Chapter 366: Sages ought to write books and establish biographies

"All right, all right, today's free clinic ends here, everyone can disperse now."

Looking at the crowd seeking treatment behind him, which was clearly growing despite the late hour, Ji Ming washed his hands with a knight's water magic and couldn't help sighing.

He had originally thought that a small village of medieval level would have only a few people, and that treating a dozen or so symbolically, just showing off a little, would be enough.

Even if he had to pay for medicine out of pocket, anyway he had just extorted a sum from the Hidden Archbishop, with the whole crowd's expenses covered by his family's Young Master Yang, at worst he'd just have to work a bit harder.

But he clearly underestimated the crowd's cleverness; given any chance, they'd really milk Young Master Yang for all he's worth.

After treating the villagers with superficial wounds from their labor, next came those suffering lumbar muscle strain from years of hard work.

After curing the children whose roundworm infection had left them sallow and thin, next came pregnant women worried about their babies' health.

After checking each elderly villager's health one by one, next came a group of middle-aged men who also felt unwell.

——No choice, who made me boast like that? Might as well treat them.

But although the village's location is remote, that doesn't mean they're closed off.

Soon, news of a divine doctor arriving in the mountain valley spread throughout the surrounding areas; before Ji Ming could finish a full checkup for these villagers, people from the neighboring village came running, eager to be seen.

Now he was completely overwhelmed—just one person, how could he possibly treat so many? Not every ailment can be solved by mainlining Rejuvenating Elixir.

Moreover, when Ji Ming announced that today's free clinic was over and everyone could rest a bit, they weren't happy about it.

They sent several old and young to surround him, weeping, as if the overworked God's Chosen had just dropped dead on the spot.

Only after Ji Ming promised he wouldn't leave tonight and would continue the free clinic in the neighboring village tomorrow did they reluctantly disperse.

However, dispersing didn't mean leaving; if Ji Ming tried to sneak out at midnight, they'd surely try to catch him… Well, they couldn't actually catch him, but they'd definitely come back crying.

"Tsk…"

Although the villagers were just being shameless, Ji Ming could actually understand.

Given their current medical state and spending level, many might never visit a hospital in their lifetime; even the town's small clinic is only approached with gritted teeth when seriously ill.

Now that a genuine divine doctor has finally arrived, if Ji Ming were a fellow villager, he'd surely shamelessly insist on being treated properly, even if he wasn't sick.

But…

I wasn't here to give everyone a lecture on the dangers of evil gods, was I?

How did I suddenly become a rural divine doctor!

Ji Ming beat his chest and stamped his feet, thinking perhaps this was the legendary case of cleverness backfiring; if he'd known, he might as well have just slipped them some money to get by.

Fortunately, the Windshadow Marquis quickly learned of what was happening here; upon hearing that the God's Chosen was actually trapped by his own subjects in the village, he hurriedly spent money to hire a few doctors in the city to help, and reimbursed Ji Ming for the medical expenses he'd paid out of pocket.

Even so, the renowned divine doctor Ji Ming still led his team in a three-day circuit of rural consultations before finally suppressing the influx of villagers.

Finally, amidst a sea of moving tears, he returned to Windshadow City bearing the unwanted good reputation he no longer wanted and an upgraded True Qi Nourishing Body Technique.

Gazing at the townspeople who had come out from the heart to welcome him, while also hoping to see if there was any chance to get the God's Chosen to look at their ailments, Ji Ming, while waving with a smile, whispered.

"Damn it, if I work hard again I'm a dog! Slacking off is glorious, laziness forever!"

However, he had just lain down in bed, slowly closing his eyes, when he heard someone knocking at the door outside.

He instinctively wanted to get up, but then thought, who knows what they want from me?

What if they wanted to coax him into making a private house call?

What if they wanted to trick him into continuing to work?

So he'd better play dead, just like when he first started work—as long as he pretended not to notice, the leadership sending the furious messages would just go away……

However, the person outside seemed especially persistent, seeing no movement inside, they kept knocking.

Ji Ming could only stare at the ceiling, silently chanting a plea for help in his mind.

Bang bang bang!

Can't you just get lost already?

Bang bang bang!

Let's take a break, I'm really out of energy.

Bang bang bang!

If it were an ordinary person, they'd probably have resignedly opened the door by now, but when it comes to stealing leisure amidst busyness, steady as an old dog, no one can match Ji Ming.

