Lying Low (2)

Bang! The wooden door was kicked open, and two men dressed in black and wearing black masks rushed in. A series of crashing and falling sounds followed.

"My lord." Soon, two people came out, clasped their hands in greeting, and said, "There's no one inside. All the valuables have been taken away, so they must have left not long ago."

"Contact the local government offices in the nearest towns immediately and order a search!" the man in the gold-threaded mask said coldly.

"Yes!"

The black-masked figures around them responded loudly.

Cheng Hui slowly walked out of the alley.

In recent days, he has been eliminating people one by one according to the list.

Now, after eliminating some of the personnel, some minor discoveries have been made.

' You Shifei's entire family was sentenced to be exterminated thirty years ago for colluding with Secret Teaching.

He was the only one who survived because he fled and went into hiding.

It was later discovered that the case of the You family's collusion was a complete frame-up. However, the facts were already established, and the Ling Ting was irreversible, so the truth had to be suppressed.

'This person harbors a deep-seated hatred for the Imperial Court and has committed numerous Heaven Blood. He is currently ranked twenty-seventh on the Black List, known as the Flying Bat, and his strength is unknown.'

Cheng Hui mentally reviewed all the information about this target.

He became increasingly certain that this You Shifei was very likely one of the Human Seed chosen by the Heavenly Maiden.

In particular, this Flying Bat has become increasingly powerful recently.

He successively killed the Golden Wing Tower experts who were tracking him.

Since joining the Western Sect, Golden Wing Tower's strength has been much weaker than before, but thanks to Cheng Hui's efforts...

The number of spirit envoys has returned to five. Although the number is not as high as before, these five spirit envoys are all from the Divine Spirit Network, and their strength in one-on-one combat is far more troublesome than the previous spirit envoys.

And so, one of the Spirit Envoy, while still chasing the Flying Bat in the middle of last month, suddenly disappeared and his whereabouts are unknown.

"It seems that You Shifei must have obtained Secret Cache. Truly Human Seed exceptional talent and skill."

Cheng Hui felt no regret at the death of the Spirit Envoy; on the contrary, he was overjoyed.

This means that his long investigation is finally about to yield results.

Ever since he was tricked by Golden Ring last time, the Secret Cache has become a knot in his heart that he can't get rid of.

And now, we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Sir, shall we continue the pursuit?" an Eagle Rank expert asked in a low voice.

"No need. Now that it has been confirmed that this person is problematic, we will report the situation to the Western Sect and let the higher-ups make a decision. We will continue to investigate the other candidates."

Of the 124 names, more than half have already been investigated, and now one You Shifei, has emerged.

The rest should be done soon. *** April 1187.

The White Ten Sect suffered a complete defeat and retreated from the Great Ling.

The Xi Yi Pope once again dispatched a missionary team to Great Capital to meet Ling Emperor.

They hope to be allowed to legally preach and establish churches within Great Ling.

Because of the Great Ling of religion and freedom of belief.

The missionaries also attempted to persuade Ling Emperor and the Imperial Clan family to convert to Christianity in person and to establish a long-term cooperative relationship with the Xi Yi.

In order to eliminate the misunderstandings caused by the small-scale friction that occurred in the previous Citong.

Ling Emperor responded, "If you wish to make peace with us, you popes and princes should come to me without hesitation to establish peace."

The papal Envoy returned in anger.

In May, Xi Yi announced the severing of diplomatic ties with Great Ling.

In late May, the Great Ling expeditionary fleet set sail from Linzhou Port for Xi Yi.

Simultaneous troop buildup inland marked the fourth invasion of Annan.

May 27th.

Ci Tong Port.

The sky was overcast with dark clouds, seemingly close enough to touch.

In the bay, numerous boats of all sizes swayed and rocked with the waves.

The sails had already been lowered, and the sailors hurriedly covered the cargo with oilcloth and fur to keep out the rain.

At the port, some of the laborers who had unloaded half of the cargo were speeding up their work.

Some deliberately slowed down their actions, waiting to force merchants to pay more.

The urban area of Citong near the port is part of the inner ring road.

