The Kukan'yu Kingdom consolidated its royal authority and maintained its image through stringent laws.
As the resting place of the royal family, the royal tomb held undeniable symbolic significance and importance.
If that harp had indeed been placed within the royal tomb, the question of how to proceed became the most pressing issue.
"Let's go take a look first."
Morrow glanced at the incessantly noisy Seeker's Hand in Loupe's grasp.
Kanzai gave a slight nod.
The three of them continued forward.
Soon, a palace built against the mountain came into view.
Before the palace stood a three-arched gatehouse.
The path from the gatehouse to the palace was paved entirely with blue-gray bricks.
Stone gate, azure path, palace.
This was the royal tomb Kanzai had mentioned.
Morrow, Kanzai, and Loupe all stopped in unison.
"There! It's there!"
The Seeker's Hand cawed like a crow, its Middle Finger repeatedly jabbing toward the royal tomb from a distance.
Kanzai frowned and said in a low voice, "Loupe, shut it up."
Near the gatehouse of the royal tomb stood two ordinary houses.
These were clearly the residences of the tomb guardians.
Given the open terrain, allowing the Seeker's Hand to continue its racket risked drawing the attention of the guardians.
Loupe said nothing, silently retracting his ability.
As the aura dissipated, the Seeker's Hand vanished into thin air, and silence immediately returned to the surroundings.
Kanzai then turned his gaze to the palace structure ahead, the entrance to the underground royal tomb, accessible only to members of the royal family.
"If the thing's really inside the tomb, we're out of luck."
Kanzai's brow furrowed as he sighed helplessly.
The tomb guardians tasked with watching over the royal tomb posed no real obstacle to them.
What truly stood in their way were the Kukan'yu Kingdom's draconian laws.
No Nen user could withstand the wrath of a superpower, not even Netero.
Morrow subtly glanced at Loupe, who had accompanied them. Though countless thoughts swirled in his mind, he had no choice but to set them aside for now.
A cold wind blew from afar, carrying a biting chill.
The group didn't linger long before turning to leave.
The tomb's unique significance ultimately made Morrow and Kanzai hesitate.
For a fleeting moment, Kanzai even entertained the thought of giving up.
Though he could exhaust himself, body and soul, to resolve this matter, the obstacle before him sapped the last of his strength.
—--
Not long after returning to the temple, Loupe, considering his task complete, sought out Morrow directly.
Just as Kanzai had anticipated, Loupe extended an invitation to Morrow.
Morrow refused on the spot.
Loupe wasn't discouraged, but he didn't press further either. Instead, he asked to exchange contact information.
Morrow, recognizing the utility of the Lost Item Call ability, agreed to Loupe's request.
That evening, Loupe received a generous payment from Kanzai before departing Bright Pearl City.
As a Pro Hunter devoted to pursuing fame and status, he would pour every ounce of his time and energy into his career without pause.
In a way, Loupe truly lived up to the title of "Pro Hunter."
Night fell.
Kalluto returned from his outing, arms laden with snacks.
"Morrow, what's wrong with him?"
Stepping onto the arched bridge, Kalluto handed Morrow a sugar pancake while curiously eyeing Kanzai, who sat on a stone bench in the courtyard not far away. At this moment, Kanzai was frowning, clearly weighed down by heavy thoughts.
Morrow took a bite of the sugar pancake and said, "Ran into a 'tough problem,' huh?"
"No way to solve it?"
Kalluto glanced up briefly at Kanzai's back.
Morrow gave a slight nod before changing the subject. "Have you been enjoying yourself these past few days?"
"Yeah."
Kalluto smiled, a flicker of contentment flashing in his eyes.
Seeing this, Morrow chuckled.
Human sorrows and joys are never truly shared.
Kanzai, who should have been free, was now voluntarily shouldering a heavy burden of thought because of the matter before him.
Kalluto, who should have been restrained, had instead found rare freedom in this city, casting off the mental shackles accumulated thus far and reveling in unfettered moments.
No matter what...
When Morrow learned that the harp had been placed within the royal tomb, many thoughts had crossed his mind, but in the end, reason prevailed and he gave up this chance to rings charge the Tree Rings.
In this vast monarchy, even the slightest disrespect toward a royal family member could warrant a death sentence, let alone trespassing upon their resting place.
Besides, there would be plenty of other opportunities to rings charge the Tree Rings...
Morrow had no need to take such a huge risk for this one chance.
Night fell.
Kanzai knocked on Morrow's door.
When Morrow opened it and saw Kanzai, he was momentarily taken aback.