He was the man who could stand in the back and quietly catch up on sleep even when Manager Sun, back then, would shout himself hoarse every Monday spouting grand talk, aggressively pushing corporate culture and pumping everyone up.

So even if the door had been pounded like someone was blasting it with a machine gun, he still fell into a deep, dazed sleep.

Until he heard the sound of metal snapping under a blunt impact, he had just opened his eyes when a burst of strong light flared before him,

Holy shit!

Moreover, right after came a scream, as something fell onto him.

"Ji Ming is dead! Ji Ming is dead! Ji Ming is dead! Ah!!!"

This is something important…… No, even if it were important, there's no need to shout it three times.

"I'm not dead, I'm not dead, stop crying—I've heard enough crying these past few days!"

After struggling free of the weight on him, Ji Ming threw off the covers, sat on the bed's edge, and rubbed his eyes, which were now so bright he could barely keep them open.

Suddenly he recalled, "You do know the Light Illumination Technique, right? When entering a possibly dangerous room, remember to first toss in a flash"—a trick he himself had personally taught Eleanor.

Yeah, the only one who could find Ji Ming at this time and bang on the door wildly without any regard for consequences would be her.

But he hadn't expected that this trick wouldn't work on the Forest Cultists or the Shadow Cultists—instead, it ended up being used on himself first.

Moreover, he had no idea how much effort she'd put in; the magic was so blindingly bright it could practically roast meat for the whole house if it lasted a bit longer.

Ji Ming had no choice; after gulping down an entire bottle of Vision-Clearing Potion, he barely managed to recover his sight.

"I'm not dead, stop yelling—I just pulled three days of overtime and need to rest."

"Uh…"

Eleanor lay on the other side of the bed, clutching her staff.

"I burst the door open, saw you lying on the bed looking peaceful, and…… after all, given everything that's happened lately, the maid said you'd gone in, then the door wouldn't open, so I instinctively felt……"

Not dead! Not dead! I'm begging you, I'm not dead!

Good, good, good, not dead.

……

Why are you crying? Are you moved by how much I care about you?

It's because your Light Spell is too powerful; my eyes are burning and sore.

……qwq.

Ji Ming sighed again.

Alright, speak up—what do you want from me?

Ailin Nuo's face instantly fell.

Teach me, how exactly can I make the villagers completely abandon their beautiful illusions about the Shadow God?

Since we need to ruthlessly eradicate the remnants of the Shadow, the entire party must necessarily go into battle.

Thus, Ailin Nuo, who lacked both experience in stacking yang lifespan and the talent to skip levels directly, instantly became the most embarrassed among everyone.

Moreover, the worst of the worst, the first title in the lineup, is still the 【Holy Light follower】 buff that the villagers call a 'good sir'.

Just like the 【Dog Village Guardian】 title for closed-beta players, as long as you don't spout nonsense and dance on people's bottom lines, you can at least laugh and settle the matter.

But Ailin Nuo is different; no matter what you say, her becoming a member of the Holy Light Church is due to her parents' connections—the credential 'former priest of the Sunshine City Holy Light Church' is obviously insufficient.

So whenever she faces the villagers, she can only bear the title 'princess'.

Unfortunately, no matter how much praise poets and jesters of all dynasties have heaped upon it, it cannot change the fact that it represents nobility, and moreover the essence of 'nobility among nobility'.

So when the villagers heard that the leader of this church-protecting knight corps was actually the king's daughter, their faces turned green.

Some kowtowed, some begged for mercy, fearing that their lives would be toyed with by this formidable lady lord (?).

At first, Ailin Nuo found them somewhat baffling, and she stumbled while explaining to the villagers her background, which she actually didn't want to mention.

However, the villagers merely gave a perfunctory 'yeah, yeah, yeah' and then continued to beg for mercy in fear.

If it were usual, she would have simply chosen between Tenisi and Ji Ming, her two chief advisors, and let her mind go blank to listen.

But now, alone, Ailin Nuo chose to use her brain, and after an unfamiliar investigation, she arrived at the truth.

——So what if she's the count's daughter? Aren't the ancestors of these southern border nobles also pretty impressive? Does that affect their evildoing?

Certainly, barren mountains and wicked waters produce troublemakers, but the southern border's wickedness is absolutely seventy or eighty percent the doing of these verminous nobles.

In the villagers' eyes, let alone princes and princesses, even if a king and queen themselves showed up, what difference would it make?

Just the same kind of bad lot.

