Zheng Guang stared at Yin Yang as if he had seen a ghost, while the middle-aged doctor stared at Zheng Guang with a look that said, "Are you out of your mind?"
Yin Yang, however, acted as if he hadn't seen a thing. He pulled on a pair of gloves and spoke.
"Hmm? Where's that little nurse?"
"She was called away by her colleagues as soon as we got here," Zheng Guang answered instinctively. Then, suddenly snapping out of it, he grabbed Yin Yang by the shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"What could be wrong with me?"
"The hospital collapsed! How could you be alright?"
"What kind of logic is that? If the hospital collapses, the hospital is in trouble. Why should I be in trouble?"
Yin Yang looked at Zheng Guang as if he were being nonsensical, then immediately began tending to the injured.
"But... but I saw you rush back in!"
"I did. But fortunately, with the protection of the Lord of Rebirth and Communion, we are all safe and sound."
"The Lord of Rebirth and Communion? No, wait—why did you even go back in?"
"You might not believe it, but I received a divine revelation. He told me to notify those people that the building was about to collapse and that they needed to run fast."
Hearing Yin Yang say he had received a divine revelation, Zheng Guang's expression immediately turned solemn.
As a professionally trained security officer, he was extremely sensitive to cults!
Yin Yang mentioning that he had "heard the divine word" was a very prominent red flag!
"A divine revelation? You can hear voices that we can't?"
Yin Yang continued debriding a patient's wound, making the person scream in pain, but he still replied.
"I know..."
"No, you don't!" Zheng Guang said with a very serious expression.
"Dong Yang, I've seen people bewitched by evil gods. At first, they were just like you, thinking they were the lucky ones, that they had received the gaze of a deity, that they were children of destiny!"
"But in the end, every single one of them ended up with their families destroyed and their lives in ruins."
"I personally saw a madman burn his wife and daughter alive, claiming it was a gift sacrificed to a true god."
"In the end, he threw himself into the flames as well, dying as he shrieked in agony."
"That is why ordinary people should stay far away from those so-called deities!"
"If you must trust a god, you'd be better off believing in the War God of Great Wei!"
He looked left and right at this point and swallowed the rest of his words.
He wanted to tell Yin Yang that although the Goddess of Harvest was also an orthodox deity recognized by Great Wei, the high-ranking officials of the empire actually only truly recognized the War God of Great Wei.
For instance, any official in Central City with a name worth mentioning was either an atheist or a believer in the War God of Great Wei; there was no third possibility!
If you claimed to believe in the Goddess of Harvest, even if your local political merit was outstanding, you could forget about being promoted to Central City.
Heh...
Keep dreaming!
He felt that he and Dong Yang were friends who had faced death together, which was why he was willing to speak so candidly.
However, with so many people around now, it wasn't convenient to speak too plainly.
"The Lord of Rebirth and Communion is not an evil god!"
Suddenly, an old man inside the tent spoke up. He looked at Zheng Guang with an exceptionally stern gaze.
"If you don't understand, then don't talk nonsense!"
"I've believed in so many gods before and none of them worked, but after I started following the Lord of Rebirth and Communion, I dreamed of my wife who passed away over ten years ago that very night."
"She said that because I believe in the Lord of Rebirth and Communion, she has now entered His divine kingdom."
"As long as I maintain my faith and do more good deeds, I can reunite with her in the divine kingdom after I die."
"What kind of evil god would tell his believers to do more good deeds?"
As soon as these words were spoken, both Zheng Guang and Yin Yang looked at each other, somewhat stunned.
Zheng Guang was stunned because he hadn't expected the Lord of Rebirth and Communion to have already started proselytizing; he had actually encountered two believers in a single tent.
Yin Yang was stunned because he hadn't known any of what the old man just said!
However, it was indeed an excellent method for spreading faith!
After all, for him, a 【High Priest】, this was his bread and butter.
"That's right, the Lord of Rebirth and Communion isn't an evil god. What evil god would let a believer treat us so cheaply?"
"Exactly! If it wasn't for the Lord of Rebirth and Communion letting Dr. Qu treat my mother, our family wouldn't have lasted until today!"
As more and more people spoke up, Zheng Guang's expression gradually grew heavier.
He realized that this so-called Lord of Rebirth and Communion had far more believers than he had anticipated!
"I was saved by the Lord of Rebirth and Communion myself. When the earthquake hit, I was in the underground garage."
"If the wall panels and the wall hadn't formed a triangle, I would have been crushed to death."
"In that environment, I had almost given up hope of survival, but I was still rescued!"
The person's face seemed to glow as they spoke.
"I was saved by the deity!"
Yin Yang's mouth twitched, knowing this was definitely the work of the lantern-carrying ghost and the blade-wielding ghost.
Even now, the two of them were still out there saving people.
Zheng Guang's expression became even more solemn. He knew in his heart that this matter had to be reported.
...
An hour later.
Reinforcements from other cities arrived.
A massive amount of supplies and personnel converged on Mangliang City.
Su Baadao directly partitioned an area to build a temporary hospital.
From the very beginning, he had been organizing the rescue efforts alongside everyone else, staying on the front lines.
After the four Earth Dragon Jars were sealed, no more aftershocks occurred.
By evening, the casualty statistics were compiled.
In Mangliang City, a total of over 11,000 people had died, with several thousand more missing. The number of injured was countless.
This was only because he happened to be conducting an earthquake drill; otherwise, the death toll might have been several times higher!
Even for Su Baadao, these numbers felt like a heavy weight upon his heart.
This wasn't his first time being a City Lord, but it was the first time such massive casualties had occurred during his tenure!
Even though he had done everything he could, the dead were dead!
This would become an excuse for his political rivals to attack him.
When the Meng City Security Bureau was bombed and the Command Center besieged, those people buzzed like flies for a long time; they certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity.
At a time like this, he needed a scapegoat!
Su Baadao instinctively looked toward the Security Bureau.
Four transcendent items capable of triggering natural disasters were kept there. He believed the higher-ups would definitely be interested in them.
Regardless of the details, the True Knowledge Society was the perfect candidate to take the fall!
'By now, Teacher should already know everything, right?'
...
Central City.
"Phew—"
Su Baadao's teacher stood up and rubbed his stiff lower back.
"Baadao's fortune has not been good these past two years."
A steward nearby hurried over to support him, but the old man waved him off.
"I'm not so old that I need that yet. Prepare the car."
"Yes, sir."
The steward hurried off to make the arrangements, while the old man walked toward the gate, murmuring softly to himself.
"That is the way of the world: after a long peace comes great chaos, and after great chaos comes peace."
"Looking at it now, the peace has lasted too long. Things are about to get chaotic again."
"That disciple of mine might just be the one to ride the waves of these chaotic times."
As he spoke, he reached the entrance. The driver got out and opened the rear door with the utmost respect.
After the old man got into the car, the driver gently closed the door and returned to the driver's seat.
"To the Wannian Platform."
"Yes, sir."
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