The skin of this hand was inordinately dry and old, just like a skeletal hand covered with a layer of epidermis. Indeed, it was so dry that it resembled a threadbare tree trunk.
The index finger was aimed towards Duwei's group. After the old man gestured the three individuals to come inside, the hand pulled back into the wall.
Duwei was the first to recover his mind. After taking a few steps, he raised his arm and placed it on the starting cave wall. The texture of the wall was light and soft; in fact, it felt like touching water. Therefore, Duwei decided to stretch his arm across the cave wall.
"Seems like… my hand can go in." Duwei's voice was a bit hoarse.
The two girls at the back held each other's hand, and stood close together.
"Can we go in?" Joanna looked at Duwei. She was a bit nervous. "What if the other side has bad intentions?"
The situation, indeed, was a bit uncanny.
"Its a dead end even if we stay in here." Duwei lightly replied. Then, he waved at Vivian, who immediately walked to his side.
"Do you trust me?"
Vivian nodded her head vigorously. Duwei held Vivian's hand and sincerely looked at her; then, he turned around and walked into the wall.
Vivian took a deep breath and muttered, "Oh Almighty God, please bless the poor little Vivian and Duwei… Oh… and my sister as well!"
Joanna saw the two go into the wall, gritted her teeth, and followed.
In retrospect, this is what transpired: Duwei took Vivian, and Vivian took Joanna.
The situation was mind boggling because, just then, three humans had actually walked into a wall. The cave walls looked like the surface of the water when those three walked through it. After they had passed through, the wall naturally restored its calm and turned back into a solid cave!
For Duwei and the group, it felt like they were walking into a nightmare.
On the other side, it was so dark that they couldn't see any light; it was so quiet that they couldn't hear any noise. The group could only viscerally walk straight based on intuition. However, Duwei wasn't even sure if they were walking in the right direction.
The other side must be using some kind of magic trick. What if the other side decided to withdraw the magic when they were halfway down the path? Would they be stuck inside the stone forever, then?
Duwei pondered, how long do we have to stay in the dark?
Suddenly, in front of the group, something was released and became bigger!
It was another cave which was a few times bigger than the previous one.
Inside that big cave, there was a human standing in the middle.
The human was wearing a long black gown, and a tall pointy hat. He looked extremely dry and thin. To Duwei's surprise, the human was floating above the ground!
"Hey, it's you, isn't it? You are the one who led us in here?" Duwei asked.
That human didn't reply. Instead, he raised his hand and pointed his finger to signal something.
A big cave, dim lighting, cold air, a human floating from the ground while wearing a black gown… This situation was definitely frightening. Even Duwei couldn't help but feel dry in his throat.
"You are… scared."
The same shriveled, dead voice commanded, "Why?"
Duwei took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. "We should be the one to ask why. Why have you led us here?"
That human didn't respond.
Duwei braced up and asked "You must be the host here! Our raft got flipped in the sea. Did you do that? Or, does that monster who did that belong to you? At any rate, we fell into the sea, and the whirlpool brought us into the cave. Again, did you do that? Where are we? Who are you? Why did you do this to us?"
No response.
Finally, there was an old "mwahaha" laugh. Even God could testify that Duwei had never heard a laugh that sounded so malevolent and repulsive!
"Stupid human…" That old voice replied. "You should thank me for saving you… If I hadn't casted the magic, you would have been eaten by it already."
The reply stunned Duwei's group!
"You mean… you saved us? What is this 'it' that you speak of?" Duwei's heart was pounding. "And who are you? Where are we?"
Another set of "mwahaha" laugh came from the old man.
That human floated towards Duwei until he was only a few steps away from the group. Duwei could finally see his face!
It was an inordinately white face! Everyone in Duwei's group was horrified… The face was so white that it looked transparent! Without exaggeration, the skin on his face was almost semi transparent! You could actually see the bones through the skin on his face!
Without any exception, anyone who has seen this face would forever have a nightmare!
Duwei bit the bullet and endured; however, the two girls on the back were terrified.
Facing someone whose face was covered with dry skin. Indeed, due to the epidermis' transparency, a skeletal face was revealed. Duwei somehow managed to keep calm, and managed to let out a few squeaks. "Please, who are you? And where we are?"
Indeed, Duwei's attitude had made a conspicuous change. He was now servilely polite.
"Can't you ask meaningful questions?" The old man had a mocking expression.
Under his black gown, the old man lightly rouse his arms.
