The orderly sound of marching footsteps and clashing armor rang out. The soldiers from the southern drill grounds had been deployed, and the once-boisterous streets fell silent in an instant.
Portraits were posted one after another, covering a large section of the city gate.
They were all wanted notices for the important members of the Five Gods Cult, nearly sweeping the entire cult into one net. It seemed the authorities had long been prepared.
An officer wearing a saber at his waist, helmet, and armor stood atop a high platform and shouted loudly at everyone below.
"By imperial decree, from this day forth, the divine title of True Lord Xuanzhu Huode is abolished. No one within the city may continue to worship any deity of the Five Gods Cult. All Five Gods Cult temples are to be demolished. All disciples of the Five Gods Cult are rebels and shall be killed without mercy. Any accomplices must immediately turn themselves in."
"First crime: the demons of the Five Gods Cult murdered Prince Jian, impersonated imperial princes and nobles, poisoned court officials, and used Witchcraft and Sorcery to control imperial officials."
"Second crime: the Five Gods Cult privately manufactured weapons, armor, bows, and crossbows, raised armored soldiers, and plotted rebellion."
"Third crime: sacrificing living people to demons, plunging all living things into misery..."
"Fourth crime..."
The charges went on one after another, chilling all who heard them to the bone.
Not only were the common folk who had once devoutly believed in the Five Gods Cult terrified, even the officials and wealthy gentry who had countless tangled ties with the cult felt their hearts leap. The Five Gods Cult had been far too bold, hadn't they?
Once the soldiers dispersed, the crowd swarmed forward.
"So Prince Jian was murdered by those demonic Five Gods Cult fiends long ago?" a scholar shouted.
"Didn't you see how powerful the Five Gods Cult demons were? How could a prince possibly withstand such demons? Even ordinary immortals might not have been their match. Luckily, Great Immortal Kongchenzi was there! Only then were such formidable demons eliminated." Several scholars beside him immediately echoed his words.
"I was saying, how could Prince Jian, a dignified prince and son of the current Son of Heaven, do such things?" The crowd was greatly relieved, as though this was how things ought to have been. Great Zhou had stood for nearly a century. Though calamities had been unceasing in recent years, with extravagance above and greed below, the people's hearts were still there. Most still believed the Son of Heaven to be wise and enlightened.
"I heard that the Gu God of the Five Gods Cult could cast gu arts. More than half the officials in our River Prefecture had become its puppets, their minds controlled by it. Fortunately, an immortal killed that Gu God. Didn't you see it? Right there on the spot, many people vomited gu worms out of their bellies, and only then did they regain consciousness." No one knew whose arrangement this speaker was.
"So all those evil deeds were committed by the demonic fiends of the Five Gods Cult?" The people around them looked at one another.
"Of course. Look at the things the Five Gods Cult did, each one more outrageous than the last. Can those even be called human deeds?" With those words, the people of all River Prefecture became united in hatred against a common enemy.
"All of this was the evil karma created by the Five Gods Cult."
"No wonder the Five Gods Cult committed so many wicked deeds. They were trying to rebel!" Many commoners listened as someone reread the notice, discussing it heatedly as realization dawned upon them.
The new truth and hidden details were revealed and swiftly spread.
Under the guidance of certain interested parties, Prince Jian immediately became an innocent victim. The moment he had arrived in River Prefecture, he had been harmed by the demons of the Five Gods Cult. Everything had been the work of those Five Gods Cult demons, and they had done it all for the sake of rebellion.
Though quite a few people harbored doubts, such an ending better suited people's imagination and needs.
The villains received their retribution, the good were saved, and everyone else had merely been coerced—a perfect, joyous, happily-ever-after ending.
Good and evil were so clearly divided, as distinct as black and white, like a grand opera performed onstage where righteousness and wickedness had long been painted upon their faces.
Sometimes, what people wished to see was not the truth, but merely the so-called truth they wanted to see.
