Chapter 1 The Crossroads

"We're splitting up here," Hespera said, looking at the witches present, as well as Hao Ren and Lily. "This is Crossroads Hall. From these forks, you can go to the North Tower, the Graveyard, and the Shadow Crypt. I'm going to the North Tower to find a way to gain control of the Soulless Guard. The witches are going to the Shadow Crypt. That place is a node for maintaining the boundary of the Shadow World, and also a surveillance point. You can see the movements of the entire castle there. I want you to pay close attention to the courtyard. If you see the Demon Hunters coming in, report to me immediately. As for you two..."

Hespera's gaze finally landed on Hao Ren and Lily. After hesitating slightly, she nodded. "You go to the Graveyard. If that 'incarnation' you mentioned has started moving, I think you'll have your hands full there."

Hao Ren knew that Hespera's arrangement was a last resort. In fact, if there were any other choice, she probably wouldn't let anyone other than herself go to the Graveyard unsupervised. However, now that the Soulless had all awakened, and the appearance of the "Grand Butler" showed that the activities of these guards were becoming erratic, coupled with the fact that the Demon Hunters could enter this world at any time, Hespera had no choice but to split up to save time. The only one who could regain control of the Soulless was her. The rest were obviously divided into two groups, and she clearly trusted Vivian's "friends," Hao Ren and Lily, more than the witches of unknown origin.

The witches, of course, had no objection to this arrangement. They were quite clear about their own strength. Even just dealing with the Soulless soldiers in the courtyard had put them under great pressure. When they fought the "Grand Butler" just now, they were in constant danger. Madam Marie was well aware that her group had reached the limit of their combat effectiveness here.

According to the plan agreed upon from the beginning, they only needed to monitor the border of the Shadow World in a safe place next. It seemed that the "Shadow Crypt" was the "safe zone" that Hespera had mentioned before.

"How do we stay in touch?" one of the witches asked.

Hespera waved her hand and condensed a few blood-red crystals. "Use these blood drop fragments. After injecting magic power, you can talk. Everyone holding a fragment can hear it. But be careful when using them. These fragments are easily interfered with..."

Seeing this, Hao Ren casually opened his personal space and took out a few communicators. "Let's use these instead."

Hespera took the communicator handed over by Hao Ren and fiddled with the silver-white metal cube curiously, feeling that it was quite delicate. "What is this thing?"

"It has a similar function to your gems, but it's much stronger than that thing. It can transmit not only sound but also images. And it's not afraid of interference and doesn't need magic to drive it. See, there's a button here. Press it to start a mind exchange, direct brain control stuff. Anyone smarter than a monkey can use it..."

Hespera looked in amazement at the projected image that appeared above the communicator, and her eyes became even more curious when she looked at Hao Ren. "You're not going to say this thing is also witchcraft—did you dig up Odin's grave or Zeus's tomb?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Such a delicate and magical thing looks like a legacy from the age of mythology. And this shiny style is either from Mount Olympus or from Asgard... But then again, their things don't seem to be so exquisite..."

Hao Ren thought to himself that he had indeed dug up the ancestral graves of these two major "divine systems," and even划过来the entire plot where the Norse gods lived to build a factory, but he certainly couldn't say that out loud. Anyway, it pleased him that the little bat spirit was willing to take the initiative to consider this possibility. It wasn't in vain that he had used a similar statement to trick her before, so he nodded along with the current. "That's about right—you see, Vivian and I are friends. Vivian's relationship with Odin and Zeus wasn't bad back then either. We were friends who went through life and death in the age of mythology. It's not a big deal that I have the legacy of those two families..."

"Friends who went through life and death, so you dug up people's ancestral graves?" The little bat spirit rolled her eyes. "No wonder I thought from the beginning that you definitely weren't the human wizard the witches were talking about... Human wizards didn't have such a high status back then. So you're most likely a Silver Wizard from Mesopotamia, right? Tsk, you're keeping your identity pretty secret."

Hao Ren looked at the sky. "It's okay if you want to understand it that way."

