Chapter 699: The Pusher

Chapter 699: The Puppeteer

The so-called "chat" could never be a straightforward visit; all clues would be concealed behind the scenes, revealing nothing.

Zhao Changhe rediscovered the joy of roaming the martial world, slipping like a wisp of smoke from behind the temple and hiding in the shadows of the rear hall.

Outside, the temple fair was drawing to a close.

Although the Great Zhou had said there were often gatherings during this period, they were evidently relatively small. This large temple fair, held on the occasion of the Laba Festival, was clearly the first grandest event since the revival of Buddhism in this world. The temple, as if facing a formidable enemy, had deployed enough monks to maintain order and ensure safety, terrified of any mishap that would be a devastating blow to the revival of Buddhism.

Abbot Yuancheng was also seated in the hall, keeping watch, eyes closed in chanting, but in reality using a secret method to extend his five senses, monitoring any unusual movements within several li.

Unfortunately, his cultivation at the middle rank of the Earth List had long been surpassed by Zhao Changhe, and he could not detect anyone spying from behind the hall.

Beside him sat another old monk, also an acquaintance of Zhao Changhe, Master Yuanxing, who had once helped Zhao Changhe fend off an assassination by the Wang family and given him a map of the Xuanwu secret realm. Although that was repayment for Zhao Changhe saving them from the Maitreya cultists, the bond was not shallow, and Zhao Changhe had a very good impression of this old monk.

His impression of Yuancheng was also favorable; when they had fought against Maitreya together, the old monk spoke little but contributed much, and was measured in dividing the spoils.

These two masters were probably the few remaining representatives of orthodox Buddhism in this world, and their presence here together proved the importance of this place to them.

Overall, the character of orthodox Buddhism in this world should not be bad, but there were issues of stance—such as faith and fortune, which were finite: if you had more, I had less; and issues like land annexation, taxes and corvée, popular associations, brainwashing and indoctrination, etc. Secular royal power often clashed with such sects. From the perspective of royal power, the Great Zhou felt that this was not fundamentally different from the Maitreya cult.

In truth, it was not that exaggerated. Zhao Changhe had seen the crippled Buddhist and Taoist sects in the present world and knew they could become harmless huskies, but they would not necessarily all become "Yellow Heaven shall stand" or "Maitreya descends."

This time, Zhao Changhe instinctively sensed something strange. Their rise had been too swift, and they had already clashed with the local branch of the Blood God Sect—this momentum was off. He felt that Buddhism, suppressed for too long, had suddenly found a chance to breathe, and their eagerness might be too great, possibly being manipulated and pushed. Even the Great Zhou had sensed "a puppeteer," which further corroborated his guess. What the puppeteer behind it all wanted to achieve required further observation.

Just then, a monk entered to report: "The temple fair has ended, and the laypeople have dispersed one after another. There are no problems."

Yuancheng said, "Do not take it lightly. Send monks to escort them along the way, and only when they are safely inside the city can it be considered complete. If anyone is robbed or killed outside, and any mishap occurs, our reputation will suffer greatly."

The reporting monk said, "It has already been arranged. Along the way... we also found some Blood God Sect people skulking about, I don't know..."

Yuanxing said, "Don't be nervous. The Blood God Sect is now under Lord Zhao's direct command. They wouldn't dare tarnish their Saint Son's name by killing recklessly. Logically, they are now under the City Defense Office and should be secretly protecting the people, afraid of any trouble. I suspect they are cursing us bald donkeys for making trouble, giving them extra work on a cold day."

There was some laughter in the hall; it was vivid and could indeed be the inner thoughts of the Blood God Sect followers.

But many monks did not think so. One said, "The Blood God Sect believes in the Blood Demon and slaughter; they have no intention of guiding people to goodness. I cannot believe these demon cultists turned into chivalrous heroes overnight. If the Prince of Zhao were here, he could restrain them, I would believe that... but the mountains are high and the emperor far away; the Prince of Zhao cannot know what sinister deeds they might commit. If something goes wrong, they might turn around and bite us. Given their closeness to the Prince of Zhao, we would have no way to defend ourselves."

