Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 684 Out of Control
Yang Jun watched as the cultists bowed to Xu Shu's large ship, and their piety made him somewhat envious.

“I understand now,” Yang Jun said. “Why Xie Yizhi clings to the Demonic Sect and makes it work for him, and why the Three Buddhas secretly give the Demonic Sect money and send them Manichaean scriptures.”

Because they all firmly believed in Manichaeism, they could trust each other wherever they went, and it was easier for them to unite as a force.

Now that he has seen through this, he will become the one in control.

“However, we still need to be careful,” Yang Jun changed the subject, “We can’t let the demon cult overpower us.”

He intends to use the demon cult to do things for her, and if the number of people on both sides differs too much, it's uncertain who will give orders.

"Then... what should we do?" the general asked. "Secretly stop the demon cultists from coming?"

Yang Jun glanced at the general: "If Xu Shu finds out, they will immediately attack us."

The general pondered carefully: "Then we must quickly rejoin our men."

Yang Jun had initially planned to lay low for a while before bringing his men out to operate, but when he saw more and more members of the demon cult gathering there, he changed his mind.

Perhaps it would be safer to hide and wait until the court punishes Xie Yizhi before resuming the smuggling business, but that would also make it easier to lose the opportunity to expand one's own power.

The demonic sect won't wait for him forever. If someone else gets there first, he'll really regret it.

Xu Shu used to follow Xie Yizhi wholeheartedly, but now that she has finally seen Xie Yizhi's true colors, she will definitely switch allegiance to someone else. After all, she is a woman, and it is difficult for her to support the entire demon sect on her own. It would be more appropriate for her to find a backer. Otherwise, with so many men eyeing her covetously, how can she maintain her position?

The general said, "There are a few people on the island who are Xie Yizhi's confidants. If we want all the private soldiers to obey the commander's orders, we must first take down those people."

Yang Jun nodded: "That's not difficult, just let the Demon Sect lend a hand."

The island where the demonic sect kept its private army was the most suitable place for them to settle down. He promised to give half of that island to Xu Shu in exchange for taking it over.

As long as he can successfully control the military, he can take back what he has promised, so he needs to be bold and not hesitate.

Thinking of this, Yang Jun looked at the general and said, "Go and tell Xu Shu that I want to go and talk to her later."

The general immediately went to carry it out.

……

On Xu Shu's boat.

Xu Shu slept fitfully the whole way. When she woke up, the followers immediately brought her soup. She took a sip and asked the followers, "Are you alright?"

The believer shook his head: "The ship kept moving forward and encountered no pursuers."

Xu Shu breathed a sigh of relief, only to hear the cultist add, "We've gathered two more boats; they must be the cultists who were scattered earlier."

Xu Shu's eyes lit up. She had thought that the internal strife had caused heavy losses and that many believers had gone into hiding and would not return for a while. However, the situation was much better than she had expected.

"Where is he?" Xu Shu asked. "Hasn't he come to see me?"

The follower glanced outside and said, "They've arrived, but perhaps knowing that His Holiness is resting, they haven't come to disturb us."

Xu Shu's heart sank. She felt something was wrong. Had she been too idle lately? Initially, it was because of her serious injury and the exhaustion from traveling for days, so she slept all day after boarding the ship.

Later, everyone told her to focus on recovering and didn't mention much about what was happening outside.

She had originally thought that she could ask more questions after she recovered a bit, since they were at sea and the imperial troops shouldn't be able to catch up for a while, so there was no rush to deal with them... But now she found that she seemed to have become unimportant, ignored for several days, and there was nothing that required her to make a decision.

She was gradually replaced.

The person who replaced her was naturally Xie Yuyan.

"Let Xue Er in."

The follower responded and went out, and in no time, brought Xue Er to Xu Shu.

Xu Shu repeated the question she had asked the believer: "How have you been these past two days?"

Xue Er immediately said, "More than twenty of our men have caught up with us one after another. It's fortunate that we brought a few extra boats at the beginning, otherwise we might not have had enough."

Xu Shu nodded. It was Xie Yuyan who had asked them to bring more boats, and Xie Yuyan had obviously foreseen this situation.

Xue Er continued, "Does Your Excellency still remember the list that Yang Jun sent over? The people on it are all Xie Yizhi's confidants."

Xu Shu nodded.

Xue Er's face showed anger: "Xu Lai and I checked together, and many people above have openly and secretly dealt with the Holy Church, causing us to lose manpower and money."

He sneered, "So this was all arranged by Xie Yizhi. He deliberately arrested us and then made us beg him for help, so that we would think we could only survive by relying on him."

Xu Shu stared at Xue Er, a look of surprise on her face: "Who were you talking about just now? Xu Lai?"

Xue Er was taken aback. Xu Lai had secretly returned with his men. For the past two days, they had been gathering together to discuss countermeasures and gather information. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about the previous conflict.

The reason is that everyone understands that in the current situation, only by putting aside past grievances and working together can there be a way out, so they try not to mention those things.

Furthermore, with Madam Xie speaking up for them, they got along fairly well, so... when he was facing Xu Shu just now, he just casually said it.

Xue Er whispered, "It was him. They were the ones who disguised themselves as soldiers and blocked Yang Jun's way earlier."

Xu Shu frowned even more, about to unleash her anger, but then she met Xue Er's evasive gaze. She was stunned. She didn't know when it had started, but even Xue Er had become somewhat dissatisfied with her, questioning her decisions and unwilling to stand by her side.

Xue Er said, "I know that Your Majesty does not want to see Xu Lai, but now is the time when we need people. Why not wait until things have settled down before we try to deal with him?"

Xu Shu replied, "Okay, but you should be careful so you don't fall into his trap."

Xue Er breathed a sigh of relief. He was silent for a moment and then said, "Life at sea is not easy either. Xie Shumi and Yang Jun have private armies at sea. Yang Jun led us to the island where his troops are stationed. He obviously wanted to use numbers to suppress us and make us work for him in the future."

Even if we manage to escape the authorities' pursuit, we will still be at their beck and call.

The tasks they were assigned were usually very dangerous, resulting in the loss of many lives each year. After seeing the situation clearly, Xue Er suddenly realized that neither Xie Yizhi nor Yang Jun had ever treated them as human beings.

They're nothing but dogs, released to bite people, and they'll keep doing this job until they die.

Moreover, the imperial court would not let this go easily; no matter what the choice was, they would be the first to be arrested.

Having seen the truth, many people felt resentful. After being used for so many years, no one was willing to die like this. If they could use Yang Jun and others to gain merit and atone for their crimes, even if it meant saving the lives of a few elderly and children, it would be worth it.

(End of this chapter)