EnCoffin Me Chapter 23
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 23
“When did you start suspecting?” Alexio asked. In his eyes, Zhu Heng was a pretty decent person. He had even made him soup before, and his cooking was superb, but…
The cold nature of the vampire race made him prefer interesting people, though it would never make him trust them. Vampires were hard to kill, and Alexio, blessed with divine favor, was even more so. Conventional methods wouldn't work on him. As long as someone was interesting enough, he could tolerate having a person harboring murderous intent around for decades.
But he truly hadn't sensed any killing intent from Zhu Heng. He didn't understand how the lunatic had come to that conclusion.
“I started checking after coming back from the griffin training ground at the military headquarters,” Lucius said. “Anyone you had contact with before that, even just passing by, could have sprinkled the powder that enrages the griffins. Marshal Olsen found two people at the base with thorn tattoos, but neither had any contact with us.
“So it has to be someone from the conservation center…” Alexio mused. In an instant, he ran through the faces of everyone he encountered daily. He didn't remember most names, but he could recall every face, even the slightest trace of aura and emotion they had when they first met.
“But I didn't…”
…sense anyone harboring ill will toward me.
“The Holy Temple has methods specifically for dealing with dark creatures sensitive to emotional will,” Lucius said, looking deeply at Alexio. “For example, you can't sense my emotions right now. That's the result of special training.
“Some dark creatures rely entirely on emotional perception to seek advantage and avoid harm, like the sirens. To exterminate them, you absolutely can't reveal your emotions.”
Although they were on opposing sides, Alexio had to give credit to the former Holy Temple. The self-evolution of dark creatures was extremely slow, but the Holy Temple's measures were constantly updated. If they kept advancing like this, the Holy Temple might actually wipe out the majority of dark creatures for another thousand years.
“If Zhu Heng is connected to the Holy Temple of this era, then it's going to be a problem,” Alexio said with a headache. “Many dark creatures rely on his guidance, including Lucy. He's currently the head of the conservation center's medical department, trusted for years without fail. Our mere suspicions alone won't shake his position.”
Lucius was silent for a long time, leaving Alexio feeling puzzled.
“What's wrong?”
“I was thinking, it's clearly my suspicion, yet you said ‘our suspicions.’”
Alexio grew even more confused.
“Isn't it because you suspected that I started to suspect?”
“Then why did you start to suspect when I suspected?”
“Nonsense! If you suspected, of course I'd have to suspect!”
“……”
The saint showed an incredulous expression. He really couldn't understand the vampire's logic. Was the vampire's judgment based on his own thoughts?
“Even if I suspected, you don't have to.”
“Why not?!”
“……”
The logic was completely breaking down! Lucius took a deep breath, trying to sort out this reasoning.
“What I mean is, you can rely on your own judgment to form your suspicion.”
“Is your judgment patented? Why can't I base my suspicion on yours?”
“……”
“You're just too baffling.”
Who exactly was baffling!
“…Fine. Our suspicions.”
Seeing this reluctant compromise, Alexio grew a bit angry. He rolled up his sleeves and sat down on the coffin. Even if he didn't sleep tonight, he was going to get this sorted out!
“Dare you say it's not because I had no guard against Zhu Heng that you suspected Zhu Heng might be skilled at concealing his emotions, possibly taught by the current era’s Holy Temple, and therefore should be suspected?”
Lucius thought it over. He did pay close attention to everyone Alexio cared about, and Alexio's high opinion of Zhu Heng, even that bowl of soup he never forgot, was almost infuriating. So, the origin of his suspicion really was Alexio's attitude. After noticing this, he had deliberately approached Zhu Heng a few times and sensed that Zhu Heng likely bore a Holy Temple tattoo, originating from the same source as his own.
Holy Temple personnel all had thorn tattoos, with variations depending on their roles. Lucius, who held a high status, bore the thorned cross tattoo, which gave him the ability to sense the tattoos on lower ranks. After ten thousand years, the Holy Temple tattoos had changed somewhat, so he had to be extra careful to detect their presence.
“So the source of suspicion is me,” Alexio continued summarizing. Lucius nodded slightly.
“So it's actually my suspicion!”
Exactly… No, wait! What kind of bandit logic was that?
“Let's drop this topic,” Lucius said, not wanting the argument to drag on all night. “Let's meet halfway. Our suspicions.”
Alexio reluctantly agreed.
“Fine. We'll be each other's measure of judgment. No more arguing… What's wrong with you?”
The most fitting summary had already been casually spoken by the vampire.
He used Alexio's reactions as his standard of judgment, and Alexio used his judgement in turn as the final conclusion. Even if they argued through the process, they always returned to the most unified answer in the end. Lucius didn't know what their relationship had come to in the past, but this tacit understanding made him feel comfortable now.
“It's nothing.” That was what he would have answered had it still been the age of opposing forces ten thousand years ago. Even if he'd noticed this unspoken understanding between them, he would've denied it without hesitation. Too much stood between him and the vampire, making honesty impossible. But now, he could be sincere.
