Wandering Swordsman |

Thus, Shen Mo began his covert investigation into the Pope himself.

Relying on the spiritual energy perception that resonates with heaven and earth in the "True Techniques of the Demon God," he walks within the Holy See like a ghost traversing a dream.

The guards couldn't see him, the mechanisms couldn't sense him, and even the most perceptive Holy Dogs of the Papacy only shivered inexplicably when he passed by.

He once lurked outside the Pope's study to listen to his private conversations with the cardinals; he also hid in the dome of the chapel to watch him kneel and pray alone, reciting an obscure ancient scripture.

Until that night, the moonlight, like a ribbon, bathed the sacred mountain.

Shen Mo sat cross-legged on the eaves above the Pope's bedroom, his five senses fully activated, using his spiritual energy to carefully scan the entire building.

Suddenly, Shen Mo sensed a space directly beneath the Pope's room, which resembled a secret chamber!

......

As dawn broke and the Pope left his chambers, Shen Mo moved swiftly and silently, slipping into the Pope's room like a gust of wind.

The candles inside were out, and the morning light shone through the window, illuminating the holy image hanging on the wall.

Shen Mo walked slowly forward, his fingertips gently tracing the wall, feeling the differences in texture of each inch of stone.

Finally, he stopped in front of a marble wall covered with scriptures.

"This is it!" Shen Mo stretched out his right hand, gathering a ball of light blue spiritual energy in his palm, and slowly pressed it against the wall.

In an instant, spiritual energy seeped into the cracks in the stone like water, tracing its way along the mechanism connecting the wall.

A moment later, an almost imperceptible tremor came from deep within the wall—the faint feedback of the mechanism being triggered.

A glint flashed in Shen Mo's eyes, and his left hand quickly pressed against an inconspicuous relief groove in the corner of the wall.

With a soft "click," the entire wall slid open horizontally like a door, revealing a spiral staircase extending downwards, its depths seemingly endless.

"It's hidden so well. If it weren't for the ability to sense spiritual energy, it probably wouldn't be so easy to find the way to open the entrance."

Shen Mo stepped inside, his figure disappearing into the darkness.

The staircase leading to the secret chamber was carved from a single block of obsidian, gleaming with a cold luster.

Each step that landed created a faint echo, like the throat leading to hell.

As soon as he descended ten steps, Shen Mo noticed something unusual in the air.

—The wind has moved.

It is not a natural flow, but rather caused by some kind of mechanical traction.

Immediately afterwards, two narrow slits suddenly split open in the stone walls on both sides, and dozens of poisoned crossbow bolts poured out like a torrential rain. The arrowheads gleamed with a cold, eerie blue light, clearly indicating that they were poisoned to the point of being fatal upon contact with blood!

Even a master of average skill, even one ranked among the "Seven Stars," would find it extremely difficult to escape unscathed from such a sudden attack.

After all, although the Seven Stars are strong, they are still flesh and blood, and their reaction speed is limited by their physiological limits.

But Shen Mo is different!

His senses had long surpassed human limits, reaching a superhuman level. In the very instant the mechanism was activated, his spiritual energy had already detected the vibrations from the friction of the metal.

Without moving his body, he lightly touched the ground with his toes, and his whole body floated up half a foot like a falling leaf. At the same time, his sleeves fluttered lightly, and an invisible energy spread out.

"Buzz—"

The arrows automatically deflected three feet away from him, embedding themselves in the opposite stone wall with a dense "thud".

But before Shen Mo could even land, a second wave of crisis suddenly descended!

The steps beneath their feet suddenly collapsed! The once solid stone slabs instantly flipped over, revealing a bottomless pit filled with sharp iron spikes.

If one were to fall accidentally, even if one did not die, one would be impaled and become a rotting corpse in a cage.

However, Shen Mo had already anticipated this.

This wasn't the first time he'd faced such a trap. Back in the Demon Refining Mountain, countless situations had been far more dangerous. But he was no longer the naive boy with limited martial arts skills who had to risk his life in every situation.

As his body plummeted, his dantian trembled, and demonic energy surged forth like a tide, forming a black membrane that supported his body. At the same time, spiritual energy guided the airflow, creating a brief buoyancy that allowed him to hover slowly above the pit like a feather.

He glanced down at the spikes, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

"Pope, you have set up such a deadly trap just to ensure that no one can step into your private quarters. Faced with such a trap, even the Seven Stars cannot pass safely."

"But you never imagined that someone had already surpassed the seven stars—that person is me!"

