Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Ci Hang Sect.

Holding the letter in her hand, Fan Kiyoe lifted her head and looked at Titafeng before her.

She didn’t know why the sect was summoning her at this moment—had something happened back at the sect?

To be honest, Fan Kiyoe really didn’t want to return now, because her mission so far had made no progress at all; on the contrary, it had caused quite a lot of damage.

Although Fan Kiyoe had put in a great deal of effort, those High Monks of the Pure Thought Zen Temple were still ultimately judged guilty in Judgment and sent to Siberia to plant potatoes.

Not only that, afterwards the Imperial Court of the Great Han carried out a full inspection of the Pure Thought Zen Temple and uncovered numerous violations, including their unauthorized change of land-use—those High Monks of the Pure Thought Zen Temple had actually allowed some of the common people to farm the land around the sect, and had even failed to declare and pay taxes. Not only that, the grain those farmers harvested actually went to the Pure Thought Zen Temple instead of being purchased in a unified manner by the state granaries!

In Fan Kiyoe’s view, this was nothing serious, but for the Great Han it clearly was not the same. The Pure Thought Zen Temple was directly stripped of its qualifications, and most of those High Monks were convicted and imprisoned. Furthermore, during the investigation of the Pure Thought Zen Temple, the Great Han constables also discovered the Buddhist Shrine and Recitation Room inside.

Thus the Pure Thought Zen Temple acquired yet another charge: ”spreading an illegal religion without permission.”

Fan Kiyoe had never imagined that these seemingly harmless practices could all be matched to corresponding provisions in the laws of the Great Han. She had tried to lodge appeals, attempting to persuade those Great Han officials that the Pure Thought Zen Temple was not trying to propagate an illegal religion, that this was merely a custom and sect habit.

But those officials would simply take out a thick book, open it, and inform Fan Kiyoe that what kinds of behavior constitute religious activities were written very clearly in the Han Codex; regardless of whether she acknowledged this or not, as long as something fit the descriptions inside, it would automatically be determined to be a religious act.

Faced with this, Fan Kiyoe was truly helpless. She could rely on her charm and smile to make any stern official speak pleasantly with her, but she could not move a Codex written in black and white.

Not only that, Fan Kiyoe was also informed that those Buddhist Scriptures distributed by the Pure Thought Zen Temple likewise violated Great Han law. According to Great Han statutes, no organization, sect, faction, or individual may publish and distribute any book without official permission from the Great Han and the issuance of a registration number.

Pitifully enough, how could those monks of the Pure Thought Zen Temple understand such things? They only felt that giving the Buddhist Scriptures from their temple to others to read was also part of spreading the Dharma, never expecting that even this would be illegal.

Fortunately, because these were gifts rather than sales, that particular legal provision did not apply.

Unfortunately, because what they were giving away were Buddhist Scriptures, books with an inherently proselytizing nature, they were once again found to be under suspicion of ”spreading an illegal religion”—one could say the crime was further aggravated.

The result was that all the top ranks of the Pure Thought Zen Temple were sent off to the western deserts to plant trees and reforest, while the other monks were dispersed. And Fan Kiyoe had no choice but to run around tirelessly over this matter, only finally putting this troublesome affair completely to rest not long ago.

This left Fan Kiyoe utterly exhausted.

The situation in the Great Han was nothing like what she had heard.

Fan Kiyoe had learned from her master that her predecessors had also preached and expounded the Dharma throughout the Western Region, where they were received with honors by high officials and Kings of various countries. These rulers were willing to accept the moral influence of the Dharma and even build temples.

But here it was completely different.

This was not to say that people in the Great Han were unwilling to help; on the contrary, they all showed great enthusiasm in this regard. It was just that their way of refusing was something Fan Kiyoe had never anticipated.

Namely, that they did not have the authority.

Yes—no matter whether Fan Kiyoe approached the Magistrate, the County Magistrate, or other high-ranking figures, this was always the response. Though they expressed regret over what had happened to Fan Kiyoe and the Pure Thought Zen Temple, creating a religion and building a temple required approval from their superiors and, moreover, had to obtain authorization from the local religious authorities...

Authorization from the local religious authorities...

Thinking of this gave Fan Kiyoe a headache. She had once met with the so-called ”head of the local religious department,” only to despairingly discover that these ”heads” were in fact the Sect Leaders of native faiths...

Fan Kiyoe was no fool. She clearly understood the principle that one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers; having a native religion review a foreign one—she could guess the conclusion with the tips of her hair.

Thus Fan Kiyoe had come to the despairing realization that what she faced in the Great Han was virtually a wall of bronze and iron made up of regulations and laws. Even worse, she had absolutely no way to change any of it. If anyone could change this situation, it would very likely be that rumored Emperor of the Great Han.

