Chapter 706: Instruments of Torture

"You haven't obtained it yet?"

Xia De asked. The witch, who was eating an apple, revealed a smile:

"Yes, Xia De, you are very sharp. It is indeed only temporary. The *Threaded Text* was handed over to the god last time. The *Nameless Sacrificial Book*, which records the power of the sun, has been found but is sealed, so it cannot be obtained for the time being. However, the *Scroll of Ye Ge*, which records the mysteries of death, has no seals and can be obtained now. We originally planned to wait until the long black snow ended before retrieving it, but since you have already appeared, let us go and get it now."

She glanced at Miss Samuel, whose face was pale; the latter was shivering as if she had a severe cold:

"Peggy, you stay here to look after the luggage and my apprentice. Xia De, you come with me; the black snow seems to have no effect on you."

"Yes, I am immune to the power of instant death."

"That makes things even more convenient."

She stood up, and the cloak on her body covered those lace-up ladies' long cloth boots. Seeing Xia De staring at her boots, she teased:

"If you like looking, then there will be time during this journey for you to look as much as you want."

"I didn't mean it like that..."

"It doesn't matter."

She signaled that Xia De did not need to explain further, then walked toward the door first.

The ruins in this vicinity were all part of the Gadis Library, but due to building collapses and other strange reasons, it was impossible to reach the various corners of the library from the foyer where the bonfire was located, which was why they needed to find another entrance to enter the deeper parts of the library.

And after leaving the foyer, the undead, who had revived because of this black snow, noticed them once again.

Miss Olanode grabbed Xia De's hand and took him into the air again. The two of them used moonlight to temporarily disperse the evil spirits in the air, but they did not lower their guard because of this:

"Watch out for your safety; it is not just souls that can fly."

"Roar!"

The astonishing roar even made Xia De worry that it would trigger an avalanche, and the black dots that appeared in the distance amidst the sky-filling black snow seemed to be...

It was a huge skeleton, with wings on its back and bone spurs covering its long tail. Red light flickered in its eye sockets, which vaguely made Xia De think of the 'Human Pus' form of Dac Nisi.

"Bone Dragon. There are too many ruins buried in the Valley of Deathly Silence; the Gadis Library is only a part of it. This one flew over from somewhere else. Xia De, hold on tight to me."

Facing the black snow, the thirteen-tier golden steps shone brilliantly.

"Moonlight Greatsword!"

This was a familiar name, but the greatsword that extended from Miss Olanode's hand was nearly a hundred meters long:

"Heh~"

The translucent, clear yellow weapon swung forward in a sweeping posture, rolling up wind and snow, almost dyeing the sky yellow as well. The skeletal giant dragon had no chance to dodge at all and became a pile of wreckage under the sword.

The giant sword disintegrated into scattered points of light that flew in all directions, and Miss Olanode also pulled Xia De into a pitch-black cave entrance on the side of the cliff. Once inside the building, the undead outside became quiet again.

"The Moonlight Greatsword from just now was truly powerful."

Xia De let go of Miss Olanode's hand and praised her from the bottom of his heart. The latter clapped her hands and then summoned three fireballs to guard her side, which also provided light:

"【Moonlight Greatsword】 is a quite ancient miracle, simple and effective. Over the long years, users have developed many forms and effects for it. If there is time, I can explain it to you in detail, but for now, please follow me."

After sizing up the surroundings to confirm their location, they walked inward along this dim passage. Their boots stepped on the dust-covered floor, and the moldy smell made it almost impossible to breathe. This path was very strange; there were no doors or windows on either side, only mottled murals, and at the end of the passage, there was no road, only a life-sized statue standing against the wall.

Borrowing the light of the fireballs, Xia De saw the statue. Its image was a skeleton wearing a robe, tightly hugging a stone slab with its bony arms. The material of the statue was bronze, but the surface was already mottled with rust, and it had probably stood here for countless years.

Because of the rust on the surface, the metal was no longer smooth, which instead made the skeleton look as if it had grown dense bone spurs, making its appearance even more strange and terrifying.

The more he stared at it, the more Xia De felt that this thing was not right. When his eyes met those hollow eye sockets, a suction force actually seemed to want to suck Xia De's spirit into them.

A fair hand blocked Xia De's vision, and Miss Olanode interrupted Xia De's eye contact with the skeleton:

"Do not look at it; this is not something a living person should come into contact with.

I once heard my teacher mention this: the Soul-Casting Skeleton, a forbidden alchemical weapon made by people of the Second Era using twisted knowledge. Like the so-called 'Giant God Soldier,' it was a servant of ancient supernatural beings. That stone slab is the *Scroll of Ye Ge*. We discovered it when Miss Feilian encountered an accident, but because we had to send Miss Feilian back, we never took action to retrieve it."

