Chapter 18: The Former Old God
Dark clouds loomed over Herlu City. Behind a few fiery red clouds lay the sunlight the people yearned for—sunlight that could promote crop growth. Unfortunately, this was a luxury for the commoners of Herlu City.
Even in the morning, there were few pedestrians on the streets. After all, everyone was busy; laziness equaled hunger. The burning sensation of stomach acid eroding the stomach lining would gradually drive people mad, leading to very irrational actions.
Slap~
A wet piece of firewood was split in two. The woodcutter panted for a moment before setting up a second log, gripping the axe handle wrapped in dirty cloth.
Su Xiao stopped in front of the Wizard Association headquarters. This towering building seemed to pierce into the dark clouds, and something could vaguely be seen coiled above the structure, but under the veil of mist, its full form was unclear.
The main entrance on the first floor of the Wizard Association was open all day. Su Xiao walked at the front, with Bubu Wang and Amu following closely behind. Baha habitually crouched on Amu’s shoulder, while Kaiser skulked at the very back, exuding a unique aura.
After entering the first floor of the Wizard Association, Su Xiao headed straight for the staircase inside. The stairs zigzagged upward. Due to long neglect and the damp environment, a layer of black grime covered the steps, hard underfoot.
Climbing the stairs, Su Xiao stopped at the tenth floor. A layer of root-like material blocked the stairwell.
Su Xiao pressed one hand against the root layer. With a series of crisp cracking sounds, the roots retracted into the walls on both sides.
“Don’t go any higher. Knowing too much is also a sin.”
A woman with rough skin, carrying a black wooden-handled spear on her back, sat on the steps. Her eye sockets were sunken, clearly gouged out while she was alive.
“…”
Su Xiao said nothing, merely walking past the female wizard and continuing upward.
“A piece of advice for you—those people are just cowards.”
The female wizard turned her head toward Su Xiao, her messy hair hanging to one side. She grinned, revealing a mouthful of metal teeth.
“Cowards?”
Su Xiao paused. Anyone who could appear above the tenth floor of the Wizard Association was certainly no small fry.
“If they’re cowards, then what are you?”
Leaving this remark, Su Xiao continued up the stairs.
“Me? Hmm~ A pitiful wretch who struggled, not even as good as a coward.”
The female wizard’s shoulders shook, her laughter sending chills down one’s spine. Kaiser, at the back of the group, chose to keep his distance from her.
Continuing upward, Su Xiao saw no other wizards until he reached the thirtieth floor, where the stairs ended and a long corridor stretched ahead.
This corridor was about five meters wide. Candleholders were spaced every few meters along the walls, with thick gray candles burning slowly, wax piling up high at the base.
Clearly, the tenth to thirtieth floors of the Wizard Association were maintained by someone—likely the blind female wizard. Figures like Moen Di were nowhere near her combat capability. Someone like her was just a menial worker.
Walking deeper into the corridor, the surroundings were so quiet that only footsteps could be heard. After advancing over twenty meters, Su Xiao arrived at the stone door he had seen earlier in the video feed.
The stone door was uneven and ancient-looking. Mottled red marks were visible on the yellowish-brown stone—some like bloody handprints, others like faces.
Su Xiao took out the iron token he had obtained from Kaiser. Originally issued by the Wizard Association, Kaiser had modified it.
“My generous friend, absolutely not—let Kaiser handle it.”
Kaiser hurried forward, signaling for Su Xiao to give him the token. Su Xiao didn’t think much of it and tossed the token to Kaiser.
Taking the token, Kaiser reached into his trouser pocket and rummaged around…
Seeing this, Su Xiao decided he didn’t want that shoddy dog tag anymore.
Kaiser eventually pulled out a lump of light green gelatinous substance, pressed the token into it, and stuck it onto the stone door.
The token visibly decayed at an alarming rate, eventually turning to ash.
Click, clack…
A harsh grinding sound of gears came from beneath the stone door. Kaiser pressed his ear against it, knocked a few times, then signaled that the door could be opened. For safety, he shuffled back to the rear of the group with quick, small steps.
Su Xiao pushed against the stone door. It was very heavy.
Rumble…
Dust scattered from the cracks. This long-sealed place was opened today.
[Prompt: You have entered the Old God Church.]
Pushing open the stone door, Su Xiao waved his hand in front of his face to dispel the choking dust.
Looking ahead, this was a church of about three hundred square meters. The entire church appeared very old. At the center was a circular stepped stone platform, sinking about ten meters deep. At the very bottom stood a stone statue with no specific features—not even a face. Only from the figure could it be determined that it depicted a young woman.
Su Xiao glanced toward the edges of the church. There were three stone chairs arranged diagonally against the walls.
Each stone chair was over two meters wide, embedded in the wall. Two were empty, showing mottled bloodstains. On the last stone chair sat a figure.
“Another one coming to die.”
A somewhat hoarse voice came. Su Xiao turned to look. In an open space inside the church, a figure was hanging upside down. Chains pierced through his ankles, suspending him two meters above the ground. Tattered linen wrapped around his feet, legs, and torso up to his neck, with burn scars visible through the gaps—a shocking sight.
Su Xiao stepped forward. Though the church was dilapidated, it wasn’t dark. He could see the figure’s face clearly. This was an old man whose age was impossible to determine. He was incredibly old, his face covered in wrinkles, looking like a skeleton wrapped in skin.
“Is this the Immortal Wizard? Kaiser, hurry up and close the stone door. This old guy probably can’t handle the draft. If he dies, we’ll be in trouble.”
Baha started his usual banter, since the old man’s opening line was “Another one coming to die.”
“I won’t die so easily. If I could die, I would have been freed long ago.”
The upside-down old man opened one eye—a completely white eye.
“Dawn?”
Su Xiao wasn’t surprised by the Immortal Wizard’s appearance. Being able to communicate normally was already a good outcome.
“I’m not. That paranoid one over there is. I am…”
The upside-down old man paused, thought for nearly half a minute, then said:
“I am Gus, a failure barely clinging to life.”
The attitude displayed by the upside-down old man, Gus, suggested he no longer cared about anything.
“Immortal Wizard Gus?”
Kaiser’s eyes were full of disbelief as he looked the upside-down old man up and down. Su Xiao glanced at Kaiser with some confusion.
“It’s said that Holy Silver was provided by him. Of course, that’s just a rumor—not very reliable…”
“Holy Silver.”
Gus opened both eyes fully, staring straight at Kaiser, startling him into taking two steps back.
“It’s been so long since I heard anyone mention that thing. I was really foolish back then, willing to burn myself to refine Holy Silver. If I were still an Old God, I wouldn’t be in this state. I shouldn’t have believed in Dawn, nor should I have believed in Hope’s Light, Nia. In the end, their goodness wasn’t enough to overcome those evils.”
Gus inadvertently revealed an important piece of information: he had once been an Old God, but after burning himself, he was no longer one, becoming an upside-down old man.
“Don’t look at me like that. Old Gods aren’t that impressive. Before the true gods, they’re utterly fragile. I lost, lost to the point of losing even the sunlight, hahahaha…”
Amid a burst of self-deprecating laughter, Gus closed his eyes. A second important piece of information: the true gods.
.