Bitter tears streamed down Yi Lai Zhe's face: "They cannot reach the abyss, and can only be like caged birds, bound to their own bloodline and descendants forever. And when I die, I will be like them, becoming one of the spirits of my descendants after their death."
"What?" Phil Gray and Eli were stunned, exchanging bewildered glances, both seeing disbelief and shock in each other's eyes.
"Why is this happening?" they asked impatiently.
"This is the retribution for the losers and the arrogant!" Yi Lai Zhe's face showed a contemptuous sneer. "Our family has a long history. One of our ancestors was one of the earliest quasi-gods of the God of Death. He once competed with the current God of War for the position of subordinate god, but unfortunately he failed."
"If things had ended there, the family wouldn't have fallen into such a desperate situation. However, he was unwilling to accept this, and after lying dormant for a thousand years, he actually tried to gather the souls of all his clansmen to strengthen himself and help him regain his divine position. In the end, he was easily defeated by the God of War in one move, just like a clown. Hahaha."
"At that time, he was directly annihilated, but I don't know if it was the effect of his skill or because his arrogance brought a curse on his people. After that, whenever someone in the clan died, no abyss gate came to guide them. Instead, they were trapped next to their descendants. Our family gradually declined, and in the end, only one lineage survived. In the last hundred years, only a few descendants have survived. Now, there is only me left in our family, so these souls accumulated over generations will follow behind me."
"Hahaha..." Yi Lai Zhe's laughter was tinged with a touch of desolation, his hoarse voice like a broken bellows, revealing endless vicissitudes.
“My father wanted to kill me and then commit suicide the moment I was born. He hoped that by doing so, the descendants of the family would be wiped out, so that the souls of those ancestors could be freed. Whether they disappeared or not, it was better than being confined to this small space, and we could be freed from this endless torment. He poisoned me, but fortunately my mother discovered it in time, and I survived, but my voice was ruined. When I was five years old, my father dragged my mother down with him and died. Since then, my father has become the spirit behind me.”
Phil Gray pursed his lips, momentarily speechless, unsure how to comfort the tragic Holy Son.
"Is that so!" Eli exclaimed in surprise. "But logically speaking, after so many years, the number of your ancestors' spirits should be far more than this, right?" After all, according to Eli, they are a long-standing family with a long history. The number of spirits that have been passed down to this day is far more than a thousand. It must be tens of thousands, right?
“This relates to the request I’m about to make. Our family has made countless efforts to solve this problem. We have prayed desperately for the mercy of the gods. Although we haven’t completely solved the problem, we have found a way to allow the souls of some of our ancestors to reach the abyss.” Yi Lai Zhe paused for a moment, then continued, “We have used the wealth accumulated over dozens of generations to build a huge temple of death. After that, as long as a specially made coffin is made for a certain ancestor in the temple, his soul can enter the coffin and be buried in the temple. Then he can enter the abyss through the temple of death and no longer be bound to his descendants.”
“But this kind of coffin must be hard to make, right? Otherwise, why are there so many ancestral spirits following you?” Eli speculated.
“Yes, this kind of coffin requires a certain amount of gold to make, and a large amount of death power needs to be input during the forging process,” Yi Lai Zhe said helplessly. “Each generation of us spends almost our entire lives making coffins for the souls of our ancestors. We not only need to accumulate enough gold, but also enough death power. It is already a remarkable thing to be able to bury dozens of ancestors in a lifetime.”
Yi Lai Zhe's lips curved slightly, his eyes filled with nostalgia. "When I was eight years old, I became a chosen one of the God of Death. I spent nearly two years making a coffin to send my father to the abyss, so that he wouldn't be bound for too long. This was the happiest thing in my childhood. After that, I became a holy son of the Church of the Dead, and I have been accumulating gold through various means to make coffins, hoping to bury more ancestors."
“No wonder you always seem to be using all sorts of methods to make money.” Phil Gray patted him on the shoulder. “So you want me to infuse some death magic into your coffin when I’m making it, right? You’re not going to borrow money from me, are you?”
“Yes, the divine power required to forge a coffin is roughly the combined divine power of four divinely inspired beings. Even if I had accumulated enough gold, the speed of divine power generation wouldn't be enough, so I hope you can help me.” Iraiz looked at Phil Gray with pleading eyes. “In return, I can become your servant. Although these undead have caused me great trouble, they have also given me powerful combat abilities. You should need a powerful servant like me, right? Or you can name any conditions, and I can agree to them. I can even withdraw from this papal selection.”
Eli clicked his tongue: "That's a tempting offer."
Phil Gray pondered for a moment, then nodded. "I agree, but you don't have to withdraw from this selection, because I will use my own strength to seize the papacy. As for the condition, it's as you said, you will serve as my squire for five years."
"Five years?" Yi Lai Zhe asked incredulously.
"Is that too long? Three years is fine too," Phil Gray pondered. He should be able to complete the task given to him by the God of Fate and defeat the gods of the Abyss in less than three years, right?
"No, no, no, just five years. I just found you to be very kind." Yi Lai Zhe smiled. He had thought he would have to exchange his freedom for a lifetime for the other party's help, but he didn't expect it to be only five years.
“Merciful? I’m the heartless boss who often forgets to pay my servants’ wages!” Phil Gray said, smiling at Eli.
“Yes, he’s right, but welcome to join us and work your ass off for this boss.” Eli shrugged and extended his hand to Elizabeth in a friendly manner.
Yi Lai Zhe shook hands with him solemnly, then looked at Phil Gray expectantly, "Can we start making my coffin after the papal selection? I've almost gathered some materials."
“Of course, no problem.” Phil Gray patted him on the shoulder. “I never go back on my word. Come on, to celebrate you joining our team, I’ll treat you to dinner. After what happened at the restaurant, we didn’t get to eat our fill.”
“No need, I just instructed the housekeeper and our chef to prepare food for us,” Eli said promptly.
Phil Gray suddenly realized and laughed, "Oh, right! All the servants the Archbishop recruited for us are in place, that's wonderful." He nodded in satisfaction and continued, "After we finish our meal, we have some important matters to attend to."
"What is it?" Eli asked curiously.
"Of course, it's about catching the mastermind behind the attack on us at the restaurant."
"You plan to infiltrate the residences of those candidates?" Eli narrowed his eyes.
“Yes.” Phil Gray planned to use his Shadow Grip to infiltrate Rodney and Marshall’s mansion to find out what was going on, as he felt that the two Holy Sons were highly suspicious.
“I think we can go to Marshall’s first, then Rodney. As for Jaslin, based on what I know of her from when I was a kid, it shouldn’t be her,” Eli said.
“Saintess Jaslin certainly wouldn’t resort to such low-class methods. I agree with your assessment,” Yi Lai Zhe nodded.
“Alright, but you don’t need to come with me in a bit. I’ll go to their residence myself and investigate.” Phil Gray picked up his teacup and took a sip.
"Isn't it too dangerous for you to go by yourself?" Yi Lai Zhe asked, his brows furrowed.
“Don’t underestimate our boss. He can hide in the shadows and will never be discovered. If we go, we’ll only implicate him,” Eli said, spreading his hands.
“Yes, you two need to be careful here too. See if someone will make another move in the middle of the night. I don’t think he’ll let it go until he kills us. He might make another move tonight,” Phil Gray warned.
"Okay, no problem."
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