As she spoke, she blocked Xia De behind her, then reached out to touch the stone slab held by the skeleton.

A faint cracking sound appeared, and bleeding cracks actually appeared on Miss Olanode's palm. She withdrew that hand, and as green smoke covered the surface of the hand, the cracks slowly healed; this was an elf's healing spell:

"Malice toward the living is a characteristic of this kind of evil alchemical weapon. It would have been more troublesome originally, as one would have to temporarily transform oneself into an undead creature to deceive the statue, but since you have come, Xia De, you retrieve it."

She signaled for Xia De to step forward.

"But I am also a living person."

"For this era, you haven't even been born yet. Rest assured, nothing will happen."

A smile appeared at the corner of her mouth as she took Xia De's hand and came to the front of the skeleton statue.

Since she said so, Xia De carefully reached out his hand. During the process of extending his palm, nothing happened at all. It was only when his hand was about to touch the stone slab that the skeleton moved abruptly.

It did not launch an attack, but its arms moved to block Xia De's hand, forbidding him from touching the stone slab:

"You are not a living person... what are you?"

The language used by the monotonous voice was one Xia De had never heard before; this was probably the language of the era when the skeleton was made. After Xia De translated it for Miss Olanode, he replied:

"I am a human."

"Are you... one who has returned from death?"

"Yes."

Xia De had entered and exited through the gate in front of that body of water, so he could indeed be considered as having returned from death. Thinking about it this way, Xia De met both conditions of the third Chosen One: "eyes related to death" and "nearly capable of returning from death." His eyes could see undead that normal Ringed Shushi could not see.

"Answer one question, and this book can be handed to you."

Xia De raised an eyebrow, and after consulting Miss Olanode's opinion again, he nodded:

"May I ask, what is the question?"

"What is death?"

After translating it for Miss Olanode, the latter wanted to answer, but Xia De stopped her with a smile:

"I know the answer to this question; I am quite clear about it."

As he spoke, his left hand, which had not been extended, wiped lightly in the air, and a black crack immediately opened. Behind the crack was the shallow beach in front of the tranquil water.

That was not the Underworld, but a conceptualized location that appeared because of the observation of the living regarding the concept of "death," so it did not have the concepts of time and space. Theoretically speaking, anyone from any era opening a passage to this place from any location would arrive at the same position. But precisely because of observation, what should have been the same "position" became different.

Therefore, behind that crack at this moment, there was no "Kiss of the Tree" bonfire of Xia De's, no light of the Underworld Moon, and no Gate of Death located at the foot of the mountain in the south of the city.

"Look, this is death. The most real death."

Xia De said softly, as if praising the wonder of this miracle.

Miss Olanode took two steps back, looking at the crack with some horror, and the skeleton did not give a response immediately either, as if it too had been startled by Xia De's actions:

"Real... death..."

Accompanied by a sizzling sound, the skeleton uttered the last few words, then collapsed with a bang, scattering into a pile of thoroughly rusted metal wreckage.

The stone slab of the *Scroll of Ye Ge* fell into the bronze wreckage but did not shatter from the fall. Xia De learned his lesson and did not dare to look closely at the stone slab. He glanced at the position of the stone slab with his peripheral vision, then took off his coat, intending to wrap it up.

"Xia De, that crack just now was..."

"It leads to the concept of death itself; it can be understood as the most real death."

Xia De explained simply, and Miss Olanode must have understood:

"I once stepped into death through the relic 【Gate of Death】, and then came back. Yes, through the power of the god 【Yaobian Gate】 we saw in the Forest of a Thousand Trees."

"Gate of Death... is what you are talking about the double-opening stone gate, and is it engraved with stories of death?"

Miss Olanode asked suspiciously, and Xia De nodded, preparing to pick up the stone slab from the wreckage:

"Have you also seen this gate in this era?"

"Yes, but why would you enter that gate?"

The pointed-eared witch frowned and gripped Xia De's wrist to keep him from squatting down, as if to confirm whether he was truly still alive:

"In the present, this gate is an instrument of torture, the most terrifying instrument of torture used by the Supreme Witch Council to punish witches who have made mistakes. We do not use terrible punishments like hanging or beheading; that is not decent. Death row prisoners will walk into the Gate of Death and then step into death."

"Between the Fifth Era and the Sixth Era, what exactly happened?"

This is the question in Xia De's heart: the instrument of torture, held by the Witch Council in this era, actually became a key relic in the hands of the Orthodox Church in the next era, used to assist in sealing the Abyss. The shifting of eras has buried too many truths; even an investigator like Xia De, who can walk through past time, cannot know the whole truth.

"I have never heard of any living person being able to walk out from behind that gate again."

Miss Olanode added, and very coincidentally, Xia De had heard of two. ===== CHAPTER 707 =====