Chapter 43: The Forty-Third Day of Becoming Cult Leader (Part 3)

Then most spies would be resistant to doing something that benefited the Demonic Cult like this. Shen Fubai was not certain whether handing it to Chen Lue was a good thing. But now, after testing him a little, he suddenly felt that Chen Lue did not seem that resistant to this matter either.

And when he truly asked the question aloud, Chen Lue merely thought for a moment before readily agreeing. “All right.”

“After all, I also owe the Cult Leader a favor.”

“You too? What a coincidence.” Shen Fubai was even more surprised. He did not know what exactly had happened to make Chen Lue undergo such a change, but as long as the other party’s thoughts were aligned with his, he felt pleased.

The two of them looked at each other and smiled faintly. Everything was understood without being said.

And so that night, the two of them read by lamplight in the room, revising all the intelligence that lacked fairness bit by bit. At dawn the next day, both of them came before Qin Ming with tired eyes and presented the first draft of the Morning Post.

“You two researched it together?” Looking at the two disciples before him who were the wisest and most capable of handling affairs in the Demonic Cult, Qin Ming could be said to have instantly set one hundred and twenty hearts at ease.

If even these two working together could not solve a problem, then Qin Ming would be even less able to solve it!

And when he hurriedly finished reading the Morning Post, he felt this even more strongly. On the Morning Post, not only did the intelligence in every section contain no personal opinions, it was also easy to understand and suitable for people of the jianghu to read.

“You did well.” Qin Ming skillfully praised Shen Fubai and Chen Lue, but some hesitation still appeared on his face. Although the rough form of this newspaper had already come out, it seemed as if something was still missing.

Seeing this, Shen Fubai was just about to ask, but Chen Lue beside him asked even faster than he did. “Does the Cult Leader have concerns?”

With his line stolen, Shen Fubai unhappily closed his mouth tightly. Qin Ming hesitated and said, “This seat feels that it seems to be missing one thing.”

“This Morning Post is indeed easy enough to understand, but it seems to lack some deeper meaning.”

Qin Ming had only vaguely raised a concept, yet Shen Fubai and Chen Lue’s eyes suddenly lit up as they realized where the problem lay. Shen Fubai had just been about to speak excitedly when Chen Lue had already spoken ahead of him. “What the Cult Leader means is… it lacks a certain deeper level of scholarship, correct?”

Shen Fubai: …

Not noticing Shen Fubai’s expression of hatred so intense his teeth itched, Chen Lue spoke confidently:

“The largest literate group in Great Wei dynasty is not jianghu heroes, nor is it merchants, but… Confucian scholars!”

“If we want to attract them to read it, intelligence alone is not enough. We also need some scholarly discussion, to spread the principles of the sages and educate the people.”

The more Qin Ming listened, the more he felt Chen Lue made sense. “Not bad. We can add a little discussion of scholarship to attract the attention of Confucian scholars. Then the person responsible for this part should…”

Having been one step too slow twice, Shen Fubai abruptly shouted, “I’ll do it! Cult Leader, let this subordinate be responsible for this matter!”

However, before Qin Ming could speak, Chen Lue directly rejected him. “You will not do.”

Shen Fubai: …

Chen Lue said, “Neither you nor I are Confucian scholars, and we are not skilled in this path. Within the entire cult, I am afraid only one person is more suitable.”

The image of that Confucian scholar immediately surfaced in Qin Ming’s mind, and his eyes brightened slightly. If it was Xu Sheng, then upright and incorruptible as he was, he absolutely would not mix in personal feelings. He would definitely be able to handle the scholarly discussion well. It could be said that he was a righteous hero Qin Ming could rarely feel at ease with in the Demonic Cult.

“It’s just… how can we make him do it willingly?”

Qin Ming’s gaze landed on the indignant Shen Fubai, and a slight smile appeared on his face.

Should they deploy provocation?

…

“Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Even if I starved to death, jumped down from here, or you killed this old man, this old man would absolutely never help the people of the Demonic Cult work on some Morning Post!”

Sure enough, the instant he heard of this matter, Xu Sheng immediately exploded. This stubborn old man did not even finish listening before he shook his head repeatedly and refused. He even took out a dagger, ready to go to his death at the slightest disagreement.

Qin Ming very patiently tapped on the table and explained earnestly, “It is not that I want you to write anything unsightly, but to discuss scholarship, promote the principles of the sages, and cite the classics to explain them.”

Seeing Xu Sheng’s movement of stabbing the dagger toward his own neck pause slightly, as if he was somewhat hesitant, Qin Ming hurriedly struck while the iron was hot and gave an example. “For instance, The Three Character Classic. There are countless people under heaven who do not understand The Three Character Classic. If this classic can be spread, that would also be a good deed, would it not?”

