"Religion is a double-edged sword!" Rody sighed and said with a wry smile: "It would be good to use it to control people's hearts. But the more sacred something is, the less it can bear the slightest bit of blasphemy. Once those devout believers discover that the bishops, whom they have always regarded as the most holy and holy, and those high-ranking servants of God who serve the gods, are simply a group of liars, then such a gap will arouse strong opinions. Extremely angry!" Rody's tone gradually became serious: "That kind of anger is enough to destroy everything!"
Nicole lowered her head and thought for a while, then slowly said: "It seems that your plan is to take the opportunity to ruin the reputation of the divine religion. A church with a bad reputation cannot continue to win the hearts of the people."
Roddy gently hugged Nicole's waist and said with a smile: "Okay, we have been in this hunting ground for a day, and it's time to go back and see the Bishop in the church. The Bishop must be worried these days. I’ve lost a lot of weight.”
Miao Si next to her sighed and looked at Rody with a somewhat complicated look: "Rody, how come you never mentioned these methods of dealing with the Divine Cult when you were in Roland Continent? You also never suggested it to King Sauron."
Rody was silent for a while and whispered: "Miaosi, you are blaming me, right? Now the Roland continent has begun to fight. When the war breaks out between the temples and the kingdoms, many people will definitely die. Let me tell you, now we Even if I told King Sauron at that time, they would not be able to use this method to deal with the temple! The situation in Roland is different from that in the Empire of Light!"
Inside the Xiqiu City Church, the bishop was already living like a year. The soldiers from the public security station outside surrounded the church like a prison cell. No one was allowed in or out, even those who helped the church purchase daily food and beverage supplies.
At the beginning, the bishop was even afraid that the other party wanted to starve everyone to death in the church? Seeing that the people sent out to purchase food and drinks tried to negotiate with the other party to no avail. On the contrary, after being beaten half to death, no one dared to go out anymore.
Fortunately, Roddy didn't want to kill them right now. Every day, the soldiers would always throw in a few pieces of the cheapest air-dried black bread.
When has the bishop, who has always been well-dressed and well-dressed, ever suffered like this? And few of the senior clergy around him were true ascetic monks. After eating coarse grains for three days, none of them cried for their father and mother. But because of the majesty of Lord Rody, no one dared to do anything.
However, forget about everything else. The food is a little worse, so I just have to endure it for a while, but the soldiers outside not only block the outsiders. Even the people who came into the church every day to clean up the building were blocked away - which naturally included the vehicles responsible for cleaning the toilets.
There are dozens of clergymen in the group. They are trapped in the church these days. No matter how little they eat, they still have to excrete! The toilet in the church has not been cleaned for many days. As soon as you enter the church, you can't hide the stench surrounding the sacred church.
The bishop could only sit there and pray every day. This time things got serious, and he naturally knew that even if he could escape the disaster in the end, he would probably have to take some responsibility afterwards...
They waited for the Flame Warriors like they were looking forward to the stars and the moon, but things did not develop as the bishop thought. The Marquis Roddy on the other side had a surprisingly tough attitude. They actually ignored the church's Flame Warriors at all. The soldiers from the security station surrounding the outside didn't seem to disperse at all, and the Flame Warriors simply stayed there!
Roddy did an incredible job. In fact, they simply didn't send anyone to arrange a location for the Flame Warriors. They just pretended to let the chief of security go to greet them, which meant preparing a simple pergola outside the church. The deputy captain of the Flame Warriors, Stelier, ran back to the church in dejection after his request to see Roddy was blocked. I also understand that it seems that the matter cannot be resolved in a short time.
His first thought was to find the chief of security and ask him to arrange for them a location for his two thousand warriors to be stationed.
Stelier's reason is simple: First, when the flame warriors of the original church go to any place in the empire, the local church will naturally be responsible for supporting them. But now the churches are surrounded, and Xiqiu, as the fiefdom of the Tulip family, has never been There are no church troops stationed here. Naturally, Xiqiu will be held responsible.
