The sailor fell completely silent, lying motionless among the tall black and white grass, imagining that he had become a real corpse.

The wind blew chaotically in all directions, pushing the wild grass in the wilderness, and in the midst of the rolling waves, some sounds seemed to gradually appear—sounds like distant murmurs, faint conversations, vague sighs, and ethereal melodies like music.

The sailor closed his eyes and let the calm of the dead submerge himself, submerging himself in this endless wasteland.

Agatha held her cane and slowly circled the sailor three times, the runes on the ground lit up under her footsteps, and the pale flames gradually glowed brightly, and then she stopped again near the sailor's head, inserted the cane into the ground, and slowly opened her arms.

The wind in the wilderness suddenly became more chaotic and violent, and the sounds that came with the wind suddenly became much clearer, but just when Duncan thought that the "gatekeeper" on this side had been awakened, the wind around him gradually stopped, and all sounds disappeared.

“…… Well? Agatha opened her eyes in confusion, her brow furrowed.

"What's going on?" Duncan immediately asked curiously.

The sailor lying on the ground couldn't help but open his eyes, he realized that there seemed to be something wrong with the ritual, but he remembered Agatha's instructions just now, so he didn't dare to speak and turn his head casually, so he could only continue to tense his strength, desperately trying to convey his doubts with his eyes.

“…… The moment the 'passage' was established, I did seem to feel the aura of the 'gatekeepers' of the world of the dead," Agatha said with a frown, "but they didn't respond and left directly." ”

"No response?" Duncan asked suspiciously, and at the same time looked down at the dry corpse who was lying on the ground desperately staring, "Is it the 'forgery' you made that has been discovered?" ”

"That's not the reason...... It doesn't matter if we know it or not, our purpose is to make the 'gatekeepers' on this side appear, as long as they come, even if the dead person I fake is spotted on the spot, they will show up," Agatha said and shook her head, "It's better to really find a fake deceased, they will show up more quickly - this is a more serious 'bad incident' than the appearance of a real deceased." ”

Duncan nodded thoughtfully, but then reacted, "Huh? That is, to do so to anger the gatekeepers who are on 'this side'? ”

Agatha nodded calmly, "Yes, if they find out what I'm doing - they should be very, very angry." ”

Duncan's eyes became weird: "...... You didn't mention that before. ”

"It's okay not to be discovered," Agatha shrugged, "I can't help it if I'm discovered, I can't beat it, but I can run fast through the mirror jump, and it's not really a problem for you to negotiate with them when the time comes—the 'gatekeepers' on this side are also rational and intelligent, and they usually calm down after a fight." ”

Duncan always felt that there was something wrong with this process, which was different from what he had imagined at the beginning.

However, he did not dwell on this issue, and quickly focused on the current anomaly: "But the gatekeeper did not pay attention to the 'dead' here. ”

Agatha frowned and nodded, and after a moment of thought, she suddenly looked down at the sailor and broke the silence: "I'll try again, and after this ceremony, you will get up and return to the boat as fast as you can - this process will tear the 'passage', don't look back." ”

The sailor tensed, his eyes drifting ......

Agatha replied on the spot: "I don't understand, you just nod or shake your head." ”

The sailor froze for a moment, then shook his head hesitantly, as if to shake his head, but then stopped, and finally nodded slightly.

"Okay, I'll just take your opinion, stay still now, I'm going to do it again."

As she spoke, Agatha picked up the combat staff that had emerged from her memory, and began to ignite the pale flames on the ground again, activating the eerie runes.

The chaotic wind stirred again, mingled with muffled whispers, and the "passage" in Agatha's mouth was established again, and Duncan sensed ...... presence of "them".

Agatha stopped again at the end of the ceremony, then thrust her cane into the ground: "It's now—get up!" ”

The sailor had been waiting for this sentence for a long time, and with a spring-like "take-off" on the spot, he bounced up, and without hesitation stepped over the pale flames that were burning around him, and rushed towards the origami boat not far away!

And with the sudden activity of the "deceased", the situation finally changed - the "passage" was forcibly torn apart, and a world that was originally hidden in a deeper "depth" suddenly appeared in front of Duncan's eyes!

The pale flames on the ground burst into flames, and the array of triangular runes left behind by Agatha released a dazzling glow, and then a rapidly expanding rift appeared in the air above the triangle, and the space there was like glass full of cracks, silently shattering, and the light of dusk leaked out of the chasm—almost in the blink of an eye, those rising pale flames were also dyed with a dusk-like color.

