As soon as Cao Fengchi was captured, the troops lying in ambush near the phantom market didn't act rashly against the Pavilion of Faith.
This was because the Pavilion of Faith was the Xiahou family's visible power. There were too many eyes on it. Once they openly attacked the Pavilion of Faith, they were afraid of alerting the other forces of the Xiahou family. As long as they could control Cao Fengchi, the Pavilion of Faith had to be the last to act.
After capturing Cao Man and Cao Fengchi, the army that had been secretly dispatched to various places immediately went straight to the Xiahou family's secret network that had been locked down. After agreeing on a time, they attacked almost at the same time, uprooting the Xiahou family's core forces in one fell swoop.
As there were too many people under the Xiahou family's control, it wasn't realistic to capture all of them. Instead, they had to capture and control the main backbone. Then, it wouldn't be difficult to investigate all the people under the Xiahou family's control step by step. Miao Yi didn't plan to capture all of them. As long as he controlled the backbone of the network, the scattered subordinates without the support of the Xiahou family's vast network would be deaf and blind, unable to do anything. Miao Yi only had one requirement for these complicated members, and that was to have a complete list. He didn't plan to expose all of them.
After this, the Xiahou family that had occupied the world behind the scenes for many years and had experienced several dynasties came to an end. It quietly ended without any ripples, quietly becoming a thing of the past without anyone noticing. So many years later, when people thought about how the Xiahou family had quietly disappeared, they still found it strange.
The reason was simple. Many of the people who participated in the attack on the Xiahou family didn't know that they were dealing with the Xiahou family. They thought that they were purging the remnants of the Green Sect, and those who knew kept quiet.
The operation to purge the remnants of the Green Sect was indeed carried out at the same time.
A hundred thousand troops descended from the sky and landed in a deserted desert. The general in charge looked around.
After a while, a man emerged from behind a distant sand dune and flew over. He carefully cupped his hands and reported, "Guan Meng, a disciple of the Purple Firmament School, greets you, Milord."
The general looked him up and down and asked, "Where are the people from the Purple Firmament School?"
Guan Meng turned and pointed in a direction, "There is an oasis about one li in the desert eight hundred li away from here. There is an underground space a hundred zhang underground. The people from the Purple Firmament School are hiding there, and the entrance is at the bottom of the lake."
The general said in a deep voice, "Lead the way!"
"Please!" Guan Meng, who was a little nervous, said respectfully.
A group of people flew through the sky. When they got close to the target location, the hundred thousand people quickly spread out and formed a formation, surrounding the target location.
Just as Guan Meng said, there was indeed a desert oasis with a circumference of about one mile. The lake was as clear as a mirror, and green plants grew all around it.
A few beams of flowing light shot out from behind the sand dune. A few hidden sentries of the Purple Cloud School who were observing in the oasis flew up and fled, but they were shot down by the flowing light. It was obvious that their cultivation was not high.
The rumbling sounds had probably alerted the people hiding underground. With a wave of his hand, over ten thousand people rushed into the lake, found the entrance, and killed their way in.
The oasis was surrounded by the army, and they could hear the sounds of fighting coming from underground.
Not long after, a large group of people appeared in the lake. All the disciples of the Purple Heaven Hall, led by the Sect Leader Tian Chong, had surrendered. They had no choice but to surrender. They knew that they were no match for the enemy. If they continued to resist, they would all be killed.
On the lakeside, the disciples of the Purple Heaven Hall, including their families, were all there. There were nearly three thousand people. They were all controlled and squeezed together. All of them looked panicked. The children were crying in fear, but the adults covered their mouths tightly for fear of angering the army in front of them.
The general stood in front of the Sect Leader Tian Chong and said coldly, "How dare the small Purple Heaven Hall help the incapable ruler to fight against the heavenly army. You must be tired of living!"
Tian Chong looked miserable. Previously, Niu Youde was a rebel, and Lord Qing was the heavenly army. Now, Lord Qing had become an incapable ruler, and Niu Youde had become the heavenly army. It was useless to explain anything. He knelt down and said helplessly, "I didn't know the time and deserve to die. Everything is my fault. Please be magnanimous and spare the lives of the others!"
They only surrendered because they heard the words of the attackers, saying that they would be spared from death if they surrendered.
"Spare our lives, my lord!" Everyone in the Purple Heaven Hall begged for mercy. Everyone knelt down.
Tian Chong said indifferently, "Where is the family of the traitor Guan Meng? Hand them over!"
"My lord …" Tian Chong looked up suddenly.
"En?" The commander glared at them and questioned. The surrounding troops immediately raised their Mage Breaking Bows and aimed their sharp arrows at the group of people kneeling on the ground.
Finally, Tian Chong lowered his head helplessly. In order to protect more people, or to protect themselves, no one begged for mercy for Guan Meng's family.
"You bastards! You will not have a good death …"
A woman was extremely frightened. She pointed at the Purple Heaven Hall and cursed. No one dared to raise their heads.
There was also a young girl who was dragged out of the crowd along with the woman. They were Guan Meng's wife and daughter.
The general waved his hand, and his men swarmed forward, capturing all the people from the Purple Heaven Hall.
As for the mother and daughter who were crying in fear, the general waved his hand, and the people who captured them let go of them.
"Wait for me outside the sky!" The general ordered his men, and the army immediately soared into the sky.
At the edge of the oasis, only the mother and daughter and the general were left. A person appeared behind a sand dune not far away. The mother and daughter stared with teary eyes. Who else could it be but Guan Meng?
