After sending off the Owl, which wasn't too fond of cat food but reluctantly accepted it, Xia De avoided the Church's watchful eyes and passed through the white fog, arriving at the City's outskirts. Compared to the relatively peaceful City center, the disaster here was more severe. Not everyone had a house to shelter in.
As Xia De passed through Motini Alley in the slum, he saw a seemingly dried-up corpse at the alley's entrance. He was worried the corpse might revive, so he specifically checked it, only to find that the corpse still had warmth, clearly having died not long ago.
Continuing in the direction he had planned, he soon saw dense black spiderwebs deep within the alley. Raising the kerosene lamp in his hand to scout, the spiderwebs actually melted in the firelight.
Moving forward, Xia De saw a horrifying scene at the entrance of an illegal opium den at the end of the alley; it had become a spider's nest.
Dense spiderwebs completely enveloped the entire building and the surrounding alleyways. He could see more than ten ordinary people bound by spiderwebs in the thick fog. The owner of the spiderwebs was a human-faced spider, which had wrapped the building, whose wall paint had peeled off, with webs, 'observing' its prey from above.
It was a black spider, and it would take six or seven Xia Des stacked together to match its size. Its chest and abdomen were covered in black fur, and its six pairs of appendages were an eerie translucent yellow.
"Ghost-faced spider?"
Xia De was surprised. Ghost-faced spiders, like the 'Mirror Ghost' that once appeared in his home, were quite rare undead. Only special environments could give birth to such terrifying spirits, and these evil spirits with individual names were also very powerful.
The giant spider obviously noticed Xia De as well, and it began to climb down the spiderweb as it trembled. Although its speed wasn't very fast, its appearance was truly chilling.
"Silver Moonlight!"
He drew an arc with his hand, cleanly severing the spiderweb in the air. Amidst the spider's hissing sounds, dense black silk sprayed downwards from its mouthparts.
"Felianna's Witch Light!"
He raised his left hand to the sky, and a translucent golden arc appeared above his head, melting the spider silk. At the same moment, Xia De leaped upwards, using the power of his Miracle to ascend into the air.
The giant spider clinging to the wall also lunged at Xia De at this moment, but Xia De in the air disappeared again, then reappeared above the spider.
"Ha!"
He plunged his sword, Night Watchman, into the ghost-faced spider's back armor with both hands, and then gravity pulled both of them to the ground. The force of the fall caused the Night Watchman to penetrate further into the spider's body, and Xia De's arm even touched the fur:
"Silver Moonlight!"
He pressed his finger against the sword, using the Night Watchman to cast a Miracle. The light of the Silver Moonlight radiated from the sword, and then dense cracks appeared on the surface of the writhing spider. Moonlight burst from the cracks until the entire spider exploded into foul-smelling dust.
"Oh!"
Xia De's legs went weak, and he almost fell. He then noticed that his hands had turned black, clearly poisoned. He immediately used the Elf's detoxification spell to treat himself, then raised his hand to shoot a Sunlight Ray, burning away the spiderwebs blocking his path.
He raised his sword to the sky, intending to use the light of the Silver Moonlight to attract the Orthodox Church's Ring術士 team nearby and rescue the poor people entangled in the spiderwebs. Although there was a thick fog now, with the Night Watchman amplifying his Miracle, Xia De wasn't worried that the Church wouldn't notice.
But before he could cast the Miracle, a cocoon tightly wrapped in black spiderwebs nearby began to squirm.
"Are the little spiders hatching?"
Xia De was shocked, but when he put on his mask and used Sunlight Ray to burn away the spiderwebs, he discovered that it was the man inside the cocoon who had awakened.
The reason the other party woke up so quickly was because he was a Vampire; the small bat symbol above his head clearly indicated this.
The man was confused for a few seconds, but quickly understood what had just happened. After Xia De pulled him up, he enthusiastically told him about the ghost-faced spider's process of crawling out of the Gap, and how many dangerous creatures were still nearby, even pointing out the way to leave the area to Xia De.
And when Xia De asked about his plans, the scruffy middle-aged Vampire shook his head, looking at the thick fog:
"The City is really too dangerous; I plan to leave the City to avoid it. My kin... I mean my friends, have all left the City. The festival is about to begin. If I had known it would be this unlucky, I should have left earlier."
"Festival?"
Xia De asked suspiciously, and the middle-aged Vampire didn't hide anything:
"It's about something on Sicar Mountain, but please rest assured, it won't have any impact on this City, I can guarantee it with my soul. Sir, if you are also interested, don't forget to look up at the peak of Sicar Mountain tonight. At that time, a scene that mortals may not see once in their lives will occur."
