Chapter 3364: Before the Tombstone

Before Xia De used this key to set off, the accessory on Sister Daifulin's wrist was deliberately blocked by her left hand.

But now Xia De saw clearly that it was a golden bracelet with a familiar style, about twenty minutes ago. He had just given this bracelet to someone else.

"This..."

He listened to his heartbeat and widened his eyes, wanting to sigh but feeling his head buzzing.

He tried his best not to think about why this was, but Sister Daifulin spoke up herself:

"After you mentioned that senior of the Fifth Era for the first time, I searched for her in the Great Library of the Order. About half a week ago, I found the records about Sister Belun, and found her grave in the mountain cemetery below the sacrificial ground."

"Grave..."

Fire-holding nuns wouldn't leave corpses; they were already a part of the First Fire, and their bodies would be burned to ashes after death. Not to mention complete corpses, even ashes wouldn't exist.

Sister Daifulin had once taken Xia De to see the nuns' graves (Extra 3); the cemetery was located where one walked down the stone steps along the entrance of the sacrificial ground. Those graves only had tombstones, and a few would bury some personal items of the nuns behind the tombstones as a memorial.

The tombstones had weathered severely, but one could still see the names. It recorded that she was a thirteenth-tier witch who finally died in a containment mission for an Unknowable-level relic that suddenly went out of control near the sacrificial ground.

When ordering other nuns to rebuild the tombstone, everyone found a small box buried under the old tombstone, and the box left a maxim with fire. She ordered me to take the items in the box to you after you said goodbye to her, and there was no need to bury them back.

Sister Daifulin paused for a moment, then took off the golden bracelet and handed it to Xia De.

"Already... passed away."

Xia De looked at the golden bracelet and didn't reach out for a long time; the nun didn't urge him either.

Xia De looked at the golden bracelet and hesitated to reach out, and the sister did not urge him.

After a long time, Xia De shook his head somewhat dejectedly:

"Sister Daifulin, you keep this; although this bracelet isn't the divine artifact itself, it's also something once worn by a god, keep it, it's most useful to you."

Luweiya and Miss Jia Lin Na didn't understand all the details, but they could guess the general story.

The divination lady observed Xia De's expression and asked again:

"Nun, besides the bracelet and that sentence of admonition, was there anything else in the box under the tombstone?"

Sister Daifulin nodded:

"There was also a white feather, I didn't bring it, it's currently placed in the sacrificial ground. The admonition also had a second half: I am a part of the fire, may the fire accompany you forward."

"Since that feather still exists, why didn't she use it to instantly resurrect?"

The feather of the Death God's fourth angel's main body, even if it left the 【Tombstone Wasteland】, still had the ability to achieve instant resurrection; this was a high-level version of Xia De's "False Immortality." But no one could answer this question; Sister Belun finally left the only one of the three feathers that remained to Xia De in her own way.

Xia De closed his eyes and sighed long, Miss Jia Lin Na looked at Xia De and then at the bracelet, and finally didn't point out that there was a rich perfume smell on Xia De.

Even though the time point of this adventure was the late Fifth Era, that was still the story of the previous era. Except for the power bestowed by that Evil God, Xia De didn't take anything away. The 【Eternal Sleep Scripture】 was recorded by him in the book, and the bones in the coffin dropped by the Gravedigger would probably become Miss Violet's experimental materials.

Originally he thought that perhaps Sister Belun would leave some words through the 【Spirit Cultivation Sect】, but he never expected that he had just returned, and he obtained the last words left by that nun.

He often advised others "all mortals must die," but when it came to himself, he was still sad. He thought about going to worship Sister Belun's grave, but was stopped by Luweiya:

"You should rest well and sleep for a while. Looking at your appearance, I'm afraid you can fall asleep if you close your eyes."

"I will wait for your visit in the sacrificial ground."

Sister Daifulin also said so.

Xia De's mental state at this time was indeed very bad, so he was forced to sleep for two hours on this Tuesday morning. And when he woke up, it was already ten o'clock in the morning; at this time, Sister Daifulin, Luweiya, and Miss Jia Lin Na had all left, but Tifa was left behind to take care of Xia De.

The black-haired maid heard the sound in the bedroom and walked in quickly:

"How do you feel now? Miss Sylvia came an hour ago, she saw the letter about the ice and snow castle and the teleportation gate left by the lady in the council. Miss Sylvia saw you sleeping very soundly, and happened to meet Miss Emilia Sianod, so she went to find the unicorn Ellie with Miss Sianod, and they will go to deal with the teleportation gate."

She said and hugged Xia De lightly:

"Is the mood still so bad?"

