Shawn was somewhat impressed by himself.
Because he had a good night’s sleep last night, within a few short days, he seemed to slowly be adapting to this place.
Breakfast was left outside the door.
The Butcher was at work, chopping meat, dissecting the massive Pillar of Flesh and Blood.
"The things you wanted are over there." The Butcher didn’t even turn his head, fully focused on his work.
Shawn glanced at the muscular back of the Butcher, opened a box nearby, and inside was a set of new clothes: a shirt, a jacket, an overcoat, and even a black beret.
In the corner of the box were two revolvers and a box of bullets.
Shawn hadn’t expected the Butcher to fulfill his request so quickly; the other two guns he asked for had been delivered the next day.
Clang!
The Butcher put down the Bone Knife in his hand and said seriously, "These expenses will be deducted from your salary."
Shawn nodded obediently, "Okay."
Three guns.
A bit difficult to place, the inner pocket can hold one, but he had to be careful about misfiring; perhaps he’d need a specially designed overcoat in the future.
"From today onward, I won’t be picking you up anymore."
As the Butcher continued to chop meat, he said, "The Soul Resonance ritual is over, you’ll need to slowly adapt here by yourself."
"Remember not to wander around."
Shawn nodded obediently again, "Sure."
Work in the morning, classes in the afternoon.
Shawn had become adept at dealing with those Soul Worms; as long as he kept a proper distance, the Secret Hand could slowly eliminate them.
Labyrinth corridor.
When Shawn came to Lady Hecate’s place again, the beautiful young girl he had seen yesterday was already there, and another table had been added beside her. She was curiously observing him, greeting him with a sweet smile.
This girl had smooth flaxen long hair, lively eyes, an elegant appearance, and a graceful figure. When she smiled, dimples would appear, making her seem very approachable.
Lady Hecate lifted her eyes to glance at Shawn and calmly said, "Get ready for class."
"Today we will talk about General Knowledge."
At Lady Hecate’s place, both Otherworldly souls behaved very obediently; today’s lesson was on General Knowledge, and Shawn could feel that the girl’s gaze occasionally fell on him.
He wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt Lady Hecate seemed a bit distracted today.
The lesson quickly concluded.
Then came his reading time; since the knowledge stored in his brain hadn’t been fully digested, Shawn didn’t use Reading Magic to memorize by rote today. Instead, he reviewed the books to understand them better. Lady Hecate had already left; there was a vast collection of books here, probably tens of thousands, but they were only allowed to read those brought by the Wandering Soul Maid.
"Hello." The girl facing him smiled and said, "My name is Lorice."
Shawn nodded in response, "Hello. My name is Sean."
They didn’t continue their conversation beyond a simple introduction.
Time passed quickly.
Shawn and the others could only stay here for three hours each day, and when the time was up, the Ghost Maid would escort them out of the labyrinth corridor.
Today, the Butcher didn’t come to pick him up.
As Shawn was leaving the labyrinth corridor, he intended to politely bid farewell to the beautiful girl beside him, but unexpectedly, she tugged on his sleeve, her lips didn’t move, yet her voice entered Shawn’s mind: "Follow me!"
Sound transmission?
Some kind of Spell?
Shawn hesitated for a moment but ultimately followed her steps down the stairs into the dark corner beneath the corridor.
"Shush!"
The girl raised her finger, looked around cautiously, then her lips barely moved, sending her voice directly into his mind: "Don’t speak."
"Do you want to leave this place?"
"Nod or shake your head."
Upon hearing this, Shawn remained silent for a moment and nodded slightly.
Lorice looked around warily and continued to transmit sound, "I have a way to escape, but I need someone to help me."
Shawn’s expression showed some hesitation, and he mouthed the words, "It’s dangerous outside."
He didn’t know how to transmit sound.
Lorice apparently understood Shawn’s lip-reading, and a trace of a mocking smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. Her otherwise beautiful face suddenly took on a bit of a mischievous air as she transmitted, "Do you really believe their nonsense?"
"A bunch of Undead Wizard-crafted lies?"
"They’re just a disgraceful bunch of thieves, Soul Stealers, as disgusting as those slime in the Abyss!"
"They use some means unknown to us to steal souls from other worlds and resurrect them in the bodies of those mortals, all to achieve some unspeakable goal!"
The other seemed to know more.
When Shawn heard this, he fell into silence; he wasn’t sure who to trust.
If he chose to believe the girl in front of him, it would mean everyone before had been deceiving him.
"You’ve seen those worms, right?" Lorice continued, "Those Soul Worms, though their forms have changed a bit, I can’t mistake the disgusting human faces on their heads."
Shawn nodded.
Lorice’s voice carried a somber tone: "Those worms are not things meant for the real world."
"We might currently be in some layer of the Netherworld or Spirit Realm."
"This is a domain of the dead."
"They’re deceiving us."
Lorice was extremely cautious; the lovely yet mischievous young girl gestured with her eyes, then turned and left.
"Think carefully about whether you want to escape with me."
"If we stay here, we’ll be dead eventually."
Shawn stood in place, watching the other person’s figure leave, until Lorice’s figure disappeared in the corridor; only then did he turn back to his residence.