The field of talisman study was boundless; the nature of a technique like that meant there could be a talisman created for virtually any purpose, as long as it was written with the correct strokes. Naturally, that also meant that talismans could easily be used to do evil.
Out of all the talismans that existed, ten of them were so dangerous and subverted the values of cultivation so severely that Meteor Court had forbidden its use by all cultivators in its territory years ago, and since Meteor Court was the leading sect in talisman study, the other sects in turn readily agreed to have those techniques considered forbidden as well. Gyuvin supposed they used to teach about the dangers of them at the Court, but as more and more time passed, those forbidden talismans became more of a lost art than anything else.
Gyuvin could remember what some of them were only by name, but he had never been taught what any of them looked like, and he had never tried to find out for himself. The forbidden talismans were techniques which caused things like the forceful possession of living people, the summoning of beings from the infernal realm, the erosion of the border between the living world and the underworld, and such. Soul erosion was the first on the list. If Gyuvin remembered correctly from his history lessons back at the Court, a rogue cultivator had studied and perfected his use of it decades ago, and caused great destruction with the infinite power the erosion of his targets’ souls fed him with. Out of all the forbidden techniques, Gyuvin supposed it was the easiest to learn. It was, in essence, a soul enhancement talisman drawn in reverse, and its effects were the opposite of soul enhancement as well. The talisman’s target would have its life force drained, and the user would absorb the energy in the form of spiritual power.
“Everyone has heard him,” Han Seungho declared. “Starting immediately, investigations will be ongoing on this Peak. No one will be allowed to leave the grounds until the investigation is complete. But the more pressing matter is that the person who did these murders appears to have been a talisman user…”
Gyuvin wondered if he was imagining that Han Seungho was looking straight at him.
“Hence, the three cultivators from Meteor Court will be detained until further notice,” he finished. “Purely as a precaution, of course.”
Everyone’s eyes were on Hanbin and Gyuvin. Han Seungho directed two of the seniors to apprehend them, and Gyuvin obeyed without protest, though his mind was spinning in circles. Minwoo followed without needing a senior to direct him, but as he caught Gyuvin’s gaze for a split second, there was a mutual exchange of what the hell is going on?
They were taken to an area Gyuvin had never seen before, near the back of the Peak grounds. The three of them were led to a courtyard that looked identical to the ones the cultivators lived in, with three rooms along each wall and a small open space in the middle.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to remain here for the time being,” one of the seniors from Lunar Valley said, kindly but firmly. “Food and other living supplies will be brought to you for the duration of your detention, so that won’t be a concern. In the meantime, you are not allowed to leave this courtyard unless you need to be questioned, in which case you will be escorted at all times.”
She turned and left after delivering her instructions, without waiting for any response. Gyuvin, Hanbin and Minwoo stood in the middle of the courtyard, staring blankly at each other for a long minute.
“That’s a Soul Erosion talisman?” Gyuvin asked finally, breaking the silence. “That’s the one that’s just soul enhancement drawn in reverse, right?”
Minwoo nodded, his eyebrows furrowed. “Yes, those few strokes were the beginning of Soul Erosion,” he said slowly. “But something about those murders isn’t right. The killer, whoever he was, used Soul Erosion talismans on each of the six bodies, then carved out their hearts and left them. There’s three questions that need to be answered here: why he killed those six people, why he chose to use Soul Erosion talismans, and why he carved out their hearts after. The fact that he did the last two makes it almost certain those murders were just one of the pieces of a bigger plan.”
Hanbin nodded, listening intently. “Soul Erosion drains the life force of its target to feed the talisman user with spiritual energy. If the killer chose to use it, it’s likely they needed to collect a significant amount of energy to use somewhere else.”
“That’s what I thought,” Minwoo agreed. “And the carving of the hearts…I can’t think of any evil techniques that require something like that at the moment, but we’ll have to be on guard. The killer’s willingness to use forbidden talismans is a sign that he won’t hesitate to use other forbidden techniques too, which means he’s a lot more dangerous than we think.”
“Hyung, shouldn’t you be telling this to the other seniors?” Gyuvin interjected. “If the threat is this serious, they might even need to call in reinforcements from the Coalition.”
Minwoo laughed softly. “You saw how quick they were to lump me in with the two of you,” he said, defeated. “I don’t think they have any interest in hearing anything I have to say. For the record, Gyuvin-ah, they weren’t very friendly to me either.”
