Chapter 432 "Just A Guess"

After reading this, Stephanie looked up at Sean, trying to find an answer. But Sean just shook his head, motioning for her to read on.

"The bard laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back. He fulfilled his long-cherished wish."

"Find the end of the world and step on the beginning of the world."

"Every adventurer is full of desire, desire from their progress, desire gives them all motivation. The bard recognizes this in the first test, but his desire is far more than the snake and robin could imagine."

"The bard happily took all the treasures on top of the mountain, the sparrow shouting excitedly over his shoulder, 'It's all mine! Even the king, no, I'm the king of the new world!'"

"Just when the bard was about to leave, he found that the blood oozing from the robin and the snake gradually merged. One blood stain was dark red, and the other blood stain was emerald green. When the two bloods mixed together, the whole world was shaking, as if it was about to collapse."

"The blood is intertwined to form a black gemstone. A thick black mist seems to be alive around the gemstone. The sky seems to have opened a hole, and strange things have emerged from the hole."

"The bard is not afraid; he is just looking at the gem greedily; he knows that this must be the most valuable treasure."

"He wants to take this gem away."

"The bard swept away, and the black gemstone appeared."

After reading this, it was the scene of the bard holding the gemstone in the illustration. At first, it seemed a little weird, but after reading the stories, even Stephanie felt that the illustration was weird.

"The bard took all the treasure and the gem, and the world is shaking."

"The mountains and rivers have dried up, the flowers and plants have withered, and the beautiful sky has become dark."

Stephanie turned to the next page she hadn't read, and all of a sudden, her brows furrowed.

Another illustration came into view: a cloak of shadows was outlined on the parchment, a large transparent mouth opened in the sky, and a surging vortex inside it. At the same time, there are black things of various shapes in the illustration, which seem to be some weird, dark, magical creatures.

"Dementors and the Mouth..." Stephanie looked up at Sean.

Sean nodded, and when he saw the illustration, he was sure that this gemstone was the Compulsive Crystal.

Stephanie read, "The bard walks happily, satisfied with the treasure."

"He played with the gemstone and mastered powerful abilities one after another."

"Dark monsters flew all over the sky with him. The bard looked around and saw the sparrow on his shoulder."

"'Oh, little bird, you are like me; you did a good job.' The bard praised."

"But the sparrow is weak, this world is going to collapse, and its power also comes from this world."

"The bard thought for a while and stuck the black gem into the sparrow's chest."

"The sparrow let out a mournful cry."

"A dark figure appeared. He looked exactly like the bard, except that he was completely black. The black bard said happily, 'Oh, this feels really good.'"

"'From now on, you are another me!' laughed the bard."

"The black bard laughed, turned into mist, and entered his body."

"The world is shaking more and more. The bard hastened his pace by walking back where he went before. He saw the collapsed temple, the withered mountain, the dry lands, and the things he had seen before. All of the people were dead."

"This scene made the bard want to dance joyfully, and he danced."

"' Oh, the exit is right there.' the bard smiled with satisfaction."

"He suddenly remembered that he is still a bard."

"Stepping on the dry land, monsters were dancing around; he took a deep breath of the hot air that smelled of sulfur and sang a song."

Who Killed the Robin?

It's me, said the sparrow.

With my bow and arrow,

I killed the robin.

Who saw it die?

it's me, said the fly,

With my little eyes,

I saw it die.

Who took its blood?

it's me, said the fish,

With my gills,

I take its blood.

Who made its coffin?

it's me, said the spider,

With my needle and thread,

I'll make the coffin.

Who will dig its grave?

it's me, said the owl,

With my chisel and shovel,

I'm going to dig the grave.

Who will be the pastor?

It's me, said the crow,

With my little book,

I'm going to be the pastor.

Who will record the tomb?

It's me, said the lark,

if not in the dark,

I'll make history for it.

Who will bear the torches?

It's me, said the cardinal,

I bring it right away.

I'll carry the torch.

Who will be the guest?

It's me, said the dove,

I will mourn with my love,

I will be the guest.

Who will carry the coffin?

It's me, said the kite,

If it's not night,

I'll come to carry the coffin.

Who will provide the bier?

It's us, said the wren,

We are a couple,

We'll provide the bier.

Who will sing the song?

It's me, said the thrush,

Will be standing on a bush,

I will sing the song.

Who will ring the death bell?

it's me, said the bull,

Because I've always been near death,

I'll ring the death bell.

Goodbye, Robin.

All the birds of the air,

All sighed and despaired,

When they heard the bell,

All of them will fall.

Notice to everyone,

This is a message,

That the sparrow will be judged,

At the next court.

