Public Opinion

The exit of Hell Road lay in a small grove outside Slaughter City.

After who knew how long, Nan Feng groggily opened his eyes.

Fresh air, the fragrance of flowers and grass, the sound of running water. At a thought, Nan Feng's body changed from a little snake back into a human.

"Xiao Feng?"

Bibi Dong turned around at the sound, some distance away.

In a daze, Nan Feng walked toward the river.

Water! Flowing water, damn it!

Not blood!

No stench of corpses! No filth! No weird smells!

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻!!!

Damn it!!!

I'm finally out!!

"Xiao Feng?" Bibi Dong came over with concern and crouched beside him, watching Nan Feng cry silently.

"Ah!!"

Nan Feng suddenly burst into tears, unable to stop them from streaming down his face.

He was just some clueless college graduate who'd only just finished school!

Damn it all!

Being short-lived was bad enough, but they'd also thrown him into a godforsaken place like that!

Other people started out in Holy Soul Village or Spirit City. If they were really unlucky, they'd be some dumbass prince!

Damn it all! They'd thrown him into Slaughter City!

Had he watched too much The Shawshank Redemption or something?

They'd given him a whole Slaughter City redemption!

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻!!!

After crying for a long while, Nan Feng finally managed to stop.

Six years! Six years of living in that hellhole!

Who knew how a normal person like him had survived in a place like that!

"Don't worry. We're out now..." Bibi Dong tenderly wiped away Nan Feng's tears.

She couldn't even imagine how Nan Feng had survived in a place like Slaughter City as a child. If not for his healing ability, the Fallen Ones would have probably devoured him as a snack long ago.

There was no food in Slaughter City. Soul Power was the only source of life.

As long as Soul Masters had Soul Power, they didn't need to eat, to a certain extent. The weak had to regularly offer their blood to the strong.

And she'd seen plenty of infant skeletons in the corners of the streets—children who couldn't fight back.

So Nan Feng's survival... was a miracle in itself.

"How does it taste?"

Bibi Dong had made Nan Feng a simple grilled fish.

"It doesn't taste good," Nan Feng said bluntly.

"No seasoning, it still smells fishy, it's undercooked, and it's a little burnt..."

Bibi Dong's expression fell.

Now you're getting picky?

Irritated, Bibi Dong reached out to snatch the grilled fish from Nan Feng's hands.

Nan Feng quickly dodged.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"If it tastes so bad, then don't eat it."

"You've never heard of beggars can't be choosers?"

"..."

After resting, Bibi Dong set off with Nan Feng.

Since the clothes he wore had all been stripped from corpses, now that he'd left Slaughter City, Nan Feng didn't want a single thing from that hellhole on him.

So he tossed the clothes aside and turned into a huge Golden British Shorthair.

It was a good chance to get used to a feline body. He'd probably have plenty of chances to turn into a kitten or a big cat in the future.

"By the way, why did you go to Slaughter City?" Nan Feng ambled along beside Bibi Dong, shaking his head.

And don't tell him it was for training. In the past thousand years, only four Killing Gods had successfully left Slaughter City, according to Spirit Hall, including Tang Hao, who'd left a few years ago.

With odds like that, a trial? Seriously?

"My past is embarrassing. You wouldn't want to know about it," Bibi Dong said, looking uneasy.

"Embarrassing?" Nan Feng grew even more curious.

"How embarrassing?"

"..."

Bibi Dong stopped. "Do you really want to know?"

"Of course," Nan Feng replied.

"We've relied on each other for three years in Slaughter City. Don't you trust me?"

"Maybe after you hear the story, you won't be interested in me anymore," Bibi Dong said.

"Not interested? Were you a man before?" Nan Feng asked, confused.

"Did something special happen that turned you into a woman?"

"Or are you intersex?"

"..." Bibi Dong.

What the hell?!

"Or maybe..."

"Stop!" Bibi Dong quickly cut him off.

"I'll tell you! Just stop guessing!"

What kind of things were going through this guy's head?

Not wanting Nan Feng to let his imagination run wild, Bibi Dong chose to briefly recount the first half of her short life: awakening her Martial Soul, joining Spirit Hall, displaying her talent at Martial Soul Academy, being taken in as the Pope's disciple, meeting Yu Xiaogang, falling in love, and then... being violated by Qian Xunji.

That was more or less the gist of it.

Then, three years ago, Bibi Dong gave birth to a daughter, Qian Renxue, who awakened the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul. The repulsive aura she gave off nearly made Bibi Dong kill the child.

