In this cyberpunk era, why are you still playing the traditional villain?

In contrast, the saintess Xia Ke'an and her silly apprentice Pan Ling quickly got into the swing of things, one teasing and the other joking, and they handled the situation with ease, even though there were many more people than yesterday.

"Come on, everyone, don't rush. Take a number and wait a bit."

The young woman, Xiaoling, moved through the crowd, distributing small wooden tags in an orderly manner. "When your number is called, just go to the quiet room next door."

This can be considered as an adjustment made by the three during last night's review - it's certainly a good thing to look cool in front of everyone, but if we're thinking long-term, we really can't keep doing it like this.

The main issue is that as more and more people come to us for help, many problems naturally arise that are difficult to discuss openly, such as hiding money, marital discord and domestic violence, or being unable to afford a house...

This is not a topic that can be discussed in public; it's too embarrassing to talk about... But if it's a one-on-one conversation, many things can be opened up.

This is why churches generally set up private confessionals, even the Papacy of the Hualan Empire has similar arrangements—only in this way can they appear more formal and gradually increase the number of believers.

In the end, there's no need to worry too much about whether this will weaken the influence of so-called "miracles." It's enough to make a fool of yourself on the first day. As long as people have seen it, they will spontaneously support them.

Overall, everything seemed to be in good order.

However, there were some restless individuals—someone quickly cut in line, pulled out several bottles and jars from their pockets, and prepared to collect as much of the free milk as possible.

Before he could make a move, a dark figure suddenly appeared behind him, holding a short sword to his neck without warning.

"Each person can only take one pound."

Having finally switched to battle mode, the curly-haired Ye Shanshan said coldly, "Also, go line up."

"...Okay, okay..."

The man was startled. So there was someone guarding this place?

And this unpredictable appearance was terrifying... He couldn't help but shrink back and slunk back to the back of the queue.

This move also effectively deterred the others present—to be honest, there were indeed a few people with some restless thoughts. The Holy Fire Cat Cult only had three people at most, so could they really cause some trouble?

Including reporting it to the Vatican... But seeing this, many of those thoughts died before they even began.

You have to be wary of even the most despicable people, right? Even if most people don't have the guts, on one hand, they're also participants, and if things really come to light, won't they be affected? On the other hand, there are free supplies to collect, so at least they should wait until they've gotten all the benefits before worrying about these things...

Until then, it's best to keep this a secret and not interfere with us getting the eggs!

"...You're quite adept at this kind of charlatanry, Master Xu."

Backstage, Xie Qingyan, the only one with nothing to do, couldn't help but tease, "But have you thought about what to do next?"

We always need to plan ahead. After all, it's fine for everyone to do this in the short term, but we can't keep putting our energy into it forever. Are you just going to keep doing this and never move forward?

Ultimately, establishing a religious sect is just a means to an end. But what happens after the goal is achieved? They simply run away and leave a mess behind.

"This is nothing, you're thinking way too far ahead."

Xu Shi laughed and said, "But if you ask me, once the Holy Fire Cat Cult grows stronger, we won't need to worry about it here anymore."

We can just appoint a new person in charge later, right? Whether we select believers from the people of the Hualan Empire or leave some of our own people, as long as this model can continue... To put it bluntly, this is the same as a head office and branch offices; it's already a very mature system.

Of course, there are differences. After all, it is a religious institution, and the reputation of prophecy cannot be ruined. But without Xia Ke'an as the saintess, it would be really difficult to maintain it.

However, Xu Shi had naturally already prepared for this.

"For example, when is your birthday again?"

He looked at his fiancée and asked.

"February 11th? What happened?"

Xie Qingyan blinked, not understanding what he meant.

"No, let me calculate your fortune."

Mr. Xu took a sip of tea, then muttered in a mystical tone, "According to your birth date and time, your overall fortune today will fluctuate slightly."

Instead of worrying about bad luck, maintain an optimistic and steadfast mindset and believe in your abilities. Whether passively or actively, you need to make some new changes, and the process may require time to adapt. In terms of life, don't let small things affect your mood.

"In terms of career, this is a period of striving to enrich and improve yourself. Maintain a stable work and study routine, and don't slack off because of temporary setbacks. Instead, constantly remind yourself to strengthen your skills and knowledge reserves, and seize opportunities to showcase your talents and abilities."

"In terms of health, feeling tired and unwell may be due to work pressure and mental stress. It is recommended to arrange rest time reasonably, maintain good work and rest habits, and also pay attention to diet and exercise, and relax to relieve stress."

"Hey?"

Listening to his long analysis, the woman's doubts deepened.

It actually makes a lot of sense. I've been emotionally unstable lately, not to mention my health—I have complications to deal with... I don't need to worry too much about church matters either; it's been pretty uneventful...

But if it were her, she certainly wouldn't give up just because things are going well. She would take this opportunity to hone her skills, and there are other things she would prefer to do afterward...

That being said, something still feels off.

"wrong!"

She quickly realized what she meant, "We're together every day, of course you know all about these things! Besides, what you're saying seems a bit vague..."

"But it's right within your scope, isn't it?"

