Chapter 695: The Gift of Desire

The sin of gluttony was displayed in full at this moment. Rooted in the fire of the Phoenix, blood and fire spread throughout the entire hall. Blood seeped from beneath Xia De's hands, and the black tablecloth was gradually dyed the color of blood.

Xia De, dressed in blood-stained clothes, sat at one end of the empty long table. As he rose from his prone position, gold and silver tableware fell one by one from high above. In the firelight, those foods that emitted an alluring aroma turned from illusory to real. The shining plates reflected the light of the golden candelabra ignited by the Phoenix's fire. It was not snowing high above; on the contrary, the power of sin connected with more filthy powers that Xia De had once devoured.

Just like at the divine banquet, strings of fangs hung down in the blood-red light. The heavy, bloody stench even stained the statues hiding in the shadows, which wore expressions of terror, with the color of blood.

The blood-red light and the firelight complemented each other, making the gloomy banquet hall appear even more surreal. Xia De, within the 【Fishbone Pirate Ship】, displayed the power of the 【Lord of the Blood Banquet】 based on 【The Little Match Girl】. And at this moment, relying on his increasingly proficient application of that gluttonous power, he reproduced that eerie blood-red banquet relying solely on the Phoenix's fire.

"The Phoenix has awakened?"

Mr. Armand Bernhard, of the vampire species, was not surprised by the power Xia De displayed, but attributed it to the Ancient One at the summit. Sister Delyth, whose silver eye mask reflected the blood-red light, turned her head slightly to look at Xia De, as if she had encountered a problem that was difficult to understand.

"Blood Banquet..."

The master of the mansion, that decrepit old man, showed a look of astonishment for the first time. He leaned on the table, wanting to stand up, but failed. He could only stare with wide eyes at the young man in blood-stained clothes on the other side of the long table:

"What do you want to do?"

Although somewhat panicked, he still maintained his decorum.

"I only need you to answer one question."

Even with the support of the Phoenix's flames, the spirit within Xia De was still flowing rapidly. It was only by borrowing the power of "gluttony" that had settled within his divinity that he could reproduce this scene time and time again, but the consumption of such a spectacle was even greater than that of a mystical lock:

"Just now, when you were playing cards with us, did you cheat?"

Xia De, in his blood-stained clothes, asked in a deep voice.

The old man's lips, which were as blue and pale as a corpse's, twitched:

"You should leave. I consider this game of cards my loss."

"Do you admit your sin?"

"Yes, I cheated. This is the sin of lies and deception; I will not deny it."

"Hand over the pearl earrings I want, the Fire of Sin the nun wants, and the blood cup this gentleman wants."

"I can give them to you, but you must also answer one question of mine."

He pressed his hands on the tabletop and lunged forward. At the same time, all the terracotta figures around turned toward Xia De, their eyes glaring at him in anger. The diffused blood mist seemed to have been struck by an invisible wind, and the fangs hanging from the ceiling swayed and collided with each other.

Pure black patterns representing the power of sin were invading the Blood Banquet. The powers of red and black collided in the invisible, twisted void. The fierce clash of blood and sin, fire and evil thoughts, caused all the surrounding glass to shatter.

Mr. Bernhard hurriedly covered his head and dodged. The nun folded her hands together and placed them on her lap. The firelight and blood-red color were reflected in her flawless eye mask; she was still "gazing" at Xia De.

Clearly, although Xia De had the upper hand, the master of the mansion was not without the power to fight back:

"You are only able to temporarily suppress the 【Sin Mansion】 by borrowing the power of others, but this power does not belong to you."

He spoke in a suppressed voice, stating Xia De's current state. With his hands pressed on the tabletop, the black patterns representing the power of the Great Sin were resisting the spread of the blood-red color:

"Gluttony, Greed, Sloth—you now possess the power of three original sins, but I can tell that this is not your deepest sin at all. Tell me—"

"Outsider, what exactly is your Great Sin? I admit that I have committed the sin of deception and lies. Then what about you, Outsider? Do you admit your own sin?"