Kanzai looked at Morrow and sighed. "Morrow... I actually kind of regret it now."
"Regret...?"
Morrow was surprised. "That doesn't sound like something you'd say."
Kanzai gave a bitter laugh, recalling the scene from last year when he had parted ways with Morrow at the noodle shop.
If he hadn't stubbornly insisted on getting to the bottom of this matter back then, he wouldn't be stuck in this damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation now.
"I regret the decision I made then."
At this thought, Kanzai slowly wiped the bitterness from his face, and a hint of determination gradually surfaced in his eyes. "But what's done is done. I'm certain... I don't want to quit halfway, so I won't regret whatever comes next."
"You're not Kanzai," Morrow suddenly said.
Kanzai froze, question marks popping up in his head.
"What?!"
"Since when could Kanzai use two idioms correctly in one go?"
"???"
Kanzai's eyelid twitched, both exasperated and unable to refute Morrow's teasing.
Morrow smiled faintly before asking, "So what do you plan to do?"
...
Kanzai fell silent for a moment, his lips moving slightly as if struggling to speak. This state lasted several seconds before he took a deep breath and said gravely, "I plan to sneak into the royal tomb."
After a pause, a flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes.
"Morrow... will you help me?"
"I will."
From the moment Kanzai said he didn't want to quit halfway, Morrow had already guessed why he had come.
This member of the Zodiac Twelve had ultimately decided to see things through to the end...
Was it his nature, or was it that he simply couldn't overcome the hurdle in his heart?
Morrow wasn't sure either, but since Kanzai had asked, he wouldn't let him down.
Seeing Morrow agree so readily, Kanzai first grinned, then quickly turned serious again.
"Morrow, if we get caught—"
"Then we'll make sure we don't get caught."
Morrow cut him off.
Kanzai nodded silently. It was he who had asked Morrow to join the adventure, yet now he was the one hesitating.
—--
The night deepened.
Several figures quietly left Bright Pearl City and arrived at the royal tomb several kilometers away.
"Proceed as planned."
Kanzai first glanced at the two houses near the royal tomb, then turned his gaze to the tomb's only entrance, a stone palace standing silently in the night.
Beside the palace entrance, faint figures could be seen.
These figures were the tomb guardians.
Even in the dead of night, there were still guards on duty.
This alone spoke volumes about the Kukan'yu Kingdom's regard for the royal tomb.
Battling the howling night wind, Morrow, Kanzai, and Kalluto sprang into action.
Outside the two houses near the tomb, Kanzai stealthily approached and slipped inside.
At the same time, the tomb guardians on duty at the entrance suddenly heard faint, chaotic voices.
"Did you hear that?"
One of the guardians' expressions shifted.
The other three nodded; they had all heard the voices mixed within the wind.
But when they looked toward the source, there was only the empty, desolate night. Not a single soul, not even a ghostly shadow, could be seen.
Most people would feel a chill down their spine in such a situation, but these tomb guardians showed not the slightest hint of fear.
"Liander, you stay. The rest, come with me."
One guardian quickly issued orders and led the other two toward the direction of the voices.
They walked some distance, the voices growing clearer, yet still no figures could be seen.
"What's going on?"
The leader frowned, puzzled.
Unnoticed by them, amidst the wind-swayed grass, lay scattered paper cutouts of various shapes.
Each cutout whispered different phrases in low voices.
These were Kalluto's pre-arranged paper dolls, originally meant for surveillance, now serving as decoys.
As the guardians drew closer to the paper dolls, Kalluto moved like a phantom through the night, wielding his purple bamboo fan. With a light flick, he precisely knocked them unconscious.
Simultaneously, Liander, the guardian left at the tomb entrance, was also silently subdued by Morrow's approach.
Without wasting time waiting for Kanzai, Morrow swiftly stepped over the fallen guardians, carefully surveyed the surroundings, and then strode straight into the palace.
The palace had no doors; beyond the entrance lay the main hall. Passing through it, Morrow saw a winding stone staircase leading downward.
He activated En, and a faintly glowing, transparent aura slowly expanded outward.
Then, Morrow descended the stairs, soon arriving at a wide tomb passage.
Lining both sides of the passage were stone statues of creatures that resembled neither lions nor tigers, unidentifiable beasts.
Guided by the real-time feedback from En, Morrow pressed deeper.
Though the royal tomb was vast, he didn't expend much effort before locating the chamber housing the harp.
The reason was simple, the Post-Mortem Will emanating from the harp was far too intense to ignore.
Unhindered, Morrow finally laid eyes on the pristine, jade-like harp.
