Chapter 273
After selecting the first answer, Ye Bai took two steps to the side and arrived at the last answer, "Yan Hua" (Rock Flower).
"Whoosh..."
This time, after the touch, the wall in front of her vibrated with a familiar tremor, and with a rumble, a new passageway appeared.
...
In the oppressive silence, the body of the fallen Paladin, Ai Wen, who had died answering a question, was brought to the side of a wooden box.
A force emanated from the box, seeping into the lifeless form.
"Crack... crack crack..."
Before long, accompanied by a chilling sound of bones shifting, Ai Wen's skin rapidly turned a sickly gray and shriveled, while his bones began to sharpen and thicken.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, a pale flame erupted from Ai Wen's corpse. He opened his eyes and stood up, his former gaze replaced by two blazing orbs of soul fire.
"Neigh—!"
Ai Wen's warhorse whinnied and rushed to his side. The newly risen death knight placed a hand on his loyal steed, and the pale flames spread from his palm, enveloping the horse in an instant.
The horse's front hooves lifted, and in the blink of an eye, its flesh was consumed by the pale flames, leaving only bones behind. The pale fire then transformed into a black mist, refilling the horse's flesh.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the once-Paladin Ai Wen and his warhorse were transformed into a death knight and a nightmare steed.
Once the transformation was complete, Ai Wen no longer paid attention to the others. He walked straight to the wooden box and knelt on one knee before the legendary mage inside, pledging his loyalty.
From within the box came the raspy voice of an ancestor: "Death is eternal glory."
The group fell silent for a moment. Those brought to participate in this mission were the core forces of Saint Roli Fortress. Soon, voices began to rise and fall, reciting the family motto of the Saint Roli clan, which had been passed down through generations:
"Death is eternal glory!"
The group continued onward, and the army that had cracked the first wall arrived at the second.
The crowd parted, and Ai Wen approached the wall alone, placing his hand on one of the answers.
'-4544'
[Incorrect]
Now transformed into a death knight, the soul fire in Ai Wen's eyes dimmed visibly, its brilliance diminished.
Even as a transformed undead being, he was not immune to the penalties of the Knowledge Maze.
However, Ai Wen no longer reacted to pain as he had before. Silent as ice, his body did not tremble as he meticulously executed his orders, placing his hand on the other two answers.
"Boom..."
After paying the price for selecting an incorrect answer, the wall collapsed with a thunderous crash, revealing a new path.
Even if they couldn't avoid mistakes entirely, the sheer number of people from Saint Roli Fortress was their greatest advantage. They had more room for error, and even if they entered later than Ye Bai, their speed in solving the puzzles was gradually catching up.
...
"Boom..."
Another wall came crashing down. In the Knowledge Maze, there was no day or night.
"One hundred questions, and still no breakthrough..." Counting the number of questions, Ye Bai's breath caught in her throat.
This 'Maze of Errors' was far larger than she had anticipated. The number of questions in the Knowledge Maze was bound to be exponential, and while one hundred questions should have been the normal intensity for this legendary magic, the fact that they hadn't broken through even that meant they were likely facing the next tier—one thousand questions.
Fortunately, her supplies and experience for upgrades were sufficient...
Taking a deep breath, Ye Bai continued her path of deciphering.
This journey was not entirely smooth for Ye Bai. Achieving a perfect run without injury was still hindered by knowledge gaps, particularly regarding secrets of the divine realm that were not recorded in books. Ye Bai didn't know, and the paper figure didn't know either; they could only cautiously experiment through deduction.
Fortunately, such questions were not the majority. With the help of recovery potions and leveling up to restore her health, when Ye Bai reached level 73 and her inventory was down to one set of potions, she finally arrived at the thousandth wall.
"Whoosh..."
This time, the sound of the question-and-answer wall collapsing was distinctly different from before, and Ye Bai felt a sudden sense of weightlessness beneath her feet.
