Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Two: Testing

In Dongping City, the grand performance is about to begin.
But the protagonist, Su Wen, is not present.
It’s not just because it’s still early in the morning and not yet time for him to tell the story, but also because...
Outside Dongping County, three hundred miles away, there lies another county called Donghe.
此县边临安阳河，位处于东, 因而谓之东河，就如苏问所在的东平县地处平原，地势开阔，因而谓之东平一般。
东河县依山傍水，人杰地灵，物产丰富，更有水路旱路交通, 掐着安阳府乃至孟州的运输, 地处关要, 商贸往来异常繁华，乃是安阳府首屈一指的大县。
Today is the second day of the second lunar month, known as the Dragon Raising Its Head. Donghe County is bustling with activity, especially at the Donghe Wharf built along the Anyang River. Wealthy families in the county have pooled their resources to invite a large opera troupe, which has set up a grand stage at the wharf and is performing in full swing.
The dock has halted work today, transforming into a large market and temple fair. Various stalls have been set up, and people from both inside and outside the city have gathered here to enjoy the fair, see performances, and catch the dragon head ceremony.
集市之中，一处茶摊。
一场桌子, 四条长凳，苏问坐在中央，左右是常服打扮的戴宗与樊瑞。
茶摊外，街道中，行人来往，车水马龙，好一派喧嚣的市井气息。
Suddenly...
“Make way, please!”
“The Dragon King is coming!”
With the sound of a drum, the pedestrians cleared the road.
Su Wen looked in the direction of the sound and saw a procession, all dressed in white robes and headscarves, slowly making their way down the street.
In the center of the team, there is a stone sculpture of a dragon-headed, human-bodied figure, carried by eight strong men with bare upper bodies and white headbands.
This stone sculpture is five to six men tall and appears to weigh no less than ten thousand pounds, yet the eight men can carry it steadily without showing any signs of effort, which is truly astonishing.
"Is this the Great Dragon King of the White Lotus Sect?"
"So tall and so big, it must weigh at least several tens of thousands of pounds, right?"
"Can these eight people really lift a Great Dragon King that weighs several tens of thousands of pounds?"
“You think that's an ordinary person? That's a Bailing Warrior from the Bailing Sect, each possessing a strength of ten thousand catties!”
“Every year on the second day of the second month, when the dragon raises its head, they will carry the Great Dragon King out from the temple and bring him to the banks of the Anyang River for the Dragon Head Festival. After the ceremony, they will return the Great Dragon King back to the temple, ensuring that the Donghe County will have a year of favorable weather.”
“Not just Donghe County, but along the Anyang River, which runs through the Anyang Prefecture, as long as the Anyang River has favorable weather, the entire Anyang Prefecture will enjoy good weather. Therefore, the Dragon Head Festival on the second day of the second month is taken very seriously by the nobles in Anyang Prefecture.”
“The White Lotus Sect is truly a celestial being in this world, possessing extraordinary magical powers. Ever since the White Lotus Sect established its altar and settled in our East River, our East River County has been enjoying peaceful days; all those demons and monsters that used to cause havoc have completely disappeared.”
“Isn't that so? The White Lotus Sect practices both Buddhism and Taoism, and within the sect, there are many virtuous monks and true masters. Those demons and monsters wouldn't dare cause trouble in front of them. However, it’s been said that recently a demon practitioner has arrived in Dongping with great powers. Not only did they smash the White Lotus branch in Dongping, but they also attacked Anyang Prefecture, injuring Master Bai Fozi.”
"Is there really such a thing?"
“那个妖道这般厉害，连白佛子大师都不是对手？”
“是啊，那妖道当真厉害，白佛子大师都敌他不过，只能让出东平道场。”
“Now the people of Dongping are in trouble. Without the suppression and protection of the White Lotus Sect, I don't know how many monsters and evil spirits will emerge.”
“那妖……道士能打伤白佛子大师，那法力肯定高强得很，有他坐镇应当没有什么妖魔鬼怪敢在东平县作乱吧？”
“Hmph, what do you know? That sorcerer is nothing like Master Bai Fozi; he certainly doesn't care about the lives of us common folks. He's probably too busy with his own cultivation to pay attention to any demons or monsters causing chaos.”
