Chapter 63: The Journey Home
“Your mother?” The Sovereign of Death looked at Linley with slight surprise.
In the Sovereign of Death’s view, Linley should have investigated his parents first. First, he checked on his father… yet his mother was the last one he inquired about.
“Wait a moment.” The Sovereign of Death closed her eyes.
Linley felt a pang in his heart: “Mother… the mother I’ve never seen!” In Linley’s memories, the word ‘mother’ was far too distant. There were no images in his mind, but whenever he saw others with parents, he would occasionally think of his own mother. What was she like?
“Strange.” The Sovereign of Death opened her eyes, her cold gaze falling on Linley’s face.
“What’s wrong?” Linley asked urgently. What Linley feared most now was that his mother had already died. After all, compared to his father, George, Yale, and the others, his mother’s strength in life was far too weak. Although her soul was pure, her power wasn’t strong enough.
“Couldn’t find her?” Bebe beside him grew worried for Linley.
The Sovereign of Death furrowed her brows, looking at Linley with some irritation. “Linley. Are you deliberately mocking me?”
Linley was confused and quickly said, “Sovereign, how would I dare mock you? Sovereign, please tell me, what happened to my mother? Did she become an undead? Is she alive or dead? Please just tell me directly.” Linley’s heart was anxious, but the Sovereign of Death’s expression turned ugly.
“Hmph, Linley, your mother isn’t dead at all! She didn’t become an undead! And you still want me to investigate?” The Sovereign of Death’s eyes flashed with a hint of killing intent.
Of course the Sovereign of Death was furious!
Given the bet Linley had made with her, if Linley’s mother was dead, the Sovereign of Death still had a chance to win. But if Linley’s mother had never died, how could the Sovereign of Death possibly find where she was? Not dead, yet asking her to investigate—in the Sovereign of Death’s view, Linley was simply toying with her!
“My mother isn’t dead?” Linley found it hard to believe.
Bebe beside him widened his eyes and said, “Not dead? That’s impossible. That Finlay King already said so. It shouldn’t be false.”
“Your mother isn’t dead,” the Sovereign of Death said with a dark face. “Or rather, even if she died, it was soul annihilation. In any case, one thing is certain—your mother’s soul never came to the Netherworld, nor did it turn into an undead. Anyone who becomes an undead is recorded in the Netherworld’s heart. There’s absolutely no way to not find them!”
Linley frowned.
Given the Sovereign of Death’s status, she would never lie! But his mother had clearly been gone for a long time. What was the real reason?
“Sovereign,” Linley quickly inquired. “My mother indeed disappeared a long time ago. According to my investigation, my mother had already died, and it was said that her soul was offered by the Radiant Church of the material plane to the Sovereign of Light. The Sovereign of Light is a Sovereign after all—would he care about a single mortal soul? Would the soul even traverse space to reach the Divine Light Plane?”
Linley didn’t believe that.
The Sovereign of Death understood completely upon hearing this. She coldly glanced at Linley. “If your mother’s soul truly went as you said, then her soul should have gone to the Divine Light Plane, completely under the control of the Sovereign of Light or other Light Sovereigns. In short, that’s beyond my jurisdiction.”
“The Divine Light Plane?” Linley grew anxious. “Is there a way for me to bring my mother back?”
“Impossible!”
The Sovereign of Death said decisively, “Any soul that falls into the hands of the Sovereign of Light can never regain freedom. Let me tell you… the angels of the Divine Light Plane are utterly loyal to the Light Sovereigns, without a shred of disloyalty. Even if you find the angel your mother has become, you cannot make her return.”
“Angel?” Linley had some understanding of angels.
Angels were the most powerful army race under the Light Sovereigns. Legend said angels were created by the Sovereigns. Although they had intelligence and such, they were called humanoid combat weapons. Had his mother become an angel?
“What do the Light Sovereigns collect pure souls for? To strengthen their angel army, of course,” the Sovereign of Death said with a sneer.
