Chapter 25: The World's Goodwill
Not long after Dominator Sotos died, the ancient temple began to change, large cracks appearing everywhere. With its master gone, this alternate space was about to collapse.
With a loud rumble, the alternate space shattered. Su Xiao felt a tremendous force rushing towards him, and the next moment, a blinding light burst forth.
The spatial fluctuations quickly faded. Su Xiao stood up from the ground, shielding his eyes with one hand as he looked at the sky. The sunlight was somewhat dazzling.
The surrounding stone buildings were a yellowish-brown, the natural color of the rock. The ground was covered with lush green grass. A breeze blew, dispersing the somewhat polluted air.
"Where the hell is this?"
Baha was a bit bewildered. It wasn't until it saw a group of desperadoes running past that it confirmed this was Bone Harbor.
[Tip: The Hunter has received a blessing from this world. This blessing does not originate from Reincarnation Paradise.]
[While in this world, the Hunter's Luck attribute is temporarily increased by 10 points.]
[While in this world, the Hunter's treasure chest drop rate is increased by 19%.]
[While in this world, when the Hunter negotiates with plot characters, they will receive a +15 true correction.]
[Tip: Because the Hunter's Charm attribute is about to decline, this correction will only take effect in a few situations.]
...
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao raised an eyebrow. Clearly, killing an Ancient God would cause this world to gradually return to normal.
The environment was normal now, but that deathly, stagnant feeling had only faded slightly. Something else was still affecting the entire world, presumably other Ancient Gods.
[Hunter has completed Main Quest: Second Ring.]
[You have received an Epic Weapon Chest (Weapon type can be specified. The Epic weapon produced from this chest is guaranteed to have a full rating and is embedded with 1-2 gems of the same tier).]
[Main Quest: Third Ring (Activated)]
[Main Quest: The White Goat (Third Ring)]
Difficulty Level: Lv.56
Quest Information: Find the White Goat and kill it.
Tip: The White Goat has a very high probability of actively seeking out the Hunter.
Quest Time Limit: 13 days.
Quest Reward: Glory of Triumph (High-tier authority, visible upon quest completion)
Quest Penalty: None
...
Seeing that the quest penalty was 'None', Su Xiao felt a sense of foreboding. After long experience, if the penalty from Reincarnation Paradise was forced execution, that was actually okay; it was more of a motivator.
If the penalty was very light, then one had to be careful, because with this type of quest, failure almost certainly meant death, and you'd likely die during the quest itself.
As for no penalty at all, that was like hitting the jackpot. A quest that didn't even need motivation—how dangerous would it be?
Or rather, this kind of quest didn't require Su Xiao to actively seek out the target; the target would come to him, in a fight to the death.
After checking Amu's injuries and confirming they weren't serious, Su Xiao headed towards the Sleep House. He needed the Mourning Maiden to purify the darkness from him. His entire right arm and most of his torso were pitch black, being eroded by a type of energy, a result of killing Sotos.
Before Su Xiao had even left Bone Harbor, the sunlight in the sky faded, and dark clouds once again shrouded the sky.
Su Xiao stopped and looked at the newly sprouted plants by the roadside. A stalk of green bristlegrass withered at a visible rate. Not only that, but all the buildings began to turn black, a layer of loose, black grime clinging to the outer walls.
"The White Goat."
Su Xiao looked at the sky. The next quest target, an Ancient God, was no longer hiding its presence. The domain that Sotos had previously controlled was now taken over by another Ancient God, so the world had returned to its previous state.
Su Xiao didn't care much about this. He now needed to accomplish two things as quickly as possible. First, remove the 'darkness' from his body. As for the second thing, thinking about it, Su Xiao gently rubbed his forehead. He needed to arrange for one person, clearly and thoroughly.
Half an hour later, Su Xiao pushed open the door to the Sleep House. He held a sheathed straight sword in his hand. The scabbard was plated with pure silver, adorned with intricate patterns. The guard was circular, with semi-circular handguards on the guard and pommel to protect the wielder's hand from enemy slashes.
"Thank you, Lord Kukulin."
The Mourning Maiden by the bookshelf spoke for the first time of her own accord. She bowed to Su Xiao. Seeing the straight sword in his hand, she understood many things.
"..."
Su Xiao sat on a wooden chair beneath the chandelier, saying nothing.
"Thank you, Lord Kukulin."
The Mourning Maiden spoke again, her voice still so gentle, with no discernible emotional fluctuation.
"Don't just stand there. Cleanse the darkness from my body."
Su Xiao yawned. He had been overloading his senses to track Sotos for a long time, making him a bit sleepy.
The Mourning Maiden came before Su Xiao, knelt on one knee, cupped Su Xiao's right arm in both hands, pressed the back of his hand against her forehead, and began to cleanse the darkness from his body.
Hiss, hiss, hiss~
Black threads spread across the Mourning Maiden's face. This time, she cleansed very slowly. Just as she had removed most of it, her body suddenly went limp, and she collapsed to the ground.
"Is she... broken?"
Su Xiao grabbed the Mourning Maiden by the shoulder. After observing for a moment, he decided to try winding her up again.
Click, click, click...
After turning the key about a dozen times, a spark of life returned to the Mourning Maiden's eyes. She stood up, observed for a few seconds, then knelt on one knee again to help Su Xiao cleanse the darkness.
"I'll leave this sword with you for safekeeping. Puppet, do you want to know why Dawn created you?"
A smile appeared on Su Xiao's face. Throughout this entire affair, Dawn had played the role of a guide. In reality, that woman was exceptionally stubborn.
"The puppet doesn't need to know. The puppet's mission is to stay here."
The Mourning Maiden hadn't yet installed her heart, so she had no subjective thoughts. As for where the Mourning Maiden's crystal heart came from, Su Xiao speculated it was most likely made by Nia, not Dawn.
Among all the people in the Wizard Council, the only one who truly cared about the Mourning Maiden was Nia. She wanted the Mourning Maiden to have her own opinions.
What was noteworthy was that after Nia died, the Mourning Maiden remained in the Sleep House. Her crystal heart was taken by someone, later obtained by a Hunter who installed it for her. When that Hunter was about to die, he removed the Mourning Maiden's crystal heart again.
It could be confirmed that this wasn't Dawn's doing. Although Dawn was stubborn, she always felt guilty towards Nia. After Nia's death, Dawn simply 'dared not' face the Mourning Maiden directly.
The last trace of 'darkness' was stripped from the back of Su Xiao's hand. The Mourning Maiden picked up the teapot on the table to brew tea for Su Xiao. After killing Sotos, the Mourning Maiden had 'unlocked' a new ability: serving tea and water.
"My dear friend, this puppet..."
Su Xiao raised a hand to signal Kaisa to be quiet. Kaisa understood and grinned even more lecherously.
"You're not even letting a puppet off..."
"..."
"Just kidding, Kukulin. We're not going to do something very dangerous again, are we? Kaisa is only good at business."
"Of course it's not dangerous."
A smile appeared on Su Xiao's face. Seeing this, Kaisa's heart skipped a beat, and he thought, 'Oh no.'
"Before we do that, Baha, you need to master a few new abilities first."
"I'm not going to turn into an Ancient God, am I?"
Baha stretched one wing, looking at the dark blue-black feathers on it.
"No, you won't. But the process won't be pleasant."
"Compared to your repairs, boss, this is just a drizzle."
Baha looked completely unconcerned. A large hand grabbed its neck. It was Amu, controlled by Su Xiao.
"Ahaha, boss, I need to go take a shit first. Brother Ha, save me!"
Watching Baha 'struggling in vain', Bubu Wang let out a rather unscrupulous laugh.