"No!"
Xia De completely refused to accept this outcome. Enduring the biting black wind, amidst the countless repetitive whispers and murmurs of the dead, he approached the two towering gray stone doors. At this moment, the golden embers on his body truly stretched behind him like flames. The power he felt was even stronger than facing a deity in their Saint-level form.
"What exactly is death itself?"
Standing before the door, stepping on Priest Augustus's last footprints, he looked up in the darkness at the full view of the stone door. All clues ended here; the Priest had already crossed this door, going to another world.
He stood there, pondering everything. Suddenly, he raised his hand and pressed it against the stone door in front of him. The ice-cold sensation gave him the illusion of falling into an abyss. There was no need for "her" to give him a hint; Xia De himself felt what was behind the door.
Behind the door was "the end."
"Should it end here? Should I admit that Priest Augustus didn't lie, that he really died, and then turn and leave?"
Xia De asked himself, then looked down at the burning fiery red thread on his wrist.
"Having crossed life and death, I've already arrived here. Am I just going to turn back?"
He looked up at the massive stone door again, his eyes fixed on the "door." Blood continuously seeped from the corners of his eyes. The relic level of this great door, which separated death, was definitely no lower than Sage-level (Level 2).
"Are you willing?"
Xia De asked himself, his soul becoming cold and stiff due to the closeness of death. All things have an end, and behind this door was that end.
"So, Outsider, what do you want to do?"
Even at this moment, she could still chuckle.
"Excuse me, if I also enter that door, will I still be able to turn back?"
He asked softly amidst the whispers of countless dead, rather than asking in his mind. The golden light on his body shone on the door in front of him, but it only formed indistinct shadows.
"All mortals must die, yet you wish to turn back?"
She whispered in his ear, the ancient language so beautiful.
"But with a drop of divinity in your soul, and your soul having been washed by two drops of divinity, can you truly be considered a mortal?"
He felt the wind in his ears, and Xia De was not sure if it was "her" appearing or the wind of death.
"So, when I cross this door, I can turn back?"
"Only when you step to the other side can you confirm that."
"Is that so?"
Xia De slightly pressed his right hand, which was on the door. The stone door remained motionless. It seemed he needed more strength.
"But I can guarantee that you can come back."
"Because of that drop of divinity?"
For a god, crossing life and death was a simple matter.
Xia De shook his head, moved from in front of the giant stone door on the right, and came to the center of the two doors, allowing the wind, which represented the end of all things and blew from the crack in the door, to directly blow on his body.
His body became cold and stiff, and his stamina and Ling, which had been slowly recovering, completely subsided. The wind contained the true meaning of death, and he was getting closer and closer to the Ling Rune of 【death】.
If he could obtain a Ling Rune in such a place, he couldn't imagine how powerful that would be.
He stretched out both hands, each hand pressing against a door, then bent slightly, using his waist, causing his shoes to sink into the mud on the ground:
"Ah~"
All the strength in his body longed to push open this door, but the door remained motionless.
"No, it's because I am with you."
She chuckled, seemingly praising herself.
Xia De felt himself being embraced, and this time it wasn't an illusion, because he actually saw a pair of silver, transparent arms wrapped around his neck.
"Help me."
He said softly, his voice in the empty darkness, heard only by himself.
"Do you remember what to say?"
She was still laughing.
"You are me..."
The whistle blared, and the bell tolled distantly. In the hot steam mist, a brass Destiny Ring, covered with fine golden marks, appeared behind Xia De. The black wind passed by Xia De's side, blowing on the Destiny Ring, leaving scratches on it. The Destiny Ring seemed as if it would shatter because of this, but as the rust-like coating around the scratches peeled off, golden light marks shimmered beneath the brass.
Unfortunately, Xia De didn't turn back, so he didn't see this scene.
...I am you."
The silver arms overlapped with Xia De's arms, but separated again at the palms. Both sets of palms simultaneously pressed against the cold and massive stone door. As the ten Ling Runes on the Destiny Ring behind Xia De simultaneously emitted dazzling spiritual light, as the golden light marks on his body, representing divinity, grew brighter and brighter, and as the silver Moonlight in his eyes grew brighter and brighter—
Creak! Ah!
Xia De's foot moved forward a step, and the door was pushed open.
Dazzling white light shot into Xia De's eyes from the opened door crack. As everything before his eyes turned white, he vaguely heard the sound of rushing water.
Leaving all his belongings in front of the door to prevent them from being affected, Xia De walked towards the white light.
The great door slammed shut behind him.
"Outsider, you have stepped into death."
