Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

"Then why are you so surprised? Lawyer's face looks just like mine; he's my twin brother."

Huh? There are actually two such prodigies in the world?

Mr. Law... Lyle thought of Andrei the Enforcer who always wore an iron mask and iron gloves, and couldn't... couldn't associate it with Zhiyan at all. Mr. Law has such a face.

Zhiyan seemed to have figured it out.

"I hope my brother doesn't wear that mask until he dies. How's that guy doing now? Is he still being led around by that literary club reporter?"

"Things are going well, except the literary society has gained another Mr. Delusional and Mr. Gentleman, and every day we can hear Mr. Law's spirited roar."

Lyle poured him a cup of tea, and the three continued to chat about trivial matters, mainly about Zhiyan's face.

"Teacher Julong saw Zhiyan's face before? You knew each other in your previous lives?"

“I knew him when I was alive, he was in the form of a lich,” Zhiyan said.

A look of nostalgia appeared on the dragon's face.

"Back then, I was just a lich who had just joined Andrei and was also an apprentice in necromancy. I was searching all over the world for mutated skeletal materials, and then I met Zhiyan in a small tomb. He was in his human form, and at that time he was called Alves, Bent's Alves."

Upon seeing this, Zhiyan began to recount his distant past.

"Alvis and Artus, these are my and Law's real names. We were exceptionally handsome from a young age, so much so that even just looking at us would leave people speechless. Our parents were ordinary scribes, doing book-related work for the lord of Bent. When we grew up to a certain age, they realized that our appearance would cause some trouble. So my brother and I were locked in our house, surrounded by piles of books. Knowledge well filled the void of our childhood, and in the process, I also discovered my talent."

"But Artus, after coming of age, had other ideas. He longed to rule and possess power. To this end, he forged an iron mask for himself and then, relying on his knowledge, became Lord Bent's second-in-command. At that time, I also gradually became dissatisfied with the books that my parents copied. After ten years, I stepped out of that ten-square-meter home and plunged into the tomb..."

"I began to wander through the tombs, and since all I saw were the dead, I made no attempt to conceal my appearance. During this time, I met a dragon, a lich."

The dragon added, "Although Alves's face surprised me for a moment, I quickly decided to kill the human who found me and turn him into my experimental subject, but his next actions really startled me and made me realize his abilities."

"As a human being, he actually learned a word of the Emor language in the tomb. A living person learned the language of the dead without the help of external objects."

"At that moment, he was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground like a little chick, trembling all over, and then he said something."

"Anle, sir."

Chapter 542 Cause of Death

“That was the beginning of our ill-fated relationship.” Zhiyan smiled and clinked glasses with the dragon. “Our similar desires quickly made us friends. I described the memories in the rocks to him, and he told me about another world, the world of the liches.”

“It was mainly necromancy,” the dragon stretched out a hand and made a grasping motion in the air. The skeletal clones standing around instantly disintegrated, the collapsing bones forming a massive skeletal gate that devoured all the clones. Dawn had broken, and the dragon recalled these "tools." “I initially thought Zhiyan would become a talented necromancy mage; his love of tombs clouded my judgment. We explored the large tombs near Benttown together, and the vast amount of theoretical knowledge he accumulated during that time made me believe he was well-prepared. Because of this misunderstanding, something terrible happened afterward.”

Zhiyan put on an indifferent expression, put his hands behind his head, and watched the birds gradually becoming more active as they left the nest.

"In hindsight, it wasn't so bad..."

"To die in the prime of life is only slightly better to me than to learn that an endangered animal has gone extinct."

"Alright, I admit my cause of death was stupid. Can we skip this? Dragon, shouldn't you tell me your request?"

“I think it’s very necessary to let the Plague Doctor realize how unreliable you are. This is also for my commission, Zhiyan. In order to avoid any mishaps, please continue to show the Plague Doctor your short life.”

"I have every reason to suspect that you just want to see me make a fool of myself."

"Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough times already?"

