Chapter 166 — The Woodcutter Bestows the Secret

In the capital, at the Imperial Preceptor's residence.

The registrar came hurrying in with a report: "Imperial Preceptor Jingping, there has been a disturbance at Yongzhou City. The high ranks of the Dark Demon Cult have gathered there in force, along with countless brigand chiefs. All at once the city magistrate's office vanished into thin air, gone without a trace, leaving only a bare stretch of ground behind."

Imperial Preceptor Jingping was reviewing the various memorials the emperor had sent over, and did not even raise his head. "Noted."

The registrar hesitated. "Imperial Preceptor Jingping, this is the Dark Demon Cult — the foremost sect of the demonic path. With something of this sort arising now, we cannot afford to be caught off guard..."

Imperial Preceptor Jingping looked up. "Yunyang, do you know who the Dark Demon Cult's founding patriarch is?"

The registrar Yunyang shook his head.

His expression calm, Imperial Preceptor Jingping said, "If you knew who he was, you would not be so flustered. He was once the Grand Libationer of our Grand Academy."

Registrar Yunyang was deeply shaken, and blurted out, "Him? Imperial Preceptor Jingping, the Dark Demon Cult's patriarch actually served as Grand Libationer of the Grand Academy for all these years — this is treason! Over all these years, how many officials has he taught, how many generals? His influence must reach into the court itself, into the army! Imperial Preceptor Jingping, this matter cannot be overlooked — I fear the army is full of his people!"

Imperial Preceptor Jingping was rendered speechless, then shook his head. "You are overthinking it. The Dark Demon Patriarch taught scholars — does that make every scholar a member of his Dark Demon Cult? If that were so, would you not have to drag me in and kill me as well?"

He rose to his feet and paced slowly, his gaze sharp. "In my younger years I wandered the four quarters, learning what each sect excelled at. I saw that every sect under heaven kept to its own way, hoarding its treasures, holding back the progress of the world's divine arts and methods. So I called at their doors, hoping to break down the barriers between the great sects. The first man I met was the Dark Demon Patriarch. He was the first to set aside sectarian prejudice and teach me with his whole heart, and the first to point me toward a clear road."

A look of reverence came into his eyes. "Afterward, he recommended me himself, giving me a letter to carry to the Daoist Lord of the Daoist Sect. It was because of his letter that the Daoist Lord looked upon me with special favor and regard, and permitted me to study the Fourteen Chapters of the Dao Sword. It was he, too, who sent me to the Great Thunderclap Temple, where I beheld the Tathagata and received the scriptures passed down by the Tathagata. Though he never revealed his identity, he could not hide it from me — nor did he try overmuch to hide it."

The shock in Registrar Yunyang's heart was beyond measure.

Imperial Preceptor Jingping said, "I asked him to come out of retirement and help me govern the Grand Academy — and why? Not because of his abilities, not because he is the Dark Demon Cult's patriarch, but because he has that kind of breadth of spirit. It was the first time I had ever met a man of such breadth, such purity. The only one fit to govern the Grand Academy is him! Now he has gone — no doubt to labor over the matter of the Dark Demon Cult's next Cult Master."

"The next Cult Master of the demon cult?"

Registrar Yunyang steadied himself. "The Dark Demon Cult has been without a Cult Master for over forty years, and now they have actually chosen one? Imperial Preceptor Jingping, this is a matter of grave importance — should we report it to the emperor?"

Imperial Preceptor Jingping said, "You go draft a memorial and present this matter to the emperor. As for the Dark Demon Patriarch's origins, there is no need to say much."

Registrar Yunyang acknowledged the order, then added, "Word has come from the Grand Academy — the emperor has decreed that Pei Wujiu succeed to the post of Grand Libationer."

"Noted."

Imperial Preceptor Jingping waved a hand. "My influence is too great; it is only proper that the emperor should be concerned, or I would be uneasy myself. It is only that Pei Wujiu's learning and virtue are both unequal to the post of Grand Libationer of the Grand Academy. He would do well enough as Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince, but as Grand Libationer he is far from qualified. This, however, is not a matter I can speak of."

Registrar Yunyang pondered, then asked again, "Now that the Dark Demon Cult has chosen a new Cult Master, how should we respond?"

Imperial Preceptor Jingping said mildly, "Submit and prosper; resist and perish. This is not for you to consider. I will go meet this new Cult Master myself."

Registrar Yunyang withdrew from the room.

The Daoist Sect, Dao Mountain.

Danyangzi hastened up the mountain and came to the Hall of the Dao Sage, where an old man with white hair and white brows sat on the ground, contemplating a pool of clear water before him.

Danyangzi said hurriedly, "Daoist Lord, there has been a disturbance at the Dark Demon Cult's old lair. The cult's experts have gathered at Yongzhou. Their great banner rolled up, and the magistrate's office vanished along with them."

The white-browed, white-haired old man opened his eyes and said slowly, "It seems the Dark Demon Cult has a new Cult Master. The Dark Demon Cult fabricates history, usurps the name of the sages, spreads false doctrine through the world, and brings calamity upon the masses. Within the cult they fell to internal strife — the Holy Maiden slaughtered the Cult Master, violating the proper order of things; the Cult Master married his own disciple, violating human bonds; and no small number of their followers practice depraved arts, cultivating through human lives — accepting all comers without discrimination. For forty years they had no Cult Master, and now they have chosen one. I fear this bodes ill for the common people."

Danyangzi said, "What should our Daoist Sect do?"

"Find out the identity of this demon Cult Master, and bide our time to remove him."

"We receive the decree."

Danyangzi spoke again. "Imperial Preceptor Jingping takes the Dark Demon Cult's teachings as his guiding principle. The state of Jingping is itself a vast Dark Demon Cult, accepting all without discrimination. What then should our Daoist Sect do?"

The Daoist Lord's gaze was deep as he quietly regarded the pool of clear water before him, and unhurriedly said, "Imperial Preceptor Jingping is full of ambition, but his abilities cannot sustain that ambition. History has seen empires grander than Jingping, and geniuses more outstanding than Imperial Preceptor Jingping, yet in the end they became yellow earth, became ruins. This world is more complex than he imagines. When he has dashed himself to pieces against it, he will understand."

Danyangzi did not dare say more, and bowed himself out.

"Reporting to the Tathagata, the Dark Demon Cult's followers vanished from Yongzhou City without a trace, and the magistrate's office disappeared with them."

At the Great Thunderclap Temple, an old monk came to the treasure hall seeking an audience with the Tathagata. "The prefect of Yongzhou is the Dark Demon Cult's Elder Yulin, a fearsome figure. Yongzhou has already become an ironclad domain of the Dark Demon Cult. Someone also saw in Yongzhou the woman who defeated the Buddha-son, and suspects she is one of the Dark Demon Cult."

The Tathagata opened his eyes and said in surprise, "Is that woman not a scholar of the Grand Academy? Why would she be one of the Dark Demon Cult?"