Chapter 216 Marriage Rules
Dongfang Qi pondered and said, "In the past, Guifang was just a small country. It only reached its current size after annexing eight small countries. I think they must have used some extraordinary means. For example - sorcery!"
He raised his eyes and asked Lin Qingyue, "As far as you know, is there any magic that can ensure victory in every battle?"
"Of course there are..." Lin Qingyue thought, "Could it be... a puppet? The poison of the Flying Corpse Silkworm can turn people into puppets, making them feel no pain during battle and just blindly fighting. But this requires a large number of animals to be raised. And the breeding conditions for the Flying Corpse Silkworm are harsh, so it is difficult to accumulate a large amount of poison."
"Princess Lingxue only had a small bottle of poison back then. So, we can infer that they probably don't have a lot of Flying Corpse Silkworm Poison either. At least not enough to cover the war."
Dongfang Qi sighed and said, "It's a pity that we didn't find a chance to explore deeper into the temple tonight."
Just now, after the old turtle pretended to be Li Wei to meet the archbishop, Dongfang Qi and Lin Qingyue wanted to take the opportunity to sneak into the hinterland.
However, the first floor was heavily guarded. Furthermore, the temple's guards all possessed special abilities. Various formations were also set up around the temple. If a fight broke out, the formations would be triggered, inevitably alerting the enemy.
During the insurance period, Dongfang Qi advised Lin Qingyue, "The situation is still unclear, so it's best to hold back for now. If we alert the enemy, we'll be in a passive position."
Lin Qingyue didn't take action.
The old turtle said, "You were right not to act rashly. If nothing unexpected happens, the archbishop must be a monster with at least a thousand years of cultivation!"
Dongfang Qi asked, "How did you know that?"
The old turtle said, "He hid it very well, and there wasn't even any demonic aura about him. However, I noticed that the maids around him looked listless and their eyes were dull. If my guess is correct, they must have been absorbing their yin to replenish their yang. This kind of magic is usually used by demons. Those who have their yin absorbed will slowly lose their vitality in a day or two, or as long as two or three months."
"Ah..." The old turtle sighed, "That's why I didn't dare to act rashly."
Lin Qingyue said, "That's not surprising. After all, to reach the position of Archbishop, one must have some ability. When you met the Archbishop, did he look like the statue enshrined in the temple?"
The old turtle shook his head. "They're different. The archbishop is about forty or fifty years old, but for someone who practices witchcraft like that, his true age can't be determined by his appearance. The statue, on the other hand, is a young man of twenty. His facial features are completely different."
Lin Qingyue said, "So, there must be someone behind the Archbishop who is stealing the people's faith and proclaiming himself a god!"
Dongfang Qi said, "Tonight we have done some preliminary exploration. Tomorrow we will try to find a way to get deeper into the heart of the temple."
The next day came in a flash.
The old turtle, wearing the official robe of a missionary ambassador, sat on a high platform, supervising the worship and offerings of the people below.
Lin Qingyue and Dongfang Qi watched for a while and were about to leave.
Suddenly there was a noise from the crowd:
"Look! That's someone who betrayed God! An adulterer and a whore, having sex without a matchmaker!"
"God is merciful, please punish the traitor!"
Lin Qingyue looked in the direction of the sound and saw a pair of officers escorting two prison vans on the main street outside the temple square.
A man and a woman were locked in the prison van, their clothes were stripped off, and their breasts were exposed as they were paraded through the streets for public display.
"What crime did those two commit to deserve such humiliation?" Lin Qingyue, who was wearing civilian clothes and a veil, asked the person next to her.
The man said, "You don't know yet, do you? A few days ago, this adulterous couple secretly got married! Of course, this couldn't be hidden from the omniscient gods. The gods punished them by stripping them naked and parading them in public."
Dongfang Qi asked curiously, "Why is getting married secretly considered betraying the gods?"
The man glanced at Dongfang Qi and Lin Qingyue and said, "You must be outsiders to ask such a question. In our Luo City, weddings can only be held on the first and fifteenth day of each month. And on the wedding night, the bride must be sent to the temple to stay overnight to receive the gods' blessing. Only in this way can the couple live happily together and grow old together."
"Only marriages blessed by the gods are recognized. Otherwise, it's considered adultery and must be stripped and paraded through the streets as a warning to others."
These words once again overturned Dongfang Qi's cognition. Just as he was about to speak, Lin Qingyue secretly pulled him.
Lin Qingyue lowered her voice and warned him, "Keep calm and don't show your emotions, or you'll attract attention."
After giving her instructions, she turned back to the man and said, "This is a very good rule. Three days from now, it will be the fifteenth of this month. We should be lucky enough to witness a unique wedding."
The man raised his head proudly. "It's naturally wonderful to be a newcomer blessed by the gods. But those two fools dared to violate the rules set by the gods. They will be severely punished. I heard that after the parade, the women will be sent to the military camp to be prostitutes. The men will be directly drowned! Let me tell you - hey, where are they?"
An hour later, at the riverside outside Luocheng.
"Splash!" The sack containing the person was thrown into the pond, splashing huge water.
Two soldiers stood by and watched the sack sink completely before turning around and leaving.
Almost at the moment they left, the sack suddenly floated out of the water and flew into the bushes nearby.
"Cough cough cough!" After a burst of violent coughing, the man finally recovered.
He wiped the water off his face and looked up at the man and woman wearing veils in front of him.
"Thank you for saving me." Although he was thanking you, the man's face did not show much joy of surviving the disaster. Instead, he burst into tears.
He cried and said, "My wife, my wife... wuwu, I'm sorry for her."
Lin Qingyue said, "Your wife has been exiled to the border military camp, but if you ride fast, you should still be able to rescue her. Do you want to save her?"
The man nodded repeatedly: "Save her! Of course I will save her!"
Dongfang Qi took out a bag of money and threw it over. "This is for buying you a horse. Before that, could you tell us why you didn't follow the rules when marrying a wife? Do you know something?"
Mentioning this, the man became furious. "The Guiyuan Sect is a wicked and evil sect! Originally, our entire family were loyal believers of the Guiyuan Sect. To show our loyalty to the gods, my father donated half of his monthly earnings to the temple. But later... I discovered it was all a scam!"
The man's name was Ke'an, and he had an older sister at home.
A year ago, Ke'an's sister got married to a wealthy businessman in the city. It was originally a match made in heaven.
The groom's family also set the wedding date on the first day of the new year according to the rules.
That night, after the wedding ceremony, the groom's family sent the bride to the temple.
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