Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 822 Guide

The sailor fell into complete silence, lying motionless among the tall black and white grass, imagining that he had become a real corpse.

The wind blew chaotically from all directions, pushing the wild grass in the wilderness. Amid the rolling waves of the grass, some sounds seemed to gradually appear - they sounded like distant whispers, faint conversations, vague sighs, and ethereal melodies like music.

The sailor closed his eyes and let the calmness of the dead immerse him in this endless wasteland.

Agatha held the cane and slowly circled the sailor three times. The runes on the ground lit up under her footsteps, and the pale flames gradually emitted a bright glow. Then she stopped near the sailor's head again, inserted the cane into the ground, and slowly opened her arms.

The wind in the wilderness suddenly became more chaotic and violent, and the sounds carried by the wind suddenly became much clearer. However, just when Duncan thought that the "gatekeeper" on this side had been awakened, the surrounding wind gradually stopped and all the sounds disappeared.

"...Hmm?" Agatha opened her eyes in confusion and her brows gradually frowned.

"What's going on?" Duncan asked curiously.

The sailor lying on the ground could not help but open his eyes. He realized that something seemed to have gone wrong with the ceremony, but he remembered Agatha's instructions just now, so he did not dare to speak or turn his head. He could only stay tense and try his best to convey his doubts with his eyes.

"...At the moment the 'channel' was established, I seemed to have sensed the presence of the 'gatekeeper' of the world of the dead," Agatha said with a frown, "but they did not respond and simply left."

"No response?" Duncan asked doubtfully, looking down at the mummy lying on the ground, blinking hard, "Did your 'forgery' get discovered?"

"That's not the reason... Whether they are discovered or not is not important. Our original purpose was to make the 'gatekeepers' on this side appear. As long as they come, they will show up even if my fake dead person is discovered on the spot." Agatha shook her head. "In fact, if a fake dead person is really discovered, they will show up even faster - this is a more serious 'bad incident' than the appearance of a real dead person."

Duncan nodded thoughtfully, but then realized, "Ah? So doing this will anger the gatekeepers on this side?"

Agatha nodded calmly, "Yes, if they found out what I was doing - they would probably be very, very angry."

Duncan looked strange: "...You didn't mention this before."

"Just don't get discovered," Agatha shrugged. "If we are discovered, there is nothing we can do. I can't beat them, but I can run very fast through mirror jumping. It won't be a big problem for you to negotiate with them then. The 'gatekeepers' on this side can also communicate rationally and intelligently. They usually calm down after a fight."

Duncan always felt that there was something wrong with this process, and it was different from what he had imagined at the beginning.

However, he did not dwell on this issue, but quickly focused on the current abnormality: "But the gatekeeper did not pay attention to the 'dead' here."

Agatha frowned and nodded. After a moment's thought, she suddenly looked down at the sailor and broke the silence: "I'll try again. After the ceremony is over, you will get up immediately and return to the boat as quickly as possible. This process will tear the 'channel' apart, so don't look back."

The sailor was tense, his eyes still wandering...

Agatha responded on the spot: "If you don't understand, just nod or shake your head."

The sailor froze for a moment, and shook his head hesitantly as if he wanted to shake his head, but then he stopped and finally nodded slightly.

"Okay, I'll take that as your opinion. Now stay still. I'm going to do it again."

As Agatha spoke, she picked up the combat staff that materialized from her memory and began to ignite the pale flames on the ground again, activating those strange and mysterious runes.

The disorderly wind began to blow again, mixed with vague whispers, and the "channel" Agatha mentioned was established again, and Duncan also sensed... the existence of "them".

Agatha stopped again at the end of the ceremony, then slammed her cane into the ground: "Now - get up!"

The sailor had been waiting for this sentence. He jumped up like a spring and without hesitation stepped over the pale flames burning around him and rushed towards the origami boat not far away!

With the sudden activity of the "dead", the situation finally changed - the "passage" was forcibly torn apart, and a world that was originally hidden in a deeper layer suddenly appeared before Duncan!
The pale flames on the ground rose up with a rumble, and the triangular rune array left by Agatha released a dazzling light. Then, a rapidly expanding crack appeared in the air above the triangle. The space there was covered with cracks like glass and shattered silently, while a dusk-like light leaked out from the cracks - almost in the blink of an eye, the rising pale flames were also dyed with a layer of dusk-like color.

