Chapter 040: Offer Up Faith

Besides making one a guardian of the dead, the Book of the Dead can also bestow powerful magical powers upon the reader, as long as the reader is willing to offer their faith and please Anubis.

Anubis would then bestow upon the reader powerful magical abilities.

However, Wang Bo did not care for it.

Because this power was granted by Anubis, he could also take it back at will.

For example, in The Mummy Returns, when Imhotep challenged the Scorpion King, with his original power, killing the Scorpion King would have been effortless.

However, when he arrived at the tomb of the Scorpion King, Anubis effortlessly withdrew Imhotep's magical power.

This caused Imhotep to become an ordinary person, able only to challenge the Scorpion King as a common mortal.

Moreover, besides Anubis, the Book of the Living could also effortlessly deprive a user of their magical power.

In the original plot, Imhotep was stripped of all his magical powers by Evelyn using the Book of the Sun, and was then killed by O'Connell.

Thus it can be seen that this kind of reliance on faith to obtain magical power is truly unreliable.

It can be taken away arbitrarily.

So Wang Bo did not care at all about the magical power Anubis had bestowed upon him, and he certainly would not offer his faith in return.

However, Wang Bo was very interested in the mystical knowledge recorded in the book.

Especially the knowledge concerning souls and the undead broadened Wang Bo's horizons while giving him a deeper understanding.

As expected of the Book of the Dead, the content recorded within it alone was enough to give Wang Bo a new understanding of death.

No wonder Imhotep was not afraid of death at all. When he was killed by O'Connell, he even uttered a famous saying... Death is only the beginning.

For someone who understands death in this way, death is really not a terrible thing.

After sailing at sea for these days, Wang Bo kept to himself, spending every day poring over the Book of the Dead. He was utterly captivated by the knowledge recorded within it.

These esoteric teachings were so captivating that Wang Bo lost track of time.

Bang, bang, bang...

One evening, as Wang Bo was holding the Necronomicon and greedily absorbing the knowledge within, a knock suddenly came at the door.

Wang Bo frowned in displeasure, but still put down the book in his hand and went to the door to open it.

"Evelyn?"

It turned out that the person standing at Wang Bo's door was none other than Evelyn.

"It's so late, is there something you need? And this outfit of yours..."

Wang Bo looked her up and down. At this moment, Evelyn was wearing a long red dress, her hair styled in beautiful waves, her lips painted, her fingers long and slender, her skin as white as snow—she looked elegant and charming.

Evelyn took a deep breath and said, "Tonight, there's a small dance party on the ship. I've been invited, but I don't have a partner yet, so you..."

"You want to invite me as your escort to this small dance party." Wang Bo suddenly understood.

Evelyn nodded repeatedly. "Yes, on the ship, the only male companions I know, besides you, are Jonathan, but Jonathan already has a female companion, so I..."

"But I still have books to finish reading." Wang Bo was somewhat conflicted.

Evelyn: ...

She rubbed her temples and told herself firmly not to get angry. "Can't you come back and read it later?"

"But I was reading a very critical part," Wang Bo reminded. "And have you forgotten my identity?"

"You mean, an Oriental?"

"Yes." Wang Bo said calmly. "As far as I know, your country is not friendly to us Easterners. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at for asking me to be your escort?"

Evelyn thought for a long time. She didn't care about being laughed at, since she was out of place in that high society anyway, but she didn't want Wang Bo to be ridiculed, after all, Wang Bo was her friend.

So she said decisively, "Alright, to hell with that damned ball. What are you looking at, the Book of the Dead?"

Wang Bo nodded. "That's right."

"If it's convenient, you can talk with me about it. I'm quite interested in the Book of the Dead."

"Of course, come in."

After Wang Bo invited Evelyn in, he held the Book of the Dead and explained in detail what he had gained over these days.

An understanding of the mysterious, an understanding of death, an understanding of the dead.

Evelyn listened to these things with rapt fascination.

She now finally understood why Wang Bo had been hiding in his room and not going out these past few days—because this knowledge was so fascinating.

Like Wang Bo, she had become completely immersed in it.

……

The next morning, Wang Bo woke up and felt a heavy weight in his arms. Looking down, he saw Evelyn in her red dress clinging tightly to his waist. Fortunately, both of them were still fully dressed.

In other words, nothing pleasant had happened last night.

Wang Bo recalled that the two of them had talked late into the night about the Book of the Dead, and had fallen asleep without realizing it.

But he never expected that upon waking up, he would encounter such a scene.

But Wang Bo did not continue to pretend to be asleep like the others; instead, he patted Evelyn on the shoulder to wake her up.

"S-sorry." After waking up, Evelyn was somewhat embarrassed.

Wang Bo said with a calm expression, "It's nothing, no need to apologize. Besides, I'm the one who took advantage of you, so you really don't need to apologize."

Evelyn: ...

"Alright, let's skip this awkward topic and go get some breakfast, how about that?"

"No problem."

So the two of them went out and came to the dining room.

Before long, Laura and Jonathan entered one after the other. Seeing the two of them, Jonathan asked, "Evelyn, where did you go last night? I didn't see you at the ball."

Evelyn said, 'I ran into a bit of trouble last night, so I didn't go to the ball.'

"What problem?" Jonathan asked.

"That's none of your business, Jonathan." Evelyn shot a glare at her brother. Innocent Jonathan had no idea what had happened or why he was being scolded by his sister.

But he wisely shut his mouth and silently drank water.

Laura said, “Evelyn, you stayed overnight in Wang Bo’s room last night?”

Pfft...

Jonathan sprayed a mouthful of water at Wang Bo.

Wang Bo subconsciously exhaled a breath of cold air, freezing the oncoming water droplets into ice beads that pattered onto the table and then rolled onto the floor.

These days, with the ripple breathing technique, Wang Bo's physique grew stronger and stronger, and the power of his lungs increased as well.

The cold air exhaled was not enough to freeze the ocean, create a hurricane, or extinguish a star.

But it could freeze a basin of water without any problem.