Guan Meng appeared in a flash and cupped his fists at the general. "Thank you, sir!"
The general took out a jade archive and wrote a travel order. He handed it to Guan Meng and said, "This is the travel order. The higher-ups have instructed that if Brother Guan successfully completes your mission, you must immediately report to the higher-ups with this order. As for where to report to, I'm not sure. The higher-ups said that Brother Guan should know. In any case, we're all on the same side from now on. If I've offended you in any way, please forgive me and take care of me in the future. " He didn't know Guan Meng's true identity or what role he would play in the future. In any case, it wasn't wrong to say something nice.
Guan Meng took the jade archive and forced a smile. "You're too kind, sir."
Only he knew that he was a true traitor of the Purple Heaven Hall. It was only because he had done something out of line in his early years that a mysterious person had information on him. This time, he was forced to betray the Purple Heaven Hall. He wasn't sure where to report to the higher-ups either. He only knew that from now on, he would become a member of the Heavenly Court. Not Qing Zhu's Heavenly Court, but Niu Youde's.
"Farewell!" The general cupped his fists and took a step back. Then, he quickly flew into the sky.
Guan Meng cupped his fists and watched him leave.
Beside him, the mother and daughter still had tears on their faces. As they approached him, the woman asked in bewilderment, "Husband, what's going on?"
There were some things that even Guan Meng was too embarrassed to mention. He only sighed and said, "You saw how the Purple Heaven Hall treated you just now."
Speaking of this, the mother and daughter were filled with hatred when they recalled the situation just now. The woman gritted her teeth and said, "We've served the Purple Heaven Hall for so many years, yet they treated us like sacrificial pawns. I can't wait for the Purple Heaven Hall to be annihilated!"
The young girl asked with lingering fear, "Father, are you one of Niu Youde's men?"
Guan Meng's mouth was filled with bitterness. He raised his hand and stroked his daughter's head. He sighed and said, "Don't ask too many questions. The Purple Heaven Hall is already in the past, and so is the era of Qing Zhu and Buddha. Now, it's Niu Youde's world. There's nothing bad about being a member of the Heavenly Court. However, I'm afraid that our family of three will have to change our names in the future. It's not good to use our current names anymore.
In the future, don't mention our origins in the Purple Heaven Hall to outsiders. Do you understand? "Even though she didn't understand what was going on, the woman finally felt at ease. From another perspective, being a disciple of the Purple Heaven Hall might not necessarily be better than being a member of the Heavenly Court. The woman raised her sleeve to wipe away the tears on her face. She instructed her daughter, "Listen to your father. You only need to know that your father is doing this for our own good."
The young girl nodded. When she was abandoned by the Purple Heaven Hall, she thought she was going to die. She was truly frightened. Now that she knew she was safe and had her father to rely on, she felt a sense of security. A bright smile appeared on her face again. She didn't know how treacherous the world's situation was. She didn't know how many people were prosperous, how many people were lonely, and how many families were broken up and separated by death.
The ups and downs of countless people were all in it.
Seeing his daughter smiling happily, Guan Meng raised his hand and stroked her head again. The guilt in his heart lessened significantly. He felt that everything was worth it as long as his wife and daughter were safe.
On the other hand, after the woman relaxed, she couldn't help but ask, "Husband, are you going to be an official in the Heavenly Court? How high of an official can you be? " There was a look of anticipation in her eyes. She never thought that her husband would be able to accomplish such a great feat without a word. She had underestimated him in the past. It turned out that her husband was so shrewd. Was she going to follow him and become a noblewoman?
This was because she saw that even the commander of so many troops was so polite to her husband.
"You're thinking too much!" Guan Meng rolled his eyes at her …
In fact, there were many similar cases like Guan Meng right now. Miao Yi's army wasn't just purging the remnants of the Azure Sect and the Buddhist Sect. He was also looking into the accounts of the various sects and forces that had wrongly sided with the Azure Sect and the Buddhist Sect's army against Miao Yi's army. Miao Yi didn't have the energy to investigate each and every one of them. He didn't have the energy to find out if they were innocent or if they were forced to do so. So many of his subordinates had died in battle because of these people. If he didn't settle the score, he wouldn't be able to answer to his brothers who had died in battle and those who were still alive.
There was one more thing. Miao Yi also needed a great purge to intimidate and establish his authority. He wanted to erase the influence the Azure Sect and the Buddhist Sect had over the world.
His subordinates had already reported the forces and sects that had fought against him and compiled a list of names. All he had to do now was take the list and settle the score.
As for whether or not some of the sects would take advantage of the situation to frame the sects that were already in conflict with him, it was inevitable that they would kick him when he was down. Miao Yi wouldn't look into this for now. Some of the sects had risked their lives to stand by his side and sacrificed many of their disciples. So he could turn a blind eye to some of the results and treat it as a reward for those sects. Whether or not he would settle the score would depend on the situation in the future. It didn't mean that Miao Yi would never look into it.
To this end, Miao Yi used various channels, including the people that the Xiahou family controlled in the various forces and sects. He dug out the forces and sects that had wrongly sided with the Azure Sect and helped the Buddhist Sect's army and went into hiding. Guan Meng was one of the examples. It was just that people like Guan Meng didn't know that they were being controlled by the Xiahou family. They were muddle-headed and became a member of the Heavenly Court.
As for where these people went, Xu Tangran was the clearest. He had already received Miao Yi's decree to rebuild an organization similar to the Heavenly Court's Left Division. And these people would become Xu Tangran's secret agents. The fact that these people had betrayed their own sects was the biggest stain on their record. It was easy to control them.
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