Chapter 138 : Trap Within a Trap
Chapter 138: Trap Within a Trap
The gazes of the people of Room 32 were complicated as they looked down at Goman’s corpse, who had closed his eyes once more and entered his eternal rest.
Post-mortem interrogation, in which one summoned the soul of the dead and questioned it, was neither as detailed nor as long as a conversation with the living.
It consisted of short answers, with no additional explanations.
That meant the one asking had to question skillfully, and the one listening had to strive to understand the answers.
The people of Room 32 had long since perfectly adapted to such post-mortem interrogations.
Thanks to that, the amount of information they had extracted from Goman through post-mortem interrogation was not small.
The problem lay in the direction that information pointed toward.
“If this is formally reported, the Zhuge Clan will not be able to avoid disaster.”
It was exactly as Daoist Chamyeong had said. According to the information obtained from Goman, the Zhuge Clan had carried out a forbidden grand technique for the sake of their revival.
The question was whether that had truly been the will of the entire Zhuge Clan.
“First, we must determine how far the Zhuge Clan was involved in this matter. And also confirm where the completed Ghost….”
As a disciple of the Buddha, Great Master Jeongbeop could not bring himself to utter the name Ghost Buddha. Instead, he continued with another term.
“…Enemy Pellet went. Only once we secure it will we have evidence. Let us report it then.”
At Great Master Jeongbeop’s words, the people of Room 32 nodded.
“Then… what of the one we were pursuing?”
Daoist Chamyeong’s question was only natural. From the beginning, what Room 32 had pursued was the mastermind behind what was collectively called the Ghost Cult Massacre.
The problem was that Monk Ilyeon, who had led the people of Room 32 to Suzhou, had also said that after the fire, the Spiritual Vestige had suddenly been cut off.
That meant the Spiritual Vestige they had followed all the way to Suzhou might not have been related to the Ghost Cult Massacre at all, but rather to the Ghostly Aura connected to the Enemy Pellet now before them.
“Let us first resolve the matter before us.”
At Great Master Jeongbeop’s reply, Daoist Chamyeong readily withdrew.
The Enemy Pellet was the ghostly being that had given rise to the very formation of Room 32. If it might appear again, it could not be pushed aside.
Having reached a consensus, Great Master Jeongbeop turned his gaze toward Zhuge Wuliang’s corpse.
“It is time to determine the whereabouts of the Enemy Pellet.”
At his words, Daoist Chamyeong moved to sit beside Zhuge Wuliang with a devastated expression.
Until recently, they had laughed together while carrying out missions. And now, he had to treat him like an enemy—worse, to disturb his eternal rest after death in order to extract information.
But the scale of what had come to light was too great.
He could not hesitate.
Soon, Daoist Chamyeong affixed a talisman to Zhuge Wuliang’s forehead, and the same incantation he had recited before flowed out in a long chant.
The expressions of the people of Room 32, watching the scene, were dark.
After returning to the Zhuge Clan, Zhuge Hoon found himself unable to regain his composure.
The plan he had stepped into seemed far too dangerous.
The immediate issue was the fifty prodigies whose souls would have to be harvested in order to turn the Enemy Pellet into a White Enemy Pellet.
Each of the prodigies invested in the Zhuge Clan’s secret master-development plan had been cultivated with the full strength of the clan.
Even if they accepted the loss of fifty such individuals and created a White Enemy Pellet by feeding it souls, that too posed a problem.
Even Zhuge Chan-young—no, Slaughter Demon Gireon—whom Zhuge Wuliang had completed using a White Enemy Pellet, had not inspired confidence.
If, after secretly pouring everything into the master-development plan, they fed White Enemy Pellets to the remaining fifty prodigies and produced beings like Slaughter Demon Gireon, that would be a problem as well.
Because of that, Zhuge Hoon could neither carry out the plan nor confess it to the Clan Head. He was caught in anxious indecision when the Clan Head summoned him.
Perhaps because he felt guilty about something, Zhuge Hoon went to see him in a state of extreme tension.