Thus, Ailin Nuo, who directly launched into the nightmare-difficulty dungeon, while Ji Ming enjoyed his high-intensity overtime stress-resistant situation, faced a full three days of life's dark period.

Let alone turning around the image of the Shadow Church; she couldn't even fix her own image among the villagers, and despite exerting all her effort, she still declared failure.

Only by the church-protecting knights risking their lives did they barely manage to make the villagers understand the difference between evil god and righteous god, especially regarding the Holy Light God, and moreover, of the originally planned five villages, only one was completed.

Even so, when they were finishing their mission and preparing to leave, Ailin Nuo could still see a villager grabbing a church-protecting knight who was big and tall, nearly three hundred pounds, and still clad in sturdy chainmail.

Young man, you're a good person, you must definitely be careful of her—I heard the lord likes to eat children……

Ailin Nuo: ……

Angry! Defense broken!

Defense broken! Angry!

Thus, Ailin Nuo rushed back to the count's manor, the first thing she did was find Ji Ming, and then she had him cry for her.

Ah… this…

Frankly, Ji Ming really doesn't have a good solution for this situation.

We can't exactly build a Soul Termination Device, rely on the power of the Tower to Heaven to turn ourselves into an otherworldly Yuri, and mind-control everyone to loyally pay homage to us, can we?

As for bribing money… that's just venting; history and reality have proven that bribing money, or simply bribing money, cannot solve the fundamental problem.

What do we do, Ji Ming? You've been silent for three minutes—surely you have a plan?

Wait a moment, let me think… no, could it be that the church doesn't have a guide for this?

Guide… guide what?

Guide on how to face this situation—having a district seized by heretics, and such.

Ailin Nuo froze for a moment, then shook her head.

Although it's not that evil god cultists have never caused trouble before, they usually start with outright dark sacrifices and plundering; we just charge in, settle it with force, and wait to eat the villagers' thank-you feast—who knew something like this would happen?

Turns out we're used to dealing with hard blades and spears, but when faced with a soft knife we're at a loss……

Now Ji Ming finally understands why, although the Holy Light Church does a decent job, his own territory's southern part can be infiltrated into a sieve by countless big and small churches.

——Everyone's about to enter the next era, using entirely new strategies and tactics to open up fresh playstyles, yet you're still stuck in the public security war phase.

This problem may be small, but these churches temporarily dare not openly clash with the martial-virtue-abundant Holy Light tough guys, so they maintain a superficial human appearance and cause no real damage.

But speaking of it as big, it's big—once they reveal their hand, it at least means they think the Holy Light Church can't suppress them, so they can do as they please and ruthlessly harvest the leeks.

Although players definitely aren't afraid of these things and might even enjoy the chaos more, from the perspective of the divine chosen, eradicating the church's internal potential calamities for Uncle Sun is a duty we must fulfill.

Moreover, seeing these evil demons and heretics one by one wearing monk's robes, trying to sit beneath the Buddha to pose as good people, if I don't rush up and chop off their unshaven fuzzy heads along with their hair……

What kind of savior is that!

【Dad, you're absolutely right】

【He said: Grandpa said it's absolutely right】

So Ji Ming agreed to Ailin Nuo's request, asked Tenisi for three days off, and then directly teleported back to the dungeon.

Actually, he never issued an order to gather knowledge, but who called it that anyone in his Production Team, whether human or ghost, knows magic?

Thus, after months of development, the library in the High Tower Castle, under the maintenance of the magic scholar Mo Shou, has nearly opened up an entire floor of rooms.

Thus he drew on local predecessors' advanced experience, referenced the wisdom of real-world sages, studied the new version, pondered new tactics, organically combined theological knowledge with other fields, and completed the empowerment of the Holy Light Church's doctrine in the context of the new era.

Finally, looking at the book printed by magical machinery before him, Ji Ming, in his Divine Doctor Scroll King form and having not slept or rested for three days, finally obtained what he wanted.

"It's over. No matter which church you belong to, it's over. No one can make me work overtime again!"

With his eyes reddened, he teleported the Wind Shadow Realm, but did not rush to disseminate it; instead he handed this book "How to Break the Defense of Pagans — Using the Shadow Church as an Example" to Te Nisi, letting the old fellow take a look first.

The old fellow said nothing after reading it, and instead immediately used magic to make a duplicate of this completely mundane book.

"Send it back to the Holy Mountain of the Church immediately, expedited, at least the kind that would kill eight horses in a run."