Although Bibi Dong managed to stop herself in the end, Qian Renxue was still terrified.

As it happened, Qian Renxue's grandfather, Qian Daoliu, witnessed the scene.

Qian Daoliu worried that Bibi Dong might lose control again someday and harm the prodigy of the Qian Family.

He wanted her dead, but it wasn't convenient for him to act.

After all, a grandfather killing a mother would be too much for a little girl to bear.

After Bibi Dong gave birth to Qian Renxue, Qian Xunji never laid a hand on her again, either, because he was worried that Qian Renxue might have trouble dealing with the truth if she found out one day.

So, after discussing it, Qian Daoliu and Qian Xunji decided to send her to Slaughter City. Whether she lived or died was up to fate.

As it happened, Tang Hao of the Clear Sky Sect had just managed to leave Slaughter City, bringing great renown to the Clear Sky Sect. The Martial Soul Hall Saintess entering Slaughter City at that time would also show that Spirit Hall's younger generation was no weaker than the Clear Sky Sect's.

Besides, even if it didn't work out, that would be perfectly normal.

After all, over the past thousand years, countless geniuses and disciples of Spirit Hall and the various sects had entered Slaughter City to test themselves. Yet only a handful had ever made it out.

Success would greatly boost Spirit Hall's influence. Failure would be perfectly understandable. Spirit Hall would lose nothing, and Bibi Dong could disappear without anyone learning that something so shameful had happened within the hallowed Angel Family.

The Pope had raped the Saintess? The hallowed, noble Angel Family had done something like that?

What would happen to Spirit Hall if the truth got out?

What would happen to the faith in the Angel God?

In Spirit Hall's ten-thousand-year history, had this really been the first time something like this had happened?

Or was this simply the first time they'd been caught?

Just how many shameful secrets did this self-proclaimed righteous and noble Spirit Hall have?

If this came to light, the blow to Spirit Hall would be devastating. If others piled on, it might even deal a crippling blow to this organization of Soul Masters that had stood for ten thousand years.

After all, Spirit Hall's slogan and faith revolved around the righteous and noble Angel God. It had cast itself as a champion of the people and enjoyed the benefits and profits that came with that image. So when that image shattered, it would naturally lose what it had gained from it.

"So why don't you just expose what happened?" Nan Feng asked, puzzled.

"You want revenge on the Qian Family. If you reveal this and make a few moves behind the scenes, plenty of people would be willing to portray you as the victim and attack Spirit Hall. Spirit Hall is powerful, sure, but the Seven Great Sects and the Two Great Empires you mentioned could use this chance to unite and launch a justified attack."

"Faced with condemnation from the whole world, how many Soul Masters would be willing to stay in Spirit Hall? Once people get a taste of the benefits, the thing they care about most is saving face."

"If the Two Great Empires and Seven Great Sects you mentioned offered just a few more benefits, they could easily shatter Spirit Hall's unity."

Public opinion was terrifyingly powerful, especially against an organization that had built itself up as the epitome of righteousness. If the truth about Bibi Dong came out, Spirit Hall's credibility would plummet, and its carefully cultivated image would quickly fall apart.

Ever since Tang Chen of the Clear Sky Sect went missing, the balance between the Seven Great Sects and Spirit Hall had already started to tip. And Qian Daoliu, the Grand Priest, was different from before—he had ambitions of bringing the entire continent under Spirit Hall's control. Everyone could sense the threat.

Now, with an opportunity to form a united front and seize benefits, those people would never let it slip away.

As for the people's will, that was a joke.

Most people didn't think for themselves. They just believed whatever they were told. After seeing countless cases of online harassment, he knew that better than anyone.

Besides, people were social animals, and Soul Masters had families of their own. Spirit Hall was like a powerful company. Once it was caught up in a scandal, its employees and their families would also become targets of public outrage.

And don't say Spirit Hall could just crush everyone by force. War meant slaughter and death. Once it began, who would care whether you were a civilian or a Soul Master?

Spirit Hall's Soul Masters came from the Two Great Empires and the various smaller kingdoms. Would they help Spirit Hall destroy their own countries and homes?

Had they lost their minds?

At a time like this, the Two Great Empires and Seven Great Sects wouldn't even need to offer better rewards. They could offer the same, or even less, and plenty would still be willing to defect.

Public opinion was a minor matter. The real point of Bibi Dong's story was that it gave every Soul Master organization outside Spirit Hall a perfectly legitimate reason to unite.

A moral high ground—that was important. No matter how absurd the pretext, they still had to make one.