Xi Heng tilted his head and didn't quite understand.
But it didn't matter, the goal had been achieved. She left the General's Mansion with the official documents and returned to the Dark Heaven Sect's headquarters.
After handing the official document with the general's seal to the granary manager in charge of distributing porridge, he casually strolled around the entire teaching courtyard.
The statues of the Pure Fire Master and the anchor-like crosses had become a pile of fragments of varying sizes, piled up in a corner of the yard.
Seeing that the order was successfully completed, Xi Heng fulfilled his previous promise and let the ordinary man named Chen Xiang take over the position of the chief priest.
Afterwards, she went to the library behind the pulpit and saw that many literate people were discussing matters related to doctrine. Xi Heng made some casual instructions and ended her first day of work as the leader.
Tomorrow, the Dark Sky Sect’s soup kitchen will open in the outer city.
The thick corn porridge spread its fragrance all around, attracting countless refugees to line up.
A dozen people from the Dark Sky Cult were dispatched to maintain order. These refugees were thin-skinned, with pale and gaunt faces and too little energy to make a commotion, so everything went on peacefully.
The refugee numbly took the bowl and drank the porridge.
The porridge in the big pot has almost run out, but refugees keep queuing up.
Xi Heng sat on the eaves, looking at the scene below, silently thinking about how to create a peaceful and prosperous era where everyone has food to eat.
"Today's porridge is gone, come back tomorrow!" the granary manager in charge of distributing porridge shouted loudly.
But many of them looked pale and thin, and it seemed that they would not be able to hold on for much longer.
Xi Heng shook his head and said, "Cook another pot."
The grain station manager was stunned and said, "This..."
"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll chop off your head."
"Yes! Yes! Come and bring a few more bags of corn!" More than a dozen people in the soup kitchen started working again.
While the porridge was cooking, Chen Xiang, who was in charge of preaching and attracting people, stood up:
"We are followers of the Dark Heaven Religion. We are here to distribute porridge and save lives at the order of the Merciful Saint."
As people waited, he shouted repeatedly: "The Great Dark Sky is the mother of all living things and the master of all sects."
"When the world was created, the four poles collapsed, the nine states were shattered, the sky could not cover everything, the earth could not support everything, the fire could not be extinguished, the water was endless, and the birds of prey and beasts killed the people. It was the great dark mother of heaven who was merciful and trained two huge stones to repair the sky..."
This person repeated the new doctrine that Xi Heng had participated in revising yesterday, and then continued:
"The Great Dark Sky Mother was once the first emperor of the world, creating a peaceful and prosperous era."
"In prosperous times, there is no oppression from evildoers, no hunger, cold, disease, or war, and people live and work in peace and contentment!"
"If everyone believed in my Dark Heaven Religion and worshipped the Dark Heaven Mother, the world would be peaceful and prosperous again, ending the current miserable world. Everyone would have food to eat, everyone would have gold and silver, and no one would rob or steal anymore. There would be peace and tranquility everywhere."
"If anyone wishes to believe in the Dark Sky Mother, you can join my Dark Sky Church. Once you join the church, you will be like brothers and sisters, and you will no longer be hungry or bullied."
These words were heard by the refugees one after another. The first ones were useless, but the last one, "No more hunger", immediately attracted the attention of most people.
People rushed closer and formed a line in front of Chen Xiang's tattered wooden table.
……
On the first day of the porridge distribution, fifty young and healthy believers were recruited.
Xi Heng watched the whole process silently, and always felt that the goal he had set before was a little bit too low.
In this Jinshi City full of refugees, it is not difficult to recruit a thousand people in a month.
"Maybe it's just because there are too many talented people on the first day... and it takes a lot of effort to train them afterwards. It's hard to discipline too many people."
"Let these guys take their time. I, as the leader, don't have to run around all day long..."
After the porridge distribution was over, Xi Heng returned to his newly decorated room in the pulpit, had dinner, and then fell asleep out of boredom.
Six days later, at dusk, the first sacrifice of the Dark Sky Sect was held in the inner city square of Jinshi City.
The Dark Sky Sect priest, wearing a robe with many snake patterns engraved on it, stepped onto the stage and began to perform a strange dance accompanied by some drum music.
This group of former Jingming Sect believers were quite familiar with the steps of a sacrificial ceremony, but because they could no longer use the sacrificial dance of the Jingming Sect, they could only compile a new one. They are not very proficient in the dance yet, and it looks a bit awkward and weird no matter how they look at it.
The priest offered meat as an offering to the Dark Sky Mother, represented by a snake-shaped symbol, and then read out the teachings and deeds of the Dark Sky Mother to the believers below and the many refugees who had come from the surrounding areas, leading them to worship and pray together, and then set up a porridge stall to distribute porridge.
