Chapter 4521: Entering

When Lu Yin had last Possessed various skeletons in Joy City, he had happened to see Zhou and Fishbone, but he had no idea where they currently were.

He proceeded to wander across the land. To his far right was the castle, still with one shattered corner.

More white bones were strewn across the ground than before, as though another layer had been added. They stretched endlessly, and with every step, his feet sunk in deep.

On the small river, a pitch-black creature was rowing a small boat. It was a creature native to the Death Megaverse itself, and it was also a ferryman of the River of Aeons.

Watching the pitch-black creature gradually move away, Lu Yin actually wanted to catch it and examine it to see what exactly the Death Megaverse was.

He slowly walked across the wasteland of white bones. Far in the distance, a familiar white-boned figure finally entered his sight: Zhou.

Lu Yin walked toward Zhou. "What are you looking at?"

Zhou suddenly turned back and looked at Lu Yin in surprise, "You? You didn’t die?"

Lu Yin opened his skeletal mouth. "No."

"Then where have you been all these years?" Zhou was puzzled.

Lu Yin said, "I was pinned beneath piles of white bones. During the war with Void Mountain, even my leg bones were cracked, so I couldn’t get out. Fortunately, the recent war moved some of those bones off of me, or else I’d still be stuck there."

Zhou did not think too much of the explanation and was just very happy to be reunited. "It is good that you got out! Very good, even if it has not been that long."

Lu Yin asked, "What about our band? How is it?"

Zhou said, "After confirming your death, Yong Heng and Zhu both left. I did not care and thus did not stop them. Fishbone still wants to recreate the band, but I have had no interest. You know, the reason why we formed the band back then was to challenge Withered Requiem and defeat it with music, precisely where they are the best. That could also be considered avenging our Revolution Planet."

Lu Yin clenched a fist. The fact that it was a fist of white bones made it look somewhat ferocious. "Then we continue! We won’t stop until we defeat Withered Requiem!"

Zhou agreed, "Good."

"First, we must find Fishbone."

"No need to look. I am right here." Fishbone shot up from the bottom of the river with a splash. It was extremely excited and jumped straight onto Lu Yin's shoulder. "Brother, it is wonderful that you aren’t dead! You have no idea how worried I was about you."

Lu Yin smiled, though there was no real smile. "Were you that worried that I was dead?"

"Yes."

"You were worried that we wouldn’t be able to enter the castle. Actually, thinking back, it seems like you’ve always been the one most eager to enter the castle. Why is that?" Lu Yin was curious. In the past, he had always considered the matter from his own perspective. In order to buy time for the Trio, search for plates of black armor, and gain a better understanding of the Death Megaverse, he had been singlemindedly focused on finding a way to enter the castle.

While he felt like he had been the one taking the initiative, none of it could have happened without Fishbone. It had always been more enthusiastic than anyone else.

Fishbone acted confused. "What do you mean, ‘why?’"

Lu Yin stared at the fish skeleton. "Why do you want to enter the castle so badly?"

Fishbone matter-of-factly stated, "Does there need to be a reason? Every skeleton in Joy City wants to enter the castle."

"I do not," Zhou announced.

Fishbone was speechless.

Previously, Lu Yin had been preoccupied with too many things, so he had not considered the matter carefully. With him finally looking back, this fish skeleton was not normal.

First of all, it had managed to find a path through the sewers that led inside the castle. That was not simply a matter of finding the correct path but also being able to withstand the pressure of the sonic bombardment within the sewer. That was something that most Dukkhans could not survive. Secondly, Fishbone was very familiar with the outside area of Joy City and had even had the courage to repeatedly invite Zhou to join its band, not afraid of being struck dead by the Immortal.

Most importantly, Fishbone was simply too active.

Such a level of activity was completely out of place in Joy City. Compared to Fishbone, Yong Heng, Zhu, and even Lu Yin himself seemed more like typical creatures of Joy City.

