Chapter 171: Night

Chapter 171: Night

As Bran applied various experimental methods to Jonah, The Dead felt fear too, and they disappeared one after another, as if they had never existed. The whole city seemed even more vast and empty, with only Jonah’s howls echoing there.

When night fell, Bran finally stopped his actions. At this moment, Jonah was like a torn rag doll, discarded on the ground.

“Please, kill me,” he muttered.

But Bran showed no reaction, sitting there silently, gradually blending into the night.

Jonah struggled to stand up, trying to leave this place, but after just a few steps, he seemed to hit an invisible wall and was thrown back. Bran was not ready to let him go yet; there were still many tests to do, and everything was just beginning.

As the night grew thicker, a sense of stickiness appeared out of nowhere, as if the surroundings had turned into a bog, trying to pull anyone caught in it toward the Depths of the Earth. Jonah was affected too, his body sinking toward the ground, but soon another force pulled him out.

Bran! A feeling of powerlessness washed over Jonah’s entire body. If he could do it over, he would never have provoked this guy again. He always thought he was decisive and ruthless, that his will was strong enough, but now he realized he was just a joke.

In the face of absolute power, everything was a joke.

He always thought Bran was an easy person to get along with and an easy one to deal with. Bran’s indecisiveness, in his view, was foolishness. If I had that kind of power, he had fantasized over and over. He would use that power to change the world, to control this land, to control everyone near and far, all the wealth. He would take whatever he wanted from everyone!

Now, someone was using that kind of power to take whatever they wanted from him. He began to wish such people and such power did not exist.

Someone was walking toward this direction, their steps slow but firm. The torch in their hand burned with difficulty, seeming like it could go out at any moment. The torch was just a ball of orange-red light; the light and heat it gave off were swallowed up just a few feet away.

An odd voice sounded, “Bran! I know it’s you. No one else could come this deep except you.”

“Then what are you?” a voice sounded directly in his mind.

“Hah! A failure, an old man you spared without a second thought.” As he spoke, he had already walked to near the statue. He brought the torch close to his face, and the firelight illuminated his downcast and weathered face—Hall.

Bran gradually emerged from the night, looked at Hall who was now so close, and sighed. “Why do this? Eileen has been worried about you. I came here originally to collect your body, but only upon arriving did I find—you were actually living quite well.”

“You knew I was here all along?”

“You carry the Ring I gave Aiman. How could I not know?”

Hall hesitantly raised his hand. “You mean, these aren’t just simple accessories?”

Bran smiled. “At first, they were just accessories I made casually. It was only later that I realized they had some other uses. For instance, I now know you relied on it to avoid attacks from The Dead.”

“Are The Dead connected to you?”

“No.”

“Then?”

“It’s more related to the nature of Mana. The cause of this place is also related to Mana. Have you discovered anything?”

“No. The Dead appear during the day and disappear at night. When I first arrived here, there were still a few stray Dead wandering at night.”

“Leave this place. Go stay in Northland City for a few days first, see Eileen, see your clansmen.”

“In my current state, can I still go see them?”

“Let’s go. This place is no longer suitable for you to stay.”

Hall’s eyes reflected the flickering torchlight, and his tone became urgent. “Have you discovered something?”

“This place is filled with a kind of Mana. It’s strange, very strange,” Bran explained.

“That’s it?”

“Do you believe in the Soul?”

“Soul?”

Bran threw Jonah in front of Hall. “A Scholar, a Scholar who just died. I watched his Soul detach from his body, watched his Soul linger near the corpse.

Not much time has passed, so he still retains some emotions from when he was alive. But soon he will join the ranks of The Dead, gradually becoming another person, another kind of existence—a very thorough transformation.”