At this point, Siewen gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath, "Archbishop Anchilin once said she really wanted to explore the Realm of Dark Chaos because it holds many mysterious powers. Perhaps there's a kind of power that could be useful for the Dark Elves, allowing our race to grow stronger. Hmph! It's all because of that wretched Elina! She ruined Archbishop Anchilin's plans! That damned woman!"
"The Realm of Dark Chaos?" Upon hearing this phrase, everyone's eyes lit up, as they felt it was a very valuable piece of information.
"Are you sure that place is called the Realm of Dark Chaos?" Dao Lao asked, confirming with Siewen who was still cursing Elina.
"That's what Archbishop Anchilin called it based on her perception of the surroundings. She said it's vast and chaotic, filled with the breath of destruction. It constantly generates evil energy and isolates its world from the outside by devouring any energy that approaches," Siewen explained.
Upon hearing this, Dao Lao and Master Gu involuntarily exchanged glances. Then, Dao Lao stroked his white beard and speculated, "Clearly, there's some connection between the Mold Spirit energy within Anchilin and that Realm of Dark Chaos, which made her yearn for it. Since Elina has fully merged with that Mold Spirit energy, she should have inherited this connection as well. So it's possible Elina went there, which led to us losing her trail."
"If that's the case, then it's for the best. I hope you can find Elina soon and avenge Archbishop Anchilin," Siewen said, looking at Dao Lao with a hopeful expression, seemingly wishing Dao Lao would act on behalf of his master.
Upon seeing this, Master Gu rebuked angrily, "Siewen! How can you remain obstinate to the end!? Avenge her? Don't forget, you all are the cause of calamity in this world, the culprits responsible for countless lives lost! If anyone is to seek revenge, it should be us upholding justice for the elves who have fallen into dire straits due to your selfish desires. Humph! Where do you get the audacity to make demands of us?"
Master Gu's sudden burst of authority and imposing aura was something that Siewen, a mere mortal from the lower realms, couldn't bear. Under Master Gu's rebuke, not only did Siewen dare not act recklessly anymore, but he also involuntarily fell to the ground and trembled, too afraid to even lift his head.
Since Siewen had nothing more to confess, Master Gu assigned two Soul Retrieval Priests who were currently outside extraditing souls, along with another Mold Spirit Energy Pursuit Priest who had come to support, to deal with Siewen. Because Elina had been resurrected using Anchilin's dark magic with a strand of her soul left behind, the Soul Retrieval Priests had been unable to extradite his soul back to the underworld.
However, with Elina abandoning Siewen, the signs of the deathly black magic Anchilin had cast on him began to fade. This not only meant Siewen's death due to the failure of the spells sustaining his life, but it also meant the Mold Spirit energy lingering within him couldn't remain stable without the black magic as a binder. As a result, the Mold Spirit Energy Pursuit Priest could easily capture that portion of Mold Spirit energy, and the Soul Retrieval Priests could successfully extradite Siewen's entire soul to the underworld for proper punishment.
After Master Gu emphasized the severity of Siewen's sins and the necessity for his soul to undergo severe punishment, he left first to investigate the Realm of Dark Chaos. Meanwhile, Haoyun, Dao Lao, and the female warrior prepared to return to the underworld after completing the handover of their tasks with the other Mold Spirit Energy Pursuit Priests and accompanying personnel.
However, just as the three of them began to hand over their work to their colleagues, one of the priests frowned and said, "Brother Hao, there's been an incident beneath Blackstone Castle that seems to require your assistance."
"You need me to handle it? What's happened?" Haoyun asked, puzzled.
The priest immediately replied, "Here's the situation: My assistant was capturing the remaining Mold Spirit energy lingering in the elves and zombies near the castle. But just a moment ago, a Dark Elf suddenly stopped my assistant. It seems he recognized my assistant's identity and kept insisting not to touch his father. Then he mentioned knowing my assistant's colleague and said he's your comrade, wanting to see you. At the same time, he produced a miniature long-distance communication device exclusive to the Spirit Realm to prove that what he said was true—"
"It's Biscuit Tang! How did he come back again? Where is he now?" Before the priest could finish, Haoyun immediately interjected.
"Biscuit Tang? What a strange name. He's currently in the kitchen on the middle floor of the castle," the priest replied.
"That guy is indeed our friend, and I gave him that communication device. However, once their mission was complete, I invalidated their communicator to prevent these beings from establishing excessive contact with us. Well, let us handle this matter," Dao Lao said, leading Haoyun and the female warrior downstairs.
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Because Biscuit Tang had detailed the location of the kitchen in Blackstone Castle in his previous narration, Haoyun's group quickly arrived at the floor where the kitchen was located. As they stepped into the corridor leading to the kitchen, they heard Biscuit Tang loudly warning, "You better not take my father away! Stay away from me! Otherwise, I won't be polite!"
Upon hearing Biscuit Tang's shouts, Haoyun hurriedly ran to the door of the kitchen and called out, "Biscuit Tang! What are you doing here?"
