In the sounds of crows and bones, they accidentally but inevitably walked into the deepest part of each other’s memories.

——Inscription.

After the King and the Devil returned to hell, they did not stay in the Blackstone Royal City all the time.

Hell was an ancient place with many unknown secrets hidden here. The King and the Devil spent a lot of time walking around the corners of hell.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

Mela drove the nightmare carriage through the strange mountains, passing through white bones and black water. The King and the Devil sat opposite each other in the carriage. The Devil told the King the stories behind every place in hell and every ancient and strange structure. Under his opera-like tellings, hell was covered with a gorgeous crimson veil. The King held a bronze pen and recorded these things told by the Devil on pieces of parchment that had been carefully polished to be extremely smooth.

This was the past of hell.

Except for the King, no one in this world could record the history of hell.

Most of the creatures in hell’s understanding of the past come from inherited memories and interactions with each other. However, these were too complicated, and few hell creatures have a clear understanding of what happened in the past. Time here seemed not to be a line extending forward, but an intertwined web. Everyone lived in confusion on this web, not knowing why they were fighting each other or where the hatred started.

Sometimes, when Mela looked back, he would see the King neatly putting the written parchment aside. This was a very tedious matter with a lot of work, but their Majesty never said anything.

One day, the Devil and the King would travel through all of hell, and the past of hell would flow into a long river under the bronze pen.

In hell, there were many secret and strange places.

Such as the abyssal spring water used by the Devil to brew Night Rose. The shore of that spring was filled with incredibly dark black stones, but the spring water was unfathomably white and covered with mist-like water vapor. Standing by the spring, one’s shadow was clearly reflected on the bottom of the lake, as cold as one’s past self and present self looking at each other.

Such as a high mountain rising from the ground, where a crack split it from top to bottom. Faint cries echo from the crack all year round. The misery of the world gathered here, forming a wall of tears.

Such as, in the northwest corner of hell, there was a huge white stone arch that stretched across the end of the northwest corner, like a crescent moon in the sky that was buckled on the earth. The strong wind blew out from the giant gate in the northwest corner, blowing across the rugged black rocky land for years and years, never ending.

…

Crows with red eyes flew up in startlement, and the air was filled with the sound of flapping wings. The King walked in a jungle full of bones, surrounded by white mist on both sides.

Even the Devil couldn’t say that he knew every corner of hell 100%. This time, when the nightmare carriage drove through a dark forest, white mist rolled up. His vision was instantly obscured by thick fog. When the fog gradually faded, the King found himself standing alone in the woods.

The nightmare carriage, the Devil, Mela… all disappeared from his side.

It was like a carriage traveling into a chaotic time and space, where the passengers were all alone.

The King held the bone scepter and looked around.

The fog had gradually dissipated, and the surrounding environment had begun to become clearer. He stood in a dark forest with sparse and staggered branches, and the forest was covered in a dark blue light. Crows rested on the dark branches, eyes closed, looking no different from the woods they saw when they first entered.

But something was unusual.

The King stepped over the bones on the ground and walked a few steps. The crows did not fly up in fright, and the surroundings were quiet and there was no sound of footsteps. He tried to break a branch and failed predictably.

This place seemed to be an illusory dream.

So…

Whose dream was this?

………………

The Devil held a black umbrella and walked in the dissipating white fog. He encountered the same situation as the King. After appearing here, the Devil finally remembered where this dark forest was.

This was something that came about after he was exiled to the end of the world. Although he had heard of it, he had never been here himself. When he signed a contract with the King and returned to hell, he had no time to think about other things, too preoccupied over the old contract between the world and hell being signed smoothly. After the Twilight War, the King fell, and he spent most of his time in hell guarding the Blackstone Royal City.

This was the Forest of the Past.

If one came here alone, after walking through the dark woods, one would see the time one missed the most. If travelers with a special connection came here, after passing through the dark forest, they would see the other traveler’s deepest memory buried in their hearts.

The Devil vaguely remembered that there was a time when some departed soul couples liked to come here.

Although…

Well, one could still get divorced after death. Hell now had a sound legal system in this regard.

“Buried memories…”

The Devil sighed in a low voice, and he slowly moved forward along the path paved with bones among the dark woods.

He didn’t know what memories of the King he would see, and he didn’t know what memories of him the King would see. The things that one least wanted to recall were, to the person who remembered them, buried deeply, as if they had never existed.

A faint light appeared at the end of the bone path.

The Devil held the black umbrella and walked in.

The sound of hammers hitting rocks, the sound of stones breaking, the sounds of people greeting each other… Unexpectedly, the sunshine hit his face, and the memory deeply buried by the King appeared quite peaceful.

The sun was no longer piercing, and the Devil stood on the streets of a city that had not yet been completely built.

He saw the King at a glance.

The sun shone on the walls of the new city. Men, women, elderly and children were coming and going. Everyone was carrying all the things needed to build the city, with beads of sweat on their foreheads. The King stood in the center of the square, talking with several elderly. Broken sunlight fell on him. He wore a crown made of roses, and the flowers on the dark green leaves shone like gems.

“King! King!”

Several children ran up to the King hand in hand and called out to him happily.

“Our King is so awesome!”

The adults praised him sincerely.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

People greeted the King without any pressure, and everyone was affectionate without any distance. They called the King “King” not out of awe, but out of admiration. The sunlight fell on the King’s eyes, reflecting it as clearly as a clear stream. When he walked through the city holding parchment scrolls in his arms, the children would secretly give him the wild fruits and flowers they had picked.

They seemed more like a family than a country.

The Devil realized what he was seeing.

The King’s first memories.

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