Qiu Yizi smiled awkwardly: "This... How is this possible? I have known Senior Brother Yu for a long time. I guess Senior Brother Yu didn't know this Brother Yin at that time! Doesn't Senior Brother Yu know my background?"
Yin Tai heard it clearly from below, took a few steps forward, and said, "Before Qiu Yizhi became a county magistrate, he was a clerk in the Youyan Army. It was only natural for him to pretend to be a disciple of the Holy Church and come to gain the trust of the Lord of the Temple. He has made such a contribution, so of course the emperor wants to reward him, so he was appointed as the magistrate of Shanyin County..."
The logic of Yin Tai's words was so perfect that Yu Mei couldn't help but feel suspicious and was speechless for a moment.
Qiu Yizhi, who was standing by, was very flustered after hearing Yin Tai's guess. Although it was not completely correct, it was almost right. He managed to force a smile and said, "Is this Brother Yin? You tell a good story. Let me ask you, if it is really as you said, why would I give up my job as the magistrate of Shanyin and go to the Holy Religion's Dharma Assembly?"
Yin Tai sneered and said, "You are a lackey of the imperial court, so you must serve the imperial court. The Tianzun Sect has always been an enemy of the imperial court, so you must have some bad intentions by sneaking in!"
"Brother Yin, this is all just speculation. Do you have any real evidence?" Qiu Yizi's expression suddenly changed, and he said sternly, "If you can't produce it, don't blame me for turning hostile!"
This time it was Yin Tai's turn to be nervous. Although he was very sure that the "Xu Jia" standing on the altar was undoubtedly Qiu Yizi, he had no evidence at the moment.
While he was worrying, Yin Tai suddenly caught a glimpse of the precious sword on Qiu Yi's waist, and immediately smiled: "Here comes the real evidence! I still remember your sword, the blade is pure black and extremely sharp, even the Japanese swords can hardly match it! Since this is my first meeting with you, how can I know your treasure?"
Qiu Yizi was stunned when he heard this, and thought: I have only seen Yin Tai in front of the Confucius Temple in Jinling City and in a ravine halfway to Shanyin County. He never showed this Western Region sword at that time. How did he know about the power of my sword
But Yin Tai was still not giving up, and turned to Yu Mei and said, "Master Yu, do you remember that I once led a few Japanese to kidnap Miao Zhen halfway? Later, because the Japanese were useless, Miao Zhen was successfully escorted to Jinling City and beheaded. After that, I mobilized a few masters from the Holy Church to go for revenge, but in the end, we also failed. I have told you all these things, do you remember?"
Of course Yu Mei remembered and nodded vigorously.
Yin Tai then said, "The person I fought against time and again was none other than this good junior fellow student next to you, 'Xu Jia'! He is also the magistrate of Shanyin County, Qiu Yizi! It was during these two fights that I learned about the precious sword in his hand. If Master Yu doesn't believe me, you can ask him to pull out the sword and give it a try!"
When Qiu Yizi listened to Yin Tai's words, he remembered that when he was escorting Miaozhen to Nanjing for trial, he was indeed stopped by Japanese pirates. There was indeed a masked Han Chinese among the pirates at that time. Could this person be Yin Tai
Yu Mei looked at Yin Tai, then at Qiu Yizi, and then looked down at the knife on his waist. Suspicion filled his heart, and he scratched his head for a long time before he said in embarrassment: "Junior Brother Xu, of course I trust you. But Junior Brother Yin is also my confidant... Since Junior Brother Xu has a clear conscience, why not try this knife?"
Qiu Yizi hurriedly said, "I bought this precious sword from a wealthy overseas businessman, and it is indeed very sharp. I don't know where this Senior Brother Yin heard the news from, or maybe he is an expert in precious swords, so he came here to joke with me!"
Yu Mei pondered for a moment and thought: "Xu Jia's words are obviously intended to excuse himself. Although there is no evidence, there is nothing wrong with it...
But Yin Tai said again: "Humph! There are indeed many weapons in the world that are known as precious swords and sabers, but most of them are just for reputation. How many of them can really cut iron like mud? If you don't dare to test the sword, then you are just using sweet words to deceive people!"
He bowed to Yu Mei again, deliberately raised his voice, and said: "Master Yu, this matter is of great importance. If this person escapes and reports the situation to the government troops, the government troops will immediately come to encircle and suppress him. Then, won't all the people gathered here be caught in one fell swoop?"
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a commotion in the main hall of Baoqing Temple. The Tianzun sect believers who were kneeling on the ground began to whisper to each other:
"I think what Senior Brother Yin said makes sense. This 'Xu Jia' has an unknown origin and is indeed suspicious!"
"That's right. He refused to test the knife when asked to do so. It's obvious that he is guilty!"
"But what can a mere knife prove? Even if the knife is sharp, is there only one sharp blade in the world?"
"What do you know? This Xu Jia suddenly appeared, his origins are unknown, and his behavior is indeed suspicious!"
"Nonsense! What do you mean by unknown origin? He is an old friend of Lord Yu! If his origin is unknown, then doesn't Lord Yu's origin also have an unknown origin?"
"Didn't you hear what Senior Brother Yin said just now? He was originally an undercover agent of the imperial court, and came here to deceive Altar Master Yu!"
"What? How could Lord Yu, who is so smart, be fooled?"
Yu Mei could hear clearly while standing on the altar. Hearing that the believers below were doubting him, he couldn't help feeling a little uneasy - you know, his position as the altar master was not conferred by the leader or the saint, so it was actually fake and could not stand up to scrutiny!
