Whispering Verse

"No!"

Shade couldn't accept this result at all. Against the cold and biting black wind, and amid the repeated whispers and murmurs of countless dead people, he approached the two towering gray stone doors. At this time, the traces of golden embers on his body were really pulling towards him like flames. The power he felt was even more powerful than the gods in the form of saints.

“What exactly is death itself?”

Standing in front of the door, stepping on the last footprints of Priest Augustus, looking up at the full view of the stone door in the darkness. All the clues end here. The priest has crossed this door and gone to another world.

He stood there, thinking about it all. Suddenly he raised his hand and pressed it on the stone door in front of him. The biting cold feeling gave him the illusion of falling into the abyss. She didn't need to give any hints. Shade himself felt what was behind the door.

Behind the door is "The End".

"Do you want to end here? Admit that Priest Augustus did not lie, he is really dead, and then turn around and leave."

Shade asked himself, then looked down at the burning fiery red thread on his wrist.

"Beyond life and death, I've already come here, am I going to turn back like this?"

He raised his head and looked at the huge stone door again, his eyes fixed on the "door", and blood continued to seep from the corners of his eyes. The level of the relic of this door that divides death will never be lower than the sage level (level 2).

"Are you willing?"

Shade asked himself, his soul becoming cold and stiff because of the proximity of death. All things are subject to death, and behind this door is death.

[So foreigner, what are you going to do? 】

Even now, she was still able to chuckle.

"Excuse me, if I also walk through that door, can I still turn back?"

he asked softly, among the murmurs of countless dead people, rather than in his heart. The golden light on his body shines on the door in front of him, but it can only form a blurry light and shadow.

[Everyone is mortal, but you want to look back? 】

She whispered in his ear, the ancient language was so beautiful.

[But if your soul contains a drop of divinity, and your soul has been washed by two drops of divinity, can you really be considered a mortal? 】

Feeling the wind in his ears, Shade was not sure whether it was "her" appearing or the wind of death.

"So, when I step through this door, I can turn back?"

[You can only know this for sure once you get to the other side. 】

"Yeah?"

Shade put his right hand on the door with a little force, but the stone door didn't move at all. It seemed that he needed more strength.

[But I can guarantee that you can come back. 】

"Because of that drop of divinity?"

For God, transcending life and death is a simple matter.

Shade shook his head and walked from the giant stone door on the right to the center of the two doors, letting the wind that represented the end of all things blowing from the crack in the door blow directly on his body.

His body became cold and stiff, and his physical strength and spirit, which were slowly recovering, completely fell silent. The wind contained the true meaning of death, and he was getting closer and closer to the [Death] spirit rune.

If he could obtain spiritual runes in such a place, he couldn't imagine how powerful it would be.

Stretch out your hands, hold a door with each hand, then bend slightly and use force on your waist to let your shoes sink into the mud on the ground:

"Ah~"

All the strength in my body was eager to push the door open, but the door wouldn't budge.

[No, it’s because I am with you. 】

She was chuckling, as if she was praising herself.

Shade felt like he was being hugged, and this time it was not an illusion, because he really saw a pair of silver transparent arms wrapped around his neck.

"Help."

He spoke softly, a voice that only he could hear in the empty darkness.

[Remember what to say? 】

She is still smiling.

"You are me."

The whistle blows and the bells ring distantly. In the scorching steam mist, a brass life ring covered with fine golden spots appeared behind Sha De. The black wind passed by Sha De's side and blew on the life ring, leaving scratches on the life ring. The life ring seemed to be shattered by this, but as the rust-like coating around the scratches peeled off, golden traces of light shone beneath the brass.

Unfortunately, Shade didn't look back, so he didn't see this scene.

【.I am you. 】

The silver arms overlapped with Shade's arms, but separated again at the palms. Two pairs of palms pressed against the cold and huge stone door at the same time. As the ten spiritual runes on the life ring behind Sha De emitted dazzling spiritual light at the same time, the golden light marks on his body that represented divinity became brighter and brighter. , as the silver moonlight in his eyes becomes brighter and brighter——

squeak! ah!

Shade took a step forward, and the door was pushed open.

Dazzling white light shot into Shade's eyes from the crack of the door that was pushed open. As everything in front of his eyes turned white, he could vaguely hear the sound of the tide in his ears.

Leaving all his belongings in front of the door to prevent them from being affected, Shade walked towards the white light.

