Chapter 188 - Is It Funny That the Reincarnated Senior Sister Is Also Being Pursued?

"The demon possessing the lost heart has the protection of a Buddhist bead, and it only infiltrated the Palace of Wanyang half a year ago." Xiao Cheng Yin said with a slight frown, "The monks of the Maitreya sect also arrived in the capital half a year ago. Could it be that their intention to harm Wanyang is what's behind this?" Due to the idea of Xia Huangzun Dao, who has held a light view of Buddhism for nearly a hundred years, the large and small Buddhist temples in the Heavenly Summer Capital were generally in a state of decline, until the recent change in Xia Huang's attitude brought some improvement. Even so, it was quite difficult for them to produce a bead with such strong Buddha nature. Therefore, Xiao Cheng Yin naturally suspected the Maitreya sect. "It's not certain yet, but the Buddha nature protecting the demon with the lost heart is very strong, obviously not something an ordinary Buddhist disciple can possess." Bai Lian didn't directly answer, but indirectly indicated the suspicion of the Maitreya sect. Originally, she also thought that the Maitreya sect, as one of the masterminds behind the plot to harm Wanyang by orchestrating the demonic possession at the Palace of Wanyang since they were also behind the occurrence of the drama of the religious dispute in the game, would be one of the culprits. But now she was hesitating. Because such a plot was too obvious, as if directly telling you, "I did these things." The problem was, what benefit does the Maitreya sect have in doing these things? In the game, their ultimate goal was to pull the Godly Restrictor from the position of the state religion of the Great Xia. Everything they did was centered around this goal. Yet what was happening now seemed to deviate significantly from their original objective. If the demons harming people could be explained as their intentional creation of trouble and then solving it themselves to increase their prestige in the Heavenly Summer Capital, laying the groundwork to vie with the Godly Restrictor for the position of state religion in the future, then the rumor of Wanyang being possessed and the appearance of the demon with the lost heart had no reasonable explanation. It couldn't be that they also have memories of their past lives, realized that Wanyang is their biggest obstacle in the competition for the position of state religion, and so decided to stifle this obstacle in the cradle, right? If that were really the case, then she would have to consider... Was the game she played in her past life really just a game? Of course, given the current situation, regardless of whether the demon with the lost heart was the hand of the Maitreya sect or not, she would be happy to see the Maitreya sect take responsibility for it. "Hmph, if it's really the doings of those bald donkeys, then don't blame me for being ruthless." Xiao Cheng Yin said with a dark expression. "Intending to harm the princess, I want to see how many of them I can chop off!" "Let them in. I want to see what explanation they have!" Soon, the palace maids of Changning Palace brought Chen Yuan and the monks of the Maitreya sect inside. Because this was the prince's sleeping palace, Chen Yuan did not dare to bring a group of followers like in the small forest, but only brought two monks. However, judging by the strength of these three individuals, they probably wouldn't be weaker than the group from before. Not to mention that Chen Yuan himself was a later stage Tengyun cultivator. Even the two monks following behind him were also at the Tengyun level. Bai Lian was not surprised. In the game, she only began the religious dispute plotline after finishing the Tournament of Heavenly Divinity. By then, she already had an early Tengyun cultivation, so naturally her opponents were also at a similar level. She just hadn't expected these monks of the Maitreya sect to appear in the Heavenly Summer Capital so early. Even before the Tournament of Heavenly Divinity had started, they were already laying out plans. If she had not forcefully broken through due to an accident in Gusu City, she would probably have had a much harder time facing these monks of the Maitreya sect. Of course, in the game's religious dispute plotline, the test was not her own strength, but rather her ability to navigate between various forces. After all, in the later stage of the religious dispute, it was all about grand cultivators of the Huayang and Qianyuan realms. Those grand cultivators could send her soaring with just a wave of their hand. Therefore, she played more of a role as a bridge between various forces in the plotline. Of course, these were more formal ways of saying it. In reality, what she did most in the religious dispute plotline was meeting the parents. For example, as Mu Xinghe's Dao companion, she was brought by Mu Xinghe to meet the Seven Sons of the Godly Restrictor; as the future horseman, she was taken to meet the Empress by Wanyang, or being chased by Heavenly Profound Cult's Motherly Love Overflowing Witch due to making Jiang Miao dizzy and confused.... "Junior official Chen Yuan pays respects to His Highness, the Princess," Chen Yuan said upon seeing Xiao Cheng Yin and Bai Lian in the room, quickly bowing in courtesy. As a cultivator in the world of cultivation, Great Xia had some differences compared to the ancient nations in Bai Lian's memories. For example, Great Xia did not follow the submissive traditions of kneeling, and ordinary officials, even in front of the emperor, did not need to kneel aside from specific circumstances. This was especially true for a martial officer like Chen Yuan, who only needed to bow in courtesy. Of course, it was not excluded that some people sought to curry favor and took the initiative to kneel. Bai Lian looked at him and said coldly, "Chen, as the commander of the Demon-sealing Bureau, truly displays a great deal of power." Chen Yuan immediately showed a sincere and fearful expression, saying, "Junior official is afraid..." "The Princess's guards were ordered to pursue the demon who was plotting against the Princess. You, Chen, not only dared to block us, but even tried to capture the Princess's friend. Do you not regard the Princess highly?" Bai Lian's voice was cold as she spoke. After listening to Bai Lian's cold tone, Chen Yuan quickly knelt down and earnestly said, "Princess, Junior official was acting out of concern for the demon escaping and causing harm to the people of the capital. I had to stop him decisively. Junior official has a patriotic heart and never intended to anger the Princess. I am truly guilty. Only, the matter of the demon with the lost heart has not been resolved. I ask the Princess to calm her anger. Once this matter is over, if the Princess wants to punish me, I will accept it." Bai Lian found this shameless statement quite constipating. During her time as the Empress in her previous life, there were officials in the court just like him – openly looting the people blindly, yet outwardly, they acted as loyal and righteous officials. It made her wish she could dispose of them quickly. Unfortunately, she couldn't get a hold of their handles and could only watch them swagger about, leaving her increasingly frustrated, unable to change anything. This feeling of being powerless despite having the desire to act spread throughout her reign as Empress for over a decade until she finally burned herself. At times, she wondered what the outcome would have been if her teacher had been by her side? Unfortunately, reality didn't allow for "if," because she was the one who killed her teacher. Now going through the same feeling again, she couldn't help but clench her fist, feeling uncontrollable frustration rising and wanting to kick Chen Yuan out. But the next moment, her tightly clenched fist was engulfed by something soft and warm. She turned her head and collided with Bai Lian's gentle gaze. That gentle look was like a clear spring, soothing her agitated heart. Big Sister, she suddenly calmed down, as if her teacher was still by her side.