The second group to leave was the largest.
In the end, the Tang Old Master agreed to stay out of the war between the Imperial Court and the Orthodoxy. This was already the greatest benefit the Li Palace could obtain.
Linghai Zhiwang and Archbishop An Lin led the several thousand Orthodoxy cavalry outside the city back to the capital to deal with the new situation.
Linghai Zhiwang asked, "When will His Holiness return?"
Chen Changsheng replied, "On the day he should return, he will return."
Linghai Zhiwang and Archbishop An Lin left. Countless plumes of dust rose from the plains to the north of the city, gradually shrouding the old city.
As he gazed at the distant scene, Tang Thirty-Six suddenly said, "Don't believe that the Old Master will always remain neutral. That day, Chusu was intentionally let go."
Chen Changsheng already knew the specifics of the battle by the Wenshui River, so he nodded his head to indicate that he understood.
The Tang clan's Fivekind Man was very frightening, and it had happened in Wenshui City. No matter how formidable Chusu was, there was no reason for him to escape.
"Since that blind zither player is the only remaining elder of the Longevity Sect, it makes sense for him to be lenient."
The speaker was the Bishop of Wenshui City.
As the number one figure the Orthodoxy had placed in Wenshui City, he had played an extremely important role in this incident, had played many roles.
The Tang clan would probably not vent their anger on him, but if he continued to remain in Wenshui City's Daoist church, the Tang clan would probably find him somewhat of an eyesore. Chen Changsheng and Linghai Zhiwang had already agreed that the Li Palace would soon dispatch a new bishop to Wenshui to take up his post. What to do with the original bishop had become a problem.
Logically speaking, the Bishop of Wenshui had performed such a great service for the Orthodoxy that he should have returned to the capital and obtained an even nobler position, but he had personally killed Daoist Baishi. Upon returning to the capital, he would assuredly be viewed as a thorn by some people in the Orthodoxy and encounter many problems. Thus, Chen Changsheng had still not made up his mind.
"Now that we're leaving, have you thought it over?" Chen Changsheng asked the bishop.
The Bishop of Wenshui replied, "This lowly one wishes to serve at His Holiness's side."
Tang Thirty-Six replied, "This position truly is better than any position in the Li Palace."
To the people of the Orthodoxy, what was the best position? Of course, it was the position closest to the Pope.
Whether the Pope was in the south, the north, or the desolate west, as long as one could remain at his side for a long time, one would assuredly obtain the greatest benefits.
The Archbishop of Wenshui had a humble expression and gave a faint smile. He did not refute Tang Thirty-Six's words, saying, "Your Holiness speaks reason."
Tang Thirty-Six looked at him and asked, "If this position is a shortcut to other positions, then what position do you want in the end?"
The Archbishop of Wenshui very seriously said, "In this life, there is no hope for the divine. I just want to be an archbishop before I return to the sea of stars."
Tang Thirty-Six was very interested and asked, "Which Holy Hall?"
"Grass Moon Club."
The Archbishop of Wenshui answered very quickly. It was obvious that he had thought about this for a very long time.
Hearing this answer, Tang Thirty-Six couldn't help but laugh.
The Grass Moon Hall was one of the Li Palace's Six Halls, the residence of the archbishop of the Hall of Announcements.
After the previous Archbishop of the Hall of Announcements, Mu Jiushi, had been exiled from the Orthodoxy by the Pope, the Grass Moon Hall had remained masterless.
The Archbishop of Wenshui's goal was very accurate and reasonable.
"I admire you very much." Tang Thirty-Six said, "May I know your name?"
This person was the highest representative of the Orthodoxy in Wenshui City, and he had lived in Wenshui City for many years, but Tang Thirty-Six truly did not know his name.
The Archbishop of Wenshui smiled and said, "The Old Master used to like to call me Little Hu, but Sir can also call me this."
The Tang Old Master could call him this, but Tang Thirty-Six did not have the right. Somewhat unsure, he asked, "Little Hu?"
"Hu, the Hu of peasant household. He's called Hu Thirty-Two."
Tang Thirty-Six's eyes lit up at this name, and he seemed to appreciate it. "A good name. Is it a ranking in the family or the number of houses?"
