When the whistling stopped, what followed was a bottomless silence.
The man called big brother gritted his teeth.
When the whistling was sounding, he had wished for it to stop quickly, but now that it had stopped, an immense anxiety swept in with the silence.
At this rate, someone might impulsively cause trouble.
His brothers beside him were already rolling their eyes and gripping their weapons with trembling hands.
He tightened his abdomen again and raised his voice.
"If you have business with us..."
Clang- one of his brothers dropped his blade on the ground.
When he quickly looked back, he briefly sighed in relief.
The one who dropped his weapon had just been startled by his voice.
'Damn it.' He hurriedly wiped the cold sweat flowing down his forehead.
Their group had extensive experience in everything from kidnapping to human trafficking to contract killing, and had built up quite a reputation.
And the biggest reason they had been able to establish themselves in this field was that they had always tried to avoid any involvement with martial artists.
From the beginning, they never showed their faces in matters that had even the slightest connection to martial artists.
That was their, his survival strategy.
After confirming that his brother had stumblingly picked up his weapon again, he continued speaking.
"If you have business with us, perhaps you could show yourself?"
He felt his clasped hands trembling as he tried to appear as respectful as possible.
Though he had never dealt with them, he had seen martial artists several times before.
How chilling it was when they saw the dark martial artists in their organization who went around emanating killing intent and intimidation.
But he had never felt such a terrible tension as now.
Is this what it feels like to face a martial artist directly? Or,
If not that, are they now facing something fundamentally different?
"...!"
His contemplation was cut short.
A figure revealed itself from the far end of the alley.
That casual gait somehow seemed to overflow with composure.
Though it appeared to be dressed as a scholar, the thick darkness made it impossible to make out detailed features.
But no one was concerned about appearances.
"A gh-ghost?!"
There's a saying about ghost fire.
Originally referring to floating fireballs mainly mentioned in goblin tales, it also meant eyes filled with resentment.
And they had often encountered such eyes.
When taking children from mothers, when killing lovers before their eyes, when 'dealing with' strong-willed women.
But the ghost fire then was just a metaphor.
Absolutely.
'It wasn't talking about actual flames burning in eye sockets!'
His brothers collapsed with screams.
He tried to hold on somehow.
But when 'it' casually approached and smiled at them, showing all its teeth,
He wet himself while standing.
"Hahaha. Yes, it was here."
Its mouth was full of beast-like sharp teeth like saw blades.
"What a delicious smell."
***
"Hmm?"
Yuan Zhaoxian opened his eyes and tilted his head.
He remembered leaving the inn, but after that, he had smelled a delicious fragrance and...
He got up and looked around.
"...An underground tomb?"
The space, lit only by a few faint beams of light from a ceiling of indeterminate height, was filled with stone coffins.
And in each lidless stone coffin lay a corpse, each at a different stage of decay.
And...
"Uuuugh..."
"Eeeuugh...!"
Those corpses were writhing and wailing.
Yuan Zhaoxian casually walked between the coffins, showing interest as he touched the corpses.
"Hmm..."
Such composure.
"Indeed, you must be the Dark Scripture's disciple. Kekeke."
Even at the voice suddenly coming from behind, Yuan Zhaoxian wasn't particularly startled.
It was already beyond what could be called courage.
If one had to describe it, perhaps it was madness.
"Your voice sounds like it has mold growing in your throat, elder."
Turning around, he saw an old man.
An old man wearing rags so worn out it was hard to tell what kind of clothes they originally were.
At Yuan Zhaoxian's words, the old man threw back his head and burst into laughter.
"How accurate!"
The inside of the old man's mouth laughing like a madman was rotted and twisted, and indeed his throat was full of unidentifiable mold.
But even at such a bizarre sight, Yuan Zhaoxian merely clicked his tongue softly.
"If you pay so little attention to oral hygiene, no wonder you don't have any teeth left."
At his response, the old man fell to his knees, pounding the ground as he burst into another round of laughter.
"The more I see you, the more I like you!"
He nodded.
"This time the Dark Scripture has found a proper vessel!"
To which Yuan Zhaoxian said:
"Isn't it rather that the true master has found the demonic artifact?"
At those words, the old man clutched his stomach and burst into another bout of wild laughter.
Rotten bodily fluids mixed with pus flowed from his eyes, nose, and mouth, but at least here and now, no one cared about such things.
The old man kept laughing for a while, even clapping his hands, until finally becoming short of breath and panting heavily.
"...My my, though I've seen all sorts of types over such a long time, I've never seen one like you."
Just then, the old man's eyes narrowed.
"But you know..."
The temperature dropped suddenly.
Even the corpses making all sorts of incomprehensible noises stopped moving.
