Chapter 1169: Bold Conjecture
A year ago, the Death God of the Underworld Office had appeared once. That appearance, while not a display of immense divine power, did indeed slay some experts among the Spiritualists. It was precisely because of the Death God's appearance that the disadvantaged Underworld Office gained a significant boost in confidence and successfully attracted some powerful allies.
But after that brief appearance, the Death God made no further moves, not showing up for a long time, as if having vanished once more.
It was then that an unintentional remark from Bai Xue sparked some suspicion in Yang Haoran regarding the matter. At that time, a desire to understand what was truly going on with this issue began to sprout in his heart.
However, due to being entangled in numerous affairs at the time, and coupled with the fact that he merely had a fleeting desire to investigate it, he hadn't yet made a firm decision to truly act upon it.
Beyond these two points, there was another crucial factor: secretly investigating the Death God was no small matter. From his standpoint as an Underworld Official, such an action could, without exaggeration, be called blasphemous. If word got out, while it might not lead to execution, the official's hat on his head would certainly be difficult to keep.
It was precisely due to these factors that he did not immediately proceed with the matter, merely planting the idea in his mind.
Subsequently, several months passed. Although the Death God had appeared twice more, each appearance was fleeting, coming and going in a rush, and vanishing again after only slaying a few Grand Spirit Masters and Gold Talisman Masters.
Grand Spirit Masters and Gold Talisman Masters were indeed powerful beings, but that depended on whose presence they were in. In the eyes of an Underworld Official who had only opened their Heaven Soul, both Grand Spirit Masters and Gold Talisman Masters were absolutely unrivaled experts. However, when placed before a deity, such figures were no different from ants.
To thoroughly understand what was happening, Yang Haoran finally decided several months ago to have Shui Ling secretly investigate the matter, collecting data on each of the Death God's appearances.
Previously, due to a lack of preparation, the useful information that could be gathered after each of the Death God's appearances was very limited. However, during the months Shui Ling had been investigating, the Death God had also appeared three times. With prior preparation, the useful data collected was significantly greater.
During Shui Ling's investigation, Yang Haoran had also considered involving Myriad Ghost Grotto, knowing that with their capabilities, they would undoubtedly be able to gather more useful intelligence. However, after some deliberation, Yang Haoran dismissed the idea. He had assigned too many tasks to Myriad Ghost Grotto during that period, and adding this one would only place more pressure on them. Conversely, Shui Ling's Second Division had relatively fewer responsibilities, so he entrusted the task to her.
After several months of meticulous investigation, and by every possible means, Shui Ling's Second Division indeed collected a substantial amount of useful information regarding the Death God's appearances. Especially during the investigation period, each time the Death God showed up, Shui Ling's people utilized various covert methods to even capture photographs of the Death God's presence at the time.
The reason Yang Haoran's expression had turned so serious, and his brows were tightly furrowed, was that the information Shui Ling had collected had indeed revealed some irregularities to him.
Firstly, the Death God had only made a few fleeting appearances over the past year or so. Although each appearance resulted in the elimination of some enemies, these adversaries were far too weak for a deity. To put it plainly, each appearance was merely a symbolic killing of a few individuals before vanishing, no different from a child running an errand to buy soy sauce.
While this particular point had been apparent even before Shui Ling's investigation, the data she collected provided far more detailed records, including even photographs of the Death God striking down enemies.
Secondly, each time the Death God appeared, it was not in its true form, but as a Dharma Body. Logically, when dealing with beings like Grand Spirit Masters and Gold Talisman Masters, a deity like the Death God would have no need to manifest a Dharma Body; their true form would be more than enough to effortlessly crush such entities. There was absolutely no necessity to slay enemies using a Dharma Body. To Yang Haoran, this practice somewhat smacked of trying to hide something obvious, like the saying "proclaiming there's no silver buried here."
Finally, the Dharma Body displayed by the Death God during each appearance actually exhibited two subtle differences in detail. Although these differences were extremely minute and easily overlooked, Yang Haoran still managed to discover them.
The Death God's Dharma Body was depicted as a human body with a ghostly face, its features ferocious, with two sharp fangs protruding. Yang Haoran had just compared the photographs of the Death God's appearances collected by Shui Ling and discovered that in one photo, the Death God's fangs were surprisingly shorter—this was one of the differences.
The other difference was that the Death God's Dharma Body originally had three hands and three feet, with one hand growing from its chest. However, in one photograph, this hand was reversed; its palm, which should have been facing downwards, was inexplicably facing upwards.