Through the rapidly expanding crack, Duncan saw an unusually tall phantom draped in a black robe. However, the phantom was not "angry" as Agatha said. He just stared at this side of the crack in silence. After a brief pause, he turned around and slowly walked into the distance.

Duncan immediately looked at Agatha in confusion, and the latter seemed even more surprised. She looked at the "gatekeeper" who turned and left in astonishment, and couldn't help but say, "Wait a minute! Didn't you see that someone is violating the rules here? Faking the dead! And deliberately destroying the access channel! Come and take care of it!"

The tall phantom walked further away, as if he had not heard the sound behind him at all, and as he left, the crack above the triangle began to slowly close.

Agatha looked at this scene in amazement, but just as she was about to forcefully hold up the passage and take the captain through it, a large hand as dry as a claw suddenly appeared at the edge of the crack - that hand held up the crack that was slowly closing, followed by another hand.

Along with the harsh sound of glass gradually shattering, the crack was forcibly opened by the hands and began to expand again.

Then, the owner of those hands appeared on the other side of the crack—a taller "gatekeeper" wearing a dark robe as dark as the night. The hood of the robe completely covered his face. Only a pair of eyes emitting dim light burned like fire in the shadow of the hood. He bent over and spoke in a gloomy and hoarse voice that seemed to ring out from the grave: "Come."

Along with this brief and cold word, the next second, the crack like glass crack shattered silently.

What was shattered was the entire wilderness of death in front of Duncan, and the "night" over this wilderness.

The eternal night that shrouded the kingdom of the dead shattered and dissipated, revealing the light of dusk behind the curtain. Black and white nameless weeds swayed in the wind in the dusk, and a path appeared in front of Duncan and Agatha. The path had no end, extending straight into the depths of the wilderness, as if it had always sunk into the space between the sky and the earth.

The unusually tall "gatekeeper" stood on the path, standing silently, like a silent tombstone.

Duncan subconsciously turned his head to look at the Lost Homeland and the Brilliant Star, only to see that the two ships had turned into two solidified and translucent shadows - they were stationary not far away, and in the light of dusk, it seemed that the wasteland shrouded in eternal night could still be seen on the other side of the shadows.

Duncan looked away.

The tall gatekeeper who was standing quietly also broke the silence almost at the same time: "Let's go."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and walked forward along the path.

Duncan exchanged glances with Agatha and immediately followed.

"This isn't normal," Agatha followed Duncan and whispered, "The gatekeeper I've seen... the gatekeeper I remember seeing is not like this. His aura is not the same... his words and actions are not the same either."

"Wasn't the gatekeeper who turned around and left earlier more wrong?" Duncan said casually, "At least this one is willing to show up and lead the way. It's better than nothing - at least we have reached the 'deeper'."

"That's even more wrong," Agatha frowned. "The gatekeeper here should be able to tell at a glance that you and I are not the 'dead'. Even if he wants to lead the way, he should have asked and negotiated... Why did he lead the way directly? It's as if he was waiting for us..."

Duncan thought it made sense: "Then why don't you ask?"

Agatha hesitated for a moment, then raised her head and looked at the tall figure who was walking in front of her at a slow pace. "Are you waiting for us here?"

The tall figure did not answer, as if he did not hear it.

Agatha was not discouraged. After a while, she asked loudly: "Do you know who we are? Have you discovered that we are not really the 'dead'?"

The tall gatekeeper finally paused, but only uttered a muffled syllable: "Hmm."

"Captain, this gatekeeper may be cold-hearted." Agatha turned around and said to Duncan helplessly.

Duncan didn't say anything, but frowned and thought for a while, then looked up and said to the gatekeeper: "We also summoned a gatekeeper before, but he ignored us and left, and there were other gatekeepers... where did they go?"

Under the surprised looks of Duncan and Agatha, the tall figure stopped.

"Funeral." He said in a low voice, breaking the silence.

Duncan frowned. "Funeral? You mean the other gatekeepers went to the funeral?"

"Yes."

"Whose funeral?" Agatha asked subconsciously.

"The God of Death."

The tall gatekeeper turned around, his dim eyes burning quietly in the shadow of his hood.

"Death is dead."

(End of this chapter)