04 February 2023
"Jianying. Do you have a moment to talk?"
The Shengxiao Horse, a man with long dark pink hair and deep blue eyes, approached Jianying, who was strolling around the pagoda headquarters of the Hunter Agency. His hair was styled in a wolf cut at the front, while the back was left shoulder-length and uncut. They had just left the meeting room ten minutes ago from the highest floor of the building.
Jianying stopped, standing five steps apart from the man surnamed Zen before him.
"Guan Zen. What is it?" Jianying kept walking past him, and the man named Guan Zen, who was about the same height and age, walked alongside him.
"Good job."
The corner of Jianying's lips curved slightly upon hearing that from his friend.
"What do you mean?" Jianying asked, not because he didn't understand what his only friend meant, but to make sure he hadn't misheard.
"Making the Shengxiao Snake, An Haocun, a judge of this year's Zhan Dou tournament. Offending everyone. Making them suspect each other without exception. You're planning something, aren't you, Jianying?"
They both turned to the ancient artifact from the Qin dynasty displayed on the main pillar at the center of the pagoda's floor. They were on the fifth floor.
The place looked ancient, filled with temple-like atmosphere, and many dragon carvings decorated the top and bottom corners of the walls. The carvings were golden, made from an alloy of gold. Whoever built this grand pagoda must have been rich enough to lavishly spend money on architectural ornaments alone.
Aside from the bright red walls illuminated by dim yellow lights embedded in the ceiling and floor corners, giving it a mystical feel, there were other carvings: cloud motifs, phoenixes and qilins, or lotus flowers and bodhi leaves engraved on the walls along with the dragons.
The supporting pillars, made of teak wood, were painted bright red both outside and along the circular corridor like a ring. The stairs also spiraled upward like a dragon flying from the first floor up to the fifteenth floor, where the closed room for the branch leaders was located.
The floor, made of wood, was overlaid with uniquely patterned green jade tiles.
Outside, the octagonal pagoda towering over the Qincheng valley mountains stood at 150 meters tall, each side measuring 50 meters long—a grand and monumental size for a religious temple, more like a tower fortress.
Every time Jianying stepped inside the central headquarters pagoda of the Hunter Agency, he always thought: 'The first person to establish this building was Qin Shi Huang from the Qin dynasty era, and it still stands, continuously renovated into modern times. There will never be another building in China that can rival the history embedded within these walls.'
"That artifact…"
"That is the sword used by Emperor Qin Shi Huang, Ying Zheng, to seal away the emperor of Wu. Fuchai, son of Helu." Guan Zen continued.
"The Goujian sword." Jianying murmured, recalling the history of that brutal battle between the two ancient emperors.
A battle that cost ten thousand soldiers' lives against a single being who had become a cursed Arch Witch.
King Fuchai of Wu, who had learned the magic of immortality.
Though ultimately defeated by Goujian, his rival from the neighboring kingdom who avenged his father's death and imprisoned his enemy's soul somewhere, so that immortal Arch Witch could no longer wreak havoc on this earth.
Even so, the seal Goujian created back then was imperfect, and the Arch Witch managed to break free during the Qin dynasty, when Qin Shi Huang ruled.
There, on the great wall stretching from Jiayuguan Fortress in Gansu Province in the west to Shanhaiguan in Hebei Province in the east, meeting the Bohai Sea.
The first emperor to unite China into one empire fought tirelessly for seven days and seven nights against the immortal Arch Witch, wielding the Goujian sword, the ancestral blade of China's rightful emperors.
Until finally, the Arch Witch's soul was sealed once more.
"What do you think, Guan? Does history truly tell the real story?" Jianying asked, remembering that epic tale—a great history that shaped China's most famous wall today.
"What do you mean?"
"That sword." Jianying pointed at the Goujian sword neatly kept inside a glass case. "That magic sword truly defeated an Arch Witch who had learned immortality?"
Guan paused, "Of course that story is real. We've all heard about the Blood Moon incident that turned the American continent into cursed lands. I think the sword's tale is entirely possible," he answered with a nod of certainty.
