Death… And Me

Chapter 4510: Easy Way Out

Roan retracted his hand, looking at the person who had called him out. ”Why?”

The guy’s words didn’t make sense. There were even two cultivators on the other side of the pillar, leaning against it while having a conversation. Why would touching it be suicide if those two were perfectly fine?

The man looked at Roan as if he were looking at an idiot. ”Why? Isn’t that obvious? You will be dragged away. Are you really trying to kill yourself? Well, if that’s the case, sorry for getting in your way.”

Roan got confused. ”Is this some kind of joke? What about those two leaning against it? They don’t seem to be going anywhere.”

”Those... two?” The man went around the pillar, shaking his head once he returned to Roan’s side. ”Who are you talking about? There is no one touching the pillar. Are you losing your mind or some shit?”

Roan was taken aback. He quickly looked at the other side of the pillar again. Sure enough, there wasn’t anyone there.

His eyes narrowed.

Roan looked around the intersection as well. The crowd continued to move past the pillar, but now that he was paying closer attention, he noticed something strange. Although countless cultivators walked past it every minute, none of them seemed willing to get too close. Some even made a small detour around it, as if avoiding it was an instinct ingrained into them.

Roan looked once again at the exact spot where he had seen the two men. They were gone!

However, he could still feel something there. Exactly where the two men had been standing, Roan could now sense two tiny presences, but they soon retracted into the pillar. They were so feeble that it was no wonder no one else could see or perceive them before. They were barely more than traces.

[They are souls,] Sister Orb spoke inside his mind. [Or remnants, to be more specific. What you are feeling is-]

’Death Energy,’ Roan completed Sister Orb’s words.

He immediately understood that what he had seen earlier weren’t two living men at all. They were some kind of reflection of what those souls had once been, perhaps an imprint left behind by whatever had happened to them.

Roan was deeply connected to the Dark Element and Yin Energy, and he had even been a Death Spirit in the past. He would recognize that kind of energy anywhere.

’Sister Orb, any ideas what this pillar is about?’

[Hard to say,] Sister Orb answered. [But since souls and Death Energy are attracted to it, there is a good chance they are dead souls. Too bad that Godly Sense can’t be used here. If you could, I would be able to have a better idea of what exactly is happening. For now, I’m relying on your normal Yin Energy perception and your experience as a Death Spirit.]

Roan agreed with her.

He would definitely have recognized the connection much earlier if he could use Godly Sense. Unfortunately, Woster continued to suppress all Celestial and Godly Senses.

It was good that his senses towards Yin Energy and Death Energy were working just fine in this place.

Roan and Sister Orb’s conversation only lasted a second, so his attention quickly returned to the man who had warned him. ”What did you mean by being dragged?”

Everyone seemed to know about the pillar since they were all avoiding it. So it made no sense that Roan didn’t know what it did, and asking about it might raise more questions about him instead.

Nonetheless, Roan asked.

After all, they had already ascertained that no one had come from outside for as long as Coyui could remember. Even if this guy found Roan’s question strange, the last thing he would think was that Roan was an outsider who had somehow entered Woster.

Sure enough, the guy only became more confused as they spoke. ”You... Have you been living under a rock?”

Roan nodded. ”And I only came out recently.”

”Now you are just making fun of me...” The guy shook his head in resignation. ”Whatever, do as you wish. It is not like we never had idiots attempting suicide by touching these things anyway. I’m out of here.”

”Wait...” Roan stopped the guy before he could leave. ”I am not lying. I truly have no idea what this pillar is about. What can you tell me about it?”

”You are a weird one...” the guy said, scratching his head. ”How about this? You give me a Godly Beast Crystal, and I’ll tell you what I know about it.”

The guy was actually just joking.

Even if a Godly Beast Crystal wasn’t worth much in Woster, it was definitely worth a lot more than information regarding this pillar. Everyone knew about it, after all. If someone really wanted to know, they could probably find out simply by asking almost anyone nearby.

However—

*Zush!*

*Grab!*

The man was taken aback when he saw what Roan threw at him. It was truly a Godly Beast Crystal!