With a mix of annoyance, frustration, embarrassment, and reluctance, that handsome face revealed a complex expression to Lyle.

"Alright, alright, Mr. Plague Doctor, please take this as a lesson. In our future communications, do not assign me any task to complete independently, even if I seem convincing."

Lyle nodded, puzzled, and waited for what would happen next.

With a clear sigh, Mr. Zhiyan continued his story.

"After I encountered the dragon, my knowledge accumulated rapidly in the tomb, which led to me visiting the cemetery more and more frequently. Eventually, my face was exposed to those with ulterior motives. Rumors about the fairy man began to circulate in the streets of Benttown, and furtive figures lingered near my house. I didn't pay much attention to it, as I was focused on studying those ancient texts. You should understand that feeling, right? When you're highly absorbed in something, you feel time fly by, and when you come to your senses, you feel like you've traveled to the future."

Lyle nodded.

"That's how it was. When I came to my senses, I had become Lord Bent's future son-in-law and was told that I would be having a wedding with the lord's daughter in three days."

"?"

"It seems things are escalating, and to prevent the rumors from getting worse, my brother Artus, the Law Master, arranged my relationship with the lord's daughter. As you can imagine, my face instantly captivated that noble lady, even though all I did was offer her a few stones and say 'uh, um, ah.' I've suddenly become part of the most powerful class in Bent, and in three days I'll be standing at the end of my life, with wealth and status as my appendages."

Lyle couldn't help but interject. "What kind of person is that young lady?"

"I don't know, and I don't care." Mr. Zhiyan's tone was as if he were describing roadside weeds.

It was Mr. Dragon, the outsider, who provided the answer. "From a human perspective, that young lady is probably the perfect partner. Dignified, gentle, and beautiful. Of course, compared to the ladies of Naslan, she's just a decent mortal."

Isn't that fantastic? Being chosen by a rich heiress and marrying into a wealthy family—this plot seems a bit familiar.

Lyle looked at Zhiyan sincerely.

“Mr. Zhiyan, I completely understand how you feel.”

Zhiyan raised his eyebrows, and a smile of understanding gradually appeared on his face.

"Mr. Plague Doctor, you really do understand me!"

"Uh-huh."

"From now on, there will be a woman by my side..."

"Uh-huh."

"You will spend a lot of time and energy on her..."

"Uh-huh."

"Interfering with my research is worse than death."

“Hmm…hmm?” Lyle stopped nodding, his eyes widening. He seemed to understand something, looking at Zhiyan as if he were a monster. “So…so…Mr. Zhiyan…you…”

Mr. Zhiyan nodded calmly.

"That's right, I asked Mr. Dragon for a bottle of the Potion of the Dead and committed suicide. After that, I became a lich who devoted himself to ancient texts."

"..." Lyle was deeply shocked.

The dragon's booming voice echoed in their ears like an alarm bell.

“Mr. Zhiyan, please stop your self-aggrandizing behavior.”

Zhiyan's body stiffened, as if he had truly turned into stone, and when he looked up again, his eyes were lifeless.

"Okay...actually, I committed suicide by accident."

The dragon explained to Lyle from the side.

“We did plan to escape the wedding, but it was just a fake death. The potion I concocted would put the user into a 24-hour state of suspended animation. To put Zhiyan at ease, I explained every ingredient and the concoction process to him in detail. After that, we bribed the priest and the gravedigger, planning to stage a fake funeral. This would allow Zhiyan to regain his freedom.”

“But I trusted him too much. He patted his chest and assured me that he could independently complete the work of concocting the potion for the living dead, and added a sense of ritual by saying that ‘one’s future needs to be controlled by oneself.’ I agreed to his request, took back the potion I had concocted, and handed over the materials needed for the potion to him.”

"As a result, this good-for-nothing copied my detailed notes and concocted poison that killed himself. His feigned death turned into a real one, and when I opened his coffin at the agreed time, he had already become a corpse. After that, I had to prepare a new necromancy ritual to transform him into a lich."

