This is the castle where Hela is.

Standing at the bottom of the castle while being held by Red Spider, Bering looked at the brick wall in front of him that seemed to be covered with a layer of strange gray-black moss, and crossed his arms in thought.

As the "goddess of death" in Norse mythology, according to Bering's idea, the place where Hela lives should be closer to the adjective "hell".

Not to mention the broken arms and legs, it should at least be more "civilized and polite" than the Pale Lady's hiding place, right?

However, looking at this ancient fortress that was similar to the Yashaku... Dimitrescu Castle in "Resident Evil 8", Bering could not imagine at first that this place was Hela's residence.

It always feels too simple.

After looking at the wall in front of him, Bai Ling hesitated for a moment and said to Red Spider behind him: "Put my hand on the wall."

Although Starscream was a little surprised, he finally followed Bering's instructions.

She grabbed Bai Ling's hand and slowly brushed it across the wall.

The next second, Bai Ling paused slightly.

"poison?"

He glanced at his fingertips.

At this moment, some black and blue marks had appeared on Bai Ling's fingertips.

This was probably a very strong poison. Just by slightly touching the wall, it began to corrode Bai Ling's fingers. It was like a maggot clinging to a bone, gnawing at Bai Ling's skin from the outermost layer and twisting inside to get in.

Looking at the expanding blue-gray color on his fingers, Bai Ling frowned slightly.

He didn't pay too much attention to the toxins, but asked Starscream to let him shake his hands, with a relaxed and casual posture.

Poison didn't mean much to Bering - you couldn't expect poison to kill a dead person again.

Of course, nerve-blocking toxins don't count.

However, if he really encountered this kind of poison, Bai Ling felt that he would not be able to escape even if he wanted to - the strength of "Hela" was much more troublesome than he imagined.

The two men walked past the wall in silence. In the darkness, Red Spider, carrying Bering, groped and found a winding staircase.

"Are we going in this direction?" Starscream turned around and asked Bering.

Bai Ling nodded slightly and let Red Spider continue to move forward.

The staircase is spiral, twisting all the way upwards from the bottom, as if leading to the unreachable clouds, close to the layers of clouds.

This castle looks taller than I had imagined.

When he saw the staircase, a similar thought flashed through Bering's mind.

There are many Nordic-style decorations on both sides of the stairs, many of which have obvious mythological metaphors. For example, there are majestic wolf heads, or long pythons wrapped around the side of the stairs. In addition, there are also things such as one-eyed heads, wall lamps with dancing flames, and giant swords sealed in ice. Bering has heard of these things, but he doesn't know their specific origins.

Walking up this staircase, Bering felt like he was walking through a vast, long and heavy... mythological corridor.

As for Starscream next to him, the core of his emotional expression is simpler.

"Wow," Starscream exclaimed, "That's a lot of treasures."

There were probably quite a few things among them that Starscream found very tempting, so she subconsciously wanted to touch them.

With this thought in mind, she stretched out her finger and gently touched something on the wall.

Just when Red Spider's fingers were about to touch it.

The next second, a lazy voice came from the top of the stairs: "If I were you, I wouldn't do that."

Hearing the voice, Red Spider was so scared that he stopped what he was doing and looked around guiltily.

And Bai Ling raised his head thoughtfully.

His gaze spanned the long corridor, looking in the direction where the reminder came from.

Although it was still dark on the stairs, the person who spoke the reminder was carrying a bright flashlight, so Bai Ling could see the person's appearance by the light of the flashlight.

She was an old woman who looked somewhat old and decrepit, with a hunched back, exposed yellow teeth, and thick eye bags filled with unwiped eye boogers. She looked sloppy and dirty.

However, this was only the appearance of her upper body; in fact, her lower body was completely the opposite.

With the help of the light, Bai Ling could see her legs. At this moment, the old woman was wearing a gauze-like skirt that fit her thighs, making her white thighs look youthful and strong. Her legs were straight like a graceful lotus, slender and beautiful.

In other words, this is a contradictory person with an old upper body and a youthful lower body.

I have to say that this kind of attire and dress is indeed very strange.

Starscream also followed Bering's line of sight.

When she saw the old woman, she suddenly felt a chill: "Wow, this is really... an uncomfortable look."

