A Pawn's Passage

To verify their hypothesis, Qi Xuansu found a place resembling a city hall. Inside, they indeed discovered a number of written records.

Qi Xuansu could not read the script of Paititi, but Madam Wu could, so she translated it. From these records, the two of them roughly pieced together what had happened to Paititi in those days.

A sudden epidemic descended upon Paititi. At first, no one paid it much attention, treating it as nothing more than an ordinary illness. Little did they know that it would become the city’s doom.

The elderly and children were the first to fall ill. The disease was peculiar, showing no especially obvious external symptoms. Yet it steadily weakened its victims until they eventually died. That was also why there were no corpses lying in the streets.

The weakening process was gradual rather than resulting in sudden death. By the time a patient became too weak to move, they would already be confined to their home, lying in bed, only to die some time later.

At this stage, Paititi was still making every effort to contain the spread of the epidemic. The bodies of the dead were gathered in the temple district, where the necessary quarantine measures were carried out.

Before long, however, healthy adults also began falling ill one after another, and the situation became extremely grave. As more and more people were lost, the shortage of manpower caused order to collapse into chaos. People continuously fled Paititi, and as the death toll mounted, it eventually turned into an exodus. Those who were unable to escape could only remain in Paititi and await death.

This matched Andres’ report perfectly. Perhaps it was precisely this desperate situation that drove Paititi’s last emperor to seal off Paititi and lead the remaining survivors into the Paititi pocket realm.

After everyone had either fled or died, the epidemic gradually disappeared for lack of new hosts. The once-prosperous Paititi became an empty city, slowly swallowed by the rainforest until it ultimately became one with it.

Those who escaped likely died on the road during their flight. After all, every epidemic had an incubation period. They might not yet have shown symptoms when they fled, but they were already carrying the disease. Once it struck midway through their escape, survival would have been nearly impossible in the harsh environment of the rainforest.

The fortunate few who survived their escape certainly would not have dared return. Through word of mouth, even outsiders came to avoid searching for Paititi since it had become synonymous with a land of death.

Many years later, once those who knew the truth had all passed away, the fear of Paititi gradually faded. Others then attempted to search for the city, but they were unlikely to find it. Without human maintenance, the rainforest would quickly reclaim every road leading to and from Paititi. Anyone seeking it afterward would have to cut an entirely new path through the jungle, making the task all the more difficult.

Thus, Paititi became the legendary Lost City or the Forgotten City. With a little imagination and embellishment added over time, tales regarding the Kingdom of Gold were born. Such thinking was hardly unusual. Many small kingdoms of the Western Region had likewise vanished, and stories of the treasures left behind by those fallen kingdoms inevitably spread, always attracting those eager to seek wealth.

After listening to Madam Wu’s translation, Qi Xuansu raised a question. “A Xiantian Being does not produce sweat, lose hair, or shed dead skin. They are also immune to mortal plagues and diseases. Judging from the cocoon inside the priestess we found earlier, she had reached the Core Formation stage, which means she certainly possessed the cultivation of a Xiantian Being. Could she have died from the epidemic? If she did, that would mean even Xiantian Beings could not ignore this disease, which makes the whole matter rather suspicious. This epidemic was probably not a naturally occurring human illness but something deliberately created by someone. An example would be True Lord Siming once spreading a plague throughout the Western Region.”

Hearing this, Madam Wu showed little concern, since she was an immortal object. Even if the Shebishi Venom were smeared all over her, it could not kill her, much less any ordinary epidemic.

Madam Wu comforted Qi Xuansu. “Don’t worry. I have a technique called Profound Fire Healing. Just let me burn you with it once, and any illness will be cured. You’ll become immune to every disease.”

Qi Xuansu did not know whether to laugh or cry. “I’m a Martial Arts Practitioner with a robust physique, so I’m not afraid of ordinary diseases to begin with. Even if I really were infected, I probably wouldn’t die from the disease. I would die from your flames first!”

Madam Wu pouted. “I was only trying to help, but you don’t appreciate it. If I could burn people to death, why would it still be called Profound Fire Healing?”

“I appreciate your kindness, Madam Wu, but I think I’m fine for now.” Qi Xuansu returned to the main topic. “If this epidemic were deliberately unleashed by someone, and even Xiantian Beings were unable to escape it, then it made perfect sense why Paititi’s last emperor was powerless to stop it.”

Following Qi Xuansu’s train of thought, Madam Wu said, “Who created the epidemic? The most likely culprits are those ancient gods. Divine authorities over plague are usually connected to death, so a God of Death often governs many related domains like plague, fear, slaughter, the world of the dead, the moon, and so on. Ixchel probably doesn’t possess such a divine authority, nor does Chak Chel. Kukulkan is indeed associated with death, but through fear and slaughter. Could it have been the Death Apostle Samuel? But they shouldn’t have reached the Southern Continent at that point in time.”

The Fallen Apostles resided in Hell. In theory, they could manifest anywhere in the mortal world, but there was one prerequisite. They could only appear where their chosen servants or believers had set foot. Those chosen servants and believers served as beacons for their manifestation. In fact, the Fallen Apostles only began spreading their faith across the New Continent on a large scale after the Holy Court invaded it, showing that many of their hidden followers had already infiltrated the Holy Court.