The chief of security had already received Rody's secret order. After quietly listening to the Flame Warriors' request, he spread his hands and said calmly: "I'm sorry, I can't do this. There has never been a church in Xiqiu City. The military camp of the Samurai Regiment existed. To be honest, the only military camp here was the station of our security guards. What else... Hehe, there was originally an empty military camp, which was responsible for guarding the Tulip Villa. It is also occupied by the escort troops accompanying Lord Marquis Rody, so I am really helpless at your request... "
Stelier said: "Are we, the warriors of the Holy Flame Warriors, allowed to live on the streets?!"
The chief of security rolled his eyelids and said lazily: "Well, to be honest, it is not within the jurisdiction of the official. But if you must find a place to live, it is better to go to the military camp in Tulip Villa and stay with Luo Dihou Let’s discuss with Lord Jue’s escort army to see if they can give up part of the barracks... "
Stelier immediately sent ten men, but in less than half an hour, all ten of his warriors came back with bruises and swollen faces.
It turned out that when they got there, before they could finish speaking, they were driven out by Lord Rody's escort army. The two sides started fighting after the final disagreement. The flame warriors of these churches are usually proud and never take the local army seriously.
But this time they still kicked down the iron plate.
Lord Rody, the Marquis, came to Xiqiu this time with his newlywed wife, Miss Nicole. The accompanying two thousand troops were escorted by the Thunder God's Whip. Although it was not the Thunder God's Whip, it was probably far inferior to the Thunder God's Whip in terms of combat effectiveness. But the shelf is ridiculously big!
That's two thousand Royal Guards! !
Who are the Royal Guards? They have always been the royal guards responsible for guarding the royal family! Everyone is using the banner of the royal family, but they always look at people through their nostrils. How arrogant is the Flame Warriors? The arrogance of the Royal Guards has become even more arrogant!
At that time, the two sides turned against each other, and the Royal Guards people yelled: We, the Royal Guards, have always been the only ones to steal other people's things. No one dares to come and steal our territory yet!
Stelier was very anxious. He was not a stupid person to begin with. Although his temper was a bit grumpy, after he calmed down, he immediately understood a strange aura.
Obviously, this Marquis Roddy is deliberately going against the church!
The identity of this new powerful figure in the empire is somewhat subtle. Not only is he the brother-in-law of Duke Tulip, the first marshal of the empire, but he also holds the title of marquis and the identity of the commander of the northern army of the empire. What is even more intriguing is... a marquis of the empire. When traveling, you can take the "Royal Guards" with you as an accompanying escort. This is an honor reserved for members of the royal family!
I absolutely cannot afford to offend such a person! It seems that the church was ill-prepared this time! I originally thought it was an ordinary dispute in the local parish, and I sent myself to mediate and suppress the mobs. I didn't expect the situation here to be so complicated...
Stelier would never dare to act rashly. The situation had reached this point, which was not something that a person of his level could handle. On the one hand, he immediately sent someone back to the imperial capital to report the situation here. On the other hand, he had no choice but to order all his subordinates to station themselves in the square outside the church. .
After this order, those flame warriors were really stupid.
Stationed on the spot? How to camp? Sleeping on the streets
Because the Empire Church is hugely powerful. The Flame Warriors never need to carry any supplies in any city in the empire. This time, two thousand of them came to Xiqiu. Not to mention tents and other luggage, even food and grass are just some portable rations.
These two thousand people need to eat and the horses need to eat grass - where do these things come from
Stelier even put down his face and begged the chief of security for a time. After seeing that it was ineffective, he came up with the rhetoric of the church and tried to influence these barbaric guys in the name of the great god.
But everyone on the other side, from officers to soldiers, rolled their eyes when they heard this kind of rhetoric. He replied simply: "I am not a Christian."
In the Empire of Light, although the divine religion has established its status as the state religion. However, the imperial decree did not make mandatory provisions requiring the people of the empire to believe in theistic religions. Although the decree also stipulated that other religions other than theistic religions were not allowed, and declared that theistic religions were the only legal religious organizations in the empire. But at the same time, the people are allowed to have the right to not believe in religion.
In other words, as long as you don't believe in other religions, then whether you believe in theistic religions or not depends entirely on your personal preference.
