Chapter 178
Starting with Kaifeng...
Notices began to be posted in the marketplaces of various places in the Central Plains.
The content of the notice was as follows.
「To the people.
For the past few years, a heretical religion has been prevalent throughout the Central Plains.
That religion was known to the public by the name of the White Lotus Cult, but this was just a disguise...
Its original name was the Blood Cult, and it was a group that was annihilated after committing heinous acts such as kidnapping, detaining, raping, and murdering civilians and performing human sacrifices several decades ago.
But they were resurrected through a strange art that cannot be explained by reason, and in recent years, they have spread like an epidemic and have deceived the people.
I, under the command of His Majesty the Emperor, intend to annihilate the evil group that seeks to swallow the world, the remnants of the Blood Cult, and to prohibit all acts of proselytizing under the name of the 'White Lotus Cult' and to root them out from this land.
From this day on, all those related to the White Lotus Cult will be punished for treason, and for the next three months, those who have joined the White Lotus Cult due to ignorance will be given a chance to surrender.
For those who surrender, their crimes will not be questioned at all, and even if they are officials within the cult, if they provide evidence of the secret activities and all illegal circumstances of the White Lotus Cult to the state, it will be taken into consideration and the maximum leniency will be shown.
Members of the White Lotus Cult, look...
The Great Song Empire will by no means turn a blind eye to the outbreak of a cunning and ruthless heretical religion.
This surrender period will be the last chance to stand before the national interrogation as a human being.
Please do not go against the state, His Majesty the Emperor, and the will of the people, and atone under the national law, and from this day on, you must not drive the people into misery again.
Furthermore, I earnestly ask all the people for their active cooperation and for the rejection of the White Lotus Cult.
Imperial Guard
General Song A-un's seal—」
Murmur-murmur—
The content of the notice was shocking.
The outbreak of a heretical religion.
The fact that all those related to it would be punished for treason, and that the related people were already being purged, aroused the vigilance of not only the people but also the county magistrates of small villages and their subordinate officials.
"Oh my! The White Lotus Cult? Is that the religion that was looking for people to offer sacrifices, saying they would give a measure of barley?"
"Don't even mention it, Mrs. Dol-seok. They say that more than thirty people from the neighboring village of Dubang-gol followed them and have gone missing."
"I knew it. Where is there a free lunch in the world? As expected, they were madmen."
"From now on, if there is anyone who even utters the 'baek' of the White Lotus Cult..."
"We have to report it to the government office!"
"The world is in turmoil, so all sorts of strange things are running wild!"
"Tsk-tsk-tsk."
"Phew, how scary!"
Everyone who saw the notice posted in the marketplace uttered a word with a shocked expression.
Jin Won-tak and Bao Qingtian, who were watching that sight from a distance, looked at each other and put on a smile.
"Lord Bao. Don't you think things are proceeding smoothly?"
"Hohoho! Of course. It should be so. This way, we will achieve the monumental task of the imperial court, the government, the military, and the martial world cooperating to punish the wicked group for the first time in history."
"But we have not yet eliminated their main force. It is too early to be relieved."
At Jin Won-tak's words, Bao Qingtian patted his shoulder and added.
"Kehkehkeh! Head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Jin. Don't you have your younger sibling? He will probably annihilate the Gansu cult branch nicely and hand over the White Lotus Cult leader to the government."
As he said that, a firm trust was in Bao Qingtian's two eyes.
Jin Won-tak also did not lose his smile, as if he was in a good mood.
"Lord Bao. Even in your eyes, my younger sibling is amazing, right? Hahaha."
"Amazing, of course. There will not be two people like Young Hero Jin in this era. There is only one person, Young Hero Jin. The older brother is the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard of the imperial court, and the younger sibling is the number one master of the world and a genius in business, so your late parents must be looking at the two of you with satisfaction from heaven."
"Thank you for your words, Lord Bao."
Jin Won-tak politely cupped his fists to Bao Qingtian.
'Mother, Father! I have found the lost So-ah. From now on, I will live as a brother who protects So-ah by his side for the rest of my life. Please watch over me from heaven!'
