The Skeleton

The day after Elder Shanshi visited the Old Immortal Cave, I went to the Main Hall library and searched for records of the robbery that had occurred roughly two hundred years ago. I looked through the shelves lined with record books preserving the history of Gyorei Cave.

After searching for around two hours, I found the record of the robbery. It was a thin booklet only four pages long, but it contained a detailed account of the incident.

According to it, there had been only one intruder. An elder had noticed the sound of the lock at the library entrance being broken, exposing the intrusion. When the elder and several inner disciples rushed to the library, the intruder had apparently been standing in front of a bookshelf that only Taoist practitioners at the Spirit Formation Stage were permitted to examine. A battle had broken out there, and the intruder had fled.

The records stated that the intruder, pursued by the inner disciples, had escaped toward the demon realm. The inner disciples had chased desperately and managed to wound the intruder in the side, but the intruder had fled into Kukul Forest and disappeared.

“Kukul Forest, huh? Was there anywhere around there where someone could hide?”

The Green King Snake’s nest came to mind. Someone could hide there, but it was too far away for a wounded intruder to have reached.

There were three small hills around Kukul Forest. They stood to the west, north, and east of the forest, and the Green King Snake’s nest was located in the northern hill.

“There might be somewhere to hide inside one of the hills. There was the Green King Snake’s nest, after all…”

The more I thought about it, the more curious I became. I decided to go and investigate.

The next day, I took my Serpent-Goat Broadsword and qi bullet gun, placed a lantern in my backpack, and headed toward the demon realm. The lantern was a smaller version of the oil lamp I had made before, designed to be compact and sturdy enough to carry.

I considered inviting Haoxuen and Seiran, but this was only an investigation into a robbery that had taken place in the distant past. It felt wrong to drag them along for something like that, so I decided not to invite them.

After descending Mount Gyorei toward the demon realm, I headed east. Along the way, I continued east with the hill I had once climbed with Prince Lianghong and the others visible on my left.

There, I encountered an Iron-Hard Wolf. Haoxuen, the others, and I had recently hunted quite a few Iron-Hard Wolves, but their numbers did not seem to have decreased. Perhaps the number three people could hunt was still within the margin of error.

When I readied the Serpent-Goat Broadsword, the Iron-Hard Wolf lunged at me. By now, killing an Iron-Hard Wolf had become almost routine for me. I severed its head with a single strike and skinned it.

Then, I continued east again. After reaching Kukul Forest, I walked southeast until a small rocky hill came into view. I circled the hill while examining it. Then, I noticed a suspicious shadow halfway up the rock face. It looked as though part of it was recessed.

Using Lightness Skill, I ran up to the shadow. I had not been able to tell from below, but it was a cave. It was only large enough for an adult to barely squeeze through, but it seemed possible to enter.

I cautiously examined the interior. I sensed no demonic beast hiding inside. I took the lantern from my backpack, lit it, and entered using its light.

The moment I stepped inside, a skeleton came into view.

“Right away, huh?”

It had been reduced entirely to bones, so there was no smell. Even so, it was eerie. The clothing on the skeleton had rotted into tatters, making it clear that many years had passed since the person died. Could this have been the thief who broke into the library?

There was only one way to find out. I examined the remains. Then, I found a book wrapped in something resembling a cloth bundle. When I checked what kind of book it was, I discovered that it was the Vermilion Spirit Sword manual.

“So this really was the thief.”

The intruder must have escaped after being wounded, hidden here, and died without ever leaving. The cause was probably excessive blood loss. There was nothing on the body that could identify the person.

“That’s strange. The Meimei Gong, First Transmission should have been here too, but it’s missing.”

I found that peculiar, but at this point, the Meimei Gong, First Transmission was no longer important.

After finishing my examination of the body, I went outside and inspected the Vermilion Spirit Sword manual. Compared with the Vermilion Spirit Sword manual in the outer disciples’ library, this version contained roughly twenty percent more material. It seemed the elder who had tried to reconstruct the Vermilion Spirit Sword had been unable to remember about twenty percent of it.

In the authentic Vermilion Spirit Sword manual, the final page contained a message from Youjun, Founder Weiru’s friend. It expressed gratitude toward Founder Weiru and thanked the gods for allowing them to create such an excellent sword art as the Vermilion Spirit Sword.

“Hm? What is this?”

There were three red dots around Youjun’s message. Had red ink accidentally dripped there? I stared at the three dots and felt that they resembled something, but I could not remember what.

After thinking for a while, I remembered. When I had examined the terrain of Kukul Forest the previous day, I had also checked the positions of the small hills. Their arrangement was identical to the positions of the red dots. If Youjun’s message was treated as one unified shape, it resembled Kukul Forest.

Could something connected to Youjun have been hidden here as well? With that thought, I returned to the cave and searched the interior. I discovered a small hole in the cave wall, and something had been concealed inside it.

I pulled out the hidden object. It was a single sheet of paper wrapped in oiled paper. When I went outside and read it under the sunlight, I found that it described how to make the paper and ink Youjun used for talisman arts.

I did not understand talisman arts very well, but that knowledge seemed valuable enough to be considered a treasure. I used my instantaneous memory ability to memorize the methods for making the talisman paper and ink. Things memorized with this ability were almost impossible for me to forget, so I tore the paper describing the methods into tiny pieces and scattered them toward Kukul Forest.

I then memorized the authentic Vermilion Spirit Sword as well. I could not learn it yet because I lacked spiritual power, but someday I might be able to. After that, I returned to Gyorei Cave and went to Elder Shanshi’s room.

By coincidence, Elder Tsuen, the library’s administrator, was there as well. I instinctively felt like clicking my tongue, but I restrained myself.

“I have something to report.”

“What is it?”

Elder Shanshi asked.

“I investigated the thief from roughly two hundred years ago whom you mentioned the other day and discovered a skeleton that appears to belong to that thief near Kukul Forest.”

“What did you say?!”

Elder Tsuen shouted angrily.