"Miss Olanorde, do you know more about the Death Door?" Xia De asked again, and the Witch nodded slightly.
"That door is difficult to move due to its size and other reasons, but not every death row inmate can be safely escorted to the execution ground located on the Central Continent. Therefore, the characteristics of that Death Door include a method to open the door from outside its main body."
This also seemed to be a form of spatial displacement, but sacrificing one's life as the cost was perhaps too harsh.
"I am not a member of the Highest Witch Council. Because the previous councilors are still present, my teacher is only a substitute for now. But it is said that one needs to find a boundary between death and life, and then a formal councilor of the Witch Council, acting as the executioner, uses the power of the Witch Council to project the Death Door at that boundary. The effect after opening the projected door is exactly the same as the main body of the door."
She paused for a moment, then added,
"My teacher said that the appearance of the Death Door is related to the departure of the Ancient God, the ancient death god. The Witch Council using that door as an execution tool instead of an object of study is truly abnormal. The Witch Council is very corrupt now. Perhaps in a few thousand years, the Witch Council will collapse on its own due to infighting among the Great Witches."
Such words were very much in line with Miss Felianna's character, and Xia De also smiled. From the truth he had learned, the collapse of the fifth epoch was indeed related to the disagreements among the Great Witches of the Witch Council.
He bent down and picked up the stone slab wrapped in cloth, his finger gently touching one of its corners. In this Library, only the three books requested by the gods truly came from the first epoch, thus once again activating the Miracle, Ancient Voice, to take effect.
This time, the information was also brief. Because it was obtained by touching the yeger scroll, the content was also related to death:
"All mortals must die, and all things must end. Even Ancient Gods will depart; this is something that the earliest followers of death have long known. God knows future destiny, and therefore, in the first epoch, promised his believers: before departing, all arrangements will be made. Life and death have a cycle; departure must have a return."
It sounded like there was no useful information, only that the departed Ancient Gods would definitely return, and that the Ancient Gods would make arrangements for the future before their departure.
But Xia De already knew this. For example, the Father of Infinite Trees, this Ancient God truly arranged everything clearly for the Outsider who only arrived in this world in the sixth epoch. Even Xia De's current thought might have been within the Tree Father's expectations.
"However, if the departure of the Ancient Gods was not abrupt, and their believers already knew that the Ancient Gods would surely return, then where did those long-vanished Ancient God Churches go? As long as faith does not perish, they, possessing the most ancient power, should not have disappeared so completely. Modern ancient organizations and the Orthodox Church, could they all be related to the ancient thirteen Ancient God Churches?"
Xia De did not have much time to stay, so after getting the stone slab, the two returned to the entrance hall of the Gaddis Library.
They had only been gone for about ten minutes, but Miss Peggy Samuel, who had remained by the fire, seemed to have fully recovered. When the two returned, she proactively stood up from the campfire to greet them.
Xia De noticed that the box he had taken out had already been stacked in a wind-sheltered position, so it seemed she hadn't been sitting idly the whole time.
"Got it."
Xia De shook the stone slab wrapped in cloth in his hand and asked Miss Samuel if she wanted to examine the book.
The eleventh-tier Witch immediately shook her head. Miss Olanorde, however, took the cloth from Xia De's hand, turned her back to the two of them, unfolded it to glance at the stone slab, sighed, and handed the stone slab back:
"It's fine, you can look directly, but don't stare for too long."
The stone slab was about twice the size of a regular letter paper. Although it looked like gray stone, it felt strangely like bone when touched. The back of the stone slab was blank; only the front had patterns.
There were no decorative patterns or any designs. The stone slab simply had a line of text written in bone-fragment-style letters, and Xia De had seen this line of text not long ago:
"World (first epoch, year 1 to present)".
The writing style of this cursive script was exactly the same as the text on the background of the rhode cards that Xia De had seen in the hands of Joey Barton, the "Reverse-Born Man" at the Crow Club, even the way the cursive letters were started and finished was identical.
"It truly is ancient," he murmured, then asked,
"Miss Olanorde, this looks like a tombstone. Were all books in the past like this? The Threaded Text I gave to God last time I came was also just a stone slab."
Miss Samuel, who seemed to have recovered well, replied,
"People in the first epoch used this method when creating books that needed to be preserved for a long time. The stone slab is merely the external appearance; the true Knowledge is hidden within."
"So how do you read this kind of book... put it under your pillow and then dream?"
Both Witches were amused by Xia De, and the three sat around the bonfire:
"No, no. You just need to say the name of the book, and it will open. The language used must be the language of the book's title itself, otherwise, it cannot be opened. The Threaded Text, the yeger scroll, and the book of nameless sacrifices are all books from the first epoch, so you need to use the lost language of the first epoch. But all Knowledge from the first epoch is taboo, and the Grey-Robed Sage also said that it is not something mortals can touch."
At this point, the young Witch from the Zaras Society sighed with considerable emotion—at least she looked very young.
"The first epoch language, then..."
Xia De hesitated for a moment:
"Do you know how the yeger scroll is written in the language of the first epoch?"
Miss Samuel frowned suspiciously, and Miss Olanorde shook her head cautiously:
"I don't know, that is forbidden Knowledge. Xia De, do not try to pry into that Knowledge. Those who madly pursue Knowledge are bound to fall into eternal madness. At least, for you right now, that is the case."
"I understand."
Xia De nodded. He actually wanted to try to glimpse the Knowledge inside the book before leaving this era. After all, once the time key adventure returned, any injuries sustained in the past would disappear, so as long as Xia De didn't go completely insane all at once, the Father of Infinite Trees would surely restore him. The Knowledge was right in his hands, and Knowledge about death might even help solve the troubles in Middsburg. But what Miss Olanorde said was also true: he was not yet qualified to glimpse the Knowledge of the first epoch. Those lost histories and truths were still somewhat distant from Xia De.
