Chapter 168-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation

The most magnificent statue of the God of Hope in the Lower District stood in the Divine Plaza. Every year at the end of the year, the Curia would send people to hold sacrifice and blessing rituals at the Divine Plaza and preach to the people of the Lower District.

For this purpose, a high platform was temporarily erected on the plaza. The statue of the God of Hope, with hands crossed over the chest, compassionately overlooked this high platform.

The end-of-year sermon was usually led by high-ranking clergy and was always popular, but it had never been crowded to such an alarming degree as today. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the streets were empty as everyone gathered here.

Clergy in robes and Curia knights squeezed through the crowd, trying hard to maintain order. They completely hadn't anticipated this situation and had only deployed personnel for evacuation based on past experience. Before reinforcements arrived, they could only keep shouting.

"Back! Move back!"

"Don't go forward! Stop!"

Their voices were drowned out by the noise of the crowd. After being ignored, pushed, and shoved by the crowd, a knight seemed to lose his temper and subconsciously used his ability. The air pressure he released actually pushed down the ordinary people around him, while the unaware people behind kept crowding forward.

A child pressed on the ground let out a cry. Just as a serious stampede accident was about to happen, a wall of light blocked the people crowding forward. The people who were pushed down hurriedly helped each other up, looking back in surprise.

At some point, more knights wearing white uniforms had formed a tight line, maintaining order. From a distance, voices guiding and dispersing the crowd could be heard, strict and sonorous.

The Curia's knights always wore white uniforms; the higher the rank, the more gold emblems on the uniform. But one team was different. Over their white uniform jackets, they wore simple gray armor, and a blue sun shape was embroidered on the exposed white collars.

—It was the Saintess's Holy Journey Knights Order!

The woman holding the child shouted excitedly, "It's Lady Saintess's Knights Order!" A single sentence was like boiling oil poured into a hot wok; the crowd that had just calmed down a little boiled over again.

"Lady Saintess's Knights Order is here!"

"What Saintess? Where is Lady Saintess?"

"People in front said the Saintess is here!"

Passing to the rear of the crowd, everyone thought the Saintess had already started the sermon and tried to move forward excitedly again. Wen De felt slightly weary, but her voice became even sterner. Her taut face made people fearful just by looking at it.

Fortunately, Ye Zheng had made arrangements long ago, Wen De thought.

She had wanted to protect the Saintess closely, but Ye Zheng refused her and assigned her the task of maintaining order.

Wen De was inevitably a bit disappointed. She didn't want to miss Ye Zheng's sermon from the rear, especially since Ye Zheng's safety was a big issue in such a chaotic public place. But now she understood that Ye Zheng had given her the most important task.

"No matter what happens to me on stage, your only mission is to protect the safety of the people below the stage."

That was how Ye Zheng had instructed her.

At the front of the crowd, the knight who had almost caused an accident looked pale. Just as he wanted to leave following the chaotic flow of people, he suddenly felt his ankle become heavy. Before he had time to look down and check, he screamed and vanished from the spot.

Under the daylight sun, the shadows on the ground squeezed into a ball. Cheng Cheng led people shuttling through the shadows, quickly hauling the person to a secluded spot under the eaves.

Seeing a not unfamiliar female face, the young man looked panicked. Being a Curia knight as well, how could they not understand this special team?

Precisely because he understood, he obediently allowed the other party to hold him by the collar. As long as it was in the shadows, this woman named Cheng Cheng was simply invincible.

A guy in their team had wanted to make friends with them, but unexpectedly was targeted fiercely by this Cheng Cheng. He was trapped in a tree's shadow from morning till night, exhausting all means but unable to leave until that shadow disappeared with the sun.

"Who are you?"

"I am from the Fifth Detachment, my name is..."

"No one wants to know your name. Who sent you?" The young woman's voice was lazy, but her eyes were extremely sharp.

The man shrank his head, looking panicked. He rolled his eyes to look at the crowd surging in one direction outside the small alley, urgently hoping someone would notice this corner.

Percy was squeezing in the crowd with two companions. Someone recognized him with surprise and greeted them, but their excited pace didn't pause in the slightest.

He was tall; looking up, he could see the high platform. Someone was performing a play on the high platform, striving to act out the story of the God of Hope. Dramatic performances were originally one of the most popular activities, much more interesting than dry sermons, but today the vast majority of people only hoped the play would end quickly.

In this event held in the name of the God of Hope, the protagonist was no longer the deity, but Ye Zheng.

