Behind the Mother Goddess Temple Garden is a waterfall cascading down from the mountaintop. Climbing the steps along the mountainside, you'll find a hidden stone gate behind the waterfall.

Standing before the stone gate, Eleanor smiled at Todd, then reached her right hand into the hole beneath the gate.

Accompanied by a sharp noise, the sound of gears turning came from inside the stone door, and the door slowly opened.

Eleanor withdrew her right hand, revealing a wound the size of a mung bean in the center of her palm.

Eleanor blew on the wound, and it healed rapidly, eventually disappearing completely.

"This gate is known as the Sacred Edict Stele, built by the Taro aliens a thousand years ago. Only the highest-ranking member of the council of elders can open it. Legend has it that the key to this gate is not a physical object, but a person's soul."

Todd watched the door slowly open and asked, puzzled, "Doesn't that mean only one person can hold the key? What happens if the key holder dies?"

Eleanor stepped through the gate: "Every few decades, the council of elders holds a succession ceremony. All the aliens enter this stone tablet to participate in the succession ceremony. The old elders choose the most suitable person from the new elders to inherit the key to the stone tablet."

Todd was full of doubt, wondering to himself why the previous council of elders chose Eleanor as the head of the new elders.

Eleanor glanced back at Todd and chuckled, “You must find it strange, right? Clarence controls all the Elders’ businesses, and Elijah serves the sage Sutherland, yet the old Elders chose me as the Elders’ chief successor.”

Eleanor said softly, "Because one of them is arrogant and the other is conservative, only I can lead the Elders to a bright future."

For a moment, Todd felt that these words sounded familiar.

Rachel once said the same thing.

However, Eleanor refers to the Elder Council, while Rachel refers to the alien race.

Entering the Imperial Edict Stele, one finds a long, dilapidated passageway. Huge reliefs adorn the walls on either side, depicting the history of the alien species over the past millennium. Most of these reliefs are weathered and broken, with only small parts still faintly visible.

Following Eleanor through the passageway and pushing open the stone door at the end, Todd was greeted by a vast and empty hall.

Thousands of stone seats, giant stone statues tens of meters high, and a luxurious and magnificent grand altar—all these things testify to the former glory of the Presbyterian Church, only to be ravaged by time, leaving only rubble and broken stones.

“This place was once the center of the world, a sanctuary for the alien races.” Eleanor stood in the center of the hall, arms outstretched, and said, “When I was a little girl, my parents brought me here for the first time. Everyone dressed in their finest clothes and gathered here to laugh, sing, and dance, celebrating that most wonderful festival together.”

"At that time, I thought this was paradise, an eternal and unchanging beauty."

Eleanor slowly lowered her arm, looked at the sky, and whispered, "I was wrong."

"The war against the alien species reached the valley, and all the children, including me, were hidden here. I could hear the fighting and screams outside the door, and I could see the terror and despair on everyone's faces."

"After three days and three nights, when everything was deathly silent, we walked out the door."

“That beautiful and peaceful home is gone. All I see are corpses, ruins and flames…” Eleanor’s back looked thin and lonely, her voice suppressing inexplicable emotions: “I spent a day and a night finding my parents in the pile of corpses, and another day and a night burying them. In the last day and night, I shed all the tears of my life at their graves.”

"Three days and three nights later, we caught the traitor who betrayed everyone... Can you imagine? Just a pile of gold, weighing as much as an adult, made this traitor break his initial vow and betray his friends, family, and lover..."

Todd watched Eleanor's retreating figure and asked in a low voice, "And then?"

Eleanor turned her head, a wicked smile on her face, her bright red tongue lightly licking the corner of her mouth, and her words were chilling: "He was devoured alive by the angry mob, and I, I took his heart."

Seeing the astonishment on Todd's face, Eleanor stretched contentedly and said, "Keep going, we'll be there soon."

The two went out through the archway at the back of the main hall and walked down the steps deeper and deeper.

As they walked, Eleanor said to Todd, "Do you know about spirit transference rituals?"

Todd said, "You mean the resurrection worm?"

"The resurrection worm is just a tool of the ritual; the entire ritual is actually very complex. In general, the soul transfer ritual can transfer a human soul from one body to another. But one thing is very important: the body being transferred to must be clean, that is, it cannot be inhabited by a soul."

As Todd listened, he asked, "What happens if there's already a soul inside the body being transferred during the soul transfer ritual?"

Eleanor said, "Then the two souls will live in the same body, and there will be struggles and battles between the souls. Only the victor will have control of the body."

"Therefore, before performing the soul transfer ritual, the elders will repeatedly confirm that the body serving as the vessel is a soulless shell. Generally, we use drugs and supernatural abilities, but sometimes in urgent situations, we will also kill the vessel to ensure that it is a fresh corpse."

Todd said, "I think I've heard about this process. Mia committed suicide, and you transferred her soul into Mia's body as punishment for Rachel."

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