And behind her, forty-three core followers of the Church of Lifeless were kneeling neatly. They varied in height and build, but besides their somewhat pale faces, there were no other commonalities visible.

Everyone’s necks had a knife against them, making them dare not move, dare not make a sound.

All those who shouted to die for the Divine Master had already been killed.

Among these core followers, some were members of the Red Ha Tribe, yet their young lord was now kneeling before Yuwen Ze; how could the others dare to speak up?

Gao Xingwu stepped forward to report: "Young lord, from the list of all core cult followers, twenty-three were killed on the spot, forty-three captured, not a single one escaped."

Yuwen Ze brushed his braid and jumped down from the carriage, walking to the old mother of Lifeless, lifting her head with his boot, looking down at her condescendingly: "Do you know what would happen in the past if one was caught secretly preaching on the grassland?"

"Hohoho." The old woman knelt on the ground, face up, her mouth full of blood, yet she kept laughing at Yuwen Ze.

Laughing oddly, laughing horrifyingly, laughing fearlessly.

Yuwen Ze looked at her, and said nothing more.

Swish!

A samurai’s machete cuts down, and a cult follower’s head rolled away.

Silent for a few breaths.

Swish!

The blade flashed.

Another head rolled.

There were those pleading—"Wait, wait, I know what you want to ask, whatever the old mother knows I know, don’t kill me, I’ll tell you everything!"

There were those cursing—"To dare desecrate the Spirit God and slaughter God’s servants, you shall perish without burial, never to be reborn!"

But from beginning to end, Yuwen Ze merely looked at the old mother of Lifeless.

The samurai of the Yuwen Family also made no other sounds.

Only the machete cuts down over and over, only the heads of the cult followers rolled away one by one.

This pressure of silence spread like submerging one underwater.

The old mother of Lifeless finally stopped laughing.

She looked at Yuwen Ze with venomous eyes: "Who are you, what do you want?"

Then she let out a cry of pain, "Ah!"

Her left ear was cut off!

"I’m not used to being questioned." Yuwen Ze said, tossing back the machete with a touch of red to the samurai.

His tone was very casual: "In that case, why don’t you tell me, who are you, and what do you want?"

Clearly, at Cangyu Patrol Yamen, Yuwen Ze must be a very competent interrogator, adept at managing the rhythm of questioning.

The old woman was now full of blood, her excessively weak body, and the constantly increasing pressure had almost breached her defense.

She trembled, speaking slowly: "I am the old mother of Lifeless, I came to the grassland... to spread the Divine’s glory."

"Within your sect, what position does the old mother of Lifeless hold?"

"The old mother of Lifeless is self-titled, convenient for preaching on the grassland... My position in the sect is Earth Spirit Envoy."

"Seventy-two Earth Fiends." Yuwen Ze was a bit surprised: "Your sect is quite powerful!"

The old woman said: "I only know I am an Earth Spirit Envoy, and I only know the situation of the grassland outpost. I don’t know where the other Earth Fiend envoys are, don’t know how many there are, and don’t know how powerful the sect truly is."

"Makes sense." Yuwen Ze nodded, examining her again: "Honestly, seeing you like this, I don’t quite have the heart to go heavy-handed. You’re so old and still causing harm, there must be a reason. Tell me how you joined the Church of Lifeless?"

Blood moved slowly within deep wrinkles, the old woman’s face was blank, and her eyes were hollow: "It was shortly after I got married. One night, the house was robbed. There were three of them, two pig-killing knives, and a hammer, took everything of value. They said if I kept them company, they wouldn’t kill us. I kept them company. They still cut my husband’s throat and stabbed me twice. Then lit a fire, burned my home. I jumped into a water tank, it didn’t burn me to death. That’s when I thought, whoever can avenge me, I’m willing to do anything. The deity responded to me."

"Just married?" Yuwen Ze examined her: "May I ask your age?"

"Twenty-one." The old woman said.

After a moment of silence, Yuwen Ze said: "Tell me about your deity, what does it look like, what miracles has it shown, how powerful is it?"

"I’ve never seen, it only appeared in my heart, it’s a voice, so kind..." The old woman murmured, suddenly her eyes rolled white, staring straight at Yuwen Ze! Her voice too turned eerie and dreadful: "What do you think... a deity is!?"

In the big tent where the old mother of Lifeless was dragged out, her deity was enshrined.

A ghastly white altar, a faceless wooden deity statue, white candles offered... everything very familiar.

Gao Xingwu captured the old mother of Lifeless, not noticing those furnishings.

Jiang Wang naturally noticed them, but he did not warn Yuwen Ze, nor did he sweep away the altar immediately, just silently observed everything. Last time in Cheng Country, he hurried, prioritized concealment, he deemed his strength then was insufficient to contact Zhang Linchuan.

Today is naturally different. Not to mention he has achieved God Arrives, capable of handling most unexpected events. More importantly, this is Mugu, what evil god arrives here could not be suppressed? No matter how terrifying Zhang Linchuan is, could he change the sky here?

Just as the old mother of Lifeless mentioned the Deity, the previously extinguished white candles instantly ignited, wafting a faint fragrance, the faceless, eerie deity statue in the altar suddenly opened a pair of eyes!

The old woman at this time broke free from all restraints, her voice dry like an old crow, screeching and leaping up—

"Those who disrespect shall die!"