Chapter 699: Chapter 699 Shard’s Sin
Having crossed the barrier gate, he was officially inside the Relic.
The concentration of the Whisper elent on the inside versus the outside of the barrier gate was extraordinarily vast. It wasn’t unbearably uncomfortable like the Fishbone Pirate Ship, but the area of influence unique to site-specific Relics still made Shard feel quite unwell.
It wasn’t intense headaches or nausea, nor was it the constant harassnt of incoherent low whispers. He felt a sort of… desire, and his scattered thoughts seed to erge with unusual ease here. In fact, Shard even thought about pulling out, and such a need to flee was an absolute impossibility for him.
“Oh, I need to focus my mind a bit more.”
With his back to the barrier gate behind him, Shard closed his eyes and patted his head a few tis. Pleasant mories and thoughts could dispel those scattered ones, but the problem was that happy recollections also stirred up more inappropriate thoughts. For instance, when he thought of Mia Cat, he thought about being cautious and turning to leave, and when he thought of Luviya, in addition to the sweetness of affection, there was also…
As Shard beca aware of these chaotic thoughts being out of the ordinary, standing inside the barrier gate, he could vaguely feel the daylight around him dimming. Dark clouds enshrouded the woodland clearing, followed by a pitch-black flash of lightning streaking across the sky, with the rolling thunder heard several seconds later.
The architecture that appeared clean and pristine under the autumn sun grew sinister as the light dimd. Large swaths of shadow wrapped around the exterior walls like crawling monsters, with ghostly figures erging in the glass windows. Inside the courtyard of the barrier gate, golden leaves decayed into muck, and the tree with a swing shed its leaves in two seconds, its trunk and branches appearing to have lost all life force instantly, their withered state resembling grey, colossal hands stretching out from deep underground.
Behind him ca rustling sounds, and turning around, he saw the black iron of the barrier gate intertwine like snakes, locking up the entrance completely, resembling a spider’s web. A common characteristic of site-specific Relics is that one can’t leave without eting certain conditions, a point proven by Shard’s experience on the Fishbone Pirate Ship.
Dim lighting, cool winds reeking of rot brushed against Shard, everything around him in ruins. Now that the Relic fully displayed its interior, Shard finally felt a headache and a strong sensation of discomfort. The Whisper Elent affects all entities and non-entities; it is the enemy of civilization.
“Although it’s very uncomfortable, I can still tolerate it, which ans my sins aren’t particularly severe.”
Shard frowned and pressed at his head, feeling as though he had taken deep breaths in an alley filled with trash and excrent, then spun around in the sa spot twenty tis.
Aside from the discomfort, he also felt a surge in his strength. Every living being entering the Sin Mansion would gain a power boost in proportion to their sins, which could be considered a unique “site effect” of this site-specific Relic.
“Feeling like this, it’s no less than wearing Witch’s Jewelry. Do I really have so many sins?”
He was very puzzled but shook his head:
“Let’s leave this place quickly, hopefully, Granny Cassandra’s information isn’t wrong.”
Glancing at the withered tree and the broken swing underneath, Shard walked toward the entrance of the building that looked like a Haunted House and then reached out to knock on the black door. It wasn’t a tal door, but one of hard wood. However, the surface of the wood was not finely processed, allowing the bark’s texture to remain distinct.
Upon closer inspection, those twisted textures were clearly decipherable as a language. But when Shard tried to interpret the inscription on the door, a fierce headache nearly caused him to lose his balance.
He leaned against the wall to recuperate for a while before gradually easing and understood that the power of the words on this door was not inferior to most of the inscriptions he had co across in this world.
Without hearing any footsteps, the door in front of him opened silently. An old man with stooped back and ashen skin, holding a lantern, appeared in the doorway.
His eyelids drooped as he looked at Shard, in whom Shard sensed an even stronger presence of the Whisper Elent.
“Are you a lost traveler?”
The other party spoke in Draleon, their voice unnaturally hoarse.
“No, I am here for a transaction,”
Shard replied, based on the information provided by Granny Cassandra.
Sin Mansion itself was a mountain manor from the Third Era or maybe the Fourth Era, belonging to so unknown nobility. Later, a most terrifying event occurred here—the limited records in the Witch Council indicate that the manor’s owner delved into the knowledge of Original Sin, which consequently attracted the Fire of Karmic Sin to consu everything, creating the dreadful ruins of Sin Mansion.
Once outsiders are perceived as playing the role of lost travelers, they are permanently entrapped as prey by the mansion itself. But those claiming to be trading visitors receive more favorable treatnt. Experience shows that as long as one does not display hostility towards Sin Mansion itself, the Relic will not readily unleash its malice on incoming traders.
“Please co in.”
The old man holding a lantern uttered in a raspy voice, stepping aside from the doorway for Shard to enter. Shard, upon entering the foyer, noticed the faint light on the walls emanated from a gaslamp, and there were even gas pipes on the walls.
“This is a gift from a guest who visited more than twenty years ago; we used his soul for a little renovation around here.”
The old man chuckled slyly, leading Shard further into the building.
Outside the window was a forbidding sky, with black lightning flashing from ti to ti; the dilapidated courtyard easily brought to mind scenes from horror stories. The rooms, though dimly lit by gaslamps, continued to emanate an extrely terrifying atmosphere.
