloak and hood, making himself look no different from a normal person.
He huddled in the corner of the bar and met the same white-robed Wizard who had helped him create the "Blood Horcrux" back then.
Nameless rage surged in his heart.
He sat down beside the white-robed Wizard.
"Do you remember me?"
He pulled open a slit in his hood so the Wizard opposite him could see the stark white bones beneath his hood.
"It was you who turned me into this."
"Ah! I remember you now, you once played a trick on Death with us!"
The white-robed Wizard was much older than he had been, and he pointed at the skeleton in surprise:
"But how can you blame me? You killed your wife and son with your own hands; I merely helped you hide the Horcrux in the 'past' of time."
The skeleton angrily slammed the table:
"Then how can I die? I don't want to be tormented anymore!"
"You cannot die," the white-robed Wizard calmly told him.
"You put a part of your soul into the Horcrux, hidden in the 'past.' Death cannot change the 'past,' so naturally, it cannot help you destroy the Horcrux and take your complete soul."
"You will never be able to die."
The skeleton was incredulous; he grabbed the white-robed Wizard's collar and demanded:
"What you're saying must be false, right? This is you and your partner playing another trick on me, isn't it?"
"By the way, where is your partner in the black robe?"
A hint of sadness flashed in the white-robed Wizard's eyes:
"He died; Death took him."
"Although the two of us once tricked Death, it did not blame us. It still took our souls at the appointed time, according to the lifespan we were meant to have."
"Only Death is the only truly fair existence in this world."
Upon hearing this, the skeleton slumped powerlessly into his chair.
"What about me?" he murmured, "How can I die?"
"You cannot die."
Seeing that he was not giving up, the white-robed Wizard had no choice but to explain the deeper reasons to him:
"Because your Horcrux is located in the 'past,' and within the 'past,' those established facts absolutely cannot be erased or modified, even for me, who possesses the authority over 'time.'"
The white-robed Wizard gave him an example:
"Just like a tyrannical monarch who indiscriminately slaughters his subjects."
"All I can do is travel back in time and plant a seed of kindness in his heart, so that one day in the future, he can have a change of heart and truly repent."
"This is within the scope of my abilities."
"However, I cannot travel back in time and persuade him not to kill people from the very beginning. Because the Deaths of those people are established facts of the 'past,' and absolutely cannot be rewritten."
"Similarly, your Horcrux is located in the 'past' and has already become a part of past facts; it absolutely cannot be rewritten."
After hearing this, the skeleton cried out in despair.
Even though his hollow eye sockets could no longer shed tears.
The white-robed Wizard looked down at him with pity and pointed him in a direction.
"If you have an endlessly long lifespan, why not study magic? Perhaps you can find a way to save yourself?"
Inspired, the skeleton embarked on his journey of knowledge in the path of magic.
However, the more he knew, the more he despaired.
He became increasingly aware that Death, for him, was an absolute impossibility.
As his magic knowledge advanced, he gradually mastered the power of Death's authority.
But what good was it?
The authority in his hands could not bring him the Death he yearned for.
He wandered the world like a ghost, only using the authority of Death in his hands to casually collect the souls of those whose lifespans were nearing their end.
One day, he saw his Godfather, Death, whom he had not seen in a long time.
"I cannot kill you," Death told him. "I cannot find that missing part of your soul."
The skeleton told his Godfather, "You will never find it; that piece of soul became a fact of the 'past.'"
"Not being able to let you die is my dereliction of duty. A Death that cannot bring Death has no reason to exist."
Death took off its black hood and cloak, along with the scythe in its hand, and handed them all to the skeleton.
"From now on, you will take my place and become the new Death."
After saying this, Death turned into a handful of dust.
From then on, the skeleton donned the black cloak, put on the hood, picked up the scythe, and became the new Death.
