A Pawn's Passage

Due to Samuel’s mercy, this Divine Eagle Guard Commander Adjutant was granted a brief moment of peace and clarity, allowing him to leave behind this blood-written message.

If Samuel truly was the external force that intervened in this matter, then it would seem to indicate that Samuel was not the mastermind behind the Shadow Tide.

Samuel’s motives were not difficult to explain. Someone had been carrying out a scheme beneath his temple and intended to frame him for it. Naturally, he would not stand by and do nothing. Thus, he intervened, introducing a variable and a flaw into the mastermind’s plans.

This was not difficult to understand. If someone were plotting something under Qi Xuansu’s name, even if the ultimate objective had nothing to do with him, Qi Xuansu would still stop it once he learned of it, if only to protect his own reputation.

Then what did the phrase “Heaven is about to awaken” in the blood-written message mean?

What did this “Heaven” refer to?

“Heaven” could refer to three different concepts in the Central Plains.

The first concept was the Jade Emperor, the Heavenly Emperor, or the Supreme Heavenly Sovereign.

The second concept was the Heavenly Principle revered by the Confucian School of Principle, also known as “the heavens” by ordinary people.

The third concept was the Heavenly Dao, the force that seemed dedicated to making life difficult for Immortals by sending Heavenly Tribulations to test them. The Heavenly Dao was neither a person nor a conscious will. It was more akin to the fundamental laws governing the universe.

If interpreted through the lens of Central Plains culture, there were likewise three possible explanations.

The Heavenly Emperor had never been asleep and therefore could not be said to awaken. He was merely unable to return to the mortal world unless he had created an incarnation. But even if an incarnation descended into the world, it would do so in the Central Plains and should have nothing to do with the Southern Continent.

Heavenly Principle lay somewhere between the concrete figure of the Heavenly Emperor and the abstract concept of the Heavenly Dao. It resembled the Supreme Will to some extent, possessing neither a concrete form nor a specific symbol. Worship of the heavens in this sense was similar to worshipping the sun. Of the three possibilities, saying that “Heavenly Principle is about to awaken” was the only one that was possible.

The Heavenly Dao was more like a collection of laws and principles, or better described as “fate” or “natural law.” Even if the Heavenly Dao were somehow a person, it certainly was not asleep. After all, only a few years ago, it had burned Izanagi to death.

With that, these possibilities could largely be ruled out.

Furthermore, even if the Commander Adjutant had become highly sinicized, he was still not a native-born person of the Central Plains. To forcibly connect his use of the word “Heaven” with the Central Plains interpretation of the term felt inappropriate.

As such, it was far more likely that the “Heaven” in question belonged to the Southern Continent’s own traditions.

Could the Southern Continent also possess an entity similar to the Shaman’s Eternal Heaven? Or did this “Heaven” refer to Kukulkan or Itzamna?

Could it be that Itzamna had never truly died? Or perhaps these people did not understand the concept of a deity’s first death and instead believed that a god entering the state of first death was merely asleep. If that were the case, then did the phrase “Heaven is about to awaken” in the blood-written message actually signify Itzamna’s resurrection?

This explanation also seemed plausible. Deconstructing deities was something only the Daoist Order would do. The Daoist Order had even categorized the deaths of deities into three stages. To put it bluntly, it was essentially a study of how a deity could truly die. Someone raised within a system centered around divine worship would never dare to treat gods with the same irreverence as Daoist priests. They would not dare to say that a deity had died. Instead, they would say that the deity had fallen into slumber.

Slumber corresponded to awakening, just as death corresponded to resurrection. The resurrection of a deity required an enormous amount of divine power, which could explain the harvesting of souls and flesh during the Shadow Tide.

After careful consideration, Qi Xuansu felt that this theory contained no major flaws in logic. Its only weakness was the lack of necessary evidence to support it.

At the same time, there were several aspects that did not quite add up.

First, even before Kukulkan had completely replaced Itzamna, he had already been capable of directing his followers to carry out the Chronicle of the Ages operation, erasing traces of Itzamna’s existence. This demonstrated just how powerful Kukulkan already was. At that time, Itzamna’s followers had been steadily retreating and were no match for Kukulkan’s followers.

There was no reason why Kukulkan’s followers would somehow become weaker than before after the replacement was complete. They should only have grown stronger.

The remaining followers of Itzamna were little more than remnants struggling to survive. Preserving themselves was already difficult enough, so they should not have been capable of orchestrating such a vast conspiracy.

At present, it seemed certain that a deity was driving this conspiracy from behind the scenes. Since Itzamna had not yet revived, he could not possibly be supporting his followers. Could this matter truly be connected to the Heron Society? If so, was Ixchel the power backing the Heron Society?

Second, if Itzamna’s resurrection was involved, then Kukulkan should not have remained indifferent. Even if he could not leave his divine kingdom and descend into the mortal world personally, he would certainly have ordered his followers to remain on high alert and hunt down every suspicious individual.

Yet this was precisely the problem. Since the outbreak of the shadows, Sun Temples throughout the region had been affected. However, Kukulkan behaved as though nothing had happened. He showed no reaction whatsoever, and the Sun Temples displayed little interest in thoroughly investigating the Shadow Tide. Instead, it was the Juesheng Hall that seemed to be carrying the entire burden of concern by itself.

Could it be that Kukulkan himself had encountered some problem and needed to acquire a massive amount of divine power through such extreme means?

If this speculation were correct, then the inaction of the Sun Temples would be perfectly explained. There was no guidance whatsoever, so naturally, the Sun Temple would not be able to take meaningful action.

