A Pawn's Passage

As one of the most prosperous cities in the Southern Continent, New Paititi was filled with all sorts of people. Many who relied on their cultivation and martial strength frequently caused trouble there, some fighting openly over matters of pride and temper, others taking desperate risks to commit serious crimes.

Among them were many highly skilled cultivators who would flee immediately after succeeding in their crimes. Their white robes might not be as pure as snow, but their comings and goings were certainly as swift as the wind. If ordinary Southern Palace Guards were tasked with handling such matters, it would be both time-consuming and inefficient.

Thus, Huangfu Zhu selected elite warriors with exceptional cultivation from the Southern Palace Guards and organized them into another unit, providing them with the finest equipment, treatment, and resources. This was partly modeled after the Central Plains’ Green Phoenix Guard and partly inspired by Tawantin’s traditional reverence for eagles and jaguars. In the end, the unit was named the Divine Eagle Guard.

The Divine Eagle Guard specialized in dealing with powerful cultivators of all kinds and hunting down fugitives. Although the pressure was immense and they were often placed in dangerous situations, rewards and promotions were also extremely generous. For many ordinary soldiers without influential backgrounds, it was the fastest path to advancement and the ideal place for ambitious young people willing to gamble on their futures.

Under Huangfu Zhu’s vigorous leadership, competition within the Divine Eagle Guard became extremely intense. The capable rose while the mediocre fell behind, creating a healthy pattern of development. Externally, they repeatedly solved major and difficult cases, ensuring the security and stability of New Paititi and earning widespread praise from both officials and commoners alike. This became Huangfu Zhu’s proudest achievement.

But it was at this very moment that disaster struck the Divine Eagle Guard. While investigating a murder case, roughly 100 Divine Eagle Guards discovered an abandoned temple in the capital region. Their target was suspected of hiding inside the ruined structure, so the guards entered the temple to search for the fugitive.

The final message the Divine Eagle Guards sent back to the Southern Palace Guard stated that they were exploring the temple grounds. To their surprise, the abandoned temple was quite massive. In addition to the two levels above ground, there was also an underground area that was even larger than the surface structure. When they found nothing on the upper floors, they decided to continue their search below ground.

After that message, the Divine Eagle Guards lost all contact with Southern Palace Guard headquarters.

Huangfu Zhu immediately ordered a rescue operation. But when the reinforcements arrived, they discovered that the abandoned temple had already collapsed. Strangely, it did not appear to have been destroyed by any sudden external force such as an explosion or earthquake. Instead, it looked as though it had naturally crumbled away after centuries of weathering. Yet the Divine Eagle Guards had only entered the temple shortly before. How could it have deteriorated into such a state in so little time? Where had the Divine Eagle Guards gone?

Huangfu Zhu ordered the ruins of the temple excavated to locate the entrance to the underground section.

The Southern Palace Guards sealed off the area and began a large-scale excavation. Eventually, they found the underground entrance. But just like in the previous cases, it had already been sealed by a strange and eerie shadow. Huangfu Zhu did not dare take the matter lightly. He suppressed the news while secretly reporting the matter to the Juesheng Hall.

After conducting an on-site investigation, the Juesheng Hall concluded that the shadows appearing within the temple ruins were the same phenomenon they had encountered in earlier incidents. This time, Tantai Ying personally entered the underground section of the temple and carried out a preliminary exploration. She found neither shadow servants nor the corpses of the Divine Eagle Guards. Instead, she discovered a blood-written message left behind by the leading Divine Eagle Guard Commander Adjutant.

The blood letter had been written on a torn sleeve. Its contents were fragmented and incoherent, with sentences jumbled, indicating that the person who wrote it was no longer mentally stable at the time. Not only was his mind confused, but he was also gripped by overwhelming terror. Throughout the letter, he repeatedly mentioned one thing: the heavens are about to awaken.

The file also included a copied image of the blood letter. Qi Xuansu glanced at it briefly and found it little better than incomprehensible scribbles. The Commander Adjutant had likely already been mentally shattered by fear, and with the urgency of the situation forcing him to write in haste, the result resembled a piece of wild cursive calligraphy. Even if the man were still alive and sane, he probably would not have been able to decipher it himself afterward.

Where had those Divine Eagle Guards ultimately gone? What did “the heavens are about to awaken” mean? Where did this shadow power come from? No one knew the answers to these questions.

In the end, this case was also classified as part of the Shadow Cases.

This incident showed just how grave the matter was. The shadows were not merely appearing on remote islands anymore and had even surfaced near New Xijing and New Paititi. Did this mean the shadow power had already seeped into the very marrow of Tawantin?

Of course, this was still only speculation, without any hard evidence to support it. Tantai Ying likewise found it difficult to bring the Shadow Cases before the Gold Council, which was the highest authority of the Western Daoist Order. After all, the Steam Evangelical Sect remained the foremost threat. At worst, the shadows resembled a slow-acting poison that would take a long time to prove fatal, whereas the Steam Evangelical Sect was like firearms and axes that could send the Western Daoist Order into eternal sleep at any moment. It was evident which danger was more urgent.

Qi Xuansu sighed. He had not expected the situation to be so serious.

The last time he came here, his attention had been focused on the Steam Evangelical Sect in the North. He had also overlooked the shadows hidden beneath the light.

Were these incidents truly connected to Kukulkan?

