The Villain Saint is my secondary account

"Woo——"

Another shriek rang out, this time accompanied by a tremor in the mountain. Ye Xiao saw what appeared to be decaying hands or dark tentacles emerging from the ground along the way.

Fortunately, his enhanced speed was incredibly fast, and his ferocious physique allowed him to run as if on flat ground on this steep mountain road.

Finally, at the moment when his spiritual energy was exhausted, he broke through the barrier of the white mist and saw the night sky he missed so much once again.

After running a short distance, he rudely dropped the two girls on the ground, then leaned against a rock and used his hands, which had returned to normal, to unscrew the medicine bottle he had taken from his spatial ring and gulped it down.

Not far behind was a forest shrouded in mist, but the mist seemed to be blocked by something, clearly stopping in that area and no longer spreading in this direction.

The two girls sat on the ground, staring at each other, unsure of what to do.

Finally, Ye Xiao broke the silence, taking out two pieces of bread and water from his ring and tossing them to the two idiots. "Eat and drink as you please. Once you're done, we'll be on our way. You don't want to rest in this godforsaken place, do you?"

Eileen and Dong Muge exchanged a glance, then picked up the water from the ground and gulped it down.

After a long period of tension, the girls felt thirsty and their mouths were dry. After drinking some cool water, they gradually calmed down.

Chapter Sixty-One: The Deceased

What were those things just now...?

The three of them walked slowly through the dark thicket. Along the way, Dong Muge couldn't help but ask a question.

"I don't know either." Ye Xiao shrugged helplessly. "Right now, I just want to get out of this godforsaken place safely."

That's what they say, but Ye Xiao actually remembered these things. In his previous life, all the underlings of that blasphemous saintess were like these tentacled creatures.

He used to think it all stemmed from Ella, but now it seems that's not entirely true.

However, Dong Muge definitely couldn't explain this to him, and it would be pointless to say anything, so it was better to just answer that he didn't know.

Ye Xiao was also helpless. He originally came to find the legacy of the Miracle Sorcerer, but instead of finding the legacy, he encountered these strange and bizarre things.

Needless to say, the "Ancient Tomb" mission was most likely a failure.

Thinking this, Ye Xiao opened the task panel.

[Quest: Ancient Tomb (5% progress)]

The progress actually increased?

And the mission has not ended. Could this be a long-term mission?

“I feel… I can’t walk anymore…” Dong Muge suddenly said.

"What are you doing now..." Ye Xiao turned around, then suddenly stopped.

The two exposed sections of Dong Muge's arms appeared faintly bluish under the moonlight.

He hurriedly picked up his staff, lit it with fluorescent light, stepped forward, and took Dong Muge's hand. To his surprise, he saw that there were some tiny cracks on the girl's hand.

"No way," Ye Xiao murmured. He looked up at Dong Muge's face and saw that the girl's face had a similar condition.

Like ceramics on the verge of breaking, it gradually begins to crack over time.

"Wait, stop for a moment." Ye Xiao seemed to realize something and gently pressed Dong Muge's shoulder, taking two steps back.

The cracks on the girl's body seemed to heal somewhat, as if time had reversed.

Dong Muge's face immediately showed some fear, "What is this...?"

“The deceased…” Eileen, who was standing to the side, swallowed hard when she saw this scene.

"What do you mean?" Ye Xiao asked hurriedly.

“She…she can’t leave this place,” Eileen said, her voice trembling.

"Huh? Why?" Ye Xiao was stunned. "A spell seal? Or is there a barrier restricting it?"

“No, she is a product of reproduction.” Eileen shook her head slightly. “She cannot leave here.”

"Can you speak like a human being..." Ye Xiao was completely bewildered; he had never heard of any of this before.

“I don’t know much either.” Eileen looked at the Lyra Peak shrouded in mist in the distance. “It’s a legend recorded in my family.”

"The body of an ancient god fell into nine pieces, one of which has been guarded by my family ancestors for generations."

"Later, as time went by, my family abandoned their duty of guarding the valley for unknown reasons and moved away. However, there are still records that there is a power here that can bring people back to life."

“Those in the family who were supposed to die used this power to prolong their lives, generation after generation, but when they moved away, they found that they could not leave this valley no matter what.”

“These people are referred to as ‘deceased’ in my family records.”

"You mean Dong Muge is... dead?" Ye Xiao looked at Dong Muge.

“Hmm…” Eileen bit her lip lightly, “If I’m not mistaken, people who die and are resurrected in the valley cannot leave that valley.”

"I'm a little confused..." Ye Xiao rubbed her forehead. "She was clearly with me from the beginning... Wait, Dong Muge, when did you see me?"

