A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu possessed one notable virtue. He recognized reality for what it was and did not deceive himself.

For example, after confirming from every possible angle that the supposed master-disciple bond between himself and Qi Haoran had been nothing more than a complete scam, he experienced tremendous emotional turmoil. Nevertheless, he never attempted to deny the truth or deceive himself.

Therefore, even when working alongside partners, Qi Xuansu would not trust them unconditionally.

At the beginning, Qi Xuansu had been displeased with the careless way Tantai Ying handled the investigation. He thought that the young lady was somewhat unreliable, with limited abilities and a hot temper.

Later, however, Qi Xuansu realized that something was amiss. Mere unreliability could not explain the situation. In fact, it had become outright unreasonable for someone of her status.

This suspicion finally reached its peak when they arrived at the three-way junction.

Failing to notice Samuel’s holy emblem and portrait could perhaps be explained by interference from the shadows or carelessness. But exploring only one of the three passages and then declaring that all the Divine Eagle Guards had disappeared could not be explained that way.

What was even stranger was that Tantai Ying remained completely unaware of the issue. She considered her conclusion perfectly reasonable. The truth was right before her eyes, yet she could not see it, as if she had fallen into a blind spot.

Just as Qi Xuansu had said, these mistakes were far too elementary. This was no longer a matter of mediocrity or incompetence. No one could accuse Tantai Ying of being an infiltrator, because a genuine infiltrator would never leave behind such obvious flaws.

It seemed more like cognitive distortion, like a kind of spell.

In the end, Qi Xuansu chose to expose the truth with a single remark.

Breaking this kind of cognitive distortion was to simply reveal the truth. Using truth to shatter falsehood was always the most effective method.

Many folk legends told of people who were clearly dead yet, due to some deep obsession, deceived themselves into believing they were still alive. Through the power of that belief, they continued to live as normal people, displaying no obvious abnormalities. Only when someone revealed the truth and shattered their self-deception would they truly drop dead. This, too, was a form of using reality to dispel illusion.

As soon as Qi Xuansu exposed the problem with a single remark, Tantai Ying felt as though she had been jolted awake. She desperately began trying to recall everything that had happened that day.

After receiving Huangfu Zhu’s report, she brought her people here and forcibly opened the entrance that had been sealed by shadows. She also decided to investigate personally. Though there were residual shadows, they posed no threat to a Wuliang-stage cultivator like her.

She continued deeper into the underground complex and eventually discovered the blood-written message left by the Divine Eagle Guard Commander Adjutant at the three-way junction.

She then chose the left-hand passage, where she found a knife dropped by one of the Divine Eagle Guards.

Afterward, she discovered that the passage was a dead end. And then what? What happened next?

To her horror, Tantai Ying discovered that her memory ended abruptly at this point.

No matter how hard she tried to remember, the next thing she could recall was being back on the surface, informing Huangfu Zhu and the others that all of the Divine Eagle Guards had disappeared.

How had she returned? She did not know.

Why had she not explored the other two passages? What was inside them? She did not know either.

It was as though a segment of her memory had simply vanished, and she had remained completely unaware of the omission and had thought that everything was perfectly reasonable.

Seeing that Tantai Ying remained silent for a long time while her expression shifted repeatedly, Qi Xuansu roughly guessed what had happened.

He could not help but sigh softly. “I didn’t see the knife, which was supposedly dropped by a Divine Eagle Guard, in the evidence room. Is it still in your possession?”

Tantai Ying froze and immediately began searching through her magical receptacle.

Soon, she produced a small knife made from polished obsidian. Unlike the knives of the Central Plains, its blade was made from obsidian, resulting in an unusually thick spine and an uneven surface. Rather than resembling a flat knife, it looked more like a three-edged chisel.

Qi Xuansu took the obsidian knife from Tantai Ying and examined it carefully for a moment. However, he could not discern anything unusual.

In the end, he could only seek outside assistance. “Madam Wu, could I trouble you to take a look?”

A figure formed from flames solidified beside Qi Xuansu. “Oh look, in the end, you still have to rely on me.”

With that, Madam Wu took the obsidian knife from Qi Xuansu and inspected it repeatedly.

After all, Madam Wu’s cultivation surpassed Qi Xuansu’s. She was also extraordinarily knowledgeable. Having lived for so many years, she was familiar with everything from ancient secrets such as the Kunlun Paradise, the Six Enlightened Witches, and God Luwu, all the way down to the customs, folklore, and ghost stories of the Southern Continent.

There was virtually nothing she did not know. She could be described as someone whose knowledge spanned both the East and the West.

Therefore, the fact that Qi Xuansu could not discern anything did not mean that Madam Wu could not.

Very quickly, Madam Wu reached a conclusion. “This is a medium used for spellcasting.”

The concept of a “medium” was not difficult to understand. It could be as simple as picking up an object by the roadside and bringing it home, only to have all sorts of strange occurrences begin happening afterward.

One possibility would be that some supernatural entity resided within the object, causing mischief. Another possibility would be that the object itself served as a medium for spellcasting, allowing someone to secretly work magic through it.

Yet Tantai Ying was a Wuliang-stage cultivator. Ordinary spells could not possibly affect her.

This meant that the obsidian knife was anything but ordinary.

Qi Xuansu asked, “Can you determine its origin?”

Madam Wu replied, “There are traces of divine power lingering within it. I can sense the power of darkness from it.”