Could it be said that people gathered here frantically because they admired and believed in Ye Zheng? No, many people just wanted to see this legendary Saintess. They were curious if this Godsent would summon a miracle. Would her real person be more holy and beautiful than the phantom on the projection?

Ye Zheng had encountered an assassination attempt not long ago. Reappearing in front of the public in such a short time, would she proactively respond to the storm regarding her father and the controversy about herself?

Percy kept his head up in the crowd for a long time, his neck starting to ache. He moved his neck and suddenly caught a glimpse of a dark figure on the clock tower to the right of the plaza.

On top of the clock tower, Wu Shu sat on the spire with an excellent view, looking down at the crowd that was dense as ants.

To prevent anyone from occupying this spot, she had arrived here long in advance and was even investigated as a suspicious element by Ye Zheng's people. She was so speechless she almost laughed out loud.

"Really, having a hard time winning a championship, yet all the limelight is stolen by you people."

Wu Shu felt her luck was intermittent, sometimes good, sometimes bad. But thinking of the letter from the Emperor she received, she felt winning might also belong to bad luck. If only she had listened to Ye Zheng.

She took out a piece of bread and gnawed on it a few times, but her face showed no sign of regret. Her gaze was focused, patiently waiting for Ye Zheng's appearance.

Meanwhile, Bai Muqing was at the edge of the crowd, spontaneously maintaining order. Although she was a Royal Knight, the Knight's Code included maintaining public security. Since she was here and saw the chaos, this was her job.

This place was far from the high platform; the range of her [Divine Domain] could not reach it. She was destined not to be able to "see" Ye Zheng's sermon.

Bai Muqing's cheeks bulged slightly because of her tightly pursed lips. Ye Zheng had made foolproof preparations; this sermon was part of her plan, nothing to worry about.

She snapped out of it, and suddenly her expression became stern. A sneaky man mixed in the crowd was lifted into the air out of nowhere, causing the surrounding people to exclaim in surprise. Like throwing garbage, he was mercilessly thrown into the distance.

Bai Muqing had already expanded the range of [Divine Domain] to the maximum, monitoring the area she was in. Suddenly, her expression became even colder—

She discovered that Sykes had come too.

Percy moved his sore neck but never took his eyes off the high platform.

Finally, the actors on the high platform bowed in unison and exited hurriedly. Immediately after, hasty clergy members removed the props for the performance and quickly rearranged the high platform.

The expectant gazes of the multitude were like the scorching rays of intense heat, focused neatly on one point. It seemed the high platform would ignite in the next moment. Even though winter was approaching, Percy felt the air heating up.

This restless heat exploded completely when a person wearing a heavy dark blue cloak and a magnificent high crown slowly walked to the center of the high platform. The crowd's excited voices almost tore Percy's eardrums.

"May the grace and peace of the God of Hope be with you. Greetings to all, I am Ye Zheng."

"Today, we gather here to listen to the words of the God, seeking His guidance and blessing..."

Her voice was amplified by a special device. Compared to her usual gentle and slow tone, it had an added indescribable solemnity and gravity, making people unconsciously quiet down and immerse themselves in her guidance.

Under the magnificent and heavy headdress, Ye Zheng's expression was gentle and amiable as always, her smile faint. Her eyes looking down at the stage were extremely focused, as if she was seriously memorizing everyone's face in her eyes.

Ye Zheng almost never got nervous. As the Curia's Saintess, she often attended public events and never had stage fright.

As for some special private itineraries, such as disguising her identity to seize the Divine Sword or eliminating a few people who deserved to die, when a person was focused to the extreme, there was no leisure to generate nervous emotions.

At this moment, gazing at the countless faces below the high platform, with thousands of sights focusing on her with various emotions, Ye Zheng felt slightly dizzy for the first time. It seemed everyone's face was reflecting light; maybe it was nervousness, or maybe she was wearing too many layers.

She dissolved the extra emotions with a deeper smile. Her voice was unhurried. After finishing a standard blessing opening, she should recite the Eternal Verses of Divine Revelation.

"If we cannot endure darkness and despair, how can we welcome true light and hope..."

"I shall be forever undefeated in darkness and despair; I shall burn the old days and embrace the new life!"

Ye Zheng's expression became more forceful. As her tone rose and she gestured, she was extremely compelling. Many people below the platform had already immersed themselves in her sermon, their expressions pious and admiring, completely forgetting the recent controversies about this Saintess. In their hearts, they only sighed with emotion that she was indeed the child chosen by the God of Hope.