"Huh? I saw you... wasn't it in that canal inside that I saw you?" Dong Muge's eyes revealed confusion.

"I mean... when you first met me, yesterday? Or just now?"

"The first time, weren't we classmates...? If you mean after coming to this strange place..." The girl frowned, trying hard to think, "That was when I first met you at the irrigation ditch. I was playing games at home, and I don't know why I woke up and found myself in that place..."

"Holy crap." Ye Xiao realized something was off. "So, you woke up in that canal right after you transmigrated here."

"Time travel? I guess so." Dong Muge didn't know whether to shake his head or nod.

The problem is that it has been almost a week since the players collectively traveled through time.

Based on this deduction, Dong Muge should indeed be dead. He died in the ditch a week ago, shortly after he transmigrated.

The one Ye Xiao rescued, just as Eileen said, was merely a product of that valley, and its memories were still stuck in the time immediately after it crossed over.

Damn it... Ye Xiao had originally wanted to try and see if he could cure this strange illness with the Holy Light of Healing.

But what can he do to heal someone who is already dead?

Wait a minute, who was that Dong Muge I met earlier?

Thinking about it this way, Ye Xiao suddenly felt a chill in his heart.

If Dong Muge had died long ago, then who was the person I met at the tavern and who followed me up the mountain? Although I had already suspected based on habit that it might not be the same person, I never expected to come to this conclusion.

Oh, and there's Zhu Jun too; he was with Dong Muge.

If Dong Muge has a problem, then Zhu Jun definitely has a problem too.

The more Ye Xiao thought about it, the more complicated it became; his brain felt like it was starting to smoke.

“I…I originally came here to search for relics recorded by my ancestors.” Seeing that Ye Xiao remained silent, Eileen continued to confess, “I didn’t expect it to turn out like this…”

"I can only say you're really fearless," Ye Xiao said irritably. "Nobles are nobles; they always use other people's brains to do things."

“You…” Eileen wanted to get angry, but found that tears were streaming uncontrollably from her eyes, “…I didn’t want to either… Waaah…”

"Oh my god, I can't take it anymore." Ye Xiao's scalp tingled. One was a porcelain doll and the other a crybaby. How was he supposed to play this game?

It might be better if Arnold were rescued; at least he wouldn't cry if you scolded him a couple of times.

"Don't cry, don't cry, okay... Sigh, let's rest here for today. Anyway, it seems like there's no movement on that mountain." Ye Xiao really wasn't good at comforting this kind of crybaby.

Having witnessed so much separation and death, Ye Xiao was actually somewhat numb.

Whether in this life or the previous one, he tried his best to save those he could, some successfully and some not.

Those who were saved were either grateful or turned around and shot; those who weren't saved either died or, having survived, blamed him for not trying hard enough.

What else can we do? It'll just have to be that way.

He's long past the point of crying and waving goodbye.

His life motto has always been to be lazy, but he often has no choice in the matter, which is also his old habit.

The three of them used leaves to set up a makeshift tent against the mountainside, while Eileen, still crying, set up defensive and early warning formations.

Surprisingly, this young lady is actually a master mage, two levels higher than Ye Xiao's apprentice-level, mediocre magic.

And so, one person was lost, another helpless, and yet another kept sobbing until dawn.

Chapter Sixty-Two: The God of Life

"There's really nothing more to it after that."

"When dawn broke, since Dong Muge couldn't leave, I could only leave her some food and water and let her stay on the edge of the valley for the time being, to see if I could find a way to go back and rescue her."

"Eileen sent her back to Greygold Town, where a group of servants were waiting for her. I shouldn't need to worry about her anymore. I didn't expect this girl to be Count Malz's daughter. No wonder she has such a bad mentality but such high magical level."

Finally, Ye Xiao brought this long and arduous adventure to a close.

Everyone in the spiritual link of Liangqiu Ridge fell into deep thought.

"Hmm... what you're talking about is somewhat similar to a story I read in a book," Lilia said slowly after stroking her chin in thought for a long time.

"A book?" Ye Xiao asked, somewhat curious.

“It’s an old book, a biography of an unknown doctor who practiced medicine.” Lilia’s purple eyes flickered as if she was recalling something. “He said that once when he was practicing medicine, he came to a place called ‘The Land of the Undead’. The people there seemed to be eternally young. Grandfathers, fathers, and sons all looked the same age. However, no matter what, the people there could not leave their homeland.”

"As soon as you try to leave, cracks will appear on your body, and the farther you are from your hometown, the more your body will disintegrate."

"It does look a bit like it... Could it be the place where another god's body fell?" Ye Xiao wondered. "Speaking of which, why is this god so special? The impact after his fall seems to be far more exaggerated than any other god I've ever seen."

