Chapter 363: Lou Miyue

"Therefore, I launched the most brutal suppression, which should have prevented quite a lot; even if their deaths might perhaps become some sort of nourishment, it should still be much better than going to that Buddhist hell."

"That may well be true."

Seeing that Du En finally gave a somewhat positive answer, or rather, was willing to let information flow out, Luo Heng could not help but reveal a faint smile, feeling it was truly not easy, though he immediately restrained it.

"On the surface, and in the interior, both must be possessed; therefore, I feel that the High God over there must be the type of person who pursues perfection, right?"

"You could say that."

"... Then, can we, can we obtain a replacement?"

Luo Heng very straightforwardly revealed the actual intent behind this conversation.

Or rather, one of them.

"Through many events, I have already understood that a mantis cannot block a chariot; I say this, and you should be able to understand my meaning."

Since a mantis cannot block a chariot, then jump onto another chariot and let that chariot crash into the first.

To this, Du En shook his head slightly: "It is impossible to realize that now."

"In other words, it is possible in the future?"

Luo Heng was naturally not an optimistic person, so he immediately seized upon this point; therefore, Du En truly understood that what he really wanted was never a definitive answer, but merely a definitive hope.

From the various speculations about the High God of the Upper Realm to the various changes brought about by Du En here... making the speculations gradually become practical, allowing his own persistence to finally welcome change—the dawn at the end of the game must be certain and unmistakable; it cannot be like that Buddhist hell, which is entirely a beautiful and cruel fantasy!

This time, Du En thought for a moment and nodded earnestly and clearly.

His movement had an extra weight to it, making Luo Heng even feel a sense of being suffocated by the pressure.

Then, he exhaled gently, as if putting down some burden, and his gaze became deep.

"Regarding the remaining converts to the Buddha, I have already recalled the Holy Crusade Army."

He said this somewhat abruptly.

Du En pondered slightly, understanding what the other party wanted to express, and gave only a definitive answer: "The High God you speak of will not have absolute control over this place as it did in the past while I am active here."

"Heh, I have already seen this point from the Spirit Mother who is currently hiding."

Although he said this, with Du En's guarantee, Luo Heng finally felt secure in his heart.

It was truly because that High God of the Upper Realm, the True Lord who dominates and controls the fate of this world, exerted too much pressure on him.

At this point, it went without saying that both knew this conversation was over.

After all, they had only just officially begun contact; it was impossible to discuss too much at once, as the main point was just to reveal the general direction and their respective attitudes.

Du En did not delay and was immediately about to head toward the location of the next spatial anchor point.

There were two left, and although the one in the north was relatively further away, he intended to go take a look there first.

Luo Heng had pointed to that side multiple times, which was clearly a reminder, so perhaps more information could be obtained there, and more things could be known.

Or perhaps, it was some means or arrangement left there by this Cult Master of the Qu-Guang Sect who harbored ulterior motives.

The central camp, after all, was still too close to the Spirit Mother! Even though the Spirit Mother was currently self-sealed, some things were not suitable to be expressed here.

However, this plan of his soon encountered an unexpected turn.

Just as he walked out of the central camp and before Du En could shift his steps to turn, a special-looking priest, whose face was even covered, appeared within his field of vision.

Upon seeing him, the person stopped and nodded; they were actually able to notice him!

Du En's thoughts stirred, and he stepped forward.

"High Envoy."

The person spoke respectfully.

"Did Luo Heng send you?"

Du En asked directly, then glanced at the silent central camp.

"You could say that."

As she said this, she lifted the veil covering her face, revealing her true appearance.

Just from hearing her voice, Du En had a sense of familiarity, and now seeing her face, he could not help but pause slightly.

It was actually Lou Shuyue, who had been dead for many years! No! That mole, she is...

There was a mole on her chin, very obvious, adding to her charm; it was precisely a beauty mark.

Therefore, it was not Lou Shuyue.

After thinking for a moment, Du En said: "You look very much like someone I know."

Lou Miyue's gaze flickered, her beautiful eyes closed, and she replied softly: "That must be my younger sister; she was taken away when she was a child, which is precisely the holy manifestation of the Spirit Mother's mercy!"

Saying this, she showed a look of reverence and conviction toward Du En, then added: "This time, it was because the Cult Master informed me that I learned of the arrival of a noble High Envoy, so after much thought, I boldly ran over to beg the High Envoy to bestow mercy and grace!"