Stelier was completely desperate. He had already seen that in Xiqiu, and even in the entire Xilin Province, everyone here, whether they were soldiers or ordinary people, seemed to have an unusually superior mentality. In my heart, no matter the emperor or the pope, none of them are as great as the Tulip Duke! They only recognize tulips in their eyes, but not others! This is simply a private kingdom of tulips!
Fortunately, Roddy didn't really want to force them to death.
Just after the Flame Warriors camped out in the square all night, Lord Rody finally showed up.
At noon the next day, the young Marquis probably got up late, had breakfast, washed himself, and came to the church with the fifty cavalry guards with the Thunder God's Whip on horseback.
Looking at the somewhat haggard-looking Mr. Stelier, Roddy finally showed a somewhat peaceful smile on his face. However, he still did not dismount. Instead, he sat upright on the horse and said kindly: "Master Stelier, you arrived yesterday, right? You have worked hard on this journey. I wonder if you had a good rest last night?"
Stelier looked helplessly at the smile of the young Marquis. At this moment, I haven't slept all night, and my stomach is empty. But he had to smile and say a few words.
Only then did Roddy yawn and smile: "Now that you have rested, let's start dealing with this dispute today. You must also know what happened a few days ago. I have surrounded the church early. No one is allowed to enter or exit, just because I am afraid that someone will take the opportunity to destroy the evidence. I hope you understand that I am doing this entirely to maintain the sacred glory of the church!”
Having said this, Rody waved his hand and signaled the soldiers surrounding the church to move aside. Rody finally dismounted, took Stlier's hand and smiled and said, "Let's go in and see the Bishop."
After walking into the church and seeing the bishop, Roddy didn't look so good anymore. His face was ashen. He glanced at the bishop coldly and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty Bishop, I have sent people to conduct a detailed investigation in the past few days. It is true that someone is cheating in the name of the church..."
The bishop's voice was hoarse, but he still shouted: "That's a frame-up! It's a frame-up!"
Rody shook his head. He said calmly: "Whether it is a frame-up or not, we can naturally tell. As the saying goes, if you catch a thief, you will catch the filth. In order to show justice, I want to send someone to search the church to see if there is any filth. If not, like this This behavior is the most direct and effective attack on those rumors! I think this is the best solution now, with ironclad evidence."
His last words, "Look," were clearly addressed to Stelier. Then Roddy added: "The only reason why I haven't searched here for so long is to wait for your arrival. I have only sent people to surround this place these days. The purpose is to wait for you to arrive and search under your witness, so that I can To show justice!”
Search the church? Searching the religious house of a parish in the Imperial Divine Church? ! Even in the era of Abbasid the Great, powerful figures with an iron bowl like Abbasid the Great did not show such disrespect to the church!
But having said that, even the Abbasid Emperor did not send troops to surround the church.
Stelier considered Roddy's words carefully in his mind. Search the church? Since this young Lord Marquis dares to make such a proposal, he is naturally somewhat confident. Otherwise, wouldn't all the things he has done these days be in vain
But now that I am emotionally and rationally, it seems that it is not easy to refuse...
After thinking about it for a while, Stelier said with a serious face: "Your Majesty, the church is a place dedicated to the great and supreme God. Sending troops to search the church is disrespectful to the sacred majesty of the religion. You see..."
"I'm sorry." Rody said lightly: "First, I am not a believer. Second, I am a Marquis of the Empire. I only obey the laws of the Empire! The regulations of the church do not apply to me!"
Although his words were brief, there was no room for maneuver in his tone.
Stelier glanced at the bishop. The bishop hesitated for a moment, then nodded sharply. Steyer was relieved.
Since the bishops say it doesn’t matter if you search, then let’s search! The soldiers outside have surrounded this place so tightly these days, so the other party must not be able to frame someone up if they want to.
Rody smiled slightly and said: "For the sake of fairness, half of the people who search will be soldiers from the empire and flame warriors from the church. What do you think?"
