novelonline Chapter 3479 Blessings of the God of Home and House
Chapter 3479 Blessings of the God of Home and House
Chapter 3479 Blessings of the God of Home and House
His appearance was that of a kind-looking middle-aged man, and he was bald. Like most of the Old Gods that Shad had met before, this deity was also simply dressed, much like Bennet, who ran an accordion hotel in the Vesta Woods.
Although he hadn't spoken to him yet, at first glance, Shad knew that this was the Old God mentioned in the mission requirements, the Lord of the Walls—the guardian of homes and houses, and also the god who protected the three witches.
Interestingly, when Shad tried to use the "Manual of Fate," he saw a human symbol appear above the god's head, then transform into a vampire, then into an elf, then disappear, and then into a bird. In short, this magic was indeed unusable for spying on gods.
So he first sheathed his longsword and hung it at his waist, then continued forward with the lantern until he stopped at a suitable spot in front of the counter:
"Hello, guardian of home and house."
The girl behind Xia De shuddered, while the "middle-aged man" behind the counter smiled and said:
Hello, guest from out of town.
He looked at Shad carefully, and then sighed:
“If the sage hadn’t already chosen you, I would have loved to choose you too. Your devotion and attachment to home resonate with me. Even among my most devout followers, you are a rare find—they merely believe in me, while you are truly devoted to your home. Answer me a question, guest from afar: what does home mean to you?”
"It is a place that we absolutely cannot give up."
Without thinking, Xia De blurted out the answer, which was his truest thought.
The deity behind the counter laughed:
“Yes, yes, a perfect answer, which is why I said it’s a pity that I’m no longer alive in your prime (De la Réun’s words). That’s a good answer. I’d like to give you a gift. So, do you have your house key with you?”
He then asked Shad, who nodded. First, he placed the lamp on the counter, then took out his house key from his pocket. Although he could unlock anything, he always carried the key with him.
God reached out and touched the key Shad had placed on the counter, imbuing it with a miraculous power. When Shad retrieved his own key, he too received a message from "her":
[Stranger, you have received the blessing of the Old God, Lord of the Walls: Places you consider home will become more comfortable, will not decay over time, will not develop spatial rifts, will not breed evil spirits, and will be more difficult to be anchored to by divination or prophecy effects. This effect disappears when you no longer consider it home.]
Shad solemnly put the key away, then bowed to the gods in gratitude:
"Thank you for your blessing."
"No need to thank me. Whenever I meet someone who shares your thoughts and beliefs, I will bless them. Home is the starting point of everything. Home is the most precious physical property we possess. Although the home I bless is just a building and does not contain the concept of family, that house is still just as important."
Many people treat their homes merely as a place to live for a certain stage of their lives; they don't understand the meaning of home. Having a house provides an anchor, a sense of belonging.
God sighed, then looked at the only door on the first floor, the door leading to the outside world:
“I know what you’re thinking, but this isn’t the way out. If you leave here, you’ll enter the Whispering Hills. That’s an area that’s incredibly dangerous, even for you. The hills have a unique spatial nature, with numerous subspace seals connected to them, and many evil beings from ancient times roaming within them.”
"So you kindly invited some of them to stay at this hotel?"
Shade then asked the question, but God smiled and shook his head:
"Of course not. I simply invited some guests from the material world to live here, and then allowed them to enter this wasteland under suitable conditions."
Shad interpreted this as the god capturing demons and evil spirits, wearing them down in the inn, and only allowing them to leave the inn once he was certain they could not leave Whispering Hills.
This could be considered a deity personally intervening in the order of the material world, and the being behind the counter seemed to understand Shad's thoughts at this moment:
“I regard the material world as my home, as my home and the home of many mortals who believe in me.”
He simply stated this without further explanation:
“Apart from me opening the door, there is no way to return to the material world from Whispering Hills. Even through relics connected to the few doors that are available, there is no way to return to the material world.”
So please do me a few things, three things. After that, I'll see anyone who wants to leave off here.
Shad didn't actually need to leave this way; when his time came, he couldn't stay even if he wanted to. His mission this time was simply to select guests, and judging from the current situation, this "selection" would probably have to be from his current companions. So, doing some tasks with them and trying to uncover their secrets might be just as good.