---

Stephanie's voice fell silent; that was all for The Bard and the Greedy Snake. She closed the book, and with deep doubts in her eyes, she looked at Sean.

Sean kept frowning and thinking and raised his head.

"You see it?" he asked.

Stephanie nodded, "It's weird. The bard has gone many tests in total, and those seven tests are exactly like the Seven Deadly Sins."

"That's right, the treasures in the first test are Greed, the beautiful women are Lust, the food and cooks are Gluttony, the disrespectful locals wanted to anger the bard is Wrath, the fifth test where the bard meets someone who is the same as him but better than him is Envy, and the last one the sparrow wanted to make the bard to stop moving forward, which is Sloth." Sean said softly.

Stephanie frowned. "In the story, the snake stopped the last test, and it served as the last test. That test should have been..."

Sean raised his brows, "That's right, the last test should have been Pride."

Stephanie looked at Sean, but her eyes didn't change in any way. She leaned against the bookshelf and tilted her head, "Do you think that the test in this story points to our sins?"

Sean frowned, "This is a fairy tale; it may not be accurate or even false. But I think this story is true to a certain extent; it may have happened at that time."

Stephanie nodded in agreement, "When I read it, I felt that this story might have happened long ago."

Sean also leaned on the bookshelf and pushed back a copy of a book. He thought about it.

In the case of this story being true, the Crystal is remarkable. However, this thing's specific source is unknown, and even the story does not describe how the bard created it.

However, it can be clearly seen that the person holding the Crystal can control dark creatures and even has the ability that Sean has never seen before. The sparrow is the projection of the bard's own soul after entering the new world, and the Crystal and the sparrow created a thing like a dark clone.

Another point worth considering is whether the Crystal in his hand is the one the bard got. If not, how did the original owner get this thing, and is there more than one of these?"

Of course, Sean has another bold idea. He looked up, meeting Stephanie's gaze.

She looked at him calmly, "I have a guess."

"I have one, too."

"Are we thinking the same thing?"

"Seems like it."

Stephanie pursed her lips, "Is it possible that bards do exist and..."

Sean took a deep breath, "He has lived until now."

Sean didn't say that the bard is the leader of the Returners. The two looked at each other again and exhaled a long breath at the same time.

If the bard really lived to this day, how terrifying is he now?

There was silence in the library for a while, and Stephanie spoke again, "Just keep it as a guess, and even if the guess is true, the bard must be in a bad state, or he would have ruled the world long ago."

"You're right," Sean nodded, "But this story contains so much information. For example, what does the snake represent? And what does the robin represent?"

"And that weird world." Stephanie added.

"I have some clues about that. I might know that world," Sean spread his hands, "Have you heard of Misty Land?"

She shook her head.

Sean simply took a moment to explain the Misty Land to Stephanie, and she nodded thoughtfully after listening to it, "So, according to your explanation, combined with this story. That world is probably Misty Land."

"That's right, the descriptions are all the same." Sean said.

He thought of what he had said and shown when he transformed into Grindelwald when talking to one of the Returners, Andros. The reason why the Returners are here is because of the collapse of the Misty Land.

This coincides with the world collapsing in the book. The bard caused the collapse, and the spirits of the dead who existed there fled helplessly and finally became the Returners in half-ghost form.

But if you look at it this way, the Returners may exist much earlier than Sean imagined. According to the news from Grindelwald, the Returners have only slowly raised their appearance in recent years.

Sean narrowed his eyes.

Could it be that they have slowly raised their heads in recent years because they have been on the way to "Returning"? They are special beings that are not accepted by reality and the afterworld, so they have been stuck at the "gate'.

Did the bard also encounter the same problem?

The guess seems reasonable at the moment, but the guess is just a guess and needs to be confirmed first. What he needs most now is the information that can confirm the identity of these figures.

Who is the snake? Who is the robin? Why the death of the two lead to the collapse of the Misty Land, and who is the bard?

How did these Seven Deadly Sins get mixed into the story? Did the Pride residing in his body also come into his body because of this story?

Stephanie looked through it again and said, "The last nursery rhyme also caught my attention."

Sean nodded. What does that weird nursery rhyme symbolize?

Stephanie said, "It's strange that this is the result of what happened. The sparrow killed the robin. This nursery rhyme is about a judgment against the sparrow."

She turned the book and showed it to Sean,

Sean frowned and said, "The sparrow is the embodiment of the bard's soul, but the sparrow has already been tried. Why should it be tried again in the next court?"

"This is worth noting; the animals in it are all weird," Stephanie said.

"Do you think the birds are his accomplices?" Sean raised his head sharply.

"Maybe... No, we forgot one thing." Stephanie suddenly looked up.

"Huh?"

She flipped through the books quickly, "The author, who is the author of this book?"