Chapter 34 Blasphemer
With the polite Lin Qi to the left and the fawning Enzo to the right, Ke Zha walked away from the male dormitory with the two people supporting him. As they followed the well-maintained main road towards the Tower of Great Masters, Ke Zha’s mood was exceptionally good, and he actually talked a lot with Lin Qi.
Lin Qi learned from Ke Zha that he had actually been waiting for him in the dormitory since last night. It was just that Lin Qi happened to be wantonly making merry at the Crippled Shop with a group of core members of the Ironfist Brotherhood. That night, not a single one returned to the dormitory, so Ke Zha had simply waited for him for one night.
Hearing about this, Lin Qi couldn’t help but once again feel moved. A dignified arcanum great master actually waited in the dormitory for one night for the sake of giving him a bottle of medicine that was of abundant profit for him! For a split second, Lin Qi actually felt a little guilty for funnelling corrupt profits from Great Master Ke Zha.
But very quickly, that negligible amount of guilt disappeared from Lin Qi’s heart without a trace. Great Master Ke Zha had the financial backing of the whole empire. What could the little profit he gained be counted as? Instead, he considered the services he gave Ke Zha for the past three years, experiencing several times heavy injuries and countless minor injuries, and living under the threat of fireb.a.l.l.s all day long. No matter if it was for the wounds on his body or the damage to his mind, this bottle of Magic Fierce Medicine was perfectly justified and should be given as compensation.
Lin Qi and Great Master Ke Zha happily chatted while Enzo fawned on one side. Usually, Enzo was unyielding and tough, like an unbreakable sharp sword, yet under the powerful enticement of the Magic Fierce Medicine, Enzo became even more unbearable than Gelang Mu. He meekly flattered Great Master Ke Zha, praising him as the number one arcanum great master under heaven.
Ke Zha deeply considered and repeatedly nodded. He used that hoa.r.s.e voice of his to laugh in a low voice and said, “This world’s number one arcanum great master? Perhaps, it could be me, right? Oh, you actually have a little eyesight. Next time I have enough material to make the Magic Fierce Medicine again, I will remember you.”
Enzo repeatedly nodded in joy, practically treating Great Master Ke Zha as his own ancestor and consecrating him.
As the three people arrived in front of the Tower of Great Masters, Great Master Ke Zha’s body stiffened while Lin Qi and Enzo also stood dumbfounded.
The Tower of Great Masters was quite tall. Because of the snowstorms, the tower’s northern side had already congealed into a thick layer of ice. This made the whole tower appear half black colored and half white colored, giving it a unique appeal. All around the tower were lines of trees, and before the entrance was a square the size of around one-fifteenth of a hectare.
Usually, there were rarely any people on this square, with only towering statues at each side quietly guarding the location. But today, the square was filled with standing clergymen with black robes draped over their shoulders. Among them was a group of Church Knights clad in pure silver armor, as well as dozens of Judge Priests of the Church Divine Court in red robes who could strike terror into the hearts the entire West Continent, regardless of whether they were n.o.bles or commoners.
Ke Zha murmured in a low voice, “The people of the church, why have they come here?”
Lin Qi’s and Enzo’s legs and stomachs cramped as they thought about those thousand redemption talismans they sold the previous two days. Those thousand redemption talismans, whether it
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was the paper or the scriptures and the patterns on them, were exactly the same as the genuine redemption talismans produced by the church. Nevertheless, these redemption talismans were printed without permission by some underground workshop, and not a single copper coin of profit was returned to the church.
Secretly selling counterfeit redemption talismans was an unforgivable offence—to the extent that even the genuine redemption talismans were unable to wash away this sin.
Both Lin Qi and Enzo were well prepared to flee once things looked amiss. But after consideration, they immediately gave up on the idea. This was the Tower of Great Masters, not the student dormitory they lived in. It seemed the Divine Court didn’t come for them.
The three people silently stood at the edge of the square. There were also close to a hundred teaching and administrative staffs nearby who very cautiously stood to one side, not daring to make a sound. Lin Qi even saw Mister Ge Lang whose brows were beaded with sweat. There was also the Fifth University headmaster, Marquis Brown, whom he only ever saw once when he first entered the university. There were also two imperial ministers with their silk ribbons1 and magnificent attires. Looking at the color of their silk ribbons, they were the empire’s Administration Ministers.
Ten church banners depicting the Iron Blood Holy Cross fluttered in the wind. The image of the iron cross enveloped in blood-colored, raging flames was so dazzling. Everyone held their breaths, not daring to utter a sound or speak loudly. The Iron Cross Flaming Punishment Banner was the symbol of the Church Divine Court. Anyone who sinned against this organization would be chased and killed by churches across the world. n.o.body had heard of anyone succeeding in escaping from their hands.
After a long and deathly silence, a hoa.r.s.e yelling could suddenly be heard from inside the Tower of Great Masters.
“I’m innocent, I’m innocent! Everything I said is the truth. Your religious doctrine is an empty lie! I’m innocent, I’m innocent! The place we live in isn’t a flat continent! The sun and stars in the sky, they all are…”
The shouts were very quickly silenced. A group of armored Church Knights grabbed the small, old man whose head was especially big from inside the Tower of Great Masters and marched out. The old man’s mouth was stuffed with a rag, and he crazily struggled, but how could he match the strength of those Church Knights?
“In the name of G.o.d, arrest this pagan who advocates evil doctrines!”
A red-robed Judge Priest, who bore on his chest a fist-sized insignia of the Iron Blood Holy Cross encircled by thistles and thorns, emanated a suffocating aura from his whole body. He shouted loudly in a low and deep voice, “On this matter, will the Gaul Empire give an explanation to us, the Church? How can this pagan, this evil blasphemer, hide in your territory for so long?”
The Fifth University headmaster, Marquis Brown, stammered out, “Esteemed sir, he, he is our empire’s metallurgy guest expert.”
The red-robed priest gave several ridiculing guffaws, then waved his hand to signal for the clergymen cl.u.s.tered around the arrested old man to leave. He sincerely said, “Metallurgy expert? Repent, you group of mortals who are confused by the devil. If you can’t recognize his real face, then you also have to receive trials. People who can’t recognize his real face are undoubtedly already contaminated by the blasphemer.”
Marquis Brown was so frightened by the red-robed priest’s words that he shuddered from head to foot. He cowered and lowered his head, not daring to speak a word.
The two government officials with silk ribbons hanging on their chests also looked at each other, then simultaneously lowered their heads in veneration. Even though they were imperial ministers, in front of religious authority, they were also like dried leaves in the wind, without any power to control their own fates.
The large numbers of clergymen lined up to leave. The red-robed priest, whose position was the highest in the group, unhurriedly walked at the rear of the troops. A gloomy and heartless pair of eyes like that of a poisonous snake’s unhurriedly swept everyone at the scene. His gaze slightly stagnated on Great Master Ke Zha. Great Master Ke Zha slightly bowed, expressing respect towards the priest.
The red-robed priest stopped in front of Great Master Ke Zha for a second, then darkly said, “Any blasphemer will be delivered to the stake to be burned!”
Great Master Ke Zha bowed down, expressing submittance.