Chapter 1372 - The Bookkeeper
Late at night.
The Four Seas Tower.
Within a well-hidden hall, the Bookkeeper was tallying up sums.
He was thin, with a beard like a mountain goat's. His gaze was deep but clear, and his long, slender fingers danced nimbly across his abacus. The crisp clattering of its beads echoed clearly throughout the room.
As the man behind the curtain at Four Seas Tower, his greatest joy in life was sitting alone late at night, going through the accounts piled high on his desk.
It was only during these moments that he could relax completely and enjoy a tranquility all his own.
However, tonight, his heart wasn’t in it. He started and stopped, and his mind wandered.
“Old Bookkeeper, I’ve come to see you.” A mellow voice suddenly echoed from beyond the hall. Meanwhile, someone pushed the tightly shut doors open.
An old man whose hair and beard were white walked inside. This was none other than the servant the Tailor called Qu He.
The Bookkeeper’s eyes narrowed, and his gaze was a bit conflicted. “I never would have guessed His Lordship would send you personally.”
“You anticipated that he’d send someone to visit you?” exclaimed Qu He.
Instead of answering, the Bookkeeper picked up a pen and wrote a line of red text on the last page of his ledger: “All debts have been repaid.”
His handwriting was vigorous, and the ink was as red as blood.
He then gently set down his pen as if he’d relaxed completely. His fingers gently caressed his abacus as he said, “I excel at nothing more than settling accounts. That doesn’t just apply to money, either. It goes for rights and wrongs and grudges and kindnesses too.”
His voice was calm, and it sounded as if he were speaking to himself. “Throughout our long years together, I’ve kept track of every kindness His Lordship has ever done me, silently carving them into my heart. Similarly, I’ve kept track of everything I’ve done to repay his benevolence.”
Suddenly, he looked up and met Qu He’s gaze. “If His Lordship hadn’t sent you to me, I would have died before betraying him, even if the Temple Master came looking for me.
“Alas...” the Bookkeeper let out a deep sigh, his expression utterly bleak. “In the end, His Lordship couldn’t rest assured without sending you to silence me.”
Qu He looked stunned, and his gaze shifted inscrutably. “Just as I thought, you already guessed it.”
The Bookkeeper laughed coldly. “After the Yun Family met with disaster, numerous ancient factions agreed to help the Temple Master seek out His Lordship. As His Lordship’s confidant, I’d have to be a fool not to understand his current predicament.”
His voice was full of entirely unconcealed mockery.
After a moment’s silence, Qu He asked, “Then why didn’t you run?”
“Simple. I wanted to see with my own eyes if the master I’ve served faithfully for all these years could really bear to silence me,” the Bookkeeper said without so much as pausing to think. “Now, I have my answers.”
He pointed at Qu He and smiled. “And what about you, old servant? Shouldn’t you be worried about your own safety?”
Qu He couldn’t help but laugh. “Why should I be worried?”
“Had you remained by His Lordship’s side, you could have spent your whole life serving him,” said the Bookkeeper. “But the moment you left his side and arrived in the Divine Capital Star Realm, you became a liability.”
He continued emphatically, “I dare say with certainty that when His Lordship made this decision, he’d already mentally cast you aside.”
Qu He instantly fell silent, and his expression filled with uncertainty. A moment later, he looked at the Bookkeeper and said coldly, “Once I’ve killed you, I can return to see His Lordship. How can you say he’s cast me aside?”
The Bookkeeper laughed. “Ah, but you can’t kill me.”
“Oh?” said Qu He.
He clapped his hands, and a thin figure appeared out of nowhere directly beside him.
The man was covered entirely in a black cloak. Only his cold, indifferent eyes were visible. His aura was strange and inscrutable, as if he were covered in crawling shadows.
“Can I kill you now?” laughed Qu He.
The Bookkeeper’s pupils constricted, and he visibly paled. “A Hidden God Guard!?”
“That’s right. Even I would never have guessed His Lordship would go so far as to reveal this hidden trump card,” sighed Qu He. “He had me bring three Hidden God Guards with me this time. I sent one to the Wen Family of the Ancient Guardian Clans of the Dao and one to the Blissful Heavens’ headquarters in the Bright Province. The third, Zero-Seven, has come with me to see you.”
Zero-Seven was the number representing the thin man in black beside him!
Even after he appeared, the man in the black cloak stood there in silence, not uttering a word. However, the oppressive aura emanating from him bore down on the entire hall.
The Bookkeeper suddenly burst into laughter. “He even went so far as to reveal the Hidden God Guards. I can see that the Temple Master has really left His Lordship frantic. If I’m not mistaken, he’s terrified that the Temple Master will find his hiding place.”
Qu He said plainly, “No need to stall any longer. The moment Zero-Seven and I arrived, your fate was sealed.”
But the Bookkeeper just laughed, rose to his feet, and said, “Go ahead and try it, then!”
He then faced the depths of the hall and bowed. “Your Excellency the Temple Master, please show yourself.”
Qu He instantly looked stricken.
A tall, upright figure sauntered out of the hall’s depths. He was dressed in blue, and he looked calm and extraordinary. Beneath the lamplight, he shone with an illusory, ethereal glow. This was none other than Su Yi.
“You... You actually betrayed His Lordship a long time ago!?” Qu He shouted in shock and fury.
