“Great High Official?”

While Hu Ma took the painting and left, chaos had erupted within the Stone Horse Town inn. Not only were the kneeling commoners dumbstruck, but even the esteemed figures who had come to discuss important matters were thrown into disarray.

“Is it Tie Jun, the Twilight Boundary Great High Official from Western Ridge?”

“My heavens, I’ve heard of him! He’s ruthless. He usually doesn’t interfere, but whoever he targets is wiped out, every last member of their family.”

“But, but this man usually operates in Yu Prefecture, north of Western Ridge. Why would he travel across several prefectures specifically to cause trouble for us?”

“Wasn’t it because the One Coin Church set up its headquarters here, even hiding in the mountains, precisely because this area was overlooked by several Great High Officials? Besides, there are so many people preparing to rebel these days, and the government is tolerating it. Why would he pick us?”

“”

Undoubtedly, even though they were truly preparing to rebel, and in fact had already formed a rebellion by driving out the government, none of those present had expected a Great High Official to come knocking!

Most terrifyingly, he arrived without so much as a greeting, immediately sealing off the town and even killing the four altar-guarding deities worshiped by the One Coin Church. This incomprehensible difference in strength left everyone feeling extremely oppressed.

“Why would he target us?”

Amidst the panic, the One Coin Church leader, Fairy Miaoshan, suddenly smiled faintly and said, “That’s because we don’t eat beef…”

“Others may rebel, and they might ignore it, but if there are people who don’t eat beef involved, they’ll become alarmed. Besides, there are many sects under heaven, but only we, the Beef Abstainers, casually teach the secret methods for entering offices from the Twilight Boundary to outsiders, isn’t that so?”

“It’s just, we haven’t officially started our uprising yet, so I’m a little surprised that he’s so eager to come after us…”

“”

“Then this…”

Her words weighed heavily on everyone’s hearts, subtly eliciting two different reactions.

Ordinary followers only knew of the One Coin Church and were unaware of the Beef Abstainers. Upon hearing this, they were confused and vaguely felt that they might have fallen into a deep pit.

However, others, such as Grandpa Sun and the old altar master of Great Benevolence Treasure, had long known that the One Coin Church was backed by the Beef Abstainers. Otherwise, given their wealth, they would never have bet their fortunes on such a small force as the One Coin Church.

Furthermore, the Beef Abstainers’ senior brothers were open-minded and didn’t care about sectarian traditions. They were willing to teach the skills of various sects to anyone who caught their eye.

However, because the founder of the Beef Abstainers was said to have come from the Twilight Boundary, the Beef Abstainers knew the most about the Twilight Boundary’s ways and passed on many of their methods, thus forming a subtle relationship with the Twilight Boundary.

But understanding was one thing; seeing the Great High Official arrive, they were equally nervous, and all turned their gazes towards Fairy Miaoshan.

“What?”

Fairy Miaoshan, who had also looked troubled just now, seemed to have recovered somewhat after a while, and said faintly, “Are you all afraid? We are going to do great things. We have never hidden this from you.”

“Originally, it was for rebellion. Is merely driving out an incompetent government and sending away a few officials who are drawing salaries for doing nothing considered rebellion?”

“No!”

“Rebellion means rebelling against this Emperor. So what if the Great High Official comes? To take a step back, what if the four Great High Officials of the Twilight Boundary came together? What if the Ten Clans came?”

“Without this preparation, we can’t accomplish our great task!”

“”

“Ah?”

Everyone present didn’t expect Fairy Miaoshan to be so tough. Clearly, she had looked pale and her hands had trembled when she saw the several Dharma protectors being devoured simultaneously.

Especially since the deities on the altar had been killed and their true forms destroyed, what use was being tough when the army was pressing down on them?

When the altar guests die, the people’s hearts scatter…

“Altar Master, trouble you to collect the bodies of these altar guests. Although they are all demons, they have protected many commoners in our church.”

Amidst this atmosphere of panic, Fairy Miaoshan’s expression actually looked very calm. She said faintly, “Everyone, there’s no need to panic. Outsiders don’t understand the affairs of the church, but those in the know understand. Although they harmed a few Dharma protectors, they did not harm the source of my church.”

“Please help me appease the followers. I also need to go to the altar and kowtow a few times.”

“The Great High Official has come, so he has come. There’s nothing to be afraid of. It just so happens to be our church’s Light and Fortune Assembly. He wants to wait three days, then it’s just right to have a good battle with him three days later.”

“”

As she spoke, she waved her horsetail whisk and actually turned around and left, as if she had dumped this mess on everyone else, causing Grandpa Sun and others to look anxious, with a bellyful of words they wanted to say but couldn’t.

“Church Leader…”

As Fairy Miaoshan walked out of the crowd, she quickened her pace to return to her residence through the alley. White Fan was full of worry and followed her anxiously, “Is there… is there a way?”

“What way do I have?”

Seeing that others hadn’t followed, Fairy Miaoshan’s legs suddenly felt weak. She raised her hand and touched her forehead, which was already sweating, but fortunately her rouge hadn’t run. Her eyes looked a little vacant as she said, “Why… why is it a Great High Official who came?”

“If it was a Small High Official, with our current manpower, we could still fight, but… but that’s a Great High Official!”

