The other person's emerald green eyes, clear and wise, reminded Yun Wei of jade.
He hesitated for a moment, then said to the other party, "We want to find historical materials about the Second Dynasty and earlier, but we found that the existing documents are either vague or simply avoid the topic altogether."
He slightly blurred the scope in his wording, but it could be considered that he was telling the truth.
Yun Wei thought that the other party seemed to have the air of a learned and wise man, so he probably knew something.
Unexpectedly, Sid said directly, "Of course you can't find it, it was all scraped off long ago."
His tone was light, still carrying the tinge of someone who had just cried, yet it sounded as natural as if he were talking about the weather.
Yun Wei looked at the other person in surprise and couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean by 'scraped...scraped off'?"
“It means exactly what it says.” Sid’s gaze fell on the distant Tower of All Laws. He sighed, his expression growing grave. “Fifty years ago, the War of the Dead broke out. The Holy Church of Radiant Light needed to produce a large number of divine scrolls to fight against the undead army, so they requisitioned many parchment scrolls. The priests scraped off the original contents with knives and used them to copy scriptures and incantations…”
At this point, he sighed again, somewhat wistfully.
Upon hearing this, Yun Wei also fell silent.
Before the invention of papermaking, the transmission of knowledge was extremely precarious. A mere upheaval, a great fire, or a decree could so easily destroy the spiritual wealth accumulated by humankind over hundreds of years.
He recalled many examples from his past life, from the Library of Alexandria to the Mayan manuscripts.
However, it's the "Radiant Holy Church" again, and the "War of the Dead Hunters" again.
Yun Wei frowned. He had been hearing these two words far too frequently lately, to the point that he felt something was amiss.
“However—” Yun Wei was startled, but it turned out that Sid had changed the subject, “If you can find the divine scrolls that were left over from fifty years ago in the library, I still have some ways to help you.”
"But it's not possible today, I didn't bring anything with me. If it's convenient, I'll wait for you at the library tomorrow afternoon."
Seeing Yun Wei nod with a blank expression, Sid smiled gently and said, "Don't worry, I mean no harm. By the way, my cousin Baller is in the same grade as you."
"Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Sid Goldpie, and I come from Alchemy City."
The Golden Family was one of the three great families alongside the Rose and Russo families during the Second Dynasty. They commanded the Golden Cloud Legion, one of the three major legions, and were extremely skilled in the creation of magical items and the drawing of magic circles. Their research in the field of magic runes was also unparalleled.
The royal family of the Golden Cloud Kingdom and the executive governor of Alchemy City both come from the Gilded Family.
However, Yun Wei, as a visitor from another world, simply blinked and smiled amicably at Xi De.
Sid: "..."
Well, he could tell that the other party genuinely had never heard of the Liujin family.
Far from feeling offended, he came to see Claude as an even more genuinely kind and simple junior. The fact that Claude was willing to lend a helping hand without knowing his identity further enhanced his opinion of Yun Wei.
"Then I'll be going now. Something did happen today... I'm not feeling well, and I apologize for being a bit rude." Sid waved to Yun Wei and took his leave with a smile.
He took out an indigo-colored monk's hat and put it over his messy hair. Under the wide brim, his handsome face, paired with gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, instantly gained a touch of aloof nobility.
After watching the other person walk away, Yun Wei breathed a sigh of relief. He still needed to inform Isaac and Vivian.
Although tonight is the trial of "Holy Night: Chapter One", they can still take stock in the library before the sun goes down.
After all, setting aside the Tower of All Laws, the history of the Second Dynasty itself is an immeasurable treasure.
He is also a well-trained magician, possessing knowledge that is hard to refuse.
...
As night fell, the clock struck eleven as scheduled, and the five of them gathered again near the rotating magic lamp in the thick fog.
After a brief conversation, it turned out that not only did Yun Wei and his two companions come away empty-handed, but the other two also returned empty-handed.
The thick fog surged again, transforming at will into all sorts of shapes, and under the influence of human imagination, it became a menacing monster.
Yun Wei felt uneasy, a feeling similar to when he had to take a monthly exam without any prior preparation in his previous life.
An unprepared exam.
Isaac said, "In that case, let's just grit our teeth and go for it."
No one objected. Using the same formation, the five began their advance.
This time, the ground beneath their feet was no longer a smooth, black-and-white pattern, but an irregularly shaped stone path. Before long, the five of them arrived in front of a rather enormous stone building.
Rising from the ground are long columns carved entirely of marble, the exquisite reliefs and arches reminding Yun Wei of the ancient Roman architecture of his previous life.
Vivian said, "I think this will be the training ground for tonight."
Isaac nodded in agreement and said, "It looks like a gladiatorial arena."