This was indeed a concern for many, even Yuancheng was worried. He said in a low voice, "There is no better place to start than Jingxiang right now. We cannot retreat just because of a few Blood God Sect branch members. We will be cautious. In any case, try to avoid conflict with Blood God Sect followers as much as possible."

Yuanxing also said, "Last time when someone was killed, it was indeed our people who were unreasonable first, not the Blood God Sect's problem... On the contrary, they were upholding the law. You must reflect repeatedly and restrain your disciples."

Zhao Changhe nodded upon hearing this. These orthodox Buddhists seemed decent enough; the Great Zhou was somewhat biased.

Moreover, while they worried about the Blood God Sect, Zhao Changhe was not concerned about this batch of Blood God Sect followers.

Because these people were not real Blood God Sect followers at all; they had never undergone the baptism of Blood God faith, nor had they learned the Blood Fiend Art... They were his Beimang subordinates, a group of mountain bandits. Because they were too weak, they were not taken north by Xue Canghai to fight, and instead stayed in the relatively peaceful Jingxiang area, occupying positions in the imperial City Defense Office, lying flat and drawing pay—this was the earliest benefit of following Boss Zhao.

Although this group was not virtuous, they truly did not dare to disgrace him, and they were very different from the Blood God Sect followers in people's imagination. Real Blood God Sect followers had no interest in women, but it was said that at least half of this group had married and settled down within the year. With wives, children, and warm stoves, where was the style of bandits from before? At least the Great Zhou had not reported any bad deeds from them, only saying they were like firecrackers—meaning hot-tempered, perhaps with a hint of contempt for their intelligence, but obviously no evil deeds, not even close to bloodlust.

Then a monk in the hall said, "How could our followers have been enraged to kill someone? I still suspect that was maliciously guided baleful energy. The Blood God Sect's techniques excel at this. It is likely that the Blood God Sect people secretly incited it, then cried thief to catch the thief, causing us trouble."

Zhao Changhe's heart stirred. This suspicion was quite interesting, but unfortunately, the target was wrong; that group really did not know the Blood Fiend Art. But following this line of thought, was there a third party stirring things up?

Yuanxing frowned and said, "Nonsense. What motive would they have to do this? If they wanted to extort by pretext, we haven't seen them come to extort!"

"Why need a motive... We are Buddhists, they belong to the Four Symbols Sect. The struggle for human fortune and incense offerings is right here..."

"These are just low-level Blood God Sect followers. How could they have such far-sighted strategic thinking? Do you think Vermilion Bird is here?"

"That may not be the case..."

The hall actually broke into debate... Zhao Changhe frowned deeply, feeling a sense of foreboding.

In such an atmosphere, if another incident occurred—a monk killing a Blood God Sect follower, or a Blood God Sect follower killing a monk—hostile conflict between the two sides would be inevitable. Was the ultimate goal perhaps the rupture between Buddhism and the new dynasty, plunging Jingxiang into chaos again?

"Bad news, bad news!" Just as he was thinking this, a monk rushed in from outside, shouting urgently before even entering: "Outside the forest by the city wall, Blood God Sect followers are looting people returning to the city. A senior brother went to stop them and was hacked to death by the Blood God Sect followers!"

The group of old monks in the hall stood up abruptly, the atmosphere heavy with tension.

An old monk said angrily, "Abbot, what are you still thinking? We respect the Prince of Zhao, but we cannot allow ourselves to be bullied!"

Yuancheng, without further ado, went out first: "Don't be hasty. Let's go stop the battle first."

Zhao Changhe looked up. Through qi observation, he felt an extremely strange disorder swirling above this place. The incense and faith power, as it dissipated in space, seemed to undergo a bizarre mutation, twisting and magnifying in the shadows of the night sky like a ghostly face.

He thought for a moment, then did not go to the murder scene. Instead, he slipped back into the forest from which he had come, took out a slip of paper, wrote a sentence, stuck it on the back of his black steed, and patted its head. The black steed nodded and galloped away on clouds.

Zhao Changhe himself re-entered the rear of the temple. Taking advantage of the fact that there were almost no strong practitioners in the temple at the moment, he recklessly extended his five senses to search for the entrance to the secret realm.

There must be a secret realm here, and within it was likely the "Upper Buddha" of these monks, but Zhao Changhe was almost certain that there were things inside that these monks themselves had no idea about.