RNP Chapter 4247 The Key to Forgetting and Where the Gods Lie
Chapter 4247 The Key to Forgetting and Where the Gods Lie
Chapter 4247 The Key to Forgetting and Where the Gods Lie
The temple in the mist blends perfectly with the swamp. The vines clinging to the outer walls and the moss and lichen growing in the corners make the temple almost one with the swampy background.
It looked enormous, almost a quarter the size of the Ice Castle in Shad's opinion. However, it had been neglected for a very long time. From the outside, it appeared that a small part of the right side of the temple had collapsed, most of the windows were boarded up, and even the pillars in front of the door were just half-remains.
The temple doors were tightly shut, but Shad could see the firelight inside through the cracks. He stepped over the two pillars to the door, hesitated for a moment, then forcefully knocked on the door panel. When no one answered, he pushed open the door on the right.
A creaking sound broke the silence of the swamp, and fog and Shad's shadow rushed into the room. In the somewhat empty hall, among the figures sitting around the fire, only one person looked warily at the new intruder.
After confirming that Shad was a humanoid being and that he did not possess any strange or unusual characteristics, the witch coldly reminded her:
"If you want to come in, step in and close the door. None of us want too much fog to come in."
Beside the campfire stood three witches and a young man, though he appeared to be in his late twenties, much older than the stranger. The man was undoubtedly an ordinary person, while the three witches were two mid-level and one high-level witches.
The one who spoke up to Shad was the high-ranking witch. She looked to be about the same age as Galina and Sylvie, with beautiful black hair, but her eyes were covered by a black blindfold. Shad's first thought was that he had encountered a blind nun from the [Spiritual Order], but he immediately realized that she probably just had a simple eye ailment.
The remaining two mid-level witches are two old women who look exactly alike. They are probably twins, both at the fifth level, and their life energy is quite weak.
After glancing around, Shad entered the temple and closed the door behind him, shutting out the fog. Inside, the temple had a strangely warm and dry feel, distinct from the outside. The hall before him appeared spacious, but some old, long wooden benches were piled against the walls, and a series of faded religious paintings adorned the walls.
At the end of the hall is a screen wall, with a corridor extending from each side of the screen wall toward the temple. Judging from the architectural structure, there should be a staircase behind the screen wall leading to the upper area.
The four who had arrived before Shad were now positioned slightly towards the interior of the hall. The room was extremely quiet; even though Shad was trying to control himself, the sound of his footsteps as he walked toward the fire still drowned out the breathing of the four men and the crackling of the flames.
The only man by the fire glanced at Shad, then continued to stare blankly at the flames, looking utterly dazed. The twin witches, though curious about Shad, appeared even weaker than when Shad first met Vige, who was in worse condition.
As for the high-ranking witch with the eye ailment, she remained silent as Shad walked towards the fire. Shad assumed she was a very composed person and intended to speak only after he sat down. However, when Shad was about ten steps away from the fire, the witch exclaimed in surprise:
"Wait a minute, are you a man?"
“Even if your eyes can’t see for the time being, you shouldn’t have only noticed it now at your level. I understand, your senses are being suppressed here. You thought there was no sense of the witch’s curse being triggered, so the person who came was also a witch.”
Shad said, continuing forward. The high-ranking witch naturally didn't want this creature, whose nature was currently unknown, to get close, but Shad kindly reminded her:
“With your twelfth-level status, if your perception hadn’t been affected, I might not be able to defeat you. But now you can’t even clearly see my appearance from within ten steps. In this situation, wouldn’t it be more dangerous for you if I stayed outside your perception range?”
"But what you're really saying is that you're confident you can suppress me and prevent me from stopping you from getting closer!"
The witch said, and Shad nodded:
“Yes, since you understand what I mean, I don’t need to say such arrogant things myself. Madam, I mean no harm.”
He went to the fire, glanced at the other three, and then reached out his hand to the witch with the eye ailment:
"Shad Hamilton".
The witch didn't stand up, but just as Shad had expected, instead of shaking his hand, she suddenly grabbed his wrist, and after a moment said incredulously:
"How is this possible?"
"I've been looking for answers too. May I sit down?"
Seeing that only this witch was communicating with him, Shad asked, and she slowly nodded. Only after Shad actually sat down did she ask again:
"You came from the fog?"
"of course."
The witch with an eye ailment frowned:
"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't suspect others so easily, but there's a strange power in that fog."
"I know it can cause amnesia and even make people think of strange things."