"Brother, why are you looking at me like that? You aren’t thinking of some sort of messy nonsense, are you?" Fishbone tilted half its body as it stared at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin calmly replied, "I am thinking about which parts of my music still need further improvement."

Fishbone immediately praised him. "As expected of my good brother! With that kind of spirit, what could you possibly fail at? We will definitely enter the castle."

"Where are Yong Heng and Zhu?"

"Don’t mention those two traitors to me! Ever since you died—bah, ever since they mistakenly believed you to be dead, those two immediately ran off. If Zhou hadn’t been so tolerant, those two would have already been slapped to death. It’s best that they left. That Yong Heng is simply trash. Brother, although you started low, you improved quickly. Who knows when that trash will ever be qualified? We won’t look for them. I have better candidates in mind."

"We will look for them."

"We won’t look for them."

Lu Yin looked over at Zhou. "Never abandon, never give up."

Zhou lowered their head towards Fishbone. "Never abandon, never give up."

Fishbone looked at Zhou's face and then bitterly replied, "Ne- never abandon, never give up."

Lu Yin smiled. "That’s it. Let’s go find our band members."

He was very concerned about both Yong Heng and Zhu. One had betrayed everyone everywhere yet still refused to settle down after arriving in Joy City. Like Lu Yin’s skeleton clone, Yong Heng had secretly devoured Stillness during the Abyssal Displacement, unwilling to remain quiet. Such actions were absurdly bold and showed absolutely no fear of death.

The other had come into contact with Wang Wen, and Wang Wen had left something on that skeleton. Who knew whether anything else had been left behind?

Lu Yin would not let either of them out of sight.

Some distance from the castle, in a different direction, two figures were walking along.

"Will you really not give up? You have already been looking for so long. If they were willing, you would not have failed to find them." Zhu's voice rang out,

Beside him, Yong Heng's tone remained calm, "They are only unwilling for now."

"Where do you get the confidence that they will eventually speak with you? Is it because you tell good stories?" Zhu asked. Ever since separating from the Dream Band, Yong Heng had been looking for the cyborg bear and the Seven-Treasure Anura, wanting to speak with them.

Previously, no matter how that one skeleton had tried to hide, it had always been found by those two fellows, but no matter how hard Zhu and Yong Heng searched, they could not find the pair. Clearly, they had no interest in Yong Heng.

He thought for a moment. "I do indeed tell stories better than him because I put my heart into them."

"Perhaps they simply do not need stories told with care?" Zhu said.

Yong Heng's movements paused. That was true. Even when telling stories, what mattered most was meeting the listener's taste, not whether one put any heart into the effort. A story might not even need any logic; it only needed to make the one listening to it happy.

He looked at Zhu. "Thank you for that reminder."

Zhu did not know what they had reminded Yong Heng of. They only knew that they had no idea what they were doing. Withered Requiem clearly had no interest in Zhu. Which Abyss had thrown them into the Aevum Inch all those years ago?

For the time being, Zhu was only walking along with Yong Heng due to a subconscious instinct of theirs. They instinctively felt that this fellow might become rather extraordinary in the future.

Why did Zhu feel that way? For some reason, they were reminded of Lu Yin, the young human who had forced them into a slumber just a short while after entering the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Boom!

There was a loud crash, followed by a billow of smoke and dust. Yong Heng and Zhu stopped and stared blankly at the skeleton that had suddenly appeared before them. "Zhou?"

Zhou stared at Yong Heng and Zhu. Lu Yin and Fishbone stepped out from behind the Immortal.

"Where are you two planning to go?" Lu Yin asked.

Yong Heng and Zhu stared at him in surprise. "You aren’t dead?"

Lu Yin grinned. "I ran into such bad luck and was buried for all these years. I only just got out. Now, the Dream Band can set sail once more."

Zhu glanced at Yong Heng. The skeleton did not care either way, but this man had been searching for that bear all along.

Yong Heng studied Lu Yin before nodding. "We set sail once more."

Zhou stared at Zhu, who quickly said, "We set sail once more."

