Chapter 2228 Way of Life and Death
Bai Wei took her first step along the stone stairs, and she did so with ease. There was no special power working against her on those stairs, and she proceeded easily, so it seemed.
Bai Wei frowned. She did not feel anything from the stairs. The stone staircase really did seem to be exactly what it looked like. If Bai Wei went quickly, she could do a few laps of the simple stone staircase in the space of an hour.
“This is a test established by the Undying Bird; surely it cannot be as easy as this.” Bai Wei still did not dare underestimate the supposed trial, and she watched every single step as she walked forward.
But the steps really did seem like nothing special. After Bai Wei walked a few steps of the stone slabs, nothing transpired. Nothing seemed to inhibit or work against her ascension of the stairs.
“Bai Wei! Your body!” Ji Qing, from way down below, suddenly bellowed.
Bai Wei, upon hearing the shout, looked back at them. She noticed they were all looking at her in absolute shock. It seemed as if something terribly surprising had been happening to her body.
Bai Wei quickly looked down on herself, and after she did so, her own facial expressions morphed, too.
Over the past couple dozen of steps, Bai Wei had not noticed anything. Her body, however, had significantly aged. Bai Wei had previously been a girl that had looked like an average eighteen-year-old, but now she looked like a woman that was well into her mid-twenties. Her height and her body shape had changed, and on top of that, the size of her breasts had increased. They had grown from a measly B-cup to a D-cup.
Bai Wei frowned. She walked a few more of the steps. Again, her body underwent a change, and she looked even older. Bai Wei, after thinking on the circumstances, decided to retreat a few steps. Quite shockingly, her body’s age began to reduce again.
“You finally noticed!” The old woman up top laughed. With a coarse and raspy voice, she told her, “Undying Bird is the one that created this Way of Life and Death, and not everyone is able to scale it. It is a process stemming from your life and death, and it is a path that reveals the course of your life. By the time you reach the end of this staircase, you will have arrived at the end of your life.”
“If you die upon finishing it, what is the whole point of climbing these steps? Undying Bird is evil if he won’t allow people to win.” Ji Qing looked disdainful.
The old woman did not sound mad about what she had said but coldly replied, “Undying Bird used a geno art to set up this Way of Life and Death. If you have what it takes, and you are indeed able to break it, then who can say it is inherently evil?”
Meanwhile, Bai Wei hadn’t said anything more. She focused on her ascension in a bid to reach the peak. As she walked further and further, the older she began to look. From a girl to a woman, from a woman to a middle-aged woman. By the time she had almost reached the peak, she looked like an old woman that was ready to keel over and take to a death bed.
When she was only a few more steps away from the peak, it looked as if she were unable to breathe. It looked as if she were ready to die.
Bai Wei believed it was all some sort of illusion, but despite that, it all felt so very real. Her body was so old now, she was afraid that if she were to take the next few steps, she would indeed die just as the old woman had explained.
While Bai Wei walked up the steps, she had done her best to prevent the aging process, but nothing she tried seemed to work. Those steps really were like a timeline of one’s life and death, and nothing could inhibit the magic that worked it.
Bai Wei came to a standstill before the final few steps, and she peered at them. She did not know whether or not she should proceed.
Han Sen and the others were all in shock that a staircase possessed a power such as that. It was difficult to imagine just how strong Undying Bird was when she was alive.
“If you can walk back down the steps, perhaps it is just a test. You might not die after walking, so just come back when you are done,” Ji Qing said.
Bai Wei wanted to think this way as well, but there was no guarantee she wouldn’t die once she had completed the entire passage. If she did die after scaling the staircase, then it all would have been for naught.
The old woman, upon hearing Ji Qing speak, laughed. “Maybe. The chance of life and the chance of death is fifty-fifty. If you have the courage, you can give it a try.”
Bai Wei looked at the old woman waiting at the end of the staircase. She looked hesitant to proceed. This was not a game, and if she was incorrect, then only death would await her.
“If I walk back down the stairs, can I come back up?” Bai Wei asked as she gazed at the old woman. Her voice croaked like an extremely old person. She sounded so weak and unsettlingly close to death.
“You wish to grab a creature to attempt this? If that is so, then what is the purpose of this being dubbed a test?” The old woman looked at her with disdain. “You are an heir of King Bai. Bring out the power of King Bai. Use your life and your judgment to win this. If you leave, then the gambit will have lost.”
“Little Silver, go and find a little creature.” Han Sen spoke to Little Silver, who was next to him.
When Little Silver heard the command, it took off running into a nearby thicket of bushes. It came back out dragging a rabbit along with it.
Han Sen then told Little Silver to throw it onto the staircase and then kick it on its butt. It complied and did just that, and following the shock and scare, the rabbit took off racing up the stairs.
When the old woman said they should have been killed earlier, Bai Wei hadn’t agreed with the notion. This was now Han Sen returning the favor.
The creature transformed like Bai Wei. It got older the higher it went. At the final few steps, it made a great struggle to move. Every step required all its strength to proceed.
Bai Wei looked at Han Sen with surprise, as she had been unsure whether or not he would be willing to help her.
The little creature reached the final step. It looked as if it were spending the last ounce of its life force to move forward as its trembling body reached the top. But as soon as it reached it, it died.
Everyone gasped at the sight. It seemed as if the Way of Life and Death really did end with death.
“This is very obscene! You lose no matter what you do,” Ji Qing couldn’t help but say.
“If you have what it takes to break how the Way of Life and Death operates, then death is not what awaits you at the end.” The old woman looked as if she did not care at all.
Bai Wei looked confused, and she wanted to return. Undying Bird had established a test that would claim the lives of many. It was not worth gambling one’s life, no matter the potential reward.
Just as Bai Wei sought to go back, she heard Han Sen say, “If I were you, I’d take and finish the last step.”
Bai Wei was shocked. She looked at Han Sen, unsure of what he meant.
“Young man, you are not the one who is standing before the end of the Way of Life and Death. If you have the confidence to, then by all means try and ascend,” the old woman said as she looked at Han Sen.
