Chapter 966: Chapter 159: He Lost Time, Lost Anna, and Now Even His Sanity
"Gates of Hell..."
A faint whisper echoes in the cold basement.
Darkness envelops everything here; aside from black and purer black, there are no other colors.
The murmurs merge into the darkness, restoring silence.
But at a certain moment, a sound of awakening hums from the attic outside the basement.
"Hmm..."
The young man, dragging his cold and rigid body, climbs up, looking around the pitch-black surroundings in confusion.
Am I still alive?
Involuntarily, he thinks of this, suddenly realizing the terrifying truth—
The surging darkness encases him.
Light... light!
Trembling with fear, the young man gropes around, touching a broken, cold, fuel-dry oil lamp, which he despairingly clutches to his chest.
As time ticks by, nothing happens.
Why am I unharmed?
Baffled, he surveys his surroundings, seeing the dim reflection of snow outside the attic window, along with a figure more black than the darkness, elegant and profound, the shadow of a maiden.
The monster in the dark has come for me! Am I... going to die...
The young man’s face fills with terror at the thought, his emotions freezing as the shadow of the maiden walks toward the door.
"I... I am Jon... Do you... know me,"
Jon, realizing something, couldn’t help but speak out.
"Do you know something? Is it you—"
"You’re already dead," she said.
Dead...?
Jon froze, memories from not long ago flooding his mind.
His hand instinctively moved to his chest, feeling not only the dried blood but also a pierced hollow.
"Those monsters... Tashana..."
Tears and snot streamed across Jon’s face as he buried himself in resentment, anguish, and reluctance.
"Haven’t lost your memory, nor collapsed knowing you’re dead... Was it successful."
A faint voice arose.
Jon painfully lifted his head: "May I ask... how much longer can I live?"
"Until others find out you’ve died, or you’re killed once more."
"What...?"
...
"Symbols... what are they?"
Ophelia looked at the symbol resembling a maiden’s silhouette.
Lu Li handed her the intelligence from the Shadow Church, the first page depicting the same symbol.
"How... did they... know... about here?"
"If the church is related to her, they would definitely know."
There are Shadow Church markings here; there should be other clues.
Unfortunately, the ruins were melted into magma by Ophelia, leaving the basement devoid of further clues.
Exiting the basement, closing the iron door, they searched the house, finding nothing except for a darker bloodstain on the attic floor and a broken oil lamp.
The reason for the Shadow Church’s appearance remains a mystery. The ruins outside the Gates of Hell persist, and Hades has never seen others arrive...
"Have Vena Ice-Free Port investigate the church symbol’s origin," Lu Li told Merchant Anthony.
"You... suspect..."
"Only Anna and I know about this place."
"And... me."
"And me too!" The leader echoed. "But I don’t understand."
"Shadow... Church... symbol..."
"It might originate from Anna, or perhaps Anna left the symbol."
Returning to the frigid, wind-swept streets, having solved the trouble for Puxiu, they faced two choices.
Return to the Twisted Vine Church to wait out the calamity or advance through the dreaded Mist Tide and Eternal Night.
"Footprints."
The cloth-headed leader, with snowflakes on her head, extended a small finger toward the darkness deep within the alley.
The approaching oil lamp dispelled the mist and darkness, illuminating the yellowing snow on which footprints stretched into the alley depths.
Due to the wind, the footprints in the alley were preserved to the greatest extent.
The time the footprints were left was after the Harsh Winter Season and no more than a week old.
The tread patterns indicate it was a human, or at least a humanoid capable of wearing shoes.
Was Lu Li’s guess wrong? Were they really from the Shadow Church?
Ophelia looked at Lu Li, awaiting his decision.
...
"It’s... here."
Jon grit his teeth and lifted the cellar’s wooden board.
His hands were reddened from the cold.
To feel cold despite being dead? Truly astonishing.
A marveling Jon turned and climbed into the cellar. Before long, the oil lamp’s dim glow appeared at the bottom.
The empty cellar contained only a clothing-made bed in one corner and useless garbage, a few pieces of fluorite in a glass jar emitting a faint glow.
Oil lamps were scarce resources, which Jon rarely used.
Located at the edge of Watch Town, this cellar was similarly cold but much better than the surface.
Jon didn’t know why the Shadow of the Maiden followed him; once he lit the oil lamp, he timidly stood aside, disregarding the hollow and bloodstains on his chest.
Then nothing happened; the elegant outline of the Shadow of the Maiden was merely projected on the wall, silently watching for a moment before turning away.
"Are you leaving?"
Jon instinctively asked, seeing the Shadow of the Maiden ignoring him; he quickly shouted.
"Please wait! Can you tell me your name?"
"Shadow of the Maiden."
A soft whisper sounded.
"Thank you... you are a good... good person."
"Good person..."
The sharp wind blew across the cellar entrance.
Watching the shadow that resurrected him but then left, Jon was left alone in the cellar, bewildered.
Am I still considered human?
Do I still linger here, barely surviving? There’s no way to find food in Watch Town after those monsters left...
So where to go? Belfast or Himfast? I’ve heard there’s a place called Vena Ice-Free Port in the Lennon Islands and the Main Affinity Continent that’s safe...
...
Bam—
Ophelia lifted the cellar’s wooden board.
Stale, putrid gases surged out.
"It should... be... here."
The footprints vanished after leaving the alley, but sharp-eyed leader found the cellar at the edge of Watch Town.
Ophelia’s hand holding the oil lamp extended into the cellar. The mist-shrouded depth remained unseen, deeper than expected.
Raising a finger, the dark red magma dripped from the fingertip, forming a bright thread that revealed the cellar’s outline.
It also illuminated a delicate pale side profile seemingly tinged with blush.
A corner with a bed made of worn-out clothes, useless garbage, a desk, and a glass bottle holding fluorite.
Anna tilted her head to speak with Lu Li: "Inside... it’s safe."
Lu Li lowered his eyes, then lifted them to nod gently at Ophelia.
He and Ophelia entered the cellar, leaving the merchant outside.
Holding the oil lamp, Lu Li approached the desk; the drawer was empty.
The person hiding here took everything that could be taken, except for the fluorite.
"Here... a symbol."
Ophelia had discovered something.
At the bottom of the ladder, another Shadow Church marker was carved.
It’s not of much use, except for knowing Anna or the Shadow Church had been here, they knew nothing else.
Leaving the cellar, they surveyed the surroundings.
No footprints, as the snow covered everything, and the wind scattered it again.
The trail ended here.
But on the blurred edge of the dark front, Lu Li saw Anna standing barefoot in the snow, wearing a white dress, eyes smiling as she waved to him.