"Haoyun, you've finally arrived! I knew it! They are indeed your colleagues! Haoyun! Please, talk to them and ask them to release my father! I just saw that any zombie who had been spellbound by them died instantly! I can't let my father suffer the same fate! Haoyun, please, talk to them and persuade them to spare my father!" Upon seeing Haoyun, Biscuit Tang rushed forward, his voice full of anxiety.
Upon hearing Biscuit Tang's plea, Haoyun noticed a zombie lying in the corner of the kitchen. Although the zombie's face was hideous and withered, it was not difficult to recognize his resemblance to Biscuit Tang. Therefore, Haoyun speculated that this zombie was likely Biscuit Tang's father. Haoyun now understood that Biscuit Tang had returned to Blackstone Castle to find his old father. However, what surprised Haoyun was that Biscuit Tang's father, although a zombie, exhibited very human-like expressions at the moment, looking extremely weak and uneasy.
"Has your father regained consciousness?" Haoyun asked, puzzled.
"Yes! My father, Old Tang, has come back!" Biscuit Tang excitedly pointed to Old Tang and replied.
Then, in a hurried tone born of anxiety, he explained further, "Actually, after the battle last night, many elves who had been turned into zombies gradually regained their senses. I think it must be related to the disappearance of the black magic controlling them. However, as the black magic fades, so does their lives. Haoyun, Dao Lao, you must find a way to save my father!" Biscuit Tang turned anxiously to look at his father again. His father, Old Tang, weakly raised his palm as if trying to greet Haoyun and the others.
Biscuit Tang then briefly recounted how he had returned. It turned out that during the chaos caused by Anxilin and Elina on the entire Elven planet, he, like other elves, felt a great pain as if a force was being extracted from his body. However, due to having long given up practicing black magic, Biscuit Tang and his group recovered from the pain more quickly than others. Therefore, Biscuit Tang realized that many zombies around him had collapsed. At the same time, he saw all the flying beasts that had been fighting above the Cold Moon City disappear. This made Biscuit Tang immediately aware that the battles in Blackstone Castle and Cold Moon City had stopped due to the sudden upheaval. Thus, he also realized that his old father might have broken free from the bondage of black magic and regained his consciousness. So, he immediately returned to Cold Moon City, smoothly entered Blackstone Castle, and eventually reunited with his old father.
"Dao Lao, Haoyun, please, you must find a way to save my father! He's on the verge of death! I... I don't want to lose my father again!" Biscuit Tang pleaded once more.
While Haoyun and Dao Lao understood Biscuit Tang's fear of losing his father, they also knew that Old Tang's life had already been ended by Anxilin. Old Tang's momentary recovery of consciousness was solely due to the black magic that had turned him into a zombie beginning to fail, allowing his trapped soul to escape from within him. This created the illusion of a temporary return to life.
"Once a person dies, they cannot be brought back. This is an eternal law of nature. Moreover, your father has already been kept alive through Anxilin's black magic, in a way that defies the laws of nature. You shouldn't expect him to continue existing through abnormal means. Such a way of life is a blasphemy against life itself, and going against the natural order will only bring your father more pain, even inviting more divine retribution upon him. You should try to accept this and not force things," Dao Lao carefully comforted.
Biscuit Tang naturally understood Dao Lao's meaning and knew that he was not intentionally abandoning his father. After all, he had witnessed his father being killed by Anxilin and turned into a zombie. So, he was very clear in his heart that his father had already died many years ago. He was just afraid that his father, who had regained some consciousness, would leave him again, and this time, it would be forever. This fear led him to seek a way to preserve his father's already departed life.
"Alas! Just seeing my father again and seeing him smile at me, that's enough for me! I'm just afraid of losing my father again because once he truly leaves, it means we're truly saying goodbye!" With the reassurance from Haoyun and Dao Lao, Biscuit Tang, whose emotions gradually stabilized, finally sighed calmly and turned back to sit beside his father.
Old Tang looked at his son with loving eyes while trying to lift his hand to touch Biscuit Tang's face. It was evident that although Old Tang had regained consciousness, his condition was deteriorating rapidly. He struggled to cough twice, then began to gasp heavily due to exhaustion.
With great effort, the weakened father made two "cough, cough" sounds from his throat and trembled as he nodded repeatedly at Biscuit Tang. It seemed like he was telling Biscuit Tang that his time to leave was approaching and that he didn't want to continue living in such a way. He hoped Biscuit Tang could be brave and accompany him to peacefully await death. Understanding his father's silent plea, Biscuit Tang gently nodded, then took his father's hands and placed them on his own face, wanting his father to feel the warmth of his son for the last time.
Witnessing Biscuit Tang bidding a painful farewell to his father, Haoyun's thoughts couldn't help but become deeply tangled. So, he turned to Dao Lao once again, seeming to inquire whether Dao Lao had any method to spare Biscuit Tang and his father from enduring such a separation of life and death once more.