A swarm of lights like a moving cluster of stars rapidly came out from his hands! The swarm of lights caught the attention of Duwei's group.
In this empty cave, a set of candle lights suddenly appeared on the wall! The candle lights flickered, immediately brightening the cave.
Then, at the direction of the light, a stone table, a set of chairs and a stone cabinet suddenly appeared.
These objects which appeared out of thin air were opulently sublime. In the end, a few stone doors appeared on the cave wall as well.
"Please take a seat. You are my guests." This old man pointed to the stone chairs "We can talk about it slowly."
Then, he thought, "Oh, let me guess what we are missing… Oh, I know."
He raised his head and looked up at the ceiling. After slightly raising his finger, a ray of light came out from his fingertip and shot toward the top of the cave.
Duwei's group was shocked because the top of the cave began crumbling!
Instantly, the top of the cave stopped falling, turning the dome shaped top into a flat ceiling. Moreover, a ray of light slowly illuminated from the ceiling; there seemed to be an exorbitant, gold chandelier. The twelve candles lightly swayed.
Duwei's group was gobsmacked!
Especially, Vivian and Joanna- because they were both geniuses in magic, they understood the strength of the old man the best.
His magic was marvelous and overwhelming!
"My little guests, what else do you want?" That man sounded unconcerned.
"… Food, and fresh water." Duwei testingly said. "We haven't eaten for days."
"…" The guy laughed. Fortunately, he didn't laugh out loud; it was a silent chuckle. A skeleton's restrained guffaw clearly does not make observers feel comfortable.
"I'm sorry but I can't do it." The guy shook his head. His laugh was helpless. "My magic can create anything in here… food and fresh water excepted. What you see in here are magic illusions: the table, the chairs, and the lights. They can trick your eyes, and your sense of touch. However, I can't create food and fresh water because I cannot trick your stomach. Unfortunately, I can't help alleviate your hunger and thirst."
He looked apologetic.
But Duwei thought that the old man was powerful enough!
"Vivian, can you use your magic to create all the objects in the room?" Duwei lightly asked the silly little girl next to him.
Vivian shook her head immediately "Not even our teach-teacher can!"
Duwei looked at Joann, who said in reply "Maybe this magician is a God?"
"Oh, white haired little lady! What did you say?" The old man had heard Joanna. "You presumed that I was a god! Ah, if it were as you said…"
He floated closer to Joanna; his tone was serious and deep, "So, can you tell me who you think god is?"
Joanna was a bit nervous. Her body unconsciously leaned backward. "God… God is God! He created the world and everything..."
Not waiting Joanna to finish her speech, the man was suddenly enraged!
As his gown suddenly bloated, he gave out a ferocious roar.
"Lie!!!!!!!!!"
That roar vibrated the cave. It even made Duwei feel a bit dizzy!
It was clear that the man in front of them, who not had a ghastly face, had become extremely hostile.
In order to placate the old man, Duwei carefully replied, "So mister… what do you know about the 'truth'?"
This question constantly calmed the man. He put away his arm, looked at Duwei and said, "Now is not the time to talk about this."
The guy moved back a bit, looked at the three people in front of him, and said "Tell me your names ,my little guests."
"Why?" Joanna asked.
"Because this is the basic thing to do to show respect to the host." That man laughed slightly condescendingly.
Without any hesitation, Duwei immediately shouted "Duwei Rawling, eldest son of Earl Raymond, Deputy General of the Imperial Kingdom."
Vivian then reported her name, followed by Joanna, who hesitatingly yelled, "Joanna!"
"Ah, good." The host smiled "A nobleman and two magicians. This time the guests are more interesting than the previous ones."
"So, what's your name?" Duwei smiled at him "As a host, you should show some basic respect to your guests as well."
"Me?" The guy's tone deepened. "My name is irrelevant. If you must know, my name is… Chris El Douri Sauniere Allah Bart Chilla Iglar." He spoke his extremely long name in one go, it made Duwei and the group dizzy.
At last, the man moved to the subject "… Actually, I'm not the host in here. I'm just a servant. I'm the most loyal servant!"
Servant?
A servant who owned these supreme magical powers? Who could afford to own a servant like this?!
"So… Your master is…" Duwei asked carefully, his tone was utterly venerating.
After all, even a blind person could see this guy's strength!
"My master…" The man laughed, offering a twisted smile. "You must know his name, although his has many different names from books… But, common people like calling him…"
He paused and smiled.
"The Devil."