Chapter 110: The Truth Gate (Part 2/2)
Translator: Strivon
Zheng Xiao was speechless for a time. He came back to reality when An Weng got into position and the spell formations atop the three buildings began to calibrate and operate.
An Weng, are you amused sir?
If this was true, news of the imminent opening of the Gate of Truth would soon begin circulating within the Order of Justice. It was said that through this mystical gate, one could see this order's holy entity, the true body of The Scales of Truth. The gate opens the way to the paramount authority, allowing supreme knowledge to be obtained.
Zheng Xiao was the First Oblatum in charge of missionary matters in the region. This concept was the product of brainwashing spread by the preaching of their priests. They used the recent earthquake in Xia City and borrowed a few words from the order's doctrine to create these rumors. They claimed that the Gate of Truth was located near Xia City. The days of several earthquakes that had happened one after another was an interacting reaction; the holy entity was coming unceasingly closer to the material world.
Priests of the Order of Justice's secular side had to spread similar talk every year. They had to recruit believers and expand the influence of their order. Strange sights were not surprising for Zheng Xiao.
Their order just so happened to seize new ground in analyzing and exploiting the Human-Faced Arachnid. Their research was making great progress. Soon, they would push out new Faith Products. Zheng Xiao wanted to ride this momentum, so he did not set many restrictions on the rumors spread by their priests.
These rumors were such nonsense. An Weng was chasing the wind and clutching at shadows. He could not really believe these rumors, right? They could not possibly bind down Fairchild's hands and legs with this?
"The old man is out of his mind!" The other First Oblatum, An Chengli, messaged Zheng Xiao through a private channel.
Zheng Xiao did not go along with him. An Chengli's words may not have been polite but this was just how An Weng's grand-nephew was. Normally, An Chengli put on a bright face and relied on his family elders to forge alliances with others. Who knows what sort of context was going on in the background.
Moreover, Zheng Xiao did not believe that there was a problem with An Weng's mind.
An Weng may be a Secretbound First Oblatum but his seniority exceeded that of ninety percent of Mindseer First Oblatums. He could have been more but he was already at an old age when he had received the revelations from the holy entity. His fleshly body could not bear it and limited his success.
Even though things were this way, every priest and cardinal in the order had to greet An Weng when they saw him, and this included even the great Archoblatum. With the passage of time, An Weng’s original name had long since been forgotten.
An Weng had never disgraced the honorific Weng, which meant an elderly wise man. An Weng may be a centenarian old man with an utterly decrepit body but his understanding of the current state of affairs was clear and deep. His understanding exceeded that of these Clearsworn First Oblatums.
At the very least, Zheng Xiao felt inferior to this old man. He was forced to think a layer deeper. Were there deeper meanings within An Weng's words?
Zheng Xiao recalled some pertinent records in his memories. According to the order's holy scriptures, the opening of the Gate of Truth marked the start of the transformation of the world. Last time it happened, mutants engulfed the globe. The earth's ecology was completely altered and the shackles that locked the hidden potential of humanity were destroyed. The earth had received a revelation.
He had no doubts that the next time the gate of truth opened, humanity and the world would be transformed once again. As for whether prosperity or destruction laid in the future, none of that was stated explicitly within the holy scriptures.
No matter what direction the transformation, this was a matter that shook the world. If this information turned out to be true, the upper levels of their order would have exploded with commotion. The order's Holy Cardinals, Mindseer First Oblatums, Great First Oblatums, and even the elusive and mystical Archoblatum would get involved. They would clear their calendars and gather at Xia City. Xia City was now a turbulent place, of rising winds and scudding clouds. But the current situation was not that crazy. It was not possible for this to be true, right?
Oh, hold on! If it's the Gate of Truth, if Xia City was really going through turbulent developments, what sort of benefits could the Order of Justice obtain? If things really did turn big like the so-called butterfly effect, the government, the army, the ability user society, and the major financial powers may get involved. The Order of Justice was not going to wait and split the gains with all these powers, right?