The door slammed shut behind him.

[Stranger, you have entered death. 】

[Outlander, you have a better understanding of "death" and "sleep". 】

Foreigners who have probably died once before coming to this world don't know what death is. He originally thought that the world opposite would be a void of darkness, or some strange and bizarre sights, but when the white light in front of him disappeared, he actually found himself standing on the shore, facing the endless water in front of him.

The sky was black and extremely low. Behind him was a stone wall with no end to the left and right. The two huge stone doors were inlaid on the stone wall. Only in front of the stone door was there a beach that could be stood on.

The sound of the tide could be clearly heard, but the water surface under the low black sky was exceptionally calm.

Looking up, I saw a huge silver moon stationed far away on the horizon, but only half of the moon was above the water. The other half sank beneath the black water and was not visible at all. The silver moonlight was so silent, so strange, and even had a maddening sense of holiness.

Although the silver moon looks big, it seems to be very far away from the endless black water. The moonlight makes the calm water show sparkling lights.

The water surface is not empty. There are shadows, countless white shadows, with their backs to Shade, standing on the calm and boundless water surface, as if they are moving towards the distance. The moonlight illuminated them, but their physical characteristics could not be seen clearly, and it was impossible to distinguish their distance.

Shade knew that this was the soul. On this boundless water surface, the departed soul was continuing to walk towards the moon that was half submerged in the water.

"Mingyue?"

The surroundings were so cold that Shade even felt that he had lost the ability to sense temperature.

He looked down at his hand, and the golden light in the crack was still so dazzling in the darkness. He raised his hand to face the silver moon that could drive people crazy, and the moonlight shone on his face from between his fingers. His hand did not become transparent, it was still a colored entity. But he could feel the rejection of him here, and he could feel the power that once he fell asleep again, it was absolutely impossible to open his eyes again.

"Is this the world after death?"

He couldn't describe this place in any words, he just felt extremely tired.

"Can I smile?"

So I asked in my heart, and the familiar voice chuckled:

[Strange request. 】

The ancient language and the light laughter made Shade's quickly exhausted spirit feel better, and at this moment, a voice came from behind:

"This is not the real death. Death is a concept, not a world. And this is just the area closest to death manifested by people's understanding of death. Of course, it can also be considered as death, and the difference is not the same. Not much. But the real eternal sleep and the wall of the unbelievers are at the end of the water. Man comes from his mother's amniotic fluid, so he eventually returns to the water, and that's why you see all this."

Shade turned his head and looked around. The old man wearing a priest's robe had his feet off the ground, embedded between the two huge stone doors behind him.

It was Priest August. A pair of broken white-feathered wings grew out of his back, exposing the skeleton and flesh. Most of the white feathers had been singed, which looked particularly terrifying.

The old man leaned against the crack of the closed stone door. The back half of his body seemed to be completely integrated with the two stone doors, and the pair of wings were almost completely integrated into the stone doors.

His feet were about half a person's height off the ground, and two wings spread from his back to the entire stone gate like tree roots sprouting. The huge charred wings and skeleton perfectly blended with the death scene of the stone door itself, as if this door should be like this.

Shade's turn also allowed Priest August to see his face. The stranger turned his back to the huge silver moon behind him, and the old priest's eyes widened in shock:

"Hello, Shade. Huh? Shade?"

For a few seconds, the tired old man could only make strange sounds with his throat, and he was even too surprised to speak:

"Xia De? What happened? Are you dead too?"

"Actually, I'm more curious about how I pushed the door open just now."

A smile appeared on Shade's lips, he whispered, and then looked up at Priest August on the door:

"I'm not dead. Doctor Schneider and the others entrusted me to come to you. This is really not easy. You can't imagine how hard I worked."

Except for being a little tired, the old man was not much different from the last time we parted at Tobesk train station. He even wore the same set of clothes. Priest Augustus always seemed to like to wear this clerical robe.

"What are you doing? Aren't you curious about the wings behind me?"

The priest seemed to want to rebuke him, but in the end he just asked tiredly. Their voices were almost silent in the death, but they could be heard clearly.

"Aren't you curious about this weird look on my skin?"

Shade asked. He was also adapting to this world. He didn't even open his mouth, but his voice appeared directly in the priest's ears.

The two looked at each other. Behind the priest was the stone wall with the picture of death written on it. Behind Shade was the silver moon half submerged in the water and countless souls.

There is actually no need to ask these questions.