Even the thin beams of light leaking from the ceiling seemed to grow fainter.
"I'm curious how much you know about the Dark Scripture, to speak so."
"..."
Yuan Zhaoxian closed his mouth.
An ancient demonic artifact.
An object with power strong enough to twist time and send him back to the past.
The absence of causality.
Irrationality.
A scripture of defying heaven, woven by three immortals with their skin, blood, and sinews.
Did he know about this demonic artifact?
Yuan Zhaoxian looked straight into the old man's eyes.
Eyes like glass beads.
Unlike his bizarre and ugly appearance, those eyes were extremely calm and clear.
The eyes of a sage without a trace of madness.
Looking into those eyes, Yuan Zhaoxian respectfully clasped his hands.
"Please teach me."
"...Hooh."
At Yuan Zhaoxian's behavior, the old man let out a small exclamation.
"Usually those who become the Dark Scripture's disciples show two types of behavior here."
The first type were arrogant ones who thought they only lacked 'power.'
And the second type were those so blinded by madness that proper conversation was difficult.
"You are different from them."
The form of address changed from 'fellow' to 'you.'
"Is it anything special to admit what one doesn't properly know and seek teaching?"
At Yuan Zhaoxian's humility, the old man snorted and sat cross-legged in the air.
"I should say the same. The Dark Scripture..."
He looked up at the empty air.
"Even I don't properly know about the Dark Scripture."
Although it wasn't right for someone who had been speaking confidently about not knowing the Dark Scripture well to say this, Yuan Zhaoxian nodded.
"That's the key point."
The old man nodded.
"Indeed, precise."
The old man continued speaking while slowly gesturing in the air.
"This demonic artifact has simply existed since some time, even its origins are unclear in fact."
At those words, Yuan Zhaoxian's eyebrows twitched.
"It boasts itself like this. That there were immortals in ancient times, they became angry, went mad and created it by carving up their bodies, and so on."
The old man pursed his lips.
"But even that can't be certain."
"...Why is that?"
Streams of strange light shot up from the old man's eyes.
The momentary overwhelming pressure was so intense that even Yuan Zhaoxian had to step back.
"Because I too am an immortal."
"...!"
The old man let out a self-deprecating laugh.
"More precisely, I was an immortal."
His aura subsided like a lie.
"...Now I have fallen so low, become less than dust."
Though his aura had subsided, the aftershocks were enough to make the air vibrate.
"Since being trapped in this Dark Scripture, through countless eons of time, I have pondered and studied this demonic artifact."
He saw the old man's hands trembling.
"When I learned one thing, there were two, when I understood two, there were three..."
His gaze wandered through empty space.
"Still I didn't stop, couldn't stop."
His glass-like eyes took on a deep vacant light.
"...But I still don't understand."
Yuan Zhaoxian swallowed hard.
From the beginning, when the Dark Scripture had turned back his time, he had vaguely sensed it.
But for it to trap a being who was once an immortal in its belly, and after eons of research to produce only answers that weren't answers...
"..."
As if peering into an abyss,
He felt dizzy from that unfathomable depth.
"The demonic artifact found its master..."
The old man recited Yuan Zhaoxian's words again, then sighed softly.
"From the past, countless disciples tried to grasp this demonic artifact's reins and become its master but failed..."
His voice dropped low.
"Each and every one of those disciples shone like stars in the night sky."
Yuan Zhaoxian's breath scattered in the air like frost.
"And among them were many greater than me."
Beings greater than one who had attained immortal status.
"And many whose innate talents surpassed mine."
Beings with talents surpassing one who had become an immortal.
An extremely heavy sigh flowed from the old man's lips.
"They all failed. Were devoured."
He raised his head and looked at Yuan Zhaoxian.
"But I see a glimmer of hope in you."
Yuan Zhaoxian's mouth opened heavily.
"...Why is that?"
The old man smiled mysteriously.
"You have just completed the 'initiation ritual.' You are merely at the starting point of this long journey."
At those words, Yuan Zhaoxian asked no more.
His ego wasn't so weak as to need to find hope in others to begin with.
Instead, he asked something else.
"Then what is this initiation ritual?"
At that question, the old man raised his long eyebrows as if surprised.
"You don't know?"
At his words, Yuan Zhaoxian fell into thought for a moment.
Before coming 'here,' he had visited an inn in Luoyang, walked through back alleys, and...
A delicious smell.
And...
Yuan Zhaoxian's eyes widened.
At that reaction, the old man burst into giggles.
Even during this, his gaze remained fixed on Yuan Zhaoxian without any intention of looking away.
Yuan Zhaoxian saw madness filling up those glass-like pupils.
He pointed at Yuan Zhaoxian and asked with certainty:
"You.
Did you not devour them?"