There was only one enemy on the second floor, while there were three corpse hounds on the third floor. They were not insubstantial undead, but rather ghoul-like creatures. Their bodies were a pale, sickly white, resembling rotten flesh, with wrinkles and decay marks everywhere. Their appearances were almost identical, and they moved incredibly fast, even possessing intelligence and coordinating their attacks.
Xia De encountered them as soon as he went upstairs, and his hasty counterattack almost led to a major loss. Fortunately, he retreated to the stairs in time, where the narrow space allowed him to face the enemies one by one.
Honestly, the combination of three hounds was far more terrifying than a single, powerful humanoid undead.
The floor of the third story was still covered with a layer of unknown dust, like bone ash, just like the outside. Besides the footprints of the three corpse hounds, there were also other messy footprints on the dust.
These footprints had been tampered with, but the traces had not been completely erased. Xia De observed them and concluded that at least three different people had been here recently:
"I hope these traces are within the last 36 hours."
Thinking this, he used the Miracle 【Echoes of the Past】.
This Miracle allowed him to hear sounds from the past, especially human voices. And in the Gap, where sound could not travel far and there were almost no living people, Xia De succeeded on his first attempt:
"Professor, you actually escaped?"
This was Joey Barton's voice; his lung-damaged timbre was very distinctive.
"We escaped, but almost all the personnel The Society of Truth sent to the Mi Fort area were wiped out this time. The Church's actions were precise and ruthless."
Xia De raised an eyebrow. Both the Witches and Iluna had mentioned that on the night of the Ice Lake Battle, most of The Society of Truth's local members were killed or arrested, with only a few escaping. He didn't expect them not to leave Middelsburg, but to find Joey Barton in the Gap. Or perhaps Joey Barton found them.
"But fortunately, we learned from the Blood Spirit School's lesson. Although many people were sent this time, only one of the Twelve Ring Sorcerers from the academy came, so this isn't a painful lesson. I heard that Weeping Blood Hermons of the Blood Spirit School almost didn't escape."
People always seem to enjoy mocking those who are even unluckier when they themselves are in trouble.
"Mr. Barton, although I don't know how you found us in the Gap, the academy has already notified us that we will no longer participate in the Middelsburg incident. We are staying here now to retrieve some materials placed in the Gap. With such heavy losses this time, we must at least recover those alchemy items worth tens of thousands of pounds."
The person speaking had been using carson rick, while Mr. Barton spoke delarion with a strong Mi Fort accent.
"Do you know that I am the Chosen One?"
Mr. Barton asked calmly. After a few seconds of silence, the carson rick speaker replied:
"We dare not show our faces in the city, but we have heard some news. It's truly surprising that the target we've been searching for all along was one of our own. Mr. Barton, I've heard about you in the academy, but now..."
As expected, Xia De heard him sigh:
"A Chosen One of death, you can only rely on yourself. The academy is determined not to get involved in this matter anymore. The current losses are too great. Although helping you might yield greater benefits, we need to cut our losses in time and not be too greedy."
If the Ring術士 of The Society of Truth could abandon their insane ideas, most of them would actually be considered wise.
"I don't need your material help; I want some Knowledge."
Mr. Barton said.
"What Knowledge?"
"Knowledge of fusing relics. I know the academy hasn't fully succeeded, but at least there are preliminary experimental plans."
Xia De frowned, looking at the empty room in front of him. He believed that not long ago, the other person involved in the conversation also had the same expression.
"Fusing relics, you mean... Joey Barton, you want to fight the Orthodox Church alone?"
"I know I'm outnumbered, so I have to find other ways. Being in the Gap, I can feel the Gap's goodwill towards me. It doesn't want to be sealed, and I want to break the boundary Between Life and Death. Therefore, the Gap is willing to let me use some of its power. Professor, which do you think is more powerful: a Level 0 relic controlling countless evil spirits, or a Thirteen Ring Sorcerer?"
"What a lunatic."
The carson rick speaker uttered a very dirty curse word, which Xia De tentatively interpreted as "lunatic."