“The product of reproduction, plus the divine tomb that buries the body… to be honest, the only possibility that comes to mind is the legendary God of Life.” Lilia looked at Ella. “The gods probably know more about these things than I do.”

Huh? If I knew, why would I be asking you?

Ella coughed lightly, feigning profundity. "It's alright. Tell me your theory, Miss Lilia."

Lilia bowed respectfully. "Then I will take care of it, Your Majesty. If there is anything offensive or erroneous, your faithful follower begs for your correction and forgiveness."

"This girl, as expected of a princess, she's quite serious when she's speaking earnestly. I wish she could be this serious all the time," Ella thought to herself.

“Actually, in the first copy of the lecture notes on the God of Light stored in the royal collection, the author referred to the God of Light as the God of Light and Life,” Lilia explained. “But in subsequent lecture notes, this title became the God of Light.”

"In fact, when observing the temples of all gods, you may find that all the elements in the world correspond one by one to the authority of the gods served in each temple. There is the Sunfire Temple, which corresponds to the sun god and governs the sun and fire; the Ocean Temple, which corresponds to the water god and governs the rivers and seas; the Earth Temple, which governs the earth and vegetation; the Night Temple, which governs mystery, darkness and death, and so on."

"But there is no sanctuary related to life."

"Shouldn't life be the authority of the God of Light?" Ye Xiao asked, seizing the opportunity. "Just like how holy light spells can heal wounds, this should feel like the power of the God of Light."

“Yes…and no.” Lilia smiled. “The current Holy Light spells actually contain incomplete remnants of the authority of life. The earliest God of Light should have had a more complete authority of life…Of course, this part is a guess I made based on the differences between several versions of the Holy Temple's teachings and some historical records, and it may not be correct.”

[Quest: Ancient Tomb (7% progress)]

Ye Xiao suddenly noticed that the progress of "Ancient Tomb" on the task panel had increased.

Wait, can the deductions also speed up the progress?! Holy crap, doesn't that mean this guy is right?

Ye Xiao's eyes widened slightly.

"Based on Miss Eileen's account in Mr. Ye's story, there are two possibilities. One is that the God of Life fell and the God of Light obtained part of his authority; the other is that the God of Life was part of the God of Light, but for some unknown reason, he fell alone."

"Huh? This god can be split in two, one half perishing and the other half alive?" Ye Xiao asked in confusion, then unconsciously exchanged a glance with Ella.

“I’m not sure about that,” Lilia shrugged. “But I actually lean towards the latter. After all, in the earliest version of the lecture notes, the God of Light was called the God of Light and Life. I think the change in the title contains a lot of information.”

“Um… I’d like to add something as well,” said the old man Hyde, who had been listening quietly for a while. “It seems that there is a small part in my family’s records that talks about the belief in the God of Life.”

"...Your family once worshipped the God of Life?" Lilia exclaimed in surprise. "Hiss, what you're saying reminds me. The decline of miracle-wielding families has always been a mystery. The prevailing opinion is that it was suppressed by the Aslan royal family, but a family that can control the laws of space and time cannot be suppressed by simple royal struggles. But if it's a family that worshipped the God of Life..."

“I don’t know either. To be honest, if it weren’t for what happened in Liangqiu Village, I would have always thought that my family was just an unknown little family.” Hyde sighed. “Most of the family’s books were not well preserved. Only one book in a broken box left to me by my father mentioned the words ‘God of Life’. I only remembered it now that you mentioned it.”

"What's recorded in the book?" Ye Xiao had a subtle premonition.

In fact, he had a premonition after seeing the tentacles in the Howling Mountains that were exactly the same as those in Ella's stomach.

“Some, uh, sacrificial rituals and such, there are many parts that I don’t quite understand.” Hyde scratched his head, trying hard to recall, “But sometimes the names of the contract partners are written on some of the contract spells with unclear conditions.”

"The true name of a deity!?" Lilia's crystal-clear eyes widened. "Your family records contain the true name of the God of Life??"

No wonder she was so surprised. Just as the God of Light is referred to as "the God of Light" in the sanctuary lectures instead of having a name like the other gods, this mysterious and unpredictable God of Life, who is only mentioned in a very few books, is even more so.

“Let me think…” Hyde scratched his head, “'Haye,' I think that’s what it’s called.”

Ella, standing to the side, silently opened her character panel and looked at the words "Lydia Haye" above her player name, feeling a surge of emotion.

Haye's daughter... She remembered that in her previous life, when that blasphemous holy maiden unleashed her ultimate attack before her sudden death, she seemed to have called herself that.

Chapter Sixty-Three: Gods and Saintess (End of Volume One)