Bai Shi clearly felt the body of the Black Knife Assassin in his hands begin to tremble, her breathing quickening.
But when he looked at her, she was still glaring at him fiercely.
Bai Shi didn't know what had triggered her, what had caused her to show such terror.
Still, it was better than her previous unresponsiveness, her complete disregard for him.
If she reacted, he could try to communicate. As long as she started talking, things could be worked out.
Bai Shi gave her one last chance. He removed the cloth gag from her mouth and asked:
"What's wrong? Is there anything you want to say?"
"If you have something to say, now's the time. I won't have a moment to spare once we're on the road."
But she still said nothing, nor did she beg for mercy.
She didn't utter a word, and the two of them just stared at each other.Though her gaze was resolute and unyielding, a barely concealed fear was equally apparent.
It was reminiscent of a female knight who, after saying "Ugh, just kill me," learns in the very next second that she is about to suffer the ultimate humiliation.
Though her heart was filled with terror, her earlier defiance forced her to mask her fear with the most resolute gaze she could muster.
Judging by her eyes, it was clear she had no intention of reconciliation.
Bai Shi shrugged and stuffed the cloth back into her mouth.
Since she wouldn't speak, there was nothing he could do.
If a prisoner of war had any reasonable requests, Bai Shi would have been willing to accept them.
But if she refused to speak, he was at a loss. He couldn't read minds, after all.
Bai Shi had no choice but to push her back into the Great Jar, forcing her to curl up inside.
The lid of the Great Jar was slightly damaged, which conveniently prevented it from forming a complete seal, saving him the trouble of her suffocating inside.
So Bai Shi confidently put the lid on.
As the lid closed, the inside of the jar was plunged into total darkness.
Bai Shi could faintly hear a muffled "mmph" sound.
Ignoring her, Bai Shi used his Sacred Seal to cast a protective seal of holy law over the outside of the jar, completing the package.
The layer of holy law made the otherwise ordinary jar durable enough to withstand a certain amount of damage.
This way, he didn't have to worry about her breaking the jar from the inside with a headbutt or something similar.
Bai Shi wrapped a few lengths of rope around the Great Jar so that he could carry it or wear it on his back.
The arrangement was rather crude, and he was sure to be teased by Melina again, but as long as it worked, that was all that mattered.
Come to think of it, the Black Knife Assassin had only started trembling when she realized she was about to be stuffed into a jar.
Did she have something against jars?
Bai Shi couldn't quite figure it out.
There was no text in the game that ever mentioned this.
A regular jar was just a container. It was impossible to have an issue with a container, right?
In that case, was it because of the Living Jars?
Perhaps because the jars were filled with the corpses of warriors?
But the Living Jars had a pretty good reputation in the Lands Between.
Anyone who had interacted with them knew that the Living Jars were quite kind.
They only filled themselves with the bodies of fallen warriors; almost none of them actively hunted warriors to strengthen themselves.
Or did she think Bai Shi was going to kill her?
Strange. The Black Knife Assassin hadn't seemed to fear death at all before.
Well, there was no point in baseless speculation.
Bai Shi silently filed away the assassin's strange reaction in his mind, planning to look into it when he had the chance.
He might find some unexpected information or clues.
After all, there were many things in the game from his past life that had never been explained.
After packing up the Black Knife Assassin, Bai Shi didn't hurry to leave the catacomb.
He had to go back inside and retrieve all the loot he had left behind.
First was the Deathroot and the Twinsage Sorcerer Ashes, then the Axe of Rosus.
Bai Shi also went back to the hidden room where the assassin had been hiding and found a black knife stained with a mysterious blue substance.
It was a broken blade with no hilt, but it could be used as a talisman.
Bai Shi remembered that this Cerulean Dagger's effect was to restore FP on a critical hit, which didn't seem particularly useful to him at the moment.
Incidentally, Bai Shi also discovered a path he hadn't noticed before.
This small path led down a ladder to an even lower level of the catacomb.
There were a few crabs down there, and after dealing with them, Bai Shi found a Rune Arc on a corpse.