He enthusiastically introduced it, thanked Xia De again for saving his life, and even gave Xia De the money in his wallet. Before leaving, he also tore a bundle of spider silk from the ground and wrapped it around his arm. Only then did Xia De remember that the 'Ghost-faced Spider's' silk was a very special semi-solid substance, a top-tier undead material.
"I knew it; as long as something big happens, there will be pounds everywhere."
But Xia De was in a hurry and didn't have time to take all the nearby spider silk. So, he just imitated the Vampire who had already left, took a large bundle of spider silk, and put it in his pocket. Only then did he raise his sword to the sky, and after confirming that the Orthodox Church's Ring術士 team had been attracted, he hastily left.
If he had enough time, Xia De believed he could very likely break his savings of ten thousand pounds today.
"Since I have so much money, shouldn't I consider investing? Getting some fixed assets for myself, even buying a building to collect rent monthly would be good."
Although the Chosen One's matter was very important, livelihood was equally important.
At 5:40 PM, a panting Xia De finally saw the huge black shadow of the Mechanical College castle in the fog. Upon approaching the castle, he indeed found that the college had been blocked by barbed wire, prohibiting entry and exit. This was a building under key protection by the City Hall.
But these obstacles couldn't stop Xia De, and he easily entered the castle. Afterward, he met three high-ranking nuns wearing silver eye masks in the castle and went to the most suitable location they found to open the door.
Coincidentally, that was the basement used to store valuable auction items during the Fire Worship Festival charity banquet. Xia De even remembered that the Vampire Armand Bernhardt had taken an antique coffin from there.
Of course, these matters had nothing to do with opening the door.
Because the Gap was getting closer to the material world, this ritual didn't have to be as complex as last time. Using a bell, a bone bonfire, and a black cloth as symbols, the three nuns stood in an equilateral triangle around the bonfire, using the power of Ling Rune whisper - 【Door】, Miracle - 【death】, and blasphemy - 【Phantom】.
As the bell swayed, the red flames turned blue after a sharp bang. And the black gauze hanging on the wall began to sway on its own in the windless basement.
The nuns were chanting something in low voices, but it also sounded like singing. In this somewhat eerie atmosphere, the wall behind the gauze seemed to disappear, and wisps of white fog were seeping out:
"Mr. Watson, please be careful on your way."
The nuns blessed him, and Xia De thanked them softly, knowing that his adventure was about to officially begin.
He approached the wall, stood in front of the veiled gauze, took a few deep breaths to adjust his state, then lifted the black gauze and walked in.
The instant step made Xia De feel unbalanced, but when his raised right foot touched solid ground, he knew he had entered that strange world again.
He sincerely hoped this was the last time he would come to this cursed place.
【Outsider, you have left the world of the living.】
【You felt Miracle, blasphemy, inspiration, whisper.】
【Please note, the Gap has undergone further changes.】
【The power of death overwhelmingly surpasses the power of the living; any Miracle related to life or light will be weakened.】
"What?"
Xia De was shocked. The Moonlight series of Miracles and the newly acquired Sunlight Ray were his most effective means against the undead.
【This effect is ineffective on you; a glimmer of divinity dispels the power of death.】
Xia De breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately received a new prompt:
【Outsider, you have been afflicted by a death curse that entangles your soul. This curse is ineffective on you, but the recovery of your stamina and spirit is further weakened. Please be careful.】
"I understand."
The Gap was still the same; the black, white, and gray basement looked as if it had endured thousands of years of weathering. Corpse grass grew in the wall cracks, and disgusting black mud appeared in patches on the ground. There was even a mummified corpse leaning against the wall on the other side of the basement.
When Xia De looked at it, the mummified corpse actually moved.
"Sunlight Ray."
He raised a finger, and a beam of sunlight-colored light flew from between his fingers. It was clearly just an extremely thin light, but after leaving a small hole in the mummy's head, it immediately melted its entire head. The corpse slumped against the wall, finally motionless this time.
Sunlight Ray was originally the bane of undead and dark creatures, and with the Witch's golden necklace, and Xia De's soul power amplification in the Gap, this effect was quite normal.
However, compared to his first entry into the Gap, Xia De's power in the Gap was greatly compressed. The increasingly Rich power of death also restricted Xia De, who was essentially still alive.
When rescuing Priest Augustus, he could even imperfectly use a Mystic Lock once. But in the Gap at this time, even exhausting all his spirit would not achieve that effect.