"To be called a lunatic by the professors of The Society of Truth, I am honored. All I want to do is enter True Death through one of the three passages and bring her back. So, are you willing to trade? I know Knowledge has a price, so if I truly become the Chosen One in Middelsburg, I am willing to join you."
What followed was no surprise: the "escaped" member of The Society of Truth gave Joey Barton the information he wanted, even providing him with The Society of Truth's research materials on "Between Life and Death," "Death Door," and so on.
In the words of that professor:
"These materials are all backed up, so giving them to you isn't a loss; it's an investment with huge returns. But if you get caught by the Church, don't say we gave them to you; say you found them yourself."
At the end of this conversation, the "professor" speaking carson rick gave Joey Barton something. Xia De could only hear the sound, so he didn't know what it was:
"Professor, what is this?"
Mr. Barton had the same question.
"We originally planned to try to guide the power of death in the Gap, hoping to replicate the undead alchemy from the fifth epoch Witches' alchemy and create some interesting things, so we prepared quite a lot of ritual items. What you have in your hand is an ancient artifact unearthed by the academy in the New World. From our research, it seems to be a sacrificial item from an ancient death cult. Take it; it might be useful."
And so, Joey Barton obtained an item related to the power of the ancient gods.
The conversation ended, and both parties left. Xia De followed the footsteps to the window. At this moment, the last Red Butterfly on his shoulder finally detached from his skin and appeared in the Gap. It slowly flew towards the building opposite the back window and stopped in front of the wall outside the window, preventing anyone inside from seeing it.
Behind the Oak Street shop was a muddy alley, and on the other side of the alley were apartment buildings for rent. Due to the thick fog and the Gap's suppression of visibility, Xia De could only see the Red Butterfly flickering indistinctly; he couldn't see anything inside the window. But judging from the Red Butterfly's behavior, the clown was most likely inside:
"Hiding so close?"
The window in front of him had long lost its glass. Xia De leaned on the somewhat prickly windowsill and looked down, finding that there were quite a few souls wandering in the alley.
"If I take a detour, even with the Witches' blessing to avoid enemies, I'd probably still have to defeat a stack of evil spirits, which is too time-consuming."
Carefully climbing onto the windowsill, he cast 【Frog's Leap】 without chanting, and with a sudden jump, his body crossed the alley and lunged towards the Red Butterfly, which was pointing the direction. But Xia De chose not to smash through the window to enter the room. Instead, after approaching the opposite window in mid-air, he concentrated and continued to use the Miracle:
"Raglai's Leap!"
Xia De disappeared in mid-air, then reappeared steadily inside the window.
He steadied himself, turned, and extended his right hand. The fluttering Red Butterfly landed on his fingertip, then affectionately flew to his shoulder.
He scanned the room but saw no one. Xia De snapped his fingers, and silver mist surged out, the illusion enveloping him.
Pushing open the door and continuing out, the dilapidated, gloomy corridor was like a haunted house from a story. The Red Butterfly guided Xia De to the deepest room in the corridor, which, according to the floor plan, should have been a guest room.
No sound came from inside, but the target was undoubtedly there. Xia De hesitated, dispelled the illusion, and then tapped on the door with a bent finger.
Dong dong dong~
He waited patiently at the door. Exactly 2 minutes and 37 seconds after the last knock, the door opened, revealing the middle-aged man who looked like a deformed child.
At the end of the ice battle last week, he was pierced from behind by Iluna's "Sunlight Gun," but now there was no sign of injury. He just looked noticeably more weathered, and surprisingly, even younger than last week.
Joey Barton looked up at the person at the door, hesitating:
"Mr. Watson?"
"It's me."
Mr. Barton sighed:
"Why bother looking for me? Do you really think you can convince me?"
Xia De looked at the room behind him, but Mr. Barton immediately stepped back and then slammed the door shut.
"He ran."
"What?"
The 【Key of the Door】 opened the locked door, but the empty room showed no trace of Joey Barton or the clown.
The Red Butterfly on his shoulder immediately flew towards the window. Xia De quickly went to the window and just caught sight of the deformed "child" carrying a suitcase, disappearing around the street corner at the edge of his vision.