Why had all these incidents begun only after Kukulkan had completely replaced the original sun god, Itzamna?

What exactly was the standard for this “complete” replacement that Tantai Ying had deliberately emphasized?

What did the phrase “the heavens are about to awaken” in the blood letter truly mean?

Qi Xuansu had never handled a case requiring such specialized investigation. The cases he usually handled all shared one common feature: the identity of the enemy was already roughly known, and the key lay in uncovering evidence. Moreover, the focus was always on people, not on mysterious and inexplicable phenomena like these.

For such cases, Qi Xuansu actually had less experience than Chen Jianchou. After all, Chen Jianchou had solved the major case involving the leakage of dragon qi, tracing it all the way back to two Ancient Immortals. This allowed Chen Jianchou to leap directly into the fourth rank.

Qi Xuansu suddenly thought of something. Could these incidents be connected to the Fallen Apostles? After all, he had personally witnessed some of their methods before, like the Scripture of Zuriel. If such events had truly been orchestrated by the Hell Apostles, then it would actually make some sense.

If Qi Xuansu had still been weak in cultivation, encountering such events would only have filled him with dread and mystery. He would have felt chills running down his spine, unable to understand why those involved had died or vanished. That kind of unknown would magnify his fear and eventually crush his spirit.

But once his cultivation reached a higher level, his way of viewing the world naturally changed as well. Everything could be deconstructed. At its core, there must be some underlying source.

These unknown phenomena were certainly driven by concrete causes. Their unpredictability stemmed only from the fact that their core essence had not yet been grasped. What seemed causeless or illogical merely appeared so because the full picture had not yet been seen.

The shadows, blood letter, and black sun tattoo—these were the three clues currently known.

At present, the shadows seemed the best place to begin. Determining the origin of the shadows, whether they stemmed from Fallan Apostles or the sun god, would at least establish a general direction for the investigation.

The fact that Tantai Ying could not analyze it did not mean Qi Xuansu could not. He was quite experienced in dealing with Immortals, as multiple immortal powers already existed within his own body. He had personally explored places such as the Lingshan Paradise and Yomi-no-Kuni, which were once dwelling places of ancient gods. He could even seek revelations from the True Lord Ziguang. Although True Lord Ziguang charged exorbitant prices, at least the expenses could be reimbursed.

This was also the very reason the Daoist Order had sent Qi Xuansu here.

The Golden Tower Council most likely possessed other sources of intelligence as well. Qi Xuansu was merely one among many. Through separate channels, the Golden Tower Council had also learned of similar incidents. Combining those reports with the intelligence Qi Xuansu had provided, they ultimately concluded that the matter could no longer be ignored. Thus, they appointed Qi Xuansu, as Chief Deputy Beichen Hall Master and special envoy of the Golden Tower Council, to secretly investigate matters related to the ancient gods of the Southern Continent.

Qi Xuansu retrieved a map and spread it across the table, locating Kamakai upon it. This was the remote island that had been sealed away by shadows.

Although the Juesheng Hall had once briefly broken through the shadow blockade and entered the island, they had not truly eradicated the shadows. Thus, once they withdrew and departed, Kamakai was once again enveloped and sealed away by darkness, cut off from the outside world.

Beyond the curtain of shadows, there was perhaps only lifeless silence, or perhaps secret activities unknown to the world were still unfolding. Everything depended on the true nature of the shadows. If these shadows were some plague-like curse that consumed life, then the former was likely true. But if they were merely a manmade veil meant to deceive the senses, then the latter possibility remained.

Qi Xuansu wanted to go there personally and see for himself.

Since the Juesheng Hall had been able to temporarily breach the shadows, that meant the phenomenon had not yet reached the level of a true Immortal’s handiwork. If it were merely at the Pseudo-Immortal level, then Qi Xuansu was still confident in his ability to protect himself and retreat safely. After all, he had Madam Wu and the Buddha’s sarira given to him by Madam Qi. At a critical moment, one thunderous strike carrying the might of a Buddha’s palm could still move mountains and overturn seas.

However, the return route of the Solar Ark would not pass by Kamakai. Qi Xuansu would first need to make a trip to Danxiu Mountain before heading to Kamakai.

Of course, Qi Xuansu did not oppose this arrangement at all. In fact, he very much wanted to meet the rather intriguing Chief Deputy Juesheng Hall Master Tantai Ying and learn more detailed information about the Shadow Cases directly from her.

The Juesheng Hall was not entirely similar to the Beichen Hall. It did not possess responsibilities related to military defense, but it was tasked with investigating various strange and unusual cases. These cases all shared one common characteristic, which was their posed threats to the Western Daoist Order.

However, Huangfu Ji, as the Juesheng Hall Master, only truly valued the Juesheng Hall’s first two functions—gathering intelligence externally and purging traitors internally, which served military and political purposes entirely. As for these strange and mysterious cases, he delegated all of them to his deputy.

As such, Huangfu Ji was far inferior to Tantai Ying when it came to understanding these cases. Qi Xuansu even suspected that Huangfu Ji knew less about them than he himself did. Asking Huangfu Ji would be no different from asking a blind man for directions.

This was perfectly understandable. For those in leadership positions, the process itself rarely mattered. All they cared about was the final result.

The Golden Tower Council also did not particularly care what the underlying truth was. What they cared about was the outcome, which was to ensure the stability of the greater situation.