Chapter Thirty-Six: His Tombstone
The Company’s publicly available information on the Taboo Slate contained inaccuracies.
Many Awakened Ones had questioned this, but over the years, the Grotesquery Sequences indicated by the Slate hadn’t been wrong.
No one could provide evidence of the Company tampering with the Slate’s information, not even high-ranking officials within the Company.
As for whether they had or not… at least so far, no one had come forward with definitive proof.
“It’s not entirely false, just… heh, slightly modified.” Auspicious Timing chuckled. “We all know that Authorities are unique, only one being can possess the complete Authority.
“The others… can only obtain a small portion of its power.”
Luo Ling, possessing two Authorities, understood this perfectly. Even she couldn’t fully utilize the power of “Kingdom.”
In her sister’s hands, within the Puppet Ballad’s “Kingdom,” only Authorities could be used effectively, all other abilities suppressed, Awakened Ones as weak as ordinary humans.
But Luo Ling could only restrict the use of abilities, far less powerful than her sister.
“There are nineteen Awakened Ones within the Company who can wield complete Authorities. This number was eighteen until recently. These Awakened Ones are the Company’s most valuable assets, crucial for maintaining control and influencing world events.”
Auspicious Timing continued, “Therefore… their safety is paramount to the Company’s survival.”
“…”
Luo Ling remained silent for a moment, then understood.
Just like Philosopher concealing his Authority, the Company’s high-ranking officials were also hiding their trump cards.
Their Authorities were either obtained from slain High-Risk Grotesqueries or their Sacred Relics.
…All recorded on the Taboo Slate.
Therefore, theoretically, the Taboo Slate revealed their strengths and weaknesses.
And how to… kill them.
“Understanding each other’s limits and weaknesses, grasping the ever-changing battlefield, is the key to victory.”
How could the Company allow such a situation?
Concealment, fabrication… as long as the information wasn’t revealed, their Authorities would remain a secret, a powerful deterrent.
“But concealing so many… how did the Company manage to keep it a secret?” Luo Ling frowned. Nineteen was too many.
There were only fifty Authorities in total, ten of which belonged to the Taboos, practically impossible for humans to obtain or utilize.
After encountering Naraku’s Authority and abilities, Luo Ling understood the true terror of Taboos.
So, if nineteen out of forty Authorities were modified…
“It is quite a large number, so actually, the Company’s modifications aren’t as extensive as rumored. But sometimes… a mix of truth and falsehood is more effective at deceiving.”
Auspicious Timing swayed gently.
“So, Miss Luo Ling, knowing this, are you still sure you want to know the truth? I don’t know if this information is useful to you, but it might bring you misfortune.”
If this information leaked, certain entities would target Luo Ling, seeking to silence her permanently.
Auspicious Timing’s discretion depended on the price. Clearly, Luo Ling couldn’t afford it.
Of course, Auspicious Timing wouldn’t spread this information herself. She had some professional ethics, at least.
“I’m sure.”
Luo Ling nodded.
She had wanted to investigate Philosopher, and knowing more wouldn’t hurt.
As for becoming a target, she wasn’t concerned.
She had plenty of aliases. If she couldn’t handle the situation, she could simply fake her death, or even hide in the Realm of Nothingness. Who would dare to follow her there?
“Heh, such courage, Miss Luo Ling. Very impressive, as expected of someone who dared to enter the Realm of Nothingness as a fourth-order Awakened One.”
Auspicious Timing’s laughter was as clear as a bell, though it would have been better if it weren’t coming from a distorted bonsai.
Her voice turned serious.
“Since you insist, then… the transaction is complete. I’ll tell you what you want to know, and the ‘price’ between us is settled.”
The bonsai’s leaves swayed slightly. Luo Ling felt a strange, oppressive gaze directed at her from an unknown source, as if something had been taken from the plant.
Just like when she signed the contract with the Company, but the source of the gaze wasn’t the same.
However…
The moment the gaze fell upon her, it was devoured by Luo Ling.
The bonsai trembled, and Auspicious Timing’s voice echoed, tinged with resentment, “Miss Luo Ling, you have quite a few secrets, even able to avoid His gaze.
“Heh, the Speakers can no longer do business with you.”
After all, this gaze was a witness to the contract. Luo Ling could even erase this witness. If she made a deal with them, she could break it without repercussions, leaving the other party with no recourse.
