Chapter 40: The Cursed Door and a Buried Past

“You two, you cannot open that door.”

Luoyi, gasping for breath, stood behind the two. Sweat streamed down his face from the long run.

Mo Ya turned around, a flicker of confusion crossing his face. Feng Ling stood beside him, her gaze fixed on Luoyi, who was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.

“This door, and this door alone… it must not be opened.”

“Why?”

The black mist slowly dissipated. Mo Ya walked up to Luoyi, silently observing him. The golden glint in his eyes startled Luoyi, yet he felt no fear.

Luoyi met Mo Ya’s gaze, staring intently into his eyes.

“This place is cursed.”

“I know.”

“No, you know nothing,” Luoyi said, shaking his head as he looked at Mo Ya. “Beyond this door lies something that should not exist in this world. That’s why the academy sealed it off, isn’t it?”

“Sealed off…”

Having inadvertently stumbled upon another piece of information, Mo Ya’s confusion only deepened.

‘What exactly is that old principal trying to accomplish? The monsters appearing around the house, with their seemingly artificial bodies…

Is he sending me to exterminate these so-called monsters? Sending a bottom-feeder like me to get rid of them?’

“Go back. This is not a place for you.”

Luoyi lowered his head and walked past Mo Ya. He then sat down before the decaying door, blocking Mo Ya’s path of exploration.

“What if I force my way through?”

Mo Ya asked, but Luoyi merely chuckled. The sound was laced with loneliness, self-mockery, and a profound sense of helplessness in the face of an unchangeable reality.

“If it truly comes to that, I suppose I’d choose to die fighting right here at the door.”

“You…”

“Do you believe in fate?” Luoyi raised his head, looking at the corpses of the dead monsters scattered around.

“These synthetic beasts are my creations, born from a certain unrealistic idea.”

“…..”

“No way…”

Feng Ling covered her mouth, her expression one of utter disbelief.

“This place was once my home. Even now, I remember everything in this room vividly. Do you know the legend—the legend of the vanished scientist?”

Mo Ya nodded.

“That legend is true, because… the person who vanished, he was my master.”

He gently touched the moss on the large door, his eyes filled with a weariness that belied his youthful age.

“Once, I was nothing more than a poor, unwanted child. I scavenged in garbage heaps, fighting with cats and dogs for food.

To survive, I committed all sorts of wrongs—theft, robbery… I once believed that was my destiny, until he appeared.”

“He wasn’t handsome, and his face was covered in stubble. He wore glasses so worn they could barely hold together, and a white lab coat patched countless times.

He was hardly different from a street wanderer like me. That was my first meeting with my master.”

“He took me in, accepted my already tainted self, and brought me to the Magic Academy. In the back mountains, he built a wooden dormitory as our resting place.”

“So that means…” Feng Ling looked towards the house behind Luoyi. The house was dilapidated, though still habitable, it had long lost any trace of human warmth.

“Master loved to laugh. He was always incredibly absorbed when conducting experiments. Instructor Conrad even brought a girl over a few times, but Master ignored them all.”

“Those days were undoubtedly the happiest of my life. In the quiet afternoons, Master would often sit before this very door and tell me his stories.

He told me… that one’s destiny is decided by oneself, and with enough determination, nothing can stop one’s progress.”

“Destiny, huh…” Mo Ya subtly clenched his fist, a profound gaze in his eyes.

‘It is precisely to shatter destiny that I need power. If I become the strongest, if no one can stand in my way, then my destiny will no longer be manipulated.’

“But Master vanished. He lost to his own destiny… That afternoon, right before my eyes, he was killed by a puppet. His blood splattered all over this house.

He, who spoke more grand principles than anyone, why did he die so easily? In the end, wasn’t he still unable to move forward?” Luoyi chuckled, his face etched with sorrow.

The grief of losing a loved one is terrible, yet he had suppressed it deep within his heart. “Then, I did the most absurd thing of my life. I used the power of magic to resurrect the dead.”

“Resurrection, you say… such a thing is impossible.” Mo Ya denied Luoyi’s idea. “Whether it’s a person or an蝕, once they die, they are dead. No matter how much effort the living expend, they will never awaken again.”

Having attempted it himself, he understood this more clearly than anyone.

Mo Ya took a step forward, returning to the door. Before him sat the quiet Luoyi.

“Yes… but I still used my knowledge to try, and then… it became like this.”

His gaze swept over the four dead synthetic beasts before settling on Mo Ya.

“Go back. The one inside the house is not someone you can handle. I don’t want to see any more people die because of my mistakes. I’ve already borne enough sin.”

Luoyi said self-deprecatingly, waving his arm.

‘No, this isn’t right…’ Behind Mo Ya, Feng Ling bit down hard on her lip.

“What nonsense! Do you think simply ‘bearing sin’ is enough?” Looking at Luoyi, Feng Ling’s brows furrowed deeply.

She raised her arm and pointed at him. “You’re just running away, running away from your own sins, wrapping yourself up like a porcupine.

If you do that… if you do that, aren’t you blocking your own path forward?” By the end, Feng Ling’s voice had grown faint, a sob escaping her lips.

Having experienced something similar herself, she understood Luoyi’s mental state profoundly.

Self-blame, followed by escape, absorbing nothing, listening to nothing, allowing one’s heart to bleed day after day.

‘This is wrong, it’s clearly wrong…’ Yet, Feng Ling felt powerless to change any of it.

Mo Ya grabbed Luoyi by the collar, lifting him. His golden pupils silently observed him, and Luoyi averted his gaze.

“I don’t care what you’re thinking, but I will prove that your master’s words were true. For that, whether behind that door lies a demon or a god, I will kill it for you to see!

If that’s still not enough, then consider me your destiny, and strive with all your might to defeat me.”