“”

Seeing this, White Fan also panicked and quickly said, “Then what to do? Should we just run?”

“Run?”

Fairy Miaoshan was anxious, her eyes looking vacant, “It’s sealed off so tightly outside, can you run away? Besides, we can run, but what about Grandpa Sun, Grandpa Tang, and the chief manager of Wanma Hall?”

“They didn’t come for the One Coin Church, they came for the Beef Abstainers. All their wealth is here, I’m afraid they’ll directly destroy their foundations, and also ruin the reputation of our Beef Abstainers?”

“”

White Fan thought about it and couldn’t help but tremble, whispering, “Then… then what can we do?”

“I have no way.”

Fairy Miaoshan said nervously, “I can only call for reinforcements! Those senior brothers coaxed me to come and be the leader of this One Coin Church, seize the opportunity to do great things, they’re hiding behind and enjoying themselves. They even coaxed me, saying that destiny is pressing down on me and that nothing will definitely happen…”

“But now that something big has really happened, they can’t ignore it, right?”

“I’m also their little junior sister, after all!”

“”

“Ah…”

White Fan reacted and quickly said, “Then I’ll go prepare now, quickly send the message out. It’ll be too late if we delay any longer…”

Fairy Miaoshan also knew the importance of the matter and wanted to follow him, but suddenly remembered that there was still something in the residence, so she quickly turned back. As she passed through several alleys and arrived in front of the residence, she happened to see Hu Ma pushing the door open and coming out.

Seeing her, he paused slightly and smiled, “Greetings, Senior Sister.”

Fairy Miaoshan was at a loss and was startled when she suddenly saw him.

Seeing that his expression was normal and he didn’t seem to have suffered any serious injuries, she suddenly became anxious and said urgently, “What’s going on? Why weren’t your Dao practices削去 (xuē qù, stripped away)?”

Hu Ma was stunned by these abrupt words, “What Dao practices stripped away?”

Fairy Miaoshan became even more anxious, “Didn’t you seriously observe the painting as I told you to?”

Seeing that this church leader seemed a little flustered, Hu Ma said slowly, “Senior Sister instructed me, how could I dare disobey? I carefully observed the painting, my spirit entered the realm, entered the cave, and worshiped the altar.”

“What the hell?”

Fairy Miaoshan was stunned, her voice filled with a floating feeling, “How could you have really entered the Ghost Cave?”

“Did you pass through those three barriers and twelve steps?”

“”

I took the elevator up…

Hu Ma thought to himself, but even if the other party was a Beef Abstainer, he couldn’t tell her his secret as a reincarnator like this, so he just smiled and nodded, saying, “It’s not difficult. Subduing dragons and tigers, passing through three ghost gates, and climbing twelve bone-scraping steps.”

“The difficulty is certainly there, but questioning the heart and refining the soul does indeed make one improve greatly…”

“”

“You…”

Hu Ma was just speaking slowly, but he didn’t expect that Fairy Miaoshan’s expression would change drastically after hearing his words, even more terrifying than seeing a ghost. She had a feeling of being emptied, her three views shattered, and her steps staggered a bit.

“You… you… you…”

She said “you” several times, but couldn’t continue for a moment. She stared fixedly at Hu Ma, as if she wanted to see if he was joking, but Hu Ma’s expression was calm and he didn’t look like he was joking.

Moreover, he had spoken of the three ghost gates and twelve bone-scraping steps in the painting, which was absolutely impossible for someone who hadn’t entered the painting to say. And the fact that he entered the painting but his Dao practices weren’t stripped away proved that he seemed to have really passed through.

But for her, the meaning represented by passing through the three barriers and twelve steps…

The whole person seemed to have been struck by lightning. She was stunned for a long time before she suddenly felt a shock in her heart. She still had the intention of testing him. She waved the horsetail whisk in her hand slightly, vaguely revealing signs of wanting to attack.

Even Hu Ma’s heart slightly condensed and he prepared himself.

But unexpectedly, Fairy Miaoshan’s heart was full of the intention of testing him, but when she really thought of attacking, she didn’t dare. Instead, she froze in place, thinking anxiously in her heart. Finally, she suddenly took a step forward slowly.

Her eyes just staring at Hu Ma’s face, she slowly said a sentence, “苍天已死，黄天当立 (Cāng tiān yǐ sǐ, huáng tiān dāng lì, The Azure Sky is dead, the Yellow Sky shall rise).”

She only said these eight words and didn’t say anything else, just staring fixedly at Hu Ma’s face.

Hu Ma’s heart also moved slightly, and countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, but in the end, he decided to test it out and slowly replied, “岁在甲子，天下大吉 (Suì zài jiǎzǐ, tiānxià dàjí, The year is Jiazi, great fortune under heaven)?”

“Boom!”

Hu Ma didn’t expect Fairy Miaoshan’s reaction after hearing the next eight words. He saw that even a few of her unkempt soft hairs stood on end.

Then, with a thud, she knelt directly on the ground, her face filled with an expression that was unbelievable, excited, wanting to cry, suspicious, wanting to laugh, and feeling uneasy. She tremblingly called out:

“拜拜见教主 (bài bài jiàn jiàozhǔ, Greetings… greetings, Church Leader)!”

End of Chapter