Chapter 822: Guide

The sailor fell completely silent and lay motionless among the tall black and white grass, imagining that he had become a real corpse.

The wind blew chaotically from all directions, pushing the grass in the wilderness. Some sounds seemed to gradually appear in the turbulent waves of grass - it sounded like distant whispers, vague conversations, vague sighs, and... There is an ethereal melody like music.

The sailor closed his eyes and allowed himself to be immersed in the calmness of the dead, immersed in this endless wasteland.

Agatha held her cane and slowly circled the sailor three times. The runes on the ground lit up under her footsteps, and the pale flame gradually glowed brightly. Then she stopped near the sailor's head again, and The cane was inserted into the ground and he slowly opened his arms.

The wind in the wilderness became more chaotic and violent in an instant, and the sounds that came with the wind suddenly became much clearer. However, just when Duncan thought that the "gatekeeper" on this side had been awakened, the surrounding wind gradually became clearer. It stopped, and all the sounds disappeared.

"...Huh?" Agatha opened her eyes in confusion, her brows gradually frowning.

"What's going on?" Duncan immediately asked curiously.

The sailor lying on the ground couldn't help but open his eyes. He realized that there seemed to be something wrong with the ceremony, but he remembered Agatha's instructions just now, so he didn't dare to speak or turn his head casually. He could only continue to tense up and fight with all his strength. Convey your doubts with your eyes.

"...The moment the 'passage' was established, I seemed to really feel the breath of the 'gatekeepers' of the world of the dead," Agatha said with a frown, "but they didn't respond and left directly."

"No response?" Duncan asked doubtfully, and at the same time he looked down at the mummy lying stretched on the ground, glaring desperately. "Has your 'forgery' been discovered?"

"That's not the reason...it doesn't matter whether we can see through it or not. Our original purpose was to have the 'gatekeepers' on this side appear. As long as they come, even if my fake deceased is seen through on the spot, they will show up. ," Agatha said and shook her head, "It is better to say that if a fake deceased is really discovered, they will show up faster - this is a more serious 'bad event' than the appearance of a real deceased. "

Duncan nodded thoughtfully, but then reacted: "Huh? Does this mean that doing this will anger the gatekeepers on 'this side'?"

Agatha nodded calmly: "Yes, if they found out what I was doing - they would be very, very angry."

Duncan's eyes became strange: "...You never mentioned this before."

"As long as you don't get discovered," Agatha shrugged. "There's nothing you can do if you get discovered. I can't beat him, but I can run very fast by jumping through the mirror. It won't be a big problem if you negotiate with them then. ——The 'gatekeeper' on this side also communicates rationally and usually calms down after a fight."

Duncan always felt that there was something wrong with this process. It was different from what he had imagined at the beginning.

However, he did not dwell on this issue, but quickly focused on the current strangeness: "But the gatekeeper didn't pay attention to the 'dead' here."

Agatha frowned and nodded. After a moment of thinking, she suddenly looked down at the sailor and broke the silence: "I'll try again. After this ceremony, you get up immediately and return to the boat as quickly as possible - —This process will tear the 'channel' apart, so don't look back."

The sailor's whole body was tense and his eyes continued to wander...

Agatha replied on the spot: "If you don't understand, just nod or shake your head slightly."

The sailor froze for a moment, then hesitantly moved his head as if he wanted to shake his head, but then stopped, and finally nodded slightly.

"Okay, I'll just assume you have no objection. Now stay still and I'm going to do it again."

As Agatha spoke, she lifted up the combat cane that appeared in her memory, and began to ignite the pale flames on the ground again, activating those weird and mysterious runes.

The disorderly wind stirred again, and the wind was mixed with vague whispers. The "channel" in Agatha's mouth was established again, and Duncan also sensed... the existence of "them".

Agatha paused again where the ceremony ended, and then slammed her cane into the ground: "Now - get up!"

The sailor had been waiting for this sentence for a long time, and he jumped up on the spot with a spring-like "soar". Without hesitation, he stepped over the pale flames burning around him and rushed towards the Origami ship not far away. boat!

With the sudden movement of the "dead", the situation finally changed - the "passage" was forcibly torn apart, and a world that was originally hidden in a deeper "deeper" suddenly appeared in front of Duncan's eyes!