"My sin?"

Xia De frowned:

"God loves the world, I..."

Mr. Bernhard, shocked by this scene, looked at Xia De, while Sister Delyth lowered her head, sorting the cards in front of her among the shining gold and silver tableware. She seemed to have completely understood what was happening at this moment.

"... I..."

【God loves the world, do you love them?】

"She" suddenly whispered in Xia De's ear, almost causing Xia De's serious expression to collapse.

"God loves the world. I am not God, but I yearn for this state."

Perhaps to Sister Delyth and Mr. Bernhard, Xia De meant that he intended to hold goodwill toward everyone like God, but in reality, this referred to Xia De's intention to become a god.

"No, this is not your Great Sin."

The master of the mansion said in a low voice:

"Do you not even have the courage to face your inner self, Outsider? Carrying such heavy power forward, do you really not know your own sin?"

Resisting the power of the Blood Banquet from the gods, his entire body was deforming. The image of the dying old man was just a facade; the true master of the mansion, who had been devoured while excavating the power of sin in the ancient era, had long since turned into a monster.

Xia De recalled the many events of the nearly four months since he arrived in this world:

"God loves the world; I love myself."

Accompanied by the soft laughter in his ears, the old man on the other side of the long table also laughed wildly. Xia De even thought he might die of laughter because of it:

"So that's how it is. To think there is a madman like you in this world. Go, all of you, go. A madman like you existing in the world is definitely more interesting than staying here. Great Sin! Desire! Very good, very good. You will be my fellow traveler; you are even crazier than I am."

The terracotta figures in the shadows of the firelight delivered a pair of pearl earrings and an ancient, blood-red metal wine cup to Xia De and Mr. Bernhard, respectively. Xia De looked at the earrings, which were clearly relics, and knew very well that these were the culprits behind the current situation. Mr. Bernhard's face revealed an expression of ecstasy; this foreign nobleman could not control his emotions at all at this moment.

Subsequently, a filthy flame, as if collected from the abyss, was thrown by the old man to Sister Delyth. She was immediately consumed by black fire, and even Mr. Bernhard on the other side of the table could feel the terror of that flame. But that flame was then covered by another kind of fire, and in an instant, it disappeared without a trace.

"Craving the Fire of Sin will only lead to self-immolation. Nun, I do not know which god you believe in, but God must have already guessed your ending. Because I... it was because I excavated the Fire of Sin underground that I became like this... Leave, all of you, leave."

Xia De stood up and waved his hand, and his own Tarot cards left the hands of Sister Delyth and Mr. Bernhard, respectively. And as he rose, the Blood Banquet absorbed the power representing sin from the surroundings into Xia De's body, but it did not have any effect on him for the time being.

Sister Delyth and Mr. Bernhard also stood up, while the old man was still laughing wildly. The blood-red color gradually faded, and the vessels containing the sumptuous ingredients disappeared one by one.

Xia De walked in front, followed closely by the nun and Mr. Bernhard. They left the banquet hall with the old man carrying a kerosene lamp who had appeared at the door at some unknown time. And that mocking, wild laughter still lingered in their ears.

"Am I really that stupid?"

Xia De asked in his heart and immediately received an answer. She gave a soft reply. The ancient language was spoken in a whisper, as if a breeze had brushed past his ears. That voice was in his ears, in his heart; she was always like this:

【There is no need to belittle yourself.】

"Why?"

【Because...】

The group walked through the corridor. The corridor, which had been damaged by Sister Delyth's flames, had returned to its original state at some unknown time. The vampire walking at the back was still obsessively looking at the blood cup in his hand, while the nun's eye mask was aimed at Xia De's back.

【... I am you.】

He once again recalled the memory of being wrapped around the neck by smooth arms radiating silver light in front of that Gate of Death.

"Will you be with me forever?"

