Chapter 748
Chapter 748
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 748
>Chapter Title: Helping Out
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“That Shiniang, have you let it go?” Hearing Lv Xiucai’s words, Bai Lingmiao’s heart trembled as some buried memories surged to the forefront of her mind.
She desperately wanted to say she had let it go, but she couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth.
Seeing Bai Lingmiao standing there without responding, Lv Xiucai bowed to her before turning and walking out of the White Lotus Church entrance.
“Shiniang! No need to persuade me. I, Lv Xiucai, truly can’t be of much great use, but even if I kill just one more Dharma Cult follower, that makes me useful.”
As the distant military camp echoed with the rhythmic beat of drums signaling assembly and departure, Lv Xiucai excitedly tugged at the copper coin sword on his back. He sang out opera lines as he ran toward the camp.
“Success means my body returns to the homeland; failure means my life ends in foreign lands! Revenge for kin is only right! With loyal heart, I go alone! Boiling blood, fervor fills my chest!!”
Hearing Lv Xiucai’s singing fade into the distance, Bai Lingmiao’s increasingly chaotic heart prompted her to silently turn around and walk deeper into the church hall.
This was the most heavily guarded place, for it housed the White Lotus Cult’s most precious treasure.
Pushing open a door and stepping behind a pair of screens, a white lotus radiating soft light appeared before her.
Compared to when it had first been discovered in the Niuxin Village ancestral hall, the lotus now bloomed even larger, its gentle glow no longer flickering but persisting steadily.
Encircling the white lotus was a group of people—men and women, old and young. Only the most qualified members of the White Lotus Cult could approach it.
Bai Lingmiao sat cross-legged on a rush cushion and quietly began praying to this Twelfth-Grade Merit White Lotus.
“Unborn Old Mother, Vacuum Homeland... Unborn Old Mother, Vacuum Homeland...”
She prayed to the Unborn Old Mother while also convincing herself that the Vacuum Homeland truly existed.
The white lotus on Bai Lingmiao’s forehead gleamed in harmony with the one on the table, causing her upper body to split into two.
The two upper bodies faced away from each other, back-to-back, their four hands forming lotus mudras hovering in the air one above the other like tree branches. Seated in the room, she resembled a bizarre white dwarf flesh tree.
This seemed to be some cultivation technique of the White Lotus Cult, though its exact nature was known only to the White Lotus Saintess herself.
Two hours later, the sky outside had gradually darkened, but the room remained as bright as day under the lotus’s glow.
Suddenly, Bai Lingmiao stopped. Calming her mind, she rose from the cushion and turned her ear toward the silent room exterior. “What is it?”
Her perceptual abilities were extraordinarily keen; not even the slightest noise could escape her notice.
“Saintess, men from the Siqi Sticky Pole Office have come with a message: His Majesty wishes to see you.”
“The Siqi Emperor?” Bai Lingmiao couldn’t help recalling the two dragon veins used as bait.
Unsure of his purpose, but unwilling to slight the ruler of a nation, she set off at once with her attendants.
Though Siqi had fallen, the emperor’s title evidently still held sway; even in this overcrowded city, he had claimed a three-courtyard mansion as his palace.
When Bai Lingmiao finally saw the Siqi Emperor, he was so transformed from his previous wretched state that she almost didn’t recognize him.
Before, the dragon vein had been dredged from a mud pit, caked in filth with no discernible features. Now, the Siqi Emperor...
His bright yellow dragon robe was embroidered with soaring sea dragons, and beneath the pearl tassels of his crown, ink-jade pupils gleamed with inherent majesty. He exuded the aura of a king who commanded the world.
“No need for prostration. Grant the White Lady a seat.”
With a wave of his hand from behind the desk in his dragon robe, two elderly eunuchs promptly brought over a stool.
Bai Lingmiao curtsied in thanks before sitting lightly and asking, “May I ask what business His Majesty has in summoning this humble woman?”
The Siqi Emperor eyed her up and down. “Word is the White Lotus Cult has spread far and wide lately. You’ve seized lands from the Dharma Cult’s jaws, gathering nearly all the common folk under your banner.”
“You overpraise us, Your Majesty. The White Lotus’s deeds are unworthy of mention; all we do is prevent the Dharma Cult from rising again.” Though she said this, Bai Lingmiao’s heart drummed with unease—these words sounded off.
“No overpraise! Not a bit!” A burly, armor-clad fatty strode forward from behind. “The followers of your White Lotus Cult could fill a kingdom of a thousand chariots. If that’s unworthy of mention, there’s nothing left worth hanging on your teeth.”
Bai Lingmiao fell silent, unsure of their true intent.
“I’ve summoned the Saintess for no other reason.” The Siqi Emperor rose from the dragon throne and paced over to her side, hands clasped behind his back.
“With so many White Lotus followers now heeding your command, I’d like to discuss a small matter with you.”
Bai Lingmiao glanced sideways, awaiting his next words.
At that moment, the fatty general blurted out, “Hey, Your Majesty, no need to beat around the bush. Just say it straight.”
Without waiting for the emperor’s response, the fatty launched into it. “Saintess, here’s the deal.”
“The Zhongyin Temple over in Qingqiu has a plan. They can perform a ritual to wipe out every last Dharma Cult remnant in Siqi in one go. But the ritual calls for some odd ingredients, so they’re asking for your help.”
“Zhongyin Temple?” The name stirred unease in Bai Lingmiao’s heart.
“They need lives—not the kind from Nourishing Lifespan Pills, but sacrificial lives offered to the heavens. Not hundreds, not thousands, but one million, eight hundred ten thousand.”
Bai Lingmiao remained silent, clearly stunned by the figure.
The Siqi Emperor shot the fatty general a look, and he continued, “The weird part is those lamas insist it has to be willing sacrifices—people who go to their deaths gladly.”
“Can you imagine? Who knows what’s in Qingqiu heads. They demand willing hearts, but where do we get that many? So we’re asking the Saintess for help.”
“Surely the White Lotus has some useless sorts, right? The old, weak, sick, and lame. Why not put them to good use?”
“Just use your usual pitch: say they’ll go to the Vacuum Homeland after death, and they’ll rush to it joyfully.”
Once the fatty general finished, the Siqi Emperor chimed in. “Rest assured, if this drives the Dharma Cult from Siqi and lets me reclaim my throne, no matter how many die, I’ll compensate you with five times as many followers!”
“What, do you take me for a promise-breaker? I’ll swear it before my ancestors! Surely that puts you at ease?”
Bai Lingmiao’s hands began to tremble as she gazed at the Siqi Emperor. For some reason, she recalled that female general, Peng Longteng.
“Your Majesty!” Her voice shook. “That’s a full one million eight hundred thousand lives!”
“What of it? They’re off to bliss in the Vacuum Homeland. Or does the Saintess doubt its existence?”