“There’s no way for me to make my mother return?” Linley was puzzled.
“When someone becomes an undead, they still have personal freedom. But angels…” The Sovereign of Death glanced at Linley. “Linley, you should know about humanoid weapons like Death God puppets, right? Angels are more special than Death God puppets, since they have intelligence and such, but one thing is the same—angels cannot betray the Light Sovereigns. And given the Sovereign of Light’s temper, not to mention you, even if another Sovereign personally asked him to restore an angel’s freedom, it’s not very realistic.”
Linley’s heart grew heavy.
The Sovereign of Light was, after all, a Sovereign!
“Do you have anything else? If not, I’ll be leaving,” the Sovereign of Death said indifferently.
Linley quickly stopped thinking about it and said urgently, “I still have one more thing to ask.”
“You really have a lot of questions,” the Sovereign of Death said with a slight nod. “Go ahead.” The Sovereign of Death’s attitude toward Linley was noticeably better than when they were at Nether Mountain. Clearly, Linley’s status as a Paragon had improved her demeanor. That was normal… Sovereigns generally admired those who achieved Paragon status.
After all, becoming a Sovereign required opportunity, a matter of luck.
But becoming a Paragon required true strength.
“I want to ask, if a person’s soul is annihilated, can they be revived?” Linley asked nervously. Bebe beside him glanced at Linley: “The boss is asking this because of Grandpa Delin.” Bebe knew how deep Linley’s feelings for Delin Kuo Te were.
The Sovereign of Death let out a derisive laugh: “What nonsense? Soul annihilation means certain death. How could they be revived?”
“Oh…” The faint hope in Linley’s heart shattered.
He hadn’t held much hope to begin with, just a sliver of wishful thinking.
The Sovereign of Death raised an eyebrow, a hint of a smile appearing on her face. “Actually, Linley, for someone whose soul is annihilated, there might still be a glimmer of hope for revival.”
“Huh?” Linley’s gaze suddenly blazed with piercing light, fixed on the Sovereign of Death. “Sovereign, what method?”
The Sovereign of Death was startled by Linley’s gaze, but her smile deepened. “Soul annihilation means certain death—that’s the view of Sovereigns. But the legendary Life High Sovereign is the embodiment of life’s rules, the rules of life themselves. The operation of this infinite universe is all under the control of the universal rules… I can’t save someone whose soul is annihilated, but the Life High Sovereign might be able to.”
“Right, right.” Linley couldn’t help but feel hopeful. “The universe’s operation is all within the limits of the rules. The Life High Sovereign is the rules themselves. It can definitely save them.”
“That’s just my speculation. I’m not a High Sovereign, so I can’t be completely sure if it’s possible,” the Sovereign of Death said with a faint, indifferent smile. “But in my eyes, the High Sovereigns are omnipotent. In this infinite universe, they seem capable of anything. After all, they are the rules!”
The Sovereign of Death was only speculating, but to Linley, this speculation seemed very likely!
The Life High Sovereign governed this domain. It was very possible it could save someone.
“I don’t have time to waste here with you,” the Sovereign of Death said calmly. “The six people you mentioned are scattered across the Netherworld. I’ll arrange for them to be brought to Nether Mountain. You should head to Nether Mountain now… and reunite with your family and friends.” As she spoke—
The Sovereign of Death’s body dissipated like grains of sand, returning to the universe.
After all, this was just an energy projection.
Linley and Bebe exchanged a glance.
“Boss, congratulations,” Bebe said with a grin.
Linley was beaming. The news he had received from the Sovereign of Death had resolved all his confusion. His father and the others were still alive… As for his mother, she had become an angel of the Divine Light Plane. And Grandpa Delin, perhaps if he met the Life High Sovereign, there might be hope for revival.
With even a glimmer of hope, Linley was filled with fighting spirit!
“Everything will be fine,” Linley silently said to himself.
