The square is already very dilapidated, and the stone road is broken like mud.

The little girl was floating on the square, and beneath her were countless wraiths howling in pain. They were singing songs without lyrics in unison. The singing was dull and harsh.

"This is..." Lothar walked slowly into the square, these wraiths continued to sing as if they didn't see Lothar.

At the end of the square, there is a small building like a church.

"Jie Jie Jie..." The little girl smiled, "He's inside, you go in."

Lothar stepped on the steps and walked into the church. He wanted to see who the "he" the little girl said he met him was.

Lothar heard a mournful hum.

The inside of the church is not much better than the outside, it is still a tattered scene, lifeless.

A man-like spirit stood there, facing Lothar, as if waiting for a long time.

His face was extremely dry, and he was wearing a heavy robe, holding a very long staff in his left hand and a book in his right hand.

"That book..." Losar's eyes narrowed. The book in the man's hand was the one that Nami gave him, and it was suspected to be the book of the Three Kings' Secret Treasure.

"Hello, Lothar." The man spoke, his voice was illusory, as if it came from a distance, "Long time no see."

"I haven't seen you." Lothar looked at the man warily.

"Oh, it was my mistake." The man said apologetically, but his face was too dry, and the dark green skin was close to his skull, so he couldn't see his expression changing at all, "You were too young at that time, It's normal not to remember me."

"Too young," Lothar was startled, "You know my background."

"Of course, dear Lothar." The man smiled. Although he couldn't tell from his face, it sounded like he was smiling. "I hugged you when you were still a baby."

"Hold me!" Lothar's heart trembled, "Who the **** are you!"

"Oh, please forgive me for not introducing myself yet." The man leaned slightly and whispered in his empty voice, "My name is Karthus."

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Many documents describe a mysterious island called "Shadow Island". It is said that it is a place where the dead gather, and ghosts who are unwilling to die linger there. Only during Soul Eater Night will they leave the Shadow Island and go to other places to plunder life.

However, the authenticity of this island is still in doubt, because there is no chart to indicate its location in detail, and even the most experienced seamen in Bilgewater only know to go to Shadow Island and drive all the way to the southeast.

I decided to find out, and stay tuned for the receipts and heroic deeds that come with my trip to this mysterious Shadow Isle.

Thanks to the Wright Museum and the Moorgans' Hairspray Shop for sponsoring my expedition.

- Recording of Ezreal on "Explorer Radio"

Chapter 401 The Book of the Dead

"Where was I born?" Lothar stared into Karthus' eyes.

"I don't know, but the first time I saw you was in Noxus." Karthus' tone was very gentle, treating Lothar like a kind elder.

"Noxus" Lothar frowned, "then who are my parents?"

"Don't you know?" Karthus asked rhetorically.

"How would I know"

"So..." Karthus looked at Lothar playfully, "I thought you were ready when you came back this time..."

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing." Karthus said, "Your parental status is more complicated, so I won't reveal it."

"Why is it inconvenient?"

"Change the question." Karthus seemed determined not to tell Lothar who his parents were.

"Damn..." Lothar cursed secretly, but he couldn't force this undead of unknown strength, "Why am I in Noxus? I was born in Freljord."

"Freljord... So you were sent there, no wonder... no wonder..." Karthus muttered to himself.

Lothar was so angry that he vomited blood. He was clearly asking Karthus a question, but Karthus kept playing dumb questions.

"Oh, sorry." Karthus noticed Lothar's displeasure, "you ask, I will answer you if I can answer you."

Lothar thought for a while: "How do you know my name is Lothar?"

"The first time I saw you, your name was it."

"You lied." Lothar gritted his teeth. "This name is clearly given to me by a warmother of the Freljord!"

"I don't know about the Freljord side," Karthus said calmly, "but you did already have the name Lothar when I first saw you."

Lothar asked a few more questions, but all of them were put off by Karthus.

Lothar didn't want to ask Karthus about him anymore, it was a waste of time.

"How do I get back into my body?" Lothar asked.

