"The trick was nothing new, but they kept it fairly well concealed and were very patient about it. Before they gained momentum, the Evil Spirit Cult didn't use force to pressure people. Instead, they paid out a good many genuine Spirit Stones to grease the palms of the surrounding incense gods."
"Once you've taken someone's gifts, your hands are tied. And with their lavish spending, they really did manage to gain something of a foothold early on."
At the summit of a small hill outside town.
Zheng Zhaoling held a Jade Token aloft with Spiritual Power, her gaze passing through the crowds toward the temple where incense smoke rose without end, and continued:
"If we hadn't had that scrap of intelligence, and they'd been allowed to do this behind our backs, we might well not have noticed anything wrong for quite a while."
"The water in the vat is no good either. Drinking it like that will cause trouble."
Cui Hao stood beside her, obediently nodding again and again.
"Indeed."
Hearing this, Zheng Zhaoling gave Cui Hao an odd look. From the subtle shifts in his expression to his demeanor, his face was still the same face, but there seemed to be a hint of fawning about him. Then she spoke with a look of distaste:
"What's with that expression? It looks disgusting."
"This is a look of admiration. What, doesn't it look like one?"
"It does, very much, but it's disgusting. If you've botched something, just tell me. You don't have to torture my eyes like this."
"Oh... I stepped in to save a dying believer."
"Though that sounds like something minor, given your standards, I'm afraid it can't have been all that minor." Zheng Zhaoling turned her gaze back toward the Shrine wreathed in drifting incense smoke.
"But