Chapter 56 – The Hall

After leaving the palace, Lin Wei was extremely distracted—this state of mind was similar to his distraction in his past life, something that had rarely occurred since he was reborn.

The battle between the two flame beasts in the cave had already ended. One of them, now completely charred black, emitted a burnt smell, while the other had not yet left. It was slowly licking the wound on its foreleg, its body brimming with elemental energy. However, its eyes were lifeless, likely still affected by the lingering poisonous mist from the flowers.

Lin Wei leisurely walked over to it. Compared to a top-tier magical beast, the human body was far too small.

“You should like the abundant magic elements outside,” Lin Wei said to the beast.

Since this poor beast hadn’t left in time, what awaited it would be a master-servant contract it couldn’t resist…

The flame beast, judging by its appearance, seemed to be a Flame Lizard. Its carapace resembled cracked crimson rock, with sparks occasionally bursting from its body.

Taking advantage of its weakened state due to the poisonous mist, the contract was easily formed. The two then left the area, leaving the Flame Lizard behind—its size was too large to carry around like Jerald, so it would continue its usual life in the swamp, only appearing by Lin Wei’s side when summoned by the contract.

Neither of them brought up the previous topic again. They rode on their respective unicorns through this desolate place, just as they had when they first arrived in the swamp. When they encountered swampy areas ahead, Jerald would proactively solidify the ground.

Lin Wei was repeating certain syllables of the common language of the continent. His proficiency had improved significantly these days.

“I still haven’t figured out what’s special about it… although it feels very natural when spoken.”

“By the way, listen to this sentence,” Lin Wei paused his practice and recited a complex sentence—it was full of intricate transitions and modulations, like a song used by a singer to show off their skills, and it sounded very awkward due to Lin Wei’s lack of familiarity. “Is this the common language of the continent? I don’t think so.”

“No,” Duan Yu replied after hearing the sentence. “Where did you hear it?”

“From the Goddess… it was a song that kept echoing in her dream. Since it’s not the common language, it must be the language of the elves,” Lin Wei said.

Jerald, sitting on the unicorn’s head, let out a soft, ambiguous cry, like a young magical beast just born. It probably recognized the syllable “elf” again.

Elemental spirits didn’t have their own language, but due to their high intelligence, Lin Wei had no doubt that this little creature would be able to understand most human language through hearing alone in a few years—it had already firmly remembered “ugly,” “goddess,” “elf,” and “contract.” The first one was because Lin Wei had said it a few times, while the other three were frequently mentioned by the two recently.

The Goddess’s hall was located in the center of the swamp. It seemed that the closer they got to the hall, the more magical beasts were lurking, making this journey much more perilous than the previous days—clusters of Blood Bats hung upside down on the branches of withered trees, and a giant water serpent revealed its massive head and black eyes in the swamp.

Duan Yu couldn’t yet guarantee a flawless victory against a top-tier magical beast, but he could hold them off for a considerable amount of time, giving Lin Wei the opportunity to imprint a contract.

After merging with the scattered soul power of the Goddess, Lin Wei could now support multiple master-servant contracts with magical beasts. The process of forming contracts had also become much simpler, as the soul strength of a magical beast was now easily suppressed by him.

However, his mental energy still couldn’t match his soul power, so forming multiple contracts in one day made him drowsy, and he nearly fell off the unicorn several times—eventually, he put the unicorn away and switched to riding with Duan Yu, using soul communication to give general directions before falling into a deep, worry-free sleep.

The contract continued to deepen slowly until it fully merged with the soul, allowing the summoner and his beast to achieve the most stable communication.

Lin Wei’s mental energy was unstable, so his dreams were chaotic. He even dreamed of the Goddess holding a skeleton, wearing a magic robe, and sitting on Sandra, who handed him a bright red rose.

In the dream, Lin Wei took the rose in a daze, and its thorns cut his finger. Then Sandra transformed into the water serpent he had just contracted, exuding the smell of the swamp, before turning into a white, skeletal frame…

When he woke from these chaotic dreams, he noticed that the unicorn had slowed its pace, and the ancient castle gradually came into view in the black forest.

The Goddess’s hall, whose doors had once opened to believers, was now covered in vines. Even though the wooden doors had rotted and the vines had dried up, an inescapable sense of gloom still enveloped everything that entered this place. The breeze echoed emptily through the corridors, the withered trees stood in a guarding posture, and the dark windows created an unfathomable atmosphere, making it seem as if undead creatures might peer out at any moment.

Lin Wei recalled the unicorn. He seemed not fully awake from his sleep or perhaps was trapped in a nightmare, staring blankly at the scene as if confirming something—he grabbed Duan Yu’s wrist and led him toward the decaying door.

Time had left overlapping marks on the door, and the dampness from the lack of sunlight had accelerated its decay. Only the long-standing silence of the surroundings had allowed it to barely maintain its current upright posture.

Lin Wei extended his right hand and gently pushed the door—it trembled, its carvings and wood shavings peeling off before it collapsed backward with a crash.

After the loud noise, the dust settled, revealing the interior of the hall, a sight no different from the Goddess’s dream.

The vast hall was empty, with a massive eye on the dome gazing down from above. The walls and floor were covered in contract runes, now dusty from the passage of time. The Goddess’s seven-stringed harp stood in the center, its strings taut, waiting for someone to play it.

“Pluck the first string, and the path to Siren Island will open,” Lin Wei said, taking out the plectrum.

The moment the plectrum appeared from the space ring, a connection seemed to immediately form between it and the harp—the thin layer of dust on the harp and its strings fell off as if of their own accord, revealing the deep black material beneath.

The harp’s back was engraved with its name in human language, written in a smooth and elegant script.

“Sigh of the Abyss,” Lin Wei murmured, his gaze fixed on the harp. “The most difficult seven-stringed harp to play… it remains completely undamaged to this day.”

Duan Yu suddenly noticed something off in his voice and turned to look at him.

He saw that Lin Wei still had a slightly dazed expression from just waking up, but tears were streaming down his face, and his deep purple eyes were clouded with a layer of mist.

“Lin Wei?”

“Sorry,” Lin Wei took a deep breath, his voice trembling as he wiped the tears from his face. “The Goddess’s lingering soul energy is too strong. She was very sad, and I’ve been affected by it since I woke up two days ago. Even now…”

Duan Yu took his hand, noticing how cold his fingers were—these cold fingers gripped back tightly, filled with panic and unease.

Lin Wei didn’t speak again, nor did he look at the seven-stringed harp. He walked straight to the corner of the hall.

In the corner was a black box with a bronze lock on it.

His tears continued to fall uncontrollably, and when his trembling fingers touched the cold bronze lock, it clicked and fell to the ground.

By now, Duan Yu understood that Lin Wei was mostly being controlled by the Goddess’s will.

“Don’t look,” he said, covering Lin Wei’s eyes. The tears felt warm for a moment before turning cold.

Lin Wei shook his head fiercely, breaking free from Duan Yu—he had never used such strength before—and before Duan Yu could react, he swiftly opened the heavy box.

The hinges of the box creaked, and he let out a nearly collapsing sob, trembling as he lifted the contents of the box.

“Elvis…”