Chapter 535 Tai Sui Army
The journey was relatively uneventful, though there were one or two strange attacks, which I easily dealt with. Compared to the journey before I met up with Xiaowan, it was incredibly peaceful. I was somewhat unenthusiastic about this level of security, but I was also pretty tired of those numerous, non-threatening strange attacks.
Now, we have finally found the stronghold of the Tai Sui Army.
The outpost was situated at the foot of a cliff on a mountain peak, appearing to blend seamlessly into the cliff face as a military facility. The main entrance was a cave. Two men dressed as guards stood there, their eyes alertly scanning the surroundings. There were also sentry towers nearby, and small teams were patrolling, exuding an air of high discipline.
After a brief observation, I took the small bowl and headed straight for the main gate. The two guards reacted immediately, and I could also sense some magic being activated. It was as if powerful guns and cannons were being set up in the shadows, ready to attack us at any moment.
The two guards assumed a fighting stance, and one of them shouted, "Who goes there!"
“I am Zhuang Cheng,” I said. “There should be a woman here who is at the Great Completion level… or rather, a demigod in this world? I have something to discuss with her.”
"There's no need to be so tense. I'm not your enemy. If it's inconvenient for me to go in and find someone, I can wait here. You just need to send someone in to inform them."
I consider myself fairly polite. If the other party attacks or adopts an unconditionally resistant stance, then I will also use force. Of course, my killing intent isn't so strong that I'd immediately resort to murder; that might not be conducive to my later communication with the mysterious woman.
My power of words has now been initially revived. Although it is not yet at the point where it can have a massive impact on spacetime and matter, it is still unrestricted when used to control humans. It can also be used to manipulate characters below the Great Completion level at will.
Or should I first demonstrate my magical power to avoid them underestimating us? I'm not very skilled at negotiation in this area; I usually just charge in and start killing. In any case, it's important to make them feel that we're not pushovers. Showing off our strength should be considered a form of courtesy.
While the practice of treating people differently based on their status is a widely criticized social ill, it's unavoidable when interacting with others. If you don't actively demonstrate a level of competence that commands respect, you can't complain that others don't value you.
Just as I was about to display my magical power, I saw the two guards opposite me looking at each other blankly. Then the guard who had just questioned me said, "Zhuang Cheng... excuse me, is it the 'Zhuang' as in 'farmland'? And 'Cheng' is..."
Seeing that he slightly dragged out his words, I continued, "—The success."
Another security guard took out a piece of paper from his pocket and, together with his partner, glanced at it out of the corner of their eye. Even from a distance, I could tell it was a photograph written by Zhang Nian, with a frontal portrait of me on it.
It seemed the mysterious woman had prepared in advance to welcome me.
The two guards made a gesture to the surrounding area, and the spells that were secretly aiming at me and Xiaowan fell silent. Seeing this, I continued to approach with Xiaowan, and they adopted a welcoming posture for me to enter, without asking who Xiaowan was.
“…Please come this way, Your Excellency Zhuang Cheng,” one of the guards said in a respectful tone.
He acted as our guide, leading us into the base. After passing through a wide, uneven cave passage, the first thing we saw was a large, unadorned, concrete-colored hall.
The area, resembling a parking lot, is filled with vehicles and also functions as a canteen, with rows of wooden tables and chairs on the other side. It's probably lunchtime, and dozens of people dressed in gray tactical uniforms are gathered here to eat.
In the center of the hall was a large blessing, with a white light burning like a bonfire at a festival, standing on a wide brazier, illuminating the hall quite brightly.
The appearance of Xiaowan and me, two strangers, caused these people to stop eating and talking, and they looked at us with strange and wary eyes.
However, they had probably heard that guests were coming, and gradually resumed their original actions. But it was still possible to sense that a considerable number of people were secretly observing them.
"Waaah..."
Xiao Wan could certainly feel the prying eyes. She was clearly uncomfortable being in such a crowded place and being stared at like that, so she moved closer to me, her small body seemingly trying to stick to me tightly, while holding my left hand with both of her little hands.
I gripped her hand firmly and said to those stares, "Eat your food and chat your conversations."
"..."
Everyone simultaneously withdrew their attention and continued eating and chatting as if nothing had happened.
Seeing this, Xiao Wan breathed a sigh of relief.
The gatekeeper, who was acting as a guide, looked even more awe-inspiring.
This phenomenon was not because those people were obedient, but because I infused my voice with a touch of spiritual power. No one present could disobey my command.
Although Xiao Wan seemed to be plotting behind the scenes how to use the power of the Heavenly and Earthly Directions to turn these people into my subordinates, in reality, it doesn't need to be that complicated. To make them all my subordinates, I only need to say a word.