Yang Haoran was no longer the novice he had been when he first became a Night Watcher. He had long since gained a deeper understanding of divine Dharma Bodies. According to his current knowledge of Dharma Bodies, once formed, they would not change under normal circumstances. Even if they were to alter due to some special reason, the changes would never be merely subtle. The minute alterations in the Death God's Dharma Body, however, felt more like an imitation, with certain details simply not replicated perfectly.
Of course, such subtle changes would be impossible to notice unless one deliberately compared them. But since these variations existed, it indicated that there was definitely something amiss with the Death God's multiple appearances.
Combining these three points, Yang Haoran's heart harbored a number of suspicions. In his view, the person who had appeared as the Death God on these occasions was likely not the true Death God at all, but rather someone deliberately imitating him. The real Death God had probably not appeared even once until now.
If the one who appeared was not an impostor but the true Death God, then by normal logic, the Death God wouldn't constantly vanish. He would surely gather his forces and swiftly eliminate the Spiritualists, bringing an end to this great war.
After all, the Death God was different from a Spiritualist False God. The Death God was a True God possessing a God Position, fundamentally distinct from a Spiritualist False God who lacked such a position. Spiritualist False Gods rarely personally unleashed massacres upon the Underworld Office. In Yang Haoran's opinion, this was because the Spiritualist False Gods did not want to end the war before the Apotheosis Platform appeared. However, the Death God, already a True God, had no such concerns, as he had no need for the Apotheosis Platform. On the contrary, the sooner the Spiritualist False Gods and Spiritualists were eliminated, the greater the benefit to him!
The Death God had not done so, merely making occasional symbolic appearances, allowing the Underworld Office to suffer heavy losses without intervening. This was clearly not right.
As for who was impersonating the Death God, Yang Haoran had a few guesses in his mind. Hostile forces would certainly not do such a thing, as it would hold no meaning for them. Moreover, the Death God's appearances were not just fleeting glimpses before vanishing; he had, to some extent, slain some powerful enemies. Thus, this impostor was likely not the work of enemy forces.
Neutral forces were naturally even less likely candidates. Currently, truly neutral factions were extremely rare; almost all major and minor powers had been drawn into this great war. The few remaining neutral factions, even if they harbored such thoughts, might not possess the strength to pull it off. Furthermore, the powerful Yin Qi unleashed by the Death God during each appearance was something these neutral forces could not possibly imitate.
Only one faction was most likely to do such a thing: the Underworld Office!
Because all Underworld Officials in the Underworld Office needed the Death God as a spiritual pillar, and the Death God's appearance could not only greatly boost the Underworld Office's morale but also successfully win over other factions as allies, the Underworld Office was the most likely perpetrator of this act.
Furthermore, apart from the Spiritualists, only the Underworld Office possessed the powerful Yin Qi that emanated from the Death God during his appearances. Since the impostor was not a Spiritualist, it could only be someone from the Underworld Office.
Yang Haoran could roughly guess whose hands orchestrated this drama of the Death God's appearance, and he also understood why the person behind it would do such a thing. As he was not only an Underworld Official but also one of the forty-five Guardians of the Underworld Office, he fully grasped the significance of this course of action.
While these were merely Yang Haoran's unilateral conjectures, based on the information currently available, he believed that his internal suspicions would certainly not deviate far from the truth.
And the reason Shui Ling had so carefully delivered these materials to him personally, and spoken of their grave importance, meant that without a doubt, Shui Ling herself had also discovered significant issues with the Death God's appearances while organizing the data.
Yang Haoran leaned back in his chair, smoking, and after a long period of contemplation, he concluded that it would be best to pretend ignorance of the matter to the outside world. Not a single word of it should be uttered, just as he had instructed Shui Ling moments ago.
Whether others had discovered the anomaly as he had, he didn't know, nor could he control. But he could control himself. For if this matter were to leak and spread, it would bring absolute harm and no benefit to the Underworld Office. And as one of the Underworld Office's Guardians, he naturally stood to gain nothing either. Therefore, all he could do now was keep his lips sealed and feign ignorance. If others also discovered and exposed the truth, then it would be up to the Five Great Emperors of the Underworld Office to handle it; it wasn't his place to worry.
Originally, Yang Haoran had considered whether to inquire with Luo Yao, but this thought existed in his mind for only a fleeting moment before he immediately dismissed it. Although Luo Yao, the Great Emperor, was currently treating him well, he couldn't just say anything or ask any question that came to mind.
If he failed to distinguish what was important, spoke words that shouldn't be spoken, or asked questions that shouldn't be asked, he would certainly incur Luo Yao's displeasure. That would be far from beneficial for him, and he would not commit such a foolish act.
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