“Does Hela have such unique tastes?” she asked. “Are all the people in the castle so unpleasant?”

She spoke so softly that the old woman did not hear.

But maybe he heard it and didn't care much.

In fact, the strange-looking old woman just yawned and said, "The whole castle is filled with poison. This is what the mistress set up to guard against some blind thieves. Although I don't know what's wrong with you, out of duty, I still advise you not to move around casually."

"Of course, it's best not to look around casually," the old woman said wearily. "The hostess doesn't want her things to be viewed casually. It will make her feel bad."

Hearing her addressing Hela, Bai Ling's heart moved slightly.

"Are you Gunlot?" He looked at the old woman. "In mythology, one of the servants of Hela, the goddess of death?"

Gunlot is a name that once appeared in the Norse mythology "Edda".

She is one of the servants serving Hela, and her colleague is Gangrati, a man similar to her.

These two people are "slow walkers", representing laziness and laxity. They are responsible for taking care of the goddess' daily life and living in Hela's palace.

Although Bai Ling had heard of this, he never expected that Gangluot's appearance would be so... weird.

On the other hand, the old maid, Gangluot, whose name was revealed, said nonchalantly, "Yes, you are right, this is my name."

Looking up at the bottomless staircase, Ganglot yawned again: "Don't waste time here now. Come with me. The hostess asked me to guide you all the way to her room."

As she spoke, she grabbed her lantern and walked slowly up the stairs.

And Starscream turned his head and glanced at Bering.

“Follow them,” Bai Ling said noncommittally, “It seems like Hela has already guessed that we would come.”

After hearing this.

No matter how reluctant Red Spider was, he had to obey Bering's orders and climb up with Gangluot.

Although he looked hunched over and had little strength, Gangluot was surprisingly fast.

After only a few minutes' walk, she had left the other two behind and continued to walk up slowly by herself.

But Red Spider is not an ordinary person.

Even though Gangluot's speed was amazing, her speed was definitely not slow.

Except for falling behind a little at the beginning, the two of them soon kept a distance of no more than five meters. No matter how fast Gunlot accelerated, Red Spider could keep up steadily.

This made Gangluot unable to help but look at her twice more, and gradually began to speed up.

Later on, the speed of both sides was so fast that even a normal human running at full speed could not catch up.

At such a fast speed, they soon reached their destination.

Stopping at the door, Gangluot rubbed his sleepy eyes and said tiredly: "This is it..."

She tremblingly opened the heavy door in front of her and said softly, "The hostess is waiting for you inside now."

Hearing this, Starscream and Bai Ling looked at each other.

After exchanging glances, Starscream walked straight into the door without hesitation.

Wait until they just enter the room.

Behind them, in the direction they came from, the heavy wooden door was closing little by little.

In just a few seconds, Ganglot completely blocked the door behind them, trapping them in this space.

When the door behind them was completely closed, the two of them were suddenly in extreme darkness.

There was no light coming out, and there were no signs to indicate the direction. Everything was exactly like the legendary hell...! Looking at this scene, Red Spider subconsciously said, "What is that disgusting guy doing..."

But before she could finish.

Bai Ling behind her whispered, "Shut up."

Staring at the darkness before him, Bai Ling lowered his voice and said, “Hela… is watching us!”

听着白令的警告，红蜘蛛悚然一惊！ 尽管她的层次和海拉差不多，甚至严格来说可能比海拉还要高一点，毕竟她是货真价实最接近起源的怪物。但是怎么说呢，眼下他们待的地方是人家的老巢，更不用说红蜘蛛身上还背着个累赘，最关键的是这个累赘还不能扔……

所以这么一对比之下，原本那点微小的实力差距就被抹平、甚至犹有过之了。

而相比想得太多的红蜘蛛，白令则更加从容一点。

他虽然是被红蜘蛛抗在身上，但却没有多少不舒服的感觉，而是朝着黑夜里轻声说道：“如果是打算来下马威的话，我认为大可不必。”

“海拉小姐。”