The more Roddy said this, the more suspicious Stelier became. Is it possible that this young Marquis is so confident? Even the bishop's expression seemed a little uneasy, but then he adopted a tough attitude and said loudly: "If the search is fruitless, your lord, the Marquis, must give us justice! Because this is for the gods." Blasphemy!"
Roddy readily agreed.
At that moment, Rody's fifty Thunder God's Whips, plus fifty warriors from the Flame Warriors, started a search in the church. They searched extremely carefully, and almost every inch of the land was not spared. After two hours, nothing was found.
The bishop's attitude gradually became tougher, and Stelier also looked at Roddy with some pride.
Rody didn't panic at all. He squinted his eyes and smiled. After listening to his subordinates' report quietly, his eyes suddenly fell on the statue in front of the church hall. He suddenly whispered: "Move the statue!"
"No!" The bishop's face changed, and even Stelier showed an angry expression, gritting his teeth and said: "Your Majesty the Marquis, the statue must not be moved! This is a matter that involves the majesty of the Supreme God! The Empire! This has never happened in the hundreds of years since the founding of the country! You have gone too far today!”
Rody ignored the shouts of the two men at all, looked at his subordinates' Thunder God's Whip coldly, and said calmly: "Didn't you hear my order?"
Those Thunder God's Whips don't care about anything, they only recognize the Tulip family! Now Marquis Rody is the Duke's brother-in-law, and he also came out of the Thunder God's Whip. In their eyes, he is one of their own. Hearing Rody's order. All the Wolf Tooth Army soldiers immediately gave orders and went to move the statue with all their hands.
Stelier's eyes were red and he was about to fall out on the spot. Just as he was about to loudly order his warriors to step forward and stop him, Roddy narrowed his eyes and his hand was pressed on the handle of the knife at his waist at some point. There was a hint of coldness in his eyes, and the murderous aura in his body made both Stelier and the Bishop shiver.
"You two had better not act rashly! This is Xiqiu! It is the fiefdom of the Tulip family. Everything here must obey my orders! Let me say it again, I am not a believer! The rules of the church cannot control me. I only recognize the decrees of the empire! "
He exuded a formidable aura, and the faint aura made the bishop and Stelier suffocate.
Only a clicking sound was heard, and half of the huge stone statue had been moved away. The bishop's expression immediately changed, and his legs shook like a sieve. His face was earth-colored, his lips were trembling, and he didn't know what words he muttered in a low voice.
"Lord Marquis, there is something here!" A soldier with the Thunder God's Whip reported loudly.
Rody sneered and glanced at the two of them coldly. He strode over. The bishop's legs became weak and he sat down on the ground on the spot.
Stelier's expression also changed drastically, and he gave the bishop a serious look. He hurriedly followed.
Under the statue, there was a wooden secret compartment. Rody glanced at it twice, then suddenly gave a soft drink and pulled out his machete. I saw a bright cold light flash by, and with a click, the dark grid was torn apart, and countless golden coins were scattered inside! !
Then a large pile of gold coins was suddenly exposed, and for a while it shone so brightly that the faces of the people standing next to it were covered with golden light. But Stelier's face immediately turned deathly gray.
"Unexpected. I think there are at least 50,000 gold coins here... Gentlemen, the clergy of the church have always claimed to serve the great gods as their duty, but how come they have so much private property? What if we search the church and move the statues? It's an act of blasphemy, so what is the act of hiding so many gold coins under the statue?" Rody's voice was still tepid.
Stelier gave the bishop a hard look, with unspeakable resentment and despair in his eyes. The members of the Flame Warriors looked at the clergy in the church with unspeakable contempt.
"Yi? There is another layer below..." Rody suddenly smiled and slashed with his backhand, splitting another layer.
With a crash, some bits and pieces were scattered out. Everyone present had strange expressions on their faces, and they were speechless looking at the bishop.
"Hmm... Candles, leather whips, iron shackles..." Rody said in a strange tone, sighed, seemed to have a somewhat strange smile, and said with a slow smile: "The Bishop's interests are quite strange..."
The bishop finally came to his senses and suddenly screamed: "These... these things are not mine!!"
Rody snorted coldly and said: "It's not yours? It's not yours, is it mine? Lord Bishop! Now that the dirt is here, what else can you say!"
