Located on the second floor of the academy, the door to the platform leading to the lake was locked, but for Fang Zheng, this was obviously not a problem.

“Boom!”

Seeing Fang Zheng kicking open the heavy wooden door, Irene reached out her hand to press her forehead and sighed helplessly. She was already used to Fang Zheng's behavior. Locked doors and the like were useless to him. If the door was locked, he would kick it open. If he couldn't kick it open, he would climb through the window. If he couldn't get in through the window, he would just punch a hole in the wall...

Irene had to admit that this was why they were able to get to the academy so quickly.

It's just that this outsider seemed to have some deep-rooted obsession with opening doors... He didn't seem to like taking a detour to find the mechanism to open the door. According to this outsider, well, it was a waste of time and quite boring.

"Why do I have to go around to the other side to open a door that I can kick open with one foot? Is there anyone here who wants me to pay compensation?"

Irene had to admit that there was some truth to that statement.

But the problem is...this time this outsider might really have to lose money.

"Well……"

When Fang Zheng kicked the door open, he was somewhat embarrassed to find an old man sitting in a rocking chair on the platform on the other side of the door, gazing at the lake in front of him. He was wearing a heavy robe, a wide hat, and holding a long scepter in his hand. Fang Zheng's rough way of opening the door did not seem to affect the old man. He was still curled up in the chair, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that, I just tripped accidentally."

“…”

Hearing Fang Zheng's insincere apology, Irene looked at him silently and said nothing. Fang Zheng remained calm in the face of Irene's contempt. He just walked to the old man and lowered his head to look at him.

"Are you Master William?"

“…”

The old man didn't say anything. Fang Zheng saw that the part above his nose was covered by the wide hat, but judging from his appearance, he was obviously not sleeping.

"I have some questions for you..."

Fang Zheng spoke again, but the old man just shook his head. Then he raised the scepter in his hand and pointed forward.

“…”

“…”

Seeing the old man's reaction, Fang Zheng and Irene looked at each other, then Irene walked to the edge of the platform where the old man's staff was pointing and looked down. Then she turned around and shook her head at Fang Zheng.

“There’s nothing to see here.”

"I hope you can answer a few questions for me, Master William."

“…”

Facing Fang Zheng's question, William remained silent. He just raised the scepter again and pointed forward.

But Fang Zheng didn't pay attention to his actions this time. He just stood beside the old man with his hands on his hips, as if he was going to fight with him.

“…”

“…”

Time passed by, Fang Zheng didn't move, and the old man didn't move either. It was as if they were having a patience contest, and whoever couldn't hold back his words first would lose.

"I said, what are you doing?"

In this situation, it was Irene who couldn't help it first.

"Didn't this old man give us a hint? Perhaps we should first look for clues nearby..."

"He's right here, and he's not dead. Can't you just tell us directly? Why do we have to run around everywhere?"

Fang Zheng obviously didn't buy it.

"Master William, we are all smart people, don't fool us. I have some questions for you, but if you play dumb, then we'll just have to keep wasting time. This is not a game, and you are not an NPC who can't say anything except limited content. I am not your student or subordinate, so don't expect to fool me into doing something without saying a word."

"……hehe……"

Hearing this, the old man finally laughed, turned around and looked in the direction of Fang Zheng.

"It's really interesting, stranger... Although I do feel an unusual soul in you, but... you are much more interesting than I thought."

"You think the same as I do. Is this a problem that all people have when they get older?"

"It's a bad habit for scholars to keep a secret, but you're right..."

At this point, William coughed a few times.

"…But young man…I'm sorry, my current mental state…it's hard for me to have a long conversation. This world, this world is about to completely overwhelm me. You can't understand my feelings, the sounds, the lights, everything, it's completely different to me…"

The old man seemed really tired. He just said a few words and then started coughing violently. It took him a long time to recover.

"Okay, sorry, I'll make it short... Was it you who caused this never-ending night of hunting?"

“…”

The old man was silent for a moment and nodded.

"Why?"

This time, Irene couldn't help but ask.

"Why are you doing this, Master William?"

"Because... when the night of hunting ends, the blood moon will rise..."

The old man's voice was full of fear and sorrow.

"The ancient gods have always been in this world. We once thought that they had left, but in fact, they hadn't. They are here, there, here, and there. In any place where we think they should exist or shouldn't exist. But we just can't reach them. They look at us as if we look at ants in a box... Ants will not be aware of our existence because they have no other way to perceive the world except their antennae. The same is true for humans. We are ants. We can only use our antennae to feel our world..."

As he said this, the old man's body began to tremble.

"But when the blood moon rises, the power of the Old God will cover everything... The entire Yharnam will become its playground, and no one can stop its power... The curse of the Old God will devour everyone mercilessly, leaving them struggling in pain and despair... and then... destroyed..."

"But now Yharnam is on the brink of destruction."

After hearing what Master William said, Irene turned pale, but Fang Zheng was quite calm.

"Excuse me, this is just a matter of dying sooner or later. Both cups are poisoned. One cup will kill you instantly, and the other cup can still allow you to leave a few last words, but you will still die after leaving them, right? In this case, why don't we just do it... Master William, is there any way to get us out of the dream?"

"...If you want to escape from the dream, you must remove the curse of the ancient gods and defeat them...but...this is almost impossible..."

At this point, William's voice gradually lowered.

"It's impossible... Humans cannot observe the world in the way the ancient gods think. When we understand the world in this way, we can contact the ancient gods, but at that time, we are no longer ourselves... Mensis is obsessed with seeking the arrival of the blood moon, immersed in his impossible ideal... Lawrence... Poor child... He took the wrong path, they are all wrong."

William raised the scepter in his hand again and pointed it forward.

"I used Rom's time loop to seal this world. The Hunting Night will continue, so that the Blood Moon will never come. It is in the center of this lake. As long as you kill it, the Blood Moon will come and the world will change completely... I don't know what will happen next, but stranger... since you are so confident, then I might as well let you try. Go, kill Rom, and then... go find Mensis. He tried to create the ancient gods with the help of the Blood Moon, and his actions are doomed to fail..."

"That's right, can't you just make it clear?"

After listening to William's story, Fang Zheng picked up the sword and walked to the edge of the platform. Seeing Fang Zheng's movements, Irene hurried forward to stop him.

"Wait, wait, are you really going? What if..."

"No matter what, the hunting night will end. As for whether there will be a blood moon next... we will talk about it then. Whether it is good or bad, there will always be changes, right?"

As he spoke, Fang Zheng waved his hand, then he leaped off the platform.