Chapter Fifty-Five: Solemn Capricorn

The two of them carried the Cloth chests on their backs, making their way forward. They passed through the deserted Aries Temple and arrived before the Taurus Temple.

“Well, my adorable juniors! What brings you here with those Cloth chests?” The guardian of Taurus, Aldebaran, stood on the steps, smiling as he greeted the pair.

“We were ordered to investigate the whereabouts of the Whale and Jackal Saints in the Nile region. We have now recovered their Cloths and have come to report back to His Holiness the Pope,” Yin Seventeen replied solemnly.

“Whale and Jackal?”

At these words, Aldebaran was taken aback. He looked more closely at the Cloth chests on their backs and finally realized that these were not the Cloths the two usually wore.

There were many Saints in the Sanctuary, but he remembered clearly who held each Cloth. The young man at the front was the newly appointed Crater bearer, and the girl behind him was the “famous” Lepus bearer.

Yet the Cloth chests on their backs bore the emblems of the Whale and the Jackal—not the Crater and the Rabbit.

Those were not their own Cloths.

“Have Moses and Walker met with misfortune?” Aldebaran asked cautiously.

A Saint’s Cloth was like an extension of their own life. Without a special reason, they would never entrust it to another.

Yin Seventeen nodded, his voice heavy. “While investigating in the Nile region, we encountered Dark Saints. They are the ones who killed our seniors, Moses and Walker.”

Walker he could let go—he’d never cared for that suspicious Jackal—but Moses’s loss filled him with deep regret.

Moses had been a good man. If not for Moses restraining him in the past, he might have died at the Jackal’s hands. Most importantly, it was largely thanks to Moses that he’d been able to enter the Sanctuary and come into contact with the supernatural.

He hadn’t expected that their last parting would prove to be forever.

“I see,” Aldebaran let out a long sigh, his feelings just as complex.

Another junior had passed away.

“You may go ahead. Don’t keep the Pope waiting,” he said, glancing meaningfully at the entrance to the Taurus Temple and allowing them passage.

“Thank you, Lord Aldebaran,” they replied in unison, stepping into the Taurus Temple.

After being questioned by several more Gold Saints in the succeeding temples, they finally reached the Pope’s Hall.

“Greetings, Your Holiness,” they said, placing the Cloth chests on the floor and kneeling on one knee in salute.

“The Whale and Jackal Cloths are both here. So Moses and Walker are dead, then?” the Pope asked indifferently.

“Yes. They have met with misfortune,” Yin Seventeen answered in a low voice.

“Very well, I understand. You may go,” the Pope said, dismissing them with a wave of his hand. Yet when he saw that neither of them rose, he asked, “Is there something else?”

Yin Seventeen hesitated, then carefully said, “It’s been over five years since I came to the Sanctuary. I wish to return east for a visit. Please grant your permission, Your Holiness.”

Beside him, seeing he had spoken up, Ruo Lan quickly added, “I too have been away for a long time. I humbly ask your leave, Your Holiness.”

At this, the Pope slowly tapped the armrest of his chair, saying nothing. The hall grew oppressively silent, and neither Yin Seventeen nor Ruo Lan dared even to breathe.

At last, as if coming to a decision, the Pope ceased his tapping and said slowly, “Very well. Take a rest in the East, and convey my regards to Old Master Dohko at Mount Lu for me.”

Hearing this, both of them forced down their joy and quickly said, “Thank you, Your Holiness!”

“You may go.”

“Yes!”

They withdrew from the Pope’s Hall.

Once they had gone, the Pope used his mind to send his voice to a hidden shrine at the foot of the mountain.

“Altar Saint Murphy, I order you to come before me and take the Whale and Jackal Cloths away!”

“Yes, Your Holiness.”

Within the shrine, a man clad in silver armor slowly rose to his feet and made his way toward the Pope’s Hall.

Meanwhile, as they again passed through the Capricorn Temple, Yin Seventeen had intended to greet Shura, but seeing the man’s stern face, he chose instead to keep silent.

“Perhaps the time truly hasn’t come yet,” he thought with a sigh, heading for the exit.

Once they had fully exited the Capricorn Temple, Ruo Lan let out a long breath.

“We’re finally out!” Relief was plain on her face.

“What’s wrong? Do you have an issue with Lord Shura?” Yin Seventeen teased.

“Not at all,” Ruo Lan shook her head and hurried her steps downward. “Though the general architecture of the Twelve Temples is the same, each differs in style thanks to the unique touch of its guardian.”

“For example, Lord Aldebaran of Taurus—though he seems fierce and imposing, he is actually the gentlest of all the Twelve Guardians. His Taurus Temple is also the most approachable.”

“And what about Capricorn?” Yin Seventeen pressed.

Ruo Lan thought for a moment, then said earnestly, “Lord Shura is the most loyal of the Twelve Guardians. His Capricorn Temple is the most solemn of all, even more so than the Pope’s Hall.”

“Every time anyone passes through the Capricorn Temple, they feel as if they’ve walked before the Goddess herself.”

With that, the girl sighed helplessly.

“Is it really that bad?” Yin Seventeen laughed.

“You think I’m joking?” Ruo Lan shot him a look. “Did you notice the statue at the center of the shrine?”

“Yes,” Yin Seventeen nodded.

“That’s the statue of the Goddess Athena,” Ruo Lan recalled. “The seniors say that in the distant ages of myth, Athena herself bestowed a sacred sword upon the guardian of Capricorn, in recognition of their loyalty. The statue in the Capricorn Temple commemorates this event.”

“This is a unique honor among the Twelve Temples, and it’s why only Capricorn has a separate statue of the Goddess within its shrine.”

“With such a statue standing so boldly in the temple, how could it not feel solemn?” She pursed her lips in resignation.

Though it was only a stone likeness, it was the statue of the Goddess Athena, and carried a divine majesty none dared to take lightly.

“So that’s why!” Yin Seventeen nodded in sudden realization.

He had long known of the statue in the Capricorn Temple, and the story of Athena bestowing the sacred sword, but it had slipped his mind.

Most Saints are devout followers of Athena. Seeing the statue is like seeing the Goddess herself.

Thus, after passing through the Capricorn Temple and glimpsing the statue, it was only natural to feel constrained. Coupled with Shura’s icy demeanor, the solemnity was even more pronounced, making people reluctant to linger.

Someone like him, who treated the statue with a secular heart and did not place Athena above all, was a rarity among Saints.

Passing through several more temples, Yin Seventeen encountered Altar Saint Murphy climbing the mountain. He thought to greet him, but Murphy hurried by without giving him the chance.

When they reached the Cancer Temple, Ruo Lan stopped.

“You go first; I’ll follow behind!” The girl quickly slipped behind him.