【Yes.】

She was laughing softly:

【My dear, Outsider.】

Far away from the third floor, the feeling of hunger still lingered around Xia De. But because the master of the mansion had promised in person to let everyone leave, the group safely made their way from the third floor to the first floor. When they arrived at the massive foyer, Xia De hesitated and stopped his steps:

"You all go ahead; I promised someone else that I would return this."

Xia De shook the pair of pearl earrings in his hand. The ornaments requested by 【Desire】 were certainly not mundane objects; they were relics with significant Whispering Elements. Now the path to leave was right in front of him; Xia De actually did not need to return to the wine cellar, as he no longer needed to leave through the wine cellar. But after careful consideration, Xia De still did not want to deceive a Grade 0 relic.

Xia De could even imagine that if he left just like that, perhaps after returning home, he would see that woman's head emerge from the bathtub in the bathroom of No. 6 St. Theresa Square, where all the gas lamps had gone out.

"I will go with you."

The nun said softly.

Mr. Bernhard hesitated, looked down at the wine cup in his hand, gritted his teeth, and also said:

"Then I will go with you too."

He did this to thank Xia De for his help.

"No need, it's just a trip, and the danger in the basement... is actually even greater than the Sin Mansion itself."

He did not know if the nun and the vampire understood what he meant, so he turned and walked along the corridor toward the left:

"Wait for me outside; I will be out soon."

Behind him, Armand Bernhard looked at the nun with hesitation:

"Excuse me, are you that leader of the Spirit Cultivation Society? Actually, I have some matters I would like to ask for your help with. Of course, it is paid."

"We can talk when we get out."

The nun said, and at their side, the old man carrying the oil lamp had already laboriously pushed open the mansion's front door:

"Is the oil lamp in your hand for sale?"

The nun asked softly.

(Little Mia is running...)

There was no one left in the mansion to stop Xia De, so after temporarily saying goodbye to his companions, he successfully returned to the underground wine cellar.

After arriving at the bottom level of the wine cellar from the elevator, the light in the gurgling pool also reflected the rippling light onto Xia De's face.

"You are fast, and you have the smell of fire on you. Is it that Phoenix from underground?"

【Desire】 let out a joyful laugh.

It seemed that after arriving at the Sin Mansion, everyone knew there was a Phoenix on Mount Sikar.

"Yes."

He spread his hands, and inside were the pair of golden pearl earrings. Under the effect of the spell 【Move Object】, they floated slowly toward the pool.

"I thought you would walk over directly."

The woman's head revealed at the edge of the pool said with a smile, while Xia De felt that after the pearl earrings floated for a distance, he lost control over them. The earrings separated, flew to the left and right ears of the beautiful woman's head, and were fixed there:

"Do I look good?"

The "woman" with wet hair asked Xia De shyly at the edge of the pool. But this scene, instead of making Xia De feel romantic, made him feel somewhat terrified. The other party had the power to bewitch the mind with just a smile; it really was Desire itself.

"Of course you are beautiful. To be honest, so far, I have never seen a face more beautiful than yours."

"Although you are a bit timid, you are still honest."

A shy blush appeared on that beautiful face:

"Sloth, so the new sin is this. Look, I said it, sin travels with you."

"But I think this seems to be a sin you induced me to obtain."

Xia De corrected, but the woman just laughed softly. That laughter was truly beautiful...

"Of course, I can't compare to you."

He added in his heart again.

【Thank you.】

"This is the gift I promised you. I think you will like it."

With the soft sound of water, a fair right hand reached out from the water, clutching a rolled-up piece of parchment. Judging by the thickness, the length of this parchment after being unfolded would probably be no less than 5 feet (about 1.5m). And although it was taken out of the water, there was not a drop of water on the parchment.

"Desire" knew that Xia De would not get close, so the old parchment scroll flew toward Xia De automatically. Xia De reached out to catch it and did not feel a single trace of Whispering Elements, which meant that this thing was not a relic.

