Tacit Understanding

The two squad members followed Qingqiu's gaze and looked over, incredulous. "Are you sure you aren't sensing it wrong? The disturbance is clearly coming from this side."

Qingqiu shook his head gently. "Trust me. My senses are absolutely correct."

He stood motionless, his gaze piercing through the lush grass and two walls to look toward the unseen courtyard on the right.

In his perception, something in that courtyard across the way seemed to be responding to him—distant, faint, yet undeniably real.

Basement.

The few guards, who had been gasping for air in the darkness, suddenly noticed something heavy and rough in their hands.

"What... who's playing a prank..." Before their confusion could be fully voiced, a light as faint as a bean flickered to life before them.

Lin Nan's face appeared alongside the light, and he asked with a look of concern, "Who were you guys fighting? You're exhausted."

The guards were startled; not only was Lin Nan alive and kicking, but there wasn't a single scratch on his face.

They had all hit him earlier—did they miss his face? That was impossible! And even if they had, how could he be this energetic after taking a beating?

Before they could figure it out, a whisper came from behind them: "Way of Destruction No. 11, Tsuzuri Raiden."

A cyan arc of electricity curved from behind them and traveled to the hands they were using to support the object—the long chain originally used to lock people up.

Erratic arcs of electricity crawled over their bodies, causing them to convulse violently. Their hands gripped the chain tightly against their will, and while their throats made muffled groaning sounds, not a single coherent noise could escape.

Lin Nan held the oil lamp, letting the men twitch like puppets before him while keeping his eyes locked on the distant stairwell, wary of anyone suddenly bursting in.

Fortunately, the operation went smoothly; not a sound was made, and no one else was alerted.

A moment later, a faint scent of burning flesh drifted over, and the four unconscious men collapsed to the floor.

Kyoraku stepped out of the darkness behind them into the light, bent down to pick up his spinning top, and gave Lin Nan a smug smile. "How was my Kido?"

Lin Nan returned a nonchalant smile. "Average. I think I could learn it after watching it one more time."

"Braggart."

"Really, I even used Byakurai before..."

Kyoraku curled his lip. "Do you think I'd believe you, or believe that I am the Captain-Commander of the Gotei?"

Lin Nan's eyes went blank for half a second.

Uh, that question was truly impossible to answer. Because strictly speaking, neither of those things was a lie...

Kyoraku stopped joking with Lin Nan, his expression turning serious. "You felt it too, didn't you? This basement."

Lin Nan snapped back to reality and nodded. "Yeah. The echo here is hollow, which means this space is much larger than we imagined.

"Also, they never use bright lights here, perhaps to keep us from seeing things we shouldn't."

The two nodded in tacit agreement and looked toward another direction in the dark basement.

"Way of Destruction No. 12, Fushibi." Kyoraku released the incantation in a low voice, and a stream of fire ignited silently, instantly weaving into a net of flames in front of them.

By the light of the fire net, the two finally saw the situation across the way.

The dimensions of this basement were twice as large as they had assumed. On the far wall was embedded a stone gate constructed from three stone pillars and engraved with strange characters.

The gate wasn't very large, but it was wide enough for two people to pass through side by side. It had no door panels, but where the door should have been, there was a deep, impenetrable blackness—so profound that even the light from the fire net couldn't illuminate it.

It was as if behind that gate lay an endless abyss.

"What is this thing?" Lin Nan extinguished the oil lamp in his hand, tossed it aside, and asked in a low voice.

Kyoraku shook his head, indicating he didn't know either. "But a few of the symbols on it look familiar. I think I've seen them in my brother's study notes."

The two carefully examined the opposite side by the light of the Fushibi. Aside from this gate, the massive wall was devoid of any other decorations or objects, looking sinister no matter how one viewed it.

"I think we'd better not touch this door," Kyoraku said after studying it for a moment.

Lin Nan didn't look back, slowly probing the path forward as he spoke: "What, are you afraid of the dark?"

"Pfft, my spinning top can travel through shadows; would I be afraid of the dark?"