话音落下。

没过多久，这个漆黑的房间内骤然亮起一盏明灯。

这盏灯的火焰是蓝色的，不像是橙色之火一般明亮，反而透着刺骨的冰凉，幽幽摇曳之间让人后背仿佛有蚂蚁在爬。

在这蓝色的光焰之下，一个模糊的人影端坐在房间的最深处。

“我知道你，”那个人影开口了，声音偶尔像是磨砂一般的沧桑，一会儿却又像是天真烂漫的少女，“你是最近那个声名鹊起的先知。”

抬眼看向面前的人影轮廓，白令笑了：“看起来我最近还算有名气，竟然传到了塔尔塔洛斯这里面。”

在他的笑声之中，海拉没有做什么表情。

她只是掩藏在黑夜里，声音起起伏伏：“是你捣毁了‘人类守望’——那些家伙虽然是废物，但是多少也能算是趁手的工具。然而因为你，他们中的大部分人已经没用了。即便是少部分从地表逃进来的，也被吓破了胆、表现让人失望。”

“这让我有些生气，毕竟原本他们能够给我带来不少的消遣、并且为我供奉祭品。但是现在，这一切都没有了，而这些原因、都在于你。”

看向白令，海拉终于露出了自己狰狞的獠牙：“而现在，你竟然自投罗网……看起来，你是真觉得自己活得太久，想要从我这边获得永恒的安眠了？”

她的声音回荡在漆黑的房间之中，宛如在沼泽里滋生的阴影一样，窥伺着所有跋涉的旅人、似乎只要稍有不对，就会把那些家伙拖进沼泽里大快朵颐！

很明显，海拉的怒气是真实的。

至少红蜘蛛都能够感觉到海拉口气里的恼火。

她下意识地拉着白令的衣服，思考应该往什么方向跳，才不会让白令死在这里。

而她身后的白令则一点都不慌张。

他笑眯眯地说道：“那不过是立场问题罢了，就像是您和深渊之中其他几个主宰一样，归根结底不过是站的位置不一样、所以想的不一样。”

“更何况那些家伙未必能够如我一般，给您带来更多优渥的条件，”白令收敛笑容，“就像是他们注定不可能拥有……这个。”

说着，白令对着自己旁边的红蜘蛛轻声说道：“把我的手抬起来，递到黑暗之中。”

红蜘蛛狐疑地看了白令一眼。

不过她最后还是抓着白令的手，将这双苍白过分的手掌送进黑夜里。

说来倒也奇怪，白令那双手在向前伸的时候，竟然从前端一点点地开始消失起来。

就像是没入了帘幕之后的世界一样，他的手被送到了黑夜的背面。

‘果然，是视觉效果、或者是折迭空间？’

看着自己半截消失的右手，白令了然。

没过多久，他就感觉自己的手上传来一阵摸索的感觉。

海拉似乎是在抓着他的手掌观摩。

没多久，白令就听到海拉那略微有些动容的声音：“这是……贤者之石？”

没错。

这就是海拉动容的原因。

暴君王指环，或者说……赫尔墨斯派打造出来的贤者之石！ 哪怕是在海拉这种塔尔塔洛斯的霸主面前，“贤者之石”也并非是大路货。

事实上这一点从白令到目前为止的见闻也可以很清楚地发现出来，迄今为止他也算是见多识广了，然而即便是他、也不过见到过两块贤者之石。

一个是他手上这个指环，另一个则是苍白女士。

除此之外，这种本该在西欧炼金术历史上名声大噪的神奇道具，根本就没有任何人见到过。

因此白令觉得，这玩意儿对于海拉来说应该也算是罕见。

而且第二块贤者之石还是以海拉作为模板……

要说她对此一点都不清楚，白令是不会相信的。

果然，没多久，海拉就抓着白令的手、沙哑着说道：“看来你的运气倒是挺好。”

“赫尔墨斯的贤者之石可不是所有人都能够搞到手的，”海拉说道，“哪怕是在异种之中，除了埃尔那个老头子那里稍微有一点货之外，其他基本上没有多少人听到过。”

创世神埃尔。

那个开游戏厅、看起来垂垂老矣的老头，宋清辞的父亲以及季千琴的母亲都曾经在祂那里换过东西。而一个多月前，白令也带着两个女孩去老头那里拿到过他们父辈的记忆碎片。

从海拉这边听到埃尔的名字，白令也并不意外。

毕竟创世神嘛，虽然没落了、但是姑且还能算是有位格。作为顶级神祇的海拉对那个老头有所知晓，也很正常。

因此，白令也只是微笑着说道：“埃尔神可不会拥有我这么精纯的贤者之石。”

