Chapter 58: 57 The Hanged Man

57 The Hanged Man

“Is this… death?”

Seeing the golden toad statue on the altar lose its golden luster and turn dull as a clay idol, the few people in the secret chamber stared in shock.

“How is this possible?!”

One middle-aged man with golden hair reacted most violently; he stared at the cracked toad statue and said in disbelief:

“I investigated him thoroughly! Old Charles was nothing but an ordinary man, aside from his sharp business sense—how could he possibly resist the Holy Spirit of the Scale Gold Sect? Something must have happened over there that we don’t know about!”

“You don’t know a lot of things!”

A gray-haired elder with a rose emblem embroidered on his chest, heartbroken at the shattered statue, slammed his fist on the table and roared at the middle-aged man with fury:

“Thomas! We agreed from the start: once you toppled Charles Department Store, the Lyon family would join the York family in investing to expand our Masei family’s department store.

We gave you shares in Rose Department Store! We invested in the hydropower company! We helped you undermine the city’s water dam! But Rose Department Store didn’t grow—it’s on the verge of collapse!”

Still not satisfied, the Masei elder pounded the table violently, losing all decorum as he shouted at the golden-haired man:

“You said Old Charles’s promotion had trapped too many people, and you had no good solution—only unconventional methods could fix it.

Fine! Use unconventional methods! I even brought you the Scale Gold Sect’s Holy Spirit! Is that unconventional enough?

You swore that if the Holy Spirit appeared and caused a mass death event, you could force the city government to shut down Charles Department Store’s promotion on safety grounds, strangle its last breath…

But what happened? Tell me what happened! The Holy Spirit is dead!! How am I supposed to explain this to the Scale Gold Sect? You’re a fucking…!”

“Enough!”

As the finely dressed elder’s words grew increasingly hostile, the golden-haired man’s expression darkened; he glared back coldly:

“I’m a man, not an omniscient god! How could I possibly predict such a low-probability event?

Besides, I never wanted your Masei family involved—it was you who came crawling to us! And you were the one who summoned the Scale Gold Sect’s Holy Spirit!

And don’t you remember? To summon that toad, you demanded countless favors from us! And yet it was killed without even making a sound! I think your so-called Scale Gold Sect is nothing but…”

“Enough, both of you.”

Just as the conflict was about to erupt fully, a voice sharp as ice shards cut through the air, halting the escalation.

“Mr. Thomas.”

After calling the golden-haired man’s name, the black-robed figure seated at the head turned and fixed him with a serious gaze:

“The Scale Gold Sect may not be a great sect, but it has a True God behind it. If you don’t want endless assassinations, watch your tongue. And…”

Turning to the elder blazing with murderous intent, the black-robed figure continued in a voice so cold it made one shiver, emotionless:

“The Holy Spirit you summoned didn’t die by murder—it encountered something incomprehensible, causing it to doubt the very belief it had held for so long, and thus it destroyed itself.”

After hearing the black-robed figure’s judgment, the York family’s representative, who had remained silent until now, asked in quiet astonishment:

“Just because it doubted… it died?”

“Not just doubt—it could no longer convince itself… but you may understand it that way.

As Holy Spirits born from faith and concepts, their existence is the convergence of belief and rules. When they begin doubting what they once held sacred, they lose the meaning of their existence—and naturally, they cannot help but perish.”

Here, the black-robed figure shook his head, his expression indifferent as he concluded:

“Only extremes are remembered. Only obsession dares to press forward. Only madness understands greatness.”

“To you humans, such extreme obsession may seem unbearable—but it is precisely this obsession that is the source of the Holy Spirits’ strength, and also their most fatal weakness.

If you still cannot grasp it, imagine them as Hanged Men who believe the sky is below and the earth above, and thus walk freely through the heavens.

Once they begin doubting that belief, they destroy the very logic that lets them stand in the sky—and they can only flail helplessly, falling from the heavens to die crushed upon the earth… Do you understand?”

“I think I understand a little…”

The York representative frowned, thought for a moment, then asked:

“So… what exactly did the Scale Gold Sect’s Holy Spirit encounter? Can you guess?”

“I can guess something.”

The black-robed figure narrowed his eyes, expressionless:

“Elsewhere, it might be harder to guess—but here, in the capital… only one person could have utterly shattered a Holy Spirit’s belief.”

…

“Achoo!!!”

Strange… I still get sneezes?

Slightly surprised, he rubbed his suddenly itchy nose, then sat upright and opened the file in his hands with curiosity.

[Report on the Clearance of the Scale Gold Sect Holy Spirit Descent Event]

[Event Rating: Catastrophic]

[Event Status: Cleared]

[Case Officer: Li Ang Lyne]

[Used Anomalous Objects: Devil’s Horn, Witch’s Broom]

[Casualties: 1 minor injury]

[…]

Meanwhile…

“I’m so sorry! I’m truly, truly sorry!!!”

Looking at Li Ang, bandaged from head to toe and wearing a neck brace, the young woman with a doll-like face in a professional suit bowed deeply to the floor, tears streaming down her cheeks:

“If only I’d inspected the money chest more carefully when it was made, and reinforced the frame again, you wouldn’t have been injured by the falling gold wheel inside! Waaah… it’s all my fault…”

Uh… this injury really isn’t your fault…

Watching the doll-faced girl sobbing bitterly, her eyes swollen shut, Li Ang—whose neck vertebrae and ribs had been crushed by the gold wheel—could find no words.

If I recall correctly, during the Red Brick Hospital incident, when the Xieshenzhinao altered the event into a gas pipe explosion, you were the one who took the blame for poor inspection and came crying to apologize.

And now, after the Holy Spirit descent event was altered into an accident where a falling gold wheel in the money chest injured a passerby—again, you’re the one taking the blame, coming here to cry and apologize to me.

Studying the girl before him, who was weeping so bitterly, Li Ang sighed, his expression complicated.

Girl… are you just that unlucky?