Every time when the porridge distribution begins, the priest will say, "By the order of the Saint of Mercy."
The refugees who received the porridge would also thank the Dark Sky and the Merciful Saint...
Xi Heng was listening quietly on the roof at the back.
She felt that the word compassion had nothing to do with her.
However, this title sounds better than the murderous blood demon.
……
Gradually, twenty days passed.
During these days, the Dark Sky Sect had run out of food from the porridge they distributed every day, and could only use money to purchase more from the few wealthy families or government offices that remained in the city.
Food prices soared during wartime, especially in places like Jinshi City where the fighting was fierce, where one tael of gold cost half a tael of rice. The Dark Sky Sect spent nearly a thousand taels of silver to buy enough food to continue providing porridge for a month and to feed its own followers.
If they continue to squander like this, perhaps the food for the believers alone would be enough to crush the entire Dark Sky Sect.
However, the sect has helped the people by providing porridge and recruiting new members, and the number of believers has successfully exceeded one thousand.
The Jingming Sect originally controlled a lot of land, and in addition to killing and burning people and bullying the weak, most of the followers also had the responsibility of taking care of the fields and doing farm work. Now that it has become the Dark Sky Sect, there won't be too many idle people left.
The sect holds daily gatherings to pray, spread and explain the doctrine, teach martial arts to the young and strong, train weapons and even some battle formations.
Just when Xi Heng's Dark Heaven Sect was gradually stabilizing and was about to move forward, he suddenly heard news from afar:
Fang Tiande, the Grand Marshal of the Tianliang Army, gathered tens of thousands of troops and united with the western barbarians to launch an invasion of Da Zhao from the southwest.
Fang Tiande was only ten days away from Jinshi.
……
One month after Xi Heng founded the Dark Sky Sect.
Under the control of the officers and soldiers and the help of the few remaining families or sects, the residents of Jinshi City gradually regained some vitality.
Although there were still many remnants of Tianliang lurking among the civilians, they did not cause any major trouble under the strict supervision of the officers and soldiers.
As time went by, the atmosphere in the city gradually eased, the blockade and control of officers and soldiers gradually weakened, and the curfew time gradually became shorter.
It was not until the beginning of the second month in Champa that another group of local reinforcements from the Great Zhao arrived from the north and stationed in the city, and the city suddenly became heavily guarded again.
The scouts sent out of the city brought intelligence that the 60,000-strong army led by Fang Tiande had already reached Jianchang in the south, and in a few days they would be at the gates of the city to launch a decisive battle with the officers and soldiers of the Great Zhao.
If they can win this battle, the Tianliang rebels will be able to gain a foothold in the south.
Now it is early summer, and there is no need to worry about the severe cold and the long journey. He can lead his troops to continue northward, take over the entire Xiujiang River, and divide the river with the Great Zhao court.
But if he fails, even with all Tianliang's strength, he will not be able to take Jinshi City, which is guarded by only more than 10,000 Zhao's ever-victorious soldiers. Fang Tiande will naturally lose all his prestige and influence.
Upon hearing the news, the few wealthy families left in the city immediately began selling their land and preparing to move out of the city.
It was because they bet on Tianliang that they were able to live a stable life after the gold and stone were taken away.
Now that the officers and soldiers have taken the gold and stone back, these big families have offered a large amount of gold, silver and treasures to the officers and soldiers, and opened their granaries to replenish armaments, which is how they barely avoided liquidation.
If Tianliang takes Jinshi City again, it will not be so easy to let these rebels off the hook.
It is said that Tianliang treats traitors and fence-sitters very harshly. If it is known that they provide money and food to officers and soldiers, their properties will be confiscated and their families will be exterminated. Now, each of them has begun to sell off their land and courtyards.
When Xi Heng heard the news, he ordered the financial manager of the Dark Sky Sect to take advantage of the opportunity to buy a large amount of land and settlements at low prices.
The granary manager initially made a few reluctant rebuttals, suggesting that it would be better to wait and see for a while. If Jinshi City was breached by the Tianliang army again, the money would not be safe, and the courtyard and land would also be confiscated, and they might end up with nothing.
But Xi Heng didn't care about it. In her eyes, ten or twenty thousand taels of silver was just a small amount of money, which she could just squander.
She just waved her hand and asked the other person to do it. If he didn't do it, she would chop off his head and find someone else to do it.
The grain manager had no choice but to obey the order, and immediately took out all the treasures in the altar and exchanged them for gold and silver. He almost spent all the assets of the church and bought a large mansion and a thousand acres of fertile land in the city that had already been moved out.
Xi Heng also moved his residence from inside the altar to this family compound which was several times larger, and asked the head of the South Hall of the Great Black Pope to lead people here to use this more spacious family courtyard as a parade ground for the Dark Sky Sect to train new recruits.
