Chapter 4105: The Manifestation of Sin

The young woman pushed open the first door on the left side of the second-floor corridor, revealing a room entirely devoid of furniture, quite spacious. Yet, the wall directly opposite the door was made of glass, and behind that glass wall was a manor under the sunlight.

The scene behind the glass wall was in motion. Xia De, who had entered the room, could distinguish that this was neither an illusion nor a projection; the space behind the glass wall was a genuine, physical space.

In that manor, a young noble lady rose from her bed and began her day.

Time and space were anomalous behind the glass wall. The accelerated sequence showed the noble lady, who appeared polite and gentle to everyone, harboring deep jealousy toward a beautiful maid in the manor.

Both the noble lady and the maid were in the bloom of their youth, around seventeen or eighteen. The lady's own appearance was not lacking, but she paled in comparison to the maid. From the lady's late-night soliloquies, it was clear she envied the maid's beauty and craved that same appearance to highlight her own status.

The story unfolded as expected. By chance, a friend visiting the manor laughingly gave the noble lady a small knife and explained how to use it to craft a skin-suit.

On a stormy night, the noble lady entered the room of the drugged maid, successfully obtained and donned the skin-suit, and spent the night spinning before her bedroom mirror, admiring her newfound beauty amidst the thunder and rain.

Soon after, an identical short blade emerged from the darkness behind her, first stripping away her skin-suit, then flaying her own skin to craft yet another.

The friend then donned the brand-new skin-suit, living out her life in the lady's stead. She would occasionally wear the beautiful maid's skin to seduce men for amusement, but ultimately died at the hands of the maid's vengeful spirit on another stormy night.

After her death, the Hall recovered all three skin-suits and flayed her skin as well, bringing it back to the Hall. The final scene behind the glass wall showed the three skin-suits hanging in the manor's garden, swaying in the warm spring breeze under a clear sky.

"Ugh—"

Wei Ge retched uncontrollably as the final scene appeared. Although, as a Ringed Sorceress, she was accustomed to all manner of grotesque sights, this final image still triggered a visceral, intense discomfort. The others looked equally pale; being used to grotesque things did not mean one enjoyed witnessing such malicious stories.

"I don't understand, why are you showing us these?"

A middle-aged man among the group asked. The young woman leading them replied with a smile:

"Just as I said, the second floor is the workshop and operational area. While we cannot show you the true crafting process of the skin-suits, the Hall can still demonstrate the reasons that lead to their creation."

"Jealousy, vanity, rivalry, or other delightful emotions and sins—they always drive people to desire a better skin. There are five stories this room will show you; this one is not even the most interesting. Time is still on our side, so please watch the next story. Only after we finish can we move to the next room."

Everyone wanted to object, but the space-time behind the glass wall shifted directly. Next came the stories of twin noble brothers jealous of each other's social standing, a noblewoman mother jealous of her young daughter's youth, a serial killer hunting the young to preserve his own youth, and a criminal obsessed with youthful flesh collecting skin-suits.

No one spoke while the stories unfolded. Wei Ge could not bear it after the middle of the second story; she hugged Xia De's arm and leaned her head against his shoulder, refusing to look at the remaining scenes. Even so, Xia De could feel the fluctuations of elements within Wei Ge's soul.

This was not due to her low psychological resilience, but rather the malice and influence of the Sage-level Relic upon those who entered, which had finally erupted. Xia De included, everyone's sanity was being tested. The subtle infiltration into their spirits and souls, combined with the accumulated negative emotions, pushed everyone toward the brink of losing control.

Xia De was faring relatively well, and "She" whispered softly in his ear:

【Outsider, your 'Jealousy/Vanity' sin has increased.】

"She's" voice made Xia De feel his mental state improve significantly:

"But I did nothing; I only watched others' stories. Why would my own sins increase? I feel no jealousy or envy toward others' appearances."

"She's" voice remained gentle:

【This is a characteristic of the Relic itself. Its surface trait is that those who come here grow to love skin-suits more; the deeper truth is that the Hall increases the sins of its visitors.】

"She" paused slightly:

【You have already acquired the 'Jealousy' Spirit Rune. If you stay here for too long, the 'Vanity' Spirit Rune will also appear. However, if you acquire Spirit Runes because you have accumulated enough sin, it will slightly affect your personality.】

"I understand."

【Also.】

"She" smiled very gently:

【Here, there is a suspected presence of the power of the 'Great Sin Brand.'】

"What?"

