Chapter 143 - Is It Funny That the Reincarnated Senior Sister Is Also Being Pursued?

"What speculation?" Bai Lian asked. She didn't know what had happened in this world where not practicing dual cultivation would lead to death after her own demise. Therefore, to understand the reasons behind these occurrences, she needed to gather more intelligence. Obviously, Xiao Wei Yang knew something. Otherwise, she wouldn't casually mention having some speculations. "White Fairy, I heard that your Taihua Sword Sect recently eradicated a cult that was involved in secretive teachings, am I right?" Xiao Wei Yang asked. Bai Lian was not surprised that Xiao Wei Yang knew about the incident in the Gu Su City. After all, even though Gu Su City was within the Taihua Sword Sect's territory, it ultimately belonged to the Xia Dynasty, and whatever happened there would be reported to the court by the Taihua Sword Sect and local officials. Moreover, since Xiao Wei Yang had already been reborn, she probably paid close attention to the news. Therefore, knowing this information was not surprising. She replied, "Yes, at first, I thought it was just an insignificant cult. But after thorough investigation with my junior sister, we found out that it was actually the remnants of the secretive teachings that were destroyed in the battle against evil." "Our sect's elders should have reported this to the Demon Suppression Bureau. I wonder why the princess mentioned this?" "You should have also heard about the monstrous incidents in the capital city, where the Demon Suppression Bureau failed to find anything," Xiao Wei Yang said. "According to reason, the best course of action in such a situation would be to invite the real people from the Tian Shu Shrine to investigate." "Yet, instead of doing so, the emperor not only failed to summon the Tian Shu Shrine but also heavily relied on several monks brought by the third prince, claiming to belong to the Maitreya sect." Bai Lian cooperatively showed a look of surprise. "Monks... Could it be that you suspect those monks from the Maitreya sect to be followers of the secretive teachings of the secretive teachings of the sect?" "But I've heard that those Maitreya monks exude a bright and righteous aura, with signs of the Buddha's radiance in their every move. They don't seem like followers of a cult at all." Watching Bai Lian's surprised expression, as if she had been awakened, Xiao Wei Yang couldn't help but sneer. At this point, she couldn't tell whether Bai Lian was genuinely surprised or just pretending to be ignorant. But she didn't care about it now. If Bai Lian was really playing dumb, she'd sort out the matter with the secretive teachings after understanding the situation. After ascending the throne in her past life, the ministers always urged her to open the harem and give birth to a prince. Huh, she knew what those people were thinking, and naturally, she wouldn't consider those requests. Besides, her heart was only for her teacher. In this life, she would marry only her teacher. Even if she had to establish a successor, it would be her teacher who would be the successor. How could anyone else, be it demons or monsters, have a chance? Although she never allowed anyone into her harem until her death, to cope with the courtiers' demands, she had learned quite a few tricks from experienced maidservants. If her teacher had deceived her, it would have been a grave crime against the emperor. Such a crime would result in the execution of the entire clan. But she wasn't a demon either. She'd just have to discipline her teacher severely after understanding the situation regarding the secretive teachings. Speaking of which, her teacher had turned into a woman now... Looking at Bai Lian, who seemed so innocent and tearful, she felt that the courtiers' suggestions were somewhat reasonable. As the saying goes, a country cannot afford to be without a successor for a day. As an emperor, she couldn't afford to be impulsive. She needed to consider the country's future. When she became empress again in the future, she would immediately put the matter of succession on the agenda. As for the future successor... Bai Lian seemed like a suitable choice. She forcefully suppressed the little thoughts in her heart and said in a deep voice, "There are countless means in the world to conceal spiritual energy and identity, especially for such a cult that everyone condemns." "This princess investigated the Maitreya sect and found that it was originally just a small sect in the Western regions, mostly engaging in deceit and fraud. However, five years ago, it suddenly rose to power, swiftly annexing various Buddhist sects in the Western regions, eventually becoming the most influential sect in the area." "How could mere mice possibly have the strength to annex forces far superior to their own? There must be some force supporting them behind the scenes." "I continued my investigation and indeed found the underlying problems." "They originally used forged Buddhist scriptures, claiming to be a dispersed branch of the Hinayana Buddha Temple, to deceive the ignorant people and profit from it. But since five years ago, they no longer call themselves a branch of the Hinayana Buddha Temple. Instead, they claim to have received the transmission of the dharma from the Buddha himself, learned the Desire Heavens' music, and actively promoted their ideology under the names of disciples of the Buddha's transmission of the dharma." “Now that you mention it, those so-called Desire Heavens' music is nothing but a disguise for the Heavenly Maiden Melody of the secretive teachings. They use this so-called music to deceive and exploit people, committing all sorts of atrocities. Under their influence, the previously relatively normal Buddhist sects in the Western regions have almost all turned into dens of evil within a short five years." "It turns out that the Maitreya sect also has these secretive teachings," Bai Lian murmured upon hearing this. While playing out this part of the story, although she knew that the secretive teachings had been laying the groundwork in the Xia dynasty for a hundred years, as the incarnation of the secretive teachings in the form of the Maitreya sect, she didn't know much about the details. She originally thought that the Maitreya sect was just a sect made up by the secretive teachings, but she didn’t expect it to have an original version. She wasn't sure if these revelations were part of the game's original details or if they were part of reality's logical completion after the transformation. Of course, Xiao Wei Yang didn't find out about these secrets during the short time she had been reborn, but rather, it was the result of her investigation after she ascended to the throne. Thinking about this, she couldn't help but feel a little despondent. In her previous life, in order to ascend the throne, she had used many unscrupulous methods, even personally killing her own brother. She had thought that no matter what she did at that time, as long as she could save the country from chaos and decline, everything would be worth it. But when she finally ascended the throne and was ready to govern diligently, she was despairingly faced with the realization that everything she had done had very little effect on the increasingly declining state of the Xia Dynasty. It was as if she were a dying person. No matter how much effort she put in, she couldn't turn the tide. As the empress of Da Xia, she should have borne the destiny of the entire country, received the grace of the country's fortune, and directly ascended to the level of a Qianyuan cultivator. However, not only did she fail to receive the grace of the country's fortune, but she also felt that the country's fortune had become so thin that it had almost dissipated, as if Da Xia had been completely abandoned by the heavens. Yet, according to the divinations of the Tian Shu Shrine before the conflict of religious sects, the fortune of the country should have lasted at least another thousand years. She suddenly remembered what the ancient ancestor had said to her when she sought his help. She could even vividly recall the helplessness and self-blame on the ancient ancestor's face. It was ridiculous. All her life, she had talked about serving the will of heaven, but in the end, she could only resign herself to fate. Her eyes lowered, filled with sadness and despair. After more than a decade of her reign as empress, a coalition of the Western regions' barbarians breached the imperial city. She rejected her ancestors' proposal to flee and fought to the death in the palace, ultimately self-immolating on the Altar of Heaven. She was the doomed empress of Da Xia.