Chapter 137 (2): Master, I Can't Control My Bloodlust

As they made their way out onto the street, Yin Shengong shivered involuntarily as a gust of wind blew over him.

His clothes were drenched with sweat, making the wind feel particularly cold and penetrative.

All of a sudden, Aunt Hong seemed to have spotted something in the darkness, and she appeared high up in the sky in a wraith-like fashion before raising a hand.

A burst of red exploded in the night sky, and several figures instantly sprang out of the darkness before fleeing for their lives.

"I'm going to spare you all this time, but don't push your luck! If I catch any repeat offenders, I'll pursue you straight to your clans next time!"

After delivering that stern warning, Aunt Hong returned to Yin Shengong's side before giving him a reassuring smile.

"Were... Were all of those people here to kill me?" Yin Shengong stammered in a fearful manner.

"I can tell you're trying to gain my sympathy, but your terrible acting skills are really letting you down, Pope Yin," Aunt Hong chuckled, exposing his ploy.

Yin Shengong could only give her a sheepish smile.

By the time they returned to the inn, Wu Xiang was already bursting at the seams with curiosity.

Aunt Hong bade Yin Shengong farewell before departing, not even bothering to spare Wu Xiang a glance.

"Aunt Hong personally escorted you back?" Wu Xiang asked with a stunned expression.

Yin Shengong shook his head with a wry smile as he entered the room on unsteady legs, then collapsed straight onto the bed.

After taking a moment to rest, he guzzled down an entire kettle full of water, then sputtered, "I can't believe I'm still alive!"

Wu Xiang was perplexed.

"What's wrong with you? You don't seem injured. Did you get sick?"

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Yin Shengong motioned for Wu Xiang to come closer, then whispered into his ear, "The one who invited me to dinner tonight wasn't Mistress Yan Beihan; it was Deputy Pope Yan."

Wu Xiang was so astonished to hear this that he jumped up into the air, and Yin Shengong had to clamp a hand over his mouth to keep him quiet.

Even after Yin Shengong removed his hand from Wu Xiang's mouth, the latter continued to gawk at him in astonishment.

"Please keep this a secret for me."

Wu Xiang hurriedly nodded in response as he stared at Yin Shengong with an envious expression.

Yin Shengong took a deep breath to regain his composure, then smiled as he said, "Let's have a drink tonight, Chief Supervisor Wu. It'll be my treat!"

"I'm never one to turn down a free drink!"

Even though it was already very late at night, the two of them ordered a table of wine and dishes, then drank until daylight, but all they did was exchange some stories of their past and didn't talk about anything else.

However, from this point onward, Wu Xiang's opinion of Yin Shengong had clearly been signifcantly elevated.

For the first time in his life, Yin Shengong was able to experience what it felt like to be flattered by his superior, and it was thanks to his prized disciple.

***

The next morning, Yin Shengong was already waiting outside the headquarters bright and early for his official audience with Yan Nan.

After waiting for an hour, he was finally invited inside.

Yan Nan praised Yin Shengong extensively for the One Heart Church's White Cloud Prefecture branch helm, then announced his reward.

"The One Heart Church will receive eight thousand merit points, a vial of Overlord tier Cloud Spirit Pills, ten thousand divine crystals, ten thousand premium Amethysts, fifty thousand premium spirit crystals, half a kilogram of divine spirit tea..."

It was a long list of rewards that had everyone present gawking in astonishment.

The rewards were surely excessive for a branch helm, no matter how brilliant this branch helm was!

After that, Yan Nan offered Yin Shengong some words of encouragement, and that was that, leaving all of the onlookers perplexed.

You summoned him all the way to the main church just for this? You're not even going to ask him anything?

However, it then quickly occurred to many people that Yan Nan had most likely already met with Yin Shengong the night before at dinner with Yan Beihan.

After Yin Shengong kowtowed and accepted his rewards, Yan Nan asked, "Have you been experiencing any difficulties?"

"No, Deputy Pope Yan."

"I heard that some people from the main church want to kill you, is that right?"

"There must be some type of misunderstanding, Deputy Pope Yan. You were the one who summoned here, so I'm sure no one would dare to be so brazen."

"I fear that I've grown old and no longer have the same level of authority over the church as I once did. If some people want to kill you, then there's nothing I can do."

"Hardly, Deputy Pope Yan. If I didn't know any better, I would think that there was a fountain of youth in your back garden."

"You can go now."

In the wake of Yin Shengong's departure, the entire room fell into an uneasy silence.

Even though Yan Nan had spoken in a placid tone of resignation just now, his words had been practically dripping with killing intent.