"If that's the case, doesn't that mean the immortal Arch Witch's soul is still sealed somewhere? What would happen if that Arch Witch breaks free?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Guan replied coldly. "Another great war and catastrophe will follow."
Jianying fell silent at his words.
"I wonder what kind of immortality magic that Arch Witch learned to make mankind fear him so. Did he study the same dark magic as the Grand Witch?" Jianying asked, curious.
"I think it's different. The Grand Witch still needs to move from vessel to vessel, though his soul is immortal. Fuchai, the king of Wu, didn't shift from form to form like the Grand Witch."
"Immortality… Qin Shi Huang even made clay replicas of his own army to commemorate that battle with the immortal being—as a sign of true eternity and remembrance."
They both fell quiet for a moment. Silence filled the room, broken only by their breathing as they stared intently at the Goujian magic sword.
On the sword, there were ancient Chinese characters engraved:
—越王鸠浅 自作用剑—
Which means: "Sword belonging to King Goujian of Yue, made for his personal use."
The golden bronze sword had a unique diamond pattern on its surface.
"A unique magic sword. Usually, magic swords are given mystical, legendary names to display their might. But this one… simply bears the name of its owner." Jianying smiled faintly, noting he himself wore a magic sword at his waist named Shirogami. It sounded cooler than Goujian sword.
"The power of a magic sword depends on its wielder. You know that better than anyone, Jianying—the genius without magic."
Guan Zen patted Jianying's shoulder, his face warm with a friendly smile. They both walked down the spiraling stairs toward the ground floor.
"By the way, what is your real plan, Jianying? Do you suspect us? The Hunter branch leaders as pawns of the Inverted Cross organization you're hunting?"
Guan Zen spoke casually. He was close enough to the bespectacled young man to be called a true friend.
Before Luxia became head of the China division, the title of Taurus constellation was held by Guan Zen himself, inherited from his aging father, Dong Zen. His father now retired and rest in his palace.
During his time as division head, Jianying and Guan often investigated cases together, earning the nickname the Dragon Duo in China's central agency. Even so, Jianying always appeared quiet and dead serious about everything.
"Yes. I have some evidence pointing that way."
"Even the Empress herself?"
"Even the Empress."
Guan Zen burst into laughter at his reply.
"You're too serious, Jianying."
"…"
Jianying didn't answer. He walked toward the exit on the ground floor.
"Guan."
Guan kept walking out the door, while Jianying paused at the entrance.
The man turned to look back.
"Yes?"
"I trust you."
Then Jianying walked past him, lightly tapping his shoulder.
***
"Good afternoon, Sizhu."
Luxia walked into Sizhu's room. There, she saw a young man doing push-ups on the floor.
Sizhu's body was drenched in sweat, droplets falling from his chin onto the wooden floor.
Luxia's lips parted slightly, speechless. She hadn't expected the young man to recover so quickly overnight after three days in critical condition.
"Ah, Luxia."
Sizhu stood up to greet his visitor.
"How are you feeling? Do you feel pain anywhere?"
Luxia stepped closer, stopping just one step in front of him.
Wearing a patient's shirt that hung half open above, Sizhu shook his head without realizing it.
"Thank goodness. It looks like you've fully recovered."
Sizhu nodded.
"What do you want from me, Luxia? My master once told me always to be wary of pretty women."
Luxia smiled with a puzzled expression.
Wary of pretty women?
"You have quite an unusual master, Sizhu." She laughed softly, her lips barely parting, amused by the innocent young man's words.
She walked over to Sizhu's bed and sat on its edge.
"Come here."
Sizhu walked over and sat beside her.
"Sizhu, you heard from Manager Jianying this morning."
"About the tournament?"
Luxia nodded once. "You will participate on behalf of the Chancellor of the Magic Academy, Lang Zen."
"Lang Zen?" Sizhu had never heard that name.
"Yes, he's the grand master of this academy. He said he knows you when I mentioned your name at the meeting this morning. That's why you'll be competing in this year's Zhan Dou tournament, Sizhu."
Sizhu remembered the final line of his master's will.
...Qincheng, go there. I have a friend who will protect you and reveal the true legacy of my vow.
"Where is he?"
Sizhu asked seriously.
***