After silently standing in place and complaining internally about the Divine Dragon, Xia Yu prepared to set off again.
But just as he took his first step, the ethereal female voice reappeared. The owner of the voice seemed to have been observing whether Xia Yu had departed.
"Even so, do you still intend to proceed? We... will pray for your safety."
After the ethereal female voice finished speaking, it fell silent again. Xia Yu continued forward thoughtfully, pondering the words.
'We'? Are they the other Children of Corruption who died in failed experiments and couldn't reincarnate?
He didn't know if it was due to the Divine Dragon's power of immortality, but although the bodies of the other children who underwent the Child of Corruption experiment died, their souls remained as wraiths.
These wraiths floated and wandered in the realm between life and death called the Phantom Hall, possessing the Folding Screen Monkeys within the Phantom Hall to move around.
Xia Yu wasn't sure how to make the deceased wraiths reincarnate, but he was quite interested in the Phantom Hall, which existed between life and death.
The realm between life and death sounded somewhat similar to the Chūin no Ma in the Nioh World, but the Chūin no Ma is a temporary resting place before heading to the Yellow Springs, whereas the realm between life and death is more like a rift space, a small space dependent on but separate from the current world, sharing similarities with the Divine Realm where the Divine Dragon resides.
While thinking about these random things, Xia Yu's pace didn't slow. Along the way, he encountered Senpou Temple Monk Soldiers. These monk soldiers caused him a lot of trouble in the game, but in reality, they couldn't even let out a scream. No matter how strong the monk soldiers were, they were ultimately still human.
He also managed to loot several Sekiro's Coin Purses. These monk soldiers were richer than he expected.
Before long, he arrived at the tightly shut main gate of Senpou Temple.
Under the detection of his Divine Sense, there were many monks patrolling behind the gate, but their life aura was unlike that of ordinary monk soldiers.
Their lives were already riddled with holes, and there were many hollow spaces inside their bodies.
"Infested?"
Xia Yu considered this possibility. In pursuit of immortality, these monks might have been parasitized by the Undying Centipedes.
However, these monk soldiers seemed to have just been parasitized and didn't even possess the effect of immortality, otherwise they wouldn't have been killed so easily.
Thinking of the appearance of the Infested, Xia Yu felt a chill. It was too disgusting; he might as well just burn them all.
This temple was just the front gate hall, not the main hall of Senpou Temple. Therefore, even if it was burned to ashes, it wouldn't affect the Phantom Hall or the Rice Maiden in the Inner Sanctum.
Thinking of this, Xia Yu first cast the Breath Concealment Technique on himself. After completely hiding his figure, he walked directly into the temple grounds.
There were many monk soldiers patrolling the corridors throughout the temple grounds, significantly more than in the game. Moreover, these monk soldiers clearly weren't alive; their eyes were dull and cloudy, their necks shriveled and pale gray, and grooves left by burrowing insects ran beneath their skin.
For the first time, Xia Yu felt that having good eyesight wasn't necessarily a good thing. He could clearly see the insects wriggling beneath the skin, including all the minute details.
Feeling disgusted, he didn't hesitate. He clapped his hands, and a Barrier Technique was instantly deployed.
The phantom barrier enveloped the entire temple. This barrier could not only prevent the monks from escaping but also conceal everything that happened; he didn't want to alert the enemy.
After setting up the barrier, Xia Yu casually tossed down a ball of Chaotic Flame and left the area.
Let the flames purify everything!
Once all the souls within the barrier were consumed, the flame, having lost its fuel, would extinguish itself.
Accompanied by the towering flames behind him, Xia Yu walked against the firelight, continuing along Senpou Temple's main path.
However, he hadn't walked far before the wooden bridge leading to the main hall above was broken. In the game, one would have to use the Grappling Hook to climb the mountain and find a path, which was extremely unfriendly to someone who didn't remember routes well.
Fortunately, the game wasn't an open world but a linear one, so even if he got lost, it wasn't too serious; he could always find the right path by circling around.
Then he found the Bell Demon Temple, and foolishly rang the bell... "Oh right, there's also the Spirit sealed inside the large bell."
Xia Yu slapped his head, remembering this detail. In the game, letting the Bell Demon possess you was equivalent to voluntarily increasing the game difficulty. Then, by handing over Kuro's Charm in New Game Plus, you could enable the popular Double Hard Mode.
