"A true god's Divine Thought has descended into this man's body?"
Sensing an unfamiliar presence within Moro, one unlike anything before, Chen Cuo had already seen through it.
"His entire body was refined into a Cauldron Furnace long ago. No—it's a vessel, a shell made expressly to receive a deity's descending thought!"
As thoughts flashed through his mind, Chen Cuo's doubts vanished. The mystery was solved.
"This army has been bound to the Divine Path of Incense from the very beginning. Every last soldier has undergone ritual refinement! What an undertaking! Nearly a thousand warriors, mortal flesh and blood though they may be—their combined Qi and Blood alone can ward off evil. To twist and refine all that into puppets!"
Even as he thought this, "Moro" fixed both eyes on him.
"Blasphemer. I am Bahelamu, master of war and conquest! By command of the chief god, I protect the Turks!"
"Bahelamu? What a strange name." Chen Cuo had no memory of it. "A god from the Outer Regions? And you say you protect the Turks?"
"Moro" replied, "In our eyes, All Under Heaven knows no division between within and without. Be they the Turks or the former lands of Sui in the Central Plains, all living things beneath All Under Heaven harbor thoughts of good and evil. Only by believing in our chief god can they cast off evil, honor good, and establish a divine kingdom in this world! You look to be from the Central Lands. Take refuge in our lord now, open the gates and guide his way, and you may know peace in days to come."
"A divine kingdom in this world? The Earthly Buddha Land..." Chen Cuo paused, then understood. "No wonder you and the Buddhist School found common cause. You share the same goal. Meddling