Shad reached out to warm his hands by the fire, but his body wasn't actually very cold. This eerie place wasn't extremely cold, but Shad's soul could feel a strange emptiness, and the fire in front of him was lessening this feeling. The flames of this campfire were the same as those of the two torches outside.
However, the moonlight remained, and the emptiness in his soul did not have a strong effect on Shad.
"When I flew over from the fog just now, I forgot what I was doing several times, and even thought it was another kind of precognitive dream. Fortunately, there was firelight here, and I made it over by walking and stopping."
Shad explained that the witch pursed her lips, and although her eyes were covered by gauze, Shad could still feel that she was "looking" at him.
"Your soul must be incredibly powerful."
She pointed to the only ordinary person present:
"He is considered a mentally strong individual among ordinary people. He came here with only his willpower and some amulets. But this is the price. He has almost forgotten everything. Even after coming to the temple and no longer being affected by the outside world, he only has the most instinctive reactions left."
She then pointed to the two elderly people huddled together:
"They were probably around level five. They relied on each other's encouragement and some unique talents to get through the thick fog in the swamp. But when they first arrived here, they were also lost for a long time before they regained their ability to communicate."
Even I, when I stumbled and fell here, had gaps in my memory, and even now I still forget many things. But you seem perfectly normal; at most, you've only forgotten small things like where you put your house keys or whether you fed the cat today.
"I will never forget to feed the cat."
Xia De emphasized that he roughly understood the special nature of the outside world, which meant that the safe zone this time was the interior of this temple:
"I've had some special opportunities and have been blessed by the gods. In addition, I have a naturally strong soul, so I forget relatively few things. Compared to my gender issue, my soul issue shouldn't be a particularly big problem, right?"
"That's true."
"So, ma'am, you're the first person to arrive here, right?"
The witch then introduced herself. Her easy trust in Shad was partly due to the fact that there was practically no one else to talk to. Given her eye condition, this loneliness was devastating.
“Isolde Thorne, a twelfth-order witch, is the Great Witch who is loyal to the current ‘Earth’ seat. I arrived here earlier than the rest of them, and it was I who lit the two torches outside and the flames here, so that everyone could have this place to rest.”
The witch spoke with a hint of pride. Although she looked somewhat disheveled, she certainly possessed the bearing of a twelfth-tier witch. Even though demigods still existed in the middle of the Fifth Era, and thirteenth-tier witches were not uncommon, the twelfth tier remained the pinnacle of power in this era.
Xia De nodded to indicate that he understood; although the other person had an eye condition, he was sure he could sense his movements.
Ms. Thorne then asked:
"You, like the rest of us, have come here seeking divine help to cure some kind of illness, right? You want to cure your gender?"
"No, no, my gender is normal."
Xia De blinked, then thought of Wei Ge's situation, and suddenly realized that this was also an opportunity:
"I came here not for myself, but for my demon girlfriend/lover. She has a congenital disease due to her mother's condition. Ordinary methods cannot cure her, and I think only a god can save her from her suffering."
Ms. Thorne was not surprised at all, but she sighed:
"Then that witch is really lucky to have met a lover like you. Do you know why we're here?"
After thinking for a moment, Xia De guessed based on his experience with time-based missions:
"Have you not yet found a way to invoke that Great One?"
But the witch shook her head:
"No, we've all forgotten what disease we came here to seek a cure for. The gods are merciful and willing to help us humble mortals, but we must state what kind of help we want. Although the gods are omniscient, mortals can only make one request. This is not a limitation of the gods, but rather a reminder that mortals should not be greedy."
"What you want to heal is..."
Shad looked at her blindfold, but Ms. Thorne shook her head very firmly:
"No, although I have forgotten what disease I wanted to cure, it is definitely not my eye disease, definitely not. Every mortal who has made it this far can only ask the gods for one chance to be cured. I must remember my true purpose and then go and tell that great one."
Xia De roughly understood the key points of this mission, and he asked somewhat uncertainly:
"So, do you know where that great one is?"
Ms. Thorne nodded matter-of-factly:
"Of course, isn't this the temple of the Old God 'God of Love'? When I arrived here, He was already waiting for us. It was God who gave me the flame, and that's how I ignited the fire here."
"So, that god is now..."
"It's on the second floor of the temple. There are elevators on both sides of the wall behind the screen wall. Take the elevators to the second floor, and after you open the door to the dwelling, you will see Him."
Ms. Thorne inquired:
"Now, are you ready to meet the gods?"