Rune Arcs were good things, and Bai Shi needed them badly.
To fill in the base of Godrick's Great Rune that he carried, he had already used up all the Rune Arcs in Stormveil's inventory.
Even though he had sent the Tarnished out to collect more, they hadn't gathered very many yet.
The large arc at the base of the Great Rune was still not full, so he could continue to add more Rune Arcs.
Bai Shi estimated that once it was completely full, it would provide a +10 bonus to all attributes.
Moreover, Bai Shi had a feeling:
That if he could perfectly fill the arc at the base of the Great Rune, it would unlock a new function.
Bai Shi looked forward to discovering what that other special function might be.
After gathering his things, he first entered the space within the Grace to store all his loot.
Within the Grace, Bai Shi took out his map to look it over and confirm his next route.
The best course of action now was to head to Caria Manor to find Ranni as quickly as possible.
Geographically, his current location was quite close to Caria Manor, though there were no major roads connecting them.
But that didn't matter. For a Tarnished, taking shortcuts was perfectly normal.
Having planned his route, Bai Shi emerged from the Grace and slung the Great Jar containing the Black Knife Assassin onto his back.
Although there were protruding stone monuments in the gorge outside the catacomb, climbing up was still difficult.
Jumping down from above and jumping up from below were two entirely different levels of difficulty.
What's more, many of the monuments here were broken midway, so he would run out of a path partway up.
It seemed he would have to turn back and exit through the Ancestral Followers' territory.
Well, so be it.
—
Several days after Bai Shi's departure, D and Rogier arrived together before the entrance to the Black Knife Catacombs.
Rogier held the map Fia had given him.
It was a simple map, inexplicably depicting a sorcerer's tower and a small Minor Erdtree.
But after days of comparing it with the terrain, he was sure this was the place.
The two looked down at the cliff face in the gorge, where the large door to a catacomb was set.
However, a spectral Headless Mausoleum Knight stood guard at the entrance.
The Headless Mausoleum Knight that had once fallen to Bai Shi's attack had already risen again under the influence of the Deathbird's black feathers.
For a creature that was already dead, how could it possibly die a second time so easily?
Unlike Those Who Live in Death, their revival was slow.
But as long as the black feathers remained intact, they would rise again and again, forever carrying out their duty.
They were waiting. Waiting for the resurrection of Prince Godwyn, for the dawn of the Age of the Duskborn.
And unlike Those Who Live in Death, they didn't require the support of Deathroot or the aura of death.
This was power obtained through ancient rituals and self-inflicted curses, a power bought with life itself.
Though they were not Those Who Live in Death, in D's eyes, there was little difference.
Any existence born from death was a stain forbidden by the Golden Order.
Moreover, it was now blocking their path.
D and Rogier exchanged a look and charged forward together.
Though it had been a long time since they fought side-by-side, their coordination was as skillful as ever.
With their combined strength, they took down the Headless Mausoleum Knight with considerable ease.
D thoroughly cleansed all the Deathbird feathers from the headless knight's back.
Only after ensuring the knight would not rise again did D and Rogier step into the catacomb.
Some time later, however, both emerged from within, looking somewhat dejected.
The catacomb had already been completely cleared out. There was nothing left.
Aside from a very few of Those Who Live in Death and a strangely miniature, newly sprouted Deathroot, the catacomb was empty.
They didn't care about any treasure inside; their disappointment stemmed from not finding the Black Knife Print.
Not only had they made the trip for nothing, but their investigation had once again reached a dead end.
Watching D's back, Rogier's mood wasn't so bad; he even felt a little glad.
Failing to find the print wasn't so bad. At least now he had no reason to deceive D.
Although he had promised Fia he would help her and Those Who Live in Death...
He would just have to find another way on his own.
The two stood at the entrance, not yet in a hurry to part ways.
After a moment of silence, D spoke first:
"What do you plan to do next?"
Rogier rubbed his chin, looking somewhat lost.