“…If I said it wasn’t intentional, would you believe me?” Luo Ling said awkwardly, feeling like she had been caught stealing candy.
“It’s the same, Miss Luo Ling.” Auspicious Timing sighed. “If this favor hadn’t changed hands so many times… forget it.”
Auspicious Timing composed herself and said, “First, before I reveal this information, Miss Luo Ling, what do you think the Taboo Slate is?”
Luo Ling thought for a moment, then replied, “A stone slab?”
“Yes, and no.” Auspicious Timing said gravely. “It’s a tombstone.”
“A… tombstone?” Luo Ling’s eyes widened.
The distorted fruit on the bonsai swayed, as if nodding.
“Indeed, a tombstone of an unknown being, inscribed not only with the Grotesquery Sequences, but also an undecipherable epitaph. But His tomb is nowhere to be found.”
Luo Ling remained silent. Auspicious Timing continued,
“The reason I’m telling you this is because… the inscriptions on this tombstone, known as the Taboo Slate, aren’t in any human language. Therefore, all the information we have on the Grotesquery Sequences is deciphered through certain methods.
“The Company possesses this method, and so do I. The Company’s deciphered version is the publicly available Grotesquery Sequence information. But mine… is slightly different.”
This was why Auspicious Timing was so certain that the Company had concealed and modified the Taboo Slate’s contents. She had seen the original.
“Miss Luo Ling, you said you wanted to see the original Taboo Slate. Do you mean the original inscriptions, before being deciphered, or my deciphered version, without the Company’s modifications? I’ll be upfront, you can only choose one. This favor is only worth that much.”
Auspicious Timing’s tone was gentle, but when it came to her own interests, she was shrewd.
She had her own limits for this so-called favor that could supposedly compel her to do anything.
Just like refusing Fiona’s request, this “favor” wasn’t omnipotent.
Simply put, “the final interpretation belongs to Auspicious Timing.”
If Luo Ling chose the original inscriptions, she could see the truth, but whether she could understand them was another matter.
But if she chose Auspicious Timing’s deciphered version…
Who could guarantee that Auspicious Timing hadn’t tampered with it?
She couldn’t exactly ask her to sign a guarantee, could she?
And whether such a guarantee would be effective was another question…
From her brief interactions with the Speakers, including Auspicious Timing and the Gypsy Woman, Luo Ling had a general understanding of their cryptic ways.
“The original inscriptions.” Luo Ling said.
“You have character, I like that.” Auspicious Timing smiled faintly. “But unfortunately, Miss Luo Ling, we will never have the opportunity to cooperate again. What a pity.”
Auspicious Timing didn’t want to do business with someone who could tear up a contract at any time. The risk was too great. Betting on human nature and trust was a fool’s errand.
Hearing this, Luo Ling recalled the rings the Gypsy Woman had given her, her expression turning strange.
“Perhaps, that’s not necessarily true.”
“Heh.”
Auspicious Timing chuckled noncommittally.
The distorted bonsai withered, instantly turning into dry, decaying wood.
At the same time, a memory fragment, vivid and lifelike, appeared in Luo Ling’s mind.
“This is…”
Within her consciousness, Luo Ling slowly opened her eyes, looking up at the enormous “tombstone,” several stories tall.
—The Taboo Slate.
Perhaps because Luo Ling had only paid for the original inscriptions, everything else in this memory was dim and blurry.
This was normal. If the surroundings of the Taboo Slate were revealed, its location could be deduced. Auspicious Timing didn’t want to offend the Company, a valuable client, because of Luo Ling.
However, Auspicious Timing hadn’t anticipated that Luo Ling could use the Puppet Ballad’s abilities to observe this memory, obtaining far more details than she had intended.
“As expected, I don’t recognize these characters…”
Luo Ling stared at the inscriptions, most of them distorted and incomplete, the epitaph completely scrambled. This wasn’t due to Auspicious Timing’s interference, but its original state.
Indeed, several Sequence positions on the Taboo Slate were empty, not yet manifested in the present world.
Luo Ling frowned, studying the inscriptions for a long time, unable to decipher them.
“Forget it, I was prepared for this.”
Luo Ling sighed, abandoning her attempt to understand the Taboo Slate. She had anticipated this when choosing the original inscriptions.
Just because she couldn’t understand them didn’t mean no one else could.
Like… the leader of the tea party.
“If it’s her, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Even the Company and Auspicious Timing could decipher the inscriptions. The leader, closer to the Grotesque side, should be even more capable. Luo Ling even suspected that the leader knew who this tombstone belonged to.
