Chapter 825: The Trial of Sin
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He was the Grand Archbishop of the Wenhua Hall, holding an extremely lofty position within the state religion. According to the principles of the Daoist Canon, for a figure of his rank, even if he violated religious law and was to be punished, the Pope would have to convene a grand assembly in the Bright Hall, publicly read out the charges, and then have the Flowing Cloud Hall pronounce the sentence.
Back then, when the Pope expelled Mu Jiushi from the Li Palace, that was exactly how it was done.
The current Pope, Chen Changsheng, had not returned to the capital for three years. Even if he came back to try the White Stone Daoist, there would inevitably be some within the state religion who would side with the White Stone Daoist, at the very least demanding a reprieve from the death penalty. Not to mention that Shang Xingzhou was in the capital—how could he stand by and watch the White Stone Daoist die?
Chen Changsheng made no comment on the White Stone Daoist’s words. He simply gazed at him quietly and asked, “Why?”
He had left the capital three years ago, and the Li Palace was under immense pressure. Even if the six halls, such as the Grass Moon Hall and the Moss Hall, sealed themselves off, they could not stop that pressure from seeping in like wind through cracks. After the unification of the north and south, the Great Zhou court grew even more powerful. More critically, Shang Xingzhou was the orthodox heir of the state religion, a true sage. After the Pope and Grand Archbishop Melisandre returned to the sea of stars, no one in the entire state religion could match his seniority or depth of experience—not even the Pope, Chen Changsheng, who was his student.
Under these circumstances, how could some within the state religion not harbor other thoughts?
In his original estimation, the most likely person to bow before his master would have been Siyuan Daoist or Linghai Zhiwang, given their past grievances. But he never expected it to be the White Stone Daoist. After all, the White Stone Daoist had been one of the witnesses to that edict, always silent and low-key, showing no signs of any possibility of betraying the faith.
“Why? Because I must consider the future of the state religion and the interests of the human race.” The White Stone Daoist stared into Chen Changsheng’s eyes. “The state religion is not the religion of one man, but the gate for hundreds of millions of believers. It absolutely should not revolve around the will of the Pope alone. Unless you are a true sage—and unfortunately, although your talent is high, and you might even become the youngest true sage in history, you and I both know that the Dao Lord will not give you that chance. You also know that you can no longer have such an opportunity. So after three years, you could no longer remain silent and had to step forward to stir up trouble.”
Chen Changsheng was silent for a moment, then said, “I thought many within the state religion had been looking forward to me stepping forward again.”
“Those people are all fools.” The White Stone Daoist did not hide his contempt. He glanced at Linghai Zhiwang. Clearly, the former new faction of the state religion, led by Linghai Zhiwang and Siyuan Daoist, had always held a relatively radical stance, hoping Chen Changsheng would quickly assume the role of Pope and rule the world.
The White Stone Daoist continued, “Why did the Pope choose you as his successor back then? Because he thought you, his disciple-nephew, were very much like him. But now that you’ve stepped forward, trying to win this war against the court through the authority of the Pope and so-called strategy, you are becoming less and less like him, and more and more like your master. And if you want to become someone like your master, how could you possibly defeat him?”
At this point, he turned to Linghai Zhiwang and An Lin and shouted, “Have you ever thought about this? Why should the state religion be plunged into an abyss of ruin because of his inexplicable rebellious thoughts against his master? Since that’s the case, why don’t we simply welcome the Dao Lord as the Pope!”
Outside the Dao Hall, it was quiet. The green trees within the Divine Gate swayed gently in the wind, shaking off the last small white flowers that had bloomed the night before.
Chen Changsheng’s gaze fell on the faint figures of priests beyond the distant grove. After a moment of silence, he said, “You might not know me very well.”
The White Stone Daoist hadn’t expected such an answer. He was momentarily stunned, then his expression turned cold and hard again. “It doesn’t matter. You can strip me of my position as Grand Archbishop now, or even abolish my inheritance like you did with Mu Jiushi. But on the day the Dao Lord returns to the Li Palace, I will be waiting for you there.”
An Lin was silent. Linghai Zhiwang said, “I have worked alongside you for decades, and I never realized you were such a fool.”
The White Stone Daoist looked at him coldly and said, “What crime do you want to pin on me? Attempted murder of the Pope? Like at the Songshan Military Prefecture?”
Linghai Zhiwang replied, “Crimes are not pinned on someone; they are committed by oneself.”
The White Stone Daoist stared at him expressionlessly. “Don’t forget, this is Wenshui.”
Wenshui was the territory of the Tang family.
No matter how great the power of the state religion, if they wanted to kill the White Stone Daoist on the spot, they could not hide it from the Tang family’s eyes. This meant that if Chen Changsheng wanted to uphold the dignity of religious law, he could only take the White Stone Daoist into custody now, or even cut off his inherited techniques, but it would not be convenient to execute him on the spot.
At that moment, footsteps sounded from the grove. The Bishop of Wenshui arrived before the Dao Hall, holding a letter in his hand.
The bishop kept his head down, not even glancing at the blood-soaked White Stone Daoist, nor showing any unusual expression. He was as calm and humble as ever.
“Your Holiness, the letter you were waiting for has arrived.”
Chen Changsheng took the letter, opened it, and read the paper inside.
Linghai Zhiwang and An Lin looked over. Guan Feibai and Zhexiu also looked over. Even the White Stone Daoist, whose life hung in the balance, turned his gaze.
They all knew that someone had been corresponding with Chen Changsheng. From the matter of the Songshan Military Prefecture to the journey to Wenshui, everything had been planned by the letter writer.
Everyone was curious about who the letter writer was.
Only Nanke showed no interest. She still stood before the White Stone Daoist as Chen Changsheng had instructed, staring into his eyes.
After reading the letter, Chen Changsheng was lost in thought for a while, then handed it to Linghai Zhiwang.
The White Stone Daoist sneered, “Playing mysterious… What did that person say in the letter? Did they foresee what’s happening now?”
Linghai Zhiwang’s gaze left the paper and fell on his face, his eyes strange.
The White Stone Daoist suddenly felt a chill.
Linghai Zhiwang said, “You guessed right. That person said we must kill you to establish our authority.”
The White Stone Daoist’s face changed at these words.
He didn’t know who the letter writer was, but he knew that recently, many affairs of the state religion had been orchestrated by that person.
Most crucially, through his observations over these days, he was very certain that Chen Changsheng trusted that person implicitly, following their advice without question.
Just then, a priest appeared at the edge of the grove.
The Bishop of Wenshui went to inquire, then returned after a moment and reported quietly to Chen Changsheng, “The Second Master of the Tang family has come to visit Your Holiness.”
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