The undead wandering on the street had no intention of attacking him. He moved freely through the streets, without having to avoid any assaults.
"Moon Shadow's Illusion."
Silver mist surged again. Xia De jumped from the third-story window to the ground, and after landing, followed the Red Butterfly in pursuit of Joey Barton.
"How's the situation?"
Miss Aurora's distant voice echoed in his ear again.
"I found him; he ran as soon as he saw me. Oh, I've run into some trouble. Even with the illusion's help, the evil spirits are blocking my pursuit; the enemies are too dense."
"Wait a moment, my grandma and I will help you. You must catch him..."
The voice became intermittent until it completely disappeared, and the souls wandering the streets in the Gap finally noticed Xia De due to his excessive proximity. But the next moment, an extreme chill appeared from above his head and quickly permeated his entire body. A circular ritual base array, emitting an ambiguous gray light, appeared at Xia De's feet.
The appearance of this ritual array caused the evil spirits, who had been preparing to attack, to ignore Xia De once again. Xia De tried to approach it a few steps, and the other party showed no reaction at all.
"The Witches certainly have their ways."
He continued the chase.
Xia De didn't know what Joey Barton had done in the Gap. He was clearly still only a First-Ring Arcanist, yet he ran even faster than Xia De. Even though Xia De used 【Raglai's Leap】 for spatial movement every ten seconds, the two of them, one chasing and one fleeing, still ran more than half a circle around the city center in the Gap before Xia De finally caught up with Joey Barton in a tree-lined square one block from Oak Street.
In the real world, the Shaded Square was a semi-park-like plaza in the center of Middelsburg. In the Gap, however, it was desolate, like a misty graveyard.
Xia De and Mr. Barton confronted each other in the fog, with the surrounding evil spirits appearing and disappearing in the mist.
"Where's that clown?"
Xia De still hadn't seen the second nail, but the Red Butterfly agitatedly pointed in the direction of the man in front of him.
"I swallowed him."
Mr. Barton pointed to himself:
"I was severely injured and needed to recover. Don't worry, once I fully digest his power, this nail will also be considered removed."
His voice was still as hoarse.
"Since you know about the Gap and the nails, you should also know that at this moment, when the Balance of Life and death is so fragile, if you bring a dead person back from death, the broken Balance will directly lead to the collapse of the Gap."
"Yes, but if I don't do it soon, once the Church reseals the Gap, I will no longer have a chance to bring her back."
Mr. Barton looked at Xia De, his face expressionless:
"Mr. Watson, you once heard my story. I'll ask you again: do you really think you can persuade me?"
"You're willing to let a city of people die for a resurrection?"
Xia De retorted, and Mr. Barton nodded:
"I know this is wrong, but I still have to say, yes. The most important person in this world to me is her. Even if I make a big mistake, I absolutely cannot give up this only chance. I am a moth flying into the flame; I am willing to do this."
Although he had long anticipated that the other party might say this, hearing Joey Barton actually say such words, Xia De still wanted to sigh:
"Don't think of yourself as too noble. You need to consider carefully: if you do this, you will be an enemy of the Orthodox Church, the Three Great Arcane Academies, and even most Ring術士 organizations. Even if you are the Chosen One, even if you truly succeed in the ritual, there will absolutely be no place for you to live in the material world."
"I've already thought about it."
Mr. Barton pointed to his feet. He had thought of everything:
"After I bring Marilyn back, we will live here, in Middelsburg, which will be completely integrated with the Gap and transformed into a ghost-ridden forbidden land. With the Chosen One's talent, the undead will not harm me; they are my best companions. It will be impossible for the Orthodox Church to catch me among thousands of undead."
"Mr. Barton, I'm asking you one last time. Are you sure that even if it means sacrificing the lives of thousands of people, you will bring your beloved back from the peaceful slumber of death?"
Xia De asked in a serious tone:
"This is truly the last inquiry."
Joey Barton looked at John Watson in the thick fog, vaguely understanding that this question would determine many things in the future.