Xu Shi laughed and said, "It actually has nothing to do with familiarity. What we need is this vagueness... How can we broaden the scope if it's not vague? How can we get close to it if we don't broaden the scope? And if we don't let you get close to it, how will you believe us?"

This is actually a common tactic in superstitious activities: if someone can answer one out of ten questions, it's considered a success.

Going a step further, it's all just repeating the same old thing over and over again—the most obvious example being "If you can't predict accurately, you won't get a penny; if you can predict accurately, you can tip as you like." It sounds very sincere at first, but it's actually just useless nonsense. If you can't predict accurately, you won't get any money anyway, right?

But if the fortune teller says it first, even if it's inaccurate, you don't seem to have any reason to blame him... He made his statement first, so if you keep dwelling on it, it becomes your problem...

Including the more classic saying "a dark face between the eyebrows indicates bad luck," if something bad really happens, then what they said is true. If nothing bad happens, you'll be overjoyed and won't care whether their prediction is accurate or not.

"Anyway, I'll organize some of these things later. With these, it'll be enough to deal with the people of the Empire... Plus, the royal family will be there to support us, so there's nothing to worry about."

He said leisurely, "Actually, these are all very simple little tricks. I remember a lot of people in Sin City used to do these things, to coax naive young girls who had never experienced anything..."

"Ok?"

Xie Qingyan had been listening with great interest, but she quickly realized something was wrong. She narrowed her eyes and said irritably, "You mean, I'm a silly girl?"

"Forehead……"

Xu Shi then realized his slip of the tongue and quickly tried to make amends, "Of course you are not. Director Xie is high and mighty, so of course you rarely come into contact with such low-class things."

Besides, you're not love-obsessed, so it's normal that you don't know about things you don't care about, right?

"cut."

The woman sneered, but didn't pursue the matter too much. Instead, she leaned closer with a touch of melancholy, "Forget it, ever since I fell for your trap, I'm not much different from a silly girl... No matter how you look at it, it's all your fault."

Or perhaps this is the consequence of relying on others... Before, she thought that no matter what her relationship with Xu Shi was like, she could never become like Xia Wuyou and the others.

But the current outcome is clearly not like that; all we can say is that it's just talk.

No way, you're the smartest.

Xu Shi pinched her cheek and, in a sarcastic tone, flattered her.

Just then, the others also finished their day's work and returned to the back room in twos and threes.

"Master, I've done the count, and the number of people today is twice that of yesterday."

The junior priestess in charge of coordination, Pan Ling, took out a small notebook and handed it over. "More than half of them are new faces, but so far it's only limited to the DC area. And many people come and go quickly. If they see that the wait is long, they don't even want the milk and just leave... I'm afraid they're still worried about the legitimacy of our Holy Fire Cat Cult."

"Is that so...? That makes sense."

Xu Shi nodded, "You've worked hard."

"No hard work, no hard work!"

Ye Shanshan jumped out to pledge her loyalty, saying, "To be honest, it's been a long time since I've done these things, and I'm a bit rusty."

"Ok?"

Xu Shi raised an eyebrow. It seemed this guy had done a lot of dirty work for Xie Qingyan in the past... But thinking about it, it was normal. Isn't that what secretaries do?

Not to mention she's a combat-type secretary; my own Miss Su Lin is pretty much the same...

"Miss Ke'an's safety is not a problem either; the people who came today have all behaved themselves."

Shen Qin echoed, saying that she had been sent to protect Xia Ke'an and hadn't had a moment's rest all day.

Actually, safety was what Xu Shi was least worried about. Not only was the church well-prepared, but there were also combat teams secretly lurking around. If anyone tried to cause trouble, their fate would be extremely tragic.

"In short, we are in the initial stage now, so it will be a little busy."

He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The royal family will officially confirm our legitimacy in three days... things will be fine after these few days."

"OK."

Pan Ling nodded, but then became curious again, "But speaking of which, I have a question I'd like to ask you, Master."

"Ok?"

"You mean... what Junior Sister is doing now is using her vision of the near future to help everyone solve their problems, right?"

The foolish disciple asked earnestly, "But, did everyone change the future because they heard her prophecy, or was the future always going to be this way, and it was just that Senior Sister read it aloud?"

"Ah this..."

It's rare for Xu Shi to be stumped by this question; he wouldn't bother thinking about this kind of question on purpose, okay?

And what happened to you? You were a melancholy girl, then you became a ruthless, rational thinking machine... and now you're a philosopher?

"How would I know? Go ask your senior sister."

He simply shifted the blame to the old lady herself, saying that the problem lay with her superpowers, and therefore she was the one who had to solve it.

"I?"

The white-haired loli suddenly looked up, causing her cat-ear headband to move as well.

She hadn't thought about that either... Isn't it enough for a superpower to be useful?

"I don't know, I don't know anything!"

This junior sister is getting more and more annoying, huh?!

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 269 I'm going to just eat, eat, eat, eat!

2023-09-19

Philosophical questions are always difficult to explore to any conclusion, but the fact that is right in front of us is that the Sacred Fire Cat Cult is beginning to move from behind the scenes to the forefront.

When the appointed day arrived, while everyone was still listening to the divine pronouncements and receiving free supplies as usual, they heard the thunder of horses' hooves outside.