As the mist swirled, after a brief sensation of falling, Ye Bai found herself standing on solid ground, and in front of her, the view opened up.
She stood in a plaza, no longer surrounded by the patchwork buildings she had seen before, but rather in a dilapidated square that bore the marks of time. In the center of the plaza stood a broken, leaning statue.
To call it a statue was not entirely accurate; it might be better described as a crumbling throne, for the figure that should have adorned the slanted seat was long gone. If not for the remnants of carved folds of clothing on the armrests and backrest, one could hardly tell that anyone had ever sat there.
Was this... the statue of a former god-king?
The Great Annihilation had caused the god-king to "disappear," along with the histories and books that recounted his tale. Only a few powerful beings retained memories of him, and naturally, the statue erected by the people of the royal city could not be preserved.
At that moment, Ye Bai noticed a flicker of movement at the edge of the statue's clothing. Just as she was puzzled, a small gray figure suddenly revealed itself, lifting its head from the corner and rubbing its eyes as if just awakened from a slumber.
It was a tiny figure clad in a gray half-invisible cloak, no larger than Ye Bai's two fists combined.
Ye Bai stared in astonishment at the little being: "Elemental sprite? No, wait... a wraith? How could it be so small?"
Her surprise stemmed from the fact that such cloaks, which had the ability to conceal and disguise, were a hallmark of wraiths. Normally, wraiths were of a size comparable to humans, elves, or deep-sea dwellers, while the size of the being before her was characteristic of elemental sprites.
At that moment, the paper figure's voice chimed in: "This wraith... has been cursed in some way. I don't know the details, but the third key is in its possession. You have another key; it will hand it over to you."
It seemed that this little being was the NPC for the task. Ye Bai, upon hearing this, naturally prepared to approach and communicate with it, hoping to inquire about the curse as well.
However, before Ye Bai could get close, the little wraith, now fully awake, displayed a look of sheer terror. It pulled the cloak over its head and instantly melded into the statue below, vanishing from sight.
Wraiths excelled at concealment, and their ability to blend into their surroundings like chameleons was one of their signature skills.
"Hmm?" Ye Bai paused, puzzled as to why it would avoid her.
At that moment, the paper figure finally identified the issue: "I see it now. The curse on this wraith is—fear of knowledge."
"What? Fear of knowledge?" Ye Bai's expression turned even more bewildered upon hearing this.
A wraith, which pursued knowledge, was cursed with a fear of it? What a reversal of nature! In the game lore, wraiths were symbols of wisdom, chasing after various forms of knowledge.
Only those well-versed in knowledge would earn their favor and attract them for communication, yet the current situation was the complete opposite.
Ye Bai immediately sensed the difficulty. It would be easy to forcibly capture or kill the wraith, but the biggest problem now was the inability to communicate. Gaining knowledge was easy, but removing the curse was not; she couldn't just empty her mind on a whim.
The paper figure added, "But here, it's just us, and the key is still present. In terms of fear, the one with the least knowledge among us should be able to approach it."
Ye Bai instantly understood the paper figure's implication: the least knowledgeable person present could attempt to communicate with the wraith.
With that thought, her gaze fell squarely on Otto Fis.
"Uh... me?"
Otto Fis clearly conveyed its meaning, almost lifting its front hoof to point at itself.
Ye Bai nodded in confirmation. In this situation, the best candidate was obvious. As the creator, she possessed a wealth of game knowledge, and the paper figure was well-read, so the key to breaking the deadlock lay with Otto Fis.
As for the translation after Otto Fis communicated with the wraith, Ye Bai estimated her comprehension level to be around five, and Otto Fis's expressive ability also at five. Together, that would yield a "donkey language" level ten effect. Even if Otto Fis went to talk to the wraith and then relayed the information back to her, it should be fine!
Under Ye Bai's eager gaze, Otto Fis shot her a strange look mixed with a hint of disdain, then shook its head and trotted toward the statue, clutching a branch from the Tree of Life.
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