Chapter 274. Agent (3)
Three thousand years ago.
The Shang Dynasty that ruled China had lost the people’s support because of the tyranny of its ruler, King Zhou.
Obsessed with his beloved consort Daji, he indulged in every kind of pleasure and committed countless atrocities, including the infamous Wine Pool and Meat Forest and the torture of the Burning Pillar.
The man who overthrew King Zhou was Ji Chang, King Wen of Zhou.
He appointed Taigong Wang as his prime minister, waged war, and destroyed Shang.
This was the history of the ‘Shang-Zhou Revolution’ recorded in the Material Realm.
Meanwhile, Investiture of the Gods reinterpreted that history through another story.
The war between Shang and Zhou was, in truth, a war between immortals and demons.
In that story, Taigong Wang was a direct disciple of the immortal Yuanshi Tianzun.
He led the Chan Sect faction, which was largely composed of immortals who had once been human, and fought the war.
Opposing them was the Jie Sect faction, composed of immortals and demons originating from animals, plants, and even objects.
Wen Zhong, prime minister of Shang, gained their cooperation and resisted Taigong Wang’s Zhou forces.
However...
the true purpose of that war was a ritual.
Three hundred and sixty-five immortals, demons, and humans had to die...
and be invested as gods.
Those who fell during the war were enshrined as gods regardless of whether they had been enemy or ally.
After completing his mission, Taigong Wang did not return to the immortal realm.
Instead, he remained in the human world.
That was the story of Investiture of the Gods.
And it was also history that had actually occurred in the Fantasy Realm.
Just as it had in the Material Realm...
the Shang-Zhou Revolution left a tremendous impact on the history of the Fantasy Realm.
Its greatest effect was that enormous numbers of immortals and demons died during the war, causing their factions to decline dramatically.
Meanwhile, Daji of the Fantasy Realm survived afterward and continued operating in secret throughout the world.
That was a side effect of Taigong Wang portraying her as an unprecedented wicked woman in order to emphasize the legitimacy of the Shang-Zhou Revolution.
Taigong Wang’s propaganda became a powerful magical binding that fixed Daji’s identity in place.
Trapped by that binding...
Daji repeated evil deeds for three thousand years.
All of this happened because of one existence.
Taigong Wang.
Jiang Ziya.
The ‘protagonist of an era’ who led Nezha, Yang Jian, Princess Longji, and others...
fought Wen Zhong, Daji, and their allies...
and reshaped the world.
Unlike many other immortals, he was never invested as a god.
And even after the war, he did not return to the immortal realm.
He remained in the human world as prime minister...
governing the nation and guiding the world according to his will.
What happened to Taigong Wang afterward was unknown.
Historical records claimed that he lived out his natural lifespan and handed his position to his son.
But no one knew what had truly happened.
Because Taigong Wang had also existed as a historical figure in the Material Realm...
he did not exist as a Constellation.
And yet...
he undeniably still existed.
The ‘King of Avengers,’ Count Monte Cristo, came to suspect that Taigong Wang had created the Constellation system.
He secretly investigated him.
As a result...
he lost his companions and became someone under constant surveillance.
Count Monte Cristo then tried to secretly raise someone capable of opposing Taigong Wang.
He chose the ‘Nameless King’...
and passed everything he possessed to him.
The Nameless King inherited Count Monte Cristo’s will and continued growing stronger.
He rose to the summit of the Spirit Realm.
He obtained the Holy Grail, the greatest holy relic.
He defeated Christina, who had inherited Lucifer’s power.
And he raised Kang Yujin into an absolute powerhouse.
At last...
he had finally prepared himself to face Taigong Wang.
But...
“Wake up.”
I opened my eyes at the sound of a voice.
"...!"
I hurriedly sat up and looked around cautiously.
I seemed to be inside some dark enclosed space.
“Feeling a little more awake now?”
A blond young man spoke while sitting on something nearby.
It was the person who had sucked me into the gourd.
Golden and Silver Children...
The B-rank Constellation ‘Golden and Silver Children.’
Their true identities were Golden Horn and Silver Horn, demons who appeared in Journey to the West.
And the blond young man standing before me...
was Golden Horn.
“I thought Golden Horn and Silver Horn were demons.”
“We were originally attendants serving Taishang Laojun.”
“We descended to the surface and pretended to be demons so that we could give Tang Sanzang a trial.”
Come to think of it...
I vaguely remembered something like that.
So I really was sucked into the Purple-Gold Red Gourd.
If Golden Horn had told the truth before I lost consciousness...
then he had sealed me inside the Purple-Gold Red Gourd from Journey to the West.
Most people probably wouldn’t recognize the name.
But surely almost everyone had heard of the gourd that sucked someone inside if they answered when their name was called.
I couldn’t resist at all.
Well, even Sun Wukong got sucked inside it in Journey to the West.
The weapon was useless against someone who knew exactly how it worked.
But if you suddenly called someone’s name and caught them by surprise...
it could seal almost anyone.
I had always prepared myself so I could react no matter when or where someone attacked.
But I never imagined I would be caught by something this absurd.
No helping it.
Since things had already reached this point...
I needed to deal with the situation calmly.
Golden Horn hadn’t simply left me trapped inside the gourd forever.
He had released me almost immediately.
That meant sealing me itself probably wasn’t his final objective.
“Golden Horn.”
“What exactly was your purpose in kidnapping me?”
"..."
“I don’t remember doing anything that would make you my enemy.”
“Yes.”
“That’s true.”
Golden Horn slowly nodded.
“You’ve never done anything like that.”
“We always kept our distance from each other in the first place.”
We had no direct relationship.
To put it simply...
I was the content creator.
Golden Horn was the viewer.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
Unlike Nezha, I had never personally met him and fought alongside him.
Still... it’s true that I haven’t seen comments from those brothers lately.
Golden Horn and Silver Horn had always watched Kang Yujin closely.
They frequently sent supportive comments and sponsorships.
But recently...
their names had become difficult to find.
Had they become dissatisfied with something?
“You didn’t do anything wrong to me.”
“So this isn’t personal?”
“Absolutely not.”
I bit my lip.
Honestly...
I would have preferred it to be personal.
Personal motives were usually easier to deal with.
But if this wasn’t personal...
“Did someone order you to do this?”
"..."
“Whose orders are you following?”
As far as I knew, Golden Horn and Silver Horn didn’t belong to any particular organization.
