You have truly caused me great suffering!

Followers of the "Great Sage of Heaven" from all over the country rushed to Wuling.

The huge crowd cheered excitedly. Those who were initially hesitant got carried away by their companions' shouts and started acting recklessly.

Many of them were simply the original bandits of Dongting Lake.

They were the most active, taking advantage of the night to steal and commit petty theft. Many villagers along the way were awakened from their sleep by a sudden appearance of numerous robbers and bandits breaking into their homes, and in a panic, they fled in all directions.

Even those who tried to resist were quickly cut down and killed. As the horses galloped by, heart-wrenching screams and women's cries could be heard everywhere.

Wuling County is a prosperous area in Jinghu, and its people are quite wealthy.

At this point, they were all reduced to lambs to the slaughter.

Lei Jin was originally the leader of the bandits in Jinghu. Historical records describe him as: "A bandit in Dongting Lake, nicknamed 'Water Monkey,' who could lie submerged for several days and then board an official boat at night to kill people."

They were familiar with the waterways and specialized in robbing grain transport ships.

He was later defeated and subdued by Zhong Xiang.

Now he has also joined the Great Holy Cult.

This man was born with a penchant for chaos and gloating, and was bloodthirsty by nature. The period of dormancy had made him feel restless, and tonight he finally unleashed his power.

Arriving at the gate of a wealthy household, they saw a group of guards standing at the entrance with sticks.

He kicked the horse's belly, and using the momentum, slashed diagonally with his sword, instantly cutting a guard from the chest and abdomen to the neck, leaving a long, bloody gash. The man was almost half-gone, and blood gushed out. The gruesome sight terrified the other guards, who screamed in terror.

Seeing an old man standing behind the guard, he guessed that the man was the owner of the place, and with a casual slash, he cleaved him in two.

Lei Jin circled the horse halfway around, then slowly reined it in. He rested his bloodstained longsword on his shoulder, feeling quite pleased with himself for his ability to intimidate the entire scene with a single strike.

"I'm a water monkey! You know what's good for you."

Before he could finish his polite words, he heard his men shout "Watch out!" Even without being warned, Lei Jin had already sensed the wind behind him. However, being on horseback made it difficult to maneuver, and he was suddenly tackled off his horse.

The fall caused him pain all over his body, but more importantly, it humiliated him. He hadn't even finished bragging when he was knocked off his horse.

But he had no time to pay attention; his hands were tightly gripping the wrists of the person pressing down on him, whose sharp dagger was only inches away from his throat.

In the firelight, the attacker could be seen to be a young man, dressed in a round-necked silk shirt, with a refined appearance. However, he was clenching his teeth, his eyes filled with intense hatred, and he was putting all his strength into a dagger.

Unfortunately, no amount of hatred could overcome Lei Jin's brute force. After a moment of fear, Lei Jin snatched the dagger and plunged it into the boy's neck.

Blood gushed out like a fountain, splattering all over Lei Jin. The boy pressed his hand against the wound on his neck, his strength rapidly draining away, and was pushed to the ground by Lei Jin.

The guards were shocked. Their master was dead. Their young master was a promising scholar, and they never expected him to die like this.

Lei Jin laughed heartily, remounted his horse, and directed his men to plunder.

At that moment, someone on horseback arrived with a group of people not far away, and they saw the corpse on the ground as soon as they reached the door.

Hearing the sound of hooves, Lei Jin turned around. Not knowing if they were his accomplices from the 'Great Heavenly Cult,' he raised his knife and shouted, "Which branch of the cult are you from?"

Guangyuantang!

The voice just fell,

Several crossbow bolts whizzed by, and Lei Jin quickly dodged, using his broadsword to protect his face.

An arrow pierced his cheek, tearing off a large piece of skin and flesh.

Enraged by the pain, Lei Jin raised his broadsword, ready to kill.

After a series of loud bangs, the bandits saw only smoking sticks making a series of loud noises, and then the water monkey fell off his horse. His face was covered in blood and gore, and his body was covered in black smoke.

Wang Yin and Mei Zang Pangge marched through the night, but they were still a step too late.

He was terrified that if a city were to fall, he would be too ashamed to face His Majesty.

Pang Ge was especially enraged and attacked any cult members he encountered along the way.

He was confident in his abilities, having achieved numerous merits and possessing an impressive resume, and being a trusted confidant of the Emperor. He believed that once his sworn brother Han Shizhong retired, he might even be able to preside over the Privy Council, or at the very least, become the Commander of the Imperial Guards, leading the Three Military Commands.

Unexpectedly, things went awry; while they were trying to wipe out a small group of cult members, they were preemptively attacked.

