Chapter 1047: Stepping on Your Feet
Overnight, the Holy Mother Cult completely relocated all resources within the Underworld Office's territory, including its believers.
During this period, Yang Haoran neither intervened nor secretly obstructed the Holy Mother Cult in any way. He honored his promise, allowing the Holy Mother Cult's members to withdraw as they pleased.
However, with the Holy Mother Cult having withdrawn completely with its believers, the territory he had taken over was left desolate. Only a handful of ordinary people remained, and without exception, these very few ordinary people were all the Death God's most devout followers. It was precisely for this reason that they chose to stay; otherwise, they would certainly have left this place with the Holy Mother Cult's people.
Inside the largest Death God Temple in Gu Mo City, Yang Haoran gathered all the remaining ordinary people. Standing before the shattered divine statue, looking at the fewer than two hundred elderly, weak, sick, and disabled individuals before him, he couldn't help but inwardly curse Xia Xinger, that Saint of the Holy Mother Cult.
The number of ordinary people in this area was originally quite considerable, but now fewer than two hundred remained. All of this was because Xia Xinger had taken everyone else away, so how could he possibly not have an opinion about it?
Xia Xinger had indeed returned this territory to him, and for that, he genuinely ought to thank her.
However, Xia Xinger had left him with only an empty shell, which in his view was a bit excessive. Yet, he couldn't very well stop her; after all, she had already returned the territory to him, merely taking away what belonged to the Holy Mother Cult. What was wrong with that?
It was reasonable to say that what she took belonged to the Holy Mother Cult. Whether it was believers or items, even if they had once belonged to the Underworld Office, that was merely in the past. Once the Holy Mother Cult occupied this area, these things no longer belonged to the Underworld Office but to the Holy Mother Cult. It was perfectly reasonable for Xia Xinger to take these things, and he had no grounds to stop her, even if he wanted to.
The fewer than two hundred believers before him had not left with the Holy Mother Cult's people, and thus no longer needed to work for the Holy Mother Cult. However, they were still ordinary people and required food to survive.
When they previously worked for the Holy Mother Cult, food was naturally provided by the Holy Mother Cult. Regardless of whether the food was good or bad, or if they could eat their fill, it at least allowed them to survive and avoid starvation.
Now that they had chosen to stay, the Holy Mother Cult would certainly no longer provide them with any food. This matter, naturally, fell upon Yang Haoran. Otherwise, with the abilities of these ordinary people, acquiring food in Gu Mo City would be harder than ascending to heaven!
As an Emissary of Death, Yang Haoran naturally couldn't ignore these devout believers. If he couldn't even guarantee the most basic food supply, then he would be too much of a failure as an Emissary of Death. If word of this got out, it wouldn't just be a simple matter of losing face; it would be troublesome for him to recruit more Death God believers here. After all, if he couldn't even ensure basic food, who would be willing to follow him?
Yang Haoran temporarily entrusted this matter to Huang Sha and Xiang Chuan. With their abilities, acquiring some food in Gu Mo City wouldn't be difficult. As for how to resolve this problem in the future, he would figure out a solution then. What he needed to do now was rebuild the Death God Temple.
Once the Death God Temple was successfully rebuilt, its significance would be different. It would mean that the Underworld Office once again had a base in Gu Mo City. As for whether this base would be destroyed by other forces, that would depend on his own capabilities.
Yang Haoran entrusted the rebuilding of the temple to Shui Ling and Lu Wu. The two of them would be in charge of supervision, while the fewer than two hundred believers and the newly trained Night Watchers would serve as the primary labor for the temple's reconstruction.
As for him, the Emissary of Death, he naturally didn't have the time to lay bricks and tiles for the temple, for he had far more important matters to attend to.
Under his arrangements, the reconstruction work commenced. Usable materials from the ruins would continue to be utilized, while unusable ones would be discarded. Other necessary materials could be sourced from within the territory managed by the Underworld Office. Although the Holy Mother Cult's withdrawal took many things, some items that couldn't be carried away were not destroyed but left behind by the Holy Mother Cult, and among these were building materials.
Under the guidance of Shui Ling and Lu Wu, everyone busied themselves. Only Yang Haoran remained, appearing entirely idle.
Appearing idle did not mean he was truly at ease. On the contrary, the pressure Yang Haoran faced at this moment was immense.
Since ordinary people possessed no inner strength, many tasks that those with power could accomplish were simply beyond them. Even if they could manage some things, their efficiency couldn't compare to that of non-ordinary individuals.
For this very reason, the work efficiency of nearly two hundred Death God believers couldn't even match that of nineteen Night Watchers.
Although these Night Watchers were mere novices, not yet fully adept at controlling their own power, they were exceptionally skilled at using their strength to move heavy objects, and their efficiency was far beyond what ordinary people could ever achieve.
Soon, to the cheers of the crowd, a colossal Death God statue rose anew, standing remarkably conspicuous within the now-ruined Death God Temple.
For both the Night Watchers and the ordinary believers, the Death God's statue was their spiritual anchor. With the statue standing tall, their excitement was palpable.
Yang Haoran gazed at the statue towering amidst the ruins, his emotions not as fervent as those of the believers. At this moment, his mind was occupied with other thoughts.
His current actions would undoubtedly provoke attacks from other factions, especially the Spirit Mediums, who would certainly not allow him to successfully rebuild the temple. Although this wasn't the outcome he desired, from the current situation, it would soon become a reality whether he wanted to see it or not.
Originally, he hadn't wanted to expose himself so blatantly to the major powers so quickly. However, the killing of his followers, combined with the Holy Mother Cult's withdrawal, forced him to emerge from the shadows into the open ahead of schedule.
At this point, continued evasion was meaningless; it would surely lead to the demise of these remaining believers. Therefore, he would not choose that path. What he could do now was to meet force with force, to rebuild the Death God Temple with an unyielding stance. No matter who came to stop him, he would not yield a single step. If necessary, he could even "kill the chicken to warn the monkey," thereby sending a message to the major powers of Gu Mo City: that Yang Haoran was no pushover.
He had already mentally prepared himself to face attacks from other forces at any time. The reason he hadn't gone elsewhere but remained here, watching his believers rebuild the temple, was precisely to guard this place. If anyone came seeking trouble, he wouldn't be without a powerful enforcer.
Soon, events proved his foresight correct. Just as the believers present were cheering for the statue's erection, the space above the statue's head suddenly fluctuated violently, and then a spatial rift appeared.
This sight caused the cheers of the present believers to abruptly cease. Everyone's gaze was drawn to the suddenly appearing spatial rift, and under their collective stares, a figure emerged from within the rift.
The person appeared middle-aged, small in stature, and leaned on a crutch, giving off an impression that was both lecherous and eerie.
"Heh heh, if you want to see far enough, you must stand high enough. I think the top of this statue would make a good perch."
The lecherous man chuckled. His laughter, besides being chilling, carried a malevolent undertone. Amplified by his power, his voice echoed over the temple ruins, clearly reaching the ears of every believer present.
The expressions of the believers present changed once more. They all could tell that this lecherous man boded no good, yet none of them panicked and fled. Some watched the man warily, others turned their gaze to Shui Ling and Lu Wu, and still others looked directly at Yang Haoran, the Emissary of Death.
After the lecherous man's words fell, he limped out of the spatial rift and began walking towards the top of the Death God statue. It seemed he was not only lecherous in appearance but also a cripple.
But none of this was the most crucial point. The most crucial point was that he seemed intent on trampling the Death God statue underfoot!
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