Dawnless Sovereign-Chapter 133 (1): Death Sentence

"Chief Enforcer Duan has been a lifelong idol of mine," Fang Che said, an aspiring gleam in his eyes. "It would be an unmatched honor if I could reach the same heights as Chief Enforcer Duan someday.

"There's still a long road ahead for all of us," Feng Xing said with a faint smile.

"For now, I must overcome the crisis that I'm facing in the One Heart Church," Fang Che sighed.

"That's not a concern," Feng Xing said with a nonchalant smile. "I'll go personally pay a visit to Yin Shengong when I leave."

"Please don't be too hard on him, Young Master Xing," Fang Che implored. "Those of us in the subsidiary churches don't know anything about what's happening up at the top, so Pope Yin's actions are justifiable and understandable. Personally, I don't harbor any resentment toward him. Those are my true feelings, Young Master Xing. I just want to be able to survive."

"I'm glad to hear that," Feng Xing said with a pleased smile. "How you treat Yin Shengong now is how you'll treat me in the future."

The two of them returned to stone table under the pergola, and the mood was completely different.

Fang Che concealed his name of Night Demon before requesting to add Feng Xing as a contact through his Five Spirit Parasite.

Feng Xing gladly accepted the request, and it was with some amusement that he noticed that Starlight's name was blank.

After this was pointed out, Fang Che explained with a wry smile, "Right now, I am called Starlight, but I don't know what my name will be in the future, nor did I even know if I would be able to live for much longer, so I decided not to give myself a name."

Feng Xing assigned the name "Starlight" to his new contact, then displayed it to Fang Che as he said, "You now have a name here with me."

"Thank you, Young Master Xing," Fang Che said in a grateful manner. "The name Starlight truly belongs to me now."

Feng Xing put away his communication jade, then said, "Now that you've sworn a vow to serve me, I feel obligated to be candid with you about certain things. Once I return to the main church, I most likely won't be returning for a very long time. Hence, if you need any help or anything from me, tell me now."

Fang Che thought about it for a moment, then replied, "There is actually one thing that I would like your assistance with."

"Go ahead."

"It's regarding this Unmatched Escort Agency," Fang Che sighed. "I already raised this problem last time Pope Yin came to visit, but even for him, this was too difficult a problem to address. Right now, all of the escorts in the agency are posing as disciples of the Mountain Moving Sect..."

With that, Fang Che gave Feng Xing a rundown of the problem at hand, then concluded, "Several days ago, two disciples of the Mountain Moving Sect came to our escort agency to try and extort us, and I killed them both."

"I see," Feng Xing mused with a thoughtful expression. "I'll take care of it. I'll send someone to the Mountain Moving Sect to instruct them to cooperate with you. Let's share a drink together before I leave."

"As the host, I should be the one to provide the wine."

"Sure. In that case, I'll sort out the food," Feng Xing volunteered.

The two of them continued to chat over some wine and various dishes all the way into the afternoon when the five shopkeepers finally returned to report to Feng Xing.

The report was meant only for Feng Xing's ears, so Fang Che was able to take the opportunity to excuse himself, and even now, the back of his robe was still drenched in cold sweat.

***

He had essentially died twice on this day, once when Feng Xing suspected him of being Night Demon, and the second time when Feng Xing forced him to pledge his loyalty.

Given that both Yan Beihan and Chen Yin already had their sights set on Night Demon, there was no way that he could serve anyone else, so if Feng Xing had managed to confirm his identity as Night Demon, then he would've been instantly killed on the spot.

Similarly, making Fang Che swear that vow of fealty was also a test in itself. If he had already sworn a vow to the Heavenly Centipede Deity to serve someone else, then swearing a second vow of fealty would break the first vow, thereby killing him on the spot.

It was only thanks to Fang Che's ability to suppress his Five Spirit Parasite using the Boundless Sutra that he was able to survive that ordeal.

He could still feel the excruciating pain of Feng Xing's sword twisting back and forth within his chest. In that instant, Feng Xing definitely intended to kill him.

He put on a joyful facade as he loudly instructed some people to go out and purchase some wine and dishes, and at the same time, he reported the situation to Yin Shengong through his communication jade.

He had told many lies to Feng Xing that had to be backed up by Yin Shengong.

