Seeking Truth with a Sword

Chapter 361 - 315 Ledger

"I went out too late last night. It wasn’t long before an anomaly occurred at the Floating Tower," Jiu Fenghai said, coughing lightly and looking somewhat embarrassed. "In that case, I should be the one to go out and gather information tonight."

"I’ll come with you," Xia Jun stated. "Judging from the reactions of the monks, last night’s situation must have been quite serious. The accident that destroyed the Jialan Sect could happen at any time. I don’t intend to just sit here and wait for death."

Jiu Fenghai’s brow furrowed slightly. "After last night’s incident, those monks will surely strengthen their defenses. It’ll be easier for us to be discovered if two people go out..."

"Ghost Travel Talismans," Xia Jun interjected. "I have two Ghost Travel Talismans, created by a Divine Talisman Master, which allow one to pass through walls, travel underground, and fly."

He has Divine Talismans?

Jiu Fenghai raised an eyebrow. He remembered that the other party was, after all, King Wu from the Zhou Kingdom. It wasn’t unusual for him to possess one or two life-saving items, especially since Ghost Travel Talismans could also be used in the final trial. He immediately agreed.

"TCH."

Seeing the two discussing their nighttime reconnaissance, Sui Yi smacked her lips and couldn’t resist asking Li Ang, who was beside her, "Xiao Ang, when will this hand of mine heal?"

Xiao Ang? What kind of nickname is that?

Li Ang silently complained in his heart, his palm brushing past the bushes as he casually caught a few flying insects. "Injuries to muscles and bones take a hundred days to heal. Senior Sister, you should just take it easy."

"How can I take it easy?" Sui Yi rolled her eyes. "We’re trapped by the Mountain Guarding Array and can’t leave. Plus, knowing that our end is near, it would be a miracle if I could feel at ease. Speaking of which, how come you’re not worried at all? Aren’t you concerned about being trapped in this era?"

"Because worrying is useless," Li Ang replied casually. "It’s not as if worrying for a while will make the problem solve itself, right? Besides, I don’t believe there’s a possibility of being ’trapped in this era.’"

"Hm?" Sui Yi paused. "What do you mean?"

"If we truly remain in the Late Sui and can’t return, then our names should exist in history. For example, as renowned strategists and capable officials serving Yu Gaozu or Great Ancestor Yu, or perhaps as a Doctor in the Academic Palace—I don’t believe we would remain nameless, submerged in the vast river of history."

Li Ang spoke indifferently, "Since the history books don’t mention us, there are only two possibilities. First, we successfully return to the Yu Country of three hundred years later. Second, we die right here in the ruins of the Jialan Sect. There’s no third possibility."

At these words, Sui Yi pressed her hand on her sword hilt and fell silent.

SWISH.

Li Ang carelessly tossed the flying insects into the bushes, his mind a torrent of thoughts. He hadn’t told Sui Yi the complete truth, because there was another possibility: this could be a parallel world.

If I carve some ambiguous prophecies about the future onto several dozen solid stone tablets, urging them to prevent the academic exchange that would happen over three hundred years in Yu history, and bury the tablets one or two meters underground on the Mountain of Mind and Heart... By normal historical progression, a study team from the Academic Palace two hundred years later should discover a multitude of stone tablets. They would be shocked by the content and strive to prevent the academic exchange ahead of time. Thus, I would never come to the Mountain of Mind and Heart, nor would I have the chance to bury the stone tablets. This creates a time paradox.

Li Ang rubbed the bridge of his nose. He had thought that after reading so many books in the Academic Palace’s Book Collection Pavilion, his understanding of Aliens was quite profound. But as it turned out, the professors’ teachings were correct—never try to understand anomalies with human reasoning. He could only pin his hopes on Mo Si now...

Night had fallen. In the courtyard of the guest wing, monks holding lanterns still patrolled back and forth relentlessly.

Perhaps realizing that the explanation of a landslide wouldn’t convince everyone, the Jialan Sect had simply ordered its monks to patrol at night. They also installed wooden bolts on the inside and outside of the pilgrims’ room doors to prevent anyone from venturing out after dark.

However, such ploys were naturally insufficient to stop cultivators.

Xia Jun took out two talismans with markings like iron strokes and silver hooks from his bosom, took a deep breath, tossed one to Jiu Fenghai, and, with a pained expression, activated the talismans.

Their figures rapidly dimmed and faded, like shadows on a paper window, leaving only blurry outlines.

They nodded to the others, passed through the walls, and stood side by side in the darkness of the alleyway.

"Where to?"

"The Grand Hall."

The two of them glided silently, sticking to the shadows.

Meanwhile, Li Ang, leaning against the windowsill, also flicked his fingers in the darkness, awakening distant mosquitoes.

The Fifth Stage Mo Si could parasitize small creatures and remotely control them like puppets.

Now was the best time to test this new ability.

BUZZ BUZZ—

In the bushes, more than a dozen mosquitoes took flight, heading in different directions.

Some flew towards the Floating Tower, others towards the Scripture Pavilion and the Grand Hall, and still others towards the supervisor’s office.

What was the quickest way to understand the Jialan Sect?

Aside from kidnapping an abbot for a harsh interrogation or storming the Floating Tower, the next best thing was to check the supervisor’s records.

The supervisor was the temple’s general manager, in charge of all its affairs. Every matter, whether it concerned monk discipline or pilgrim donations, had to be recorded at the supervisor’s office.

Li Ang controlled the mosquitoes, guiding them past the drowsy old monk in the supervisor’s office and into the warehouse behind it. He was immediately taken aback by what he saw.

Inside, thirty large bookshelves stood, each piled high with scroll-shaped volumes. In the corners were even more wooden boxes, also crammed with scrolls.

The Jialan Sect has five supervisor’s offices, and this is just one of them. Trying to find clues here could take an eternity!

Li Ang complained internally while controlling the mosquitoes to burrow into the scrolls. As they quickly browsed the contents, he soon discovered something.

"Records concerning the monks only constituted a small portion; the majority were actually account ledgers."

The Jialan Sect’s banking operations extended throughout the world, making them wealthy enough to rival a nation. Their assets included commercial firms, land, temples, taverns, pharmacies, spice, and textiles.

Of this vast wealth, only three-tenths eventually reached the Jialan Sect’s headquarters. The remaining seven-tenths were used for several purposes. A portion covered allowances for monks in the various temples and maintained the temple-bank operations. Substantial funds were also required for holding religious ceremonies and distributing food widely to maintain their influence among the common people. Furthermore, money was spent on ’buying peace’ through gifts to court officials at various levels and to other Cultivation Sects, to avoid trouble.

The sheer volume of personal connections and financial transactions resulted in a staggering number of account ledgers. However, the paper records stored in this supervisor’s office were not as numerous as one might expect, and the oldest ones dated back only three years.

With such a complex network of interests, even if you brought four or five hundred experienced accountants and actuaries, they might not be able to sort it out. How did the Jialan Sect manage to understand it all with just a few dozen people? And why are there only records from the last three years? Were the records before that completely discarded?

Li Ang pondered deeply, suddenly recalling something.

The Bookworm Immortal.

This rare and unusual Demon was used three hundred years later in the Academic Palace as a massive backup library, a combined browser and indexer, and a tool for checking academic papers for plagiarism.

The Jialan Sect would need the help of the Bookworm Immortal to make sense of the accounts.

Li Ang immediately controlled the mosquitoes to search the warehouse more carefully. Finally, within a compartment of a bookshelf, he found a plump worm that looked very much like a silkworm.