“Bebe, let’s go to Nether Mountain.” Linley didn’t want to stay at Flame Bone Mountain for a single moment longer. He immediately left with Bebe, then boarded a metallic lifeform and sped toward Nether Mountain at maximum speed.
In the Netherworld, within the Northern Bone Prefecture, the lair of the Eighteen Mountain Range bandits, one of its branches.
A nearly dragon-shaped black cloud covered the night sky, with the blood-red moon faintly visible through the gaps in the clouds.
George was standing by the window in his room, looking up at the blood-red moon.
“The wealth I’ve accumulated is almost enough to buy a residence in the city,” George mused to himself. “The most important thing now is to seize the opportunity to go to the city. Hmm… in three months, the mountain range will send a team to the city to sell some of the looted goods. I’ll go then!”
George had been waiting patiently, never rushing. Although he was the steward of the bandit group, managing the finances, he didn’t dare embezzle too much. But with George’s years of experience in officialdom, managing these gods who mostly only knew how to train and fight, with no understanding of finances or such, was quite easy. Over the years… the bandit group had grown quite fond of George.
In their eyes, this steward was generous and fair in distributing the spoils, earning everyone’s trust.
Suddenly—
“Twelfth!” A roar rang out.
“Who is it?” George frowned and walked out of the room.
Many people in the castle came out. The leader of this branch, a bald, burly man, strode outside: “Hey, boss, what’s the rush?” He said as he led his guards to greet the visitor. He recognized that the shout had come from the general chief of the Eighteen Mountain Range.
The blood-red moonlight spilled down, making the mountain range look like it was covered in a layer of blood.
“Twelfth, move it!” A deep voice sounded.
Following behind the bald, burly man, George saw the arrivals. They were a big-bearded dwarf and a purple-robed, golden-haired man. George recognized the big-bearded dwarf as Cleopatra, the general chief of the Eighteen Mountain Range. “Who is that beside the general chief?” George wondered. Was there some big shot in the mountain range he didn’t know?
“The person beside me is Lord Beverly, a Seven Star Demon,” the big-bearded dwarf quickly said.
The bald, burly man quickly bowed: “Greetings, Lord.”
The purple-robed, golden-haired man glanced indifferently, his gaze falling on George, who was beside the bald man. George felt a chill: “Why is this Seven Star Demon staring at me?” In George’s view, a Seven Star Demon-level expert was definitely a super powerhouse in the Netherworld.
“You’re called George, right?” the purple-robed, golden-haired man said indifferently.
“Uh… yes,” George was shocked.
“In your past life, were you from the Yulan Continent plane?” the purple-robed, golden-haired man said, a rare smile appearing on his face.
George was even more shocked but still nodded in acknowledgment.
“Good. Come with me,” the purple-robed, golden-haired man said directly.
“May I ask Lord Beverly, what do you want with George?” the bald, burly man quickly asked. Over the years, as the steward, George had been very satisfactory, handling everything neatly without needing his supervision. He really didn’t want to let George go.
The purple-robed, golden-haired man frowned.
“Twelfth,” the big-bearded dwarf scolded.
“Boss, let me go with him,” George said, grateful that the bald man had stepped forward, but he knew that the bandit group wouldn’t dare defy a Seven Star Demon’s request.
“George…” The bald, burly man looked at him and patted George on the shoulder. George forced a smile. At this moment, George’s heart was uneasy: “I’ve been preparing for years, almost ready to go to the city, and now suddenly someone wants to take me away? Where I’m going is uncertain. It seems reuniting with the third brother and the others will be even harder.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not a bad thing,” the purple-robed, golden-haired man glanced at them and said indifferently. “This is the arrangement of a Sovereign.”
“A Sovereign’s arrangement?”
George and the people around him were all startled.
“You, come with me,” the purple-robed, golden-haired man said to George indifferently.
“Yes,” George dared not refuse, but his heart was full of confusion. “I’m just a nobody. How could I catch a Sovereign’s attention, enough to send someone for me?” George was utterly perplexed but had no choice but to follow this Seven Star Demon-level expert away.