The light from the old, glass-covered lantern was slightly stronger. Shard, following the old man, glanced at the walls lined with marks that resembled rifts while attempting to inquire:
“Excuse , would you sell that lantern?”
The lantern itself could be considered a Relic if brought into the outside world.
“For sale, three complete souls or take on a mont of my sin of slaughter,”
the old man stated hoarsely, then suddenly stopped and turned to look at Shard:
“Guest, there’s no need to rush. The trader has everything you desire. I can see that you carry more than enough sin.”
The two arrived at the furthest end of the foyer, where they could choose to go down the corridor to the left or right, or ascend the stairs to the second floor. Yet the old man halted again:
“Guest, as per the rules, we must verify the amount of your karmic sin before trading.”
“No problem.”
Shard nodded, following the old man towards the corridor on the right and entering the first room on the left. This room was very spacious and lit only by a dim gaslamp at the far end.
Under the gaslight was a table, and behind it sat a man clutching a feather pen, his face a picture of bewildernt. He was dressed like an old-fashioned nobleman, only the craftsmanship of his red coat was lackluster, almost certainly betraying his fall from grace.
The old man stood at the doorway gesturing for Shard to co over, so Shard stepped across the threshold, feeling an even more intense discomfort than before.
After crossing the dimly-lit room to the table, the man grasping the feather pen began to speak in an exceedingly monotone voice:
“Press your palm onto the parchnt.”
The only thing on the table was a piece of parchnt that looked singed at the edges. Shard pressed his hand against it. A few seconds later, the man behind the table violently grabbed the feather pen, aiming to stab at Shard’s wrist, but Shard agilely dodged it.
The man glared at Shard, took back the parchnt, stabbed his own wrist with the feather pen, and then wrote on the parchnt with the bloodied tip. After he finished, he tossed the paper to Shard without any intent of conversing.
On the parchnt, in twisted script that wriggled like worms, were the “financial strengths” Shard possessed:
[Complete Soul (Powerful·Flawless·Sanctity·Balanced·Darkness)]
[Gluttony (Treasure) 10.5 marks]
[Greed (Perfect) 9.9 marks]
[Lies (Ordinary) 8.9 marks]
[Licentiousness (Ordinary) 2.6 marks]
[seyu (Ordinary) 1.3 marks]
[Bloodlust (Flawed) 0.7 marks]
[Desecration (Flawed) 0.6 marks]
[Disloyalty (Flawed) 0.1 marks]
[Great Sin Chain]
“Hisss, I have more sins than I thought.”
His eyes lingered in the middle two lines, then looked at the last:
“The Great Sin Chain counts too?”
Shard was sowhat surprised, while the rest had been docunted by Granny Cassandra.
Every person has a soul, and the descriptors were just that—descriptors of the soul’s characteristics. The words[Powerful]and[Flawless]represented the quality of Shard’s soul, while[Balanced]and[Darkness]were about its nature, likely tied to Shard’s participation in the Chosen One Ceremony and his fulfillnt of its requirents.
[Sanctity]was a complete surprise to Shard, for it was said that only the most devout believers, those who did good deeds throughout their life, could receive such a description.
“Perhaps it’s because my ‘lifeti’ is too short, even less than the number of ants I’ve stepped on compared to others. And although I’m no paragon of virtue, I certainly haven’t done much evil.”
He thought to himself smugly. The list of sins after the soul description only picked out the more notable traits, not an exhaustive list. A normal person’s list wouldn’t exceed ten sins unless they required a rest in either a ntal institution or prison.
“Marks” was the evaluation here for the amount of sin, while “Flawed,” “Ordinary,” “Perfect,” and “Treasure” were the assessnts of quality.
Although Shard possessed both the Gluttony and Greed Spirit Runes, the forr was after all drawn from the Divinity of the Lord of the Blood Feast, and it had been drawn twice, so having the highest quality “Treasure” rating was quite normal.
“Besides Gluttony and Greed, Lies were inevitable, seyu is normal for anyone healthy in body and mind, Bloodlust is just a flaw not worth fussing over, Desecration is understandable, and Disloyalty probably refers to the ti I agreed to pass information for money to an enemy nation.”
Shard summarized his own “health report card,” holding the parchnt in his hand, which should be considered everyone’s deepest secret. Once he left this place, he wouldn’t share the results with anyone.
[You have, however, neglected to analyze “Licentiousness”.]
A whispering sound ca to his ears; Shard pursed his lips, his eyelids drooping slightly:
“That is indeed my sin.”
She just chuckled, without further comntary.
So Shard took the parchnt back to the hallway, which was carpeted in red and adorned with gold wallpaper, and showed it to the lantern-holding old man.
The latter, by the faint light, peered at the parchnt, and for the first ti, emotion flitted across his ghastly white face as dry as a mummy’s:
“A 10.3 mark Treasure of Gluttony? How do you maintain your current figure?”
He was incredibly astonished.
“It’s 10.5 marks, I can read this script.”
Shard corrected him. The old man didn’t show embarrassnt, stuffed the parchnt back into Shard’s hands, then suddenly leaned in closer. He raised the lantern in his shriveled right hand high, peering very closely at the young man before him holding a sword:
“You can read it? Are you… a Scholar of Original Sin?”
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