However, Luo Ling didn’t intend to reveal everything about this memory.
She looked up at the scattered top fifty Grotesquery Sequences and had an idea.
“Although I don’t recognize these characters, I can memorize their shapes.”
Rote memorization was a high school student’s specialty, even without the Puppet Ballad.
She stared at the characters, etching their shapes into her memory.
One, two…
At the third character, Luo Ling frowned.
What was going on?
She felt like… she understood its meaning.
“This is… Chaos… Naraku, the being of Omniscience?”
Luo Ling deciphered the words one by one, surprised by her own understanding.
Like reading a semi-familiar language, initially confusing, but after reading it slowly, the meaning became clear.
“When did I learn this skill of understanding a language just by glancing at it a few times?”
Luo Ling was puzzled. She reached out, touching the tombstone in her memory.
Her hands…
Were covered in grotesque blue-black scales.
“Grotesquery transformation?”
Luo Ling was startled, wanting to withdraw from her consciousness to examine her body.
After the previous incident, she was cautious about this terrifying form, afraid of accidentally devouring a stable Boundary, causing irreversible damage.
Just then, she noticed the last entry on the Slate, a string of understandable words appearing in her mind.
“Sequence 426: ‘Foolish Child’ of This Life.”
She completely understood the inscription.
Without any difficulty, as if it were her native language.
At the same time, Luo Ling realized that her Grotesquery transformation was as severe as during the Boundary collapse.
“Can I only understand these inscriptions in this state?”
Luo Ling paused, a thought forming in her mind. “Could it be that I… have some connection to the one who wrote these inscriptions?”
It was highly likely.
But this wasn’t the time to think about it.
Since she could understand the inscriptions, she should quickly find the information she needed, then examine her body.
Luo Ling looked up, quickly scanning the top fifty Grotesquery Sequences, the High-Risk Grotesqueries wielding Authorities.
Their true names were recorded on the tombstone.
“No information on the Puppet Ballad… it seems Auspicious Timing’s memory fragment is from before the Jiangcheng County incident, and hasn’t been updated.”
Under the Company’s tight security, it was already a miracle that Auspicious Timing had seen the Taboo Slate once. Expecting further updates was unreasonable.
Many Grotesqueries’ true names hadn’t appeared because they hadn’t manifested, or like the Puppet Ballad, had vanished along with an annihilated Boundary.
Although their Authorities could be obtained from their Sacred Relics, their true names wouldn’t appear until they manifested again.
In the Puppet Ballad’s position, the blurry inscription contained only one piece of information.
“A being of ‘Kingdom’.”
Luo Ling searched further up the list.
Finally, near the top, she found what she was looking for.
“Sequence 12: ‘Fate Weaver’ of This Life, wielder of ‘Traveler’.”
Luo Ling immediately recalled the information she had found earlier, the Company’s publicized Grotesquery Sequence information, comparing it to the original inscription.
“Sequence 12: ‘Eternal Nether Lord’ of Chaos, wielder of ‘Submergence’.”
“It’s… not empty.”
Furthermore, “Nether Lord” did exist on the Taboo Slate, ranked thirteenth.
But the Company’s publicized thirteenth Sequence was empty.
…Not concealed, but modified.
One of the few deliberate modifications.
“This means someone within the Company is deliberately concealing Philosopher’s Authority!” Luo Ling’s breath hitched.
Being able to modify the deciphered information meant that this person held a high position within the Company.
Was it a deal with the Harbingers, or… were they a member of the Harbingers?
A chill ran down Luo Ling’s spine.
The former was still manageable, perhaps just a traitor, or a deal between the Company and the Harbingers.
But if it were the latter… a Harbinger member silently infiltrating the Company’s highest ranks, that was a devastating blow to both sides.
The conflict between the Company and the Harbingers was irreconcilable. A secret alliance was impossible.
A Harbinger member reaching the Company’s highest ranks, the damage they could inflict at a crucial moment was unimaginable.
“…I hope this is just a wrong assumption.”
Luo Ling exhaled. Compared to the Company, the Harbingers were far more dangerous.
“I should check on my body.”
Luo Ling withdrew from her consciousness space and opened her eyes.
She wasn’t sitting at the desk, but lying in bed.
Turning slightly, she met a pair of wide, innocent eyes, filled with concern.
“Oh, Miss Luo Ling.”
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