Chapter 250-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation

The moment the Excommunication verdict was announced, the upper district's reaction was even more explosive than when the Dragon Bone truth had come to light. The entire city erupted.

Excommunication was inherited from the laws predating the Age of Divine Descent, established to uphold the authority of Church leaders.

In five hundred years of the Sei Curia's existence, not a single Pope had ever invoked this law!

Those who offended the Pope were typically sentenced to death. If the offender's status was too high for a simple execution, the matter might be settled through backroom deals and trade-offs, or through subtler political maneuvers to suppress the person.

Excommunication sounded harsh and terrifying, but its provisions were so broad and loosely defined that full enforcement had always been considered impractical.

Its most devastating clause was this: "The condemned's lands and subjects owe him no further loyalty"—in other words, it granted everyone implicit permission and license to betray the condemned.

But anyone who held lands was a deeply entrenched aristocrat. Even with "no obligation of loyalty" in hand, no subordinate dared take that risk.

If an Excommunication failed to produce results, it would only expose the Pope's own lack of authority and prestige, placing the Pope in an embarrassing position.

For that reason, the law had gathered dust for centuries.

Bai Muqing walked through the streets of the lower district in a white hood, drifting through one animated, impassioned crowd after another—like a stray snowflake.

Neither the former Saintess nor the current Pope Ye Zheng knew the Sei Curia's canons and statutes as thoroughly as Bai Muqing.

She had read every article of Sei Curia law by the age of eight. The meaning of "Excommunication" had been too abstruse for her at the time, so she had lugged the massive tome to her father to ask.

Her father had explained it to her, word by word, and then told her with a smile:

"If Excommunication could truly be enforced, the condemned would be an exile of this entire nation—with no one to trust, no one to rely on, and no one who would ever follow them again."

"It is, without question, the most terrifying punishment in the Empire."

The man, still relatively young back then, had spoken with a note of wonder. "But alas, a Pope with enough clout to actually wield it has yet to appear."

Perhaps noticing the puzzlement in his daughter's eyes, he had added, "Still don't understand?"

"Hahaha—you'll grasp how terrifying it is when you're older. Losing society's acceptance is far more frightening than the death of the flesh."

Five hundred years of the Sei Curia—and at last, a leader with the stature and the nerve to invoke Excommunication had arrived.

Bai Muqing made her way to the prison where Bai Yi was being held.

Given his special status, the Holy Journey Knights Order—the Pope's most trusted force—was in charge of guarding him. No visitors were permitted.

But Ye Zheng had approved Bai Muqing's request.

Surprisingly, the prison was plain and modest, hardly a fortress of layered security. If the prisoner were so inclined—or if someone on the outside attempted a jailbreak—escape would be easy.

Before Bai Muqing had even set foot inside, [Divine Domain] had already mapped out several routes to extract someone.

"Father, do you want to leave this place?"

Bai Yi, seated on the other side of the iron bars, had been building up a storm of complex emotions—only to have them cut short by Bai Muqing's blunt question. He was momentarily speechless.

But he quickly composed himself. Beneath the stubble and exhaustion, his face carried a certain resolve.

"I will bear full responsibility for what I've done. Running is a coward's act. I would rather die on my feet than live in disgrace."

The middle-aged man had made his peace. Ye Zheng would never pass up a legitimate opportunity to execute him. His crime was ironclad. If he fled, his family and clan would suffer the consequences.

Besides, the moment he had raised his hand against Ye Zheng, he had been prepared to accept whatever followed.

"Muqing, there's no point trying to persuade me. Go home and spend time with your mother. I've failed her…"

"Father." Bai Muqing had to cut in. She tilted her head, puzzled. "You don't know yet what the Sei Curia has… decided for you?"

"Isn't it execution?"

"It's Excommunication."

The man went still for a long time. Then he buried his face in his hands and broke into laughter—the kind that sounded as though all strength had drained from his body.

"Excommunication, you said—Excommunication?"

"She really knows how to humiliate a man. I've never seen anything so vicious…"

"Father, being alive is the most fortunate thing there is."

Bai Muqing said it with a solemn, pale face.

During her time in the knight order, clearing Demonic Domains in the lower district, even with her present she couldn't guarantee everyone's safety—let alone those who didn't survive long enough for her to arrive, their bodies too ravaged to remain whole.

The middle-aged man stared at her with disappointment and anger. "Alive? If merely being alive is enough to satisfy you—if you'd wag your tail and beg Ye Zheng for mercy—how can you face the honor of the Bai family?"

"But Father, what is the honor of the Bai family?"

Bai Muqing was genuinely confused in that moment—but the middle-aged man took it as sarcasm.

"Leave."

"I know. My Excommunication has already begun."

The middle-aged man replied calmly.

Bai Muqing was silent for a moment. In truth, she had come to persuade her father.

If he—the Emperor's confidant—were willing to reveal more of the Emperor's secrets to Ye Zheng and publicly denounce him, it would be the best outcome for Ye Zheng, for himself, and for the nation.

But he seemed trapped in an emotion he could not escape.

This version of her father was nothing new to Bai Muqing. He was a born performer—though more than "father" or "husband," the roles he relished most were "loyal subject" and "knight," even when the one he served was a true monster.

Bai Muqing stood. She did not try again. She respected her father's choice.

She bid him a polite farewell—as though they were still in the splendid family manor, not a cramped, dim prison cell.

Bai Muqing turned and walked away. Behind her, beyond her line of sight, Bai Yi's face twisted with hesitation and anguish.

[Divine Domain] saw everything in silence—but Bai Muqing did not waver. She did not look back.

She stepped out of the oppressive prison and wandered aimlessly, drifting without thinking into a bustling residential quarter.

A child running and playing tripped and fell. Bai Muqing stopped and pulled him to his feet. The boy caught sight of the white eyes beneath her hood and started shouting.

"White eyes… is she from the Bai family?"

"That's the one Her Holiness the Pope just locked up…"

"I heard Her Holiness is coming here today—could she be trying to…"

A crowd gathered quickly. The child clung to Bai Muqing's hand, chattering away with a cruelty only innocence could produce, asking why her eyes looked so strange.

Bai Muqing gently pried the small hand loose, then pulled off her hood entirely. Her snow-white hair blazed in the sunlight.

Under the startled, fearful, and hostile gazes of the passersby, Bai Muqing walked steadily toward her next destination.

The Dragon Bone affair was a sin committed by the Bai ancestors. She had known nothing of it—but she had undeniably enjoyed the fruits of that sin.

Now, she could no longer live in the upper district with a clear conscience.

Bai Muqing knew there was perhaps something pathological about her own psychology.

From the very first time she heard the tale of the God of Hope, she had likely been entranced by the role of "righteous guardian."

She was heading to the area in the East District of the lower district where Demonic Domains appeared most frequently. She would live there—until Demonic Domains no longer came.

[Divine Domain] received every whispered word, every ripple of unease and hostility from the people around her. Bai Muqing's pace never faltered. Her face showed nothing.

Then, all at once, the whispers and the anxious emotions vanished. Bai Muqing stopped.

Ye Zheng stood at the end of the road, surrounded by a crowd.

*

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