Alexio saw the saint suddenly look up, his beautiful sky-blue eyes steeped in the scent of roses.
“We have a great understanding,” the saint said.
Alexio suddenly felt as if those eyes burned him. He quickly turned his head away but then thought such a gesture was too weak. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to look back and met the saint's gaze directly.
“Of course. After a few hundred years, if we didn't have some understanding, I'd have cut you off already.”
The saint smiled faintly, an expression Alexio rarely saw. Even the lunatic smiled, but those smiles always hid things Alexio couldn't grasp, sometimes even frightening him. This smile was different. At least Alexio felt a bit infected by it, and his expression relaxed.
“So, what do you want to do?”
“Wait and see,” the saint said. “Zhu Heng is quite an important piece. The conservation center isn't an easy place to infiltrate. We can wait and see what he intends to do. However, if his target…”
“Is me,” Alexio finished. “That would be a pity.”
“Yes, a pity indeed.”
If someone really tried to strike at a third-generation vampire, the outcome would definitely be interesting.
“I won't keep you from resting. We'll keep each other updated if there's news. I'm heading back first.” Alexio jumped down from the coffin, landing lightly, then turned to the saint still leaning against it. “Can't sleep yet? If not, increase the dosage a bit. At least Zhu Heng won't mess with you in that regard.”
The saint closed his left eye and nodded slightly. Alexio had a strong feeling he was still hiding something. That kind of secrecy was all too familiar. The person sitting across from him was like that gloomy lunatic from the past, looking at him with eyes he couldn't understand, always holding back certain words.
Now it was like this again. Alexio knew the lunatic's thoughts were more complex than most people's, and he could understand that. But he felt things were different now. The lunatic had lost his past memories, becoming less twisted. They no longer had to stand as enemies. They had just exchanged intelligence about a common enemy. Alexio thought… this could be a new beginning between them.
“Is there anything you want to tell me?”
He asked at last.
Just this one more question. He thought if things were still like before, then so be it.
Silence followed. The saint turned his head to hide his left eye, as if enduring something. Alexio took a deep breath and exhaled, his attempt to mimic human physiology gradually faltering because he felt tired. The false beat in his chest gradually slowed with each step he took. His hand touched the door, and his last heartbeat finally eased to stillness.
No matter how much he tried to imitate, he could never truly be close to a human. Old habits were hard to break. Perhaps this was the inevitable gap between him and the lunatic.
The door opened, and the light from outside rushed in. Soon, the dimness of the room would be left behind, along with those dark years from ten thousand years ago.
“…Alexio.”
His heartbeat began to revive.
The vampire's footsteps halted. This was the first time since his resurrection that he'd heard the saint call his name.
Alexio turned around. The saint was still leaning against the coffin, one hand covering his left eye. He instinctively stepped back a few paces. He had never seen the lunatic show this expression before. Even if the lunatic had lost a hand, he would never cry out in pain.
“Do you still remember the discussion we had, about ‘is light good, is the Holy Temple good’?”
Alexio recalled it for a moment and almost smiled.
“You've been stuck on that? I was just speaking casually. When your memories fully return, you'll naturally start questioning the Holy Temple. No need to rush…”
“But I'm already questioning it now.”
Alexio looked at the printed document the saint handed him, marked heavily with annotations. He took the paper. It dealt with the balance of light and darkness. Since his resurrection, Alexio had seen countless discussions on this topic, so this article was nothing special. Puzzled, he looked up.
“Is there a problem? Doesn't it just talk about… the imbalance of light and darkness, and advocate for protecting dark forces?”
Lucius nodded slightly, a few strands of his tied platinum-blonde hair falling over his shoulder.
“But the imbalance is the current reality. As for its cause, scholars of this era can only offer guesses. It was only when I reorganized the myths of the primordial goddess Freyna that I discovered some clue.”
Alexio noticed the saint's hand slowly clench into a fist. He rarely saw the lunatic like this. The man was usually inscrutable, unfathomable, or simply a headache for him.
“The scholars of this era obviously can't figure out the cause, because they don't know about the Holy Temple's deployment from ten thousand years ago. That plan existed before I was born. I used to think it was simply a scheme to weaken the dark forces, one that just happened to be implemented in my era…” Lucius' voice wavered slightly. He took a deep breath, trying to steady the sorrow and anger threatening to spill over. “The Holy Temple's millennium-long grand scheme ended in our era. That's the root of the balance's collapse.”
“Guarded by the werewolves, Behemoth of the earth. Protected by the lich, Leviathan of the sea. Worshipped by the eastern faction, Qizhi of the sky.”
Alexio caught on too. His pupils constricted.
“The three pillars of darkness born of the Goddess… I thought they were just myths…”
“I thought so too,” Lucius said, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes. “Until now. The truth is right before me. The Holy Temple fulfilled its long-cherished wish ten thousand years ago. The three races were nearly wiped out, and of course, the three pillars collapsed.”
He swept the stack of documents off the coffin, sending white papers fluttering and scattering across the floor.
“And so came the firestorm that ended the world.”