Chapter 616: The Temptation of the Yellow King
“This person has established a binding oath with He-Who-Cannot-Be-Named. In return, the supreme being will bestow upon him forbidden knowledge and power, but it also carries the risk of madness, and he may even turn into a monster.”
This is the explanation for the oath to the Unspeakable. This buff-like spell also has other aliases, such as the Yellow Gift, the Oath to the King in Yellow, the Boon of the Lord of the Deep Starry Sea, and so on.
Oh my god, what’s a binding oath? I believe that such an oath wouldn’t bind the Unspeakable, the one who cannot be named, the supreme being. It’s definitely meant to bind Jayad!
“Older Brother Jayad, how on earth did you have such a bizarre dream? What exactly happened in the dream? Tell me everything carefully. This is no trivial matter!” I said, with utmost seriousness.
“Uh, I don’t know. When I was sleeping, I felt a yellow mark appear in my memory. That mark kept deforming, and I couldn’t see it clearly at all. Then I dreamt of a world of ruins,” Jayad said, clutching his head as he painfully recalled the process of entering the dream.
“Wait!” I heard something amiss as soon as he started speaking. “A yellow mark? Was it an old shepherd, or a guy with countless tentacles hidden under his hood?”
“Uh, it seemed like it, but I can’t be sure,” Jayad replied. However, I felt I had already figured out the reason for his bizarre dream.
Before I went to the meeting, I had taken out the Yellow Sign to show to other cultists. Older Brother Jayad was still at home then. He must have caught a fleeting glimpse of the Yellow Sign in my hand and a vague residual memory was left in his mind.
“Is this the pattern?” I took out the Yellow Sign and showed it to Jayad.
As soon as Jayad saw the Yellow Sign, his eyes widened. “It’s this! It’s so powerful, and the light is so dazzling!”
He covered his eyes and turned his head away, seemingly unable to bear the dazzling light of the Yellow Sign. But in my eyes, the Yellow Sign was just an old, dark yellow, with no light at all.
“By the way, Older Brother Jayad, look at the pattern on the Yellow Sign. What is it now?” I asked curiously.
“It’s a shepherd wearing yellow robes and a hood, with an unclear face, holding a shepherd’s crook,” Jayad said.
It was somewhat different from the patterns we saw, yet it also had some similarities. I didn’t know what it represented, but I was certain that when Jayad had accidentally seen the Yellow Sign before, this mysterious pattern had already been imprinted in his memory.
Seeing the Yellow Sign didn’t cause any immediate reaction, but he was already being influenced in secret, like a ticking time bomb hidden in his head. When Older Brother Jayad fell asleep, the Yellow Sign erupted, dragging him into the illusion of Carcosa.
“Later, I was walking among the ruins and heard many people talking. They seemed to be singing about the stars aligning, Lake Hali, and other things. I didn’t understand any of it, so I asked them who they were,” Jayad continued narrating his dream.
“I saw many people in yellow robes standing in the ruins, and they seemed to be wearing masks. They didn’t answer, but instead asked me, ‘Do you desire supreme power?'”
“You didn’t agree, did you?” I asked nervously. Such questions are always a trap!
“No, I refused. Then they asked me if I wanted inexhaustible treasure. I hesitated for a moment and refused again,” Jayad continued.
These people still aren’t done? And the temptations they offered struck Jayad’s biggest weakness. Jayad had been impoverished for too long. If he hadn’t been somewhat well-off recently, he might have agreed.
“And then, they asked me again…” Jayad trailed off, hesitant to speak.
“Asked you what else?” I asked anxiously. Don’t just stop mid-sentence!
“They asked me if I wanted great power. Just as I was about to refuse, they told me that the world was about to fall into disaster, and asked me if I needed the power to protect my younger sister,” Jayad said.
“You agreed?!” I became anxious, knowing full well that Jayad had no Immunity to such propositions.
Jayad showed a somewhat ashamed expression. “They showed me many illusions, terrifying illusions. I first saw countless monsters slaughtering people inside Cando City, then I saw rivers of blood in the streets, and then I saw Cando City struck by lightning.”
“They said that these were all future disasters, and that with my current strength, I couldn’t protect Parul from the calamity. So I agreed. I’m sorry!”
Jayad surely knew that such unsolicited offers were suspicious, but he couldn’t resist. He was terrified by the potential future disasters, which led him to accept the power he shouldn’t have asked for, hence his guilt.
“It’s okay, Older Brother Jayad, you don’t need to apologize. Those guys are the bad ones. They used coercion and enticement. It’s not your fault,” I said, hugging Jayad and comforting him gently.
I also softened my expression. I had been too serious earlier, possibly putting too much pressure on Older Brother Jayad. Although it was indeed serious, it had already happened, and there was no use in rushing.
These guys were persistent, dragging people into nightmares to coerce and entice them, just like insidious pyramid scheme promoters. They even used me as bargaining chip to persuade Older Brother Jayad. They were truly wicked.
But I think I understand what happened. Simply put, Older Brother Jayad caught the eye of the King in Yellow or his subordinates and received his “boon,” although I suspect this boon is not a good thing.
Furthermore, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Since this is called the oath of the Unspeakable, or rather, a vow, it means that Older Brother Jayad has agreed to do something for Him, and he absolutely cannot go back on his word.
“So, Older Brother Jayad, what did they ask you to do? Let’s discuss it together. Once we get this done, we probably won’t be pestered by them anymore,” I said.
I hope they are reasonable and it’s not some overly troublesome task. If it’s a simple matter, finishing it quickly to fulfill the vow should clear our slate.
“No, I don’t know,” Jayad replied.
“Huh? You don’t know? No way, you’re carrying the effect of an oath right now, and you need to fulfill it to eliminate it. What exactly do they want you to do?” I became anxious again.
“I really don’t know. They didn’t say anything. After I agreed, those figures disappeared. It was as if they were just illusions from the very beginning. The whispers also stopped, and then I was just wandering around in the ruins when I saw Parul,” Jayad said.
I was speechless. As the saying goes, the one who tied the bell must untie it. Now that the bell can’t even be seen, how can it be untied?
