Chapter 744: The Proud and Triumphant Main Hall

Chen Sheng and Liu Yong both wore expressions of agreement. They had made the best preparations, spending silver like water, everyone wound tight, bracing to charge into a dragon's pool and tiger's den — yet it had turned out surprisingly ordinary.

"Because this is the Great Ming's domain. No matter how rampant the Smelling Incense Sect is, they still have to avoid the imperial court and the law when they act."

"Then what about our Xuzhou..." Ji Xiang laughed as he chimed in, but stopped himself halfway through, shook his head, and said, "Xuzhou isn't like that anymore."

"Don't think it'll be too easy. The Smelling Incense Sect's center is right inside Yuncheng County. You all know the skills of Nie Hei and the others in the Internal Guard — they have plenty of people like that. And the believers are all fanatics. Once we enter the city, it'll likely be a fierce fight," Zhao Jin said slowly.

Chen Sheng tested the catch spring of his waist saber at the side and said grimly, "Anyone who blocks our way — kill them outright!"

The original plan had been to rest here for a full day and night, gather intelligence, confirm the location, and then charge straight into the city to rescue the person. After arriving here, the men and horses were to stay hidden and rest as much as possible, while scouts of every sort went out to gather information.

For Zhao Jin's core elite troops, exposure was not a concern, but for these scouts, the danger at this moment was greatest. Yuncheng County now, compared to present-day Xuzhou, looked more like proper Ming territory, yet in its bones it was far less so. When you entered the town, the streets and alleys showed no trace of the Smelling Incense Sect, but every single person you met could be a sect member. Your every move would be watched, and the slightest misstep would draw immediate attention — and then, death.

The Internal Guard's informants and scouts could disguise themselves very well and were even familiar with the Smelling Incense Sect's methods, but placed inside or outside Yuncheng County, they would stand out glaringly out of place.

They could not even send over those who had defected from the Smelling Incense Sect — who knew whether anyone in the town had seen their faces and still remembered them.

To gather information properly, Liu Yong used the eyes and ears of Cloud Mountain Trading. These were merchants and shopkeepers under Cao Ruhui's command — pure businessmen who traveled north and south to earn a profit. They came to Yuncheng County to do business and, incidentally, pick up a bit of news.

Zhao Jin led the main force to rest for a full day and night among the barren hills and tangled woods, in truth also to wait for these men to catch up — after all, the merchants could not rush at such a pace the whole way. However, the traveling merchants of Cloud Mountain Trading had not set out from Xuzhou; they had come from nearby after receiving an urgent dispatch by fast horse in Jining Prefecture.

Every half a shichen, Zhao Jin would rise and make a circuit of the camp, checking each sentry post, inspecting every preparation, then return to wipe down his armor and organize his weapons.

To an outsider, Zhao Jin still appeared composed, but his close companions could sense his restless anxiety. Zhao Jin kept checking the catch spring of his short blade, using the scabbard to ceaselessly scratch marks into the ground.

As dusk approached, a few fires were discreetly lit within the ranks. Everyone quickly boiled water and heated rations, then swiftly extinguished the fires to avoid detection. Just then, a sharp whistle rang out.

The camp fell silent. Several men already had bows drawn and arrows nocked as they ran toward higher ground. Moments later, word was passed back in a low voice: it was one of their own.

"... Xu Hongru is hosting a grand gathering of guests at the Zeng Family Estate, ten li from the east gate of Yuncheng County. He is receiving various contingents there and preparing to perform a ritual to exorcise the demoness. Miss Mu is also being held there..."

"... The Zeng Family Estate is the manor of Squire Zeng. This man served two terms as a Patrol Inspector and amassed a vast family fortune. He has three sons and can summon five hundred able-bodied men at any time. I hear there are even soldiers from Dengzhou and Qingzhou serving under him. The entire family pledged themselves to the Smelling Incense Sect ten years ago — he is also a regional Assembly Master..."

"... They say the sect's main hall has more or less moved there already, from the servants attending Xu Hongru to the guards in his hands..."

