Chapter 44: The Forty-Fourth Day of Becoming Cult Leader (Part 3)

Qin Ming froze for a moment. He had never imagined he would hear words like open and aboveboard from Shen Fubai’s mouth.

A bit of confusion and hope could not help surfacing in his eyes. Could Shen Fubai be the one he wanted to find…

Shen Fubai continued, “Therefore, this subordinate believes that we should openly and aboveboard have all those in the know curse them, condemn them to death, criticize their actions, and scold them until they are so ashamed that they have no face to meet anyone in this world and can only take their own lives to apologize for their crimes. That would be the best method!”

Qin Ming:…

Killing the person and destroying the heart!

Now Shen Fubai even disdained making a move himself and had switched to making them end themselves. Good heavens, terrifying. This was far too terrifying.

If this fellow was an undercover agent, the Righteous Path was finished. It absolutely could not be him.

Qin Ming unconsciously shifted his backside backward, trying his best to move a little farther away from him. “…Not bad, not bad. What all of you said was very good.”

Thus, even by the time the test ended, Qin Ming still had not discovered anyone who seemed like an undercover agent. However, he could use the process of elimination to precisely rule out Shen Fubai, Chen Lue, and Zhang Daniu.

As for how to handle Danyangzi and the others, after thinking it over again and again, Qin Ming still decided to make good use of the Jianghu Morning Report. After publishing the matter, he could use public opinion to pressure the authorities. That way, they would not need to tamper with anything themselves.

The Jianghu Morning Report could actually be used for this kind of thing too. Qin Ming increasingly felt that printing this newspaper had meaning.

And after he finally released the newspaper for sale, he waited anxiously inside the cult for feedback. Unexpectedly, in just one day, those three hundred newspapers sold out completely. Qin Ming listened in a daze. It seemed the newspaper was even more popular than they had imagined!

“Task Objective: Publish one issue of the Jianghu Morning Report and promote chivalry. Completed.”

“Task Reward: Fifty thousand merit points. Issued.”

“New Task Objective: Distribute five issues of the Jianghu Morning Report.”

“Task Reward: Random red martial arts heart method.”

“For now, don’t add another print run.” Qin Ming understood a little about the hunger effect. They could not satisfy every customer’s needs. He only ordered Shen Fubai, “Now prepare the second issue of the Jianghu Morning Report. Publish the matter of Danyangzi as well. Only say that they are currently awaiting the authorities’ judgment. Do not add any personal opinion.”

Shen Fubai’s eyes lit up, and he immediately understood his meaning. “This subordinate understands! The Cult Leader sits here and can kill a man from a thousand li away. This subordinate truly admires you!”

Qin Ming looked at him faintly. Wasn’t this all inspiration found from his own answer? It was only using public opinion in a different way to suppress Danyangzi, that was all. When it came to being formidable, Shen Fubai was the formidable one.

As for the sale of the second issue of the newspaper, Qin Ming never imagined that five hundred copies of the Jianghu Morning Report would be swept clean in only two hours. There were even many people wailing for them to print more, saying that if the masters of their households could not see the newspaper, they would skin them alive!

“…” Was it this popular?

Not only Qin Ming, even the Demonic Cult disciples had never imagined that this was merely one step in the Cult Leader’s plan to unify the world, yet it had suddenly become so popular. It had even earned quite a bit of silver!

Of course, the happiest beneficiaries of this matter were not Qian Xiaodou, who counted money until his hands cramped, but the Qingyue Sect disciples who had successfully researched movable type printing.

Once they saw that the Jianghu Morning Report, made from the fruits of their painstaking efforts, was hugely popular, every one of them lifted their noses proudly, not to mention how happy they were. Who would have thought? They had studied carpentry for so many years and remained nameless, yet the thing they researched in the Demonic Cult had become an explosive hit!

Could it be that the feng shui of this Demonic Cult benefited them?!

This could not help making the Qingyue Sect disciples even more interested. They became even more energetic when making type blocks.

The rise of the Jianghu Morning Report naturally made other merchants envious too. But firstly, they did not have the technology of movable type printing, and secondly, they did not have any place to search for intelligence. They could only watch the Sacred Cult make money with red eyes, spinning anxiously in place.

There were also those who had bought the newspaper and were wondering exactly what kind of organization this Sacred Cult was and why it could gather so much intelligence. At this time, sharp-eyed people noticed that a strange pattern was printed on the newspaper too. It seemed there was the word “Holy” inside the petals, and beside it was an additional line of small text:

“The Sacred Cult is willing to purchase all kinds of intelligence. As long as the matter is verified as fact, we are willing to pay a suitable reward to buy it.”

This immediately made some people’s minds grow active. Some wanted to use this to earn a bit of money, while others wanted to take the chance to probe the Sacred Cult’s secrets, preferably getting a share of the profits.