Fishbone was not happy. "You should thank my brother. Without my brother here refusing to abandon or give up on you, you would have never been qualified to rejoin my Dream Band!

"All right, who are you again? Yong Heng? Speaking of that, you better change that name. You’re just asking for a beating.

"How has your music practice been? Do not tell me that you’ve made no progress at all."

Yong Heng confidently replied, "It’s very pleasant to hear."

Zhu could not help glancing at him. When has he even practiced?

Lu Yin observed at Yong Heng. As long as he discovered the trick to something, a genius could do the unexpected. Yong Heng was clearly that kind of person. There were too many thoughts in his head, which was why his music had been so unpleasant at first. However, much like Lu Yin himself, once Yong Heng slowly learned what needed to be done, he would improve quickly.

Yong Heng took out his Root Seal. "Come, listen to my music."

Fishbone grew excited. "Let’s get going!"

Zhou took out a bone, while Lu Yin picked up a stone.

For the first time since the attack on Void Mountain 300 years earlier, the Dream Band started playing again.

~Ding

"Whose ding was that?"

"My ding."

"Good ding."

"Thank you."

Lu Yin was speechless. This was the first time that Fishbone had ever praised Yong Heng.

After several days of practice, Fishbone solemnly announced that they were qualified to take the challenge for entry into the castle.

"I can tell you brothers this with absolute certainty—we will definitely enter the castle!" Fishbone was extremely excited. Compared to it, the others were not particularly excited.

Before long, they approached the castle and saw the band guarding the entrance. It was the same band that had stopped them 300 years ago.

The band clearly still remembered Lu Yin and the others. At the time, Lu Yin's music had truly sounded disgusting to them, producing a kind of revulsion that rose up from the bottom of their hearts. It had been unpleasant to an extreme. Such terrible music rarely ever appeared, so they had formed a strong impression of Lu Yin.

This time, things were completely different.

After the Dream Band started to play, the castle gates opened for them. They were finally entering the castle.

Fishbone kept flicking its tail against Zhou's shoulder. For some reason, Lu Yin actually found that sight familiar. Right, it’s the same movement as that nasty fish. In the end, it’s still a fish.

Aside from flicking its tail, there was nothing else a fish could do.

There was nothing mysterious about the castle's interior. Lu Yin entered and saw ancient corridors. Music occasionally drifted down the hallways, shaking the walls. This place was a symbol of status in Joy City.

He had once longed to enter this castle as well, but he had already killed Death's Dominion. Let alone this castle, but even Withered Requiem did not seem all that powerful in Lu Yin’s eyes anymore.

After his breakthrough to the Immortal realm, even his state of mind had changed.

They wandered about the castle, as they were allowed to freely choose a place to stay. They were also allowed to request an audience with Withered Requiem at any time. This was the greatest benefit of entering the castle.

Zhu wanted to see Withered Requiem. The skeleton was already aware of the backup plan that Wang Wen had left on them, but they did not know why Wang Wen had wanted to speak with Withered Requiem. It seemed to have led to the war at Void Mountain, while Zhu’s mission was to lead the Death Megaverse to the Human Trio.

Lu Yin watched coldly as Zhu proceeded to the top of the castle. Everyone was allowed to move freely within the castle, and not even a band could restrict its members unless they encountered a challenge.

Lu Yin was very clear on what Zhu wanted to do.

This time, Yong Heng did not stop Zhu either. During the war, he had once stopped Zhu, preventing them from speaking with Withered Requiem. But after entering the castle, there was no way to stop Zhu anymore.

"Zhu, don’t go too far! Be careful not to offend anyone, as we won’t be able to help you!" Fishbone shouted.

Zhu did not hear it at all and continued to climb to the top of the castle to request an audience with Withered Requiem.

After some time, Zhu returned. No expression could be seen. After all, they were just a skeleton.

Lu Yin also did not ask any questions. Given his current identity, he should not be curious about such things.

While Zhu met Withered Requiem, the rest of the band had been walking around the castle on their own.

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