Otherwise, if his deception were exposed, then he was certain that Feng Xing wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

"Master, I have something extremely urgent to report."

***

Meanwhile, Yin Shengong felt like a caged bird in the One Heart Church headquarters.

Hai Wuliang was still lurking outside, and thus far, Yin Shengong had already set dozens of traps to try and lure him out to his death, but to no avail.

To further compound Yin Shengong's woes, the One Heart Church had suffered four additional casualties, and even Qian Sanjiang had sustained some injuries.

Yin Shengong was furious.

He had already reported the matter to his higher-ups, and he had been informed that people had been sent down to address the matter, but they were still yet to arrive.

The southeastern headquarters had sent out a six-man action group, but they four of them were ambushed and slain before they even reached the One Heart Church, and the remaining two had fled to the One Heart Church headquarters were very severe injuries. At the moment, those two were still bedridden.

Yin Shengong was appalled.

Is the southeastern headquarters not aware of Hai Wuliang's power? What's the point in sending all this useless cannon fodder?!

All of a sudden, he received a message from the chief supervisor of the southeastern headquarters.

"Congratulations, Yin Shengong."

Yin Shengong was perplexed.

"What for, Chief Supervisor Wu?"

"Your One Heart Church's White Cloud Prefecture branch helm has already passed the assessment and has been deemed a star-level branch helm. This is the first-ever star-level branch helm in our southeast. Deputy Pope Yan has personally ordered for you to travel to the main church to receive your reward."

An overwhelming sense of joy and excitement instantly welled up in Yin Shengong's heart.

"Should I set off right away, Chief Supervisor Wu?"

"Yes. Make sure to brace yourself. The reward that you'll receive this time will most likely go far beyond just the five thousand merit points."

"I understand, Chief Supervisor Wu. The problem is that Hai Wuliang is still constantly lurking outside the headquarters of my One Heart Church, and if I were to leave now, I fear that the One Heart Church will be gone by the time I'm back."

"That's not a concern. I've already sent out eight high-rank Overlords, and the warriors sent out by the main church have also already arrived. I've been informed that they're currently laying in ambush outside your One Heart Church. All of this is being done in secret to avoid alerting Hai Wuliang."

Yin Shengong was very relieved to hear this.

"According to my sources, Deputy Pope Yan is very likely going to summon you for an audience. If that happens, you know what to do, right?"

"Yes! You can count on me, Chief Supervisor Wu!"

Yin Shengong's heart was so full of joy that it was about to burst!

Finally! My time has come! There's no way Deputy Pope Yan would summon me to meet with him just for a branch helm, so there must be some other reason. What could it be?

"Make sure to be careful on this trip. The clans of all of the people killed by Night Demon are still out for blood."

Yin Shengong shuddered as he was instantly brought back down to earth.

"Thank you for warning, Chief Supervisor Wu."

Yin Shengong took a deep breath as he began pacing back and forth with a contemplative expression.

He couldn't just reject a summons from Yan Nan, but traveling to the main church would be no different from venturing into a lion's den.

After a long think, he summoned the three elders to come and see him.

"Hold off on your plans to go into seclusion for now, Old Man Mu. I have to make a trip to the main church, and I want you to look after our church during my absence."

Mu Linyuan was preparing to go into seclusion for a breakthrough to the Overlord tier, but he didn't hesitate to accept this arrangement.

"The branch helm has passed the assessment with flying colors! Night Demon did splendidly," Yin Shengong continued, barely able to suppress the excitement in his voice.

"Make sure to instruct Night Demon to settle down and keep a low profile for now," Mu Linyuan cautioned. "He's already done far too much of late."

"Of course. If I am given the honor of meeting with Deputy Pope Yan during my visit, then I'll make a request for him to resolve the issue pertaining to the Mountain Moving Sect. Otherwise, if the Mountain Moving Sect refuses to work with us after the people from the main church leave, then the branch helm would be placed in a state of limbo. Hou Fang, have you selected the people to be sent to the branch helm?"

"Yes, Pope Yin. I've hand-selected eight hundred people, sixty of whom are Warlords, while the rest are all Lords."

"Make sure they do all of the preparation work, like memorizing the legal code and all of the escort routes."

"I will."