Jin Won-tak's gaze was directed at the empty air.
After the day his daughter was born, he thought for the first time that the world was a livable and beautiful place.
***
'Hmm... half a day should be enough, right?'
Jeon Woo-chi sat alone in an inn and waited for So-ah.
In order to handle the matter smoothly, since he had to avoid suspicion as much as possible, So-ah had entered the Sichuan cult branch alone.
Thus...
So-ah, based on the information he had heard from the White Lotus Cult man, who was now highly likely to have become food for the mountain beasts, entered the Sichuan cult branch.
'Wow... they've disguised it as such a normal Taoist temple, so it was hard to catch their tail. You rat-like brats!'
As he had heard, the Sichuan cult branch was stuck in a valley in San-eum-gol, Pyeongmu-hyeon, where there were almost no people.
But the name of the White Lotus Cult was nowhere to be found, and it was disguised as a shabby Taoist temple that no one visited, without even a signboard.
But two burly men wearing rabbit masks were guarding the entrance of the Taoist temple, and their implicit pressure and bizarre atmosphere were so overwhelming that it seemed that no one with a strong heart could even approach the vicinity of the Taoist temple.
Just then.
"Lord Bok! How did the matter you went for go?"
One of the rabbit-masked men approached So-ah, who was completely disguised with a wolf mask, and asked.
So-ah, who had already heard the atmosphere and the hierarchy of the Sichuan cult branch in detail, and was so witty and clever, responded without stuttering.
"Ah! It was nothing. They were just crazy people, so I gave them a good scolding and chased them away. To think that there are crazy bastards who impersonate the Maitreya Blood God. Tsk-tsk."
At that.
"You should have just caught them. Those kinds of brats should have their intestines torn out and their skin peeled off and be sent to the Western Regions. Kekeke."
The rabbit mask burst into a sinister laugh.
So-ah also laughed with him.
Of course, although it was for a completely different reason.
'Yes. In a little while, I'll tear out your intestines and peel off your skin... no. This is a bit dirty. I'll just beat you up in my own way. Hehe.'
But So-ah completely hid his inner thoughts and brought out the main point.
"Ah! Where are the sacrifices to be sent to the next Western Regions now?"
"They are bound in the third warehouse in the basement of the temple."
"How many of them are there?"
"A total of about 150 people. Because the Cult Leader has recently been asking to drastically increase the number of sacrifices. We spent quite a bit of money."
These brats were really not human.
The members of the Sichuan cult branch were not only engaged in missionary activities, but were also taking the form of offering living sacrifices by paying the gangsters of the Sichuan region and deceiving the orphans, the government slaves of the government office, and the prostitutes of the red-light district.
'These brats, not to mention, I have to beat to death all the gangster bastards who give them human sacrifices.'
Of course...
'They must have accumulated a huge amount of wealth, right?'
Although So-ah was more interested in the offerings than in the prayers.
"Let's go there first. I need to see the sacrifices for a moment."
"Yes. Let's do that, Lord Bok!"
***
So-ah, who had infiltrated the inside of the temple with the rabbit mask, clicked his tongue inwardly.
The round jades embedded in the walls were large night-luminescent pearls that would have cost two or three gold ingots each, and the chairs for the branch leader and the deputy branch leader were surprisingly made of silver.
Since they were brats who had given up on being human and had committed all sorts of dirty deeds, it would not have been that difficult to accumulate wealth.
Since So-ah knew well how hard it was to earn even a single penny, his anger naturally welled up.
Soon...
So-ah walked down the stairs leading from the inside of the temple to the basement, and soon found the stone room that the rabbit mask had called the third warehouse.
The stone room was blocked by a thick iron bar, and when the rabbit mask opened the iron door with a key, a terrible pandemonium unfolded before So-ah's eyes.
'Ugh... what is this!'
The smell of vomit and excrement wafted to So-ah's nose.
It seemed that these brats had locked people up and had left them without even being able to relieve themselves separately.
Although there were no dead people yet, the children and the young men and women were so thin from starvation, and their energy seemed to have weakened to the point where it would not be strange if they were to die at any moment.