”Holy shit!” The man’s eyes widened as he stared at the crystal in his hand. ”You must be really desperate to pay for such meaningless information. You could literally go ask any waiter in a restaurant, and they would probably tell you since you would be a customer.”

”Enough of that.” Roan wasn’t in the mood for idle chatter. ”Tell me what you know.”

The man looked at the crystal once more before finally shrugging and putting it away. A free Godly Beast Crystal was still a free Godly Beast Crystal, after all. ”First, I’m Vancuger. What’s your name, friend?”

”Roan,” he answered shortly.

”Roan, right...” Vancuger nodded. ”So, Roan, what you are seeing here is known as the Goodbye World Pillar. Yes, it does have this funny name, and it is quite fitting if you ask me. That’s because anyone who wishes to die can simply touch it, and their souls will be dragged into it, never to return. The only thing that remains in the end is the expert’s body.”

Roan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Vancuger got closer to Roan and then pointed in a specific direction while lowering his voice. ”Take a look over there.”

Roan followed Vancuger’s eyes.

On the other side of the intersection, there were three cultivators looking intently in their direction. Roan hadn’t noticed them earlier because their focus had never actually been on him. Their attention had been fixed on the pillar; he was just an extra. ”Let me guess. Vultures?”

”Bingo!” Vancuger confirmed with a grin. ”You will always find some of these guys watching over the pillars during their free time. If someone touches it by mistake or whatever, the things the victims leave behind would be free for anyone to take. There are a few of these pillars scattered throughout the city, so you can always find people waiting around them.”

Roan glanced at the three cultivators again. ”No wonder they are looking at you with dark expressions. They think you ruined their lunch.”

”What can I say? I’m a nice guy,” Vancuger answered with a smile.

Roan didn’t believe it for even a second.

This Vancuger wasn’t that old, and Roan could easily see through the lies he brought forward. Fortunately, the ’nice guy’ excuse was the only obvious lie he had told so far, so the rest of his explanation was most likely true.

Of course, Roan didn’t bother pointing that out. ”Anything else you know?”

”Nope!” Vancuger shook his head, turning around and preparing to leave. ”That’s basically what everyone knows.”

Roan narrowed his eyes. ”Why hasn’t anyone tried to get rid of these things?”

Vancuger once again looked at Roan as if he were an idiot. ”Are you really asking that? Hahaha! It should be the most obvious answer of all time.”

Vancuger turned around fully, seemingly amused by the question. ”Simply put, who cares? If you want a way out, these pillars serve the purpose pretty well. Never forget that life in Dlaval is pretty shit, and this is definitely a very easy and fast way to say goodbye. Most cultivators simply think about it as a good, free service. Also, I’ve heard they are just too hard to destroy, but I’ve never tried myself.”

Roan pondered over his words.

There was something strangely casual about the way Vancuger described death. Then again, considering what Roan had already learned about Dlaval, perhaps it wasn’t all that surprising.

A place with thousands of Law Gods, countless conflicts, limited resources, and almost no centralized authority wasn’t exactly somewhere life would be valued above everything else. ”Is there anywhere with a pillar without these crowds?”

”Not that I know,” Vancuger shook his head. ”People leave it in the open and alone. If you ask me, building anything around it would be a pretty bad omen. Nobody wants to live next to a place where people regularly go to die.”

He shrugged. ”Anyway, that’s all I know.”

”Very well.” Roan didn’t ask anything else.

Vancuger turned around and began walking away, apparently satisfied with the unexpected Godly Beast Crystal he had obtained for something he considered common knowledge.

Roan, however, remained in front of the pillar. His eyes stayed fixed on the ancient stone. The strange sensation he had felt before hadn’t disappeared. If anything, it was stronger now.

The moment he stood this close, his Yin Energy seemed to instinctively respond to something buried deep within the pillar. It wasn’t simply the Death Energy left behind by those souls. There was something else.

As Vancuger walked away, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, turning his head back once more. It was just in time to see Roan’s next action.

*Tu!*

Roan touched the pillar anyway!