The Clan Head wordlessly held out a small wooden box.
“What is this?”
“A Great Reversion Pill.”
Startled, Zhuge Hoon opened the box, and a refreshing fragrance burst forth.
“There are three!”
“It was difficult to procure more. Select the three most outstanding and test them. If they break through with that, then it truly must be due to a lack of Internal Energy. If so, we shall seek another method.”
“Yes, Elder Brother.”
After answering and stepping out, Zhuge Hoon looked back.
He wondered whether he had, all this time, trusted his own elder brother too little—this man who entrusted him without hesitation with even such a precious elixir as the Great Reversion Pill.
After hesitating for a long while, Zhuge Hoon returned to the Clan Head’s office.
And from that point on, a long conversation took place.
It had been less than half a day since the Human-Faced Spider began monitoring the Zhuge Clan when some peculiar figures caught his eye.
There were about three of them, and their movements were unmistakably those of secular disciples of Shaolin.
There was only one Lightness Skill that Shaolin’s secular disciples could use, making them easy to distinguish.
‘Why are Shaolin’s secular disciples here?’
In the end, his curiosity led the Human-Faced Spider to leave the Zhuge Clan and head toward the inn where the Shaolin secular disciples had gone.
Taking a seat directly behind their table, he focused all his senses on his ears.
“Are we certain?”
“Senior Brother Ichae has already rushed off. Once Master arrives, we will know for sure.”
Come to think of it, the number of secular disciples had decreased from three to two. It seemed that the one called “Ichae” had run off to deliver news to Shaolin.
Cutting through the Human-Faced Spider’s thoughts, the conversation of the two secular disciples continued.
“Did a senior disciple of the Treasury Hall really smuggle out the Reversion Pill?”
“Shh! Keep your voice down. Whether it’s true or not, nothing good will come of that leaking out.”
At the warning, the secular disciple who had mentioned the Reversion Pill hurriedly shut his mouth.
It seemed the Reversion Pill was something important. And within Shaolin, something that would be called that could only be—
‘The Great Reversion Pill!’
The Human-Faced Spider’s eyes widened before he hastily composed his expression. It would not do to be discovered eavesdropping.
Thanks to that caution, he was able to overhear even more.
Putting the fragments together, it appeared that someone within Shaolin Temple had smuggled out the Great Reversion Pill, and that it had somehow made its way into the Zhuge Clan.
He could not immediately decide whether this should be treated as important intelligence to relay to the Bright Cult.
What he was meant to monitor concerned Ghostly Aura.
However, he judged that a clash between Shaolin and the Zhuge Clan would be significant in any case, and so he left his seat.
He intended to return first to the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold and relay the news to the Bright Cult.
What the Human-Faced Spider did not know was that the two Shaolin secular disciples who had been chatting moments earlier were now watching his retreating figure with faint smiles.
As they stood there smiling, two more figures appeared beside them.
It was the secular disciples’ senior brother Ichae and their master, Monk Ilju.
“Now that the stone has been placed, let us see what that stone accomplishes.”
At his master’s words, Ichae, standing beside him, asked,
“Master, must we really go about it this way? Would it not have been better for us to go directly to the Zhuge Clan?”
“Suppose you possessed the Taiqing Pill that was obtained through improper means. If Wudang were to come and ask whether you had done such a thing, would you answer obediently?”
“That…”
Watching Ichae fail to respond, his expression dark, Monk Ilju continued,
“Of course not. If they were the sort to answer obediently, they would not have acted so in the first place.”
“Even so, I do not like the idea of using people from the Unorthodox Factions.”
“It need not be viewed so negatively. We are not receiving formal support from the main temple. What we can do is limited. By ordinary means, we could never reclaim Shaolin’s sacred treasure that was improperly leaked.”
“So that is why you intend to use the Unorthodox Factions?”
“Yes. I believe that discovering that man here was the Buddha’s protection.”
“Can he truly bring Unorthodox masters capable of throwing the Zhuge Clan into chaos?”