Gyuvin sighed, his shoulders visibly drooping. “I can’t believe they would suspect us. None of us would do anything like that. I didn’t even know what that talisman looked like until half an hour ago…”
“It’s okay, Gyuvin,” Hanbin said reassuringly, coming over to rub his shoulders gently. “I suppose it’s standard procedure. Let them do their investigation. They’ll find out it’s not us and everything will go back to normal.”
“I hope so,” Gyuvin answered reluctantly, still looking dejected. “This sucks. Ricky was right about rules maintaining the order. I didn’t even do anything wrong and I’m still getting punished.”
He got up in a rage and stormed off into one of the three rooms in the courtyard. Hanbin and Minwoo looked at the closed door, then at each other, then back at the closed door.
“Just let him cool off for a while,” Hanbin said. “They can’t be planning to keep us here for that long, can they?”
As it happened, they did indeed plan to keep the three of them detained for a while. Someone came to the courtyard later in the afternoon to place a tracking sigil on each of their wrists, an enchantment woven into a simple, nondescript piece of string that would allow the user to know where their target was at all times.
“This is just another precaution,” he said, looking somewhat apologetic. “I’m just following orders…” Tracking sigils were used sometimes for children who loved to run off into crowds, or for criminals who had a record of attempting escape. To put them onto three esteemed cultivators from one of the five greatest sects in the cultivation world seemed a little ridiculous, to say the least.
As promised, food was delivered to the doorstep of their shared quarters at lunchtime and dinnertime, just portions of the food the other cultivators were probably eating at the dining hall. The three of them ate together at the little stone table in the middle of the courtyard, though the atmosphere was so gloomy there wasn’t much conversation going around. Gyuvin disappeared back into his room soon after he was done eating. As grateful as he was that Hanbin and Minwoo were the people he was stuck with, there was just too much residual unease surrounding the entire situation for him to relax.
He remembered the bloodstained pot of water back in his room just then, still sitting at the windowsill with a piece of cloth over it. With all the information the seniors had laid out in front of everyone in the morning, if they went into his room and discovered the water now, they could easily pin the entire thing on him.
An alert for an incoming communication array from Sect Leader Baek sounded just then, and he sighed inwardly. He was usually happy to talk, but this just wasn’t a good time. Hurriedly slapping a silencing talisman onto the door, Gyuvin responded.
“Gyuvin-ah, it’s been a while. Sorry I haven’t contacted you. How are you?”
“Bad,” Gyuvin said simply, lying down onto the bed. “Something really strange is going on here. There were six murders last night, and those people were all killed by a cultivator using Soul Erosion talismans, and they had their hearts carved out. And when I woke up in the morning, there was blood in the pot of water I use to wash my hands and face, like someone washed their bloodstained hands in it during the night. I don’t even know how that happened. Nothing’s making sense.”
“A forbidden talisman? I didn’t even think there were that many cultivators outside of the Court who pursued talisman study. It’s not a common talisman for people to know of.”
“That’s what the seniors thought too, apparently. They didn’t hesitate to have the three of us taken away. I’m basically in prison right now.”
“But they’re still giving you food and water, right?”
“Yeah, they are.”
“Then don’t be so dramatic, you’ll live.”
“Sect Leader, that’s heartless. Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?”
“I’m always on your side, Gyuvin. If they don’t have this issue resolved within a week, I’ll tell the Coalition to take over the investigation works, okay? In the meantime, hang in there.”
Gyuvin sighed. “Okay, I will.”
“Good. Goodnight, Gyuvin.”
He lay on his back in the silence and darkness, not bothering to light the lamp that he knew was sitting by his bed. All the worry from the day had tired him out, and he felt a certain sense of deep exhaustion weighing him down where he was, making his bones feel like bricks.
Half an hour passed like this, then an hour, then two. Sleep didn’t come to him; his mind was still churning with worry, and nothing was quieting it down, not even meditation. Short of knocking himself out cold with a big rock to the head, he was at a loss for what else he could do.
He gave up trying to sleep when the two hour mark passed. It was midnight now, the waxing moon glistening in the view through his open window. Gyuvin opened a communication array, and waited for the person on the other side to respond.
“Gyuvin. Is everything okay? You don’t usually contact me first.”
He took a deep breath. “I have something I need to ask you, and I need you to please not ask any questions.”
“Okay. What is it?”
“Dad, do you know how to temporarily deactivate a tracking sigil?”
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