Not all properties within the inner ring road are expensive New House. Many older, dilapidated apartments still stand there.

These old, dilapidated apartments are mostly inhabited by service workers. Because they are close to many bustling areas within the inner ring road, they are convenient and quick to travel to and from these areas.

One of them is an old, dilapidated town called Green Date.

At this moment, the clear and melodious sound of a harp could be heard continuously coming from a teahouse that was a combination of two shops.

An old cat with jet-black fur lay lazily in front of the teahouse, listening to the music and yawning.

The aroma of tea, human voices, a black cat, a harp, and distant harbor ships swaying in the wind.

Everything connects to form a wonderfully harmonious scene, like an oil painting.

The teahouse signboard is round and reads: Cotton Cloud Residence.

Inside, there were six rows and six chairs, arranged neatly. A few people were sitting here, having come to drink tea.

The gentle, melodious sound of the harp calmed the hearts of those drinking tea inside.

In the teahouse, near the street, a group of people were quietly discussing current events and political views.

In the Great Ling Realm, there is freedom of speech. As long as you don't go to extremes, nobody cares what you say.

Therefore, such scenes are common in Ci Tong Port.

"I don't think this is appropriate. Our Great Ling treats the Western Italian Teaching this way, and now we're going to take the initiative to send troops to conquer its territory. Isn't that too arrogant and conceited? Aren't we afraid that other countries will unite against us?"

The speaker was a middle-aged man wearing a blue-black long gown, with tortoiseshell glasses, a refined demeanor, thick eyebrows, and large eyes. He spoke with considerable indignation.

"Brother Yanzhi at the academy for a long time, so perhaps he is unaware of the key point. This actually involves the very foundation of our Great Ling State Religion."

The other man was handsome and looked to be in his early twenties. He held a white fan and had long, flowing hair tied up with a jade ring. He was the epitome of the dashing young gentleman that virtuous women admired most.

"Isn't our Great Ling State Religion Buddhist School? Are all Buddhist School doctrines so domineering?" the bespectacled man frowned and said unhappily.

"No. Buddhist School, in fact, is the second state religion," a tall, burly man beside him said, setting down his teacup.

"Brother Jingrong, you are in Guardian Teaching Office, so you should know this better than any of us," a woman at the table agreed.

The man named Jing Rong had a square face with sharp features, narrow eyes, and bulging muscles. Even sitting on a bench, he exuded an imposing and unyielding aura.

This person was Zhang Ying, also Zhang Rongfang, who was always idle and would come down the mountain to drink tea when he was tired from his cultivation.

For more than half a year, he frequently came to drink tea, and gradually, through boasting, he found a few like-minded guys.

When they get together, they dare to boast about anything, and most of the four are knowledgeable, which makes them get along even better.

Apart from Zhang Rongfang, the other three are Zhao Yanzhi, Ouyang Shuyi, and Fang Wuxue.

The four had known each other for several months. At first, Zhao Yanzhi and Ouyang Shuyi boasted about it at Cotton Cloud Residence, and then the conversation attracted the attention of those around them.

Later, Zhang Rongfang and Fang Wuxue also joined in, and stood out from the crowd, becoming one of the few experts who could debate with the two without losing ground.

Thus, the four of them formed a bond.

"Speaking of this state religion," Zhang Rongfang, the burly man who used the alias Zhang Jingrong, recalled the classical texts he had read.

"Before the Great Ling Kingdom was established, most of the Spirit Person actually believed in the Spirit Flight Teaching."

"Spirit Flight Teaching? I've seen that in the ancient texts before. So it was once the state religion?" Ouyang Shuyi suddenly realized.

"That's right." Zhang Rongfang nodded. "Although the Spirit Flight Teaching no longer conforms to the rule of the Great Ling due to most of its doctrines, its core doctrines still have a great influence on all the Spirit Person."

"I remember that the Spirit Flight Teaching seems to worship a deity named Spirit Flight Heaven?" Zhao Yanzhi said.

"Exactly." Zhang Rongfang nodded. "The core doctrine of the Spirit Flight Teaching is that among all things in the world, only the Spirit Person are divinely endowed with spirituality and are the only ones designated by the gods to manage the world."

