Despite his newly recovered health, Shenmi had to work day and night, handling religious affairs while also investigating who was targeting the cult.
The headquarters of the Divine Cult was located on a cliff in Shanxi Province, heavily fortified and difficult to attack; even a full-scale attack by martial arts practitioners would not have been able to breach it. To preserve the members of the Divine Cult, Shenmi ordered them to return to headquarters, and he himself ceased residing at the manor, leading his men back to take charge of the overall situation.
The cliff is very high, magnificent and precipitous, grand and solemn. A huge statue is carved on the cliff face, and one can vaguely see that its expression is somewhat arrogant and flamboyant, with two stone pillars on its head...
Shunacha stood at the foot of the mountain, looking up, but from this angle he could only see the nostrils beneath the statue's high, straight nose. He scratched his head, trying to recall the statue's face he had just seen from afar, and wondered why it looked so familiar.
The religious palace complex is situated on a protruding rock face on the cliff, and returning believers devoutly bow and pray to the statues of gods every day, chanting scriptures in a low voice.
Shunacha felt rather uncomfortable here. Although these people were very kind to him, an outsider, because of their religious beliefs, the presence of an unbeliever among a group of devout believers was quite conspicuous.
Shu Naicha was incredibly embarrassed and uncomfortable, staying there for several days, not knowing what to do with his hands and feet. Seeing this, Shenmi suggested that he go out and clear his head.
"No, you're in trouble now, how can I leave?" Shunacha glared, but realized his words were wrong as soon as they left his mouth... He had been hoping for Shenmi's death, so why was he now reluctant to see him die unexpectedly?
Even if you want him to die, you should do it happily...
With a string of gay predecessors as role models, Shunacha couldn't help but wonder if he was falling for Shenmi. He quickly realized it.
Good heavens! My partner hasn't even been lured away yet, and I've already fallen for him!
It truly filled him with uncontrollable sadness.
What's even sadder is that the partner she secretly loves now wants her to leave as soon as possible _(:3」∠)_.
Shenmi was pale and bloodless from days of exhaustion. Hearing Shunaicha's words, he rubbed his temples wearily and said indifferently, "Naicha, I know you are highly skilled in martial arts. You only stayed behind to protect me."
Shunacha: "..." I never expected this at all...
“But the Cliff of Crossing Calamity is already full of traps. If something really happens... one more person won’t make one more person lose their life.” Shenmi looked up at him, thought for a moment and said something harsh: “Besides, you are not a member of the Divine Cult, so I won’t be able to take care of you then.”
Shu Naicha stared at him blankly for a long time before finally responding softly, "I understand..."
Shunacha left the cult headquarters but didn't go far. He dug a hole at the foot of the mountain, transformed into an inconspicuous hamster, and crawled inside.
Bad news spread everywhere, and the mysterious man's attempt to avoid involving too many people only emboldened those江湖人 (jianghu people) to take advantage of him.
Later, the government got involved, and suddenly the cult was surrounded by enemies and everyone wanted to kill it.
They are the Church of Salvation, following their religious doctrines to alleviate human suffering... But what if one day, the people they help want them dead?
The followers of the cult began to reflect: Had they done something wrong? Had they disobeyed God's commandments? Otherwise, why would people attack them? Otherwise, why would the authorities show them no mercy?
Even the mysterious figure couldn't help but feel uneasy.
However... all of this is simply because the cult's power is too great, and their actions have a great reputation among the people.
How could the emperor tolerate this?
Everything they did was for the country and the people, but the powerful cult did not respect the emperor, only their so-called young master. How could the emperor tolerate this?
Is this a religion or a rebellion?
The emperor's remaining rationality led him to wait for the cult to finish what it had done. Originally, he only wanted to warn and punish the cult, which had damaged its power, but he did not want to eradicate the sect.
He really couldn't bear to kill such a sucker.
However, the mysterious young master filed a lawsuit before the emperor, accusing a certain minister of plotting a rebellion. The emperor had not received any information about this, and even though he discovered the matter through the mysterious young master's evidence and punished the minister, the matter still lingered in the emperor's mind.
He believed he was coerced into dealing with the minister.
Thus... the emperor could no longer tolerate it, and after the construction of the cult was completed, he began his long-planned actions.
Jianghu sects rose up in droves, and the government seized the opportunity to suppress and exclude them. The Divine Sect's power had to shrink and retreat, and they were forced back to Du'e Cliff in Shanxi in just six months.
With a massive army pressing in, the perilous Du'e Cliff was too difficult for martial artists to traverse, but these soldiers, by sacrificing their lives, carved out a path through it.
On that day, blood flowed like a river at Du'e Cliff.
On that day, countless believers learned that all of this was because their acts of saving others from calamity and doing good deeds had angered the emperor. They began to doubt their faith, which led to their collapse and suicide.
That day, the young master of the cult sat in a wheelchair, lost and dejected, like a walking corpse, showing no reaction to the swords drawn by the soldiers behind him.
Just as the blade was about to strike his vulnerable neck, a roar like that of a dragon echoed from afar.
"stop--!"
The blade froze, only an inch from the young master's neck. The soldier, his face flushed, tried his best but couldn't budge it an inch.
The mysterious figure belatedly looked up in confusion and saw a thick, yellow dragon at the foot of the mountain, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, its eyes like lightning, soaring into the sky and circling once before swooping down on him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