After saying all this, she asked:
"How many capable fighters are there in the Dark Sky Sect right now?"
"Reply to Saint Lady..."
After this month, the followers of the Dark Sky Cult have changed her name from demon to saint.
This was mainly because during the previous porridge distribution period, the missionaries often used the four words "Saint of Mercy" to refer to her as the leader of the Dark Sky Sect.
Over time, the name naturally changed.
"Nowadays, most of the members of the sect are new. They have only been in the sect for a month and have not yet learned the art of war. At most, they can only wield swords and sticks. They can show off their prowess when they meet civilians who have never practiced. But as long as they meet an army, even if it is just the unarmored soldiers of the Tianliang people, they will be easily defeated."
"Can't you even defeat the ordinary soldiers?" Xi Heng was a little disappointed.
Now, I'm afraid that 99% of the combat power of the entire Mahakala Sect lies in her alone.
Xi Heng also wanted to let the soldiers in the sect go to the battlefield when Tianliang attacked the city.
Now it seems that going to the battlefield is tantamount to suicide.
“Although there are over a thousand followers, there are less than two hundred who can form a battle formation without causing chaos,” said the hall master.
"Let's develop it slowly." Xi Heng didn't force things to happen.
She established the organization in the hope that it could become powerful in the future and be of some use in the future fight for the throne.
After all, Zhao Chuxiao, who is currently sitting on the throne, will not stand up and give the throne to her just because she passes by.
By the way, you can also use the Dark Sky Sect to search for immortals, or deal with the Red Sky Goddess on the coast.
This organization is too weak in the early stages and has very little to offer, so just let it develop freely.
Now Xi Heng’s more important goal is to achieve the state of transformation.
"The next battle will be the most important one for the Tianliang people. They should send more than one Huajin master... This kind of battle involving tens of thousands of people should be the battlefield I need. It's time to find time to save the game."
……
Three days later, the Tianliang army arrived at the city.
Compared with the previous ones, their military force this time is obviously more majestic and vast.
Xi Heng stood on a high city wall, looking at the Tianliang rebel army in the distance. Although there was no fog covering it and the sky was still clear, he still couldn't see the end of it.
The strong wind of early summer blew the dust outside the city into various shapes, and the yellow flag with the two big characters "Tianliang" printed on it fluttered and rustled.
The Tianliang army, arranged in some strange formation, gathered outside the winding and thick city walls and chevaux de frise, faintly forming a formation that looked like the Bagua pattern, which changed from time to time and there were shouts from time to time.
Tens of thousands of people filled the mountains and fields, with great momentum.
The chariots were pulled to the front by several elephants with bamboo seats built on their backs. The elephants raised their wrinkled trunks and cried out from time to time.
It was unknown where Fang Tiande got those elephants from. Xi Heng stood on the city wall filled with officers and soldiers, looking at them and wanting to ride on one to have a look.
As for why he stood on the city wall instead of hiding in a random place and waiting for Tianliang to start the battle and looking for an opportunity to kill people.
Of course it was because she had contacted General Hua Jin in the city and asked for a position for herself that would allow her to directly participate in the frontal battlefield.
She is now a temporary general of the Great Zhao, responsible for repelling or killing some Tianliang masters who fly to the top of the city walls with their lightness skills and carry out guerrilla warfare to harass the soldiers defending the city.
It was basically the same as the Tianliang generals she had killed before. Wherever she saw a master attacking, she would go there to deal with it.
This job was not too difficult for Xi Heng. As a dark force master, she could kill ordinary dark force warriors in just a few moves.
Even if you encounter an enemy with great hidden power, as long as the enemy's martial arts are not far superior to yours, you can still use magic to repel or kill him.
She would not easily attack a Hua Jin warrior who she could not deal with. If Tianliang sent a Hua Jin warrior, the officers and soldiers would naturally send out Hua Jin warriors to deal with him. She didn't need to worry about it.
As Xi Heng stared at the truck approaching from the city, a clerk approached him and said:
"General, the food downstairs has been prepared. You can enjoy some braised meat and goat milk before returning to your post."
She didn't look back and waved him away.
After becoming a military general, his daily meals were pretty good. All he ate throughout the day was meat, and at most some vegetable cakes.
"I am a little hungry indeed..."
After reciting it softly, Xi Heng was about to turn around and walk down the stairs, but suddenly he saw Tianliang's catapult start to move again.
The elephants also pulled the stones and placed the round stones in the throwing arm of the catapult.
Tianliang sent a flag-bearing officer to stand in front, and he waved the big flag in his hand suddenly. The catapult suddenly shook, and the throwing arm was raised high, and the stone bullets were thrown to hit the city wall.
