Li Wen stood beneath the Bell Tower, her shadow elongated by the dim amber light of Amber City. The words of the Giant Evening Bell echoed in her ears, carrying a lingering resonance like some ancient bell tone.
“Short Needle?” she repeated the strange title. “What are its characteristics?”
The Giant’s withered fingers traced the stone wall of the Bell Tower, emitting a dull hum. “He always wears a Brass Mask, and a Pointer is set into the right eye of the mask.”
At that point, the Evening Bell’s voice suddenly lowered. “Once you find him, just say it’s the Evening Bell’s request, and he will understand.”
If only it were that simple.
Li Wen remained unmoved, not holding much hope for this mission. The outer city was a Dangerous Area clearly marked by the Strategy Team, a place that hid countless malicious intents and dangers accumulated since the Golden Age. It would be best if she could find that person, but if she were to be killed by those Exiles due to a moment of carelessness, she wouldn’t mind. It would be a free return ticket.
“The entrance to the outer city is on the other side of the Spire.” The Giant Evening Bell pointed to the tall black Spire in the distance, seeming to implicitly trust Li Wen to find the person as it wished. “Pass through the gate at the base of the Spire, and you will see a staircase extending downwards. That is the only path leading to the land of exile… This is the key that will help you open that door.”
Saying this, the Giant Evening Bell took out a rusty Copper key from beneath its tattered cloak. The teeth of the key presented a peculiar spiral pattern, as if it could lock time itself.
As the key fell, it gradually transformed into a size Li Wen could grasp.
Li Wen took the key. The moment her fingertips touched the patina, an icy sting spread through her veins, as if countless tiny insects were crawling beneath her skin. She endured the discomfort and put the key into her Fairy pocket—although the pocket’s Mana had weakened due to the Divinity of the “Impurities,” it was still usable.
“Then I’ll be going.” She pulled her hood lower and said calmly, “I hope your promise is worth this adventure.”
“Remember…” the Giant Evening Bell said finally, “Do not trust any sound, do not touch any object, and do not respond to any calls.”
Li Wen nodded slightly and turned towards the Spire. Her steps were light, yet her pace was not slow. Upon stepping onto the familiar stone bridge and leaving the inner city area of Amber City, Li Wen finally showed a hint of weariness on her face.
Her encounter with the “Impurities” had nearly exhausted her body and mind. The suffocating despair, where a single wrong step could lead to total loss and eternal damnation, was something she still didn’t wish to recall. As for the fate of the “Impurities,” she didn’t hold an overly optimistic view—since even the Sage couldn’t kill it and merely sealed it within an egg, it was clear, for whatever reason, that the “Impurities” shouldn’t have died at this juncture.
She hoped that the next time they met, she would have the strength to fight it, rather than praying for The Primordial Codex of Ending to manifest its divinity once more.
After adjusting her mindset slightly, Li Wen moved forward again.
She arrived at the base of the Spire, the place where she had encountered and defeated the first Transcendent she had seen in this world, that Fire Mage, and where everything began. However, Li Wen had no intention of reminiscing; she was merely filled with a sense of poignancy. If she were to encounter that Fire Mage now, let alone one, she herself could resolve all ten of them in an instant.
That way, she wouldn’t have to resort to gambling with her life.
Thinking this, Li Wen gazed at the “battleground” and suddenly froze.
In that battle, the Blazing Orb had left huge charred marks on the bridge. Those marks were still here, just like bloodstains, lingering Magic, and the discarded equipment of Players like Takebitori.
But now, something extremely crucial was missing…
“Where is the Fire Mage’s Corpse?” Li Wen’s expression turned solemn.
Amber City was an unchanging world. Without the influence of external forces, nothing here—including buildings, decorations, inanimate objects, and even life—would change. If it were outside, the sudden disappearance of the Fire Mage’s corpse could be explained by it becoming a Walking Corpse and crawling away due to not being buried, but such a situation absolutely could not happen in Amber City.