"Oh? How do you want me to bestow grace?"

"It is like this: recently, in the east, the demon disaster that does not respect the Holy Transformation has become increasingly severe, and because of frequent troop deployments, there is a shortage of manpower; even though the High Envoy defeated the Blood Demon in the south, reducing the pressure of the manpower gap, now troops need to be sent to the west to suppress the external path, and there is no spare strength to intercept the demon disaster in the east."

As soon as she spoke, it was clear that information was quite lacking, still remaining at the previous stage.

However, Luo Heng had actually leaked his own news to her, and combined with the thought of her sister Lou Shuyue, this situation was something that required careful deliberation.

Thus, Du En pondered for a moment and decided to change his itinerary to go to the east with her first to take a look.

"Since that is the case, then I will act on your behalf and go with you to see this so-called external path demon disaster in the east."

"The High Envoy is truly sagacious!"

Lou Miyue was immediately both surprised and delighted, unable to resist leaning in close, but as if remembering the status gap between them, she forcibly restrained herself, then revealed a face as beautiful as a flower, extremely enchanting.

She was cut from the same cloth as her sister.

Thinking this, Du En walked directly toward the east.

Playing this game with him was purely fawning upon a blind man.

Lou Miyue's expression stiffened slightly, then she quickly adjusted; she was quite adaptable. She was a bit better than her sister in this regard, but not by much.

Leaving the central camp and walking along the main tunnel toward the edge of the eastern expansion, just like before, from prosperity to hardship, and finally to extreme misery, it presented a distribution that seemed pre-arranged and appeared quite logical.

Of course, compared to the habitats in the other two directions, there are still some differences.

The biggest difference is that there are many demonic beasts here, and they are gradually, bit by bit, becoming more and more numerous; by the time one reaches the edge, there are even more demonic beast nests and tunnels dug by the beasts than there are camps gathered by people.

However, conversely, the camps here do not have the small-scale situation of having fewer than a thousand people, because if the number of people is too low, they are very easily wiped out by the demonic beasts.

Therefore, even if it is incomparably arduous, they must unite to form large-scale camp guard teams and hunting teams, with clear divisions of labor, working together with one heart to survive!

"But precisely because of this, the people living here, on the contrary, do not have so many wild thoughts; although the overall situation remains arduous, it reveals a vitality of self-improvement."

Du En, in a way that was almost imperceptible, noticed these vastly different circumstances.

Lou Miyue also wanted to start some topic, trying to worm her way in and get close like someone prying open a door, but unfortunately, she did not see any small movements or expressions from him, so throughout this journey, she could only remain silent, not daring to act or speak rashly.

After all, sometimes, doing nothing is doing no wrong!

In this quiet situation, the two continued to move forward.

Then very quickly, Du En noticed that there were no more camps ahead.

Clearly the main tunnel was still being explored, and the narrowing, finished end could not be seen, but there were no more forks on either side, or rather, there were some remaining branch tunnels, but looking over now, there were only pairs of greenish eyes and the sounds of beasts snoring.

People's activities had been shut out by the demonic beasts and had stopped at this zone.

Seeing that Du En finally had some slight expression, Lou Miyue immediately seized the opportunity and began to speak: "High Envoy, this is the demonic disaster. Under the radiance of the Great Spirit Mother, the filthy beasts have brazenly crowded in, forcing us to retreat and ultimately forming this unsightly and embarrassing scene. I hope you can forgive our crimes!"

As she said what Du En wanted to know, she also appeared terrified, about to perform a kneeling kowtow, feeling that this situation was a testament to their incompetence.

He just watched her performance silently, with no intention of stopping her, nor any thought of pausing his steps.

As he continued to walk on like this, Lou Miyue felt somewhat awkward, feeling that this High Envoy really did not play by the rules; for a moment she was somewhat stiff, preferring to maintain a bowing posture while walking backward, but she did not actually kneel.

But fortunately, very quickly, she found a topic to gloss over this embarrassing situation.

"Of course, even reaching this point, it is still not the Desolate Barrier Zone."

Saying this, she took the opportunity to straighten her waist and turn around, pointing further ahead, into the darkness where the firelight had already dimmed and the main tunnel had become uneven in height.

"Over there is the Desolate Barrier Zone planned by the Great Spirit Mother."

Very quickly, Du En saw what this so-called Desolate Barrier Zone was actually like.

Twisted.