“事实上这就是我向您道歉的献礼，”白令面不改色，“一块高精度的贤者之石，这对您而言想必也是一个大礼。”

闻言，海拉抓着白令的动作微微一顿。

没过多久，她才缓缓开口说道：“我明白了，不错，贤者之石对我而言确实算得上宝贵。”

她似乎是想要答应下来。

然而很快，海拉的话锋又再次一转：“不过，这并不能够弥补你的过错。”

她紧紧抓着白令的手，声音里是逐渐上扬的贪婪：“你对我造成的伤害非常大！仅仅是一个贤者之石可不够！要知道，因为你、我在深渊的脸面彻底被丢尽了！所以，你必须要给我比贤者之石更多的补偿！”

在海拉说话的时候，白令还能够感觉得到自己手掌上，似乎有什么凉丝丝的东西正一点点地流淌着。

这个家伙该不会是把口水流到我手上了吧。

白令一边皱着眉，一边口中说道：“那么，您还想要什么补偿呢？”

这句话一说出来。

海拉那边抓着白令手的动作就再次一用力。

她急促地说道：“没错，既然是因为打了我的脸、让我颜面扫地，那么你就应当用比现在还要真诚的补偿……”

“你的……嘶……你的补偿……”她的声音一点点开始波动，“你的补偿就是……”

“我要你的右手！”

这句话一说出来。

站在白令身边的红蜘蛛猛然一睁眼，目光凌厉地怒视着海拉！

“混账杂交狗娘养的婊子！”红蜘蛛声音瞬间上扬，震怒出声，“你竟然敢？你怎么敢？！我看你才是想死了，劣等蠢狗！”

很明显，黑色帘幕之后的海拉被红蜘蛛的声音给吓了一跳，原本抓着白令的手还微微抖了抖。

很快，海拉就反应过来这里到底是谁的地盘，重新恢复了镇定，转而对着红蜘蛛冷笑一声：“我当时是谁，原来是你这条忠诚的狗。”

“怎么，那个男人走了之后你就又寻了一个男人？”海拉嗤笑着说道，“那你看起来运气不太好——两个愿意为你牵狗绳的主人多少都带点问题，真是遇人不淑。”

“你？！”

红蜘蛛几乎快要压制不住自己怒火。

她下意识地就想要上前，把那个藏在帘幕后面的女怪物给拽出来，狠狠地骑在她的身上拼命给她抽几个大嘴巴子！ 然而很快，白令制止了她的行动：“行了。”

眼神重新转向面前模糊的身影，白令脸上的笑容逐渐收敛。

“您是想要我的右手？”他说道，“好啊，没问题。”

说着，他毫不犹豫，直接对着红蜘蛛说道：“把我的右手给砍下来。”

闻言，红蜘蛛震惊地看着他，甚至包括海拉、她抓着白令的动作也微微用力。

“你疯了？！”红蜘蛛压低了声音，“你知道海拉是想要什么吗？！她要的并不是你的手，而是你的一部分灵魂！”

“作为死亡的女神，她对于你这种‘死人’可太喜欢了！而且她的灵魂技巧虽然很差，但是她对于死亡的理解却很深。如果让她抓住你的一部分，就跟别人给你下了一个巫毒娃娃一样……到时候你的一切可都受制于人了！”

白令似笑非笑地看着红蜘蛛。

If you look at it from anyone's perspective, they would probably think that Starscream has a sincere heart, wants to give Bai Ling advice and is concerned about his safety.

But only Bai Ling knew that Red Spider didn't have such good intentions at the moment.

It was just because of the constraints of the oath, plus some of her concerns, that Starscream tried her best to dissuade Bering from doing so, that's all.

But she was right.

If Hela really took away a part of herself, it would be like someone making a doll for her, which would be equivalent to giving someone a weakness out of thin air.

but……

That would require that this weakness is truly "useful".

Thinking of this, Bai Ling's expression remained unchanged.

"Don't worry about it," he said, "just do it!"