Chapter 749
Chapter 749
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 749
>Chapter Title: Choice
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Hearing the Siqi Emperor's words, Bai Lingmiao slowly clenched her hands. Her expression began to turn exceptionally grim, her body seeming unsteady on its feet.
The Vacuum Hometown existed—that much was true, just as the Childless Old Mother had said. Her family was living there right now, free of all worries.
Once she died, she could join them. That was something Bai Lingmiao was absolutely certain she believed.
But when this thing she so firmly believed in was pitted against the lives of 1.81 million people, hesitation began to stir in her heart.
"If the Vacuum Hometown is real, then death is just moving to another place to live. So why am I resisting it so much?"
Meanwhile, the Siqi Emperor pressed his advantage. "Miss Bai, think about it carefully. For just over a million old, weak, sick, and disabled, you get nine million devoted followers in the future. When has there ever been a deal this guaranteed to pay off?"
"Look, this way, I win, you win, and the Childless Old Mother far away in the Vacuum Hometown wins too. No one loses. What's the Holy Maiden dawdling for?"
Bai Lingmiao took a deep breath at his words. The hand trembling slightly against her chest suddenly dropped, as if she had made up her mind.
"Your Majesty, is this a transaction? Is that how you tally the accounts? Do you even realize—they're people! Living, breathing people! Even if they're crippled or useless, they're still living, breathing people!" Bai Lingmiao thought back to everything in Oxheart Village.
"Do you know how much grief their deaths would cause? Do you know how agonizing it is to lose family?!"
The Siqi Emperor and the fatty general beside him were clearly stunned. They never imagined the leader of a cult that favored living sacrifices like the White Lotus could say something like this. It was like the sun rising in the west.
"And Your Majesty!" Bai Lingmiao said after steadying her emotions. "More than half of that 1.8 million are your own subjects. Have you given them even a passing thought?"
The Siqi Emperor's face twisted with mild anger at such an absurd remark. "Hmph! Why should I consider them? Do you know what I've sacrificed to sit on this throne? It's all mine through blood and sweat!"
"What I must protect above all is my empire and its foundations! Without them, I'm just a sovereign of a fallen kingdom! As for those commoners, they're nothing but weeds growing on my land. Cut them down, and in time, new ones will sprout."
Bai Lingmiao clenched her fists at his words, her sharp nails digging straight into her palms, yet she didn't let go.
"Your Majesty!" Her voice sharpened. "This humble girl must respectfully decline! They're not weeds! They're people! They can't just die like weeds! Once they're gone, everything's lost!"
"Hm?" The Siqi Emperor seemed baffled. "What's this? Haven't you figured it out yet? They're not dying—at least not by your teachings. They're just going to the Vacuum Hometown."
"What, does the exalted White Lotus Holy Maiden truly believe there's no such place? That it's all a lie spun by the Childless Old Mother to make you follow her?"
Bai Lingmiao took several deep breaths, gradually suppressing her rage. "Your Majesty! The Vacuum Hometown exists! But the Childless Old Mother has decreed that suicide defies the natural order! Those who take their own lives cannot enter the Vacuum Hometown!!"
"Absurd! I've never heard your White Lotus Cult preach anything like that before." The Siqi Emperor's brow furrowed deeper, sensing her refusal.
"As the White Lotus Holy Maiden, I have direct communion with the heavens. If I say the Childless Old Mother decreed it, then she did!! This matter is not open for discussion!!" With indignant fury, Bai Lingmiao stood and made to leave.
"Wait!" The Siqi Emperor stepped in front of her again. Dragon scales began emerging on his body amid his simmering anger. "Think this through, Miss Bai. Think carefully about who you're opposing here!"
Bai Lingmiao, who had kept her head bowed, slowly raised it. The corners of her mouth curved up slightly, her entire demeanor shifting. "Your Majesty~ Right now, Siqi still hasn't been reclaimed from the Dharma Cult. If you're so capable, why not take it back yourself? Oh, right—you relied on us to rescue you from the Dharma Cult back then."
She jabbed a finger with black nails at the dragon robe on his chest, one poke after another.
"This humble girl is from Great Liang, not Siqi. Besides, you're an emperor of a fallen kingdom right now. A phoenix that’s landed is worth less than a chicken. So what if I oppose you? What can you do?"
"Send troops to wipe out the White Lotus Cult? Oh dear, pity that you don't have a single soldier under you anymore—just a bunch of old eunuchs."
Bai Lingmiao glanced sidelong at the fatty general beside her, who gripped his sword hilt but hadn't drawn it. She let out a scornful chuckle. "Still putting on airs with me? You're so short-staffed you bring out trash like this in public."
The Siqi Emperor trembled with rage, but he didn't dare lay a hand on her. Win or lose, he couldn't afford to make an enemy of the force that had helped him reclaim his throne.
Bai Lingmiao walked out of the solemn three-courtyard mansion. Her expression gradually softened as she wandered silently through the chaotic city.
The voice of the two gods echoed in her mind. "What are you really thinking? Do you believe in the Vacuum Hometown or not? You've got me all confused."
Bai Lingmiao didn't know. She had no time to worry about her own matters anymore.
She realized that somehow, the lives of over a million people now hung on her single thought. If she willed it, she truly could order them all to die.
Unbeknownst to herself, her influence had grown to such an extent. The invisible pressure weighed heavily on her heart, filling it with panic.
Bai Lingmiao kept walking, observing the varied lives of the White Lotus followers in the city.
Under the ravages of war, the common folk's days were naturally harsh, but people always found ways to eat a little better, live a little better if they could.
She had seen it all before, but now it seemed somehow different from what she remembered.
A crowd gathered by the roadside around a large black pot billowing white steam, chopsticks in hand, eager to dig in.
This was called zhe luo cai—leftovers from various meals piled together and sold on the street. No matter what you picked up, it was one copper coin per chopstickful.
It might look filthy, but the worse the times, the better this business boomed. Often it sold out early, lest the good bits get picked over.
It was the only place to get meat and fish for the least money.
A young girl, perhaps thirteen or fourteen, with a white lotus painted on her forehead and patches on her clothes, clutched a copper coin in her hand. She hesitated for a long time before finally tossing it into the money bowl.
(End of chapter)