Everyone was discussing, going from the Dragon King to the Dragon Head Festival, then to Anyang Prefecture, from Anyang Prefecture to the White Lotus Sect, and finally from the White Lotus Sect to Dongping County.
Su Wen sipped tea while listening to the discussions around him.
Five Lotus Cult, White Lotus Sect!
They are a gang of evil cultivators.
However, for some reason, they place great importance on the folk beliefs and the faith of the common people, sparing no effort to establish sub-temples throughout the Mengzhou region. In every prefecture, county, village, and town, there are members of Five Lotus and White Lotus, who are generous and charitable, often doing good deeds, even subduing demons and protecting the land and its people. As a result, they have gained the trust of the common people, with many followers spread throughout the countryside.
But this is just the common people's view of the Wulian Sect.
Those with insight, however, hold a completely different opinion, believing that the Wulian Sect harbors great ambitions and schemes; otherwise, they wouldn't go to such lengths to win the hearts of the people.
In addition, the reputation of Wulian Sect in the cultivation world is mixed; there are often rumors that Wulian Sect is an evil sect, with reports of human sacrifices and blood offerings, backed by considerable evidence.
However, the Wulian sect does not acknowledge this, or simply ignores it. If any practitioners come to protest, the literary ones will politely send them away, while the martial ones will settle it with fists and feet. In any case, no one is harmed to the point of death; at most, they are just driven away.
Therefore, the reputation of the Wulian Sect is quite mysterious; some people are suspicious, some admire it, some avoid it, some yearn for it, some regard it as the true and orthodox path, the Buddha of ten thousand homes, while others see it as a heretical cult, a demonic entity.
但这都不能动摇苏问的看法。
五莲教绝不是什么好东西，不然怎会搞生人祭祀那一套。
现在的问题在于他们有什么目的，孟州各方势力对他们又是什么态度。
There is a faintly unusual aura within.
The various forces in Mengzhou, including the Great Zhou dynasty and local authorities, seem to be intentionally or unintentionally condoning the development of the Wulian Sect.
This is a muddy situation.
Su Wen didn't want to get involved, but being in Mengzhou, he couldn't avoid it.
Not to mention the existence of the Wulian Sect, which severely hindered his storytelling career.
He took control of Dongping County, allowing Qiao Daoqing and Lu Junyi to perform a great show, completely eliminating all the chaotic forces in Dongping County. In the end, he even led Qiao Daoqing to rush into Anyang Prefecture, defeating the White Lotus Sect's main altar leader, the White Buddha, and successfully forcing the White Lotus Sect to yield and withdraw from the Anping territory, granting this county to Qiao Daoqing as a place for his activities.
Everything seemed to be going very smoothly.
But it was only an appearance.
Su Wen overlooked one issue, which was the prestige of the White Lotus Sect among the common people.
The White Lotus Sect held an extremely high prestige among the public and the common folk, almost regarded as divine, like living Buddhas. After Su Wen drove away the White Lotus Sect and took control of Dongping County, it caused significant dissatisfaction among the local populace, leading to several instances of riots where the people attacked Lu Junyi's Golden Scale Gate and even clashed with Qiao Daoqing's side.
Moreover, the common people were quite resistant to the theater troupe he established under the name of Jinlin Gate. Even though Su Wen implemented a series of measures such as tax reductions and price cuts, the people were still unwilling to support his performances. Most who came daily were wandering individuals indifferent to the Five Lotus Sect and the White Lotus Sect.
Although the people in the rivers and lakes are also human and enjoy storytelling and performing arts just as much, their numbers are ultimately not as large as those of the common people. If the common people don't come, Su Wen's business will naturally be affected.
It's still manageable now; various promotions have been running for over two months, attracting a certain number of customers. Two months ago, when the theater troupe just opened, there was truly not a single person.
If it were just like this, it would be fine, but the Bai Lian Sect is still unwilling to let go of Dongping. They constantly engage in various underhanded tactics, and recently they have even extended their reach, deepening their probing.
So, Su Wen came to Donghe County.
The Bailian Sect tested him, and of course, he would respond in kind to probe their background and intentions, preparing early.