Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 635 Fortune and Misfortune
Seeing Xu Lai arrive with his men, Xu Shu did not step forward, but instead stood behind Xue Er.

Xu Lai and Lü Shi had a lot of private interactions. After Lü Shi died, Xu Shu became suspicious of Xu Lai and tested him many times. However, Xu Lai did not show any wrongdoing. Otherwise, Xu Shu would not have allowed Xu Lai to continue working in the sect.

However, an internal strife suddenly broke out within the sect, and anyone could take the opportunity to rebel, so Xue Er had to be questioned first.

Xu Lai reined in his horse and anxiously searched for Xu Shu in the crowd. When he saw that Xu Shu was safe and sound, he breathed a sigh of relief and led his men to dismount and pay their respects.

Xu Lai asked, "Did something go wrong when Your Excellency captured the Xie family?"

Xue Er didn't respond; instead, he asked, "Why did the camp catch fire?"

Xu Lai's expression was somber: "After the leader left, Wu Yue's people clashed with other believers. I led my men to deal with it, and at that moment, someone deliberately set fire to create chaos and took the opportunity to kill people."

Xue Er's face was grim: "Have those people been caught?"

Xu Lai shook his head: "They made arrangements beforehand and took two elders hostage during the chaos. I dared not launch a direct attack because of the elders' lives."

Xue Er clenched his fists so tightly that they cracked, and sure enough, Sun De and the others had made other arrangements.

"The elder was taken away by them?" Xue Er asked.

"We took one person with us," Xu Lai looked behind him, "Elder Zhou was rescued by us."

As they were talking, Elder Zhou arrived, escorted by others. Upon seeing Xu Shu, the elder, who had suffered so much, immediately dismounted and stepped forward to plead his case.

"The leader must kill Wu Yue and those people," Elder Zhou said. "They took advantage of the leader's absence to cause trouble within the sect and incite the followers to rebel with them."

At this point, Elder Zhou remembered, "If Wu Yue is like this... then Sun De and his men must also have ulterior motives. We should take down those sworn brothers of theirs as well..."

Seeing the grim expressions on Xu Shu and Xue Er's faces, Elder Zhou realized something: "Could it be... Sun De and the others..."

Xue Er nodded: "They've rebelled, and they even want to assassinate the leader."

"The Holy Church has treated them well, yet they dare to act like this," Elder Zhou scolded. "Over the years, they have been disrespectful to the Supreme Leader several times. If it weren't for the old Supreme Leader's sake, they would have been punished long ago."

"This has left a future problem! Your Majesty, we cannot be lenient this time. We must take them all down in one fell swoop and eradicate them completely."

Seeing this, Xu Shu's suspicions lessened considerably. She stepped out from behind Xue Er and asked, "How many men can we gather now?"

Xu Lai looked at Elder Zhou, both of them with grim expressions: "There should be fifty or sixty people... who came along."

Xu Shu's heart sank; the situation was worse than she had imagined.

Elder Zhou said, "We originally thought that since the leader still has manpower here, and the people from both sides gathered together, it would be enough to quell the rebellion..."

Seeing Xu Shu fleeing in panic and Xue Er injured, the idea had to be abandoned.

"What should we do now?" Elder Zhou asked anxiously.

The elders of the Holy Church, who held sway over important affairs a few years ago, have had their power intentionally weakened by Xu Shu in recent years. She has kept them on a pedestal, only allowing them to support her decisions in crucial moments. This arrangement helps her maintain control on ordinary days, but when trouble arises, she is left to fend for herself, having lost all her support.

Xu Shu inwardly groaned. This was the idea her master had given her, which would make the Holy Cult easier for her to control, but now it had harmed her.

Thinking of this, Xu Shu's eyes suddenly lit up, and an idea popped into her mind.

As if guessing her thoughts, Xu Lai said, "There is another way: borrow the imperial army to wipe out Sun De and his gang."

The imperial troops Xu Lai mentioned were naturally Xie Yizhi's men. Xu Shu asked, "Where is Supervisor Liang? Has he already left?"

Xie Yuyan's caravan was besieged in Longde Prefecture. Xu Shu had previously agreed to consider going to Longde, so she ordered Supervisor Liang to go back first to make arrangements.

Unexpectedly, Xie Yuyan brought people here to gather information, which led to today's confrontation. If this attempt succeeds, there will be no need to go to Longde.

Unfortunately, they suffered a crushing defeat. Xu Shu's forces were insufficient to eliminate Xie Shi and Sun De, and the only way to turn the tide was to rely on the troops under Liang Jian's command.

Xu Lai said, "Judge Liang should have arrived in Longde by now. Otherwise, send someone to summon him?"

"No need," Xu Shu said. "We'll set off now." There were dangers all around her, but fortunately, she had her master backing her up. Once she got through this ordeal, let's see who would still question her decision behind her back.

Xu Lai said, "Why don't we wait a little longer? Many believers have been scattered. Give me some more time, and I can gather more people together."

Xu Shu said, "The sooner we get reinforcements, the sooner we can clean up the mess." She was afraid that if it dragged on, more people in the sect would join the rebellion.

Xue Er nodded in agreement. Xu Lai said nothing more and immediately went to make arrangements. He first changed horses for Xu Shu and the others, and then had the followers bring food and weapons, escorting Xu Shu straight to Longde.

……

Longde Prefecture.

As Liang Jianya looked at Xia Dalang beside him, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

Xia Dalang seemed to be getting more and more insane. Especially when the interrogation of the caravan members made no progress, Xia Dalang's face became more and more distorted, and he used torture more fiercely. Several men were beaten unconscious.

Xia Dalang wiped the blood from his face and looked at Liang, the guard: "Have the demonic sect members arrived?"

Liang, the guard, shook his head: "However, she should be able to get there. That leader cares a lot about Xie, the Grand Councilor. She will definitely do whatever Xie asks her to do."

Xia Dalang immediately revealed a strange smile: "Privy Councilor Xie is good at being an official and also knows how to control women. No wonder the Demonic Sect can let a woman be its leader."

"It must be the result of Xie Shumi's mediation."

It's a pity he didn't have that kind of luck. Otherwise, Madam Xie...

Just as Xia Dalang was thinking about this, someone suddenly spat a mouthful of phlegm at him.

Chen Rong roared, "What are you? How dare you have such filthy thoughts? You'd better kill me now, or you'll regret ever being born if you let me live."

Xia Dalang raised his whip and lashed it at Chen Rong. Chen Rong neither dodged nor avoided it. His face was whipped and the flesh was torn open, but his smile remained unchanged: "Judging from your appearance, you don't look like a military general. You look more like a corrupt official about to be punished. What? You know your time is up and want us men to be buried with you?"

"Don't worry, I won't die. Otherwise, why don't you try killing one and see?"

These words struck Xia Dalang's weak spot, and anger flared up in his heart, veins bulging on his forehead. But he quickly laughed again: "Want to die? Not so easy. I'll show you how Madam Xie gets caught."

As soon as Xia Dalang finished speaking, he saw carrier pigeons returning to their cages, and he immediately looked at Zheng Wenhuan.

After Zheng Wenhuan stepped forward and examined the scene, a complex expression appeared on his face: "The demonic sect is in chaos." He didn't know whether this was a blessing or a curse.

As they were talking, another carrier pigeon flew back.

(End of this chapter)