"Why do you want to go back?" Karthus said strangely, "Isn't it good now?"

"I don't know what you guys think, but I'm not dead yet, I still want to have my own body."

Karthus shook his head: "Superficial, child, you must know that death is the most eternal and beautiful thing, living you are just a fleeting piece of meat, and dying is the happiness that can last forever."

"Is this a strange philosophy..." Lothar started to have a headache. Although Karthus was polite, he didn't follow Lothar's intentions at all. "You just need to tell me how to go back."

"Forgive me, I can't tell you." Karthus said firmly, "You finally stepped into a happy death, how can you come back to life?"

"I'm not dead yet." Lothar pointed to his body, "My body's life force is very strong, even if my soul is detached, it will not die."

"Huh" Karthus' voice finally showed some surprise, "Really, no wonder I keep smelling a stench of life..."

"so……"

"It still won't work." Karthus interrupted Lothar. "You are still a lost lamb. You don't know the pain of life and the joy of death. I have an obligation to tell you what to do."

Lothar was startled, because Karthus opened the book.

He looked at the book and uttered a spell.

Somehow, Lothar could understand the spell in Karthus' mouth.

"Only death can separate us..." Karthus whispered.

The body on Lothar's shoulders suddenly flew out, and a cold magic circle imprisoned the body in it.

"What are you doing!" Lothar wanted to take back his body, but Karthus' staff was lightly placed in front of Lothar, and he couldn't take half a step forward.

"Please forgive me, child, I did this for your own good." Karthus's voice was mournful, "The existence of the body will only make you suffer, I will help you destroy it."

"You can't kill me!" Lothar said angrily, "My body's life force is inexhaustible!"

"Indeed, I can feel that your body is different from ordinary people." Karthus's staff poked lightly on the ground, and countless dry ghost hands appeared in the circle that trapped Lothar's body. They grabbed it, Drag it to the ground, "But the power of Shadow Island will slowly corrode it, and it will die after a thousand years."

"You!" Lothar watched as his body disappeared, but he couldn't do anything. In his spirit state, he couldn't mobilize any magic in his body.

Finally, Lothar's body was completely pulled into the ground, leaving only the clothes and other things on the body that fell to the ground.

"I understand your anger, it is inevitable for anyone who has something taken away." Karthus put down his fingers and released Lothar's bondage, "But when you understand the beauty of death, you will be grateful to me. "

"I really want to kill you now." Lothar punched Karthus hard, but the fist just went through his body, "Why are we all spirits and why can't I touch you?"

"You still don't understand the power of death." Karthus's tone was indulgent as if he was talking to a rebellious child, "It's okay, I'll let you learn it slowly."

"Can I hit you if I learn it?"

"You can do far more than hit me." Karthus put the book in his right hand into Lothar's arms, "Open it."

Lothar hesitated to open the book, which was still the same as what he saw at first, with words that he couldn't understand at all.

"Wait!" Lothar looked at the book in surprise, "Why do I understand now!"

"This is the [Book of the Dead], and some people call it [Dictionary of Death] or [Death], but I still like the name [Book of the Dead]." Karthus smiled and looked at Lothar, his tone was kind like Is an old teacher, "It is written in 'Oachen', and it lists all the languages ​​of Auchen."

"Oachen"

"It's also called the language of the dead, the most beautiful language in the world." Karthus said obsessively, "The languages ​​of the living are numerous and complicated, and the living in two different places can't even communicate. But the dead are different, they die. All of them speak Auchen, just as death knows no borders, so the language of death knows no borders."

"It's no wonder that I immediately understood what that little girl said after being pulled out of her soul..." Lothar flipped through the book of the dead, and the contents on it were indeed like a dictionary, "Since the dead can speak Ouchen, then What do you need a dictionary for?"

"There are many ways to die. Some of the deceased have suffered a severe mental shock before death, and after death they will become unconscious and can only speak a few words."

Lothar remembered the undead he saw along the way, and indeed most of them would only repeat one sentence or even one word.

