A Pawn's Passage

The Daoist Order and the Holy Court had their own difficulties. The former faced the problem of Ancient Immortals, while the latter had the Fallen Apostles.

The Fallen Apostles were originally members of the Holy Court’s apostles. Later, for reasons unknown to outsiders, they betrayed the Holy Court and were ultimately exiled to Hell, thus earning the name Fallen Apostles.

Having been cut off from normal sources of faith, these apostles could only obtain the divine power necessary for their survival through special means. One such method was entering into contracts with mortals, granting their wishes, and then using loopholes and wordplay within the contract to seize the mortal’s soul.

Human greed was endless. Therefore, no matter how much the Holy Court publicized the dangers of these devils, there were always people lining up to sign contracts with the Fallen Apostles. Some were truly driven into a corner, so they made a final desperate gamble. Others were pure opportunists and ambition-driven schemers who arrogantly believed they could see through the Fallen Apostles’ verbal tricks and instead manipulate them. Yet most of these people failed.

Earlier, Madam Wu had said that deities possessing divine authorities related to warfare would have extremely strong resistance to karmic fire. The Fallen Apostles did not hold the divine authority of war itself, but most of their authorities were related to slaughter. Such divine authorities shared a connection to bloodshed, yet they differed from death. After all, in most cases, death did not necessarily involve blood.

For example, Zuriel was the God of Conspiracy and Slaughter, whose divine authorities include murder, conspiracy, lies, deception, and illusions. Among the Fallen Apostles, there was also an apostle who governed death. Zuriel and this Death Apostle could cooperate with one another, much like Wu Luo and True Lord Siming, each obtaining what they needed from the partnership.

Since Qi Xuansu had once frequently used pages from the Scripture of Zuriel, he had developed a relatively deep understanding of Zuriel. Madam Wu’s reminder immediately brought certain details back to his mind.

Zuriel possessed many aliases, such as the Prince of Lies, the Mad Prince, the God of Madness, and so forth. However, he also had two other titles—Dark Sun and Black Sun.

This matched perfectly with that black sun marking.

The Apostle of Slaughter delighted in weaving all manner of lies, conspiracies, and traps. He excelled at disguise and deception, driving close friends and lovers to slaughter one another. It was entirely possible that one of his followers or divine incarnations had deceived the followers of the Sun, orchestrated the conspiracy of shadows, and then framed Kukulkan for it.

With that, the situation became much more complicated.

As everyone knew, the Fallen Apostles were also highly active in the New Continent. Sophia, the Chairman of St. York, had sought to bring a Fallen Apostle into the mortal world. However, Qi Xuansu disrupted the plan and rescued Audrey, who was supposed to serve as the vessel.

The Daoist Order also had no intention of cooperating with these Fallen Apostles.

For one, the Daoist Order and the Holy Court had not completely torn off all pretenses, nor did they possess sufficient motivation to go to war.

The current world was more or less divided in half between these two colossal powers, and both had nearly reached the limits of their expansion. At most, they could compete in peripheral regions such as the New Continent and pursue limited expansion. But swallowing the other side whole, even if it were achieved, might well cause the victor to choke to death and collapse entirely. A more likely outcome would be mutual destruction, allowing numerous vassal forces to break free from their control and transforming the situation from a contest between two hegemons into one where many powers rose together. Another possibility was the rise of a third-party force, creating a tripartite balance. None of these outcomes was one that either the Daoist Order or the Holy Court wished to see.

When viewed through the eyes of ordinary people and stripped of their many mystical trappings, most Fallen Apostles suffered from psychological issues or severe personality defects. They were eccentric, emotionally unstable, and severely lacking in integrity. Cooperating with such beings was no different from bargaining with a tiger for its skin. There was no way to know when they would turn around and bite someone. Therefore, Fallen Apostles also fell within the scope of those strictly prohibited by the Daoist Order, which likewise cracked down on anyone who entered into contracts with them.

The Daoist Order would not regard the Fallen Apostles as friends simply because they were enemies of its enemies.

The Fallen Apostles also did not conceal their covetous appetite toward the East. However, the Eastern Continent was simply too crowded, perpetually caught in the contradiction of too many people and too little land. The local deities already had too little faith to go around among themselves, fighting viciously over even the smallest share of incense power.

Logically speaking, there should be deities within the Daoist Order itself. Given the Daoist Order’s scale and foundation, nurturing one or several deities to remain in the mortal world for extended periods was not difficult. There was simply no room for outsiders to claim a share of the incense power. As a result, the Fallen Apostles had no choice but to abandon such ambitions and follow in the Holy Court’s footsteps to the relatively sparsely populated New Continent.

The ancient gods here were little more than a loose collection of scattered forces, riddled with internal conflicts and defeated one by one by the Holy Court. The territories they left behind were absorbed by the Holy Court, yet the Holy Court apostles could not fully digest them in such a short time. Thus, the region became a paradise for the Fallen Apostles. It was akin to a lion making a kill, only for hyenas and vultures to arrive immediately afterward.

The ancient gods of the Southern Continent who had managed to survive clearly had genuine ability. Before the Holy Court could act, the Fallen Apostles swooped in and carried out blood sacrifices. Had they chosen this moment because they saw that the Western Daoist Order was locked in conflict with the Steam Evangelical Sect, so they were unable to spare any attention elsewhere?

