novelraw Chapter 529: Valley of Sin
Chapter 529: Valley of Sin
"We're safe."
Ruth leaped from the Skeletal Horse. "So, do you get it now?" she asked. "Crossing the Great Chasm is a terrible idea. We still have time to go around it."
Lu Li slowly shook his head, his gaze fixed on the Black Rock Volcano. It was as if his eyes pierced straight through the mountain, reaching the far shore of the molten sea.
"There is more than one Son of the Devil."
Even as unconsciousness threatened to claim him, the Devil's whisper still echoed in his heart.
"My children will follow my trail and find you."
This Son of the Devil was merely the first to arrive.
He glanced down at the brand on the back of his hand—an inverted pentagram seared into his flesh. How soon would the next one arrive?
"I still can't believe it. A pathetic medium like you, killing an avatar of the Devil..." Ruth's voice was filled with disbelief. She had been stunned when the Son of the Devil himself had said it.
"The Son of the Devil didn't believe it either, as he was dying.""Alright, plots and trickery, I get it," Ruth conceded, her gaze sweeping over the Great Chasm. "But how do you plan to get across?"
Lu Li walked to the very edge of the Great Chasm and peered down. It was like a colossal canyon. Though the cliffs were mostly sheer, he could make out several treacherous, sloping paths that wound their way down to the bottom.
A whisper seemed to drift up from the gloomy abyss, murmuring of sinister plans unknown to any soul.
Several spectral hands materialized around Lu Li, pressing gently against his back as if urging him forward.
Did they want him to descend?
"You don't just want to cross—you want to go down to the very bottom?! You're completely insane!" Ruth finally burst out, having read the mad intention in his eyes.
Lu Li didn't respond. He simply met her gaze and stated, "It's time for you to go."
From here on, he would journey alone.
Perhaps it was mere coincidence, but Whitley, now a creature of pure instinct, moved from Ruth's side to stand with Lu Li.
Ruth stared at the scene, her mouth open, at a loss for words.
"Goodbye," Lu Li told her.
At Lu Li's words, a resistant Ruth turned and walked toward the Skeletal Horse without a backward glance.
She reached the Skeletal Horse's head and murmured something to it. The creature immediately bolted, galloping back toward the tavern on the far side of the volcano.
"There's a saying in Hell: 'Nothing pleases a demon more than watching the agonizing death of someone they hate'."
Ruth strode back to Lu Li, tilting her head up to look him straight in the eye.
"You owe me this!"
Ruth expected him to refuse, ready to laugh with bitter satisfaction. Instead, Lu Li simply nodded and turned toward a nearby path that led down into the chasm.
Feeling an unbearable pressure as she watched Lu Li step onto the path without a moment's hesitation, Ruth called out, "I still think this is a foolish idea."
"They want me to go down," Lu Li replied.
"Have you forgotten about Michelle? You thought she would protect you at first, too."
"She did, in the end."
Ruth was left speechless. She followed Lu Li, stepping into the Great Chasm feared by countless denizens of Hell.
The omnipresent crimson of Hell began to fade as if they had stepped into the Death Wind. But even the Death Wind was tinged with scarlet; it could never achieve the pure, profound gloom of the Great Chasm.
Ruth felt a slight chill, though she couldn't pinpoint its source, as if it were just an illusion.
It wasn't an illusion. Lu Li felt the temperature drop as well. But unlike the oppressive heat of Hell he'd grown used to, the air in the Great Chasm felt much more familiar.
They descended. The path wasn't natural; in the steeper sections, steps had clearly been carved into the rock face. It seemed that long ago, before the Great Chasm became so dangerous and its bridges collapsed, the denizens of Hell had used this very path to cross.
The forgotten path now served Lu Li and his companions. It would allow them to reach the bottom of the chasm unimpeded, where whatever dangers awaited them lay in wait.
As they descended, the ambient light grew progressively dimmer until it settled into a permanent, pre-dawn twilight.
After descending for nearly three hundred meters, they finally heard the muffled echo of a dislodged stone striking the chasm floor.
They had almost reached the bottom.
Ruth edged closer to Lu Li, who pressed onward without slowing his pace.
A few minutes later, their feet touched solid ground.
Ruth looked around cautiously. The darkness enveloped them like a thick fog, limiting their visibility to just a few dozen meters. Beyond that veil, it felt as though terrible things were lurking.
Thud!
A sudden thud echoed from behind them. Lu Li and Ruth spun around. Whitley lay motionless on the ground. In an instant, countless spectral hands and teeth materialized around her, tearing her body to pieces.
Before Lu Li and Ruth could do anything, all that was left of Whitley was a clean skeleton, lying silently at the bottom of the chasm.
In that moment, they suddenly understood what this place was.
This place was a Valley of Sin.
For the sinful creatures of Hell, it was an all-consuming nightmare. But for the righteous, it was merely a long, gloomy chasm.
But how many righteous souls were there in Hell?
Burdened by sin, Whitley had been annihilated the moment she set foot on the chasm floor—torn apart by the remnants of her own soul, or perhaps by the spirits of her enemies.
Surprisingly, Ruth was not burdened by sin.
In silence, Lu Li walked over to Whitley's skeleton, picked up her skull, and took it with him.
Ruth wanted to say that Whitley should never have come, but then she remembered the woman was long dead, her shell inhabited only by instinct. Perhaps this was a kind of release.
"Let's go," Lu Li said to Ruth. Now that they understood the chasm's true nature, it was no longer a threat—just a long road they needed to travel.
The chasm floor was littered with skeletons. Some were as massive as whales, others smaller than a man. Some were ancient, crumbling into dust, while others were pristine and bone-white.
Lu Li and Ruth walked one after the other toward the opposite side. Lu Li was looking around as if searching for something.
"What are you looking for?"
Unable to contain her curiosity, Ruth asked. Then she saw Lu Li change direction and walk diagonally forward.
Two fresh skeletons lay there. One was immense, with a fish-like skull large enough for a person to stand on. The other was delicate and human-like.
They belonged to Michelle and the Son of the Devil.
The power of the Son of the Devil still lingered around the bones, radiating an icy chill.
"But... where are the Son of the Devil's bones?!" Ruth asked, looking around in alarm.
"The human skeleton is his," Lu Li said.
The pale blue skeleton was as exquisite as a work of art.
"And Michelle... I see," Ruth muttered.
Michelle's skeleton was the fish-like one; the image they had seen was merely her lure.
Lu Li's gaze fell on the space between the Son of the Devil's ribs. A strange, ancient chess piece lay there.
The lingering spirits consumed everything but bone, yet for some reason, they had left this chess piece untouched.
"That's an Evil Spirit Chess Piece..."
Beside him, Ruth, who had also spotted it, whispered in astonishment.