Tantai Ying asked, “Samuel?”

Besides holding divine authority over fear and death, Samuel was also a God of Darkness. Just as Zuriel was not merely a God of Slaughter, but also possessed divine authority over illusion, deception, conspiracy, and other domains.

Some deities focused on a single divine authority, while others preferred to accumulate as many authorities as possible. Each approach had its own advantages and disadvantages.

Moreover, since this was Samuel’s temple, finding an item left behind by him seemed entirely reasonable.

Qi Xuansu remarked, “This obsidian knife doesn’t seem particularly Western.”

Tantai Ying replied, “The Fallen Apostles have been in the Southern Continent for quite some time. It’s not surprising that they’ve been influenced by local styles.”

Madam Wu possessed a far deeper understanding of the Southern Continent’s situation. It could even be said that she had been one of the participants in the founding of Tawantin, as well as a witness to its history.

She offered a different opinion. “You’ve forgotten someone—the Goddess of Stars and Moon, Chak Chel.”

Chak Chel appeared as an elderly woman with tiger claws, the complete opposite of Ixchel, who took on the appearance of a young maiden.

In the past, the Goddess of Stars and Moon, Chak Chel, and the Full Moon Goddess, Ixchel, had been two aspects of a single entity. But after a series of upheavals, they eventually split into two separate individuals.

The present-day Chak Chel stood firmly on Kukulkan’s side. It was because of her support that Kukulkan had become the chief of the ancient gods in the Southern Continent.

Both the stars and the moon belonged to the night, so Chak Chel possessed the divine authority over night itself. This divine authority closely resembled darkness, with many overlapping aspects between the two. Both also involved the ability to peer into people’s hearts and alter their minds.

Qi Xuansu said, “In that case, it still cannot be separated from Kukulkan.”

Tantai Ying asked, “So this thing is what caused me to lose part of my memory?”

Madam Wu did not give a definitive answer. “Perhaps. Perhaps not.”

Unable to restrain herself, Tantai Ying pressed further. “What do you mean by that?”

Madam Wu explained, “This medium contains divine power that was stored within it beforehand. It can also serve as a medium for divine descent. It’s entirely possible that you’ve already met Chak Chel, but you simply forgot.”

Tantai Ying was startled once again.

Madam Wu continued, “Nor can we say with certainty that your current memories are accurate. Did you really find this obsidian knife in the left passage? Isn’t it possible that you picked it up immediately after entering the temple? Then you encountered Chak Chel, came under her influence, and had all of your subsequent memories arranged for you afterward? Of course, this is merely speculation on my part. I have no evidence.”

This line of reasoning was logically sound.

However, Qi Xuansu offered a different opinion. “I don’t think so.”

Both women turned to look at Qi Xuansu. “How so?”

Qi Xuansu said, “If it were someone else, then the ancient gods could certainly fabricate a false memory or even attempt to turn the person into a puppet. But Chief Deputy Tantai is different. Her status is rather special. She frequently comes into contact with the upper echelons of the Western Daoist Order, like Great Sage Tantai and Great Sage Gong. Methods like these would be easily detected by those two Great Sages. If that happened, the plan would backfire. Originally, the senior leadership of the Western Daoist Order was not particularly concerned about this matter. But by doing something like this, they would essentially be provoking the Western Daoist Order on purpose. This would inevitably draw the attention of the Daoist leadership.”

Both Madam Wu and Tantai Ying had to admit that what Qi Xuansu said also made sense.

Qi Xuansu continued, “Therefore, I believe that Chak Chel did not alter Chief Deputy Tantai’s memories, nor did she erase them. She may simply have caused Chief Deputy Tantai to temporarily forget certain things, including the fact that she encountered Chak Chel herself. Those memories still exist within her mind. She simply cannot access them for the time being and is unable to recall them. Then, by leaving behind a few vague suggestions, Chak Chel could cause Chief Deputy Tantai to overlook the irrational parts of the situation.

“That way, almost no obvious traces would be left behind. Even the two Great Sages would notice nothing unusual unless they already knew something was wrong and specifically investigated it.

“There’s another piece of supporting evidence as well, which is the various irrational actions displayed by Chief Deputy Tantai. If someone had fabricated false memories, they certainly would not have left behind such obvious flaws. They would have made the lie complete and consistent. But that didn’t happen.

“This suggests that it wasn’t a matter of not wanting to do so but actually being unable to do so. Making Chief Deputy Tantai forget certain events could indeed conceal the truth, but it would also leave behind a gap in her memory that could not be filled. Since the mastermind was concerned about being discovered by the two Great Sages, they could not use fabricated memories to patch over that gap. So in the end, they left behind an enormous flaw.”

Tantai Ying’s expression grew solemn. “What you say makes perfect sense, Chief Deputy Qi. That is indeed a possibility.”

At the same time, she felt a surge of irritation. It was awful knowing that she was oblivious to someone manipulating her.

Qi Xuansu summarized. “This matter is very likely connected to Chak Chel. Even if Chak Chel did not personally initiate the Shadow Tide, she was probably responsible for dealing with its aftermath. At the same time, Samuel, who also possesses authority over darkness, intervened and left behind an important clue. The overall direction of our investigation is still correct. All of this is deeply connected to Kukulkan, regardless of whether he is the mastermind behind these events or merely another victim.”