The pale flames on the ground rose suddenly, and the triangular rune array left by Agatha released a dazzling light. Then, a rapidly expanding crack appeared in the air above the triangle, and the space there seemed to There were cracks all over like glass, breaking silently, and the twilight-like brilliance leaked from the cracks - almost in the blink of an eye, the rising pale flames were also dyed with a twilight-like color.

Through the rapidly expanding crack, Duncan saw an unusually tall phantom wearing a black robe. However, the phantom was not as "irritated" as Agatha said. He just stared at the crack in silence. After a short pause, he turned around and slowly walked away.

Duncan immediately looked at Agatha in confusion, and the latter looked even more surprised. She looked at the "gatekeeper" who turned to leave in astonishment, and couldn't help but said: "Wait a minute! Didn't you see someone operating illegally here? Forging the dead? Ah! He also deliberately destroyed the access channel! Please take care of it!"

The tall phantom walked further, as if he didn't hear the sound coming from behind at all, and as he left, the cracks above the triangle began to slowly close.

Agatha looked at this scene in shock, but just when she was about to forcefully hold the passage and lead the captain through it, a big hand as dry as a claw suddenly appeared at the edge of the crack - that A hand held the crack that was slowly closing, followed by another.

Accompanied by the harsh noise of the glass gradually breaking, the crack was forcibly opened by the hands and began to expand again.

Then, the owner of the hands appeared on the opposite side of the rift - a taller "gatekeeper", wearing a dark robe as dark as night. The hood of the robe completely covered his face, with only a pair of eyes that glowed dimly. There was fire burning in the shadow of the hood, he bent down, and his gloomy and hoarse voice sounded as if from the grave: "Come."

With this short and cold word, the next second, the crack like a glass crack shattered silently.

What was broken together was the entire wilderness of death in front of Duncan, the "night" in this wilderness.

The eternal night that shrouded the kingdom of the dead shattered and dissipated, and what was revealed behind the curtain was the brilliance of dusk. Black and white nameless grass swayed in the wind in the dusk, and a path appeared in front of Duncan and Agatha. The path had no end, It extends straight into the wilderness, as if it has been submerged between the sky and the earth.

The unusually tall "gatekeeper" stood on the path, standing silently, like a silent tombstone.

Duncan subconsciously looked back at the Lost Home and the Brilliant Star, only to see that the two ships had turned into two solid and translucent shadows - they were still not far away. Under the light of dusk, the shadows were on the other side. On one side, it seems that the wasteland shrouded in permanent night can still be seen.

Duncan looked back.

The tall gatekeeper who was standing quietly broke the silence almost at the same time: "Let's go."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards the front of the path.

Duncan exchanged glances with Agatha and immediately stepped to follow.

"The situation is not normal," Agatha followed Duncan and murmured in a low voice, "The gatekeeper I have seen...the gatekeeper I have seen in my memory is not like this. His breath is not the same...and his words and deeds are not the same. "

"Isn't there something more wrong with the gatekeeper who turned away before?" Duncan said casually, "This one is still willing to show up and lead the way, which is better than not - at least we have reached 'deeper'."

"That's why it's even more wrong," Agatha frowned, "The gatekeeper here should be able to tell at a glance that you and I are not the 'dead'. Even if you want to lead the way, you should ask and negotiate... Why do you lead the way directly? It’s like I’m just waiting..."

Duncan thought it made sense: "Then you ask?"

Agatha hesitated for a moment, then really raised her head and looked at the tall figure who was walking in front and slowing down her pace: "Are you here specifically to wait for us?"

The tall figure didn't answer, as if he didn't hear.

Agatha was not discouraged. After a while, she asked loudly: "Do you know who we are? Have you discovered that we are not the real 'dead'?"

The tall gatekeeper finally paused, but only uttered a vague syllable: "Yes."

"Captain, this gatekeeper may have a cold personality." Agatha turned back and said to Duncan helplessly.

Duncan didn't say anything, he just frowned and thought for a while, then raised his head and spoke to the gatekeeper: "We also summoned a gatekeeper before, but he left without paying attention to us, and there were other gatekeepers... they all went Where is it?"

Under the unexpected looks in Duncan and Agatha's eyes, the tall figure stopped.

"Funeral." He broke the silence with a low voice.

Duncan frowned: "Funeral? You mean the other gatekeepers went to the funeral?"

"yes."

"Whose funeral?" Agatha asked subconsciously.

"Death's."

The tall gatekeeper turned around, his dim eyes burning quietly in the shadow of his hood.

"Death is dead."