Even if they couldn't see the Saintess's face clearly, her figure was so resplendent. Not because of her magnificent attire, but because her every gesture was full of a calm and magnanimous temperament, like the winter sun, dazzling but not scorching.

After reciting the scriptures of Divine Revelation, next was to preach based on the scriptures she just spoke, explaining the doctrine, admonishing, and comforting the vast number of believers of the God of Hope.

"This is the God of Hope warning us that we should never compromise with disaster. Fairness and truth are things that cannot be abandoned..."

After a focused speech, Ye Zheng's black eyes became quiet. The faces of the people below no longer reflected light. Her gaze swept over the people below with inquiring tolerance.

Question and answer was an important part of the sermon. People below the stage could raise doubts about the doctrine or confusion in life, and the preaching cleric would answer the doubts.

Generally speaking, the Curia would arrange the questioners in advance; otherwise, encountering some strange questioners would ruin the whole sermon.

But today, Ye Zheng did not arrange personnel responsible for asking questions in advance.

"This young lady, what doubts do you have?"

Ye Zheng chose several women with pious and yearning expressions within her sight and proactively resolved their confusion.

"My grandmother passed away. Can you pray for blessings for her to the God of Hope?"

"Lady Saintess, I encountered some difficulties in my studies..."

"My Lady, that sentence on page 37 of the third volume of Divine Revelation..."

The vast sea of people in the back couldn't hear the questioners' voices. Ye Zheng first repeated their questions, then responded to them one by one.

During this segment, the people became restless again. Listening to the Saintess's voice which was like nature's music, they tried desperately to squeeze forward a bit more. Maybe the Saintess could see them too? Maybe they would be lucky enough to receive the Saintess's blessing?

Ye Zheng observed the crowd and offered a few words of advice with slight helplessness. There were two spots left for questions today. She saw someone suddenly raise their hand high in the excited crowd.

That person was very tall, wrapped entirely in black clothes, his face obscured by a pulled-down black hat. The raised hand was hard to ignore, and for a moment, the surrounding people all looked at him.

Ye Zheng's black eyes lost their warmth and became cold and heavy. The corners of her mouth still maintained a friendly arc as she spoke amiable words.

"This gentleman raising his hand, what doubts do you have?"

The man in black pushed aside the people in front. The crowd confusedly made way for him, thinking he wanted to get closer to the Saintess to ask a question. Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, he actually jumped onto the high platform!

He walked up to the Saintess under the gaze of everyone and asked in a coarse voice:

"Lady Saintess, you just said the God of Hope warns us that fairness and truth are things that cannot be abandoned..."

"I just want to ask you, ask our holy Lady Saintess, the noble Eldest Miss of the Ye family, do you think you are qualified to say such words!"

The man threw the pulled-down black hat onto the ground. An ugly scar slashed across the center of his face. Immediately after, he took off his black jacket. The people who were frightened by his face then discovered that the scar, deep enough to show bone, slashed from his left ear all the way to his chest, like an ugly red flesh worm.

"I am a victim of the Amber Lake event. If that child named Percy hadn't arrived in time, I would have already died under the monster's claws because of your father!"

"Saintess Ye Zheng, even if the God of Hope likes you, we will never acknowledge you. You are the God's Saintess, the Curia's Saintess, the nobles' Saintess—"

"Not our Saintess!"

For a moment, the crowd went into an uproar.

In the distance, Bai Muqing, guarding the edge of the crowd, frowned tightly listening to these words.

Sitting on the high tower, Wu Shu shook her head and chuckled, seeming unsurprised.

Standing in the crowd, Percy clenched his fists. Like the people around him, his mood became subtle and complex. Some people had already started whispering doubts, some were noisy, and some tried desperately to move forward, as if they could hear the Saintess's reply faster this way.

At this moment, the gazes the crowd focused on Ye Zheng became turbid. The deliberately incited doubt and malice evaporated and fermented in the heated atmosphere.

The man stared at Ye Zheng with a chilling gaze. He saw her first look around the sea of people below the stage, then her eyes slowly turned back to him.

She did not reveal the panic and loss of composure he had anticipated. That gaze was extremely calm, without the slightest surprise.

She even had the leisure to curl her lips into a secretive smile at him. It wasn't a contemptuous mockery; it even seemed very polite, as if he was a guest written on today's guest list.

"You ask me if I am qualified to say 'fairness and truth are things that cannot be abandoned'."

"Today, I stand here upright; this is my answer."

The clear and bright answer echoed in the Divine Plaza packed with people. The rubbing shoulders and following heels crowd boiled over once again.

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