Xu Sheng’s eyes brightened even more. He had long felt that the text in The Three Character Classic contained great principles. Unfortunately, with only him studying it alone, there had been no real progress. If he could educate the people and spread it widely, that would truly be a great happy event!

But would the Demonic Cult scoundrels really be so kind?

“…Are you certain you will not force this old man to write words about praising evil and punishing good?” Xu Sheng held the dagger against his own neck and asked warily.

“No.” Qin Ming was just short of swearing to heaven. “How about this? Before every Morning Post is published, it will need to pass through your hands for review. If there is anything that should not pass, you can notice it immediately. How does that sound?”

“This…” Xu Sheng slowly lowered the dagger, his expression somewhat conflicted.

Clearly, he was very tempted in his heart, but he still became reserved. After all, he had resisted so fiercely just now. If he agreed now… where would he put his old face?

Just as he deliberately hesitated, Shen Fubai truly could not wait to assert his presence. “Cult Leader, in this subordinate’s opinion, there is no need to hand this over to this old fool at all. This subordinate can write it too! Is it not just classics? Is it not just explaining The Three Character Classic? Let this subordinate personally do it! I guarantee I can do it well!”

Xu Sheng’s eyes widened, and his brows furrowed into the character for river.

Chen Lue, standing at the side, actually chimed in as well. “That’s right. Although letting Steward Shen do it may distort the meaning of the classics, and may openly smear the Righteous Path and promote the demonic path, and may even single-handedly smear the entire Confucian way… in any case, no one cares. This subordinate also thinks handing it to Steward Shen is not bad.”

As soon as he spoke the earlier words, Xu Sheng’s eyes widened round with anger. Then, as each subsequent phrase was spoken, Xu Sheng became even more furious, his chest constantly rising and falling. In the end, he could no longer endure it and threw away the dagger, shouting loudly, “No! Absolutely not! That scoundrel cannot be allowed to touch those classic books. This old man will do it. This old man will personally do it!!”

Watching Shen Fubai and Chen Lue cooperate in using provocation, Qin Ming somewhat wanted to laugh, though Shen Fubai most likely truly wanted to take this matter entirely for himself, while Chen Lue was doing it on purpose.

And since Xu Sheng had already taken the bait, Qin Ming deliberately pondered slowly. “Really? Would that not be too tiring? Why not have Shen Fubai assist you…”

“No need!” Xu Sheng blew his beard and glared, refusing with extraordinary decisiveness. “Not a single one of these scoundrels and petty villains can be trusted. This matter will be done by this old man. No one is to fight this old man for it!!”

“All right, then it is settled!” With Qin Ming cheerfully slapping the table and rising, the matter was finally settled just like that.

And so next, Xu Sheng wrote a section of scholarly discussion on The Three Character Classic, full of classical phrases. Once the layout was completely finalized, the Qingyue Sect disciples continued carving the other clay blocks. Once all the characters were finished, it finally came time to print the Morning Post on a large scale.

All of these matters were handled by Shen Fubai. For some reason, after the discussion that day, Shen Fubai seemed to be holding a bellyful of anger and glared fiercely at Chen Lue twice.

After that, no matter what he did, Shen Fubai was full of motivation, wishing he could make everything perfect. Qin Ming only needed to sit in the study and enjoy the results without doing anything.

A task objective has been triggered: Publish one issue of the Jianghu Morning Post and promote chivalry.

Task reward: fifty thousand merit points.

“Now there is only one final problem. If we want to publish the Morning Post, we cannot use my cult’s name.”

“What name does everyone think would be better to sell it under?”

On the night before the sale, Qin Ming specially summoned the Demonic Cult disciples to come discuss it. In the future, the Intelligence Pavilion would also inevitably receive attention from people of the jianghu, so they certainly could not sell it under their own name.

They absolutely needed an alias.

“It would be best if it could both display the style of my cult and reveal the Cult Leader’s wisdom! And also, the instant disciples of my cult hear it, they should know it is an alias for my cult!” Shen Fubai immediately proposed his requirements.

…This requirement truly stumped everyone.

A group of Demonic Cult disciples who had little culture simply scratched their ears and cheeks, unable to think of anything.

“Can’t we just directly use Demonic Cult?”

“Idiot, of course not!”

“Then what other choice is there?”

As everyone discussed it with headaches, only Chen Lue suddenly said faintly, “Since Demonic Cult is not suitable, then we will not use Demonic Cult. From now on, the disciples of my cult can just use the title ‘Sacred Cult.’ In any case, they are about the same.”

Everyone: …?

One was a Demonic Cult, and the other was a Sacred Cult. You call this about the same??

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