The Bridge of Light and Dark

Hearing Weiyefu's first question, Xialuote's heart—which had just begun to relax now that the battle was over—climbed back into her throat. She was certain she did not know this evil cultist who was also an official at the Municipal Hall. At least, his face appeared nowhere in the month she had lived here, nor in the seventeen years of memories belonging to the original Xialuote. Still, a portion of the night she had arrived in this world was missing from her recollection, and if the spirit mediumship drew the name "Xialuote Suolun" out of Zhuli'an on the spot, she had no idea how she would explain that to Weiyefu. She could hardly tell her that she was in fact a transmigrator, and that nothing which happened before that night had anything to do with the person she was now... The spirit body floating above Zhuli'an's corpse stayed silent for several seconds, expression blank, as though searching its memory before it spoke: "Aidian Ma'ersuo... Luna Le Mei..." The first was indeed Aidian, the one who had come looking for her as his sacrificial offering. But from the second name onward, Xialuote had no recollection at all. It was only after the fifth name that Zhuli'an slowly continued: "And also, 'the Supervisor.'" The Supervisor... was that a code name, or a position? Xialuote tilted her head to glance at Weiyefu, who happened to be looking her way as well; Weiyefu lowered her voice to explain: "Luna is the woman in black who ambushed you at the printing plant that day. But these names don't include the other attacker." The gray-clothed man disguised as a beggar wasn't among them? Was he not a member of the same evil cult organization as Zhuli'an, Aidian and the others? Yet at the time they had clearly been dividing the work and cooperating... Xialuote thought it over for a while without reaching any conclusion, and could only commit the remaining names to memory. If they had no more secret means of communication to warn one another, and the Eternal Blazing Sun's Inquisition moved in time, they might catch a few more targets and gain more information. Having spoken those names, Zhuli'an's spirit body fell silent again, showing no further desire to express anything, though each time those half-transparent eyes settled on Xialuote, a trace of resentment still surfaced in them. Such a spirit body should retain the most extreme emotions from life, along with most of its memories; otherwise it could not answer questions. Unfortunately, with the spirituality of an "Arbiter" like hers, she could not use this kind of ritual magic on her own, unless she prepared a sacrificial offering or borrowed outside power, like those evil cultists... At that thought, Xialuote realized that this need for power might be where many evil cultists first went astray. She quickly reined in her thoughts and looked toward Weiyefu, who was likewise silent. The latter wasted little time, and soon asked her second question: "Who is the Supervisor, and where is the Supervisor located?" That sounded like two questions... Xialuote was briefly taken aback, then realized Weiyefu was taking a risk by fusing two questions into one. If it worked, they would harvest more information. Zhuli'an's spirit body showed no reaction to the form of the question, and simply went on answering: "She is a woman who calls herself 'the Supervisor'... Each time we met, I could never see her face clearly. She came to Suxite this January and told us to prepare a sacrifice, then left again, without saying where she lived or where she would go." Having said that, he did not vanish, but fell silent once more, waiting for the next question. So Weiyefu's gamble had paid off; unfortunately, the answer was not worth much. They only knew that the other party was female, not a native of Suxite, and evidently ranked a level above Zhuli'an and the other cultists... Could it be that the evil cult organization also had local branches under common governance, and that the Supervisor did not stay long in any one place, deliberately hiding her identity and movements so that if one member was caught, more would not be implicated? As Xialuote marveled at this, she caught from the corner of her eye Weiyefu taking a standard-issue holy water bottle from her pocket and holding it out to her. "Open the mouth of the bottle, and wait for my move." Xialuote thought for a moment and understood that the last question could be dangerous. She asked nothing further, only took the glass bottle, pulled out the cork, took a firm grip on the bottle, and stood beside Zhuli'an's corpse. Weiyefu raised her right hand, palm upward, and a brilliant radiance gathered in it, like a small sun caught in her fist. Only after confirming that Xialuote was ready did she speak, sunlight cupped in her hand: "The being you worship is?" At the question, Zhuli'an's formerly indifferent expression changed. A fanatical emotion flowed across his face, and his hollow eyes took on a glow, as though the faith buried deep in his heart had been called forth: "Of course, the bridge of light and dark, the gap between black and white, the ever-unfixed..." Before he could finish the third of his titles, the radiance in Weiyefu's palm abruptly burst, shooting toward Zhuli'an's spirit body in midair as a concentrated beam. At the same instant Xialuote flung the holy water. The transparent liquid landed on the corpse and immediately sent up a sheet of white smoke. Zhuli'an's voice cut off. The half-transparent spirit body twisted and shattered rapidly amid the flames of light, dispersing from the room, leaving only the bloodstains on the carpet, the smell of burning candles, and a wind within the Wall of Spirituality that surged briefly and then subsided. Only after confirming that no new abnormality had appeared did Weiyefu withdraw her hand, offer praise to the Eternal Blazing Sun that had aided the ritual, and dismiss the Wall of Spirituality. ———— In the carriage returning to Saint Luoke Cathedral, Xialuote still sat facing Weiyefu. This "Sun Priest" had draped the gray linen robe back over herself and wrapped her golden hair in a plain silk scarf, but having just gone through a battle and a spirit mediumship ritual, she no longer carried the unobtrusiveness of her maid disguise; instead she gave off a gentle, reassuring