According to Lady White, who was still sleeping in the form of a snake egg at the peak of the mountains, the "Great Sin Brand" was an opportunity for mortals to ascend to godhood during the First Era—though this was merely a legend.

That brand had triggered the "Original Sin War" in the mythic age, but it shattered in the end, and no one obtained it. Yet, fragments of the brand continued to be passed down secretly in the form of sin. When Xia De first saw "Desire" in the secret chamber beneath the Aurora manor in Coldwater Port, the entity had mentioned this. Now, it seemed "Desire" had also participated in the Original Sin War.

During the Battle of the Snow Mountain, to counter the demons strengthened by the blood of the Primordial Demon, the Doctor's power had allowed Xia De to witness a portion of the truth of the "Great Sin Brand," and the 【Great Sin Chain】 had sublimated due to information provided by Lady White. Thus, "She" could now sense the suspected presence of the power of Original Sin here.

"Wait, could it be that Desire asked for my help not just for its own skin-suit and contract, but because it also had its eyes on that power of sin?"

Xia De was startled, but immediately dismissed the speculation. All along, that mermaid seemed uninterested in the power of "sin"; it was far more interested in the rot deep within human nature, which humans called "Desire."

"The mermaid isn't interested, but there seems to be someone else here who is."

At this moment, the stories behind the glass wall were still ongoing. Aside from Wei Ge, whom Xia De was helping to shield, everyone else stared blankly at the stories behind the glass. Even the thirteenth-rank Geralt Delage could not bring himself to close his eyes.

"Seven strangers. I now know the general identities of five of them. Among the remaining two, could there be a demon?"

By rights, with Xia De's current rank, if a demon were truly this close, he should not be completely unaware. But this was the interior of a Sage-level Relic, and the suspected "Withered Demon" was linked to the location of the "Primordial Demon," so Xia De did not rule out the possibility that the entity could evade his perception.

"If the sixth person is truly a demon, then who is the seventh? Wei Ge's mother, or just a background character?"

Xia De speculated inwardly, but did not share his suspicions about the demon with Wei Ge; it was still too early.

The five acts of the story soon concluded. As they ended, the previously transparent glass instantly transformed into a polished mirror, reflecting the expressions of everyone present—a fitting footnote to the conclusion of those grotesque tales.

Most people looked as if they had just awakened from a nightmare; only Geralt Delage appeared slightly better off. The young woman leading them looked at everyone with a gentle smile:

"This is the reason most skin-suits are born. A very long time ago, the Skinners discovered that rather than going out to find good materials themselves, it was better to wait for people to bring their needs to their doorstep. This, too, could be considered the Hall's business model."

"In the very ancient ages, back when I hadn't even joined the Hall, the Skinners would frequently go out themselves, but that attracted many powerful enemies. Times have changed; most of those powerful enemies have vanished, yet we, having changed our strategy, still exist."

Most people did not listen carefully to her words, struggling instead to stabilize their spirits and the agitation of their souls to prevent losing control.

She waited until the mental state of most had slightly recovered before saying:

"Are these stories exciting? No, sir over there, keep your curses to yourself. Now, before we leave this room, let's play a little game. The winner of the game can receive a souvenir from the Hall."

The young woman snapped her fingers, and the mirror wall turned back into transparent glass. This time, behind the glass was a room identical to the one they were in.

In the center of the room stood a square table, with two sleeping young women slumped on either side. Both appeared to be of Southern descent; the black-haired girl on the left was plain-looking, while the golden-haired girl on the right was a beauty. In the center of the square table lay a toolbox.

The leading woman then said:

"The toolbox contains a set of tools specially provided by the Hall, along with instructions for their use. In a moment, the black-haired girl on the left will wake up first and have ample time to read those instructions."

She smiled at everyone:

"They are strangers to each other. The black-haired girl has always longed for a more beautiful appearance. The game is to guess whether the black-haired girl will use those tools to obtain what she has always wanted but never had, to satisfy her vanity and desire."

"Note, this is not a story that happened in the past. The women behind the glass are alive, normal people who have been sleeping as the Hall's reserve materials for hundreds of years, so even I cannot predict the answer."

"You may each choose your answer. The prize for guessing correctly is a human skin mask. While not a complete skin-suit, it serves as a fine little souvenir. Of course, there is no penalty for guessing wrong; it is just a game."