Death Door was a Miracle Xia De learned after returning from death, allowing willing souls and the caster himself to pass through. Because it was a one-way passage, Xia De had never imagined that one day he would truly step into death from here.
He knew Mr. Watson was watching him, but he didn't turn back. Instead, he stepped into the Gap.
【Outsider, you have stepped into death.】
【Outsider, you have gained a deeper understanding of "Sleep".】
Cold, trembling.
An instant of nothingness and extreme cold almost caused Xia De's consciousness to fall into the deepest Sleep again, but he immediately realized that he had reached his destination.
Silent, all was still; the Nether Moon illuminated all things, and this was the end.
Behind him were the two giant stone doors, and at his feet was the faint, almost extinguished Kiss of the Tree bonfire. In front, a massive silver moon was half-submerged at the end of the dark waters. The waters before him seemed endless, and just looking at them filled him with a primal sense of fear.
Countless shadowy white figures stood with their backs to the narrow beach by the water. They looked up at the desolate Nether Moon, and as their bodies flickered, they gradually moved away, advancing towards the silver moon.
Here, there was no sound, not even breathing was necessary. Quiet and solemn, cold and profound, this place was death itself.
Looking down at his hands, cracks were spreading across his body, and divine radiance emanated from within, protecting Xia De's soul from drifting away.
"Iluna!"
He quickly took off his mask and took a few steps, arriving beside the collapsed Iluna. He plunged Night Watchman into the ground, set down the kerosene lamp containing the First Fire, and then carefully picked up the seventeen-year-old girl.
A dark gold scale floated above her head, protecting her safety, but Iluna was, after all, a living person, and she was very unaccustomed to this place.
Looking further afield, Joey Barton sat sideways on a large rock at the end of the beach, his right hand resting on the stone surface, his left hand hanging naturally, and his feet unable to touch the ground due to his short stature. He turned his head, quietly looking at the distant water and the Nether Moon. The Nether Moon reflected his shadow on the gravel beach, and he seemed completely unaware that Xia De had arrived.
"You—"
"She's fine. When I pushed open the door, she tried to grab me, so she came in too. She's also very talented in death, plus that wonderful dark gold scale, and the leaf she held in her mouth beforehand, so she didn't leave with those souls."
Joey Barton's voice was very calm.
Iluna was indeed only temporarily unable to move, but after being embraced by Xia De, perhaps influenced by the divine glow on his body, her body temperature and breathing rate were returning to normal. She tried to open her eyes and looked at Xia De, her lips wiggling as she spat out the ineffective pale leaf. Xia De immediately put another one in her mouth (Note).
The seventeen-year-old girl wanted to speak, but nothing came out.
"It's alright, I'll handle things from now on."
He said softly, carrying Iluna back to the Kiss of the Tree bonfire. Looking at the faint bonfire, after a moment of hesitation, he opened the lampshade of the kerosene lamp, carefully guided the faint First Fire flame within, and let the flame fall into the bonfire.
There was no sound, but the almost extinguished bonfire was re-ignited. Moreover, the spirit and stamina, which had completely ceased to recover in death, showed a tendency to slowly recover.
He plunged Night Watchman beside the bonfire, let Iluna lean on the sword and sit there. Xia De turned and walked to the end of the beach, arriving beside Joey Barton.
At this moment, he could finally see the calm expression on his face. The light of the Nether Moon illuminated the somewhat deformed face of the young man. The middle-aged man looked at the wandering and blurry white figures, and Xia De didn't know what he was thinking.
"Is this your true appearance? You're truly handsome..."
Joey Barton sighed softly.
"You still haven't given up?"
Xia De asked.
"Yes, I'm almost there."
"Then, are you talking to me now a clone or your true body?"
"One-third of my true body. I won't put all my eggs in one basket."
"I see."
Suddenly, his right hand rose high, and when it fell, the Moonlight Greatsword had already formed in his hand. Mr. Watson did not dodge, and the Moonlight Greatsword struck his shoulder, but it was as if it had hit an indestructible object, having no effect whatsoever.
"Mr. Watson, you really don't understand this place."
"Don't understand what?"
Xia De dispersed the greatsword in his hand and did not feel ashamed of his sneak attack.
"This is death itself. We who have come here are already dead. How can you kill someone here?"
His tone was still so calm, stating the facts he knew.
"Yes, this is death..."
Xia De nodded, no longer observing Mr. Watson, but instead put his hands in his pockets, turned and looked with him at the water in front, and the myriad souls on the water.
The tide was not calm; the surging water stopped in front of Xia De's boots, retreated, and then surged again, washing over the small stones and pebbles.
"Here, the only thing that can harm us is entering this body of water. Whether it's you or me, if we don't have a special method, once we touch these waters, we can never return."
Mr. Watson continued.
"Then how do you find the soul you're looking for here?"
"Coming here, I learned more Knowledge, and more secrets. My wish, my beloved, is right ahead."
Gu Zuo
His thick, deformed finger pointed to the depths of death represented by the Nether Moon:
"Right here."
"Why aren't you acting now?"
"Because I am not yet complete."
As his voice fell, a sound came from behind them. It wasn't Iluna standing up; a new guest had arrived.