If one continued reasoning along this line, then the “Heaven” that was about to awaken would refer to Kukulkan.

One hypothesis after another flashed through Qi Xuansu’s mind. He could vaguely sense a path forward, yet that path contained too many branches, making it impossible for him to determine the correct direction for the moment.

It was much like the three fork roads now lying before him.

Each branch contained its own trail of footprints. The 100 Divine Eagle Guards appeared to have split into three groups and entered different passageways. Their footprints were so chaotic that Qi Xuansu could not even determine which route the Divine Eagle Guard Commander Adjutant had ultimately taken.

Even more strangely was that not a single person had turned back. It was as though something had been chasing and driving them forward from behind while simultaneously blocking the path by which they had come.

Qi Xuansu could not help but feel somewhat dissatisfied. The higher-ups often liked to conceal things. For example, he had known absolutely nothing about the matter involving Cuowenbu until Madam Wu told him.

This time, the Golden Tower Council had assigned Qi Xuansu to investigate Kukulkan, so he was certain that they possessed other sources of intelligence. Although the Golden Tower Council had granted him considerable autonomy, they had not revealed the entire situation to him. It seemed they intended to use the results of his investigation to cross-check information obtained through other channels. If they had informed him of that intelligence beforehand, it might have influenced his investigation and undermined the value of independent verification.

However, this approach inevitably created many unnecessary obstacles for Qi Xuansu’s investigation.

For example, he currently had no idea what Kukulkan’s condition was. As a result, he could not make precise judgments, and many of his conclusions were bold hypotheses extrapolated from limited evidence.

Qi Xuansu shook his head, casting aside these negative thoughts and reorganizing his reasoning.

So far, three divine factions appeared to be involved—Kukulkan, Itzamna, and the Fallen Apostles.

The Fallen Apostles, in particular, were extremely peculiar. At first glance, everything seemed connected to them. But upon closer examination, it appeared that they had nothing to do with the matter. Yet after further reflection, there still seemed to be some connection after all.

At first, Qi Xuansu had suspected that Samuel was the mastermind, but he later rejected that idea. In the end, it appeared that it was precisely because Samuel had secretly intervened that the blood-written message had been left behind as a clue.

What role were the Fallen Apostles playing in all of this? Were they merely waiting to profit from the struggle between the two other factions? Or were they merely spectators enjoying the show?

Qi Xuansu could not determine the answer. He could only focus on the immediate situation.

“Chief Deputy Tantai, how did you explore this place the last time you came here?” Qi Xuansu asked.

Tantai Ying pointed toward the passage on the left. “I chose this route. I traveled roughly 10 kilometers into it and eventually discovered that it was a dead end. There was nothing along the way, so I turned back.”

“Wait.” Tantai Ying suddenly seemed to remember something. “There was one small discovery. I found a knife that appeared to have been accidentally dropped by one of the Divine Eagle Guards. However, there was no sign of the guard’s body. Further along the route, the Divine Eagle Guards’ footprints disappeared.”

Qi Xuansu asked, “What did the end of that passage look like?”

Tantai Ying replied, “It looked as though someone had abandoned the excavation of a tunnel halfway through. There was nothing there except soil that still bore traces of manual excavation. I conducted a thorough inspection, and it was completely solid.”

In truth, Qi Xuansu did not particularly trust Tantai Ying’s investigative abilities. Whether she had been careless in her examination or whether the shadows had interfered at the time, she had clearly overlooked many details. Had she been one of Zhang Yuelu’s subordinates, she would undoubtedly have been in for a harsh scolding.

Qi Xuansu did not enjoy berating people, though he might resort to mocking her or throwing some shade to convey his dissatisfaction.

However, the Daoist Order had always placed unity above all else. One must not do or say things that harmed unity. Although Qi Xuansu had always regarded these principles with mild skepticism, he still followed them in practice. Therefore, he did not criticize Tantai Ying at this moment. He did not even immediately ask why she had explored only the passage on the left instead of investigating all three.

Instead, he said, “Since you chose the path on the left last time, we’ll take the middle one this time.”

Tantai Ying asked, “Shall we split up? You can take the middle path, and I’ll take the right one.”

“No. We’ll go together.” Qi Xuansu offered a perfect justification. “I suspect Samuel may still be able to influence his own temple. Better to be safe than sorry.”

Naturally, Tantai Ying did not believe that Qi Xuansu was afraid. He could exchange blows with Huangfu Ji and confront the Hun brothers head-on. How could he possibly be afraid? Even if he were, he would never place his hopes on merely having one extra person at his side. It was obvious that he was simply looking out for her as a fellow Daoist, and a woman on top of that.

Tantai Ying could only accept the gesture.

The two entered the middle passage together.

This passage was also quite long.

After walking for some distance, Qi Xuansu finally asked, “Chief Deputy Tantai, there is one thing I’ve never quite understood. You only explored the left passage. After discovering it was a dead end, you turned back without investigating the other two routes. In that case, how did you conclude that all of the Divine Eagle Guards had disappeared?”

Tantai Ying froze. A chill immediately ran down her spine.

She had overlooked what was right in front of her and had somehow never noticed this issue. Only after Qi Xuansu pointed it out did she suddenly realize that she had made such a glaring mistake.

It was far too unusual, and far too suspicious.

Qi Xuansu continued, “Besides that, you missed many other details as well, like Samuel’s holy emblem and portrait. These are mistakes that are far too elementary for someone of your stature. What really happened when you came in here last time?”