Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1371: Chapter 1373: The Second Elder Takes Action_1

Everyone was astonished, especially Qingyan, who was originally from the Western Regions. His gaze towards Bai Ruozhu shifted to one of admiration, almost as if he was looking at a deity.

Bai Ruozhu felt embarrassed and coughed awkwardly twice, turning her head back to look out the window at the Main Gate of the Holy Hall.

”Someone has done this deliberately, they must have used some kind of dye. Don’t be fooled!” At this moment, Yuefeng, the leader of the Divine Guardians of the Holy Hall, came out and shouted to the chaotic crowd.

”Impossible, I’ve been nearby the whole time, the ground was clean with nothing on it. But once it started raining, a red light emerged from the top of the Holy Hall, and the characters appeared. This is a divine message!” someone in the crowd shouted back.

Suddenly, many others echoed the sentiment, saying there was nothing on the ground outside the Main Gate before, and no one had been there to write anything—the characters had emerged on their own.

”They must be the great elder’s lackeys, trying to help the great elder cover up his crimes. Who would have thought the Holy Maiden was actually his illegitimate daughter!” someone quickly shouted.

”Practicing Evil Technique, creating flesh zombies, what is this?” someone else raised the question.

Meanwhile, in the crowd, several people seemingly casually mentioned a few facts. Bai Ruozhu, with sharp ears, listened quietly to all of this, feeling very satisfied in her heart. Ao Qi was getting better and better at handling these kinds of situations.

”Haven’t you heard? Before Lady Diao Mo of the Divine Hall arrived in Gaochang, her daughter was bitten by a beast from the Barbarian Clan’s Beast Team and lost a whole leg. A whole leg, mind you. But in no more than two days, she was jumping around again—the leg had regrown, and she’d become very powerful.” The speaker lowered their voice, ”Some have seen her eating human flesh and drinking human blood. An old widower suddenly died in my relative’s neighborhood in City West, and several families saw her running away with her mouth bloody.”

”What? And no one reported the murder to the officer?”

”Report? The great elder has covered it all up.”

In several other directions, people mentioned Jin Jing’s deeds, filling listeners with terror. Then, they also learned of the great elder’s affair with Lady Diao Mo, and many began to curse the great elder and Lady Diao Mo, accusing them of desecrating the gods and incurring divine wrath.

Inside the Holy Hall, the great elder, in a fit of rage, snapped off a corner of a table. Honglian, too, couldn’t maintain her usual composure, and gritting her teeth, said, ”It must be that Lin Zhu’s doing. If she has a way to keep the red incense burning, she definitely has a way to create this false scenario.”

The great elder, in a bad mood, glared fiercely at her and said, ”Do you think I don’t know that? The question is how we can prove this is a hoax and calm these agitated people.”

Honglian, having been shouted at by the great elder, felt even worse, but she suppressed her anger and said soothingly, ”Don’t worry, great elder, Honglian will find a way to manifest a divine sign. By then, the people will definitely believe what I say.”

”That’s the only option now,” sighed the great elder, already cursing Diao Mo and Jin Jing to death in his heart. If it weren’t for those two stupid women provoking those foreigners, perhaps things wouldn’t be so troublesome now, right?

On the other side of the Divine Hall, the second elder and his confidants, having heard the reports from outside, were stunned in place. They had seen the red light and red rain on the head of the Holy Hall’s Main Hall in the Yard, and they were so shocked they could barely speak. The red characters and the bleeding Qilin at the entrance also made the second elder realize that this was the ”sincerity” Bai had spoken of.

At that moment, Jiawu, a subordinate sent out by the second elder, rushed in from outside. His clothes were soaked by the rain, and a few strands of his hair hung down messily, but he was in no mood to care about that.

”Great Elder, it’s really chaotic outside. The commoners are all chanting for the Great Elder to be handed over to appease the wrath of the gods,” Jiawu said, somewhat agitated.

Others also brightened up at this, ”Second Elder, this is a good opportunity. We can’t let the Great Elder continue his misdeeds. I’ve investigated, and that servant named Zhanna has indeed disappeared mysteriously. Although her room has been tidied, there are still bloodstains that can’t be wiped away.”

”Yes, I found out in Xiaguan Village that eighteen years ago, there indeed was a woman who gave birth to a daughter there. After asking about her features and finding the midwife who delivered the baby to verify a portrait, she recognized it as Lady Diao Mo,” Jiawu added.

Another subordinate, Lin Xiao, said through gritted teeth, ”Second Elder, my sister once served as a maiden in the Holy Hall. She was killed because she accidentally saw the Great Elder and Lady Diao Mo in an affair. Please, Second Elder, avenge my sister!”

The Second Elder narrowed his eyes, ”I’m afraid this won’t bring down the Great Elder at once, but if we apply pressure, it can undermine his power. It’s also good to control his subsequent activities, otherwise I fear his backlash will target us.”

The rest bowed in turn, with Jiawu leading the way, ”We can no longer stand by and watch the Great Elder commit evil. Even if it means bloodshed and sacrifice, we are fearless!”

Everyone repeated the sentiment, and the Second Elder’s eyes reddened slightly. He took a deep breath and said, ”Good, let’s convene the Divine Hall Council now.”

The rain outside continued to pour, and the people kept shouting to hand over the Great Elder, who dared not go out. Any explanation from him was useless now, his voice couldn’t overpower the crowd’s chanting. Honglian also didn’t go out to say anything, knowing that doing so would be futile and might just draw fire upon herself.

Soon, the bell of the Divine Hall Council rang. The Great Elder’s face turned pale, and he suddenly cursed, ”Qiu Chen, that old beast, taking advantage of another’s peril!”

A dangerous light flickered in Honglian’s eyes, ”Perhaps this was all prearranged with outsiders.”

The Great Elder’s eyes widened, ”It is indeed possible. I want to see if he can truly topple me!”

As they spoke, they went to the Council Hall. Sure enough, the Second Elder and the rest had already arrived, with the Second Elder presiding over the meeting.

”Today, the Divine Hall faces a crisis like none it has seen in the past decade. The pressing matter is how to address the difficulty, soothe the agitated people. Does anyone have any suggestions?” the Second Elder started without directly targeting the Great Elder.

Many sneaked glances at the Great Elder, seeing his face turn ashen, and edged a bit further away. When they looked at the Saintess who appeared with him, contempt flickered in many eyes.

The Second Elder sneered inwardly. The Great Elder had secretly had his own illegitimate daughter made Saintess, clearly wanting to control the Divine Hall, making it his family’s own.

”Today it’s clear that someone has plotted to attack our Divine Hall, and even insiders have colluded with outsiders for their own gain. It’s undeniable that there’s internal and external coordination, how else could such a large disturbance be caused?” The Great Elder said, his beard quivering with rage. He didn’t name the Second Elder, but the implication couldn’t have been clearer.

The Second Elder slapped the table and stood up, ”Yehuang, don’t just cause trouble and then weirdly try to toss the blame onto others. So many eyes are watching within the Divine Hall. Whatever I, Qiu Chen, do, can’t everyone see it? On the other hand, whatever you do, surely everyone is well aware of it? Now, we are discussing how to solve the problem. The calamity was caused by you, yet you only think of pushing the responsibility onto others!”