Chapter 320: 296 Sweeping II

Stepping down from the carriage.

Zhang Rongfang frowned as he looked at Wanghai Temple.

“Quickly enter the temple and see if there are any thieves! To dare launch an attack on Wanghai Temple under my jurisdiction—if anything happens to the masters, how will I explain this to the monks of the Western Sect!?”

He spoke solemnly, his expression grave.

Shangguan Lianyue led his men and followed from behind.

“Lord Guardian, all religious matters in Citong fall under your jurisdiction and responsibility, not mine.

I was only here to resolve the siege of Agarwood Palace; now that the matter is settled, I should return to Snow Rainbow Pavilion.”

“You’re leaving so soon, Lord Shangguan?” Zhang Rongfang was surprised.

“Why not stay a bit longer, so that I can fulfill my duties as a host?”

“Thank you for your kind invitation, but I’ve grown accustomed to a life of austere cultivation. Staying here too long might affect my state of mind. As the saying goes, indulgence is a bone-eating poison….”

Shangguan Lianyue chuckled twice but stopped mid-sentence.

Suddenly, a sharp alarm sounded from within Wanghai Temple.

Red fireworks exploded abruptly.

Several figures swiftly rushed out, kneeling on one knee in front of Zhang Rongfang.

“Lord Guardian, something’s wrong!! There are signs of battle everywhere in Wanghai Temple, corpses lying all around! Abbot Kongxiang is missing, suspected to have disappeared!”

“What!!?” Zhang Rongfang was shocked, “Quick, take me to see!”

Beside him, the smile on Shangguan Lianyue’s face stiffened.

He had heard of Kongxiang from Wanghai Temple, though he didn’t know him personally. In Zhenfo Temple, no monk with the ’Kong’ title was weak.

At the very least, they mastered super-grade inner skills and spiritual veins.

Kongxiang could oversee a place because he likely had the Three Emptiness spiritual veins.

For such a master, on the same level as him, to mysteriously disappear!? Shangguan Lianyue became more and more uneasy.

He felt the waters of Cituogang Port were unimaginably deep.

He had already sensed something was off during the previous crackdown on the Rebel Sect.

Now, at the grand Wanghai Temple, with so many monks and a ’Kong’-titled high monk leading, yet…

He quickly followed Zhang Rongfang, along with Sun Chaoyue, Chen Han, and others, entering the temple.

Sure enough, upon entering the temple gates, they found collapsed walls and broken pillars.

The ground was full of cracked stone slabs and deep footprints.

Corpses of monks lay scattered in pools of blood, long since devoid of life.

Oddly, the temple’s most powerful, the abbot Kongxiang, was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing the chaotic crime scene.

Shangguan Lianyue felt a chilling sensation rush from his heart to the back of his head.

He glanced at Zhang Ying, whose shocked expression seemed genuine, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

“What kind of vicious criminals would dare harm the masters of the Western Sect like this!? Simply… simply!!” Zhang Rongfang’s face was unsightly, his body trembling as if in fear, loudly scolding.

“I, Zhang, as the Guardian, now faced with such a major case, have clearly failed in my oversight…!!” he lamented loudly, looking pained.

“Li Shang!”

“Present!” a strong Daoist from the Guardian’s Yamen stepped forward and knelt.

“From today, I entrust you with full authority to mobilize all forces within the Guardian’s Yamen. We must investigate the culprit behind Wanghai Temple! Find the slightest clue!! Bring light back to Citong Port!!” Zhang Rongfang commanded sternly.

“Understood!!” The Daoist named Li Shang responded loudly, feeling entrusted with great responsibility, his emotions stirred.

“Li Shang, I know you’re perceptive and tenacious in investigations. This time, the case of the masters might just rest on your shoulders.”

Zhang Rongfang lamented, looking at the bloody scene.

“I will not disappoint your trust!” Inspired by the encouragement from his superior, Li Shang felt invigorated, his face flushed with determination.

At this point, the soldiers from the government office arrived belatedly.

Teams surrounded Wanghai Temple once more.

Governor Zhao Yanting, along with Prefect Nilov and their personal guards, hurried over.

Seeing the bloody mess within Wanghai Temple, both turned pale, looking towards Zhang Rongfang.

“Zhang Guardian, what… what should we do!?” Zhao Yanting was a bit panicked.

Wanghai Temple was a newly established temple, personally founded by high monks of the Western Sect.

Having only been built for a year or two, such a major event occurred.

Once investigated, as the one responsible for local security management, even he couldn’t avoid responsibility.

“Lord Zhao, Lord Nilov, I’ve already ordered a thorough investigation. Mobilizing all resources, sparing no effort and cost, we must apprehend the culprit to appease the spirits of the many masters of Wanghai Temple!”

Zhang Rongfang sighed deeply.

“Alas, in this case, if there’s anything you need, Guardian Zhang, just say the word.” Nilov had met Kongxiang and knew of his terrifying strength.

Now that even Kongxiang had mysteriously disappeared, with Wanghai Temple in disarray, he dared not muddy the waters further.

Among those present, only Zhang Ying Zhang, as a Daoist of the Great Dao Teaching, had the foundation to withstand this wave of accountability.

“Thank you, Prefect.” Zhang Rongfang expressed his gratitude to Nilov with a fist salute.

“Regardless, Guardian, please provide results soon as this matter is of great importance. Snow Rainbow Pavilion and Zhenfo Temple may send people for checks.”

Zhao Yanting reminded.

“I understand!” Zhang Rongfang nodded gravely.