Fan Kiyoe had of course heard the rumors that the Great Han Emperor was a Celestial Being in Reincarnation, but she believed that this was probably no more than a rumor or legend. After all, judging from the available information, that Emperor of the Great Han should be at least two hundred years old; yet from what Fan Kiyoe heard from those officials, the Emperor on the throne looked every bit like a man in his twenties.

Perhaps she could try another approach.

Fan Kiyoe knew from her master that some of her Senior Sisters had chosen a similar path in the past. They sacrificed themselves, remaining at the side of the Imperial Family and Royal Clan, and thereby exerted unparalleled influence on the spread of the Dharma. Fan Kiyoe felt that, if she wanted to achieve her goal now, this was probably the only method she could think of.

Besides, she had heard that His Imperial Majesty had not yet taken a wife and did not even have any concubines...

Perhaps this was indeed an opportunity to return and report to the sect.

But as she walked up the mountain, Fan Qinghui felt that something was wrong.

She couldn’t quite say what the problem was. Under the light of the Sun, this mountain path she had walked since childhood showed no abnormalities; Fan Qinghui could even walk back home with her eyes closed. Yet now, for some reason, she felt this path looked a little unfamiliar, as if this wasn’t the place where she had lived and grown up all her life, but some strange place she had never been to before.

Not only that—when a light breeze blew past and the surrounding shrubs rustled, Fan Qinghui also felt a peculiar sensation, as if something bizarre was hiding behind those bushes, staring at her through the gaps.

Yet as a top-tier master, Fan Qinghui of course knew there was no ambush here, but her feeling was simply bad—extremely bad.

The sky was clear, not a cloud for thousands of miles, the sunlight brilliant.

Under the sunlight, the entirety of Titafeng lay in full view, and this scenery was so familiar to Fan Qinghui. But now, as she stood on the mountain path and looked down toward the forest below, she kept having a strange feeling. It was as if within that dense forest down there, some indescribable, massive Creature was hiding, quietly peeping at her—there was a moment when Fan Qinghui seemed to truly see the forest below begin to sway, and then a huge black silhouette slowly poked its head out.

However, when she rubbed her eyes and looked again, she could only see clouds and Shadow drifting in the sunlight.

Could something have happened at Ci Hang Sect?

Fan Qinghui quickened her pace, sprinting up along this path both familiar and unfamiliar, and before long she arrived at the Daimon of Ci Hang Sect.

It was as tranquil as ever here, yet Fan Qinghui’s fear grew ever clearer; there was even an instant when she seemed to see some enormous, python-like Creature, as tall as a towering ancient tree, slide past inside, dragging with it a damp, viscous weight into the surrounding air, making it feel suffocating.

But that was only for a moment.

The next second, it seemed as though everything had returned to normal.

”Huu.........”

Coming to the Daimon, Fan Qinghui took a deep breath. She was extremely tense; just thinking about how she was going to report all of this to her master made her uneasy. Forcibly suppressing her violently pounding heart, she reached out and grasped the iron ring on the Daimon. However...

”—————!?”

The instant she held the iron ring, Fan Qinghui realized that what she was touching didn’t seem to be cold iron, but something sticky, soft, like the texture of some living organism. Not only that, at the same time Fan Qinghui seemed to see a horrifying, nauseating round eye suddenly open on that door ring, glaring fixedly at her!

This startled her so much that she instinctively pulled her hand back, but when Fan Qinghui looked again, what she saw in front of her was still just that big iron ring.

Was it...an illusion?

Fan Qinghui once again reached out, carefully grasping the iron ring. This time she felt nothing out of the ordinary. So she held the ring and knocked firmly.

”Bang, bang, bang!”

The knocking echoed through the silent forest, yet at that moment, Fan Qinghui had the sense that all sound was being devoured by the Abyss...

”Creak———”

Before long, the tightly closed Daimon slowly opened, and two disciples of Ci Hang Sect appeared behind it. Seeing Fan Qinghui, they immediately broke into smiles.

”Senior Sister Fan, you’re back!”

”Hello.”

Seeing her junior sisters, Fan Qinghui relaxed a lot, and that strange feeling from before was tossed aside for the time being.

”How have things been lately?”

”Mm, everything’s been great. Senior Sister, please come in.”

As they spoke, the two girls giggled as they pulled the Daimon open, and Fan Qinghui nodded, then stepped through the Daimon of Ci Hang Sect before her.

The very next instant, the heavy Daimon slammed shut behind Fan Qinghui.

She didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but Fan Qinghui felt as if she had stepped into a prison she would never be able to escape.