A Terrifying Guess
Upon reading this, Stephanie looked up, a clear look of shock in her eyes. She looked at Sean, trying to find an answer.
But Sean simply shook his head slightly, indicating that she should continue reading.
"The Bard laughed so hard he couldn't stand up straight; he had fulfilled his long-cherished wish."
"Meeting the end of the world, stepping on the Qidian of the world."
"Every explorer is driven by desire, desire propels them forward, desire gives them all their motivation—the wise Bard recognized this at the first test, but his desire far exceeded the imagination of the Wisdom Snake and the Robin."
The Bard happily took all the treasures from the mountaintop, his little Sparrow chirping excitedly on his shoulder: 'They're all mine! They're all mine! Even the king—no, I am the king of the new world!'
"Just as the Bard was about to leave, he noticed that the blood of the Robin and the Wisdom Snake was gradually merging together. One blood was crimson, and the other was emerald green. When the two bloods mixed together, the whole world shook as if it were about to collapse."
"The blood intertwined, forming a huge black gem. Thick black mist seemed to be alive, swirling around the gem. The vast blue sky seemed to have a hole in it, from which strange things emerged and merged into the gem."
The Bard was not afraid; he simply gazed Greed at the gem, knowing it must be the most valuable treasure!
"He wanted to take the gem away, but the little Sparrow couldn't think of a way."
"The Bard finally used his intelligence to remove the fragment from the black gem, and then the broken piece of the black gem disappeared."
Reading this, you Bard is holding Black Rhombus Crystal. At first glance, it just seemed a little strange, but after reading the stories above, even Stephanie, who is usually calm and collected, found the illustration to be eerie.
"The Bard took away all the treasures and the fragment of the black gem; the world trembled—"
"The mountains and rivers have dried up, the flowers and grass have withered, and the beautiful paradise has turned into darkness—"
Stephanie turned to the next page she hadn't looked at yet, and immediately her brows furrowed.
Another illustration comes into view: on yellowed parchment, black cloak shadows are outlined one after another, and in the sky, a transparent maw opens wide, containing a wildly swirling black vortex. At the same time, various black objects of different shapes appear throughout the illustration, seemingly some kind of strange dark Magical Creatures.
"Dementor and the Silent Mouth ..." Stephanie looked up at Sean.
Sean nodded. When he saw the illustration, he was certain that the Black Rhombus Crystal was the Obsession Entity.
Stephanie continued reading, "... the Bard strode with joyful steps, delighted by the new world."
"He played with the fragment of that black gemstone, mastering one powerful ability after another."
"Black monsters flew around him, Bard around and saw the little Sparrow on his shoulder."
"'Bird, oh bird, you are truly my soul, you have done a wonderful job,' the Bard praised."
"But the little Sparrow is somewhat weak, and this world is on the verge of collapse; its power also comes from this world—"
"The Bard, then plunged the black gem fragment into the little Sparrow's chest."
"The little Sparrow let out a mournful cry and disappeared."
Then, a figure in complete darkness appeared, looking exactly like the Bard, only entirely black. The black-clad Bard exclaimed happily, "Oh, this feels wonderful!"
"'From now on, you are another me!' the Bard laughed."
"The black Bard laughed and turned into mist, entering the body of the original body."
"The world trembled more and more violently, Bard quickened his pace back to the city. He saw the collapsed temples, the withered mountains, the dried-up swamps, and the people he had seen before, who were now crying out and dying."
"This scene made the Bard want to dance with joy. He danced the war dance of his homeland and happily escaped from this world."
"Oh, the exit is right in front of us," the Bard said with a satisfied smile.
"Ah, he suddenly remembered that he was also a Bard, and he had a beautiful voice."
"Stepping on the parched earth, dark monsters danced in circles. He took a deep breath of the hot, sulfurous air and began to sing a beautiful song."
Who killed the Robin?
"It's me," said the Sparrow.
With my bow and arrows,
I killed the Robin.
-
Who saw him die?
"It's me," said the Fly.
With my little eyes,
I saw him die.
-
Who took his blood?
"It's me," the fish said.
Use my little plate.
I took his blood.
-
Who will make his burial clothes?
"It's me," said the beetle.
With my needle and thread
I will make the funeral clothes.
-
Who will dig his grave?
"It's me," said the owl.
With my chisel and shovel
I will come and dig up the grave.
-
Who will become the pastor?
"It's me," said the crow.
With my little notebook,
I will become a pastor.
-
Who will record his history?
"It's me," said the Lark.
If not in the dark
I will record his history.
-
Who will carry the torch?
"It's me," said Red Sparrow.
I brought it over immediately.
I will carry a torch.
-
Who will be the chief priest?
"It's me," said the Dove.
I mourn my beloved.
I will be the chief priest.
-
Who will carry the coffin?
"It's me," Yuan said.
If you don't walk at night,
I will come to carry the coffin.
-
Who will provide the coffin cloth?
"It's us," the wren said.
My husband and I together,
We provide coffin cloths.
Who will sing hymns?
"It's me," said the thrush.
Standing on the bushes,
I will sing hymns.
-
Who will toll the death knell?
"It's me," the cow said.
Because I can pull yaks,
I will toll the death knell.
-
So, farewell, Robin.
All the birds in the sky,
They all sighed and wept.
When they hear the death knell,
It rang out for the poor Robin.
-
notice
Informing all stakeholders,
This notice,
The Sparrow will be put on trial.
In the next Bird Court.
-
Stephanie's voice quieted down, and that was the end of "The Poet and the Greedy Wisdom Snake".
The girl closed the book, her eyes filled with deep confusion, and looked at Sean.
Sean remained deep in thought with a furrowed brow until the library became empty with the silence, at which point he looked up.
"You noticed it too, didn't you?" he asked.