air. Zhuli'an's corpse would be handled by Yelun and Qiao'er, while the work of cleaning up the scene would be handed to the constables cooperating with the Church's operation. This kind of coordination spared the Purifiers from wasting energy on ordinary matters, and was already a mature procedure among official Beyonders. Naturally, that strange dagger—a Sealed Artifact that had drained a great deal of blood from the dead—was once again handed to Weiyefu. As team captain, she would return it to the church, where it would be properly sealed away and studied separately. What a waste of a fine weapon... Xialuote thought with regret, watching the Municipal Square recede beyond the window, and could not resist asking in a low voice: "If that title had been spoken in full just now, what would have happened?" Weiyefu glanced at her and answered: "The Church has wiped out many evil cult organizations. The vast majority of them merely wanted to amass money or satisfy private desires, inventing nonexistent deities for people to worship. Those false titles, or Honorable Names, are usually harmless. "But there are a few organizations that, intentionally or not, directed their prayers toward certain evil beings that genuinely possess power. And the corresponding Honorable Name, emblem, even simply an impression left in the mind, may establish a connection between you and Them." A chill ran through Xialuote's heart, and she pressed on: "What happens if a connection is established?" "At the lightest, the body is wounded and the mind thrown into confusion; in serious cases, corruption causes loss of control, or one is imperceptibly corroded into becoming one of Their followers." Weiyefu's tone was uncharacteristically grave, as if worried Xialuote would not take the matter seriously. "So when conducting spirit mediumship on evil cultists, we generally do not combine it with dream divination. Divining in dreams lets you see more details and ask more questions, but if in that state you see what should not be seen, or hear what should not be heard, you may not be able to withdraw in time." So this was the experience the Church had distilled over a thousand years... Xialuote nodded slowly and committed the detail to memory. The target of one's petitions in divination, spirit mediumship, and ritual magic was best limited to the orthodox gods, and especially one's own deity. Even if no revelation came, there would be no danger. As for that "bridge of light and dark," it did not sound like any normal being. An entity that demanded living sacrifice and tolerated its followers killing people—whether or not it truly ranked among the gods—could never be any kind of benevolent deity. Combining this with the information just obtained, Zhuli'an should belong to a local group that included Aidian and Luna, and above him stood a "Supervisor" who did not stay long in Suxite. For now it was impossible to determine whether that was a position, a code name, or a characteristic of some pathway, but if the others were caught, they might be able to keep tracing upward. And at the very top of these evil cultists was that evil being whose Honorable Name was incomplete... Weiyefu would surely report it, putting the Eternal Blazing Sun Church's Inquisitions and Purifiers in every region on guard against similar events and setting them to find out where the Supervisor was located. At that thought, Xialuote suddenly remembered something else. Weiyefu had seemed to have some advance preparation for Zhuli'an's abilities, and her responses during the battle had been quite targeted, as if she had long since grasped the powers of that pathway. In that case, why had she so easily gone chasing a false shadow out the window? Could it be that she had not been deceived at all, but merely suspected that Xialuote had ties to the evil cult, and so had deliberately given the two of them a chance to be alone? Perhaps Weiyefu had not gone far at all, but hung there outside the windowsill listening in... The more Xialuote thought about it, the more likely it seemed, and a thread of displeasure rose in her heart. But then she reflected that she had only recently become a peripheral member, and was directly connected to that sacrificial ritual besides; the Church could not possibly trust her completely. To have been given an Arbiter potion and a certain degree of freedom already counted as preferential treatment. I really do have to keep building trust... But in that other place, the credit I have with Father has already sunk to rock bottom... She sighed inwardly, then recalled that moment of satisfaction and calm when she killed Zhuli'an, and realized that right now—so soon after fighting alongside them and earning merit—was the perfect moment to ask a question. So she weighed her words and asked: "Madam Weiyefu, is there any technique to mastering the power of a potion?" Weiyefu's emerald eyes rested on her for a few seconds before half closing as she answered: "No potion is named at random. Each one is a core symbol left behind after generations of Beyonders explored, experimented, and distilled. You can think about how to better master it from that direction." Without Hengli's reminder, without that remark of her father's about "acting the Hunter," this answer might have sounded to Xialuote like nothing more than ordinary advice. But now she clearly realized that Weiyefu knew the deeper answer, and for some reason could not say it outright, and could only help Xialuote by hinting at it obliquely. After a moment of silence, Xialuote worked up her courage and asked: "Do you mean I have to 'act' as an Arbiter?" Weiyefu's eyes, which had been half closed, opened again. She looked at Xialuote quietly, neither admitting nor denying. And to Xialuote, that was as good as an admission. So acting really was the core point of mastering a potion! ———— Luosaier Gusitafu sat at his desk, the diary spread open before him—a diary in Chinese that only he could read. He dipped his quill into the ink, paused for a few seconds over the paper, and then, in the sunlight coming through the window, wrote a new page: "March 16th, Sunday. "Just the day before yesterday, I became a 'Savant.' With the power of the potion, I actually recalled completely all the knowledge I had learned before. "All knowledge!"