However, during the era of Paititi, only a small number of Goddess Society members were active in the New Continent, such as Andres Lopez. These people were all elites. One could tell as much from the fact that Andres was able to correspond directly with the Pope and had become a close friend of Paititi’s last emperor.

Such people were highly unlikely to become followers of the Fallen Apostles. If someone who might be granted an audience with the Pope had secretly become a believer of Hell, it would have been extremely difficult to conceal that fact from the Pope and the cardinals.

The Ancient Immortals had once managed to infiltrate the upper ranks of the Daoist Order, but that was only because True Lord Ziguang personally carried out the operation. It also coincided with the Holy Xuan’s time in secluded cultivation. Yan Feiqing was preoccupied with persuading True Lord Taiyin to surrender and seldom returned to Jade Capital, Elder Yao resided year-round in her palace within the Lingshan Paradise, and the various Sages stationed along the frontiers were guarding against the Buddhist Sect, leaving the Daoist Order’s internal defenses dangerously hollow. Only under such exceptional circumstances had the Ancient Immortals succeeded.

However, the Fallen Apostles were trapped in Hell and could not emerge in person. Ordinary chosen ones and believers simply lacked the ability to accomplish such a feat.

Based on this, Madam Wu concluded that the Fallen Apostles were unlikely to have been responsible, as the timeline simply did not fit.

Qi Xuansu also agreed with Madam Wu’s conclusion. “We’ve been talking about the ancient gods, but they aren’t limited to Itzamna, Kukulkan, Ixchel, and Chak Chel. Besides, Itzamna is already dead, and Ixchel and Chak Chel are actually two aspects of the same being. I once read in the Daoist Order’s archives that among the ancient gods there is another deity who governs darkness and death. He is the true God of Death within the New Continent’s pantheon, corresponding to True Lord Siming in the Eastern Continent and the Fallen Apostle of Death in the Western Continent.”

Madam Wu said, “I know of him. This God of Death is extremely mysterious. His name is unknown, and his symbols are a skull and an obsidian knife, both of which are associated with human sacrifice. Let me warn you. If there is any deity among the gods aside from Kukulkan who would fiercely oppose the abolition of blood sacrifice, it would be this God of Death.”

Qi Xuansu looked rather surprised. “He’s so mysterious that you don’t even know his name? When I read the archives before, I thought it was simply because the Western Daoist Order hadn’t done a thorough enough job. I never expected that even you wouldn’t know.”

Madam Wu replied, “Well, we only know that his name consists of a single syllable, while the rest of it is unknown. Westerners use the first letter of the Lune Kingdom’s alphabet to refer to him. That syllable translates into the language of the Central Plains as ‘Ah.’ Are we really supposed to call him ‘Ah’?”

It had to be said that Madam Wu truly was one of the old veterans of the Western Daoist Order. She could casually recount all sorts of insider knowledge.

Qi Xuansu said, “I understand. That really is an odd name. It’s rather awkward to address him that way.”

Madam Wu said, “If Kukulkan is essentially a serpent spirit, then this God of Death is an owl spirit. He is depicted with the head of an owl and the body of a human, with his entire body in a state of decay. He is also known as the God of Decay. Besides death, his divine authorities include darkness, terror, natural disasters, and more. Those natural disasters include plagues.”

Qi Xuansu rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Why do all the gods of the Southern Continent seem to have something to do with the dead? No matter which god it is, they always seem connected to death in one way or another.”

Madam Wu sneered. “When blood sacrifice is the norm, living people are offered as sacrifices, and even cannibalism is practiced, how could such a land possibly give birth to benevolent gods who seek to save all living beings? Take the Buddhist Sect, for example. Setting aside the aberrant branch in the Western Region that uses human skin and bones to make ritual tools, the other Buddhist Sects still encourage people to do good. The Daoist Order has spent its entire existence pursuing longevity and immortality, not death.

“Although the Holy Court has committed countless atrocities, at least its sermons sound noble. The Holy Scripture stated to treat nonbelievers with gentleness and show them deep respect. Among the nations, conduct oneself with integrity, so that even nonbelievers may witness one’s good deeds and glorify the Supreme Will on judgment day.

“Whether the clergy followed those teachings or not is another matter, but at least they can argue that the Holy Scripture’s intentions were good and that it was only the clergy who corrupted them in practice. That provides some cover. Many of the ancient gods of the Southern Continent don’t even have that excuse. They openly encourage such practices from the get-go because their original intent is evil. What more is there to say?”

Qi Xuansu could only sigh. “It seems abolishing blood sacrifice will be a long and difficult task. Still, it appears that some of the ancient gods are reformists who support abandoning blood sacrifice, such as Ixchel.”

Madam Wu let out a cold laugh. “So-called reform has always been a measure of last resort. If there were any other way, they would never choose it. In the end, blood sacrifice carries a backlash. They would rather not abolish it, but can they endure the boundless karmic fire? Since they can’t withstand it and don’t want to die, the only option is to quit, no matter how addicted they may be. If they continue performing blood sacrifices, they probably won’t even live to see the end of the era. They’ll fall long before that.”

Qi Xuansu fell into thought. “That might actually be an angle worth pursuing.”

After that, the two said no more and continued toward the palace district.

Just as Qi Xuansu had expected, the palace district lay at the very center of the city and was easy to locate. However, the entire district was now shrouded in a layer of crimson mist, giving it an exceptionally eerie appearance.