No matter if there are thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions of people on the other side... as long as they can hear my voice, I can turn them all into my slaves.
Of course, considering that in the post-apocalyptic era there is still madness, a mysterious force that constantly changes and even mutates people's hearts, maintaining stability in the future is the real challenge, but in the present moment, it can be easily achieved.
In the modern world, for the Great Impermanence to conquer its own country would be a simple matter of a single sentence. Mortal kingdoms are utterly powerless before the Great Impermanence. The reason this hasn't happened yet isn't because the Great Impermanence aren't powerful enough, but because their sheer number is overwhelming. The antagonism between transcendentalism and worldly governance allows organizations like the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau to thrive in the cracks.
This inevitably brings to mind what happened when Asa first transmigrated to the modern world—the reason why Luo Shan couldn't locate Asa in the early stages using divination wasn't because divination was ineffective, but because too many people were sabotaging each other behind the scenes. Some even secretly added multiple anti-divination measures to Asa to prevent their rivals from divining her location.
While marveling at the sight, I used my senses to scan the entirety of the stronghold.
Besides the main hall, the stronghold contained numerous interconnected corridors and rooms, housing approximately two hundred people. This only included those on standby; there were likely more personnel operating outside. Even so, it was far too small to be considered an army.
However, if measured against the standards of a post-apocalyptic survivor organization, that would be an exaggeration.
Based on what I learned from Ma Zao about the survivors in the apocalypse, a group of a dozen or so people is considered quite large, and a group of dozens of people is practically committing suicide. If even one karmic demon appears within it, the group will be destroyed in an instant.
It's said that the remnants of the Tai Sui faction, or rather, the Tai Sui army, have experienced more than one split. In the initial period when they escaped the purges by the Gospel Council, their total number might have reached thousands. For such an organization to continue, it either needs an extremely strong internal purge capability or a sufficiently great blessing.
Based on my assessment, over half the people at this base are Blessing cultivators, plus the mysterious woman at the Great Completion stage, so their internal purging capabilities should be more than sufficient. As for Blessing…
The large blessing statue in the center of the hall felt incredibly powerful. Just standing nearby, I felt the chaos of time and space being greatly calmed. I estimated that as long as one didn't leave this area, even madness couldn't easily corrupt the souls of survivors, and karmic demonization wouldn't occur easily.
The power of the Blessed Light is also the guarantee that the Gospel House was able to establish a super-large human force in the end times. As a force that split off from the Gospel House, the Tai Sui Army seems to have taken away some of its foundation in the chaos.
"Who is that demigoddess to you?" I asked.
The gatekeeper, who was acting as our guide, said with a hint of pride, "Lord Nijigusa is our leader."
"So her name is Rainbow Grass..." Xiao Wan read aloud.
Rainbow Grass... This name strangely touched my heartstrings.
The name sounded somewhat familiar, but I was certain that this was the first time I had ever heard it. I thoroughly searched my memory based on the pronunciation and then confirmed: it was indeed the first time I had ever heard it.
However, I don't think this sense of familiarity is just my imagination. Although the impression is quite faint, I must have encountered it somewhere before.
"Where is she now? She doesn't seem to be in this base." This was my judgment based on the results of my sensory scan just now.
“Yes,” the guide said. “I don’t know if you are aware, but our Tai Sui Army is currently being hunted down by the Great Demon Xuanwu. And just recently, the Great Demon Xuanwu was about to reach our area.”
"At the critical moment, the leader stepped forward and took the initiative to lead the Great Demon Xuanwu in another direction, while we took the opportunity to move to this stronghold."
This led to other possibilities... This probably corresponds to the incident of the mysterious woman appearing at the abandoned Tai Sui Gospel Temple.
She originally lured the Great Demon Xuanwu to the ruins of the Tai Sui Gospel Temple, but she didn't expect me to bring the Wandering Soul and Sandalwood into it. At first, she probably meant well, wanting to drive us away from the area the Great Demon Xuanwu was heading to, but she unexpectedly discovered that I was actually "Number Three," and what followed was my battle with the Great Demon Xuanwu.
The Great Demon Xuanwu... I will settle the score with it sooner or later.
In order to heal Ma Zao's soul, and also to avenge the time he was overwhelmed and beaten by it last time.
I'm the kind of person who holds grudges very much.
"Um... can I ask a question?" Xiaowan raised her hand.
The guide then looked at her and asked in a gentle tone, as if speaking to a child, "What's the question?"
"Why would the Great Demon Xuanwu suddenly hunt down the Tai Sui Army?" Xiao Wan asked.
(End of this chapter)
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