For an imperial prince to commit such disgraceful acts could no longer be called a scandal. It was something that would stink for ten thousand years.
Prince Jian could do such things, but the imperial court absolutely could not acknowledge them. If everyone under heaven came to believe the imperial household was full of such people, then the people's hearts would be completely lost.
At the same time the notices were posted, every commandery and county in River Prefecture mobilized.
Sounds of slaughter rose from the former Five Gods Cult strongholds. The remaining disciples of the Five Gods Cult either died, fled, or went into hiding.
Heads rolled in torrents.
In the blink of an eye, the Five Gods Cult, which had entrenched itself throughout River Prefecture for nearly a century with roots deep and branches sprawling, vanished into smoke and ash.
From that day onward, they were not merely unwelcome in the imperial court; they were also unwelcome in the martial world and among the common people.
The court hunted them down, the martial world regarded them as heretics and drowning dogs—killing them was a fine way to win fame—and the common people saw them as demonic monsters and evil fiends.
Outside Jiangting Commandery City, within a dilapidated house.
Feng Yusheng sat upon the platform in a Protector's robe, looking down at the utterly bedraggled people below. Many bore injuries, but even more apparent was the terror and unease in their hearts.
The world was so vast, yet from now on they would have nowhere to shelter.
Feng Yusheng looked at the Five Gods Cult disciples below whom he had selected—those whose hands were still relatively clean and who possessed some ability. There were several dozen of them.
The fact that most had answered Feng Yusheng's summons and come here meant they had made their choice.
The Poison God and the Poison God Altar Master were dead, while the other Protectors had been reduced to ashes at the ferry crossing. In a single leap, Feng Yusheng had become the highest-ranking figure in the Poison God Altar.
More importantly, Feng Yusheng possessed the hope they desired.
"Everyone is here." Feng Yusheng spoke, sweeping his gaze across them all.
This time, I, Feng Yusheng, am going to rise to prosperity as well.
"Protector Feng!" Everyone dropped to one knee.
Feng Yusheng rose to his feet.
"The Five Gods Cult is finished. We can no longer remain in River Prefecture, but I can find a way to keep all of you alive in the martial world."
"From this day onward, we shall be called Feng Yusheng Tower. I will be the Tower Master, and we will continue doing what the Poison God Altar once did—except we will deal only in intelligence from the martial world."
"Of course, before that, I will make the martial world fully accept us."
These people exchanged glances, then immediately made their decision. "We swear to follow the Tower Master unto death."
Feng Yusheng had long since made his plans, his little abacus clicking away furiously.
The Poison God Altar had collected intelligence possessed by the entire Five Gods Cult. Feng Yusheng had hurriedly investigated the cult's various dealings and ultimately deduced several locations he believed were most likely the Five Gods Cult's main headquarters.
Following this trail, there was a strong chance of uncovering the Five Gods Cult leader's whereabouts. He had already sent people to investigate those locations. Whether or not they found anything, they would be able to uncover the problems with those places.
Now he only needed to wait for an opportunity to present it to Great Immortal Kongchenzi and have him remove the Heavenly Punishment Seal for him.
More importantly, he needed to let everyone under heaven know that he was not a Protector of the Five Gods Cult, but a spy Great Immortal Kongchenzi had planted within the cult.
A martial-world hero who had fed himself to the tiger, fearless in the face of hardship and danger—a man of righteousness.
Now that the Poison God Altar's power had fallen into his hands, along with the story that would soon bring him fame throughout the land, both reputation and profit were his. Feng Yusheng seemed already to see his bright future.
"I wonder where the Great Immortal is at this moment?"
Then he thought of the prince's residence in Yuande Square and the underground palace beneath it, and could not help sighing with emotion.
"What a pity about such a huge prince's residence, and the wealth the Five Gods Cult had accumulated over a hundred years. How much must that have been? Only someone like the Great Immortal, who regarded gold and silver as filth, would be willing to burn it all down in one fire!"
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