"That's why the Book of the Dead exists," Karthus said. "Its existence expresses a mission, a mission given to the most special messenger."

"Who are you referring to"

"You and me." Karthus put his arms around Lothar's shoulders and gently led him out of the church, "Look at these dead people in the square, they died tragically, they can't enjoy the happiness of death after death, they can only be like Like a madman. They are lost lambs, and you and I are their shepherds."

The night when Karthus opened the book in Lothar's hand: "You will forget your breath, you will forget your love."

As soon as Karthus said this, all the dead in the square fell silent.

"What did you do?" Lothar asked.

"The spell just now can make them forget everything before their lives." Karthus looked at the deceased in the square with sympathy, "they are crying because the memories of their lives are unbearable, and I will help them forget them so that they can Welcome to a happy death."

Lothar directly objected: "I have lost my memory, I know how it feels, and it has absolutely nothing to do with happiness."

"That's because you're still thinking like a living person." Karthus patted Lothar's head lightly, "You still have a lot to learn."

Karthus floated back to the church: "The book will be kept for you for the time being, read it carefully."

"Wait!" Lothar caught up with Karthus, "Just let me read and discuss whether I have a lot to do. You should return my body first..."

"Shadow Island is very big, you can walk around, as the saying goes, read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles." Karthus laughed, "I will let that girl be your tour guide, and she will take care of you."

"I didn't agree!" the girl shouted from outside the church.

"She will agree." Karthus laughed.

Lothar was really anxious: "I have to go out! If you don't let me out, I will try my best to get out!"

Karthus sighed: "Why are you so stubborn... Actually, it's not impossible for you to go out..."

Lothar finally pried off Karthus's words: "What way?"

"Soul Eater Night." Karthus said, "The dead cannot escape the black fog in the material realm, and every time the black fog accumulates enough, it will expand outward, and then you can leave the Shadow Island and go to other places. place."

Losar was speechless. After a long time, it was like this: "It's not like I have to come back."

"certainly."

Lothar has a plan, since he can leave Shadow Island during Soul Eater Night, maybe he can go back to Bilgewater to find Syndra and the others, and let them find a way to save him: "Okay, next time Soul Eater what time is the night"

Karthus calculated: "It has been two years since the last Soul Eater Night...about three months later."

Lothar breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't want to hear that it took a few years, but three months would still be acceptable.

"Okay, I have to continue to show the way to the lost lambs." Karthus patted Lothar on the shoulder, "I look forward to your growth, with the Book of the Dead, it won't take long for you to become a shadow One of the most powerful beings on the island."

"One" Lothar noticed Karthus's words.

Karthus did not explain in detail. He floated out of the church and sang a solemn song with the dead in the square.

"Damn..." Lothar sighed, he walked to the place where his body sank into the ground, stripped off his clothes, and took out the pure white hunting bow.

"Fortunately, that guy didn't see the speciality of the pure white hunting bow..." Lothar put the pure white hunting bow on his back, and just about to stand up, he saw that there was something under the clothes.

A copper herring.

It was given to him by Nami, and it was bought by the merman girl from the liar fortune-teller, saying that it could help Lothar resist bad luck and turn bad luck into good luck.

Naturally, Lothar doesn't believe in the trick of the liar, but every time Nami sees Lothar, she will check whether he has brought this copper herring. Herring mess up.

Thinking of Nami is also kind, so to keep her from worrying about Lothar, she carries it with her all day.

"Better take it." Lothar picked up the copper herring.

He flipped through the book of the dead in his hand, and said that this book was also given to him by Nami, and it was also obtained from the liar fortune-teller.

Lothar flipped through it at will. The Book of the Dead did record a lot of Ouchen language, and there were quite a number of complex spell systems. Although he could understand it now, Lothar was still dizzy.

Just as Lothar was about to close the book, he glanced at a note written on the title page.

Lothar - life and death.

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Death is eternal, beautiful, pure...

- Karthus

Chapter 402 The Girl Guide