Stephanie nodded. "It's very strange... The Bard went through seven trials, and those seven trials were seven Sin."
"That's right. The gold and silver treasures in the first level represent [Greed], the beautiful women in the second level represent [Lust], the abundant food and cooks in the third level represent [Gluttony], the rude people in the fourth level who want to provoke the poet represent [Wrath], the poet in the fifth level who encounters someone like him but better than him represents [Envy], and the sixth level who wants to make the weary poet stop moving forward represents [Sloth]..." Sean said softly.
Stephanie frowned. "In the story, the final test was driven away by the Wisdom Snake, who took on the role of the final test, which was supposed to be..."
Sean raised an eyebrow. "That's right, the final challenge was supposed to be [Pride]."
Stephanie looked at Sean, but her gaze remained unchanged. She leaned gently against the bookshelf, tilting her head, exuding an unexpected cuteness.
"Do you think the challenges in this story point to our specific Sin?"
Sean frowned. "This is, after all, a story, and it may not be accurate, or even be fictional—but I think the story is true to some extent, and it may describe what actually happened back then in this dark fairy tale style."
Stephanie nodded in agreement. "When I was reading it, I felt that this story might have really happened a long time ago."
Sean leaned against the bookshelf and casually pushed back a copy of "The Lustful Witch" that was trying to stick out its tongue to lick its cheek.
He propped his cheek up with his hand and began to think.
If this story were true, the Obsession Entity would indeed be an extraordinary thing, although its specific origin is unknown, and the story doesn't even describe how the Bard removed the Obsession Entity.
However, it is clear that the person who possesses the Obsession Entity can indeed control dark creatures, and even has abilities that Sean has never seen before—the little Sparrow is a projection of the poet's soul after entering the new world, and the fusion of the Obsession Entity and the little Sparrow actually created something similar to a dark clone.
Another point worth considering is whether the Obsession Entity in my hand is the same piece that the Bard obtained. If not, how did the original owner of this second Obsession Entity obtain it, and could there be a third or fourth piece?
Of course, Sean also had a bold idea.
He looked up and his eyes met Stephanie's.
The girl looked at him calmly. "I have a guess."
"I have one too."
Do we think the same way?
"It looks very similar."
Stephanie pursed her lips. "Is it possible that Bard really exist, and..."
Sean took a deep breath. "He's still alive..."
Even more Sean was the fact that the Bard was none other than the leader of the Returners!
The two looked at each other again and simultaneously let out a long breath.
If that Bard really lived to this day, just how terrifying would the other person be?
After a moment of silence in the empty library, Stephanie spoke again, "Let's keep this as a guess, and even if it's true, that Bard must be in bad shape, otherwise he would have ruled the world long ago."
"That's right," Sean nodded, "But there's so much information in this story, like—what does the Wisdom Snake represent, and what does the Robin represent?"
"And that eerie world," Stephanie added.
"I do have some idea about that; I might know that world," Sean shrugged. "Have you ever heard of the Realm of Illusion?"
The Silver-haired Girl shook her head, her eyes revealing a thirst for knowledge.
Sean took a moment to explain the Realm of Illusion to Stephanie, who nodded thoughtfully after listening. "I see... According to your explanation, and combined with this story—that world is very likely the Realm of Illusion."
"That's right, the description matches." Sean said.
Moreover, he recalled the words and things that Andros, one of the Returners, had said and shown when he Transfiguration Grindelwald to help process his memories.
The reason they Returners was because of the collapse of the Realm of Illusion.
This perfectly matches the scene of the world collapsing in the story.
The Bard caused the collapse of the Realm of Illusion, and the souls of the deceased who originally existed there were forced to escape, eventually becoming Returners in Half-Ghost form.
However, if we look at it this way, the Returners may have existed for much longer than Sean imagined. But according to Grindelwald's information, the Returners have only begun to emerge in recent decades.
The Returners... The Returners...
Sean narrowed his eyes.
Could it be that the reason they have only slowly risen to prominence in recent decades is because they have been on the road to "returning," and that they are special magical beings who are not accepted by reality and hell, so they have been stuck at the "gate" all along?
Did that Bard also encounter the same predicament?
Even... he hasn't escaped yet?
Sean pressed his temples in frustration. The guess seemed reasonable at the moment, but guesses were just guesses and needed to be confirmed.
Identity, oh identity, what he needs most right now is information that can verify the identities of these pronouns.
Who is the Wisdom Snake? Who is the Robin? Why did their deaths lead to the collapse of the Realm of Illusion? And who is the Bard?
How did my Seven Deadly Sins get involved in the story? Did the Pride residing within me also come into his body because of this story?
Stephanie flipped through the pages again and said softly, "The last nursery rhyme also really bothers me."
Sean nodded. What exactly did that strange nursery rhyme symbolize?
Stephanie said, referring to the nursery rhyme, "It's strange that this is the verdict of the Bird Court. The Sparrow killed the Robin. This nursery rhyme is about the trial of the Sparrow, but in the end..."
She turned the pages of the book and showed it to Sean:
"Notice
Informing all stakeholders,
This notice,
The Sparrow will be put on trial.
In the next Bird Court.
Sean frowned and said, "The Sparrow is the manifestation of the Bard's soul in the Realm of Illusion, but the Sparrow has already been judged once, so why should the Bird Court judge it again next time?"
"That's something to watch out for, and also, the birds inside are really strange," Stephanie said, a hint of uncertainty on her face. "They give off a really bad vibe."
"You mean, the birds are actually... accomplices?" Sean suddenly looked up.
"That's right, the birds might all be accomplices... Wait! We've forgotten something!" Stephanie suddenly looked up.
"Um?"
The girl flipped through the books quickly.
"Author, who is the author of this book?"