Chapter 262 Unequal sharing of spoils

Chapter 262 Unequal sharing of spoils

Chapter 262 Unequal sharing of spoils
In Yique County, there is a Mahayana temple covering an area of ​​200 acres. The densely packed small houses around it are dormitories for believers. In the middle there is a giant building covering an area of ​​20 acres and is four stories high. This is the Maitreya Pavilion, also called the Mahayana Hall, which is the core center of Mahayana Buddhism.

The security here is tight, with guards standing guard at every level.

In a hall on the fourth floor that housed countless Maitreya Buddha statues, a masked man sat high up, with a group of Mahayana high-ranking officials in white robes kneeling below.

The leader of this group of people was a tall and thin middle-aged man. He was the leader Song Zixian. But at this time he was also kneeling on the ground. Although he was the leader, he was also terrified and trembling like everyone else.

The masked man asked in a dignified voice: "I have repeatedly told you to find the injured Dali Temple cavalryman who escaped, but you still haven't found him. Is it true that you haven't found him, or have you never looked for him at all?"

Song Zixian said tremblingly: "We did look for them. We mobilized the believers and the faithful to look for them together. We found hundreds of injured foreigners, but after checking them one by one, none of them turned out to be them."

"How come you didn't know they were not? How do you know what that Dali Temple Tiqi looks like?" the masked man asked.

Song Zixian lowered his head for a while and said, "Your Majesty, we are mainly trying to identify the accent. If it is the accent of Chang'an, we will capture him and take him to Yique County to continue interrogating him!"

"Idiot, who told you that the Dali Temple cavalry must speak with a Chang'an accent?"

Everyone lowered their heads and dared not say a word. The masked man cursed fiercely, "A bunch of useless trash!"

The masked man continued, "I came here this time to ask you to hand over all the 300,000 strings of cash in the treasury to the army, who will escort it to Chang'an. The army has already come from Yingyang County and will arrive in Yique County at dawn tomorrow. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand. Is something going to happen?" Song Zixian asked worriedly.

"Nothing happened, I just need money urgently!"

"Your Majesty, four hundred of our Guardians were killed in Xin'an County. Everyone is a little panicked. Are we worried that the imperial court is going to take action against us?"

The masked man said after a while, "This is the task I want to give you this time. The Censorate has sent a very young supervisory censor with 20 men. It is estimated that they will arrive in Yique County tomorrow. I ask you to mobilize the followers to find them and then kill them all, just like the Dali Temple officials were killed last time. No one can be left alive this time. Do you understand?"

"Your Majesty, if we kill the officials of the Censorate, the court will definitely not let us go!"

"Idiot! It will take at least a month for the court to send troops after they know about this. You have already fled to the south. I told you that this is the last offering. After it is over, you can take the money and leave. I will summon you again when the storm is over. You are all my fortune boys. Don't worry! I will never abandon you."

Everyone felt relieved, and Song Zixian nodded, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, we will definitely get it done!"

In a room on the second floor of Maitreya Pavilion, a burly man, about thirty years old and with a dignified appearance, was sitting cross-legged.

This man was the great general who protected the Mahayana sect and a notorious thief in Tongbai Mountain, named Li Zitong. The birthmark on his forehead looked like a few eyes, so he was nicknamed "Guangmu Tianwang".

Although Li Zitong was a martial arts expert, he was responsible for hundreds of deaths and was wanted by the government for a large sum of money. In addition, due to his special appearance, he certainly did not dare to come to Chang'an to participate in the martial arts examination, and naturally he would not be recruited by the King of Han.

He was attracted by the escalating killing advocated by the Mahayana sect and came to join it. He killed hundreds of people and was naturally valued. In addition, his martial arts were unmatched, so he became the general of the Mahayana sect.

But Li Zitong was not a core member of the Mahayana sect, and he was not even qualified to go to the fourth floor. After all, he was just an outsider monk who had only been here for half a year. Even if he brought five hundred men to join them, Song Zixian and others did not trust him.

Li Zitong could only get a salary, but he had no share of the dividends in the end.

At this time, the door opened, and brother Li Zifa hurried in and whispered to his elder brother: "The news is confirmed. After dawn, they will transfer all 300,000 strings of money. Tomorrow's tribute money is estimated to be tens of thousands of strings. I just asked Dong Daguan, and he said that in the end they will give us 500 strings of money as severance pay, and give us two 100 strings of money each for our hard work!"

"Five hundred guan!"

Li Zitong narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "I worked hard for them, but they treated me, Li Zitong, like a beggar. Humph! Since they are so unkind, don't blame us for being unjust!"

"What are the rules, brother?"

Li Zitong sneered and said, "I want to eat the meat and drink the soup too!"

"How does Big Brother arrange it?"

Li Zitong whispered, "To transfer the three hundred thousand strings of money, we must go by water. We will board the ship outside the city. When they are loading, you will lead three hundred brothers to attack them by surprise."

"Brother, if there are more of them, we may not be able to get the money?"

"This is called luring the tiger away from the mountain. Once all the warriors in the city run outside to support, I can start to take the money in the underground palace!"