Stelier rolled his eyes twice, and suddenly a stern look flashed through his eyes, and he suddenly shouted: "I'll kill you, the scum of the divine religion!"
After saying that, he suddenly pulled out his long sword and slashed at the bishop with his backhand!
Seeing that a cold light had reached the pale-faced bishop's neck, he suddenly heard a clang. Rody's scimitar had already caught his sword at some point. Stelier's body trembled, and he felt as if the long sword was hitting him. The electric shock made the tiger's mouth hurt, and he almost couldn't hold it, so Tengteng couldn't help but take two steps back.
Roddy narrowed his eyes. He stared into Stlier's eyes and said coldly: "What's wrong? Do you want to kill people and silence them?"
He gave the other party a sharp look and then said loudly: "The bishop of the Xiqiu Church has hidden unidentified property. Move all these things back! Take all the clergy in the Xiqiu Church back for interrogation immediately!"
Fifty Wolf Fang troops had already swarmed forward, tying two to one like wolves and tigers, and pushed all the stunned clergymen to the ground.
The bishop was so frightened that he almost collapsed. The fat on his fat face was trembling as he just muttered to himself.
There were many warlocks among these clergy, and they wanted to resist on the spot, but with Rody standing here, his skills were like lightning, and he instantly knocked down the two guys who tried to resist on the spot.
Stellar's mind went blank.
It was no longer news to him that some high-ranking clergymen in the sect had embezzled money. It's just that these things are normal. What he still can't figure out now is why this young upstart of the empire dares to take such a big risk and openly oppose the divine religion
Could it be that the bishop offended the Marquis
Seeing that the man had been kidnapped, Roddy left proudly without even looking at Stlier.
Stelier was silent for a moment, and then he let out a long sigh and whispered to the people next to him: "Give me the order. From now on, our people will be more honest with me. No conflicts are allowed with them. No one is allowed." Act rashly! Wait until the emperor comes to give orders!"
The attendant next to him hesitated for a moment and said: "Sir..."
"Shut up!" Stelier looked pale and whispered, "We are in trouble this time! Big, big trouble!"
The corners of his eyes turned to the scattered whips, iron shackles, and candles on the ground. He couldn't help but show a disgusted expression, let out a loud sigh, and strode out.
Rody ignored these guys and took the people directly back to the Tulip Courtyard. As for those who were captured, they were all put in the prison of the security station. Rody specifically told the chief of security: "Don't interrogate them, don't embarrass them, feed me well! But watch them closely! Keep them under strict supervision! No one is allowed to die! Especially that bishop!"
Looking at the puzzled look of the chief of security, Rody smiled slightly, waved his hand and let him go down without explaining, and whispered to himself: "They have a greater use! Keep them, they will be the scandal of the cult." The best evidence! Huh, that Stelier wants to kill people under my nose, does he think I am a fool?"
After returning to the other courtyard, Rody told a few women about today's events. When he talked about finding the dirt, and when he talked about the wonderful expressions of the people from the God's Cult, Dan Yuewu couldn't help laughing and clapping his hands.
Then the little girl couldn't help but ask: "By the way, are those gold coins really embezzled by the bishop?"
Rody nodded and said: "It is no secret that the high-ranking clergy of the empire's religious religion have been corrupted for a long time."
But Xiao Nizi's eyes seemed to light up and she said, "But... those whips, candles, iron shackles, what are they for?"
Rody was immediately speechless, glanced at her awkwardly, hesitated a few words, and quickly ran away with an excuse.
Xiao Nizi became more and more curious, and turned to ask Nicole again. Nicole's face turned red with embarrassment, and Miao Ge seemed to find it difficult to speak, but Gu Zuoyan responded with a few words, and then he stalled.
The more Dan Yuewu thought about it, the more doubtful she became. She felt that there must be some secret in it. When everyone ran away, she suddenly called a servant and ordered: "Go and find me a whip. Candles, and a pair of iron shackles!"
After sending away the weird-looking servant, Dan Yuewu tilted her head and said bitterly: "Humph, if you don't tell me, don't I know how to study it myself?"