Zhao Jin listened to the informant's report with a dark expression. Liu Yong issued a steady stream of orders in a low voice. Some men hurriedly set off eastward — they needed to go and scout. Chen Sheng suddenly cut in and asked, "How did you get all this information? You seem to know far too much."

For an organization like the Smelling Incense Sect, which strove for absolute secrecy and kept everything hidden from outsiders — why was everything now so readily known? It was indeed somewhat suspicious.

"... Right now, there are a great many people coming and going from Yuncheng County. Even the common folk in the county know that the True Man Xu is performing a ritual to exorcise the demoness and will be broadly spreading karmic blessings — that anyone touched by this fortune will go to the Pure Land in their next life and need not suffer in the mortal world anymore. Some even thought we lowly ones had come to attend the ritual... It was only at the Zeng Family Estate that gathering information was troublesome. This lowly one said we were going there to sell goods..."

Upon hearing this explanation, everyone nodded in silence. Zhao Jin scratched a few random lines on the ground with his scabbard and spoke: "In that case, we set out at dawn tomorrow. We head straight for this Zeng Family Estate. Before we depart tomorrow — no, let's be generous — before we reach the Zeng Family Estate tomorrow, we need to know exactly how many people are inside, and the general layout and positions."

"That shouldn't be difficult. Tonight, under cover of darkness, we'll grab a few people and bring them back for interrogation," Liu Yong chimed in from the side.

Zhao Jin nodded. Liu Yong immediately rose to select the men for the night operation. Chen Sheng and Ji Xiang both had relaxed expressions on their faces. Now that they knew exactly where the fight would be — and not inside the city, where things could easily go wrong — and could know the enemy and know themselves, their confidence was very high.

Chen Sheng and Ji Xiang looked toward Zhao Jin. Zhao Jin, however, was gazing eastward, murmuring under his breath, "The Zeng Family Estate."

Everyone at the Zeng Family Estate, high and low, regarded Xu Hongru as a living god. Never mind that Old Squire Zeng and the masters of the Zeng family all burned incense and followed the faith — when they fell ill, they still went to the county seat or prefectural city to consult physicians and get medicine. The reason they saw him as divine was that after joining the faith, the Zeng family's fortune had multiplied several times over. They had swallowed up the farmland of six surrounding villages. Apart from paying twenty percent as incense offerings each year, the rest was all theirs. Anything that could make a family prosper to such a degree — that was an immortal.

Xu Hongru had always been very solicitous toward the gentry and powerful families around Yuncheng County. As long as they were willing to submit and obey, all manner of benefits would be showered upon them.

After Guardian Dharma Protector Xie Mingxian, returned from Liaodong, brought the demoness Mu Shulan back to Yuncheng County, Xu Hongru had come to the Zeng Family Estate. The estate had sufficient strength, its people were trustworthy, and it had enough open ground to perform the ritual and allow others to observe.

Furthermore, many of the guests arriving from Shandong and other places could not show their faces to officials. Although the constables and runners of Yuncheng County dared not lay a finger on True Man Xu's guests, those guests were still uneasy at the sight of officials. Moreover, there were too many variables inside the town — once the city gates closed, it would truly be catching a turtle in a jar. This Sect Master Xu had already captured the demoness; who knew whether the rest of them might be treated as demons too? To set everyone at ease, it had to be held outside the town.

The Zeng family had over five hundred able-bodied men. Xu Hongru had brought the Smelling Incense Sect's Yellow-Turbaned Divine Soldiers — a full four hundred strong. These were no mere trained peasants; they were routed soldiers and desperadoes gathered from all over, a genuine fighting force. If it truly came to a life-or-death battle, the government troops of Yuncheng County, even Jining Prefecture, would be no match for them. In addition, there were the two hundred and ten Liaodong veterans Xie Mingxian had brought back. Most of these men were former soldiers of the Liaodong garrison — unattached, unburdened, and ferociously brave in battle. When the Mu family's assembled guards had clashed with them, they had been wiped out completely within half a shichen.

