Chapter 1153: 140. Beguilement

Leaving the bottom of the valley, climbing up the ridge, and standing on higher ground.

Landa very easily saw the direction Marcie had pointed her toward.

It was a mountain ravine. The water that had once flowed there had already dried up, and only some thatch that had not yet been taken away remained at the bottom.

In a barren place like Annabawei, for there to still be dry grass left uncollected when night arrived... meant this place was indeed fairly remote. Almost no one would set foot here.

It was very quiet.

And it would be very beautiful.

Now that daylight had stabilized, in a few more years, this place would surely become a lovely land with abundant water and lush grass.

Mm. Lord Theresa would definitely like this kind of place.

Thinking this, Landa held the body of the person she loved in her arms and, step by step, came down beneath this mountain ravine.

Along the way, her mind had nearly lost the ability to think. She had only relied on instinct to walk here.

Like a living corpse whose movements were stiff.

Numbly, she wandered through the mountain ravine. Numbly, she searched for a suitable piece of land. Then numbly, she dug open a grave pit. Finally, numbly, she placed Theresa’s corpse inside.

In Annabawei, where resources were scarce, something like burial did not require any complicated procedure at all. There was not even a coffin, not even a straw mat.

It was just that simple.

Because of that, even in this completely numb state, Landa was still able to bury Theresa.

Until his half body, until that man who had once stood tall enough to hold up heaven and earth, now placed inside the grave pit, looked so very small in this moment... only then did Landa suddenly come back to herself.

“Lord... Theresa...”

Tears.

One drop after another fell.

Uncontrollable sobs echoed through the mountain ravine.

In this moment, Landa seemed finally to gain a real sense of the pain of Theresa’s departure, and she began to cry.

Theresa’s death seemed to have drawn away her soul as well. What could support her in living on, in walking onward, seemed to be only that one request he had told her when he left.

“Landa... please help me see... what that beautiful world bathed in sunlight really looks like, all right? Look a little longer, look a little more, and when you don’t want to look anymore, come down and tell me.”

Every word entered her ears, gentle, yet cruel.

—He must have done it on purpose.

He clearly knew how painful it was to admire those landscapes alone, to be drawn in by all those beautiful things alone, to be unable to part with everything in this world alone.

But he still selfishly {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} placed this curse upon her.

That was just how he was... coming and going like the wind, yet at certain times, delicate enough to make people extremely displeased.

“You’re too despicable, Lord Theresa. You really are too despicable. Decades from now... or even longer, when I see you again, I’ll definitely scold you viciously.”

Her ten fingers sank deep into the soil. The girl who had once been gentle and shy could not help beginning to curse in a soft, angry voice at this moment:

“I’ll definitely scold you until you’re drenched in dog’s blood, scold you until you cry for your father and mother, scold you until... anyway, I’ll scold you viciously.”

If, at that time, she could still remember him.

How cruel...

They clearly loved each other so deeply, yet on some future day, she would always forget the person who had carved himself into her bones and heart.

The moment she thought that such a thing would happen to her, Landa felt a sharp pain in her heart... pain so severe she could not breathe.

“Why... why did you always like rushing to the very front so much...”

“Because he was stupid.”

“Why... would something like this happen to me?”

“Because you are stupid too.”

“If I’d known this would be the result... back then, I should have stopped you... Clearly... we had only just confessed our feelings. Clearly... everything had only just started getting better, hadn’t it?”

“All of this is not beyond saving.”

“If...”

“If...”

“If only he could come back to life, come back to life with his body whole.”

“That’s right. If he could come back to life...”

Landa’s delicate body suddenly stiffened, as if she had finally realized there seemed to have been another voice answering her all along. She blankly raised her head, her tear-blurred eyes looking toward the figure that had appeared before her at some unknown time.

“Who?”

“Don’t be nervous, my poor child. I hold no malice toward you.”

This was an old woman, her hair completely white, yet her spirit hale and vigorous.

She lowered her head, most of her face hidden in shadow, but one could still sense the pity and affection that came from the bottom of her heart.

She reached out with warm hands and gently cupped Landa’s cheeks.

“To have the person you deeply love die before your eyes like this... that is probably the most painful thing in the world. How pitiful.”

“You... who are you?”

“Who I am is not important. What matters is that I came to help you.”

“Help me?”

“Yes... help you.”

The old woman’s words carried an indescribable warmth, easily making someone put down their guard. Landa, too, very quickly ignored the small abnormality that she had not noticed how this old woman had approached her at all. She allowed the old woman to touch her and asked with naive timidness:

“How are you... going to help me?”

“How else could I help? Did we not just say it?”

The old woman smiled.

“Help you... resurrect your beloved.”

“Resurrect... my beloved?”

Landa’s heart gave a thump, and at last, some kind of ominous feeling emerged... but before that feeling could spread, it was swept clean away by the warmth that followed and sank deeper into her.

Resurrect... resurrect... resurrect her beloved... resurrect Lord Theresa.

Her mind began to fill entirely with this one sentence. Even her voice trembled slightly:

“How could... something like that be possible?”

“Of course it is possible.”

The old woman said, “Did you not just witness the most unbelievable things in this world? The Goddess of Night, who oppressed all of you for so long, transformed with a shake of the body into a gentle, kind mother. The outsider who led the story toward a painful ending transformed with a shake of the body into a hero shining with boundless light. Even the evil dragon that should have destroyed all of this made such a gorgeous grand transformation and became broad-minded, completely unlike herself. This world seems to have become beautiful in an instant... except for those innocent people who died.”

As she spoke, the old woman even specially pointed into the grave pit.

Theresa, with only half his body left, lay there, unable to share in even a bit of light, appearing especially desolate.