“He can. Though he may appear somewhat foolish, he is, after all, the direct disciple of a former Four Calamity Emperor. And judging by the fact that he was secretly monitoring the Zhuge Clan, they too likely have their eyes on the Great Reversion Pill. They will try to seize it.”
“And we will aim for that moment to reclaim the main temple’s sacred treasure?”
“Correct. That will be the only way for us to retrieve it.”
At Monk Ilju’s words, Ichae had no choice but to nod.
Unlike his two junior brothers, he at least understood to some degree the power structure of Shaolin Temple, which had fallen into disarray.
That did not mean he believed it right. There was nothing beautiful about monks who had renounced the secular world becoming consumed by lust for power and tearing at one another.
Thus, as he gazed in the direction of the Zhuge Clan, Ichae’s eyes were dark and lifeless.
The present state of Shaolin itself, and the method by which he must recover its sacred treasure—both had strayed from the righteous path.
Monk Ilju’s expression was also dark as he looked upon his conflicted disciple.
What master would wish to make his disciple commit something unjust?
But reality left no room to avoid it.
Shaolin Temple was falling into ruin due to the machinations of those possessed by demons, men who sought only power.
To set it right, the Abbot Senior Brother—who disregarded even his own life—was struggling to restore Shaolin Temple, relying solely upon Monk Ilju.
For the sake of that Abbot Senior Brother, he could not afford to concern himself only with his disciples’ disappointment.
As Monk Ilju steadied his emotions, his eyes caught the sight of the setting sun.
It resembled the current state of Shaolin, and even he could not prevent his heart from sinking.
Upon the Human-Faced Spider’s arrival, the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold moved swiftly.
They immediately dispatched a messenger.
Since exchanges between the Bright Cult and the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold had ceased, they no longer maintained Message Hawks.
After all, the Message Hawk system relied on the homing instinct of pigeons.
Naturally, such a method of communication could only be maintained through continuous exchange with the receiving party.
However, since the death of the previous Four Calamity Emperor, there had been no contact between the Bright Cult and the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold for ten years.
The former Message Hawk network had long since collapsed.
That was why they sent a messenger instead.
The problem was distance.
When he was told it would take at least half a month, Pageuk abruptly rose from his seat.
In the next instant, a gust of wind stirred—and Pageuk vanished from the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold.
From Yul Han’s perspective, Pageuk’s return was also quite unexpected.
He had come rushing back only two days after being left behind to keep watch.
After hearing, through Pageuk, the account that the Human-Faced Spider had carried to the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold, Yul Han found himself conflicted.
Was the smuggling of the Great Reversion Pill from Shaolin truly connected to the ghostly being that had vanished in Suzhou?
The reason Yul Han could not make a swift decision was that he had yet to confirm the true nature of the ghostly being he had taken from Zhuge Wuliang.
Those within the Bright Cult who possessed the deepest knowledge in that direction were currently gathered, examining and analyzing it, but no conclusion had yet been reached.
In the end, instead of rushing to the Zhuge Clan, Yul Han headed to the place where those studying the ghostly being were assembled.
He intended to hear their findings before making a decision.
In a space prepared to one side of the Vice Cult Leader’s residence, several figures were gathered with their heads together: among the Five Demons, Profound Demon and Ghost Demon; among the Thirteen Bloods, Dark Soul Blood and Ghost Spirit Blood; and from the Guardian Division, the Instructor of the Departed.
The first four martial artists all belonged to the dark lineage, or drew the source of their martial arts from Ghostly Aura.
In other words, they practiced martial arts closer to sorcery and spellcraft.
As for the Instructor of the Departed, he was the one in the Guardian Division who oversaw matters of the dead, and he was capable of wielding soul-manipulating sorcery.
Even with the Bright Cult’s most adept figures in matters of the netherworld and Ghostly Aura gathered together, they had yet to uncover the secret of the Enemy Pellet that Yul Han had described as a ghostly being.
Those very individuals greeted Yul Han with troubled expressions as he entered.