Chapter 318: 318 Death-Announcing Crows

"Caw! Caw!"

Hearing the piercing crow cries above, Li Ang instinctively looked up—but instead of the familiar blue sky and white clouds, he saw only an endless, hollow, lifeless gray.

A pale sun, devoid of warmth, hung like the dying eyes of an old man above a sky choked with pitch-black clouds, silently watching the turbulent, murky river below.

Above this muddy, noisy river, a path woven from countless ancient bones—pale white tinged faintly yellow—carried wailing souls toward the deep, silent heart of the Death Realm.

"This is the Death Realm—the place everyone goes after death."

After watching Li Ang emerge from the crocodile's mouth, carrying Emma and gazing in awe at the Death Realm, the Red-haired Director observed the three of them and said:

"Once you step out of this crocodile's mouth, your physical body has entered the Death Realm. Soon, some crows will fly over—don't attack them. Just stand still."

"Ah, okay!"

Nodding slightly in confusion, Li Ang remembered Emma, still unconscious on his back, and quickly asked:

"Director, Emma's injuries are severe…"

"Don't worry, she's not in serious danger."

After glancing at Emma's soul, faintly tinged with emerald green, the Red-haired Director exhaled softly:

"The Goddess of Wealth struck hard, but Emma's soul is incredibly resilient. A little rest will heal her. Only her partially jade-frozen body is troublesome… What about you? How do you feel?"

"I'm fine."

Hearing the Red-haired Director's words, Li Ang shook his head slightly, then unconsciously reached up and touched the two small patches of baldness on his scalp.

Though he'd suffered many wounds in this mission, he'd already healed them all with the 【Infected Blood Band】. Only these two patches of hair lost when his horns pushed through his scalp couldn't be restored by the 【Infected Blood Band】—so if anything, this was his only remaining injury.

…

"Director, he's fine, but I'm not—I've got a big problem!"

As Li Ang touched his hair, a head suddenly rose from deep within the crocodile's mouth. The lazy youth lying on the Crocodile God's tongue groaned:

"I've lost most of my bones—I can only move my neck and my ass. Can you…"

"That's called an injury?"

Glancing at Tang Mu, the Red-haired Director waved dismissively:

"You've already set up your Return Ritual, right? Just resurrect once—problem solved."

"I could… but it hurts…"

"Oh come on, it's just a slit throat. Don't be such a baby!"

After brushing off the lazy youth, the Red-haired Director took back the strands of hair tied around the Crocodile God's neck, walked behind Li Ang, lowered Emma from his back, and lifted her into her arms, then urged:

"Come on, don't linger in the crocodile's mouth—move outside!"

"Oh…"

Following the Red-haired Director's instruction, Li Ang stepped out of the Crocodile God's mouth. Before he could ask why she'd brought him to the Death Realm, a cacophony of shrill crow cries erupted again.

Unlike the sparse cries earlier, these were dense, chaotic, and overwhelming. When Li Ang looked up, he saw nearly six or seven hundred red-eyed crows flying toward them—not heading toward the depths of the Death Realm like before, but circling above the three of them.

"These birds are called Death-Announcing Crows—pets of one of the Death Realm's rulers. Whenever a new soul arrives, they take flight from their roosts, eyes open, and fly straight to the deepest part of the Death Realm, announcing the birth of the dead."

After briefly explaining the crows' meaning, the Red-haired Director added with deeper implication:

"But if a living person enters the Death Realm with their physical body intact, their Death-Announcing Crow won't fly inward—it will find them, circle endlessly above their head, even land on their shoulder."

"That doesn't make sense."

Looking up at the circling red-eyed crows, Li Ang frowned:

"We're only three people—four if you count Tom, still inside. But there are nearly seven hundred crows up there!"

"Precisely six hundred and sixty-six."

Glancing at Emma in her arms and confirming she remained unconscious, the Red-haired Director whispered:

"You've probably heard about Emma's origins. Her clan launched a coup to overthrow the current royal family, but someone betrayed them. Everyone but Emma was executed—right outside the Bao Hua Estate. The blood stained the redwood tree crimson."

Her immortality was born in that massacre.

Six hundred and some clan members were killed, granting her six hundred extra lives. To truly kill her, you must slay her six hundred and sixty-six times within a single day.

In inheriting their lives, she also inherited their Death-Announcing Crows. All these crows above us? They're here for her."

"…"

So that's how it is…

After hearing Emma's past, Li Ang fell into brief silence. Though he'd suspected the truth behind her immortality, hearing such a bloody reality still stunned him.

While Li Ang was silent, the Red-haired Director studied him intently—from head to toe, again and again—making him uneasy. Finally, he asked:

"Why are you staring at me like that? Is there something on me?"

"No. I'm staring because there's nothing on you."

The Red-haired Director looked at him meaningfully and asked:

"Li Ang, where's your Death-Announcing Crow?"

"???"

Startled by the question, Li Ang replied confusedly:

"Aren't all those crows up there mine?"

"I just said—all these crows above us are for Emma. Neither yours nor mine are among them."

Fixing her gaze on Li Ang's eyes, the Red-haired Director slowed her speech, her tone serious:

"When my Li Ang value reached sixty, and my rank equaled a true god's, my Death-Announcing Crow lost its ability to sense my death—it flew into the Death Realm's depths with its eyes closed."

"But your Li Ang value is only around six—you haven't escaped the Death-Announcing Crow's death-sensing ability. So your crow should still be waiting at the Death Realm's entrance."

"…"

"Li Ang, tell me—why, when your physical body has entered the Death Realm, has your Death-Announcing Crow never come to find you?"