Volume 5 Chapter 37
by Need_More_SleepVolume 5 + Chapter 37: No Other Choice
White Lotus looked toward Xia Yi.
She regarded Xia Yi as yet another follower seeking redemption and displayed her own generosity.
“Speak of the suffering you are enduring. I will make you forget the pain of reality and guide you to a land of happiness.”
“A land of happiness?”
Xia Yi looked at the foxfolk who had come into contact with the holy water. The strange expressions that followed, no matter how she looked at them, were enough to make one’s skin crawl.
She had absolutely no desire to become like that.
“That’s right. A land of happiness with no pain, only joy. It cannot be reached by ordinary means, that is why the guidance of a shrine maiden is required,” White Lotus replied.
Xia Yi was not blind. She could clearly see that, on a spiritual level, these foxfolk had already been controlled by the so-called holy water.
“Do you think I can’t see through this? You’re spouting utter nonsense!” Xia Yi glared at White Lotus. “This isn’t holy water at all, it’s a harmful liquid that causes hallucinations! Look at them, just look at what you’ve reduced their minds to!”
“Oh? So you are accusing me?”
Having heard Xia Yi’s outburst, White Lotus did not grow flustered. On the contrary, she remained perfectly calm.
“You are somewhat different from the others. It seems you are not sincerely following the Fox God.”
“You’re doing all of this without the consent of the Fox clan’s royal family, aren’t you?”
“The fox royalty are nothing but sanctimonious hypocrites. They worship a false impostor, usurping the place of the true Fox God. In order to cling to their power with a clear conscience, they altered the true history and concealed the facts for countless ages.”
“What… are you talking about?”
Xia Yi frowned.
She felt as though she had just heard something of tremendous significance.
“You’re part of the Nine-Tailed Fox clan, aren’t you? Then why are you condemning the fox royalty like this, and doing things that are completely incomprehensible?”
“Heh.”
White Lotus laughed softly but offered no direct explanation.
“You are quite peculiar. If an ordinary foxfolk heard what I just said, they would certainly show some kind of reaction, anger and refutation, shaken faith, or even sudden enlightenment. Yet none of those appeared in you. All I see is confusion toward unfamiliar matters. You resemble more an outsider who knows little about the foxfolk than one of them.”
“…”
Xia Yi did not refute her.
She realized that White Lotus’s powers of observation were indeed remarkably sharp.
“Lady White Lotus, Lady White Lotus, please grant me holy water! The amount you poured out earlier was nowhere near enough, it wasn’t enough for me to experience happiness. I am the most devout believer of the White Night Sect, you know that…”
A dejected middle-aged man approached White Lotus and begged bitterly.
He appeared abjectly humble. In order to obtain holy water, he even knelt down, utterly disregarding his own dignity.
“I beg you, Lady White Lotus. Whatever price you ask in exchange, I will pay it. Even if I must offer up my heart, I will not refuse!”
“My dear believer, the Fox God does not require you to do anything at present. But your resolve has moved her deeply, and thus you shall receive a special blessing,” White Lotus replied.
Upon hearing this, the dejected man became overjoyed and repeatedly bowed in gratitude to White Lotus.
Xia Yi noticed that several more foxfolk had appeared. They were different from the frenzied believers. Clad in white robes embroidered with strange patterns, their style closely resembled White Lotus’s. They were likely high-ranking members of the White Night Sect.
Each of these senior followers carried small bottles filled with an unknown liquid, most likely the so-called “holy water.”
At White Lotus’s signal, one of the senior followers stepped forward and handed a small bottle to the dejected man.
“Thank you, thank you so much!” The man accepted the bottle as though it were a priceless treasure.
The other foxfolk looked on with intense envy at his bestowed favor, yet none acted out of turn. As though aware of strict rules, they waited obediently for their own allotted blessings to be distributed, afterward expressing their gratitude to the White Night Sect and to the so-called true Fox God.
“This is it… the gateway to the world of happiness…”
The dejected man opened the bottle, preparing to drink the liquid in one gulp.
“Stop! This will harm you!”
Xia Yi could not bear to watch any longer. She struck the small bottle from his hand.
“W-What are you doing? That was my happiness, my happiness…”
As the liquid spilled onto the ground, the man collapsed to his knees and began licking it from the dirt, utterly heedless of filth or shame.
“…You’ve gone too far. You’ve deceived them all.”
Xia Yi looked at White Lotus, her eyes filled with revulsion.
“The ‘holy water’ you speak of will cause these people’s minds to collapse. What they see isn’t real, it’s all an illusion!”
“Do you truly believe these believers understand nothing?” White Lotus replied indifferently. “Of course they know that what they see is an illusion. They are fully aware of what they are doing.”
“Fully aware?”
“The man whose bottle you knocked away came to the White Night Sect last month. In a fire before that, he lost the wife he dearly loved and his precious child. He fell into immense despair.”
“…”
“What is so wrong with an illusory world? Within the illusion you disdain, he can reunite with the wife and child he loves and reclaim the happiness that was once his. But in the cruel and cold reality, he has lost everything. Life holds no meaning for him, every second is torment.”
White Lotus’s gaze swept across the other believers, laden with implication.
“There are many like him in the White Night Sect. When they suffered, they prayed to the faith in their hearts, yet received no answer. We, however, heard their voices. We accepted them, and brought them the happiness they sought. In their eyes, it is you who destroys their chance at happiness who would be the true villain.”
“…I’ve had enough. I refuse to listen to your absurd sophistry any longer.”
Xia Yi turned and attempted to leave this land of madness.
But after only a few steps, she was blocked by the senior followers.
“What do you mean by this?”
“You have seen what you were not meant to see. Whether you are willing or not, you must become one of us.”
White Lotus looked at Xia Yi with keen interest.
Not only the senior followers, because of White Lotus’s considerable prestige within the White Night Sect as its shrine maiden, even the somewhat deranged ordinary believers were stirred into action, advancing toward Xia Yi.
Within moments, a crowd had surrounded her completely.
“Join the White Night Sect. Serve the true Fox God. You have no other choice.”
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