However, this "Xu Jia" did have a life-and-death friendship with Yu Mei, and he was also a mediocre person with little strategy and indecisiveness. For a moment, he was at a loss. Although he could still stand still on the altar, his heart was already in turmoil.
At this time, Yin Tai said again: "Since Master Yu still remembers the old friendship, why not do this. Please ask this 'Xu Jia' to go to the back hall to rest first, and then confront me later. It won't be too late. Don't miss the Dharma Assembly."
Qiu Yizi's heart moved after hearing this: this Yin Tai was originally a good-for-nothing dandy, but he didn't expect that after just a few months of training, he had made such progress - although he didn't say this directly, his actual meaning was clear - he wanted to put himself under house arrest.
Qiu Yizhi was guilty, so he certainly couldn't do what Yin Tai said. So he gritted his teeth, pretended to be angry, and said, "Since Senior Brother Yu doesn't trust me, there's no point in me staying here any longer. Humph! Goodbye!"
After saying that, Qiu Yi turned around and was about to leave the hall.
However, in the blink of an eye, the followers beside Yin Tai had jumped to Qiu Yizi's side and trapped him from both sides, making it impossible for him to move forward or backward.
Qiu Yizi turned his head to take a closer look at these people, only to see that they were short, no more than five feet tall, and looked similar to people from the Central Plains, yet quite strange - just like the Japanese pirates he had encountered when he was escorting Miaozhen to Nanjing for trial.
Seeing this situation, Qiu Yizi suddenly realized: Just now in the meditation room behind the main hall, Yu Mei kept saying that after he made a fortune, he would cross the sea to Japan. It turned out that the person who was in charge of the contact was Yin Tai; as for how Yin Tai got in touch with these Japanese, it was still unknown.
So Qiu Yizhi stopped retreating and took a step forward, pointing his finger at Yin Tai under the altar, and scolded him, "Yin Tai, I wanted to let you go, but you didn't repent and colluded with the Japanese pirates to cause chaos. Do you know your crime?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he regretted it - this generous remark from his heart had actually acknowledged his identity as an official appointed by the court - and quickly turned his head to look at Yu Mei.
Yu Mei also looked shocked. After a long while, she stammered, "Xu...Xu Junior Brother...Are you...are you really a spy...a spy for the imperial court?"
Without waiting for Qiu Yizhi's reply, Yin Tai at the altar said loudly: "Master Yu, he has just confessed, and he is not 'Xu Jia', but Qiu Yizhi, the magistrate of Shanyin County. Please order him to be arrested immediately. If we hesitate and he escapes and the news leaks out, we will be doomed!"
Yu Mei finally reacted, gritted his teeth, and said fiercely: "You, you deceived me so badly!" He then ordered the many Tianzun believers under the altar, "Why don't you help me catch this court lackey?"
The Tianzun followers below listened to the order, responded, stood up one after another, and pressed towards Qiu Yizi step by step.
Qiu Yizhi saw several vicious Japanese pirates behind him and countless cult believers in front of him. He was in a dilemma. Just as he was about to take something out of his arms, he heard a woman's voice behind him: "The Saint of the Holy Church is here, believers of the Heavenly Lord listen to my orders!"
Qiu Yizi knew without a second thought that the person who spoke was Wen Lingjiao. He quickly turned his head and looked behind him. As expected, he saw Wen Lingjiao walking out from behind the curtain and approaching him. With an unusually calm expression on her face, she repeated to the audience, "The Saint of the Holy Church is here. Believers of the Heavenly Lord, listen to my orders!"
The tone of her voice was seven parts majestic but three parts friendly, causing the more than two hundred Tianzun sect believers who were pressing hard below to stop in their tracks and stand still.
Yu Mei had only seen Wen Lingjiao once from a distance on the altar, and had long forgotten her appearance and demeanor. However, the rumors that the Saint of the Holy Church had great powers and that there were many masters around her were well-known. Now, this woman who claimed to be a saint—whether true or false—appeared in front of him so suddenly that he could not help but feel confused and was so shocked that he could not say a word.
Yin Tai was calmer. He looked Wen Lingjiao straight in the eyes and said, "I recognize you. You are Qiu Yizi's old friend. He is an official appointed by the court. You are not a member of the Holy Church! Shaozheng, stop being so pretentious!"
Wen Lingjiao raised her lips slightly after hearing this, but she did not argue with Yin Tai. Instead, she pointed at the believers under the altar and said, "Senior Brother Zhou, Senior Brother Wu, Senior Brother Zheng, Senior Brother Wang, you are all old members of the Holy Church, and you have met me before. So, tell me, who am I?"
The four people whose names were called by Wen Lingjiao immediately stepped forward and bowed down, kowtowing like pounding garlic while saying, "Saint Lady, I deserve to die for not coming to greet you from afar!"
"Good! I'm glad you recognized me!" Wen Lingjiao said with great satisfaction, "Then let me ask you, you are all old brothers in the Holy Church. Although the Holy Church is not widely spread in Jiangnan, you have been deeply involved for a long time. Why are you not among the few trusted backbones mentioned by Yu Mei just now?"
One of them knelt down and took two steps forward, and answered, "This is all the idea of Altar Master Yu. He promoted those new brothers and sisters. Although we have some objections in private, but... But the rules of our sect have always been to obey the orders of the leader and the saint. If the leader and the saint are not here, we must obey the orders of the altar master. Therefore, we disciples dare not disobey in the slightest."
"Good! You still remember the rules of the Holy Church, so you are good disciples of the Holy Church!" Wen Lingjiao praised again, then turned her head and looked directly at Yu Mei, with a sharp light in her eyes. (To be continued)