Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 899 No Fire
A slightly biting wind swept across the dark sky, which was faintly tinged with gray, stirring the fading flames.

"I never imagined... that Lord Black Sword had experienced so many incredible things."

In the firelight, the blindfolded nun, having listened to Xin Lailai's story, murmured softly, then fell silent. After a long while, she bowed to Xin Lailai in a gentle, apologetic voice:

"I'm sorry, Lord Black Sword, you already bear such a heavy responsibility, yet I'm adding new burdens to your burden..."

“Your Excellency, you flatter me. As I said, this is simply our duty. Besides, if it weren’t for Your Excellency, we might still be sleeping in the graveyard of heroes, wasting precious time in a daze.”

Xin Lailai shook her head slightly, answering nonchalantly, while Ling Yuzi, who had been holding back for a long time in the soul space, also chimed in without delay:
"Absolutely! If it weren't for the nun who was as kind to Xiao Hei as a mother, we might not have even made it out of that stinky cemetery!"

"Speaking of which, someone with such a kind personality as Sister would be perfect as a nun of holy light if she entered Paradise! We might see you on expeditions all the time then!"

"nun……"

Having finally regained control of her body, Lingyu kept muttering to herself. The blindfolded nun, upon hearing this, seemed to remember something and suddenly became lost in thought. After several seconds, she gently shook her head, denying it with a slightly disappointed tone:
"Lord Bai Yu thinks too highly of me. How could someone as defiled as me dare to desecrate such a noble being?"

"Tsk, Sister, that's your problem! You always underestimate yourself. You should be more confident! Look at Little Black, he gets so confident in Paradise that he doesn't know what the world is like if he doesn't get beaten up by others for three days!"

"Eh…?"

"..."

"Sister, you've always said you don't have a name, so if you were to actually enter Paradise one day, what name would you give yourself?"

"This... Lord Bai Yu, please don't make such a joke."

"Tell me, just tell me, it's my personal matter to want to know!"

"..."

The slightly coquettish tone, crafted using ventriloquism, fell from the voice. Xin Lailai, located in the soul space, looked at Ling Yuzi, who spoke these words with her angular, tough face, and her expression twitched heavily. She realized that this journey would probably accumulate a lot of embarrassing memories.

"I……"

Hearing this, the blindfolded nun, who was being pestered by Ling Yuzi, bit her thin lips, looked at the gradually weakening campfire in front of her, and after a moment of silence, murmured softly:
"If that day ever comes, I think... I might use the name 'No Fire'?"

The blindfolded nun spoke, looking up at the sky that was gradually turning from pitch black to gray, and murmured, "A very selfish thought, isn't it? Born of fire, yet yearning for a world without fire, and even now, for her own selfish desires, she's instigating Lord Black Sword and the others to extinguish the King's Flame. I truly..."

“If that’s all there is to it, you should be even more selfish.”

"Lord Black Sword, I..."

Before the blindfolded nun could finish speaking, Xin Lailai's calm and authoritative voice suddenly rang out, interrupting her. The blindfolded nun was slightly startled, looked down in the direction of the black-haired youth, and was about to say something when a pleasant female voice full of approval suddenly came from Xin Lailai's throat:
"That's right, that's right! Sister Wuhuo, you should be even more selfish! Like me, I'm so possessive every day that I want to completely drain Xiao Hei, and even though Xiao Hei says he's shy, he actually enjoys it!"

"Drain it?"

"Cough! Zero... Bai Yu, shut up!"

A somewhat bewildered expression appeared on the nun's face, and before Zero could speak, who was clearly already high, Xin Lailai seized control of her body without hesitation, interrupting the other's 'mental defilement'.

"Ah, I'm sorry! Lord Black Sword, did I ask something I shouldn't have?"

"No, it's nothing... Never mind, in a sense, it's something that you shouldn't know, Sister. If possible, please don't ask again in the future."

Beneath the forest, Xin Lailai, who was momentarily at a loss for how to explain things to the other party, twitched slightly at the corner of her eye, rubbed her temples, and said in a somewhat weary tone.

“Yes, I understand. Since this is Lord Black Sword’s wish, I will be careful to avoid anything related to ‘draining’ in the future.”

The blindfolded nun nodded with unusual seriousness, causing Xin Lailai's expression to stiffen slightly. A surge of guilt rose in her mind, and after a light cough, she mentally berated herself:

"Hey, Lingyuzi, watch yourself, don't lead the nun astray!"