These three groups alone already numbered over a thousand. Not to mention that in Yuncheng County and the surrounding area, if Xu Hongru — regarded as a living immortal — gave a single order, countless common folk would throw their lives away for the chance to enter the Pure Land after death. So even though it was outside the town, there was no need to worry about safety.

The ritual to exorcise the demoness had originally been set for the eleventh day of the eleventh month. All that time had been left so that guests from every quarter could make their way here. The more people present, the more it would showcase the prestige of the current Sect Master, Xu Hongru.

Yet today was only the eighth day of the eleventh month, and already no more guests were arriving. That was because everyone who was supposed to come had already come. Every invited person had rushed here, each one arriving as quickly and as early as possible. No one dared to arrive late.

At first, when Xu Hongru received the various guests, there had been a smile on his face. Later, it had shifted to his customary detachment and reserve. Everyone fawned and flattered; everyone expressed submission. Xu Hongru knew that what he had done in Dongchang Prefecture had been exactly right.

The Mu family had used the Holy Maiden to break open the situation, then colluded with the local gentry and powerful families, manipulated the grain canal transport, and recruited from among the refugees, turning Dongchang Prefecture into an impenetrable stronghold of overwhelming strength. Not only had even the Wang family of Luanzhou extended goodwill, but everyone in the surrounding areas had been forced to yield and curry favor.

Precisely because of this, the various branch assemblies and sub-halls under the Smelling Incense Sect, and even those powerful Incense Masters, had all been hedging their bets, watching and waiting. Since everyone claimed to be members of the Smelling Incense Sect, and everyone worshipped the same Eternal Venerable Mother, there was some incense-bond affection between them. With you as Sect Master and her as Holy Maiden, whom should we down below listen to? Naturally, whoever gave more benefits, and whoever was closer — or perhaps I could set up my own operation. The legends of the Mu family's Holy Maiden were miraculous, but after burning incense and following the faith for so many years, who among us didn't know the tricks of the trade?

In that earlier period, those Assembly Masters and Incense Masters who had once been so obsequious had stiffened their spines. The incense offerings, which had never once been delayed, began to fall behind. People sent out from the main hall in Yuncheng County were no longer treated with such respect. Decrees and instructions could no longer be transmitted. The main hall had been swallowing its anger in silence all this time, yet it could not even vent its frustration.

Several attempts to spread the faith in Xuzhou had all ended in the loss of troops and commanders. Complaints surged from below, and the main hall still had to humble itself to placate and appease. The Smelling Incense Sect's situation had grown increasingly top-heavy.

But then the Mu family of Dongchang Prefecture was destroyed in a single day. The martial and steady Mu Wuzhen died a violent death. The Holy Maiden Mu Shulan was captured. The Mu family's Mu Wujia vanished without a trace. The entire Dongchang Prefecture branch of the Smelling Incense Sect bowed its Incense Heads in submission to Sect Master Xu Hongru. The Wang family of Luanzhou renounced their own claim to the title of Sect Master. The situation reversed in an instant.

The Mu family's operation in Dongchang Prefecture had been so grandiose, their power seemingly so vast, and they had even established ties with officialdom. The two Mu brothers were men of renown within the Smelling Incense Sect. Yet such a force, such a position, had been swept away in the span of a single day. What, then, did everyone else amount to? One had to remember that the Mu family had occupied the wealthiest prefecture in Shandong. If even the Mu family had met such a fate, who would dare harbor disloyal thoughts anymore? Everyone, stricken with terror, hurried to Yuncheng, vying to demonstrate their fealty to the Sect Master.

After writing for so long, I'm still only a Level 4 author and don't even have access to WeChat channels — it truly fills me with shame and helplessness.

Thank you to "Auntie Niu," "Mu Ming," "Qi Sanwen," "User Cold Night," and "Yuan Heng Li Zhen" for the tips, and thank you all for your subscriptions and monthly tickets.