Xia De shook his head; the sleep just now was completely dreamless, and after waking up, except for his spirit being better, his mood actually hadn't changed at all:

"That nun and I said goodbye, she said she was a part of the fire;

"When that sister said goodbye to me, she said she was a part of the flame; she probably knew it was the last time we would meet. Fire... this is a story about meeting, jealousy, parting, and letting go. The Fire-Holding Sisters all know their fate and accept their fate; they are truly noble people."

"You are only talking about the sisters' feelings, but you haven't talked about your own situation."

Difa then asked very gently and softly in Xia De's ear:

"Then, do you need me to... comfort you a little?"

Xia De blinked, feeling his heavy mood easily affected by this sentence, but this time he declined Difa's kind offer:

"I'm not that kind of... you know, that kind of person; it's not that every time I'm in a bad mood I need... this to make my mood better."

He pressed his nose near Difa's neck and took a deep breath. Difa smiled and didn't move, but then she still defied her "master's" thoughts and gave him a very gentle, wet kiss.

This made Xia De feel that his mood had improved a little.

He still had the matter of meeting Mr. Motis in the afternoon, but he didn't continue to stay at home in the morning. After letting Difa and the others return to Miss Jia Lin Na's side, Xia De took the cat alone and went through Mid-Hill Fort to the sacrificial grounds on the mountain peak.

Sister Daifulin was already waiting at the entrance of the sacrificial grounds with her head lowered. The two walked down the mountain along the ancient stone steps, pushed open the gate at the end of the steps, and arrived in the cemetery of the Fire-Protecting Sisters.

The cemetery was circular as a whole. The stone wall where the gate was located was generally arched, while the right side of the stone wall was a towering cliff, and the left side was a bottomless abyss. The low tombstones standing under the cliff each represented a sister who endured the burning of the flame alone.

However, the cemetery was not just here. Directly opposite the entrance gate was another curved stone wall. Beyond the gate on the wall, a small path extended along the cliff to a more distant place, and there was a large area behind it, where there were more tombstones. Most of the tombstones in this circular area were from the last five hundred years, while some of the tombstones behind could even be traced back to the Second Era.

The inheritance of the Fire-Holding Sisters had never been broken.

Silver-white snow still covered this place, and Sister Belen's tombstone stood in an inconspicuous corner deep in the cemetery, behind a collapsed low wall.

Sister Daifulin took Xia De to find that place. When Xia De placed his hand on her tombstone, the melancholy in his heart almost reached its peak; at this moment, even the cat did not disturb him.

Many of the friends the Outlander met in the Fifth Era had actually passed away, such as the luckiest mortal, Mr. Ridder, and Miss Knight, the knight who died after slashing a sword in the Gravel Gold Sea. He had even seen the church where the tomb of Sister Perry of the Sun Sect, whom he met in the Worm Cave in 4791 of the Fifth Era, was located.

But only this time, when he stood before this tombstone, he had a feeling he had never had before. There were so many tombstones standing on the tombstone wasteland; the Outlander admitted that at the time, he only regarded them as "danger and treasure." It was only now, after leaving that wasteland, when he stood here, that he truly understood what deep stories those tombstones represented.

If this was also a kind of fate, this should count as the 【King of Graves】 telling Xia De for the last time what a tombstone really meant.

Sister Daifulin, wearing a mithril eye mask, stood silently behind Xia De with her hands clasped in front of her. The weather on the mountain peak was very good today; although it was winter, the deep blue sky and white clouds made people feel that this was another peaceful day.

"Do you need to bury the bracelet back? After all, it was a gift you gave her."

The sister behind him asked softly after a long time. Xia De shook his head:

"Since Sister Belen hoped that this bracelet could still play a role, Sister Daifulin, please keep it for the time being."

He looked at the words on the tombstone again, thinking of the story that had just ended in the tombstone wasteland. It was impossible to let go in a short time, but at least he was not unaware of the reason why Sister Belen left those items under the tombstone; that sister hoped that the sisters of later generations could carry this power forward.

She had fully accepted her own death. Now that he thought about it, even when the two said goodbye at the door of Miss Violet's bedroom and she said "I have become a part of the flame," she might have already realized that it would be the last time they met.

"Sister, if you hadn't met me, would you also feel lonely?"

He asked softly.

"Flame is our mission, loneliness is our fate."

She said with her head slightly lowered.

"Then if you met me and then I left, would you feel even lonelier?"

Xia De asked again, and the sister raised her head to "look" at Xia De's profile. The bright sunshine shone on her back, letting her shadow pass by Xia De's side. The remains of the low wall gave the tombstone half of the shade; although the ground behind the tombstone was still covered in snow, when spring came, it would probably be covered with flowers again like previous years.

"No, after all, I have already obtained a moment of rest, which for the Fire-Holding Sisters is already a miracle. Long-term companionship is certainly good, but even a moment of understanding and comfort is actually enough for us."

(End of chapter)