Zheng Xiao suddenly shivered when his thoughts reached this point. His entire body was trembling unconsciously, even though he was wearing thick black robes. This was not a symptom of fear. It was brought on by sudden feelings of excitement and stress.
"An Weng, sir, are you saying that the Gate of Truth is actually real?"
"Is it real? Is it fake?" An Chengli was curious about what Zheng Xiao was talking about. He could not help but interject. "Why hasn't there been any news about this from up top?"
Even if there was news, it would not be given down to members on their level.
Zheng Xiao had always harbored some suspicions. He believed that An Weng had called him here for a reason. Was it because An Weng knew that his greatest strength was his self-awareness? Did An Weng call him here to form a team with An Chengli, a young First Oblatum who’s ambitions exceeded his abilities?
Although An Chengli had many faults, he was not stupid. He asked with a rapid fire of words, "An Weng, does the great Archoblatum have a holy command? If the Gate of Truth is really going to open soon, do we have the time and place yet? Is today's matter just a pretext?"
That is true. Could it all be just a pretext?
Zheng Xiao was unable to make a definite sense of things for a time. It seemed that they really were using the conflict with Fairchild and the internal strife of their order as a facade to cover up their true intentions. This way, the powerful members of the secular side and the truth side of the Order of Justice could amass in Xia City without suspicion. They could form an absolute advantage over the other powers... Then what was today's deployment all about?
Once in awhile, An Chengli made an excellent partner, especially when his brain was in high gear. He scrambled to speak out Zheng Xiao's suspicions, "If things are really this way, then we are to be stagehands for this play?"
"Fairchild is quite the fitting character. How credible do you think this pretext is?" An Weng had answered only one question, yet it spelled out many matters quite clearly.
Zheng Xiao and An Chengli were both silent. They needed more time to digest all of this.
The rain fell harder and harder into the night. Though the drizzle was blocked off by the top of the rooftops, they could still hear the low splattering sound of falling raindrops.
An Weng did not give these two much time to think. Soon, their mental domains trembled as black light and white lines interweaved to form the classical structure of a balance scale. It manifested in the deep void that ordinary people would find hard to see and it declared its existence towards these two people.
The black and white plates on each side were each connected by three chains of their respective colors. The frame in the center allowed the two sides to serve as foils for one another. The base below was thick and heavy. There was nothing else to the structure besides the aforementioned parts. It was concise and simple.
This was none other than the projection of the Scales of Truth. It acted as the paramount holy entity of their order. No matter the place, the time, or the circumstances, all must be respectful towards it. The two First Oblatums bowed and recited scriptures in silence, thus temporarily clearing the distracting thoughts from their minds.
Right now, the Scales of Truth were not in a balanced state. It was as if there was something heavy on the white plate, which caused it to sink all the way to the bottom. The black plate on the other side was raised high up. It gave off the sense that it could topple over at any moment.
This unbalanced state was the original indicator of their order's powerful mantra. Everything they were doing was for the sake of bringing this unbalanced state back to a balanced state. This process would bring them mystical powers that were unimaginable.
However, this time there were some oddities with the state of the Scales of Truth. The white plate, which was pressed far down, appeared to be completely empty. At the very least, not a single object could be seen on it. On the other side, there was a tiny snake atop the raised black plate. It was as thin as a chopstick and its body was coiled up in a circle. Its mouth bitted its tail and murky clouds churned around it.
This tiny ouroboros snake was the manifestation of the Words of Krait. It symbolized the negative force of suffering they presently controlled within Frost River Reality. It was something they needed to endlessly adjust to achieve balance with the scales. It was the only weight they could manipulate.
However, if they looked at the state of imbalance, it seemed that this weight was not enough.
"It appears that the Words of Krait's operation is not running smoothly." Actually, Zheng Xiao wanted to ask what sort of offering was placed on the white scales, for the truth side.
An Chengli asked, "The Krait's absorption is being interfered with. Are the ability users inside Frost River Reality up to some mischief?"
An Weng did not express an opinion. "Let us take a look then."