This world, all things, were originally born from the Spirit Flight Heaven.

Since the Spirit Person is the only person personally taught by the Spirit Flight Heaven, then the same logic applies.

All things under heaven, the entire world, originally belonged to Spirit Flight Heaven and were under the jurisdiction of the Spirit Person.

"Hiss, I remember this doctrine." Ouyang Shuyi slammed her hand on the table.

"Spirit Flight Teaching, Spirit Flight Teaching, it also has another name, Flying Heaven Teaching, right?"

"That's right." Zhang Rongfang nodded. "Therefore, in the eyes of the orthodox Spirit Flight Teaching's Spirit Person, the whole world belongs to the Spirit Person."

Within the Great Ling, they belong; outside the Great Ling, all the changing land and all things belong to them.

Therefore, when they wage war against other countries, they don't call it war, but rather reclaiming territory that rightfully belongs to them. In their view, this is simply a matter of course.

"Tsk tsk, outside of the Great Ling, everything is already their territory, just waiting to be reclaimed? Such a doctrine is truly domineering," Fang Wuxue sighed.

"So the Spirit Noble consider themselves superior to all other races and Human Seed because they inherently believe themselves to be the masters of all things?" Ouyang Shuyi sighed.

"You two should be careful what you say," Zhang Rongfang reminded them seriously.

When he first came across these doctrines, he was speechless.

Fortunately, the Spirit Flight Teaching has long since declined, and the Great Ling Imperial Clan now mainly uses Buddhist School and Daoist Sect as their state religion.

Judging from their constant conquests and expansion of territory, the Great Ling Imperial Clan seems to still be deeply influenced by the teachings of the Spirit Flight Teaching.

"Alright, alright, gentlemen, this topic is getting more and more complicated. Let's change the subject. What are your thoughts on the Jade Sea Gang, which is gaining a reputation in Citong?" Ouyang Shuyi clapped her hands and said.

"What's there to say? They're nothing but bullies who prey on men and women and run rampant in the market," Zhao Yanzhi dismissively.

"If they were just ordinary gangs that bullied men and women and ran rampant in the market, they wouldn't have developed to this point, where even the Government Office is finding it difficult to deal with them," Fang Wuxue said, shaking her head.

The four of them did not reveal their identities, nor did they ask each other too much about their personal information.

However, to a greater or lesser extent, everyone can discern the scope of a person's daily life from their conversations.

"The Jade Sea Gang is not just an ordinary gang; it's best if you all avoid any conflict with them."

Although Fang Wuxue is a woman with a beautiful appearance, she has always been decisive and courageous. Judging from her physique, she must also be a person with considerable martial arts skills.

"Brother Wu Xue is right." Zhang Rongfang nodded in agreement.

He was well aware of the power and influence behind the Magistrate Citong and others. The fact that even they were wary of the Jade Sea Gang meant that there must be even deeper forces behind it.

He just wanted to stay here peacefully, accumulate attributes, and improve his cultivation. He didn't want to cause trouble for no reason.

Now, more than half a year has passed, and he has already figured out the relationship between life points and grade limit Breaking Limits.

For every ten points of life, First Grade can Breaking Limits.

Now, his life points have already reached 78.

It's nearly twice as many as when we first came to Citong.

At this moment, his stamina, recovery, and spirit were inexhaustible, and even staying up all night for several days in a row had no effect on him.

The Iron Shirt he cultivated back then has now been mastered to the sixth level, Breaking Limits. It has reached a point where even Sixth Grade master can strike him with their bare hands at full power without causing injury.

Ordinary weapons, unless they are divine weapons or high-powered firearms or crossbows, can be ignored by those below the Sixth Grade.

In addition, there is another key reason why Zhang Rongfang no longer wants to meddle in other people's business.

That is, after his life points reached 78, he had a vague premonition.

It seems that as long as one lives past 100, one can achieve some kind of step-by-step leap.

This premonition was so strong that he almost wanted to add all fifteen of his remaining attribute points to his health.