The sheet music embedded in its body radiated a menacing black aura, gradually overlapping with the image in his memory.
This is going a little too smoothly.
Morrow thought to himself and, with a flick of his mind, retracted his En, switching to the ability of Starlight Convergence.
In an instant, dazzling particles of light filled the entire tomb chamber, even seeping into the passageways beyond.
Though the range of Starlight Convergence was larger than En, it couldn't penetrate solid structures; however, it was far more suited to the current situation.
Maintaining the starlight state, Morrow stepped forward to the harp.
Time was of the essence, so without hesitation, he reached out to touch the ominous aura of Post-Mortem Nen.
The moment his fingers made contact, the Post-Mortem Nen seemed to gain awareness, surging and writhing violently. Gone was its previous arrogance, now it struggled desperately to escape Morrow's grasp.
But it was all futile. The suction of the Tree Rings was like a black hole, mercilessly drawing the Post-Mortem Nen into its depths.
Morrow quietly observed the absorption process, watching as the energy of the second ring rapidly climbed until it finally stopped just past 90%.
As the last traces of Post-Mortem Nen vanished, the stained sheet music on the pristine white harp slowly dissipated, leaving behind nothing but blankness.
Morrow withdrew his hand and was about to turn and leave when a sudden ripple of energy manifested out of thin air before him.
His eyes sharpened. In an instant, he drew the Poultry Scarlet Knife, swiftly retreating while retracting Starlight Convergence and tightly wrapping his body in dense aura.
At that moment, a figure emerged from the energy fluctuation, the silver-haired Third Princess, Eve, appearing in this bizarre manner.
Eve calmly glanced at the harp, now free of Post-Mortem Nen, and remarked coolly, "That was faster than I expected. You're quite impressive."
...
Morrow remained silent, his blade held defensively before him. At this point, pondering how Eve had appeared was meaningless; his entire focus was on how to handle this sudden development.
Eve shifted her gaze to Morrow, her tone carrying a hint of approval. "But the truly impressive one is you."
...
Still, Morrow said nothing, his expression icy.
Unfazed by his reaction, Eve continued, "From the moment you rid the people of that calamitous force, I've been thinking… perhaps you possess the capability to resolve this unstable factor."
As she spoke, a faint smile slowly surfaced on her coldly beautiful face.
"You didn't disappoint me."
"Listening to you…"
Having endured Eve's monologue, Morrow finally spoke. "Are you saying that by eliminating the Post-Mortem Nen from the harp, I've actually done you a favor?"
"Not entirely."
Eve shook her head slightly, her tone even. "But for me, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks."
"Is that so?"
Morrow's expression remained blank. "You can wield Post-Mortem Nen freely, and you have some method to shift the 'cost' onto the people you call your subjects. From that perspective, you've always been the beneficiary. Now that this power is gone—"
"You've misunderstood something."
Eve's voice remained steady. "Just as humanity will always need stories, the same goes for music. So… unless humanity no longer needs it, it will never truly disappear."
...
Morrow frowned slightly.
Suddenly, Eve produced a pitch-black card. Covered in silver-white specks, at its center was an eye enclosed within a square frame.
Seeing the card in Eve's hand, Morrow felt a flicker of surprise.
That was… The Eye of Truth card?
Eve held the card between her index and middle fingers, saying, "You can relax, I won't make things difficult for you. But since the opportunity is rare, I'd like to test the so-called 'Dream Maker's' ability effects."
Before Morrow could react, an intense surge of Nen suddenly erupted from the card between her fingers.
In the next instant, the surroundings of Eve and Morrow abruptly transformed.
When they regained their senses, the two found themselves inside an indoor combat arena.
The card in Eve's hand had vanished. "This is a fantasy space I've 'fabricated.' Here, we can fight without worrying about 'death.' Come, let me see the strength of a Nen user..."
"Whoosh!"
Before Eve could finish speaking, Morrow suddenly swung his hand, sending the Poultry Scarlet Knife flying toward Eve like lightning.
A flash of excitement crossed Eve's eyes as she swiftly sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the incoming Poultry Scarlet Knife, but she failed to notice that the knife was wrapped in a strand of Nen, concealed by In, extending back to Morrow's palm.
Having dodged the knife, she charged straight at Morrow.
But the moment she took her first step, her vision suddenly spun violently.
"Huh?"
In her wildly shaking field of view, Eve saw her own headless body—and Morrow's expressionless face.
Oh.
So I've been decapitated.
Heh, hehe...!
Her excitement only grew.