Three Sins Against Heaven

A month later, at the foot of the mountain, three people sat around a fire, placing the gradually growing Blackie beside them, happily roasting meat.

With Blackie's current size, hunting on its own was no longer a difficult task.

As usual, Dylan Chen first placed a piece of roasted meat on the table for the three Spirit Slaves, then sat down and took the meat Ryan Ji handed him, eating heartily.

Ryan Ji laughed heartily, "This is great! If only we had some wine. We're so comfortable here, while Roy Li and Carol Yan can only eat cold meat. Just thinking about it makes me laugh."

Dylan Chen smiled and asked, "How's your preparation going?"

Ryan Ji scratched his head, "We've pretty much scouted the nearby area, but we only have the time of a stick of incense. We can't go any further."

"Right," Ralph Zhao nodded. He was naturally reticent, and even though he had become their companion, he still spoke very little.

Dylan Chen sighed lightly, "I'll think about it more. Let's eat for now."

"Are you planning to escape?" An old man who had been leaning against a pillar in the wooden shed suddenly turned his head, staring at the three with his cloudy eyes.

Even the two middle-aged men who had never looked up put down their sharp knives, the numbness in their eyes gradually fading.

The three were startled, realizing they had been too careless. Despite being here for so many days, these people had always ignored them, but it turned out they had been paying attention to their every move.

Ryan Ji abruptly stood up, his eyes turning fierce. If they were exposed, it would be over for them.

No choice, they would have to deal with these people!

Ralph Zhao also picked up a stone at his feet, silently watching the three in the shed.

Dylan Chen quickly stopped the two, respectfully bowing to the three in the shed, "Elders, could you keep this a secret for us?"@@novelbin@@

The white-haired old man nodded, slowly walked out of the shed, and drew a detailed map on the ground with a wooden stick.

"This map was made by those who risked their lives before us. It has been passed down through countless generations to me. Today, I pass it on to you. No one has ever escaped from here, but I hope you can."

After memorizing the map, Dylan Chen bowed deeply to the old man, "I can't thank you enough. Would you like to leave with us, Elder?"

The old man shook his head, walked back into the shed, leaned against the pillar, and said in a hoarse voice, "Guess how old I am this year?"

"Eighty?"

"Too old."

"Seventy?"

"Still too old."

"Fifty?"

"Wrong, guess again."

After guessing for a long time, Dylan Chen suddenly thought of something and tentatively asked, "Twenty?"

He had estimated that if Mark Ye kept extracting his Spiritual Energy, he could only live for another two years at most.

Since they were Spirit Slaves, they would age due to the loss of Spiritual Energy and life force. In other words, these three were not as old as they appeared, perhaps not much older than them.

"I'm only seventeen this year," the old man's face was full of bitterness. He then pointed to the two middle-aged men, "One is sixteen, the other fifteen."

Although they had expected it, hearing the old man say it still made them feel deeply moved.

They were only in their teens, the prime of their lives, yet they were already at the end of their lifespans.

Dylan Chen said softly, "We've been planning to escape. Although we're not completely sure, if you are willing, you can come with us."

"It's better not to," the old man shook his head, smiling bitterly, looking very desolate, "Even if we escape, then what? Go home and let my parents see me with gray hair, older than them? Or let them bury their own child? I don't have much time left, so I won't go back and make them sad."

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The two middle-aged men, who had never spoken, looked at each other, wiped away their tears, and their eyes became numb again.

The old man gazed northward, sighing deeply, "Hope, it's the most tormenting thing. We who are about to die dare not hope anymore. For us, living one more day is a gain. You should escape if you can. I hope you succeed. After today, we'll act like we don't know each other. Don't feel like you owe me anything. You've been giving us roasted meat these days, so we're even."

Dylan Chen asked, "I noticed you've been looking north. Is that your home?"

The old man shook his head, his eyes becoming empty again, his voice hoarse and devoid of emotion.

"That's the final resting place for Spirit Slaves..."

Dylan Chen immediately decided to check out this so-called resting place. With time still on their side, the three of them ran north for ten miles and finally saw the resting place, standing in shock.

As far as the eye could see, countless white bones piled into a mountain, with a stone pillar dozens of feet high standing in the center. On the pillar were inscribed large characters.

"Those who seek life shall not live. Those who place themselves in death shall find life. Those unafraid of death, stain this place with blood, seeking a sliver of hope."

The three were silent. So this was the so-called resting place, just a stone pillar.

It seemed that all Spirit Slaves, when their lives were about to end, would come here to seek a sliver of hope. Over the years, it had built this mountain of white bones.

But was there really hope?

Ryan Ji sighed heavily, turning to Dylan Chen, "What do you think?"

"I don't know who carved these words, nor do I know if there is a sliver of hope," Dylan Chen paused, sighing deeply, "But this is definitely the most dignified way to die. The Spirit Slaves who died here weren't drained of their Spiritual Energy; they chose their own deaths. They couldn't choose how to live, but they could choose how to die. Compared to that, whether there's hope or not becomes less important. Perhaps, that was the intention of the person who carved these words."

In his heart, he didn't believe in that so-called sliver of hope.

If it really existed, why were there so many bones here?

"You're right. If..." Ryan Ji hesitated for a long time before voicing his thoughts, "If we really can't escape, dying here is also a dignified death."

"I think so too," Ralph Zhao nodded in agreement.

Dylan Chen said sternly, "No, you can't think that way. We haven't even acted yet, how can we talk about death so easily?"

The two remained silent, looking very downcast.

The mountain of bones before them had once been filled with vibrant lives, but they were all dead, becoming part of the countless bones.

The old man had said no one had ever escaped. Could they really succeed?

"Alright, don't think too much. We will definitely escape, believe me," Dylan Chen patted their shoulders heavily, "A stick of incense is almost up, we need to hurry back."

The two immediately started running, no longer looking at the mountain of bones, as if trying to escape their unavoidable fate as quickly as possible.

Dylan Chen took a deep look at the stone pillar before following them.

He wouldn't die here like those Spirit Slaves. His life was in his own hands.

He would definitely escape, definitely!