Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 321 Before the Ceremony
Zhao Hezhou felt a mix of emotions. He really hadn't expected that Chen Ye would not only see through his thoughts but also not blame him.

Not only that, Chen Ye didn't bring up the matter. After Tuoya Lier returned, Chen Ye skipped over these details and carefully assigned tasks to the two of them.

The reason why Toya Lier and Zhao Hezhou were in such a mess was that they hadn't planned well from the beginning. They only started thinking about managing the population when the city exploded, resulting in chaos and an inability to sort things out.

There's no reason to kick people out now; we need to guide them, otherwise things will get out of hand.

Chen Ye's arrangement was actually quite simple: he simply had the two of them invite the City God to hold a ceremony outside the city, which would then entice the city's residents to come out and watch the spectacle.

If you set up camp for a few hours, or even just one or two days, city dwellers will naturally think it's better to just set up tents outside the city, as it's more convenient that way.

Once there are fewer people, everything else will be easier to arrange.

Fearing that the two might not understand, Chen Yesheng explained in detail everything from crowd control and zoning to appeasement and management, leaving Zhao Hezhou utterly astonished.

This method is more powerful than any official Zhao Hezhou has ever seen. No wonder Chen Ye saw through his little scheme at a glance. In front of this immortal, he was indeed just a mortal.

In fact, these hundreds of thousands of people are easy to manage, since they are only here on pilgrimage, not suddenly flocking here to live permanently.

Moreover, most people in northern Xinjiang travel around with their belongings, so as long as they are properly guided and can set up tents outside the city, they don't need many people to manage them.

They would naturally find a place according to their habits and set up their temporary residence in an orderly manner.

Then, following the customs of the people of northern Xinjiang, they were allowed to light a bonfire, sing, dance, and eat roasted meat, and that was about it.

As for the Central Plains merchant caravans that come here because of its reputation, there is not much to worry about. Where there are people, they will naturally find ways to do business. As long as they don't fight, minor frictions and conflicts can be easily resolved.

There are gods watching from above; this is no joke in Fengdu City.

If someone deliberately causes trouble, all it takes is a single command for the City God to arrive with his ghostly soldiers.

With hundreds of thousands of troops keeping watch over hundreds of thousands of civilians who came to join the fun, coupled with the prestige of the Yellow Spring Sect, this could be considered an easy task.

Both Toya Lier and Zhao Hezhou are talented individuals, but they lack a clear direction. Now, with Chen Ye's reminder, they naturally know how to make arrangements, and various details will be adjusted on their own.

Chen Ye doesn't need to worry about this anymore.

But the founding ceremony of the Yellow Springs Sect involves more than just these troubles.

Chen Ye took a walk around the workshops of Fu Lu Shou. The puppets prepared for the celebration were almost finished and were mainly used to entertain guests.

Because we obtained a lot of books related to puppets from the Incense Burning Sect, there were no major problems in terms of technology. The main issue was that the time was too short and the quantity was not enough.

The number of guests invited this time is quite large, and the puppets alone are not enough; we also need to provide manpower.

Chen Ye left only a few words of encouragement. This matter is not difficult, it just takes time and effort. As the leader of a sect, Chen Ye decisively chose to be a hands-off manager and let his three good brothers study it slowly.

Anyway, Chen Ye didn't care much about these details. Even if someone broke a cup or smashed a vase at the founding ceremony, it didn't matter, as long as breaking a cup didn't summon five hundred axemen.

After leaving the workshop, Chen Ye had to hurry to meet the guests who had arrived at the Yellow Springs Sect ahead of time.

Among them were Master Fangyuan and Monk Bumei from Cixin Temple.

Upon seeing his old friend, Chen Ye could only feel awkward. He had promised the monk Bu Mei that he would use his hellish powers to help him cultivate if he had time, but after leaving the monk in Fengdu City, Chen Ye got busy and completely forgot about it.

Seeing him again now, I felt my face burning and could only apologize repeatedly.

Upon hearing Chen Ye's apology, both Monk Bumei and Master Fangyuan were somewhat puzzled.

The monk Bu Mei then asked, "Why is Sect Leader Chen acting this way?"

Chen Ye said in confusion, "I promised to help you cultivate, Master, but I forgot about this..."

The monk Bumei said, "Didn't you say you were going into seclusion first? A person who cultivates should naturally prioritize cultivation."

Chen Ye couldn't even remember how many times he had gone into seclusion and emerged from it, and he had caused a lot of trouble along the way. He didn't know what to say for a moment, so he could only apologize and say, "Even if it was seclusion, I've kept the master waiting."

"It's only been less than three months. I was wondering why Sect Master Chen came out of seclusion so quickly."

The monk Bu Mei seemed even more puzzled than Chen Ye.

"This..." Chen Yezheng was speechless, but Monk Fangyuan burst into laughter.

"You two...you're killing me with laughter. My disciple, you usually meditate for a year or two at a time, but Sect Master Chen is different. He's already reached the Profound Realm after just over a year of cultivation. For him, a three-month seclusion is a very, very long time. Hahaha, only the two of you could come up with this joke, so interesting."