"This is knowledge; more accurately, this is a book."

"What book?"

Xia De held the heavy parchment tube and examined it up and down. There were some scorched marks on the edges of the parchment.

"The Book of Pink."

"Huh?"

He looked up at the other party and then hurriedly averted his gaze. Now, both fair hands were stretched out, hugging each other and placed on the pool platform in front of the head. But eerily, he still could not see the shoulders and neck.

"I know the Book of Pink; this is..."

"It is not the copies you know; this is a transcript of the original Book of Pink, and it was transcribed by me."

The woman's slightly hoarse voice was exceptionally pleasant to hear.

"The original Book of Pink originated in ancient times, yes, very ancient. When I transcribed it, I changed the content to knowledge suitable for the Sixth Era's extraordinary system. Read it a few more times, and obtaining a Spirit Rune will not be difficult. I think you will be interested in it."

When Xia De first went to the library of St. Byrons, he had seen a Book of Pink on the library shelf. Later, he learned from Dorothy, who had read many books, that this book was... a book to assist in reproduction. Although the content sounded very indecent, the knowledge about spells, incantations, and rituals in it was actually very useful, but in this book, it was mostly used for indecent purposes.

For example, the famous Grease spell and Localized Petrification spell—these ancient spells still radiated vitality in the Sixth Era. And because Xia De's incantations were diversified, incantations had advantages over spells, and he leveled up too fast, he hadn't had time to spend money to pick useful spells from the academy's vast spell list, but this did not mean he was not interested in this knowledge.

For an ordinary Ringed Shushi, it was normal for the number of spells to be three to four times that of incantations, while Xia De was almost the opposite.

"Then... thank you?"

He said hesitantly, accepted the parchment scroll, and decided that to prevent accidents, he would return home and open it in front of the statue behind the hidden wall.

"No need to thank me, Xia De Hamilton."

She said Xia De's name very accurately and then let out that pleasant laugh again:

"This chance encounter is probably an arrangement of fate. I think this will not be our last meeting."

Xia De actually very much wanted this meeting to be the last one.

"Then, we... um, see you next time?"

He just wanted to leave now.

"Sin is also your power. I hope that next time we meet, you can bring me more surprises—at least more surprising than this time's crazy Phoenix."

"Sin is not my power."

Xia De corrected, and then heard the sound of water, as if some behemoth was stirring the pool water at the bottom:

"Oh, how young, how naive."

Both arms were retracted into the water, and the woman's head looked at Xia De with a smile while moving away from the edge of the pool:

"Answer me one question."

As she spoke, the human head had already returned to the center of the pool.

"Please ask."

Xia De noticed that the human head was slowly sinking into the water, but the beautiful eyes that seemed capable of absorbing human souls were still looking at Xia De;

"When the final moment arrives and everything steps into the final demise, is the power of sin not power?"

She did not give Xia De a chance to answer. The beautiful face completely entered the water, but there was no trace of hair floating on the water surface.

The gurgling sound of water gradually disappeared, and the light at the bottom of the pool also extinguished bit by bit. Looking at the square pool again, what was contained inside was clearly red wine.

The underground wine cellar returned to calm, and the Whispering Elements returned to the state they were in within the 【Sin Mansion】. Xia De knew that 【Desire】 had left.

"It didn't stay in Midhillburg, which is a good thing; otherwise, the future of this city would be too pessimistic."

Looking down at the parchment in his hand, Xia De turned and prepared to leave after turning it into a toy and putting it away.

But he did not know that in the dim wine pool behind him, that beautiful human head "rose" quietly again. Eyelashes were stained with wine, and red droplets slid down her cheeks. Her purple eyes narrowed, her slender tongue licked her lips, and the colors of the silver moon were reflected in her pupils.

In the end, she did nothing. It was as if something huge was stirring the liquid in the wine pool, but it was silent.

The woman's head sank into the wine pool:

"Then, see you next time, interesting soul."