Countless winding, twisted trees, pale in color like weathered arms, grew densely everywhere, growing at every moment; upon them were tree holes like eye sockets, holding an even deeper darkness, giving one a feeling of shivering horror.

Such a forest of tree curtains, dense with evil, covered the front of the main tunnel, from top to bottom, from east to west, just like a plug, blocking a certain opening to prevent the situation from collapsing and falling apart.

At first glance, it was like this.

However, Du En noticed at a glance the sharp objects floating sporadically within this twisted tree curtain.

"That is, Essence Steel Ore?"

Essence Steel Ore, the raw ore of essence spirit steel, a fourth-tier spiritual item.

Because it was influenced by the Spirit Mother's evil nature, Du En was unable to be certain for a moment.

He was not in a hurry either, because he would be walking close to it anyway, and at that time he would naturally be able to get confirmation.

Thus, his gaze moved to the front of the strange trees, to a camp at the end of the main tunnel.

Many soldiers of the Holy Crusade were stationed here, but there were not many real camps, because the soldiers were constantly maintaining and clearing those paths within the strange tree curtain, extending in all directions, back and forth, like industrious ants.

Even more soldiers, carrying them themselves, brought batches of ore and heads of demonic beasts, constantly walking out from the depths of these paths and piling them at the edge of the camp, to be picked over by the priests and subjected to preliminary smelting.

Finally, they were loaded onto horse-drawn carriages, waiting for centralized transport.

When Du En and the others arrived, it was exactly the moment when a hundred large eight-wheeled carriages were departing again.

There was a slight pause as they brushed past each other.

"It really is Essence Steel Ore, and the quality is very good; there are even many miscellaneous ores with similar properties that have been infected and influenced. Could it be that in front of this Desolate Barrier Zone, there actually exists a fifth-tier ore vein?"

If this were really the case, the Spirit Mother's act of creating such a strange tree curtain here to block and isolate it would be an understandable matter.

Because she wanted to prevent Luo Heng from utilizing such an ore vein! Thinking further, it was probably also to block the demonic beasts here; on one hand, to ensure they would not spread too much and cause too many deaths among those who believe in her, as only with many people can they provide more of what is needed.

On the other hand, it was also to create additional survival difficulties and avoid people uniting to overcome the hardships because the external enemy was too obvious, which would cause their faith in her to waver and loosen.

In fact, judging from the situation of the camps in the east, the large scale of the demonic beasts did indeed force people to focus on resisting, and although survival difficulties existed, the pressure of food and clothing was actually not great.

The following words from Lou Miyue could also corroborate and confirm these guesses.

He only saw her feign hesitation, and then after the convoy left, she lowered her eyes and spoke with apparent trepidation: "Although the Cult Master said it was the will of the Great Spirit Mother to cut paths here, take the initiative to attack, and take the opportunity to dig for ore to wash away the shame of the demonic beasts occupying the Holy Blessed Land, etc., to be honest, I have always had some doubts about whether this is really the case."

She paused, and seeing that Du En did not interrupt, she looked up again, retreating at a touch like a little deer, and then, appearing to have gathered more courage, took a deep breath and said words of treason that seemed to question Luo Heng.

"The Great Spirit Mother clearly designated the Desolate Barrier Zone and exerted her own divine power to make the barrier here take shape, but the Cult Master gave such orders and acted in such a way; does this not appear rebellious?"

"Of course, I am only confused; I am just too dull to understand the true meaning of the Cult Master and the Great Spirit Mother, so although I am considered responsible for the war here, I have always been unable to find the answer and cannot figure it out at all."

While saying these words, she carefully peeked at Du En, wanting to see some clue or sign.

To this, Du En only asked in return: "Do you know that the Great Priest is dead?"

Lou Miyue's heart tightened, and she could not help but feel a bit uneasy.

"This, before this, I was always here, just finishing presiding over a demonic suppression operation, having beaten them back to the Floating Stone Abyss, so..."

"So you knew?"

"... Yes, indeed, I knew; after all, when I went back to report on my duties, the streets and alleys were all discussing this matter."

"What do you think of the Great Priest?"

"He deserved to die! For such a rebellious person, only death can wash away his infidelity! Dying so simply is actually letting him off easy; it should have been more cruel and more torturous, so that people would know that the Great Spirit Mother absolutely cannot be blasphemed!"

Lou Miyue naturally would not have a single flaw in the "matters of great right and wrong" on the surface.

(End of this chapter)