"Outsider, you have gained a further understanding of 'death' and 'Sleep'."
What death truly was, the Outsider, who had probably died once before coming to this world, did not know. He had expected the world on the other side to be a void of empty darkness, or some strange and bizarre scenes, but when the white light before his eyes disappeared, he found himself standing on a shore, facing an endless expanse of water.
The sky was black and unusually low, and behind him was a stone wall whose ends could not be seen. The two massive stone doors were embedded in the stone wall, and only in front of the stone doors was there a stretch of beach where one could stand.
Although the sound of the tide could be heard, the water under the black, low sky was exceptionally calm.
He looked up and saw a giant silver Moon suspended far on the horizon, but only half of this Moon was above the water. The other half was completely submerged beneath the black water, invisible. The silver Moonlight was so silent, so eerie, even possessing a maddening sense of holiness.
The silver Moon appeared large, yet it seemed to be at the extreme distance of the boundless black water. The Moonlight made the calm water shimmer with ripples.
The water was not empty; shadows, countless white shadows, indistinctly stood on the calm, boundless water, their backs to Xia De, as if they were moving towards the distance. The Moonlight illuminated them, but their forms and features were unclear, making it impossible to distinguish their proximity.
Xia De knew these were souls. On this boundless expanse of water, the departed souls were continuing to walk towards that half-submerged Moon.
"Nether Moon?"
It was extremely cold all around. Xia De even felt as if he had lost his ability to perceive temperature.
He looked down at his hands; the golden light in the cracks was still so dazzling in the darkness. He raised his hand to face the silver Moon, which was enough to drive one mad, and the Moonlight shone on his face through his fingers. His hands had not become transparent; they were still solid and colored. But he could feel the repulsion of this place towards him, and he could feel the power that, once he fell into Sleep again, he would absolutely never be able to open his eyes again.
"Is this the world after death?"
He couldn't describe this place with any words; he just felt utterly exhausted.
"Can you smile?"
So he asked in his heart, and the familiar voice chuckled softly:
"Strange request."
The ancient language and the light laughter made Xia De's rapidly tiring spirit feel a little better, and at this moment, a voice came from behind him:
"This is not true death. death is a concept, not a world. And this place is merely the closest area to death manifested by people's perception of death. Of course, it can also be considered death; the difference is not significant. But true eternal Sleep and the Wall of Unbelievers are at the end of the water. Humans come from their mother's amniotic fluid, and thus eventually return to water. This is the reason for everything you see."
Xia De turned his head and saw the Old Priest in his Priest robes, his feet off the ground, embedded between the two massive stone doors behind him.
It was Priest Augustus. A pair of broken white feathered wings, revealing bone and flesh, had grown from his back. Most of the white feathers were scorched, making him look particularly horrifying.
The Old Priest leaned against the crack of the now closed stone door, the latter half of his body seemingly completely fused with the two stone doors, while the wings were almost entirely integrated into the stone doors.
His feet were about half a person's height off the ground, and the two wings spread from his back, like tree roots sprouting, across the entire stone door. The huge scorched wings and skeleton perfectly merged with the death imagery of the stone door itself, as if this door was meant to be this way.
Xia De's turn also allowed Priest Augustus to see his face. The Outsider had his back to the giant silver Moon behind him, and the Old Priest's eyes widened in astonishment:
"Hello, Xia De... Hmm? Xia De?"
For a few seconds, the exhausted Old Priest could only make strange sounds with his throat, unable to speak due to excessive surprise:
"Xia De? What happened? Did you die too?"
"Actually, I'm more curious about how I managed to push the door open just now."
Xia De smiled faintly and said softly, then looked up at Priest Augustus on the door:
"I'm not dead. Doctor Schneider and the others asked me to come find you. This was really not easy; you can't imagine how hard I tried..."
Aside from being a bit tired, the Old Priest was not much different from when they last parted ways at Tobesk Railway Station. Even his clothes were the same set; Priest Augustus seemed to always like wearing these Priest robes.
"How did you... Oh, aren't you curious about the wings on my back?"
The Priest seemed to want to scold him, but in the end, he only asked tiredly. The voices of the two were almost silent in this realm of death, yet they could be clearly heard.
"Aren't you curious about this strange skin appearance on me?"
Xia De asked. He was also adapting to this world. He didn't even open his mouth, but his voice appeared directly in the Priest's ear.
The two looked at each other. Behind the Priest was the stone wall inscribed with the death imagery, and behind Xia De was the half-submerged silver Moon and countless souls.
These questions were actually unnecessary.