Li Zifa gave a thumbs up and said, "Big brother is really smart!" It was already night when Xiao Xia and his party arrived in Yique County. They stood on a hillside about five miles away from the county seat and looked around. They saw dots of fire everywhere.

You Junda explained: "Tomorrow is the day of offering sacrifices. These should be believers coming from the surrounding counties. Last month, hundreds of thousands of people came as well."

Sun Lei snorted, "They really believe in these evil spirits!"

Xiao Xia smiled faintly and said, "If you don't believe it, wouldn't the money you offered before have been wasted?"

You Junda nodded, "Your Excellency is right. The repeated oppression of the Mahayana sect has gradually awakened many people, but they are unwilling to lose their previous money in vain. They always think that Maitreya may come next time, so even if they wake up, they are still deceived, and they are willing to wait for Maitreya to disappear completely. Only when their hope is cut off will they return to normal life."

Li Luming suddenly understood, "Isn't this just like gambling?"

Xiao Xia nodded, "Yes, once you get addicted it's hard to quit!"

Xiao Xia pointed to a place with the most bonfires and said, "Let's go there to rest for the night!"

Everyone followed Xiao Xia and urged their horses to gallop down the hillside.

The bonfire burned out and the sky gradually brightened. When the eastern sky was just dyed red by the morning glow, the sound of drums rumbled above the head of Yique County. Hundreds of thousands of believers who were sleeping were awakened, packed their luggage simply, and rushed to the county from all directions with full of excitement.

Xiao Xia and his men discussed last night and decided to walk into the city to avoid attracting attention. Although many farmers have donkeys or mules at home, they basically all come here on foot. Perhaps it is out of piety, but also perhaps because they are worried that they will never come back. After all, donkeys and mules can also be used to support Maitreya.

Xiao Xia left two warriors to guard the horses. These two warriors also had a task, which was to contact the one thousand cavalrymen. They would arrive in Yique County at noon, and the place, time and method of contact had been agreed in advance.

Everyone wore bamboo hats and blended into the crowd. The tide was surging, and hundreds of thousands of people poured into the county town, making the small county town packed with people.

The streets are filled with passionate sermons about reincarnation, dedication, and how everyone can become a Buddha. People are excited to hear them. Of course, the key is that you have to pay.

Dozens of large wooden buckets were almost full, so the guards carried them to the Mahayana Temple, emptied them, and then rearranged them.

There is also an emotionally provocative parade of goddesses, with a dozen oxen pulling a large cart on a high platform. On each platform there are several young women dancing gracefully. They are covered with light gauze, their bodies vaguely visible, which makes the believers' blood boil, and they shout loudly in excitement.

Xiao Xia and his men moved quickly through the crowd. Their goal was clear, which was to find where the Mahayana sect stored its wealth and then control it. This was a strategy to cut off the source of the Mahayana sect's wealth. If they took away the money they had accumulated, all their brainwashing and control would be meaningless.

When Xiao Xia led his men to a restaurant, someone suddenly squeezed in front of Xiao Xia and whispered, "Envoy Xiao, please follow me!"

Xiao Xia was startled. He winked at his men behind him and they followed him to the restaurant. Xiao Xia, holding a long-handled straight knife in his hand, followed the man into the restaurant through the side door.

The door of the restaurant was closed, and there was no one inside. Just as the man was about to go up to the second floor, a flying knife stabbed into the wooden pillar beside his ear. Xiao Xia said coldly, "Friend, please make your words clear before you leave!"

At this time, an official in official uniform appeared at the stairs. He was about thirty years old. He clasped his fists and said, "General Xiao, I am Yang Jishan, the lieutenant of Yique County, and the son of the Duke of Yue!"

It turned out to be Yang Su's son. Xiao Xia was a little surprised. Luoyang was the territory of the King of Han. How could Yang Su's son be an official here?

But he soon realized that the King of Han was just a small county lieutenant and it was impossible for him to be good at everything.

"What is County Lieutenant Yang doing here?" Xiao Xia asked with a smile.

"I'll be waiting for General Xiao here. General Xiao has been targeted by the Mahayana sect."

Xiao Xia turned around and saw several warriors dragging in two Mahayana followers in white. Yang Jishan drew his sword, walked forward and killed one of them with one sword, and pressed the sword against the other's neck. "Tell the truth, and I will spare your life!"

The white-robed cultist was terrified and knelt down, saying, "We are the scouts of the Mahayana sect. We have received an order from above to look for twenty foreign warriors with swords and wearing bamboo hats. Report immediately when you find them!"

Xiao Xia nodded. It turned out that they were targeting him. They were indeed a bit conspicuous wearing the hats.

Yang Jishan waved his hand, and the warrior dragged the white-robed cultist away. He clasped his fists and said to Xiao Xia with a smile, "I have something confidential to discuss, and this is not the place to talk. General Xiao, please go upstairs to discuss in detail!"

Xiao Xia said to his men, "You guys go rest downstairs!"

At this moment, You Junda, who had been silent all the time, suddenly drew his sword and stabbed Yang Jishan.

(End of this chapter)