"I suppose I'll continue to investigate the truth of the Night of the Black Knives, and the origin of 'Death'."
"Unfortunately, the trail has gone cold here again..."
"Sigh, I was hoping that by using the Black Knife Print to find the mastermind, I might be able to locate the Cursemark of Death."
"If I can just find the Cursemark of Death, I'm sure all these problems will be solved."
D looked his former dear friend up and down.
Rogier hadn't held back against Those Who Live in Death just now, which had improved D's opinion of him considerably.
After a while, D spoke slowly:
"I received a report. Someone found a Centipede Mark in a certain village."
"I've come to help you this time, so you have to come with me to find it."
"Deciphering the information on the mark will require your skills and knowledge."
"I can allow you to satisfy your thirst for exploration and curiosity, on the condition that you promise me not to be deceived by that woman named Fia any longer."
"If we do find something, you must decipher it under my supervision, and I will keep the mark or the Cursemark."
D paused, then advised Rogier:
"Those Who Live in Death are not worthy of sympathy. This is not just my counsel as an agent of the Golden Order, but also as a friend."
"Even if you ridiculously mistake them for true living beings, they won't thank you."
"They will only attack you madly, filled with hatred for the living, trying to kill you and turn you into one of them."
"Do not harbor unnecessary feelings for such beings."
Rogier was very surprised that D was still willing to invite him along on an investigation.
Similar to the Black Knife Print, the Centipede Mark was an item closely tied to the Cursemark of Death.
Through the Centipede Mark, they also had a chance to find the Cursemark produced when the demigod died.
D and Rogier, like everyone else, did not know that there were actually two Cursemarks.
They both believed that the Black Knife Print and the Centipede Mark both pointed to the Cursemark left by Godwyn.
Rogier knew that the Cursemark of Death was not on Godwyn's deceased body.
Because D's brother had once had an audience with the Prince of Death, and he had not found the Cursemark on the Prince's body.
That was why they had to travel all over the Lands Between, chasing the trail of death.
In other words, this was the only way they currently knew of to find the Cursemark.
Rogier was still hesitant.
He and D had the same fundamental goal: to uncover the truth of the Night of the Black Knives and the truth of 'Death'.
But upon finding it, D would use it to research how to eradicate Those Who Live in Death, while he would try to help them.
Though Rogier knew D was right—that Those Who Live in Death would not thank him.
But he knew this and still wanted to help them.
Rogier still couldn't abandon his promise to Fia, nor could he change his views on Those Who Live in Death.
Though they could still walk together now, bound by their goals and mutual interests, when the time for a real decision came, the two would surely be at odds again...
Rogier didn't want to betray D, nor did he want to hurt him.
Rogier swallowed hard.
But no matter how he looked at it, this seemed to be the only way he could find the Cursemark.
He'd take it one step at a time.
"If there's a chance to discover the truth, then that would be for the best."
"Don't worry. If we do find the Cursemark in the end, it's yours. I only want to understand the truth."
—
Bai Shi retraced his steps, passing the Runebear he had flattened into a gummy bear, and re-entered the ruins of the Uld Dynasty.
When the Ancestral Followers saw Bai Shi return, they all rose to their feet nervously.
As before, the males stood in front of the females and young, warily watching the uninvited guest.
And this time, it didn't look like he was just planning to pass by the edge of their territory.
It seemed he intended to walk directly into the area where their people lived.
Although they weren't particularly hostile to outsiders.
But Bai Shi did not look like someone to be trifled with, especially with that massive weapon on his back.
Besides, no matter how peaceful or innocent a people, anyone would get angry if a stranger marched right into their home.
A burly Ancestral Follower wearing a large, horn-like headdress and adorned with bones stepped forward. He looked like the chieftain.
He called out to Bai Shi in a somewhat muffled, yet strangely innocent accent:
"Outsider, what business do you have here?"
"If you do not have a proper reason, we will drive you out. You may not enter our settlement."
Several Ancestral Followers holding bows aimed their arrowheads at Bai Shi, ready to fire at the first sign of trouble.