"no problem."
Miss Novare didn't speak, simply because she was too afraid to speak.
"Please tell me the details of the mission."
"The occupant of room 1978 has left the room and is wandering through the corridors and rooms on the 19th floor. Find it, and then you can choose to destroy it or return it to room 1978. Of course, remember to close the door. This is the first thing, so do it. After you've done this, come back here, and I'll tell you the next thing. Of course, I won't make things difficult for you. Once you reach the 19th floor, room 1978 will appear near you."
Miss Novares just wanted to leave, but Shad didn't move. He said with considerable difficulty:
"Spatial abilities cannot be used in this hotel, and it seems that using Transfiguration also has very negative effects. We are now going from the first floor to the 19th floor and then back from the 19th floor to the first floor, which is really slow. Is there a way to travel quickly here?"
God laughed, but did not blame Shad for his "greed":
"There are many secrets in this hotel, and you are free to explore them. Perhaps they are relics left behind by people who strayed into this place, perhaps they are functional facilities in the hotel, or perhaps they are treasures carried by some evil spirits."
There is a way to move quickly here; it's an elevator. A long time ago, when this place was managed by my chosen one, the elevator could be used freely, but it also allowed some evil spirits to move between floors, so I locked it up.
You need to find it yourself to reopen it, but now you have the key to enter the elevator.
Shad then took out the key he had just retrieved from the mummified corpse, and the deity nodded slightly. Shad suddenly understood; the appearance of the mummified corpse was probably not a coincidence, but rather the deity had deliberately delivered the corpse and the key to them to help them.
"Once you get to the right floor, this key will guide you to the elevator."
Shad thanked him softly, but then said:
"Please forgive my intrusion, but the four of us have come here with our own purposes."
God then answered:
"Those who crave revenge will only harm themselves; those who yearn to find their families fail to look at their own feet; those who crave power should beware of being blinded by it; those who yearn to escape..."
The bald, middle-aged man smiled at Xia De:
"A door on the 24th floor connects to the [House of the Pseudo-Humans], but I know you don't have much time left, and you don't have time to explore its secrets in this era. Your homecoming lock is quite interesting; I can enhance its effect so you can escape directly."
But giving you power directly would be too boring, so go and search. My chosen ones have left my emblems or relics in many corners of this inn. Find one and retrieve it, and I can help you.”
"Thank you for your generosity."
Shad bowed again in thanks. The statues and symbols in the shrine in room 1024, where the witches were, were definitely sacred objects, but he wouldn't take them; he would have to find them himself.
"So, do you sell anything here?"
Just when the vampire girl thought she could finally leave, she heard Shad say something, and Shad had his own reasons:
"I remember that most hotels sell some items on the ground floor."
"Yes, but for guests from out of town, I don't have many items to sell."
A matchbox, a wooden box whose contents were not visible, and a large book resembling an account book were retrieved by the god from under the counter. He certainly didn't want human currency, nor the relic coins.
"I grant you the ability to know which room each of the things wandering in the corridor belongs to. When you return them to their respective rooms and close the doors from the outside, you will receive a key to the corresponding room. Lock the door with the key, then bring the key to me. Each time you can choose one of four options:"
I received 30 matches, an item that my chosen one had stored as lost property in the counter, one chance to search the resident directory, and a blank map that, when used, displays the room numbers of 50 rooms to the left and right of me.
A faint golden light flowed into Shad's chest, and "she" whispered a reminder:
[Stranger, your magic spell - Handbook of Fate - gains a new feature in the special area "Whispering Hills": Search for corresponding rooms.]
God then said:
"The resident of room 1978 that I'm asking you to deal with right now is just one of the more troublesome ones. The key you bring back after you've dealt with it won't count."
Of the four "goods" given by God, the most useful is of course the resident directory.
Whether it's the demon the hunter is chasing, the mother the middle-aged witch is looking for, the special blood the vampire girl is looking for, or even the holy relic that Shad is looking for, they might all find clues in the resident directory.
However, their immediate priority is to find the elevator. There is no chance to double their time this time, and Shad doesn't have much time left.
(End of this chapter)