"You fucking bitches and brats! We starved you so you wouldn't shit and piss, but it seems you did it anyway. Hey, you trash. Aren't you going to clean up the excrement you made?"
The rabbit mask cursed at the people who had collapsed, half-unconscious.
But would people with no energy have the strength to do that?
They looked at the rabbit mask with empty eyes as if they had given up on life, and then just buried their heads in the floor and closed their eyes again.
Just then.
So-ah hit the back of the rabbit mask's head.
"Ack! W-Why are you suddenly doing this? Lord Bok?!"
"Hey, you bastard. You clean it up, you."
"Ah... no, what is that."
"Hmph, ma!"
As So-ah raised his hand, the rabbit mask flinched his shoulders and nodded his head.
"Ah... I understand, I will clean it."
Something was strange.
The wolf mask.
That is, Lord Bok had never done this to him before.
But.
"Clean it up well. I'm going to another warehouse for a moment. If you don't clean it up cleanly by the time I get back, I'll crush your head."
So-ah's absurd words continued...
Only then did the rabbit mask realize that something was seriously wrong, but it was already too late.
***
"Wow...! What is this?"
So-ah, who had moved to another stone room after ordering the rabbit mask to clean, could not help but burst into admiration.
The first warehouse of the Sichuan cult branch.
Although only the branch leader and the deputy branch leader were allowed to enter, So-ah, who had infiltrated after breaking the lock with his finger-flicking divine art, was astonished to see the wealth piled up like a mountain in the warehouse.
But.
The surprise did not last long.
Instead, in the place where the surprise had been, all sorts of joy and elation, and furthermore, an indescribable strange feeling of 'what a windfall' came to take its place.
'Unconditionally, it's all mine.'
So-ah decided.
From the wealth in this warehouse to the large night-luminescent pearls embedded in the inner walls of the temple, and the chairs made of silver.
That he would 'embezzle' it all.
'Yes. It's okay to take this much. I've been active. Of course! Ah! Should I give some to Brother Woo-chi?'
While having such thoughts, So-ah took out the divine skill wooden box that was in his bosom.
And then, from gold ingots, silver, promissory notes, to all sorts of jewels.
He stuffed all the wealth that was piled up in the warehouse into the wooden box.
'Wow! I should be grateful to Eunuch Han.'
So-ah once again clicked his tongue at the utility of the divine skill wooden box, which could store anything, and picked up the wealth.
In an instant, a madness of obsession was in his eyes.
In the midst of that.
Several people entered the room, which was half-empty of wealth.
'The two brats wearing tiger masks are probably the branch leader and the deputy branch leader... it seems the rabbit mask smelled something and brought those brats.'
So-ah grasped the situation at once.
Perhaps, the rabbit mask had felt something suspicious the moment he was hit on the back of the head.
Of course, since he had confirmed the location of the human sacrifices and the warehouse where the wealth was piled up.
Even if his identity was revealed, it didn't matter to So-ah.
"Th-This is!"
The tiger mask stuttered as soon as he entered the room.
At a glance, it was because more than half of the wealth in the warehouse had disappeared.
But So-ah, without caring, continued to pick up the wealth and put it into the divine skill wooden box with lightning-fast hand movements.
"Y-You brat! What are you doing right now!"
"Shh! Just a moment! I'm doing something important right now!"
So-ah waved his hand at the branch leader who was shouting and focused on his embezzlement.
Soon...
So-ah, who had stored all the wealth in the wooden box, then shifted his gaze to them.
"Phew! You've piled up a lot. I was scared to death trying to put it all in, you brats!"
So-ah joked.
In an instant, a cold and terrifying one sentence mixed with killing intent flowed from the tiger mask's mouth.
"Whoever you are! This place will be your grave today. How dare you..."
But.
Unfortunately, the tiger mask's words could not continue.
"Ah! That's enough!"
"...?"
"The sin of capturing people is 100 lashes. The sin of joining the White Lotus Cult is 100 lashes. The sin of extorting a thousand gold by unjust means is 100 lashes. That's a total of 300 lashes, right? Wow... you brats are going to die for sure."
"...?”
(End of Chapter)