Turning to look, another Joey Barton appeared before the Death Door. Compared to the first one, who seemed perfectly intact, he looked much more dishevelled. His right hand was missing, and his body was covered in various strange scars. Even half of his head was sliced off, but he was still alive.
The second Joey Barton seemed to have completely understood what was happening here. He walked past the bonfire towards Joey Barton on the rock by the shore and merged with him.
Xia De couldn't stop this process, but he noticed that someone else had arrived with Mr. Watson: the familiar Old Priest.
Priest Latt Augustus frowned, looking at the scene before him:
"Really, I'm this old, why do I have to be involved in something like this?"
He walked to the bonfire, then carefully sat down, supporting himself with his hand on the ground, and extended his hands towards the bonfire as if to warm himself.
"Priest Augustus?"
Iluna, who had recovered slightly, asked softly, her voice a little strange because of the leaf in her mouth:
"You are..."
Priest Augustus was a very respected Old Priest in the Tobesk Diocese; even heretics knew him.
"Good evening, oh, it's Miss Bei Ya Si. I was originally participating in a ceremony on the mountaintop, and then Joey Barton fought his way up. He was severely wounded by three Thirteen Ring Sorcerers from the Church, but he still managed to fall into the crack on the mountaintop with his last breath. I originally wanted to stop him, and then, unfortunately, I also followed him in. Well, I voluntarily followed him in. I couldn't watch him do bad things."
The Priest shrugged:
"Relax a bit, let Xia De handle this. Although I don't know what the Detective wants to do, he always has a way. What kind of fire is this? It's really warm."
"I'm actually very curious."
At the end of the beach, the two men looking at the Nether Moon and the departing souls were still conversing:
"Why is it that no matter which of the three passages you enter from, you can see the Death Door?"
Xia De asked softly.
"It's not just through the Gap; no matter what method or means you use to enter here, it's actually the same. Because that Death Door is indeed the only correct passage to enter this beach, apart from the normal death process. Therefore, theoretically speaking, the passage at the foot of the mountain is indeed the most stable."
Joey Barton replied; this Knowledge probably came from his status as a Chosen One.
"Then do you know that the Holy Tree Mark ritual is almost complete, and now none of us can leave?"
Xia De asked again, and Joey Barton hesitated for a moment:
"I don't know, but after I see her, there will always be a way."
Xia De shook his head, knowing that he absolutely could not convince the person in front of him.
They did not continue talking, but instead looked together at the distant, silent dark water, watching the flickering white figures appear, advance, and disappear at the edge of their vision.
"What do you think of this moon?"
Xia De suddenly spoke again. Mr. Watson did not immediately give an answer. He tilted his ear to listen, and then spoke:
"After the Ancient Gods departed, due to some reasons, the Nether Moon, which should have been Directing Death here, also disappeared. But now it has reappeared, perhaps like me, that Chosen One who deeply controls the power of the moon is also undertaking his own epic."
Xia De shook his head. This Nether Moon appeared because the Priest had invaded his dream. The Moonlight from the wilderness in his dream shone into death. But he couldn't be a Chosen One; Luvia had said this many times.
"This moon is truly beautiful. Moonlight, death, two of the most fundamental forces, are displayed here, solidifying the rules of death and ensuring that all beings will die. If, if the Nether Moon had appeared two epochs earlier, perhaps the Between Life and Death in Middlesburg would not have expanded so quickly."
As they spoke, another sound came from behind them.
The third Joey Barton appeared. Besides severe burns, his legs were severed at the root, his eyes were gouged out, his nose and ears were cut off, and even his mouth was sewn shut with cursed black threads.
Upon appearing, he immediately lay on the ground and then struggled to crawl towards the end of the beach. The power of curses was blossoming on his body; those were the Witches' curses. At the same time, Xia De also noticed that his chest was glowing, as if an unquenchable fire was burning his heart.
Even after the third Mr. Watson merged with Joey Barton on the rock beside Xia De, the latter still clutched his heart, making an expression of unbearable pain.
And the appearance of the third Joey Barton brought a new Ring術士 for the third time.
Sister Devlin was still as calm as ever, wearing her gray-black silk nun's robe with a matching shawl on her shoulders. A silver coronet-style eye mask held her silver-gray hair back by her ears; her long hair was braided into a complex style behind her, almost reaching her waist.
Her hands were folded, resting naturally in front of her, and her head was slightly bowed, but her eye mask still reflected the light of the Nether Moon.
Flames, crimson flames, were slowly appearing on the Sister's body. At first glance, it seemed as if she was being set on fire, but then one could see that the Sister was covered in fiery red cracks. Not only her skin, but even her hem and hair tips had the glow of flames. As the violently surging flames gradually subsided, embers floated out from the cracks until the afterglow of the First Fire completely stabilized, protecting her to remain here for a long time.
Although wearing an eye mask, Sister Devlin could still "see" everything.
She first nodded slightly to Xia De, who had turned at the end of the beach, then walked to the Kiss of the Tree bonfire. She didn't sit on the ground like Priest Augustus, nor did she sit sideways leaning against Night Watchman like Iluna. The Sister moved a stone and sat on it.
From the earliest epoch to now, this was probably the day with the most living people present here.