Clearly, anyone who dared to try and target Yin Shengong would be made to regret it.

"Which of you are the direct superiors of Li Chengfeng and Wang Tianlu?" Yan Nan asked.

Two people stepped forward uneasily before falling to their knees.

"For the next three years, those two clans are not allowed to do or say anything. If I hear anything from those two clans, I will be punishing you two alongside them."

"Yes, Deputy Pope Yan."

Even as the two returned to their original positions, they were still feeling none the wiser.

What have the Wang Clan and the Li Clan done? And what kind of order is this? They're not allowed to say or do anything? What exactly does that entail?

After a quick discussion, the two of them decided to order the two clans to go into lockdown for the next three years, during which all of their members would also be forbidden from using their communication jades.

***

Yin Shengong stepped out of the headquarters, feeling as light as air.

He knew that he was safe for now, at least during his time at the capital.

Looking out at the vast city sprawled out before him, he felt like a transcendent immortal about to take to the heavens.

So this is what the view looks like at the top. I'm most likely never going to be able to reach these heights, but as long as Night Demon doesn't suffer a premature demise, he will almost certainly stand here someday.

Filled with pride and hope for the future, Yin Shengong pulled out his communication jade to message Fang Che. "My safety at the main church is now no longer a concern. Why didn't you tell me that you asked favors of Mistress Yan and Young Master Chen for my sake?"

"I've only done something expected of me. Was I meant to turn around and ask you for a reward? How ungrateful would I have to be to do something like that?"

A pleased smile appeared on Yin Shengong's face as he instructed: "From here onward, I want you to focus on the Guardian selection trials. You must represent them in the friendly matches, and you must do well."

"But if I do well for them, wouldn't that hurt the interests of our main church? What if someone blames you for this?"

"These are Deputy Pope Yan's instructions."

"I see. In that case, make sure to look after yourself, Master. I will be eagerly awaiting your return. I've recently set my sights on quite a few targets, and I want to take them out so I can finally get back to doing some killing!"

Yin Shengong was given a huge fright by this message, and he hurriedly replied: "You're not allowed to kill anyone! Don't forget that you're a chief administrator at the Hall of Protectionists! You can kill members of the Church of the Self-Righteous, but don't even think about touching any Protectionists or Guardians! Do you hear me? That's an order!"

"But why, Master? Weren't you just talking to me about the importance of killing Protectionists during your last visit?"

Yin Shengong heaved a resigned sigh of exasperation.

"Why are you suddenly so eager to kill people?"

"After you left last time, I felt really tormented for a few days, but after that, something changed, and I didn't care anymore. All of a sudden, I wanted to kill whoever I didn't like the look of. I know this is a dangerous mindset to have, but it's like something inside me has been awakened. It's very strange, and the urges are very difficult to repress."

Yin Shengong was aghast!

Just as he had feared, he had pushed Night Demon from one extreme to another, and he was feeling even more remorseful of his decision to put Night Demon through that test on his previous visit.

"You are absolutely not allowed to kill anyone! Right now, your mission is to do the best possible job at the Hall of Protectionists and think about nothing else! Do you hear me?"

If he had been in the southeast, he would've already swooped into the Virtue Manor to give Night Demon a vicious beating!

Could he not go just one second without starting any trouble?!

Fang Che was very relieved to see Yin Shengong's stern response.

Finally, he had managed to make amends for the grief and distress that he had displayed after killing Zuo Guanglie and his band of brothers.

If Yin Shengong were to ever grow paranoid of him again for some reason, then his display on that day would be a point of suspicion, so he had to address it somehow.

He didn't know what Yin Shengong had experienced in the main church, but he was certain that he had managed to win over Yin Shengong once again through the requests that he had made to Yan Beihan and Chen Yin.

Times like these were when Yin Shengong was going to be at his most benevolent, so Fang Che had to take full advantage.

"How did you convince Mistress Yan and Young Master Chen Yin to protect me?"

"I just had to ask. I owe each of them a favor for this, but it's no big deal."

"No big deal? Do you understand what it entails to owe favors to people of their status?"

"You are the most important person in my life, Master. I would gladly do anything for your sake. In my eyes, owing a few favors is a tiny price to pay in exchange for your safety."

Yin Shengong heaved a long sigh to the heavens, his heart filled with immense satisfaction.

Night Demon had become his pride and joy after the previous Parasite Ascension Project, and since then, this disciple of his had only become more and more important to him, to the point that he genuinely didn't think he would be able to live with himself if something were to happen to Night Demon.