Xie Yiyi left the restaurant while Zhao Jin waited outside with the carriage.
Ning Shuang peeked her head out of the carriage and said with a smile, “Do you need Brother Jin to help take a look?”
Xie Yiyi shook her head and said, “Let’s go back.”
Seeing that she was unwilling to speak further, Ning Shuang did not insist.
On the other side, Su Wen followed Wei Jinyong and Murong Yan deeper into the Li Prefecture.
Along the way, Su Wen realized that not only Jiashan City, but almost all the other cities he passed by had similar situations.
The city was safe and sound while the the outside was akin to purgatory.
However, the further they walked, the fewer refugees Su Wen saw!
Those who could run had already gone far, and those who could not were nearly dead.
There were only aristocratic clans plowing the fields in the mountain ridges. On the contrary, there was a sense of peace.
Wu Kunhu had led the troops to fight against the rebels in the Li Prefecture, but it did not seem have affected this area at all.
After the great calamity, this place appeared beautiful on the surface.
However, the more this scene unfolded, the colder Su Wen felt.
The light hid all darkness.
Countless lives, flesh and blood, and grief were all concealed by the peace on the surface.
He could even imagine that after the great calamity, these counties would still be able to collect taxes that were almost the same as before the natural disaster happened, and hand them over to the court. The citizens of these counties would sing praises of these officials, the scholars and inkmen of the noble families, and write about the officials’ benevolence and love for the people. These people could even use this as a political achievement.
The lost population would be blamed on the rebels!
The Royal Court would be satisfied, the officials satisfied, the aristocratic families satisfied, and even most of the living citizens satisfied. Everything would be perfect.
Did the Court still need to send relief? No.
But those who died were all living beings, with a life attached to them.
Who would deliver their souls?
If he was still in the capital and heard of this matter, Su Wen would definitely think that it was just a small ripple in his heart.
But when Su Wen was among them, he had seen the victims who wanted to live, the children who wanted to be born, and the skeletons lying on the side of the road, the men whose eyes were numb from farming for the rich.
Su Wen finally understood how terrifying the darkness behind the cold numbers was.
It was a darkness that devoured all the radiance of humanity.
On the way, Su Wen remained silent.
Murong Yan also noticed his emotions.
However, she thought it was Su Wen who was reluctant to join the Moon Worship Sect.
“Brother Daqiang, don’t blame me. I’m just short of one person to exchange for an absolute art. Don’t worry, after you enter the sect, I’ll protect you. You’ll slowly discover the benefits of our sacred cult.”
Su Wen smiled. “What are you talking about, Sister? Didn’t you say that we are siblings? Don’t worry, I will definitely not hate you.”
Wei Jinyong led the supply convoy through the war zone and arrived at Yong County, which was also a territory belonging to the Li Prefecture.
It was as if he knew exactly where Wu Kunhu was setting up his troops. On the way here, he basically didn’t encounter any troops stationed here to quell the rebellion.
Everyone entered the city and came to a large courtyard. This courtyard occupied a large area and was not smaller than the university campuses during his past life.
The moment he entered the courtyard, a lively scene greeted Su Wen.
Thousands of people were practicing in the courtyard.
“This is our branch hall. These people are all skilled in martial arts. However, most of them aren’t of high quality. They are all recruited here one by one,” Murong Yan whispered into Su Wen’s ear.
As she spoke, a hint of pride appeared on her face. “Our Moon Worship Sect is the sect with the most people in this Li Prefecture!”
Su Wen: “….”
They had the most people? With the recruitment methods of the Sect just like how multi-level marketing was conducted, how could there not be many people?
“Come in with me!”
Wei Jinyong brought Su Wen and Murong Yan into a separate house.
After entering, Wei Jinyong took out a portrait and said to Su Wen, “This is our sect master, Hong Sanqian. Since you’ve entered our sacred cult, you shall swear a venomous oath of loyalty to Master Hong’s portrait and consume the Holy Spirit Pill. From now on, we’ll be brothers!”