That did not seem particularly consistent with the Fallen Apostles’ usual style.

Qi Xuansu decided to record the mural of the black sun and later compare it with the black sun tattoo and Zuriel’s dark sun emblem.

Then, Qi Xuansu turned around and left the place.

All this time, Tantai Ying had been observing the changes on the island from the flying ship. When Qi Xuansu entered Kamakai, shadows surged in from all directions and gradually filled the massive hole he had burned through. At first, it resembled a thin veil. But later, it grew thicker until it resembled a scab forming over a healing wound.

Tantai Ying felt somewhat worried. In the past, she had attempted to venture deep into the temple at the center of the island, but she encountered powerful resistance midway and was forced to retreat. Even she did not know what exactly was inside the temple.

Although Qi Xuansu’s cultivation level was exceptionally high, that did not mean he was immune to danger. If someone of Qi Xuansu’s cultivation were to suffer an accident, then there would be no need for them to continue searching for evidence. They could directly report the matter to the Gold Council, requesting that the Western Daoist Order take the matter seriously and conduct a thorough investigation.

Just as Tantai Ying’s thoughts were running wild, a crimson glow began to emerge from beneath the scab that had only recently covered the hole.

The crimson light grew brighter until it transformed into a pillar of flame that shot into the sky, burning through the scab once again and creating a massive opening.

Two figures then flew out from within. One was Qi Xuansu, while the other was a woman dressed as a Daoist nun, though she was clearly different from the female Daoists of the Daoist Order.

Tantai Ying was momentarily stunned before quickly realizing who it was. Although she had never met Madam Wu in person, she had learned of this special elder from her grandfather, Tantai Zhenxiao.

Qi Xuansu landed back on the deck of the flying vessel. Tantai Ying stepped forward to greet him. After greeting Qi Xuansu, she turned to Madam Wu and said, “Senior Madam Qi.”

Madam Wu waved her hand. “I’ve changed my name. I’m no longer called Madam Qi. It’s Madam Wu now.”

Tantai Ying was taken aback, unable to understand how the former Madam Qi had suddenly decided to change her name to Madam Wu. However, she did not dwell on it and instead focused entirely on Qi Xuansu. “Chief Deputy Qi, what did you discover down there?”

“There were quite a few discoveries,” Qi Xuansu replied. “The source of the shadows lies within the Sun Temple. Someone painted a mural of a black sun inside the temple, and that is what caused the outbreak of the shadows.”

As he spoke, Qi Xuansu showed Tantai Ying the recorded image of the mural.

Tantai Ying was startled. “It matches the black sun tattoo on the victims! Who left behind this mural of the black sun?”

“It was most likely someone from within the temple itself,” Qi Xuansu speculated. “However, we still do not know the identity of the person pulling the strings behind the scenes. It may have been Kukulkan, a Fallen Apostle, or some other deity.”

Qi Xuansu then roughly recounted Madam Wu’s analysis and specifically credited these conclusions to her.

After some thought, Tantai Ying said, “This may be enough to convince the Gold Council.”

“But even if we convince the Gold Council, we still need to continue the investigation and determine the true identity of the mastermind behind all this,” Qi Xuansu added.

“What should we do next, Chief Deputy Qi?” Tantai Ying asked.

What Qi Xuansu said made sense. Reporting the matter now would certainly attract the Gold Council’s attention, but the problem remained that the mastermind’s identity had not yet been confirmed. If the Western Daoist Order and the Daoist Order drew their blades, who exactly were they supposed to kill?

The higher-ups would most likely order them to continue investigating anyway, with the Juesheng Hall providing full cooperation. The overseas forces of Beichen Hall already followed Chief Deputy Qi’s orders, so there would be little change. Rather than inviting unnecessary criticism, it was better to uncover the truth first.

Qi Xuansu said, “Let’s go take a look at the place where the Divine Eagle Guards disappeared.”

The reason they did not choose the Sun Temple in New Xijing was that the shadows there had already been dispersed according to Tantai Ying. The situation there was similar to that of Kamakai, but not as severe. As such, it could be set aside for the time being.

In contrast, the disappearance of the Divine Eagle Guards was different from what had happened at Kamakai. Though there were no survivors at Kamakai, there were corpses. Those so-called shadow servants were essentially corpses reanimated by the power of shadows. There were also some corpses that were little more than empty husks, and traces of the black sun tattoo could be found on them.

However, all the Divine Eagle Guards had vanished without a trace. There were no signs of struggle and no corpses. Only a baffling blood-written message was left behind. Moreover, the shadows had not persisted for very long, only long enough for Tantai Ying to enter the area. In terms of intensity, the shadows there were weaker than those at Kamakai.

Qi Xuansu did not need to explain further, as Tantai Ying was able to grasp the reasoning herself.

She raised no objections. “Very well. We shall head immediately to the temple ruins outside New Paititi.”

Qi Xuansu reminded her. “It would be best to send more people here to closely monitor any subsequent developments at Kamakai.”

Tantai Ying nodded in agreement and turned to leave.

Qi Xuansu glanced back once more at Kamakai below, feeling a heaviness settle over his heart.

No matter how he looked at it, this matter was inseparable from deities. Thus, he felt considerable pressure at the inevitability of directly dealing with the gods.