Yun Wei exclaimed in surprise, "Ah!" The mention of the arena brought to mind a bloody, hand-to-hand combat scene.
Isaac turned around, glanced at him quickly, and said, "Don't worry, I'll protect you." But his gaze didn't linger on Yun Wei for long.
Yun Wei took a deep breath, suppressing the growing unease in his heart, while Richard patted his shoulder reassuringly from behind.
The group continued their exploration along the outer edge.
After walking a short distance along the curved outer edge of the building, they discovered a dark, narrow opening.
Richard whistled casually and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Looks like the answer is in here."
He moved from the back of the line to the front, raised his hand and cast a light spell, then looked towards the entrance.
Although the passage was dark, it was exceptionally clean, and no terrifying monsters were seen.
If he remembered correctly, the other party seemed to be a wind mage. Yun Wei silently raised his eyes and glanced at Isaac. At this moment, he was a little puzzled as to why everyone was so calm in the face of this scene.
Seemingly having received his thoughts, as everyone followed Richard into the building, Isaac slowed down by half a step, standing shoulder to shoulder with Yun Wei. He said in a deep voice, "Silver dragons are magic dragons and can use all types of magic."
Upon hearing this, Yun Wei nodded in understanding. No wonder he always felt that Richard was flashy and frivolous.
They finally arrived at an empty room with only six marble armchairs and a bookshelf in the corner at the far end of the room.
When Yun Wei and Isaac, the last members of the group, entered the room, the iron candlestick ring on the roof suddenly lit up. A sound came from behind them, and a stone gate slowly rose, locking them inside.
Isaac, who was closest to the door, drew his greatsword from behind him, trying to stop them, but was repelled by an invisible force.
"The actors are all present. After the chandelier has rotated thirty times, please take your positions on stage immediately."
The cold, mechanical notification sound rang in everyone's minds once again.
Actors? Taking the stage? Have they arrived at the theater of the First Dynasty?
While the other four exchanged bewildered glances, Yun Wei had already made his way through the hall to the bookshelf in the corner. He felt that this trial was somewhat similar to the scripted murder mystery games of his previous life, and the most crucial element of a scripted murder mystery game was the 'script'.
His gaze swept over the books arranged side by side on the bookshelf, and he quickly counted them. There were six in total. He then turned around and called out, "Don't just stand there, come and get your scripts."
He looked up at the slowly rotating lampstand on the roof, silently calculated the time in his mind, and added, "We have about twenty-eight minutes left."
All six books were beautifully bound, with an exquisite binding style reminiscent of the books from Yun Wei's previous life. The title of the script, "Holy Night: Chapter One," was prominently embossed in gold on the cover, while the smaller print below displayed the names of the roles each person would be playing.
Yes, each person present can only open one book, and when they look at the books that others have opened, they can only see pages of blank paper.
Xie Mulang was the first to sit down on the stone bench with his book in his hand. He quickly glanced at the script in his hand, but suddenly exclaimed, "Why does it look so simple to me?"
Upon hearing this, Yun Wei also sat down and opened the script in his hand.
The small print on the cover indicated the character's name as: Mage Al-Hir.
That name sounds so familiar, it feels like I've seen it somewhere before.
Just as Xie Mulang had said, the story was very simple, like a straightforward historical account:
The First Dynasty's "Tyrant Luther" was preparing to offer the treasure "Heart of All Elements" to the "Abyss," but "Priestess Lucy" went to stop him after hearing about it, but failed.
Knight Aragorn, Ranger Fenrir, and Mage Alher are close friends who fight side by side, rising to prominence after a legendary battle. The priest then seeks the knight's help, and after some discussion, the trio decides to lend a hand.
The trio challenged the tyrant. However, the tyrant, who had gained the power of the abyss, was stronger than anyone expected. The trio was no match for him, and the knight was seriously injured. At this moment, the mage stepped forward and sacrificed himself to buy time for his teammates to retreat.
That concludes the entire plot of "Holy Night: Chapter One".
After reading it, Yun Wei felt a twitch in his forehead, but then he realized that this might be a true historical event, and his expression became increasingly complicated.
He silently turned a few pages and began reciting his lines.
Time passed quickly. Suddenly, a door appeared on the wall on another side of the room, and the hanging lamp inside went out.
The cold, pale light outside seemed to be silently urging them to take the stage.
"How are your preparations going?" Yun Wei stood up and asked the others in a low voice.
"……Um."
"good."
"I think I've memorized my lines..."
"It should be fine."
In the darkness, the teammates' scattered responses came through, filled with helplessness and dejection.
Yun Wei's lips twitched, and he steeled himself, turning around and walking towards the stage behind him.
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