Silence spread amidst Mr. Dragon's disdain and indifference.

"Hahaha, the result is not bad, right? Mr. Zhiyan seems quite satisfied with his existence now, so this should be considered satisfactory."

"The doctor is right, I'm actually quite satisfied, hahaha."

Lyle and Zhiyan took turns speaking, trying to smooth things over.

"Have you forgotten someone from the story? Artus, the brother of the Rock-Holding Man, the Law Master."

Lyle saw Zhiyan, who had been looking down, tremble.

"Could it be that Mr. Lawyer's death was also related to Zhiyan?"

"Of course. The relationship between Zhiyan and Qianjin was arranged by the law. In his eyes, he had arranged a good future for his brother. He couldn't understand Zhiyan's thoughts, and therefore couldn't accept his suicide. At the time, the lord announced that Zhiyan's cause of death was suicide due to research on black magic. Although the truth was probably true, in the law's eyes, this became an excuse to cover up the crime. The law and Zhiyan were twin brothers, and they both had a stubborn side. Zhiyan was obsessed with ancient texts, while the law firmly believed in the law. But at that time, the law was made by the lord, and he couldn't control the lord."

The law recognizes its limitations and is committed to its principles. The law should be above all others, and everyone should be equal before the law.

The law decides to compile its own legal code.

The first rule is that a life must be paid for a life.

“A few days later, Law was sentenced to death for murdering the lord’s daughter.”

A few days later, Mr. Law crawled out of the mass grave.

Chapter 543 The Tomb of the Dragon Priest

Lyle felt utterly stupid, unsure how to react or what expression to make in response to Mr. Zhiyan's story. A man purely pursuing freedom had killed himself and negatively impacted those around him. Although Zhiyan had no intention of harming anyone, and his actions stemmed from his ideals, these youthful impulses still resulted in tragic consequences.

An absurd accident left Lyle feeling powerless, a kind of unspeakable helplessness, like a fishbone stuck in his throat.

"Does the lawyer know these truths? Does he know that the law he believes he is practicing was a fatal misunderstanding from the very beginning?"

“He doesn’t know,” Zhiyan leaned forward, pressing his arms against the bone tabletop, his bright eyes fixed on Lyle, the azure within them turning to ice. “He never will know, you won’t tell him…”

Zhiyan's threat lasted less than a second before the ice in his eyes melted into water, which swirled in his eye sockets.

"Please, Plague Doctor."

Mr. Zhiyan's handsomeness possessed a charm that transcended gender. When the owner of this face spoke in a pleading tone, Lyle felt a chill run down his spine.

"Stay away from me, please stay away from me!"

"Promise me you won't tell the law! Otherwise I'll... otherwise I'll climb on top of you!"

The dragon silently watched the two men across the table, waving their arms and exchanging blows, then picked up his teacup and took a sip. I'd need to find two monkeys to compete against them to make it even watchable.

"Damn it, I promise you, stay away from me! Stay away from me now!" At that moment, Zhiyan's face was only ten centimeters away from Lyle's, and his platinum blonde hair had already brushed against Lyle's face.

Zhiyan shrank back into his seat, transforming back into his handsome human form.

"The law doesn't need to know these things. If all of this was caused by my selfishness, then the terrible truth should only be borne by me, the instigator. The law executes its own will and firmly believes in its own righteousness. I will curl up outside Andrei and savor solitude in the wilderness. Everything is beautiful, isn't it?"

"And to be honest, I don't really regret letting someone down. That feeling of guilt is like a heart to me—it doesn't exist. I like my life now, studying ancient texts in the tomb. So, I think this is the best outcome."

"Wouldn't it be a bit boring if the tea party ended with this story? How about we talk about something more interesting?"

With a carefree, simple smile on his face, Zhiyan handed the reins of the conversation over to the dragon.

Mr. Dragon looked down at his two companions; it was time to get down to business.

"How is your research on dragons progressing, Mr. Zhiyan?"