'Hmm… I definitely went too far this time. Luckily, Lai Lai, you were here. It would be such a shame if such an innocent young lady got tainted by something dirty.'

'Don't talk like it'll be okay later...'

'But, once Sister Wuhuo goes outside, she'll inevitably come into contact with this knowledge sooner or later, right? In that case, why don't you, Lai Lai, tell her?'

'...'

"But speaking of which, I always feel like Wu Huo is unusually kind to be around? It's really like a sister and a mother. Talking to her feels like talking to a long-time friend without me even realizing it. Lai Lai, don't you feel that way at all?"

'Right now, I only feel deep guilt for letting you go...'

"Hmm... Lai Lai, you said Sister Wu Huo is being so nice to us, is it because the 'Nun Slayer' physique that Sister Chris told you about is kicking in?"

'Perhaps...'

Realizing she couldn't bring herself to blame the girl for these things, Xin Lailai sighed helplessly, gently rubbing her temples. She glanced at the blindfolded nun beside her, who was looking at her with a gentle expression, cleared her throat, and said:

"Ahem, Your Excellency, since it's already dawn, how about we continue our journey?"

"Yes, I'm very grateful to Lord Black Sword for telling me so much tonight."

Upon hearing this, the blindfolded nun nodded slightly. Seeing this, Xin Lailai breathed a slight sigh of relief, then whistled towards the nearby woods. The next second, the gray spirit horse that was waiting not far away suddenly raised its head, shook its hooves, and obediently came to her side, bending down to wait for her to ride.

"It's nothing. After all, for Bai Yu and me, having a companion to share with is a reassuring thing. Let's go, Charité."

As Xin Lailai spoke, she skillfully pulled the blindfolded nun onto the horse's back. After protecting herself and the other person with a magic crystal, she flicked the reins and quickly disappeared into the woods amidst the neighing and galloping of the gray spirit horse.

As it departed, the ashes left behind drifted away with the gradually emerging dawn, merging into the passing cold wind.

……

Two days later.

[The "Hungry Man" has been killed, Soul Points +252 (168+84)]

"Is this the last one...?"

A sharp sword light flashed through the cold wind. On the path, which was almost invisible due to weeds and bushes, Xin Lailai glanced at the quiet world, checked the area within her field of vision, and then nodded slightly. She took out a flame-shaped golden soul and said, "Sister, it's all cleaned up. You can recover now."

Om-! !

As soon as he finished speaking, the flame-shaped soul in his hand suddenly emitted wisps of fire, transforming into the figure of a blindfolded nun under his gaze.

"Thank you for your hard work, Lord Black Sword."

"Just a few wild zombies, nothing special."

Xin Lailai shook her head, helped the pale-faced blindfolded nun up, glanced at the wisps of ashes scattered around them, and said:

"Judging from their species, they seem to be the gray... well, the special undead that Lord Hochlin mentioned only exist near the Pilgrim's Path. It seems I'm quite close to the Pilgrim's Path."

"According to Lord Horclin, there should also be an Ash Settlement nearby. Although it may have been turned into a paradise for the living dead by now, we should be able to find new sparks there, which will be a good way to replenish your energy, Sister."

Although theoretically, even if the Fire-Giver Sister suffers a fatal injury, she will not truly die, but if she does fall into a deep sleep as a result, aside from everything else, just the loss of the daily use of the Elemental Bottle that she could help replenish, and the loss of the way to upgrade by consuming Soul Points at any time, would be an extremely serious blow to their journey.

You have to understand that they encountered many dangerous areas along the way that they couldn't get through by relying on Charité. If it weren't for the blindfolded nun helping them replenish the number of times they could use their Elemental Flasks, ensuring that they could summon Charité once a day, they would probably have been stuck in a difficult situation long ago.

The same applies to leveling up. It is precisely because of the blindfolded nun's presence that they were able to convert the soul points they accumulated into their own strength in a timely manner, achieving true self-sufficiency through combat and becoming stronger with each battle.

Of course, in order to ensure the safety of the blindfolded nun during the battle, they had to temporarily revert to their soul form despite the considerable consumption and weakness she experienced. In addition, the number of repair items in their backpacks used to restore equipment durability was limited. Therefore, they generally avoided wandering spirits and zombies along the way. As a result, their actual level increase was only LV.4 higher than before they set off, which was not much more.