The term Cult Master Hong stirred up some of Su Wen’s memories. “Cult Master Hong? Do we also have to announce that Cult Master Hong can enjoy eternal happiness and live as long as the heavens? Is the Cult Mistress Hong especially pretty?”
(TL Note: The ‘Cult Master Hong’ being referred to here is a fictional character from Jin Yong’s novel, ‘The Deer and the Cauldron’. The person mentioned in the novel is also a martial expert, who loves to hear his followers flatter him and has a beautiful wife.)
Wei Jinyong was stunned. “How do you know? Speaking of the Cult Mistress… Hehe, that’s enough. Kid, hurry up. If you’re unwilling, I won’t force you.”
Su Wen sneered in his heart. You don’t want to force me? Why would I believe you? If you didn’t want to force me, why would you bring me here? You should have let me go earlier. Now that I’ve rejected you, you might even choose to forcibly brainwash me again. You might even arrange for a few people to give me some physical pain. Are you trying to fool me?
Su Wen took a step forward, picked up the Holy Spirit Pill, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Was it not just a slow-acting poison? When the Martial Inspectorate annihilates your Sect and you leader, why would I be afraid of not getting the antidote?
“From now on, Su Daqiang swears his loyalty to Cult Master. If he violates this oath, Su Daqiang’s entire family will be exterminated and sent to hell, never to reincarnate!”
Su Wen swore an oath without any guilt.
However, the moment the pill entered his body…
Su Wen discovered that the Sorcerer God’s Golden Gu in his body started to make a move. This little fellow directly passed through his meridians and swam to Su Wen’s stomach. He then spun around the medicinal pill as if he was trying to determine what this thing was.
Subsequently, Su Wen saw a strange scene. This fellow seemed to have treated the pill as a ball and started playing it around in Su Wen’s body. He pushed it left and right.
After dozens of times, the Gu actually ate it!
Not long after, that so-called Holy Spirit Pill was swallowed by the Gu. It then lazily swam back into Su Wen’s meridians and began to bask in the True Qi once again.
At this moment, Wei Jinyong was still explaining the effects of the pill. “Our Holy Spirit Pill is personally concocted by the Cult Master. In order to prevent traitors from appearing in the cult, every believer must consume it. The antidote will be given out once every half a year.”
He said solemnly, “There is an extremely strange blood worm in this Holy Spirit Pill. After it enters the body and the pill dissolves, it will enter the brain of the host and fall into a deep sleep. If there is no special antidote to suppress it for a long time, it will awaken and devour the host’s brain. The victim will die! If one is disloyal to the Cult Master, he even has a way to awaken the blood worm in advance!”
Su Wen: “….”
He looked at the Sorcerer God’s Golden Gu in his body and pondered.
Since this thing swallowed the blood bug… could Cult Master wake up the blood bug and kill it?
Probably not.
Wei Jinyong patted Su Wen’s shoulder and said, “Since you’ve entered the sacred cult, don’t have any other thoughts. Work hard for Cult Master!”
Su Wen nodded his head vigorously.
“If you don’t have anything else to do, go out and search for more people and recruit some cultivators into your sect. Remember, regardless of whether they’re willing or not, as long as they enter the sect, they will be under your headcount! You’ll be rewarded!” Wei Jinyong encouraged Su Wen.
“Yes!” Su Wen nodded again.
“However, there’s no need to go out and publicize. Recently, the Royal Court has sent the Martial Inspectorate to Li Prefecture. Our Moon Worship Sect is also on the extermination list. The Sect Master has already set up a fake headquarters and is preparing to give those guys a hard time, but we can’t be careless either. However, those guys who are in charge of exterminating our Moon Worship Sect haven’t made a move in Jiashan and we don’t know what they are doing. So don’t be careless, if you really get caught, no one can save you!”
Since Su Wen consumed the Holy Spirit Pill, Wei Jinyong was relieved and immediately reminded him.
Upon hearing Wei Jinyong’s words, Su Wen’s eyes widened in shock. So the Martial Inspectorate’s movements had already been completely grasped by these guys!
Su Wen, who originally planned to escape secretly, decided not to leave for the time being!