A true man completes the game flawlessly on Double Hard Mode; only a Weakling uses the immortal severance to cheese it.
That's right, he was a Weakling when playing games. Not only did he use the immortal severance to cheese, but he also used Ash Lump and Oil and Flame Vent to cheese.
Remembering that the Bell Demon was sealed inside Senpou Temple's large bell, Xia Yu used his Divine Sense to scan the entire cliff face, and the next moment, he discovered the Bell Demon Temple built halfway up the mountain.
The Bell Demon Temple looked like an ordinary Buddhist hall, with a large suspended bell hanging in the center, appearing unremarkable.
Generally, Buddhist Bells in temples are used for Buddhist rituals, summoning monks to the hall, chanting scriptures, starting and ending daily routines, waking up, sleeping, and eating—all signaled by the bell.
However, this particular large bell at Senpou Temple was definitely not built for that purpose. After all, the bell was halfway up the mountain. Using it to tell time would be less effective than raising a Large Black Chicken, which at least has fighting power and could scratch those who aren't punctual.
Arriving before the large bell, Xia Yu immediately sensed a cold, eerie aura.
The Bell Demon, huh... Xia Yu glanced at the inscription on the large bell, placed his hand on it, and the next moment, the bell vanished.
"It actually worked?"
Looking at the large bell stored inside the Red Envelope, Xia Yu raised an eyebrow. Did this mean the Bell Demon wasn't considered a life form? Or could the Chat Group's Red Envelope actually transmit souls?
Uh... it seems Red Envelopes could transmit souls all along. The Soul World had sent souls to others before; he thought this was explained in the memories he received.
"..."
Xia Yu felt like covering his face. If he had known, he would have reviewed the received memories more carefully.
[Sekiro] @[dark souls iii]: Are you there? Can you help me refine the Bell Demon's soul?
[dark souls iii]: Bell Demon? Beg me!
[Sekiro]:... [Sekiro]: Klee, please.jpg
[dark souls iii]: What do you want to refine it into? A weapon or an accessory? It can't be Soul Essence, right?
[Sekiro]: Uh, I'm not sure. Just do what you think is best.
[dark souls iii]: Then I'll refine it into the Calamity Ring.
[Sekiro]: Wait, I don't have masochistic tendencies. Never mind, I won't refine it yet. I'll wait until I've decided.
[dark souls iii]:
...Ignoring the Ashen One's foul mouth, Xia Yu closed the Chat Group. Speaking of soul refinement, it seems the Headless and the Shichimen Warrior are also soul bodies.
In the game, killing the Headless grants the infinitely usable Projection: Spiritfall, though it consumes Spirit Emblems. The Shichimen Warrior drops some important items.
It looks like he'll have to go find these two things next. Leaving them alone isn't an option.
After taking the sealed Bell Demon, there was nothing particularly special left on the remaining path.
Xia Yu leisurely walked toward the main hall, incinerating enemies along the way.
When passing a necessary suspended wooden walkway, he was stopped by Robert's Father, who is often memed by all players. Xia Yu didn't incinerate this foreigner, who seemed out of place with the rest of the Sekiro art style, as he had done with the Monk Soldiers.
After all, the man was just a poor old father who came to seek treatment for his son, even though his son named Robert was never seen in the game.
Therefore, after Xia Yu briefly displayed his miraculous power and healing ability, the man bowed his head.
He surrendered so quickly not because he was French, but because he had long discovered that Senpou Temple's power of immortality couldn't save his son.
But he only had this one hope, and even if it was false, he was unwilling to give up.
However, a true miracle had now appeared before his eyes. No matter how he looked at it, Xia Yu seemed more reliable than Senpou Temple, even though he had served Senpou Temple for many years.
Perhaps it was precisely because his son had never received treatment over all these years that he immediately grasped this new hope.
Xia Yu didn't refuse Robert's Father's allegiance. After all, treatment was a simple matter for him, and the man's combat power wasn't low; at the very least, his armor couldn't be breached even by the Wolf.
Therefore, Xia Yu casually wrote a personal letter and told him to take his sick son to Ashina Castle.
Now, he wouldn't need to desperately scream Robert's name only to helplessly fall to his death.