*

*

*

In the blink of an eye, another month passed.

The case of Wanghai Temple was quickly concluded.

The entire Wanghai Temple was annihilated in a surprise attack by experts from the Secret Sect’s Thousand Teachings Alliance.

The Lord Guardian’s office found the corpses of the Thousand Teachings Alliance experts, along with evidence of fierce battle within Wanghai Temple.

As for Kongxiang’s corpse, it was discovered several miles away on a beach.

The corpse was just a hollow skin, completely empty inside.

But why did the Thousand Teachings Alliance attack the Western Sect?

No one knows.

No one can tell what these Secret Sect experts will do.

Anyway, they do whatever opposes the Spirit Court.

Whenever there’s a problem, it all gets piled on them.

After Zhang Rongfang reported the case, there was no response from the True Buddha Temple for the time being.

This shocking case came to an end like this.

Mid-July.

The internal conflict in Great Spirit began to settle down.

After the expeditionary forces landed overseas, they conquered more than a dozen small countries; according to the rules, all men taller than a cart wheel were killed.

Then, they plundered large numbers of women, children, and valuables, which were transported back to the various ports of Great Spirit through the logistics fleet.

Among them, Citong Port received the most.

Late July.

The ships transporting slaves arrived again at Citong Port.

The sea breeze howled at the docks, and the temperature gradually became cooler.

Groups of women and children, wearing gray skirts and with a sorrowful demeanor, orderly walked down the gangway beside the ship.

Except for the children, all of them were women, and their skin color was significantly different from most of the Great Spirit People, resembling more the features of the Huxi people.

Their eyes occasionally revealed numbness, despair, anxiety, and fear.

Among them, some women had slightly protruding bellies, covered in bruises, possibly assaulted on the ship and impregnated by the soldiers.

In a private mansion near the docks.

Nilov, the magistrate of Citong, was hosting a banquet in his mansion to welcome back the fleet’s main general, Xue Chengsi.

Almost all the senior officials of Citong attended the banquet.

On the light blue sloped roof, afternoon light yellow lamps cast their glow onto the dark, shiny tiles.

The sounds of music, laughter, and conversation floated out from the high windows of the mansion.

Xue Chengsi, over fifty years old, was of noble Spirit People descent, possessing super-grade martial prowess, having reached the level of Inner Skill, a rarity among the Spirit People.

But even as a super-grade, at his age, his abilities were declining.

Due to Qi and Blood exhaustion, coupled with the lack of Cultivation of Literature for health preservation, his actual martial prowess was at most at the level of External Medicine.

In the banquet hall of the mansion at this moment.

He wore a light purple robe, a rhinoceros horn belt, and a wide-brimmed hat with a red base and black edge.

The hat was adorned on top with a large red coral bead the size of a fingernail.

The most noticeable feature was his belly, swaying as he walked, giving off an honest and sincere aura.

“In today’s world, I originally thought there was no place on par with our Great Spirit. But who would’ve thought, this time going out, I witnessed quite a bit.”

“Lord Xue, have you been inspired? Seen a stronger force?” Magistrate Nilov sipped on his wine.

“Hmm, in the West Yi region, there are many small countries. Though the land is small, and the population sparse, their courage is commendable. This time, when we destroyed the twelfth country, we encountered a group of natives who fiercely resisted.

Our army besieged them for over three months. Ultimately, they resisted until the last person inside the city died, and no one surrendered,” Xue Chengsi praised.

“If our Great Spirit could have such brave troops, it would greatly reduce our casualties in campaigns.”

“Perhaps that’s because they had a common faith? Unlike us, with too many sects,” Zhang Rongfang, wearing a brocade robe, smiled from the side.

As one of the top three highest officials of Citong Port, he naturally had to attend the banquet.

“Indeed, our Great Spirit does have too many sects, creating a fragmented belief system with each sect fighting on its own,” Xue Chengsi nodded in agreement.

He glanced at Zhang Rongfang, having heard of this contemporary Daoist of the Great Dao Teaching.

Ever since this person came to Citong, the commotion caused was not small.

Although he seemed passive in each situation, the ultimate beneficiary was always him.

Nobody was fooled; everyone understood the implication.

In Citong, now about sixty percent of the merchant fleets have to allocate ten percent of their profits to the Lord Guardian’s office as a propagation fee.

The Lord Guardian’s office, meanwhile, uses Great Spirit’s religious policies to reasonably help these fleets avoid some taxes.

This is legal in Great Spirit.

Officials, clerks, monks, Daoists, doctors, craftsmen, artisans, prostitutes, Confucians, beggars.

This is not randomly divided.

Monks and Daoists indeed receive various tax breaks.

As long as part of the goods on the ships are declared through Zhang Rongfang’s Lord Guardian’s office, they can gain at least an additional twenty percent profit.

Giving ten percent to Lord Zhang still leaves plenty to profit from.

Previously, Wanghai Temple also considered using this route but hadn’t managed to get involved before they were gone.

Now, no one in Citong can compete with the Lord Guardian’s office in this area.

Zhang Rongfang also diverted the substantial profits and resources gained to the Rebel Sect and the Thousand Stone Sect.

In this world, any martial arts practice consumes a considerable amount of wealth.

Money equals power.

This is not an empty phrase in Great Spirit.

After receiving substantial financial support from Zhang Rongfang, the Rebel Sect’s support for him soared again, especially after his last intervention to kill Kongxiang.

His reputation for a time reached its peak.

Now, Zhang Rongfang is truly the first figure of the Rebel Sect.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep