Chapter 144 - Premeditated Revelation

The narrow cave descended with a gentle slope. It smelled mildly of damp earth and clay, though the air in the cave was dry and fresh. Finn traveled the first stretch by touch, but not very far into the cave a soft green glow lit the way. The glow came from small, delicate looking flowers that emitted a dim light.

A metallic glint caught Finn’s eyes and he bent down, picking up a small round pellet. It was blackened and dented, but without a doubt this was a bullet.

Scuffs on the ground and loose rock chips told the story of a brief, violent struggle. The tracks were fresh and led into the cave.

Finn quietly showed the bullet to Edwin with a serious expression. The young monk swallowed hard and nodded, pointing ahead.

‘The spirit that I saw is just around the corner’, he portrayed with a silent gesture.

Finn nodded, pocketing the bullet in his breast pocket. He raised the pistol, his senses on full alert for any motion or sounds. The soft crunch of dirt beneath his boots was unbearably loud as he rounded the corner.

The narrow corridor widened just after the turn, revealing a small chamber two meters wide and several meters deep. The ceiling of the natural cave was low and the dim light from the strings of glowing flowers cast long, deep shadows, making the space feel cramped and confined.

Laid out in the center of the floor were four bodies dressed in police uniforms.

“Minnie...” Finn gasped in shock, breaking the silence as his eyes fell on the familiar face of his colleague.

Aside from the bodies and the glowing flowers the room was empty and barren. Finn kept his senses peeled as he half turned to Edwin and asked quietly, “Are these bodies the spiritual energy you saw?”

“Y-yes. Are they—“ Edwin’s eyes stared down at the bodies in shock.

“Look around. Can you tell if anyone else is here?” Finn asked.

“I don’t see anyone...“ Edwin said after looking around with his spiritual vision. His eyes continued to be drawn toward the bodies, “Th-that doesn’t mean they couldn’t be hiding-“

Good enough. Finn muttered under his breath, “Keep an eye out while I examine them.”

He strode over to the bodies, kneeling down first next to Minnie’s body. The pretty woman’s face was calm as if she were asleep, though she was still as death, without any signs of breathing. He couldn’t see any signs of injuries on her, or damage to her uniform. She was lying flat on the floor with her hands one on top of the other on her stomach.

Finn placed his hand on her cheek and found that it was surprisingly warm. He shook her gently by the shoulder, but her body was completely limp and unresponsive. He retrieved his pocket watch from his inner pocket and held it up to her mouth and nose. A faint fog bloomed on the polished cover of the watch.

“She’s still breathing.” Finn said softly, “But only barely.”

The condition of the other three officers were the same.

“So they’re not dead?” Edwin asked, looking relieved.

“No, but I can’t wake them.” Finn said, frowning. “Whatever happened to them overwhelmed them in an instant. This means that whoever did this was at least a Disciple. No... even an Adept... But the culprit is now gone. Given that we avoided those flowers on the way here, I believe we should be safe for now.”

Edwin had a shocked look on his face for a moment before he shook his head furiously. “Wait, slow down! How do you know all this?”

Finn gave Edwin a look.

“These officers were all Exalted. Four of them should have been enough to deal with most threats, but there were only signs of a minor scuffle and a few gunshots outside.” Finn said, “They had warning, but only seconds at the most.”

“Despite clear signs of an encounter in the hallway, all four of these officers are physically unharmed. This means the attacker instantly incapacitated them.”

“Four veteran officers, to a single attacker.”

Finn let that fact sink in for a moment. He could see the gears turning in Edwin’s mind, a growing anxiety setting in to the young monk’s psyche.

“H-how do you know it was one attacker?” Edwin asked. Finn didn’t reply, keeping his eyes firmly locked onto Edwin. “A-and, how do you know we’re safe?”

“You tell me.” Finn said softly.

Edwin took a step back, looking incredibly nervous.

Finn maintained eye contact, continuing to lay the pressure down on the monk. Edwin had already made the connection and come to the right conclusion, he just didn’t want to acknowledge it.