What if it leaves a stain?
It's a grievance!
-
At this moment, beneath the walls of Wuling City, the county magistrate wiped the sweat from his brow, overjoyed.

They thought it was a hopeless situation, but unexpectedly, a surprise attack came from the sky.

Although it is unknown where these people came from, they are clearly at odds with the cult bandits who have gathered in the county town.

Xu Laowu and the others hadn't been this excited since leaving the Dingnan Army.

It felt as if I had returned to the clouds, to the mountains of Yanmen and Weizhou.

In the darkness of night, the cultists, caught off guard by their hasty uprising, had no idea that such a large group of people would appear.

So he only made the cult members wear headscarves, but he didn't expect that these newcomers would also wear headscarves.

Their spies have already figured out your plan, and they've even wrapped a bandage around your arm.

In this way, I can distinguish, but you cannot.

In the darkness, even if some cult members discovered this, they couldn't explain it to others.

A chaotic battle was triggered. Outside Wuling City, a massive melee involving wooden sticks and farm tools ensued, descending into madness from the very beginning.

Magistrate Zhao Ang couldn't distinguish friend from foe, and he dared not leave the city wall. At this time, some religious bandits in the city also began to cause trouble.

The situation had become extremely chaotic, but only the veterans of the Dingnan Army and their farmhands were still fighting according to plan.

Du Laowu and his men, wielding broadswords, slashed left and right.

The smell of blood filled the air, and many people were so frightened by the sight of blood that they wet their pants.

Jinghu is not in the north. In the north, even men who had never experienced war were mostly conscripted as laborers and sent to the front lines as civilian laborers.

Jinghu has truly enjoyed two hundred years of peace. The last time it experienced war was when Zhao Dayong used the strategy of "borrowing a path to attack Guo" to pacify the 14 prefectures and 66 counties of Jinghu in just seventy days.

While the South still practices human sacrifice to appease ghosts, the North has long since witnessed the true nature of hell.

You think that killing one or two people on a dark and windy night is already terrifying enough, enough to connect with ghosts and gods.

If they had witnessed the Jurchens driving captive animals, they probably wouldn't have had the leisure to perform this 'ghost sacrifice'.

The most ferocious demons they could imagine were as gentle as philanthropists in front of the Jurchen Tartars.

The evil practices here, the number of people killed in the entire prefecture in a year for the purpose of killing and sacrificing to ghosts, may not be as many as the number killed by a Jurchen Tartar in half a day.

Their enemy, however, had actually seen the Jurchen Tartars and even wiped them out.

County Magistrate Zhao Ang looked at the hordes of heads below the city walls, a scene that resembled purgatory, and was speechless.

Among the crowd, Zhong Xiang looked dazed and on the verge of tears; he was actually quite capable.

However, this situation was beyond his comprehension.

Where did these troops come from? If the imperial court made this troop deployment, how could a local tyrant like myself not know?

Or has the imperial court already set its sights on him?

What have I done to deserve this?

Back then, Fang La's "eating vegetables and cursing demons" had already caused quite a stir, but the imperial court didn't take it seriously!
"Damn it, forget about these scoundrels, let's get into the city!"

In this chaotic situation, the only option is to take Wuling County first, and then think of other solutions. Fortunately, we have enough people.

Cult bandits from various places will continue to arrive—
Chen Shaohe and his relatives and nobles held a banquet that night, and by the time it ended, it was already quite late.

The next morning, he rubbed his eyes; his throat was a little dry.

After having breakfast, we arrived at the front hall an hour later than usual.

As soon as he entered, Yuwen Xuzhong stood up and said, "Congratulations, Your Majesty."

"What's there to be happy about?"

After Chen Shao sat down, he asked with a smile.

Although he didn't know what good news had come from, he was always happy to hear good news.

"The rebellion of Zhong Xiang of Jinghu was quelled overnight."

"Rebellion?" Chen Shao asked. "Didn't I send people to punish the cult in the Jinghu area?"

“It was them.” Yuwen Xuzhong was both amused and exasperated. “This group of people probably felt that their plans had been exposed, so they brazenly rebelled and attacked Wuling. They were defeated by righteous people who gathered together and killed hundreds of them. The leader of the rebels was captured alive, and the rebellion was quelled in just a few hours.”

Chen Shao suspected that he was still drunk.

I've heard of rebellions during prosperous times, but I've never heard of someone daring to rebel during such a prosperous time. Just how brave are you?

I just destroyed Xia, Fan, Hui, Jin, and Yue. I've even made it to Indonesia. And you're rebelling in Hunan and Hubei?

Surprisingly, some people actually followed him to attack the county town.

People who believe in this kind of cult are definitely not very bright.

"General Mei Zang Pang asked whether he should be escorted to the capital for questioning."

