Chapter 868: I Can Stand a Little Higher
The dust settled slightly, and Zheshe's figure emerged before Xiao Zhang.
He wore a thin garment, with sleeves and pant legs cut very short, unable to cover the iron-spine-like bristles protruding from his skin. From the tips of his hands extended ten razor-sharp yet tough claws, gleaming with a cold light that sent chills down one's spine. Even more terrifying was his face, covered in fur, his teeth bared into razor-sharp fangs, and his eyes filled with a maddened, bloodshot glare.
At the sight of this, a wave of terrified screams erupted from the crowd, surging backward like a tide. Zheshe paid them no mind, his gaze fixed solely on the several green-robed Daoists.
These green-robed Daoists were formidable in cultivation, but more frightening was their danger. Strength did not always equate to danger—no one understood this principle better than Zheshe. So he didn't hesitate to enter his berserk state at the first moment, facing the enemy in his strongest form.
...
Several Dao swords hummed, vibrating at high frequencies in the morning light. The green-robed Daoists looked at Zheshe, frowning slightly, saying nothing, and making no move to attack.
Though Zheshe had grown up fighting in the northern snowfields, he had long been famous in the heartlands of the Great Zhou Dynasty. The green-robed Daoists recognized him at a glance—this young strongman from the Wolf Tribe. Wofu Zheshe was the most dangerous among the younger generation of Daoist cultivators. This was an accepted fact, even though he hadn't displayed his terrifying combat experience and tenacity in years.
If Zheshe insisted on protecting Xiao Zhang, today would inevitably become a bitter struggle, possibly even a bloody battle. But the green-robed Daoists were merely cautious, not afraid. They calmly judged that Zheshe couldn't change the final outcome—Xiao Zhang would surely die. They had stopped not because of Zheshe's sudden appearance, but because they knew where he had gone after leaving the snowfields and who he had been with.
Sure enough, the next moment, the crowd below the stone steps parted like a tide, flowing to both sides. Chen Changsheng walked up the steps.
The entire Fengyang County fell into utter silence, as quiet as a graveyard. No one here knew Chen Changsheng personally, but the people of the Great Zhou were all followers of the national religion—who wouldn't recognize the Divine Staff in his hand? Who else on the continent was worthy of holding that staff?
Finally, someone snapped to their senses and let out a cry of shock, waking the whole of Fengyang County. Like a tide, countless commoners knelt to the ground, prostrating themselves before Chen Changsheng. Countless devout and reverent voices merged together, like thunder.
"We pay homage to Your Holiness, the Pope."
Chen Changsheng arrived beside Zheshe, turned, and looked at the green-robed Daoists. They bowed to him with respectful demeanor, showing no sign of reluctance. Chen Changsheng nodded. The officials present, along with the imperial experts from the Ministry of Justice, also knelt.
Chen Changsheng looked at Xiao Zhang, at the worn white paper covering his face, and recalled their first meeting in Xunyang City. He couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion. So far, he hadn't even glanced at the prefect.
The prefect's face shifted through various colors. Finally, he lifted his official robe and knelt.
Xiao Zhang did not kneel—he had no strength left, and even if he did, he wouldn't kneel to Chen Changsheng. Chen Changsheng had been Pope for three years, and recently, with his reappearance and the matter of the Cinnabar Pill, his prestige on the continent had soared. But in Xiao Zhang's eyes, he was still that talented, tough-minded youth from Xunyang City, as dull as Wang Po. In his view, Chen Changsheng was a junior—why should he bow?
Xiao Zhang asked, "Why are you here?"
Chen Changsheng replied, "Just passing through."
This was obviously an excuse; no one would believe it.
Xiao Zhang pressed on, "What do you intend to do?"
Chen Changsheng said, "I intend to pardon your crimes."
With that, he raised the Divine Staff. Next, Xiao Zhang only needed to kneel, and Chen Changsheng would tap the top of his head three times with the staff's tip, completing the pardon ritual.
"Hold on!" The prefect forced down his fear, looking at Chen Changsheng with a trembling voice. "Since when has the Li Palace been allowed to interfere in state affairs?"
According to Great Zhou law and unwritten precedents, the Li Palace generally could not meddle in governmental matters.
Chen Changsheng finally glanced at the prefect but still said nothing.
"Per the Great Zhou penal code's first decree on pardons, unless the crime is treason, His Holiness the Pope holds the power of absolution," Hu Sanshier said, appearing on the scene. He looked at the prefect with an expressionless face. "What was your rank in the Grand Examination? How could you not know this?"
The prefect's face turned extremely ugly. He had thoroughly studied the laws and the canon; he should have known that the Pope had the power of absolution. But the previous Pope had reigned for centuries without using it—not even the prefect, let alone the court officials, had remembered this. His earlier words had been so forceful and resolute, their echoes still seeming to linger.
"You have killed innocents wantonly, deserving death ten thousand times over."
"Thus, you are beyond redemption."
Yet, shortly after he said this, the Pope appeared before him, declaring he would pardon Xiao Zhang's crimes. That was the Pope's privilege—no matter how unforgivable or heinous the crime, if he pardoned you, you were innocent.
Tang Thirty-Six also arrived on the scene, pointing at the green-robed Daoists. "If you say the national religion can't interfere in state affairs, then why do these Daoists from Changchun Temple dare to kill people in the street? Prefect, shouldn't you first have these men arrested and thrown into prison?"
The green-robed Daoists' expressions remained unchanged, but the prefect's face grew even more sour.
Just then, Xiao Zhang suddenly said, "I won't kneel to you."
If he refused to kneel, how could the absolution ritual be completed?
No one had expected that just as the matter seemed resolved, this new problem would arise. Tang Thirty-Six was about to say something cutting to Xiao Zhang when Chen Changsheng stopped him.
"I'll just stand a little higher."
Chen Changsheng walked up a few steps and turned around. Now his position was several steps above Xiao Zhang, at just the right height. Xiao Zhang didn't need to kneel; the Divine Staff Chen Changsheng raised could fall straight onto his head like a measuring rod.
No sound was made. The tip of the Divine Staff gently touched the top of Xiao Zhang's head three times, and the ritual was complete.
Throughout, Xiao Zhang said nothing, and it was impossible to see his expression beneath the white paper—was it shock or anger?
After a moment, he reached up and touched his head, saying, "It's a bit itchy."