"When I was young, the place I lived in suffered an earthquake. In the end, only thirty-two households were left in the entire village. My entire family died, and I was the only one left. I was raised by these thirty-two households." The archbishop calmly continued, "I gave myself this name to remind myself that living is very difficult, so I cannot die early."
… …
… …
The party left Wenshui City and headed southeast. Immediately, a mountain appeared before them.
Even though it was the middle of winter and it had been snowing for the past two days, the mountain was still green.
The mountain was not very tall, and ten-some peach blossoms could be seen amidst the shade of the green trees.
There was probably a hot spring on the mountain, or perhaps an array like the one in the Daoist Church of Wenshui.
As he gazed at the peach blossoms and green trees, Chen Changsheng thought about his year in the mountains. Other than being somewhat lonely, it had been very peaceful and joyful, and he somewhat missed the little Black Dragon.
He wondered if her journey to the west was proceeding smoothly.
Amidst the green branches and peach blossoms, he could faintly make out the eaves of the Daoist temple.
Tang Thirty-Six silently gazed at that place.
Chen Changsheng asked, "This is Chicken Crowing Mountain?"
Tang Thirty-Six said nothing, only nodded.
This meant that his aunt was probably in that Daoist temple.
"Have you seen it before?" Chen Changsheng asked.
Tang Thirty-Six shook his head, but after a moment, he nodded.
"I was immature when I was young, and I always remembered this matter. I secretly went up the mountain to take a look, and then I met …"
What happened after they met? Did the other party recognize him? Did they talk?
Was it just this one meeting, or were there many other seemingly unintentional, but actually intentional meetings? He stopped here. For the safety of the woman in the Daoist temple, or perhaps a peaceful life, it was best not to meet or mention her. They probably wouldn't meet again in the future, right?
… …
… …
Traveling southeast for thirty-some li, the Wenshui flowed into the River of Hatred, no longer having its own name.
As one of the most famous rivers on the continent, the River of Hatred originated from the depths of the Cloud Grave, flowed through the fertile plains of the South, and then passed through the Luo Mei Mountain Range, receiving even more tributaries. Its grandeur was already extremely great, but if one followed the river upstream and arrived at the canyon, one would see the truly magnificent scenery.
Chen Changsheng and the others walked through the canyon. The mountains on both sides of the canyon reached into the clouds, and the forests were extremely dense. Few people could be seen, and only the cries of monkeys could be heard. They didn't need to worry about being followed, and they didn't need to worry about safety. This wasn't the Northern Frontier, so they couldn't meet demon experts. It was also very difficult to gather a large army, unlike Wenshui City, which had countless experts.
The further upstream they went, the steeper the canyon became, and the faster the river flowed, but the water did not slow down. It was truly astonishing, and thunderous booms could be heard without end. As they continued on their journey, they could gradually see signs of human habitation in the canyon, but it would often take them half a day to see a few households. The vast majority of the time, all they could see was the wilderness.
Before Hu Thirty-Two became bishop of Wenshui, he had preached in this canyon for many years, so he had an extremely good understanding of the customs and customs of this region. As he explained, Chen Changsheng and Tang Thirty-Six listened to his explanations and looked at the scenery on both sides of the canyon, so they naturally didn't find it boring. Nanke followed the group with a confused expression, tugging on the corner of Chen Changsheng's clothes. It was hard to say if she could understand what was being said. Zhexiu's gaze was always vigilantly watching the forest for any sign of activity. He had no interest in listening to these idle chatter.
As long as there were people, there would definitely be believers of the Orthodoxy, and there would be news.
At a crossing, they received the latest news.
It was said that two days ago, someone outside Fengyang City saw a drenched monster kill two shepherd boys and then eat them.
… …
… …
(I still want to do my best to maintain two chapters, afraid that the string will loosen, but I can't be sure for the next few days. Just as I said before, the first chapter is around four o 'clock. For the second chapter, let's wait until nine o' clock. If there's nothing, then there's nothing. Tomorrow, we'll begin our long journey again. Thinking back to one year ago when I drove with my leader from Heilongjiang back to Hubei, it seems like a lifetime has passed. Really, this year was the slowest, fastest, most arduous, and most fulfilling year of my life.)
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