"Hmm... I hope the people there are still alive."

"hope so."

Upon hearing this, the blindfolded nun whispered, and under Xin Lailai's guidance, sat back on the gray spirit horse. Xin Lailai nodded slightly and looked into the distance again amidst the galloping of the spirit horse.

Ash settlement.

In an earlier period... when there were still many native undead in this world who had not become zombies but were unable to die simply because of the curse of the abyss, these places were called undead settlements.

There's even a theory that the first person to inherit the soul of the first Lord of Cinder was actually a weak undead born from an undead settlement, rather than one of the powerful royals who inherited the bloodline of the first Lord of Cinder.

But with the disappearance of the Kingfire's power, the era written by the undead was forced to come to an end, gradually transforming into the world we know today, which is occupied by ashes... and even by wandering spirits and undead.

Judging from their experience with the last Ash Settlement, although they really didn't want to see this happen again, considering the time Grayheart spent at the Firelink Shrine, the chances of the Ash Settlement near the Pilgrim's Path that the other party mentioned not having fallen by now were...

"Hey! Is anyone there? Help me out!"

"Um?!"

A flood of thoughts raced through Xin Lailai's mind. Just as she was pondering how to efficiently slaughter the Ash Settlement, which might have become a zombie paradise, a slightly muffled cry for help suddenly rang out, causing her expression to shift.

"Charret, stop for a moment."

"Hiss—!!"

The galloping of the spirit horse subsided, and Xin Lailai, who had stopped, looked in a certain direction behind her, a hint of curiosity and doubt flashing in her eyes. And then…

"Hey! Is anyone there? Help me! I'm stuck here and can't get out!"

A muffled shout, tinged with a touch of naivety, rang out once more, as if the owner of the voice was speaking through a thick layer of armor. This time, after carefully identifying the source of the sound, Xin Lailai finally focused her gaze on a patch of unusually dense bushes.

Is that where...?

"Lord Black Sword, we..."

"Let's go take a look. If it's not a trap, we can ask for directions. Sister, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you again."

"It's alright, besides, Lord Black Sword was only thinking about my safety."

As the blindfolded nun spoke, she gently shook her head, and then, under Xin Lailai's gaze, it dispersed into countless flames, leaving only a small, flame-shaped soul in her hand.

Seeing this, Xin Lailai nodded slightly, carefully put the nun's soul into the backpack space that came with the blessing interface, comforted Charité a couple of times, and signaled him to stay where he was and wait. Then she drew her longsword and cautiously walked toward the source of the sound.

Rustle~rustle~!

The rustling of the bushes filled the air, and as they moved forward, the person who had cried for help seemed to have heard something, a hint of joy suddenly appearing in their voice:
"I hear it! These aren't the footsteps of those zombies! Haha, over here! Over here! We're here."

"Oh, right, kind stranger, watch your step! These wretched bushes conceal deadly traps! One wrong move and you could fall into the same deadly predicament as us!"

A straightforward shout, tinged with joy and a hint of worry, rang out. Xin Lailai, listening to the increasingly clear sound, shifted her gaze, cautiously watching her footing as she approached the bushes from which the sound originated. She manipulated a crystalline arm to part the bushes, and then…

"Ok?"

"Haha! You've succeeded! Oh, kind passerby with a keen eye, could you lend us a hand? I swear in the name of the Knight of Caleto that I will repay you!"

The excited shouts subsided, and this time, Xin Lailai looked at the source of the cries for help and fell silent.

Before her stood a moss-covered well, and in the well, a figure wearing oval-shaped armor resembling an onion and a matching onion-shaped helmet was stuck, calling out to Xin Lailai for help with great joy.

And most importantly——

“I said, although I can’t tell whether you genuinely want to ask for help or are doing this on purpose, but…”

"If you want to get out... just put the armor back in your backpack and climb out yourself."

As Xin Lailai spoke, she looked at the well, which was less than half an inch away from the other person's dangling toes and only a little over 1.6 meters deep, and fell silent amidst the splashing sound that came from her soul space.

As soon as he uttered these words, the onion-shaped knight, who was stuck in the well, paused for a moment, pondered for a few seconds, and then suddenly said with great excitement:
"Haha! You are a kind stranger with a keen eye for detail, a true genius! I, Gerbak, a knight of Caledon, offer you my most loyal respect!"

"..."

……

(End of this chapter)