Chen Shao waved his hand, "No need, it's a waste of manpower and resources. Just finish the trial on the spot and deal with it according to the law."

Yuwen Xuzhong hesitated for a moment, then said, "Most of those who followed the rebels were ignorant people. Should we treat them leniently?"

"You two discuss it."

Chen Shao didn't intend to waste his energy on such matters; he simply didn't have the time.

But for Dajing, or rather for the people of the Central Plains, eradicating cults is no small matter.

Even a thousand years from now, this will still be a headache, let alone now.
-
Shandong, Dengzhou Prefecture.

A monk, dressed in a greasy robe, twirled the prayer beads around his neck as he walked through a remote village spreading the Dharma.

Promote the Buddhist and Taoist teachings recognized by the imperial court, and teach people not to believe in cults.

The White Lotus was originally a rhetoric created by Chen Shao to wreak havoc on Japan.

As a rhetoric, it was a great success in Japan, stirring up the originally peaceful situation, creating waves on flat ground, and turning the submissive people into a mob.

But it was then transmitted back via sea merchants, which Chen Shao could no longer tolerate.

There are actually people who believe this.
As a result, Taoist temples and Buddhist monasteries all over the country had work to do.

Many people couldn't stand the hardship and returned to secular life.

I became a monk for a peaceful life, and you want me to do this? My legs are worn out, and my lips are swollen from all the walking. Wouldn't it be better if I used this energy to farm?

However, some people find joy in it and feel that they have finally found their own value.

Spreading the Dharma is a meritorious act!

Chen Shao did not expect that their travels would not only inspire religious belief among the people.

Monks and Taoist priests, because they need to chant scriptures, draw talismans, and refine elixirs, are all literate and have skills.

This kind of folk transmission of techniques has promoted the exchange and integration of many ideas and crafts.

This is yet another seemingly accidental, but in fact inevitable, form of progress.
Bai Lian was just looking for fun in Da Jing, and she was quickly suppressed and killed.

The merchant who was brought back was arrested, imprisoned, and to be executed soon.

It didn't spread widely among the general public, since the coastal areas now have plenty of ways to make a living thanks to the opening of the sea for trade.

But in Japan, it spread like wildfire and became completely out of control.

The mob that Huiming trained in the mountains of Ishimi came out and brutally beat up the local powerful warriors.

They were all fully armored and armed, killing anyone they saw and burning any house they saw. Wherever they went, nothing grew; the seedlings in the fields were destroyed, and all the houses were burned down.

If you don't come with us to kill and cause trouble, you'll starve to death if you stay here.

Sanyo Road, Aki Province, Itsukushima Shrine.

Thick smoke billowed into the sky.

Taira no Kiyomori looked grim. On the road, there was a towering tree that appeared normal from a distance.

Upon closer inspection, it was filled with countless heads, tied to tree branches, resembling "fruits."

The Kobayakawa and Mori clans, members of the samurai groups, were all brutally murdered, and their corpses were tied up and erected by the roadside, like road signs.

From the elderly and women to infants and children, none were spared. All the female corpses were completely naked, a truly gruesome sight.

In the height of summer, the stench from which one could travel for miles was nauseating, and crows and wild dogs pecked at and gnawed on corpses everywhere.

Wherever they went, labor vanished, crops were destroyed, and houses and forests were set ablaze.

This is a group of madmen who only care about destruction and don't care about any consequences; they are just like demons.

This mob instilled unprecedented and deadly panic in the people.

Aki was the core area of ​​the Taira clan's power, but it was also burned and looted by mobs. They were like locusts passing through, killing and leaving as soon as they were done.

People forced to participate in such events often become just as insane after experiencing a massacre.

Even if the Taira clan wanted revenge, they couldn't catch up, because they had already reached Bingo Province along the Seto Inland Sea coast.

That area was the territory of the Fujiwara clan, the regent.

If I were to lead troops into the territory, it would be considered an invasion.

"These lowly people deserve to die!"

Kobayakawa Asamasa looked at the corpses of his clansmen, his face deathly pale.

His voice was dry and hoarse as he spoke, "Young Master, look at their wounds, they're all clean and deep. This means that most of the rioters have weapons!"

The young Taira nods, his face growing increasingly grim.

At this time, the Shōni clan established a kingdom in Kyushu, breaking away from Japan and calling itself "Tsukushi Kingdom," and received investiture from Emperor Ōkage.

Moreover, the Great Jing navy was stationed in their capital.

Now that this mob has suddenly emerged from Iwami and is carrying weapons, one can't help but suspect that Daikei is secretly supporting them.

What exactly is he planning to do?
Although he had never met the emperor of the Great Jing Dynasty, he was already filled with fear of this man.

Because he possessed unparalleled power. (End of Chapter)