This meant that someone or something had taken the Fire Mage’s Corpse during this time.
Was it the Evening Bell? Or another Long-lived? Or perhaps… had another outsider entered Amber City?
Li Wen recalled the day she obtained The Primordial Codex of Ending. At that time, Livia, the Daughter of Amber, who had been guarding the Temple, suddenly left it. According to Perfect Amber, she went to destroy some annoying insects. Now that she thought about it, the “insects” Perfect Amber spoke of must have referred to outsiders, right?
Could it be that those outsiders took the Fire Mage’s Corpse?
Li Wen couldn’t make up her mind. The Fire Mage himself was full of mysteries that remained unsolved. It was a pity that he had died too quickly, leaving behind few clues.
Never mind, dwelling on this was futile. Li Wen had never been interested in matters unrelated to the Original Text.
She turned and walked into the Spire, once again seeing the tightly sealed door. The Bronze door was carved with intricate patterns. Upon closer inspection, one could see figures bound by chains, looking up at the tree-like pattern above the lintel, their expressions painful and devout.
Li Wen took out the spiral Copper key and tried to insert it into the keyhole. When it first went in, she felt significant resistance, as if the lock was rusted shut. So, she increased her force, but the key suddenly began to rotate on its own, emitting a piercing metal friction sound.
After a while, the large Bronze door slowly opened inwards, revealing a descending staircase.
The staircase was extremely narrow, allowing only the passage of one person sideways. Li Wen lit a candle she carried with her. The dim firelight illuminated the walls on both sides of the stairs—they were densely carved with ancient inscriptions, and in some places, dark red finger marks remained, as if someone had written here with bloody fingers.
The stairs descended as if without end. As she went deeper, the surrounding temperature gradually dropped, and tiny Ashes began to float in the air, like remnants of a fire. Li Wen’s footsteps echoed in the narrow space, and occasionally, rustling sounds could be heard from the depths, like something crawling along the walls.
When the temperature dropped to near freezing, the staircase suddenly ended, leading into a completely new space.
It was a region covered in gray. As far as the eye could see, the naked eye could only perceive about two steps ahead; beyond that, there was thick, suffocating Grey Fog.
“Outer City…” Li Wen whispered to herself. This place was even more daunting than she had imagined. The Strategy Team’s intelligence had mentioned that the outer city was the earliest part of Amber City, later abandoned for some reason and turned into a prison for Exiles.
She cautiously moved forward. Her boots made crisp sounds on the uneven ground. Giant shadows occasionally brushed past her. They didn’t seem like living creatures, but rather like tall, dilapidated buildings slowly squirming. However, when Li Wen concentrated to observe them, they seemed like illusions.
“Alive…” a hoarse voice suddenly came from behind.
Li Wen tensed her whole body but didn’t turn around. The voice continued to drift, as if from a great distance: “How long has it been… Ten thousand years? Twenty thousand years? Finally, living beings have set foot in this forgotten land again…”
Ripples appeared in the Grey Fog, and some kind of intangible existence moved around her. Li Wen could feel something scrutinizing her. The gaze was sticky and cold, like a serpent’s tongue licking the back of her neck.
“Turn around and look at me…” the voice suddenly whispered close to her ear, with a sweet, rotting scent. “Turn around…”
Li Wen’s fingertips tightened around the Dagger. She remembered the Giant Evening Bell’s warning and made no move, ignoring the voice. The entity seemed to be angered, the surrounding temperature plummeted, the exhaled mist condensed into frost before her eyes, and some enormous entity was stretching its body behind her, casting a shadow that completely enveloped Li Wen.
Just then, a clear metal striking sound came from afar.
*Clang—*
The shadow suddenly retracted, and the intangible oppressive feeling receded like a tide.
Li Wen looked in the direction of the sound. A faint cluster of light was illuminating there.