The realization that Edwin was battling with was the real reason that Finn had brought the youth along. It was the reason why Finn felt that tonight’s investigation into the forest was not a complete suicide mission.

Of course, Finn didn’t know for sure what had transpired in the cabin, or what awaited them this deep in the forest. He could only come himself to find the truth with his own eyes.

His entire self-prescribed mission tonight could very well lead to Edwin and his sudden and violent deaths, but that was his gamble, seized and executed with his own hands.

After seeing the condition of his colleagues, Finn knew that his suspicions had been confirmed. The mission he had been given was to find the truth about Chief Yun’s death, to identify the killer of his mentor.

To bring that person to justice.

“I-I’m not sure... I’m not a detective like you-” Edwin muttered, shaking his head. He shrunk backwards, as if he were thinking about turning and running out of the room.

“Let’s talk about something else, then.” Finn said calmly, gesturing to the four bodies on the floor, “If you had say what was wrong with these officers, what would your best guess?”

“I don’t know, Finn!”

Finn once again locked eyes with Edwin, “Your best guess. Talk through your thoughts out loud, if you have to.”

“They... they have almost no spiritual energy... but they’re alive, and they’re not hurt. S-So they weren’t attacked by something physical.” Edwin swallowed hard, “Finn- can’t you just tell me?”

“I want to hear you say it.” Finn said.

“If I had to guess... their spirits were taken out of their bodies.” Edwin said so quietly it was almost a whisper. “Finn, remember the day you helped me advance to Candidate... just before I returned to the mansion, you mentioned that the monk at the cabin was wielding a shining white sword. I, uh, I thought about it and I only know one sword with that description.”

“Cloud Peak’s Moonlight Sword.” Finn said.

“Yes-“ Edwin replied, hesitating.

“But that was not the weapon that killed the officers in the cabin.” Finn interrupted, reaching into his pocket. “Those officers were killed by this.”

He withdrew a thin blade, about the length of a hand. The end of the blade had no handle, but instead had a hole from which a severed chain hung.

“That’s- that’s my master’s chain link!” Edwin’s eyes widened as he instantly recognized the broken weapon, “How did you get it? You’re saying that he killed police officers? That’s- that’s impossible.”

“This blade was lodged in the head of the Police Chief who led the operation.” Finn said calmly, “The officers at our feet have had their spirits taken from them, another one of the legendary myths from the Heaven’s Gate Monastery. Do you see what I’m saying, Edwin?”

“Master Ming Ru of the Heaven’s Gate Monastery, is responsible for these deaths. Moreover, he is allied with the Cloud Peak Monastery, who are the ones responsible for the monsters and deaths occurring over the past two weeks.”

Edwin had stopped speaking as he gripped his head, shaking violently.

“You’re a good kid, Edwin. I know you have a strong sense of right and wrong, good and evil.” Finn said, “I brought you here to show you the truth. I need your help to stop these tragedies from happening.”

“You want me to betray my master?” Edwin muttered, “I can’t-“

“From my perspective, your master betrayed you.” Finn said, “The ideals and morals you grew up with, if they were truly important, would your master be committing these crimes?”

“No, no, no...” Edwin whimpered, shrinking down against the wall.

Almost there. Finn muttered silently to himself. Just one more push, and I’ll be able to get him on my side.

With Edwin’s help and the evidence I found tonight, I’ll be able to convince Locke and Chief Fang to run an operation to take down his master!

Finn took a step forward to deliver the final verbal blow, when suddenly he felt a strange wave of energy pass through his body.

His vision distorted as the world around him shimmered in saturated red and blue colours. His body felt incredibly light as he began floating into the air, pulled by an invisible force.

Below him, he saw himself suddenly relax and stop talking. He saw himself in third person standing motionless as Edwin looked on in confusion.

“That’s quite enough.” A voice spoke behind him.

An invisible force rotated Finn in the air to face the spectral form of a bald monk floating behind him. The monk had a sharp nose and strong jaw and flowing robes. A distinguished, commanding aura poured out of him.

“I’ll thank you for bringing my disciple out to see me, but I’ll kindly request that you leave him alone.”