This place was never ant to be visited by soone like him. It had existed since the beginning of ti itself, giving refuge to beings that reaped the souls of gods and monsters alike.
But...that was exactly the kind of company he needed right now.
Hao Xuan followed behind her without hesitation, passing through the rows of wailing skeletons that seed to be rooted into the ground. They must have been thousands of years old but in this place, they could not perish.
The Old Witch saw his curious gaze and volunteered the information herself.
"Once...a long ti ago, they were just like you. re mortals confident in their abilities sought out the Old Ones in their greed, looking for more power by any ans necessary. Now they pay the price with an eternity of servitude."
But the reaction she was expecting did not co.
[I know what is asked of , I always knew. But still I am here]
"You certainly are...but will you be any different than these ignorant souls?"
[Only ti will tell]
"Kehehehe, ti? Indeed, you are not wrong..."
Upon reaching the top of the stairs the Old Witch paused and stepped to the side, "Go on, I won't rob you of this pleasure-"
He could no longer see her face since it was covered by a mask of shadows but those soulless dreary eyes bore holes in his face trying to stare into his very soul, "-Unless you are afraid?"
Hao Xuan looked back at her calmly, [I am afraid of a great many things but you are not one of them] before stepping inside.
She cackled to herself while watching his figure being engulfed by the darkness that lay in the depths of the castle, "It is not I that you should fear."
When Hao Xuan stepped into the castle everything behind him disappeared. It was just as barren and desolate as it appeared to be from the outside but the problem was there were too many paths to follow.
And since he had no knowledge of this place nor its interior, all he could depend on was himself. And while he shuffled through his many mories Hao Xuan decided to ask her anyway.
[Must we continue this charade? Why don't you reveal yourself and lead where I need to go? There isn't enough ti for to be doing sothing this foolish]
"However long it takes will depend on you," the Old Witch's voice echoed from a distance, "But the flow of ti is different in this place, that is one of the reasons why you are here."
One second the voice was coming from the left and the other from the right. He couldn't detect any magic being used nor ability so it wasn't easy tracking her down either way.
[And what exactly do you want to do here? Wander around until I walk into the right place?]
The sound of roaring laughter reverberated from every direction simultaneously, "You wish to et the Old Ones, yes? Then go and find them! Lay your soul bare for all to see and only then will you be able to find traces of their powers."
"Follow it and you will find the resting place. Once you are able to satisfy one of them and receive their blessing you will be marked and only then can you enter the 'Halls of Austerity'. Go now, do not linger needlessly!" and her voice slowly faded away.
Hao Xuan knew it was useless to try and persuade her since it might actually be out of her hands as she insinuated so, he went on his way.
There was a giant hole in the roof just a few ters away from the entrance which gave a pretty good view of the outside world. The only problem was that it was nothing like the place he saw monts ago.
There was a raging storm bubbling overhead with no end in sight.
Hao Xuan turned into the left hallway first since it was closer. He walked for half a minute but couldn't sense anything different so he turned around to pick another direction but it was gone.
It was the sa hallway that continued without end in both directions and only then, only after triggering the trap did Hao Xuan rember sothing related to this place.
He had heard this from a wandering rchant in one of his other lives, about a place that existed outside of ti where all of the Great Old Ones went to die. And sotis a fortunate mortal would be able to find their way in.
'It was a place where no mistakes could be made and death was too afraid to enter,' the rchant said.
It held answers to questions that no one had even asked but most importantly, this was the place you would look for if you wanted to et a being such as them in person.
[A place that death does not visit] Hao Xuan murmured.
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