The monk Bu Mei put his hands together and said, "Amitabha, it is I who have helped others by my own example. Master Chen's speed of cultivation is indeed extraordinary."

Chen Ye was even more embarrassed. He hadn't actually been in seclusion for three months; he had been running around and causing all sorts of trouble.

It's unclear whether the two monks genuinely hadn't inquired or were simply giving him a way out.

However, since it was all good news, Chen Ye had no choice but to personally entertain them as a token of his appreciation.

After chatting with the two monks from Cixin Temple, Chen Ye also learned some information.

Cixin Temple has recently taken in many new disciples. Some of them are victims of the demonic sect's invasion, whose families were destroyed and who died. Others are demonic sect cultivators who have reformed and want to come and seek refuge.

Chen Ye was surprised to hear this. He had heard a lot of news about a demon being born and harming people, but this was the first time he had heard of someone trying to clear their name.

Chen Ye couldn't help but say, "Master, the demonic cultivators are treacherous and cunning; they may not be sincere."

The monk Fangyuan chanted Amitabha Buddha's name and then explained, "I know there might be some deception involved, but after careful investigation, I found that many of them were indeed honest people who had been captured by the demonic sect. These days, they are either forced to kill or forced to eat people. If they disobey even slightly, they will die without a burial place."

“Not everyone is willing to be a demon for life. They heard that Cixin Temple originated from the Nirvana Sect, so they thought of coming here to find a place to settle down. However, there are quite a few demonic cultivators who come to seek refuge, and Cixin Temple cannot use the Heart-Questioning Technique every day to verify their authenticity.”

The Demonic Sect's Soul Search is simple and direct, but it damages the soul. In most cases, Soul Search fails to yield the desired information and instead destroys crucial memories.

The righteous path of self-examination is highly effective, but extremely costly. It requires setting up formations in advance, which not only consumes manpower and resources but is also inefficient, with only a few people able to complete the self-examination at a time. Cixin Temple may seem like a large sect, but in reality, it is small in number and simply cannot afford to set up formations for self-examination every time.

But when people come to surrender, you can't just kill them without asking them why, nor can you just accept them casually.

Therefore, Monk Fangyuan came this time hoping to ask Chen Ye for help.

Monk Fangyuan politely said, "The secret techniques of the Yellow Springs Sect can settle sins and extract the truth. Therefore, this humble monk wishes to send these demonic cultivators here so that Sect Master Chen can confirm for Cixin Temple whether they are truly repentant or harbor ill intentions. If Sect Master Chen can lend a helping hand, Cixin Temple will be extremely grateful."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye agreed without hesitation.

"Although they have been sent, I am currently training my troops, and the methods used by many of the Yin soldiers to interrogate sinners are still rather crude. However, I must also remind you, Master. The merit and demerit standards currently promoted by the Yellow Springs Sect were jointly established by hundreds of thousands of people from the northern frontier and a small number of people from the Central Plains, and may not necessarily be consistent with the views on good and evil of Cixin Temple."

As more and more people practice the secret arts of the soul, and as the City God is blessed by incense offerings, the incense offerings of people from the Central Plains also have an impact on the City God. Therefore, the punishment standards of the underworld are gradually moving towards "common recognition".

This is not about judging someone solely based on personal likes or dislikes; the premise of this standard is "putting yourself in someone else's shoes."

Chen Ye created his own hellish punishments, and the first one he punished was himself.

In other words, the more stringent your standards of right and wrong are, the greater the impact on yourself will be.

There's no way to convict someone just because you dislike them and gather a group of people to criticize them, because that standard will first fall on your own shoulders.

When that mastermind designed this secret technique, it seems he viewed all people as equals, without distinction of race, gender, age, or any other factor; punishment was based solely on actions. It is precisely because of this fairness that the people of the Northern Frontier and the Central Plains still live in relatively harmonious relations.

However, this fairness may not be suitable for Cixin Temple.

Just like how Cixin Temple forbids killing, allowing meat consumption but prohibits killing yourself, forcing you to buy leftover meat that others can't sell to try. But this standard is unreasonable in northern Xinjiang; which herder can go without eating meat?
Monk Fangyuan said, "All we need is for Sect Leader Chen to help them tell the truth. As for right and wrong, I think the rules of the Yellow Spring Sect are not much different from those of Cixin Temple."

"That's good then. Master, you can send the person over at any time." Chen Ye agreed again and then took his leave.

Besides Cixin Temple, another distinguished guest arrived early.

Chen Ye was somewhat surprised when he saw the name, because the person who came was Zhou Lang, the deputy leader of the Mirage Sect.

The relationship between the Mirage Sect and the Yellow Springs Sect was exceptionally bad. Chen Ye had even considered that they would either not come at all, or they would only arrive on the day of the ceremony, and that they would come to cause trouble, without giving Chen Ye any chance to prepare.

As it turned out, the deputy sect leader arrived ahead of schedule?

Something's definitely fishy going on.

(End of this chapter)