Chapter 707: *Scroll of Ye Ge*

"Miss Olanode, do you know more information about the 【Gate of Death】?"

Xia De asked again, and the witch nodded slightly:

"That gate is difficult to move due to its size and other reasons, but not every death row prisoner can be safely escorted to the execution ground located in the Central Continent. Therefore, the characteristics of that 【Gate of Death】 include a method of opening the gate outside of the main body."

This could also be called spatial movement, but paying with one's life as the price was perhaps too harsh.

"I am not a member of the Supreme Witch Council, because the previous councilors are all still there, so my teacher is currently only a candidate. But it is said that one needs to find a boundary between death and life, and then have a formal councilor of the council act as the executioner, using the power of the council to summon a projection of the 【Gate of Death】 at the boundary. The effect after opening the gate is exactly the same as the main body of the gate."

She paused, then added:

"Teacher said that the appearance of the 【Gate of Death】 is related to the departure of the ancient god 【Ancient Death God】. The council treats that gate as an instrument of torture rather than a research object; their brains are truly not normal. The Witch Council is already very corrupt now; perhaps in a few thousand years, the council will collapse on its own due to infighting among the great witches."

Such words were very much in line with Miss Feilian's personality, and Xia De also revealed a smile. From the truth he had learned, the destruction of the Fifth Era was indeed related to the disagreements among the great witches of the council.

He bent down to pick up the stone slab wrapped in clothes and touched a corner of the slab lightly with his finger. In this library, only the three books requested by the god truly came from the First Era, so it once again triggered the miracle 【Ancient Sound】 to take effect.

The information this time was also brief, and because it was obtained by touching the *Scroll of Ye Ge*, the content was also related to death:

【All mortals must die, and all things must come to an end. Even ancient gods will depart; this is something that the earliest followers of death have long known. The gods know the fate of the future, so in the earliest era, they promised their believers: before departing, all arrangements must be made. Life and death have cycles, and departure must have a return.】

It sounded like there was no useful information, only saying that the departed ancient gods would definitely return again, and before the ancient gods departed, they would also make arrangements for the future.

But Xia De had long known about such things, for example, the 【Father of the Infinite Tree】. This ancient god had truly arranged everything for the outsider who only came to this world in the Sixth Era. Even Xia De having such thoughts at this moment might be within the expectations of the Tree Father.

"However, if the departure of the ancient gods was not abrupt, and the believers had long known that the ancient gods would definitely return, then where did those ancient god sects that had long since disappeared go? As long as faith does not die, they, who possess the most ancient power, should not have disappeared so thoroughly... Could it be that modern ancient organizations, as well as the Zhengshen Sect, are all related to the thirteen ancient god sects..."

The time Xia De could stay was not long, so after getting the stone slab, the two returned to the foyer of the Gadis Library gate.

They had only been gone for more than ten minutes, but Miss Peggy Samuel, who was left by the bonfire, seemed to have fully recovered. When the two returned, she took the initiative to stand up from the bonfire to greet them.

Xia De noticed that the box he had taken out had been stacked in a wind-sheltered position; it seemed she had not been sitting there the whole time.

"Got it."

Xia De shook the stone slab wrapped in clothes in his hand and asked Miss Samuel if she wanted to check this book.

The eleventh-tier witch immediately shook her head, but Miss Olanode took the clothes from Xia De's hand, unfolded them with her back to the two to look at the stone slab, sighed, and handed the stone slab back:

"It's fine, you can look at it directly, but don't stare at it for too long."

The size of that stone slab was about twice that of ordinary letter paper. Although it looked like gray stone material, it felt inexplicably like bone product when touched. The back of the stone slab was blank, and only the front had patterns.

There were no decorative patterns, nor any images; there was only a line of words written on the stone slab in bone-piece-style letters, and Xia De had seen this line of words not long ago:

【World (Year 1 of the First Era to the Present)】.

The writing style of these flowery letters was exactly the same as the text on the back of the Luo De cards seen in the hands of Joy Barton, the "Person of Reversed Life" at the Crow Club not long ago, even the way the flowery letters were written and finished was identical.

"It really is ancient."

He sighed softly, then asked again:

"Miss Olanode, this looks like a tombstone. Could it be that books from the past were all like this? The *Threaded Text* I handed over to the god when I came last time was also just a stone slab."

"We haven't been able to open the book correctly yet; this is just the cover."

Miss Samuel, who seemed to have recovered well, gave the answer:

"When people of the First Era made books that needed to be preserved for a long time, they would all use this method. The stone slab is just the external appearance; the true knowledge is still hidden within."

"Then how should this kind of book be viewed... press it under the pillow and then go to sleep?"

Both witches were amused by Xia De, and the three sat around the bonfire:

"No, no, read out the name of this book, and this book will open. The language used must be the language of the book's name itself, otherwise it cannot be opened. The *Threaded Text*, *Scroll of Ye Ge*, and *Nameless Sacrificial Book* are all books from the First Era, so you have to use the lost language of the First Era. But all knowledge of the First Era is forbidden; the Gray-Robed Sage also said that it is not something mortals can touch."

Speaking of this, the young witch of the Zhalas Academy also felt quite sentimental... at least she looked very young.

"First Era language, huh..."

Xia De hesitated for a moment:

"Do you know how the *Scroll of Ye Ge* should be written in the language of the First Era?"

Miss Samuel frowned suspiciously, and Miss Olanode shook her head cautiously:

"I don't know; that is forbidden knowledge. Xia De, do not try to peek at that knowledge. Those who madly pursue knowledge will definitely fall into eternal madness. At least, for you right now, that is the case."

"I understand."

Xia De nodded. He was actually wanting to try to peek at the knowledge inside the book before leaving this era. After all, once the adventure of the time key returned, the injuries received in the past would disappear, so as long as Xia De didn't go completely insane all at once, the Father of the Infinite Tree would definitely let him recover.

The knowledge was in his hands, and knowledge about 【Death】 might even provide help for solving the trouble in Mid-Hill Castle. But Miss Olanode was also right; he was not yet qualified to peek at the knowledge of the First Era. Those lost histories and truths were still a bit far from Xia De. ===== CHAPTER 708 =====