Through the rapidly expanding chasm, Duncan saw an unusually tall, black-robed apparition, but the apparition was not as "irritated" as Agatha had said, he just stared silently at this side of the rift, and after a short pause, he turned around and slowly walked into the distance.

Duncan immediately looked at Agatha suspiciously, and the latter looked even more surprised, she looked at the "gatekeeper" who turned away in amazement, and couldn't help but say, "Wait a minute! Someone here is operating in violation of the rules, you don't see? Fake the dead! Also deliberately sabotage the access channel! Take care of it! ”

The tall apparition walked farther away, as if he hadn't heard the sound behind him, and as he left, the rift in the sky above the triangle began to slowly close.

Agatha watched in amazement, but just as she was about to force her way through the passage and lead the captain through it, a large, claw-dry hand suddenly appeared at the edge of the chasm—one holding the slowly closing chasm, followed by the other.

With the cacophony of glass shattering, the crack was forced open by the hands and began to widen again.

Then the owner of the two hands appeared on the other side of the chasm—an even taller "gatekeeper", dressed in a dark robe as dark as night, the hood of the robe completely obscured his countenance, except for a pair of eyes that glowed with a dim glow burning like fire in the shadow of the hood, and he bent over, and his gloomy voice seemed to sound from the grave: "Come." ”

With this short and cold word, the next second, the crack like a glass crack shattered silently.

Shattered together was the entire wilderness of death in front of Duncan's eyes, the "night" in this wilderness.

The eternal night that enveloped the realm of the dead shattered and dissipated, and behind the curtain was the light of dusk, the black and white nameless grass swaying in the wind, and a path appeared in front of Duncan and Agatha, the path that had no end and stretched straight into the depths of the wilderness, as if it had been submerged between the sky and the earth.

The unusually tall "gatekeeper" stood on the path, standing without saying a word, like a silent tombstone.

Duncan subconsciously looked back at the Lost Country and the Bright Star, only to see that the two ships had turned into two solid, translucent shadows—they were not far away, and in the light of dusk, the other side of the shadows seemed to be able to see the wasteland shrouded in eternal night.

Duncan withdrew his gaze.

The tall gatekeeper who stood quietly broke the silence almost at the same time: "Go." ”

As the words fell, he turned and walked towards the trail.

Duncan exchanged glances with Agatha, and immediately stepped along.

"It's not normal," Agatha muttered as Duncan followed him, "I've seen it...... The gatekeepers I have seen in my memory are not like this, and the breath is not very similar...... Words and deeds are not quite the same. ”

"Isn't the gatekeeper who turned away from before more wrong?" Duncan said casually, "It's better than nothing for this guy to show up and lead the way—we're at least 'going deeper.'" ”

"That's why it's even more wrong," Agatha frowned, "The gatekeeper here should be able to tell at a glance that you and I are not the 'dead', and even if you want to lead the way, you should ask for negotiations...... How can this lead the way directly? It's like waiting......"

Duncan felt that it made sense: "Then you ask?" ”

Agatha hesitated for a moment, really raised her head, and looked at the tall figure who was walking in front and slowing down: "Are you waiting for us here?" ”

The tall figure did not answer, as if it had not heard.

Agatha was not discouraged, and after a while asked aloud, "Do you know who we are?" Have you ever noticed that we are not really 'dead'? ”

The tall gatekeeper finally paused, but only uttered a muffled syllable: "Hmm." ”

"Captain, this gatekeeper may have a cold personality." Agatha turned around and said to Duncan with some helplessness.

Duncan didn't say anything, just frowned and thought for a while, then looked up and spoke to the gatekeeper: "We also summoned a gatekeeper before, but he ignored us and left, and there are other gatekeepers...... Where have they all gone? ”

In Duncan and Agatha's surprised eyes, the tall figure stopped.

"Funeral." His voice broke the silence in a low voice.

Duncan frowned: "Funeral? You mean the other gatekeepers went to the funeral? ”

"Yes."

"Whose funeral?" Agatha asked subconsciously.

"Grim Reaper's."

The tall gatekeeper turned, his dim eyes burning silently in the shadow of his hood.

"The Grim Reaper is dead."

(End of chapter)