Lang Yuan, once again, exhibited his extraordinary memory ability.

The hall fall in dead silence when Lang Yuan mentioned the probability that all of them ignored the whole time. None of them made a noise, not even a single inch of movement dared to disturb the solemn silence. The papers that ached to flutter managed to escape from the paperweights and fell down in a cascading manner.

The center of silence, the Empress who was just taking his point out, noticed the fallen papers and moved to pick them up. He was hastily chasing one sheet after another when Zhong Song lightly caught his wrist to stand up. Lang Yuan looked at the falling papers again and motioned to look at Zhong Song to ask why he stopped him from picking up the papers.

Zhong Song has long understood the trait of the Empress and heaved a sigh. He called the nearby scholars to take good care of the papers and pick them up. It is never the work of the Empress to do anything that requires the head to lower down like bowing so he stopped him from doing the act. Instead, he motioned Lang Yuan to do an interrogation.

"Will the empress please say the words again?" Zhong Song inquired for the second time. Lang Yuan thought that Zhong Song didn't hear his words so he repeated his answer.

"All of them are half-gods, born from a hatched egg," Lang Yuan said aloud and clearly.

"What... what made you say that...?"

Zhong Song is sure that Lang Yuan never had the chance to step out from the palace. Since he was undergoing the trials and under the supervision of the emperor, it is normal for him to remain inside the household than to go out in the danger. This is also his protection against those people who wanted to steal him away and use him for the purpose of threatening the emperor.

Now that he looks at it, Lang Yuan also isn't the type to go out and meet some friends. The youth has an introverted nature so he will never go out of his way just to interact with people. Plus, he was the only human to the higher realm so his fear is evident towards the dragon race. Zhong Song only managed to secure a good connection to the youth due to his relations with Yu XueQin and as a scholar. Lang Yuan treated him as his teacher most of the time.

In addition, everyone is considered as a stranger aside from the JiDan.

To say that he knows that these people whom he never met even once on his life are half-gods, how did he know? Lang Yuan already know the state of Zhong Song's birth through JiDan. This is also the reason why JiDan is guided personally by Zhong Song since both of them carried the same fate. The young bun is close to the uncle so this guidance isn't really wrong at all. So possibly, Lang Yuan should only know the existence of two half-gods and nobody else.

Zhong Song wracked any possible explanation to the event. Even he himself, as the Imperial Scholar, did not know about the origin of birth of these people. And if ever he had known, it is of such small importance so there's a possibility that he had forgotten it after the course of time.

The higher realm does not really adhere to such notion as origin of birth etc. What they only know is that once a god had descended up to the heaven, one will be considered as a godly being despite the trace of human blood on their veins. It takes a huge power in order for one person to reach this height so it is not simple feat that gods can be easily taken up.

Even though there are issues related to the faction, it was maintained on the minimal level. If one would throw accusations to the general populace, those who are not included in the gossip will also be affected. Since Zhong Song is part of the minority, he will also be subjected to the dispute.

Zhong Song's influence in the empire is no means small. Aside from his relationship with the emperor, his reputation alone is enough to subjugate any resistance. He is not a small man that could easily be provoked. Therefore, the discrimination remained hidden under tables and more often tackled only in formal political debates than the normal gossip.

The scholar could still not get the answer. Other than whisking the remaining working cells on his brain, Zhong Song decided to ask Lang Yuan directly, "How did you know?"

Lang Yuan slightly tilted his head to the side and answered, "I read them."

"Read? What do you mean that you read them?" Zhong Song is getting more confused.

"The information, I've read the information about them."

It was clear that Lang Yuan never touched any of these documents nor be able to get a glimpse of them. All the files related of the case were handled carefully by the officials since the information cannot be leaked. Except for today, Lang Yuan's involvement to the case is very little. So how did he manage to know about this?

"Read... Where did you read it?" Zhong Song asked. He thought that Lang Yuan might have some fortune telling tablet or something.

"The archives," Lang Yuan patted JiDan when the big guy stuck on his waist closer.

The archives, like the name itself, is the collection of documents relating to the populace and the state of the nation. Everything you wanted to know in this world is placed on the archive. It was hidden behind the close doors of the library and only those who have access on them can enter. The archive holds one of the nation's important information so it was secured by a number of guards.