“Look.”

The old woman leaned beside Landa’s ear and said softly:

“Such unreasonable things have already happened. It is only resurrecting a single person. What could be impossible about that?”

“Gulp...”

Landa heard the sound of herself swallowing. Instinctively, she felt that something was wrong somewhere, but within those gentle words, she gradually lowered her guard.

“But... why should I believe you?” Landa said timidly. “I... I don’t know you at all.”

“Of course you do not know me, but you can believe me.”

The old woman took Landa’s hand, her voice growing even gentler, like sunlight shining into her painful, ice-cold heart, leaving nowhere to escape.

“I will not deceive you, child. It was the Goddess who sent me to help you.”

“The... the Goddess?”

“Yes, the Goddess. The gentle and merciful Goddess could not bear to see you suffer such hardship, so she specifically had me come to help you.”

“The Goddess can help resurrect Lord Theresa?”

“Of course. The Goddess came to save you, to save your beloved. Not only you two, She will save even more people!”

The old woman approached little by little, embracing Landa. According to common sense, she should not have grown so intimate with a stranger she had met for the first time, but a wondrous magic was being released from the old woman’s stooped body, making her trust without condition, believe without condition...

Lord Theresa coming back to life... what a beautiful thing that would be.

If something like that could happen, she would probably be willing to pay any price for it.

Even her life.

“What... what should I do?”

“It is very simple.”

The old woman took out a pitch-black dagger and placed it in Landa’s hand.

“Originally, this matter could not be rushed. But seeing how much pain you are in, I can secretly tell you... as long as you use that outsider’s blood, fresh blood, you can resurrect your beloved.”

“Out... outsider?”

Two people flashed through Landa’s mind. Mr. Muen, and the other one...

“Can... can I do it?” That outsider was so strong. It did not seem like someone she could casually take a little blood from.

“Of course you can. The Goddess will bless you. Right now, you are already omnipotent!”

“Omnipotent... omnipotent...”

Landa murmured, and in this moment, it was as if endless courage truly surged into her heart, dispelling all fear.

Wasn’t it just taking a little blood from the outsider? Too simple!

“That’s right. It is just that simple.”

Looking at Landa’s appearance, the old woman smiled in relief.

“You can go now. You will not arouse anyone’s suspicion. Just stab this dagger straight in. Believe me. The Goddess will bless you.”

“So... that’s how it is...”

Landa gazed at the dagger in her hand. Her fragile heart seemed to have suddenly found a direction, and it resumed beating powerfully.

Go to the outsider.

Stab the dagger in.

Obtain her blood.

Then... Lord Theresa would come back to life.

What a simple thing that was... under the protection of the Goddess, it could definitely be completed with ease!

“Wonderful. It seems you already understand what to do.”

Looking at the entranced Landa, the smile at the corner of the old woman’s mouth grew stranger and stranger. Beneath her feet, though she was clearly in deep night, a faint shadow actually emerged as well, silently grinning ferociously.

“Hurry and go.”

“Mm, I’ll go right now!”

Landa nodded hard, her entire person as light and excited as a little deer.

But before leaving, she still had to bury Lord Theresa properly, because Lord Theresa had told her to bury his body in a good place, so that even after death, he could...

Huh?

Landa had just scooped up a handful of soil with her hands when she suddenly froze in place.

Huh?

Strange.

She had clearly already decided to resurrect Lord Theresa. Why was she still doing this kind of thing?

Burying him... not burying him was fine too, wasn’t it? Lord Theresa had died in such pain. How could she...

Huh?

Speaking of which, when Lord Theresa... died, was he really in great pain?

Landa lowered her head, her blank gaze falling toward Theresa in the grave pit.

His face was pale. His body was only half there. He was in an utterly sorry state.

But even so, at the corner of his mouth, there was still a faint smile.

“What is it?”

Behind Landa, the old woman began to urge her.

“Aren’t you going quickly? Time is very tight.”

“I... I’ll go right now.”

Landa rose to her feet, but her movements suddenly stopped. Then she moved stiffly again.

She was like a puppet, little by little breaking free from the threads binding her.

At last, she raised her head and looked at the old woman.

“Um...”

“Mm?”

“You seemed to have said one thing wrong just now.”

“What thing?”

“Losing Lord Theresa is not the most painful thing in this world.”

With that, Landa suddenly leaned forward and rushed into the old woman’s arms.

Pfft.

The dagger stabbed into flesh.

The old woman’s expression suddenly stiffened. She widened her eyes somewhat blankly, unable to understand the change that had happened in this moment within such a short time.

Until she slowly lowered her head and looked at the dagger she had handed over... now stabbed by Landa into her own body.

Blood began to flow. It was pitch-black.

“How did you... how could you resist my temptation?” the old woman asked in disbelief. With the power of bewitchment, with a flaw in her mental defenses, it should not have failed no matter what. Why...

“Resist temptation? Of course I couldn’t. I was nearly persuaded. But... I suddenly remembered one thing.”

“?”

“Lord Theresa did not die in pain.”

The girl’s face was covered in tears.

“And his death is not the most painful thing either! Losing the person you love is indeed very painful. Painful enough that I wanted to follow him.”

“But in this Annabawei, painful things are far more than just this one thing. Losing family, losing friends, losing a place to live... starving to death, freezing to death, wandering to death in the hopeless black night.

Which one of those is not painful? Which one is not despairing?

Now that we can finally leave those even more painful things behind and stand beneath the sunlight, how could we casually hand it over to someone else?”

Landa gripped the dagger tightly, her expression suddenly turning fierce.

“So I don’t care what you are. I absolutely will not allow you to destroy the true light Lord Theresa pursued!”