"Alright, everyone take this... communicator," Hespera waved her hand, indicating that she didn't intend to delve into Hao Ren's identity, while signaling the witches to take the communicators. "The Shadow Crypt is through that door over there. At the end of the road, you'll see an oak door depicting a black vortex. Go in and go down the stairs all the way. The Graveyard area is through the other door. Turn right at every fork you see, until a wall formed by thorns and roses appears in front of you. The Rose Wall is an illusion. Just walk through it with a firm heart. I don't think the two of you can't even handle this little challenge. I'll go straight to the North Tower. It's the closest to here. If all goes well, I'll gain control before you reach your respective destinations."

The witch Helen asked with some concern, "Won't we encounter any more Soulless?"

"The Grand Butler was just defeated by us. Its 'death' will temporarily suppress the activities of the Soulless Guard within the inner court. Its resurrection is slower than other Soulless, so you have at least half an hour. If you don't reach the Shadow Crypt after half an hour, then you'll have to fend for yourselves. There's no need for trash to survive in this place."

Hespera's emotionless words made the witches shiver in unison. Madam Marie didn't dare to say anything more and quickly led her people out of the hall through one of the three doors.

"We'll go this way," Hao Ren pulled Lily to set off, not forgetting to tell the little bat, "You have to be careful. I can tell that taking control of the Soulless Guard isn't as simple as you say it is."

"It will take some effort, but I'm 100% sure," Hespera smiled, then frowned slightly as she looked at Hasson, who was still being carried on Lily's shoulder. "Are you really planning to take this guy all the way? I don't understand what you're planning—but when you get to the Graveyard, you're likely to encounter great danger. In my opinion, this Demon Hunter is a complete burden at this moment."

Almost as soon as Hespera finished speaking, Hasson's body suddenly twitched, but before the unlucky old hunter could speak, Lily picked up the alloy greatsword with her free right hand and swung it around to slap him. "Hey ya!!"

"Bang!!!"

Hao Ren couldn't help but shudder. "Lily, you don't have to be so enthusiastic—we'll still need him later!"

After saying that, he nodded to Hespera. "Don't worry, this Demon Hunter is really useful. Then we'll say goodbye here and keep in touch if anything happens."

Then, without waiting for the little bat to react, he took Lily and strode towards the passage leading to the Graveyard.

After the leader of the inner court guard, the "Grand Butler," fell, nearly half of the castle became quiet.

The Soulless no longer poured out of the murals and sculptures, and no longer did malicious limbs and swords suddenly emerge from the shadows. This ancient castle, located in the depths of the shadow and created by Vivian's dream, seemed to be completely frozen into a black and white silent film. The deep corridors without any color were silent. If Hao Ren and Lily's rapid footsteps hadn't finally broken the silence, this world could have driven people crazy.

The two ran quickly through the seemingly endless corridor, and from time to time they passed some strange rooms on both sides. The doors of those rooms were wide open, and there were bizarre scenes inside. Hao Ren saw that some rooms were filled with mirrors of all sizes, while other rooms were filled with men and women wearing formal dresses, as if they were going to hold a banquet but were standing there blankly without any expression. Still other rooms were filled with gold, silver, treasures, fine wines, and delicacies. In the most bizarre room, Hao Ren even saw an ocean—a gray and white ocean, rising and falling silently. Viking dragon boats were sailing on the sea, and the scene of the waves churning almost made Lily lose her mind and walk into the room.

"Don't enter any of the rooms," Hespera's voice came from the communicator. "Most of the rooms lead to nightmares or the deeper Shadow World. No one can come out of there alive. In the past two hundred years, countless unfortunate people have stumbled into this world, including several werewolves and blood servants who were sent in by Harrowen as 'sacrifices.' They have all become part of these rooms, enduring eternal torment and regret until Vivian wakes up."

"Where are you now?" Hao Ren asked.

"I've arrived at the North Tower and am unlocking the first layer of Shadow Locks," Hespera replied. "Next, I'm going to focus on dealing with the things here, so I won't talk to you unless something happens."

"We've already seen the door to the Shadow Crypt," the witch Helen also said in the communicator. "That was close, Jinna lost her mind after seeing a mirror in a room just now and almost walked in."

Hao Ren and Lily ran quickly for a while and finally walked out of the corridor to an open hall.

In front of the hall, twisted thorns and black roses intertwined to form a daunting barrier, and the bottom of the barrier was full of white bones.

"We're here too."

Hao Ren said into the communicator.