Does it mean that Lang Yuan went there? Is he even allowed?

The human is still a human and he has no power to command anyone if not from the orders of the emperor. If he suddenly enters the place, and actually speaking that he is still under probation on that time, he can be sued with treason. In addition, the guards would first inform Zhong Song and the emperor that Lang Yuan wanted to enter the archives.

Lang Yuan didn't know about it so he wasn't aware of the danger he placed his self. He just patted the spoiled son who snuggled on his waist while enjoying the touch and scent of his mother. JiDan shyly smiled, showing his adorable self despite the grown-up look. Someone is actually drinking vinegar while watching the mother and son combo snuggle.

"T-the empress went to the archives?" Zhong Song gulped. He liked this sister in law and he didn't want him to be punished.

"Nope, I didn't," Lang Yuan quickly answered.

"Eh? Then how did you-?" Zhong Song was baffled. "If you didn't go there, how did you-?"

"Hmmm? Lao Shi didn't remember? Didn't Lao Shi allowed us to get access to the books?" Lang Yuan said. "It wasn't me who took the books though, it was Ji-ji. Ji-ji brought all the reading materials and made me read all the important details of this world. I wasn't able to finish it but I did manage to get the information about the general populace."

"Though, there are no pictures on them," Lang Yuan added. "Still, I can remember the description about them and other information like their date of birth and occupation. I know which house of god they serve and when they ascended to the higher realm. If ever I will see them the first time, I will really recognize them."

Zhong Song did remember letting the human use the library since he was busy preparing for the trials. It was also that time when he neglected the youth, almost bringing him to his death. Zhong Song motioned to look at the son to confirm, "Is that true?"

JiDan nodded.

On that time, the little bun hastily pulled anything that could be of use. He pulled a few common records to help Lang Yuan recognize names and the characters that are used to write them. Both people are seriously cramming by just getting whatever information they could get and learn to the fastest time.

Luckily, Lang Yuan's fast brain processing helped him to get good results. He only needed to glance at them once and every information will be retained to his mind. Not only he managed to get all the things right, he also learned a few more information about this world's 'mythology'. The information that could only be mastered for hundred years of studying was compressed to a week length of time.

As what Lang Yuan said, there were no pictures present when describing the gods on the archives. Unlike the modern world where cameras eases the way of life, this time of scraps and papers could only create a picture through the process of drawing. If one wanted to have their image taken, one should hire a good painter. But being a 'good' painter is not enough for completing the job.

There is this term phrased as "Image Bias".

Since all the gods wanted to be depicted as mighty and beautiful, they only wanted to be painted by great painters. And these great painters are 'great' due to their two skills: one, is the ability to draw to their utmost ability; two, is their ability to adjust and modify the image of their subject to the image that they wanted to portray. This caused the delusion and the real image could never be seen.

That's why, most of the time, the archives only holds the description of the gods. They are written based by appearance, but actually, most of the information is all about their roles and achievements. The fallacy with the words is also possible so only the qualified scholars are allowed to record them. The emperor is the one who would sign if the description matched the person it describes.

Aside from being relatives, most of the gods are different appearance wise. It is such a wonder why all of the gods are good looking yet none of them can be compared. Ugly gods are also present, though, they are not described as being 'ugly'. It is just that scars or any permanent physical modification is present that deviate them from the norms. Most of these people are war gods, to which is kind of a trophy regarding to their ideals.

That's why even though Lang Yuan never saw the victims in person by just matching the descriptions he can tell who is talking whose. Since he is dyslexic, Lang Yuan take words to the heart so these kinds of things can never be easily forgotten. When he read the files given to him by Zhong Song, he was able to recognize the moment he took in the information.

"How can you..." How can you remember them?

Zhong Song stopped mid-sentence when he realized that this question is stupid. He had almost forgotten about the skills of the Empress ba! His thoughts were taken to that time when they are still travelling towards the border. Lang Yuan showed a unique skill that even Zhong Song wasn't still able to get.

It was that 'fortune telling' event where Lang Yuan guessed the arrangement of the deck by just only looking at them once ah!

