Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 804 – Array Yourselves Before Me

Zhu Ye, Ning Shiwei, and Tianhai Zhanyi had all died that night in the snowy mountains, but truthfully, no one knew what they had done, and nobody should have been able to use them to implicate those personages within the capital. However, what they had wanted to do was no secret. Anyone would think it reasonable for the Orthodoxy to demand the appropriate payment from the Imperial Court.

“His Holiness is merciful, but my temperament has never been very good. If you do not agree to my demands, then this investigation will continue.”

Linghai Zhiwang took a step forward and stared the Prince of Zhongshan in the eyes. “Your Highness, you’d best carefully think about whether you bear this burden.”

The Prince of Zhongshan had a frigid visage, but he did not reply.

He was well aware that even if this investigation into the assassination of the Pope would not reach the Prince of Xiang, the Zhu clan, now bereft of the protection of a Divine Domain expert, truly might end up having all their property seized and their clan exterminated. Putting aside the thousand-year friendship between the Chen Imperial clan and the Zhu clan, simply the promise they had made to Zhu Luo three years ago made both him and the Prince of Xiang unwilling to see such a sight.

Tianhai Chenwen maintained his silence.

The crime of attempting to assassinate the Pope was truly too great. Once Tianhai Zhanyi’s name was stained with this offense, it would be incredibly difficult to cleanse.

The present Tianhai clan was no longer what it once was. If the Li Palace really did come down on it with a thunderous momentum, the Tianhai clan really might not be able to resist.

In truth, investigating the case in this sort of manner was very unreasonable. All those involved were already dead, and besides Chen Changsheng’s letter and the two witnesses, there was no proof. The Orthodoxy involving itself in government affairs and desiring to appoint the Divine General of the Mount Song Army headquarters was also very out of line, but this was just what the Orthodoxy had done, and they had made no attempts to conceal their aims.

Just why did that person have to be the Pope? Just like Linghai Zhiwang had said, the Imperial Court had to pay a price.

However, was this enough? Would this settle the matter?

“We will go to the Daoist church to await the result. The more quickly your discussion reaches its conclusion, the better.”

Before Linghai Zhiwang took his leave, he said to the Prince of Zhongshan, “By the way, please tell His Highness the Prince of Xiang that all this is just the beginning.”

Just as expected, it was just the beginning.

In the once-more-quiet Mount Song Army headquarters, the important personages were all occupied with their own thoughts, but they all coincidentally thought of that same phrase.

“F**k!”

The Prince of Zhongshan suddenly leapt up and pointed at the noses of the two Divine General as he cursed, “Are you all pigs? You even dared to snatch at his things! You even dared to move against him!”

At this moment, one of the prince’s followers came to the door and lightly coughed.

Everyone understood, and they had no wish to endure the anger of the crazed prince, so they quickly bid farewell and left.

Before Tianhai Chenwen left, the Prince of Zhongshan grabbed his sleeve. The Prince of Zhongshan whispered, “The Tang clan knew that the owner of the Cinnabar Pill was Chen Changsheng, and the palace also knew, yet I didn’t know, the Prince of Xiang didn’t know, and you didn’t know. Don’t you think there’s something wrong with this?”

As he thought about how the Tang Seventeenth Master had also died in the mountains, how the Tang clan had sent no one to appear today, Tianhai Chenwen felt a wariness emerge in his heart.

“Many thanks for your warning.”

After Tianhai Chenwen left, the prince’s follower came up to the Prince of Zhongshan and handed him a letter.

There was nothing written on the envelope, but it was stamped with a most complicated seal.

The Prince of Zhongshan opened the letter. As he read its contents, he fell silent, his face turning gloomier and gloomier.

“Even the Qiushan clan knew… This old fox, did he calculate the time to send the letter?”

……

……

The investigation ultimately became a negotiation. The negotiations were still not finished, with the important figures departing with a brush of their sleeves, yet the contents of what was discussed spread like a wildfire throughout the town.

In a very short time, everyone in the town of Mount Song knew of what had happened that night in the mountains, and the crowd naturally could not help but consider the news rather absurd as they spread it.

The Divine General had actually plotted to harm His Holiness the Pope? And there were other factions involved? Those evildoers had all ultimately died under His Holiness’s divine punishment?

The most shocking news of all was naturally that the enigmatic master of the Cinnabar Pill was actually the Pope!

The Cinnabar Pill was actually refined from the righteous blood of the Pope’s innately sacred body!

Three holy carriages were escorted out of the army headquarters by countless Orthodoxy cavalry, heading to the church on the west side of town.

The crowd along the streets parted like a tide, prostrating on the ground.

This was because three great figures of the Orthodoxy sat within these three holy carriages, but also because they were expressing their gratitude towards the benevolence of the Pope.

Some of the people had rather spirited eyes, allowing one to tell at a glance that they were cultivators. Others were dressed in the unique attire of array masters. The common trait was that they were all injured, great and small.

When the Orthodoxy carriages passed, those people silently kowtowed.

Some of these people had rather mixed expressions, but they also prostrated to the ground.

Those on the path of cultivation only prostrated to the heavens and earth, to their sovereign, to their parents, and to their teacher.

They were naturally not prostrating to the three Prefects of the Orthodoxy within the carriages, but to the Pope.

They had all once suffered severe injuries on the battlefield. If they had not been lucky enough to obtain a Cinnabar Pill, they would now be white bones buried in the yellow earth.

Only today did they realize that it was the Pope that had saved them, and that the Pope had used his own sacred blood. When they thought of the Pope’s compassion, how could they not be moved to tears? And when they thought about how the Pope’s blood now flowed through their body, how could they not revere him?

Even those cultivating experts who belonged to other factions could not use their faction as an excuse to leave. They similarly prostrated on the ground.

……

……

The biting winter wind raised up the curtain of the window, yet failed to enter.

Just like the holy carriage of Holy Maiden Peak, the holy carriages of the Li Palace were also equipped with an array that kept out the wind, leaving the inside as warm as spring.

An Lin looked through the window at the crowds lining on the street. When she saw those cultivators and array masters, she slightly froze for a few moments.

After some time, she muttered to herself, “His Holiness the Pope seems different from the past.”

This was an expression of emotion, and also a sigh that carried a very deep meaning.

As one of the Prefects of the Orthodoxy, the Archbishop of the Divine Edict, just what did her expression of emotion signify?

An Hua sat beside her and heard these words loud and clear. She very quickly came to understand what An Lin had meant.

The past was actually just three years ago.

Three years ago, Chen Changsheng was a calm but determined young Daoist. But now, his attitude towards the struggle over the Divine General of the Mount Song Army and the countless admiring gazes incited by the Cinnabar Pill all seemed to signify that both his view of the world and his methods had undergone many changes.

“Auntie, you’ve misunderstood His Holiness. The matter of making public the truth of the Cinnabar Pill was my idea.”

An Hua looked at Archbishop An Lin and earnestly said, “The actions of Saints naturally need to be made publicly known, or how else can the people be guided towards good?”

An Lin gazed at her niece and smiled, tenderly caressing her hair. She thought to herself, you currently deeply revere His Holiness, but how could you know that when that young Daoist first entered the capital, words like ‘reverence’ didn’t even exist in his mind?