Guren quickly denied their cooperation with the Luo; however, I couldn't let my guard down.
Fang immediately went into battle mode, sharpening her senses as she scanned the entire area. However, she didn't feel the familiar presence of our pursuers anywhere around her.
Igni was releasing a slight pressure, intimidating the two shadows who were holding daggers as they jumped out of Guren's shadow. While Ember deployed a clone and turned it into a semi-transparent film to cover us from possible attacks.
"Stop, you two!"
Guren shouted to them, preventing them from taking another step forward. The two shadows, Sasuke and Chiyome, stopped in their tracks before moving behind Guren, who was still kowtowing, and keeping watch over the situation.
"Please pardon my subordinates; they only fear for my personal safety."
Guren quickly apologized.
I was honestly confused. Is Guren really not cooperating with the Luo family? He just kept his kowtow, as if he didn't want to raise his head until I agreed to take up his position as the next head of the Seimei family.
"..."
I kept my silence for a while, thinking about the pros and cons of agreeing to his proposition. However, in the end, my wish to know the secret of my five bloodlines was greater.
"Tell me about the bloodline first, then I'll decide whether to accept being the next head or not."
I sat back down, cross-legged, and stared at the nape of Guren, who was still bowing his head.
"Raise your head first; it's hard to talk to you like this."
Guren sighed as he lifted his head, a wry smile adorning his tired face.
"Although this information is the only card I have to offer, I'll tell you in advance as a show of trust."
Guren said as he pulled out a scroll from his sleeve. The scroll, when opened, was empty. He then picked up a brush and started drawing a figure on the scroll.
His wrist was moving in a fluid manner as a figure started coming to life with every stroke of his brush. A few moments later, a total of five Blood Traces' glyphs were on the scroll.
"These should be the bloodlines that you have, right?"
Guren called as he flipped the scroll to face me. There, I could see the five familiar glyphs that I saw once at Max's place. It wasn't hard to remember them, as the five of them were basically almost the same, apart from some minor details.
The first glyph was a flame, burning fiercely, with a yin-yang figure drawn in its center. The other four had the same flame pattern, but the image in the center differed greatly.
The second had a bird, probably a phoenix, drawn in its center. The phoenix had half of its wings missing, but it still looked gallant, as if it were about to flap its wings to fly at any moment now.
The third one had the face of a fierce tiger drawn on it. The tiger seemed so lifelike that I wanted to praise Guren's drawing skills. I could almost hear the beastly roar coming from its wide-open maw.
The fourth one had the image of a turtle. It looked sturdy, giving the impression of toughness and longevity. For some reason, the inscriptions written all over the turtle's shell were drawing my eyes in, making it hard not to stare at them.
The fifth and last one had a dragon, an eastern dragon, drawn. The dragon was coiled around itself as if it were a predator about to pounce on its next target. Its fierce-looking eyes contained a hint of gentleness, as if it were looking at everything fairly and without bias, judging everyone equally.
After checking again, I once more confirmed that they perfectly match the bloodline glyphs in my memory.
"Yes, these are my bloodline's Blood Traces."
After hearing my confirmation, Guren smiled as he pointed at the first glyph. The one with the yin-yang image.
"This, here, is the glyph of the ancestor god of the Seimei Family. It's an open secret within the family, but the main bloodline all possessed this specific Blood Trace."
I squinted my eyes. I don't know if Guren was telling the truth, or just spouting nonsense to pull me in. He seemed to notice what I was thinking as he called towards Chiyome by his side.
"Chiyome, use the [Oath of Truthfulness] on the two of us."
Hearing his words, I was greatly surprised. This familiar-sounding skill is actually a notorious one that's usually used to extract information from an enemy. While under the skill's effect, one can't spout a single lie.
Keeping silent doesn't work either, as while under the skill's effect, the target would need to answer any and all questions within a minute. If they failed to do so or told a lie, then their souls would be harvested by the god of death.
Chiyome chanted in a soft voice before a black mist spread on top of the table, reaching both me and Guren alike. After the mist faded, I didn't feel anything strange in my body. However, when Guren asked "Did it work on you?", my mouth moved on its own, and I replied, "Yes," without hesitation.
"With this, we both know that we can't spout lies."
Guren said with a smile. I'd rather he ask Chiyome to cast it on him alone and not drag me into it, but what's done is done.
After taking a deep breath, Guren repeated what he said before.
"The first glyph is the representation of an ancient Seimei god whose name was lost in the annals of history."
Guren leaned slightly forward as he emphasized,
"I repeat, it's from an ancient God, not a God-level tamer. It is a level above that, in a realm that we call the True God level."
Guren then pointed at the rest of the glyphs before saying,
"And these four, unfortunately, are unknown. However, since they all have the same [Fire of Life] inscribed in the background, then it should be related to the Seimei too."
I craned my neck, covered my eyes, and sighed. I could feel a headache coming while I tried to digest the above information slowly.
I have the blood of a god.
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