He asked the youth about how he was able to do it. Lang Yuan said that it was through the process of elimination; once he can guess the first card then he will also be able to get the next card. Zhong Song tried to do what Lang Yuan said but he can't still keep up with the game. It seems that the Empress's 'fortune telling' skill is only unique to him in this world.

"Then, shall the Empress name each victim one by one..."

Lang Yuan nodded and started enumerating his view into words. The scholar listened to him as they write down each word, getting overwhelmed by the Empress's ability to accurately pinpoint the name of the god and their qualifications. Lang Yuan only learned a few from the subject but he managed to name all the eleven victims, and guessed the name of the twelfth.

Still, something is odd. Even though their assumption is right, don't you think Lang Yuan is too OP to actually know who will be killed first and who comes next? The first kill is random, just a drunk man passing the alleyway. Nobody knows that he will be the trigger for the seal to appear. There's no way that anyone could know it other than the god killer.

Yet, Lang Yuan named them as if he knows it like the back of his hand. Zhong Song suddenly has suspicions but he didn't voice it out. He let the youth name them with ease. After writing them down, Zhong Song checked the names and confirmed their identities. Aside from the usual information, he also checked their standing and found the only common thing that connected these people.

HALF-GODS

All of them are half-gods.

Zhong Song could not still believe that they were able to skim through this important information. They had tried looking for clues and even unearthed some secrets yet the information that they only needed is written right just before them. They are too farsighted to realize the detail. They could have used that time chasing the god killer than being lost in searching clues.

However, instead of answers, more questions arose to the mind of the scholar. They indeed found a connection between these gods but it didn't help them to solve as to 'why' he was doing it. This mystery has been there since day one and Zhong Song could not help but to grab his head and pull his hair out of frustrations.

What is he trying to do by killing the half-gods?

Every god has a godhead no matter if one is half or pure. The godhead serves as their 'existence' of being someone powerful and determines their rank and status. However, the power of each godhead is dependent to the will of the gods. It is obvious that Pure blooded has more power than the half-bloods.

"What if the killer can only kill the half-bloods? What if the reason why it only kills half-gods is because he can't kill a real god?" Lang Yuan muttered out of the sudden. He was also thinking the same thought as the scholar; however, his modern perspective gave way to such thought.

Zhong Song could never think the same reason. After all, the scholar knows that the gods are prideful. They won't admit any weaknesses and would often consider themselves as powerful. If what Lang Yuan said is true then there's only possible answer: The Killer is also a Half-god.

Zhong Song widened his eyes and motioned the question to Lang Yuan, "How did you know the names of the victims and the sequence they are killed?"

"I just noticed," Lang Yuan said truthfully. "The first victim is impossible to guess. The second one can be considered as a coincidence; however, the third victim becomes the serial. By just knowing the three persons, you can just vaguely understand who will come next... well, it's a small probability. I only managed to piece the puzzles together."

"Tell me," Zhong Song said.

"They are based to the twelve constellations, serving under the twelve main gods of the zodiac. Their importance is according to their appearance on the skies. If you follow them..."

Zhong Song once again was surprised by this thought. He reads the documents again and found this connection. They all thought that the killings are random, but seeing this line of thoughts, indeed the sequence is based on the twelve zodiacs. Zhong Song turned his head to look at Lang Yuan.

"Who would be the thirteenth?"

Lang Yuan shook his head. "As I said, I only somehow put the puzzles but not fully solved them. The god killer might kill another half god from the twelve zodiacs, or he will start from the first constellation."

Or some random god at all.

"Still, we can now lessen the number of potential victims. And assuming that the suspect is also a half-god, this made things a bit easier," Zhong Song said.

The population of the dragons is already a few by a hundredth degree than the humans. And half-gods are on much a smaller number than them. However, as of now, it is impossible to start working. They have to return to the higher realms to create a decree.

After a short discussion, Zhong Song ended the meeting. Lang Yuan helped him to look more on the other evidences and collected them. The empress retired when the youth fell asleep on his work. Yu XueQin took the empress to his room with JiDan. Zhong Song remained to write the decree before leaving the human realm the next day.

Well, that is the plan until the night happened.

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Author : Aiya! I already feel my readers trying to kill me soon. I should quickly hide! *hides*

Yay! I updated!