Shen Fubai had naturally already considered that all kinds of people would come to probe for information. Therefore, he had long since joined hands with Chen Lue to set up an intelligence network. Even when purchasing intelligence, it was done in secret locations, and each time, different informants were arranged to receive it. The main focus was resolutely preventing anyone from detecting any information about them.

When the two-person intelligence team joined forces, they indeed blocked the majority of people. Even if there were occasionally one or two fish that slipped through the net, Fang Zheng’s number one poison under heaven could perfectly resolve them.

It was just that Qian Xiaodou’s restaurant, one of the dens, had some chance of becoming a target. However, the Demonic Cult had also arranged a few people to keep watch, so for now, there should not be any problems.

After the Jianghu Morning Report became popular, Qin Ming, who had originally had nothing to do, suddenly gained a huge pile of burdens. Not only did he have to consider the newspaper’s content and layout, he also had to mediate the shouting matches between Xu Sheng and Shen Fubai over disagreements in content. He also had to deal with all kinds of problems after the newspaper was printed, as well as probes from people all over the world regarding the Sacred Cult.

A small piece of movable type printing had allowed countless people to discover business opportunities. One after another, they began trying to figure out the method of movable type printing.

They had originally thought that researching it would require a period of hard work, and it would all depend on who could successfully copy it first. Just as they were scratching their heads and ears, working day and night without rest, only one month after the newspaper went on sale, the Sacred Cult suddenly announced in the newspaper that it would publicly release the steps for printing and let everyone under heaven know them.

As soon as this matter came out, it instantly shocked the world!

The merchants: …What? You’re going to make it public???

All the merchants and carpenters had been desperately researching the Jianghu Morning Report’s unprecedented printing technology. As a result, overnight, after the Sacred Cult issued a statement saying it would make movable type printing public… well, everyone had been busy for nothing.

Everyone stared with their foolish, wide eyes, utterly unable to understand no matter how they thought about it. One of the two core secrets, and the greatest secret at that, was just going to be made public so simply?

This, this… What exactly was this Sacred Cult after?!

Not only did they find it inconceivable, even the Demonic Cult disciples could not close their mouths in shock when they first heard Qin Ming’s order.

“This is something we exhausted our minds to research. How can we just hand it over to others?”

“Exactly, exactly. This Jianghu Morning Report is so profitable. All those merchants are envious of us. If we make it public, wouldn’t we be benefiting them for free?”

The Demonic Cult disciples were indignant, while the spies inside the Demonic Cult were both amazed and curious. Xu Sheng in particular, after learning this news, was in a rare good mood.

“Good, good. Another thing that benefits the nation and the people is about to be spread. Next, one can fully foresee how lively every bookstore will become after using movable type printing. All the scholars under heaven will have books to read!”

Yang Xu stood together with him at this moment and could not help stroking his beard in agreement. “Indeed. And this item was made by my Qingyue Sect disciples. As this object grows famous, my Qingyue Sect disciples will become even more famous in the jianghu. Hahahahaha!”

After the two faced each other and threw their heads back in laughter, they gradually calmed down, then grew somewhat worried.

“But why would that demon do something that brings the Demonic Cult no benefit at all? What exactly is he plotting? Could he truly want to do some good for the world?”

“That is not so.” Chen Lue, whose expression was calm, shook his head slightly.

Seeing him like this, Yang Xu almost realized that he was about to start saying things that belittled the Cult Leader again. He was already prepared to listen respectfully.

But then Chen Lue showed admiration and said in a loud voice, “The Cult Leader is wise, mighty, and divine, with profound schemes and far-reaching plans. My own talent and wisdom are not even one ten-thousandth of his, so I cannot fully see through his intentions… But his schemes are deep. This matter will absolutely not be as simple as it appears. Only this much I can assert!”

Yang Xu:?

Yang Xu dug at his ears and patted his forehead. After confirming he was not hearing things, he abruptly widened his eyes and said in shock, “Wait. What did you just say?”

“Did you actually praise the Cult Leader just now???”

Chen Lue only gave him a puzzled look. “The Cult Leader is naturally worthy of my praise. Is there anything wrong with that?”

“You, praising the Cult Leader?? How can you possibly praise the Cult Leader?!” Yang Xu was so shocked his eyes were about to fall out. “Don’t you usually mock the Cult Leader whenever you have nothing to do and speak ill of him? What’s going on now?”

But Chen Lue’s expression suddenly turned solemn, and his tone grew much more serious. “Elder Yang is overthinking. When have I ever belittled the Cult Leader? Do not spread such groundless matters. If the Cult Leader hears them, how am I supposed to explain?”

With that, Chen Lue coldly snorted, flung his sleeves, left Yang Xu standing stupidly in place by himself, and turned to walk away.

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