“No, the Temple Master only showed up a little while ago,” the Bookkeeper said expressionlessly. “I put my life on the line and made a deal with him. We agreed that if His Lordship didn’t send anyone to silence me within three days, I’d kill myself to make absolutely certain none of His Lordship’s secrets leaked.
“And if His Lordship did send someone to kill me? In that case, the Temple Master agreed to help me avoid disaster, and in exchange, I promised to tell him everything he wished to know.”
He looked at Qu He and said softly, “His Lordship forced my hand.”
Qu He’s expression was unsightly. He was incomparably furious; he obviously realized how serious this situation was.
“Old-timer, you’ve been cast aside too. How about you let this end here? Cooperate with me, and you can live too,” suggested Su Yi.
“Nothing but the ravings of a madman!” Qu He sneered, his expression full of determination as he said coldly, “I am alive because of His Lordship. Death, that’s all. What’s there to be afraid of? There’s no way I’ll sell my master out!”
He then waved his hand through the air. “Zero-Seven, attack!”
“Understood.” The thin man in the black cloak nodded, then answered in a raspy voice. It sounded as if he hadn’t spoken in a long, long time.
Clang!
A saber glowing with blood-red immortal life appeared in his hand. He swung it, and a bleeding severed head flew through the air.
However, it belonged to Qu He!
“You...” His eyes widened, and his face filled with astonishment, bewilderment, and disbelief.
And here he’d only just said he was willing to die for his master.
He would never have thought the Hidden God Guard accompanying him would decapitate him a moment later! It was just too sudden and too unexpected.
Zero-Seven said indifferently, “Master commanded that if the Temple Master appeared while you were still alive, I was to cut you down first to prevent you from falling into his hands.”
Thud!
Qu He’s severed head fell to the floor, at just the right angle for him to look up at the Bookkeeper.
His face was full of astonishment, bewilderment, and bitterness. The Bookkeeper saw it all in full detail, and he sighed. “See? That’s what happened to discarded pawns.”
When a hunter shot a bird, he’d put away his bow, and when he caught a cunning hare, he’d boil even a faithful dog!
Throughout history, when a pawn was no longer useful, it was hard to avoid being abandoned, no matter who they were!
Su Yi witnessed this whole exchange, but he’d long since grown accustomed to such things. He understood the Tailor’s disposition. He’d do anything to achieve his goals.
Clang!
Saber qi swept outward, and explosive murderous intent filled the entire hall. The Hidden God Guard numbered Zero-Seven leaped forward, saber swinging, and attacked the Bookkeeper.
Boom!
The massive hall shook. The power of a formation surged forth with flowing immortal light, like the sun rising into the sky.
A turbulent waterfall of raging flames and divine radiance swept toward Zero-Seven.
“Your Excellency, hurry up and retreat!” bellowed the Bookkeeper. He and Su Yi rushed outside of the hall.
Boom!
They’d only just made it outside when the hall collapsed with a bang. A terrifying wave of the formation’s power blanketed heaven and earth, enveloping the entire stretch of land completely.
“That’s quite the formation,” commented Su Yi.
“In recent years, the Four Seas Tower has acquired a large number of Transcendent treasures. This formation is one of them,” said the Bookkeeper, a solemn look on his face. “However, I’m afraid its power won’t be anywhere near enough to suppress a Hidden God Guard.”
He then explained what the Hidden God Guards were.
About twenty years ago, ruins of the age of the End of the Dharma started appearing throughout the stars.
The Tailor sent his forces to the Flying Immortal Forbidden Zone, the Impermeable Demon Ocean, and other danger zones. They’d gathered a large number of treasures and good fortune left over from ancient times.
These treasures included numerous corpses of immortals, as well as Transcendent revenants yet to awaken from dormancy!
Most of the immortal corpses were in pieces. They’d died a long time ago.
And the Transcendent revenants were like silkworm chrysalises. They were completely inert.
But the Tailor nonetheless saw them as precious treasures. He used a secret art called the Stolen Heavens Demon Seed Scripture to turn the immortal corpses into divine materials. He then used the dormant Transcendent revenants as soul bodies to create a set of puppets!
These puppets were different from your typical demonic puppets, corpse puppets, and spirit puppets. They were crafted from numerous fragmented immortal corpses, and each contained the soul body of a Transcendent revenant.
The Tailor called them the Hidden God Guards. Each had strength comparable to a Cloud Soaring powerhouse, and their bodies were all but unkillable.
Furthermore, they were intelligent, and they had all manner of combat abilities.
When Su Yi learned all this, he couldn’t help but frown. They really don’t call him the Tailor for nothing. He actually used immortal corpses and Transcendent revenants to sew a group of terrifying monsters together.
Boom!
Off in the distance, the formation exploded. Firelight swept forth, and a figure shot out of the wreckage.
This was none other than the Hidden God Guard Zero-Seven!
He emanated a strange, terrifying, calamitous aura. His baleful aura filled the air. Shockingly, he was entirely unharmed!
Clang!
As soon as he emerged from the formation, Zero-Seven held his blood-red immortal saber aloft and charged straight for the Bookkeeper.
The edge of his saber struck like lightning, his momentum startling the heavens and moving the earth!
For a moment, even Su Yi's eyes narrowed.
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