Chapter 748: A Bloodbath Sparked by a Single Pill
In An Hua’s view, assessing injuries was an extremely crucial step, and it should naturally be carried out by the priests of the Li Palace, whose moral character and abilities were worthy of trust. However, meeting her questioning gaze, the priest shook his head, hesitating as if to speak, his emotions somewhat complicated.
“Now, injury assessments are handled by the stewards of the Tang family and the military medics accompanying the army.”
That elderly medic said, “That person had already drafted a set of regulations for injury assessment beforehand, with very clear specific terms. Now, every Holy Healing Hall has a copy stored. Whether it’s the Tang family stewards or us, we must all follow these regulations. No one dares to act recklessly.”
Having said this, he took out a booklet about half a finger thick from his sleeve and handed it to An Hua.
An Hua took the booklet and began to flip through it. As she read more and more content, the admiration in her eyes grew stronger. The priest had naturally also seen the injury assessment regulations and said with emotion, “Even without the Vermilion Sand Pill, just looking at these injury assessment regulations, one can be certain that person must be a renowned physician of his generation.”
After finishing the booklet, she handed it back to the medic and then raised her final and most important doubt.
“How does that person ensure that these rules are effectively enforced?”
She had devoted herself entirely to study in the Thirteen Departments of Qing Yao, never concerning herself with worldly affairs, but she also knew that human hearts were treacherous and the world was complicated. Moreover, no matter how perfect the rules and systems, loopholes could always be found. Not to mention that when life and death were involved, with so many powerful cultivators and high-ranking figures at the frontlines, once they were truly desperate, who would care about these rules? For example, if the grandson of some high-ranking court official was severely wounded on the battlefield and, according to the rules, was not qualified to receive a Vermilion Sand Pill, but was on the verge of death, would anyone dare to withhold the medicine from him?
“This situation did occur once at Yong Lan Pass. General Fei Dian’s nephew snatched a Vermilion Sand Pill.”
The priest glanced at the general and continued, “Afterward, Yong Lan Pass did not receive a single Vermilion Sand Pill for two whole months, to the point that military morale became unstable, popular resentment boiled over, and a mutiny broke out. A squad that had suffered heavy casualties on the battlefield stormed the General’s mansion and chopped that still-recovering nephew into mincemeat.”
An Hua asked uneasily, “That was outright robbery… but what if some truly powerful figure tampered with things before the pills were distributed?”
The priest looked into her eyes and said, “You probably don’t know this, but initially, the distribution of Vermilion Sand Pills was not handled by the Wen Shui Tang family, but by the Ying Hua Hall.”
An Hua was somewhat surprised: “Are you saying that the State Religion was responsible for this at the very beginning? Then why was it later transferred to the Tang family?”
“Just as you said earlier, someone tried to tamper with things before the pills were distributed.”
The priest said with emotion, “That was a student sent to the frontlines by the Ancestral Sacrifice Office to aid in the war. This student had extraordinary talent in cultivation, considered far superior to Tian Hai Ya Er in his day. Moreover, his moral character was excellent, and he fought enemies with great bravery. During a sudden encounter with wolf cavalry, he was severely wounded while covering his classmates’ retreat.”
An Hua asked in confusion, “Was he still not qualified to receive a Vermilion Sand Pill?”
“It was a very remote military outpost. In three months, they only received one Vermilion Sand Pill, and his luck was extremely bad.”
“What do you mean?”
“There was a wandering cultivator formation master, also severely wounded and on the verge of death, who was ranked ahead of him in the sequence.”
“I see.”
“After the bishop of the Ancestral Sacrifice Office learned of this, he asked a red-robed bishop from Ying Hua Hall to tamper with things, moving his name ahead of that wandering cultivator formation master’s.”
For the Li Palace, a young student with extraordinary talent and a promising future was, of course, infinitely more important than a wandering cultivator without a sect or school.
An Hua would not do such a thing, but she could understand why the bishop of the Ancestral Sacrifice Office had acted this way.
“That student from the Ancestral Sacrifice Office took the Vermilion Sand Pill and indeed recovered completely, without any aftereffects.”
“What about that wandering cultivator formation master?”
“He died.”
That was the natural outcome for that formation master. Those two plain words were yet so desolate and helpless.
An Hua was silent for a moment, then continued to ask, “And then what?”
Since the bishop of the Ancestral Sacrifice Office and the red-robed bishop of Ying Hua Hall had intervened, presumably neither the sequence adjustment nor any other behind-the-scenes dealings would leave any evidence. She even thought of some darker possibilities—for instance, some powerful figures, in order to obtain Vermilion Sand Pills, might have secretly killed those wounded who were ahead in the sequence!
“That military outpost was not affected at all, continuing as before, receiving one Vermilion Sand Pill roughly every three months.”
The priest’s tone suddenly became grave: “But from then on, Ying Hua Hall never received a single Vermilion Sand Pill again. No one knows how that person learned of this matter, nor did that person provide any evidence. He simply withdrew the power to distribute Vermilion Sand Pills from Ying Hua Hall and handed it over to the Wen Shui Tang family.”
The room fell silent. Everyone still remembered this major incident from last year.
The priest sighed, “Upon hearing of this, Grand Bishop Mao Qiu Yu flew into a thunderous rage. He ordered the King of Ling Hai to begin purging Ying Hua Hall. That red-robed bishop was executed directly, that bishop of the Ancestral Sacrifice Office was expelled from the State Religion, and many other high-ranking figures also fell into great misfortune because of this matter.”
An Hua knew that a red-robed bishop of Ying Hua Hall, who was extremely senior and held great power, had died. She had thought it was due to illness, but she never imagined it stemmed from this. She was deeply shocked.
The tension between the imperial court and the State Religion was no longer as severe as two years ago, but the two sides were still in a standoff. On the frontlines of the war against the demons, of course, the court’s words carried the most weight. In such a situation, the State Religion had to cherish any opportunity to display its power, let alone a privilege like distributing Vermilion Sand Pills.
That red-robed bishop and the bishop of the Ancestral Sacrifice Office had offended the owner of the Vermilion Sand Pills, causing the State Religion to lose this extremely precious resource. It could be said that even ten thousand deaths could not atone for their crime. Mao Qiu Yu was known for his benevolence, but with his subordinates causing such a huge incident, his fury and the harshness of his punitive measures were completely understandable.
“After that, no one dared to scheme for Vermilion Sand Pills anymore, let alone fake injuries to try to hoard them. Incidents of pill-snatching also became fewer and fewer.”
The priest said, “Because these were the rules set by that person. Yes, no one knows who that person is. Perhaps he is just an ordinary village doctor, unable to protect his own rules. But he has the Vermilion Sand Pills, so his words carry power. The bloodbath at Ying Hua Hall has already proven this. And the Wen Shui Tang family, in order to ensure they continue to hold the power to distribute the pills, is not afraid to kill to uphold this person’s rules. No matter where you hide, if the Tang family wants someone dead, who can survive?”
……
……
(This chapter is 1992 words, continuing to make up for the deficit from the repeated update.)