Before he finished speaking, he lightly touched the edge of the pit with his toes, and his body rose again, landing steadily on the intact steps above.

Ahead lies the final passage leading to the secret chamber.

The stairs finally came to an end.

A massive, heavy bronze gate stood before us, adorned with seven gemstones arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper, with a golden cross engraved in the center.

Shen Mo reached out and pushed the door, but it didn't budge.

But he was not in a hurry. He placed his palm on the door again and used his spiritual energy to explore its internal structure.

He soon discovered the core of the mechanism—the cross was not a decoration, but a keyhole.

He used his extremely high skill to transform the demonic energy into a tangible form, and then used the demonic energy to pry open the mechanism in the hole.

"Click."

With a soft click, the seven gems rotated in sequence, and the door slowly opened.

In an instant, golden light rushed towards them.

The secret chamber was brightly lit, with seven golden oil lamps hanging around it, burning with an inextinguishable holy flame. The entire space was about a hundred feet square, and the four walls were made of fine steel, making it moisture-proof and fireproof.

Most shockingly, the room was filled with countless treasures: jade, pearls, ivory, fox fur, and countless stacks of gold coins, with open chests and cabinets gleaming dazzlingly...

Shen Mo stood at the door, remaining silent for a long time.

He once thought that the Pope, being above all others, holding a scepter and proclaiming divine pronouncements, should be aloof from worldly affairs and regard money as dirt.

But the scene before him filled him with a sense of absurdity and sorrow.

"So you also crave these mundane things."

"You say all beings are equal and we should abandon greed; you say wealth is evil and corrupts the soul. But what about yourself? You stand on gold bricks, your walls are adorned with famous paintings, and your cabinets hold priceless treasures!"

"You build your church with the donations of believers from all over the world, but fill your own cellar with their blood and sweat."

He walked in step by step, his footsteps making a crisp sound on the gold coins, like an ironic drumbeat.

My gaze swept around and finally settled on the oak bookshelf against the wall.

Compared to the other luxurious furnishings, the bookshelf seemed out of place in its simplicity. Yet, the aura it exuded stirred something within Shen Mo.

—There lies the weight of words.

Shen Mo approached the bookshelf, his fingers gently brushing over the rows of scrolls.

Various materials: sheepskin, bamboo slips, silk, metal foil...

He casually pulled out a scroll, unfolded it, and examined it closely.

"The seventeenth pope ordered the burning of the Tower of Truth because it spread materialism and undermined the authority of the church. The executor was John the Ashen-Hand, the Inquisitor of Heresy."

Shen Mo's pupils contracted slightly.

Another volume reads: "During the middle of the reign of the sixteenth pope, the Black Death ravaged six countries. The Church concealed the source of the plague, claiming that it was 'divine punishment' and used this as a pretext to collect 'atonement taxes,' accumulating over a million gold coins in total."

Turn to another diary-like booklet: the Vatican was involved in all sorts of ugly events in the history of the far west.

Shen Mo's fingers trembled slightly.

He had thought the Vatican was just old-fashioned and conservative, but he never imagined that they would so blatantly engage in power transactions, suppress the truth, and profit from disasters!

"This is what the believers from the six countries call 'holy'?!"

He slammed the book shut, a surge of anger rising from the depths of his heart.

But he quickly calmed down. He knew that anger wouldn't solve anything, and that he was just a passerby in this far west; what did the Vatican's dirty dealings have to do with him?

The most important thing right now is to help Alice investigate the clues from back then.

So he continued searching.

Until a thick, sheepskin-covered book came into view.

The cover features the words "Chronicles of Popes: Contemporary Volume" in gold lettering.

Shen Mo opened the first page; the handwriting was neat and the ink was as fresh as new.

The initial records mainly documented daily administrative affairs: receiving envoys from various countries, presiding over coronation ceremonies, and inspecting churches throughout the country...

But when he turned to a certain page, his heart suddenly started racing.

"October 19th, sunny. Duke Odin of the Tsarist Empire is growing increasingly powerful and is very resistant to the spread of the Papacy. This man is unparalleled in martial arts and has many talented subordinates. If we allow him to continue, he may endanger our millennia-old foundation."

"After much deliberation, I decided to use a scheme to control him, so I invited him to be an envoy to the Holy See."

"During his mission, Odin ordered his trusted men to impersonate bandits and kidnap Odin's daughter, Alice..."

Shen Mo stopped reading after reaching this point.

Because he knew that the truth Alice wanted to investigate had already been found.