"Then why don't you throw your top into the gate and see what happens?" Lin Nan whispered.

"Nothing will happen, because nothing can pass through it right now." Iwamoto's voice suddenly came from behind them.

Both men shuddered and spun around abruptly.

"If someone hadn't happened to enter the range of my illusion, I might not have guessed you were stirring up trouble here." Iwamoto, accompanied by the remaining five guards as well as Kuramoto and Masaki, had already reached the basement and stood at the foot of the stairwell.

"You two put on a good show; you almost fooled me." Iwamoto's gaze fell on the men collapsed in the front left, and he nodded. "Great coordination. Two 'wounded' men managed to take down five people without a sound. Lin Nan, was this your idea?"

Lin Nan smirked. "Does it take a plan to deal with a few people like this? Our chemistry was enough."

"Oh? You're both injured—where does this confidence to take down five burly men come from?"

Lin Nan reached up to scratch his nostril, unbothered. "Because we are both geniuses, and students of Genryūsai."

Iwamoto laughed, his right hand slowly drawing his short blade. "What a pity. Such talent—if you could truly be used by me, you would surely achieve great things in the future. But since you don't cherish the opportunity I've given you, I can only regretfully ask you to die here."

Lin Nan glanced at his blade and asked, "Actually, I've been wanting to ask you a question."

"What?"

"As a leader of your stature, why are you so petty as to use a short blade? Can you not afford a longer one?"

The several guards behind Iwamoto immediately began to curse in low voices, but he merely chuckled unhurriedly:

"Interesting, you even know to provoke me in advance. However, I will not fall for your trap. Furthermore, I can tell you that I use a short blade for the convenience of intelligence work. After all, carrying a long blade is not conducive to keeping a low profile."

As he spoke, his gaunt face became devoid of any other expression: "I have use for Kyoraku. As for you, you will just have to die first."

As his voice fell, the seven men behind him moved in unison, drawing their short blades and charging toward the two of them in a frenzy.

Lin Nan remained unhurried, extending his index and middle fingers to point into the air: "Hado #12, Fushibi."

A dense net of fire instantly appeared out of thin air, completely sealing off the path forward for the men.

Masaki, Kuramoto, and the other five, who were in the middle of their charge, hurriedly slammed on the brakes, retreating repeatedly as they were scorched by the heatwave.

Kyoraku, who had been bracing himself to rush forward and fight for his life, froze in place, turning his head to look at Lin Nan in disbelief: "You actually learned it? You can use Kido?"

Lin Nan curled his lips, returning a smug smile: "Don't just stand there, give them some wind to liven things up!"

Kyoraku did not hesitate; he spun his spinning top violently and charged forward: "Bushogoma!"

A gale swept up, turning the fire net in the air into a massive tongue of flame that licked madly toward the front, instantly engulfing the men.

For a moment, gasps and screams rang out simultaneously. Kuramoto and another guard, who were faster on their feet, managed to retreat to a safe zone, and the less agile Masaki also scrambled out, his body covered in charred marks.

The remaining four were swallowed by the sudden inferno, turning into four human torches as they struggled in vain on the spot.

"A clever combination, but don't forget, this move is ineffective against me." Iwamoto's voice drifted over from behind the wall of fire.

"Who said I was using it to deal with you?!" Lin Nan did not stop, his body quickly turning toward the rear as he aimed his index finger at a support beam on the ceiling in the distance: "Hado #4, Byakurai!"

He chanted in rapid succession, and four bolts of white lightning, each as thick as a thumb, flashed with blinding light in the basement, shooting toward the same beam.

As long as the beam was pierced, it would inevitably be unable to support the weight above, causing that corner of the basement to collapse. That would give him and Kyoraku a chance to escape.

However, the expected sound of shattering did not come.

The moment the dazzling lightning struck the beam, a ripple of light spread across the ceiling, absorbing Lin Nan's Kido entirely without the slightest reaction.

Kyoraku had not yet recovered from the shock of seeing Lin Nan cast Kido in succession, and now his mouth hung open in shock at this bizarre scene:

"This is... a barrier?"