"What day is it today?"
In the dim tent, the swaying light gradually brightened.
"It's the sixth."
The black silhouette on the side was cast on the tent under the glow of the lamp.
Inside the tent, a few boxes were haphazardly placed, and among piles of dry grass, the metal gleam of chain flails and antler swords could still be seen under the firelight.
In the fuzzy sphere of candlelight, a bearded face emerged from the darkness.
He had almost dark skin, a red beard on his lip, and shaggy hair that could push up a hood.
"It's already the sixth and it hasn't rained, the water might recede, I feel that fat Durdafer plans to run away."
"Boss Tommy," said the pale-faced young man whose face was as white as a corpse, with a pointed nose sharp enough to cut, "What does the Holy Assembly say?"
"The great flood, where can we contact them! But that Witch Jia Li, she's in charge of managing our Ruo'an Faction in the black market of Shangruifo County, and she can implicate a whole bunch of people."
Tommy pinched a louse from his beard and threatened viciously, "If things go wrong, do you think your wife Diya can escape? Brother Grampwen, this isn't child's play."
Grampwen tightened his grip on his wife Diya's hand.
"This isn't a solution."
The third person tapped the hollow wooden box, he was about fifty years old, with graying hair, a large, bulbous, wine-red nose, and less than one meter fifty tall.
He claimed to have dwarf heritage.
"Durdafer himself indulges in luxuries daily, yet lets the Public Register Farmers die off in large numbers from starvation. Those monks too, setting up illegal gambling dens, tricking the Armed Farmers into selling their sons and daughters. Once Durdafer runs, when the inevitable panic ensues, they're really going to cause trouble."
"Brother Chervis is right, absolutely right!" Tommy said, nodding his head, "These days, talk of the Chosen One and Juanuo is spreading again, whether they cause trouble sooner or later, it's bound to happen. Rather than letting them cause trouble for nothing, why not use it for our own purposes?"
Speaking of this, Tommy and Chervis exchanged a knowing smile.
It's essential to know that the Thousand River Valley is located north of Black Snake Bay and borders the three major kingdoms of Norn, Leia, and Falan.
Black Snake Bay is the Empire's stronghold for the Secret Faction.
To the Secret Faction of Black Snake Bay, the Thousand River Valley is their largest smuggling route, naturally nurturing a significant amount of local power here.
These local alliances have been repeatedly attacked by the Church, often causing mutual destruction.
Later, the Metropolitan Bishop of the Thousand River Valley District, to maintain stability, simply paid lip service to the Pope's orders.
Helplessly, an unspoken rule formed within the Church.
Whenever a rebellion by the Secret Faction was instigated, as long as no one above the level of a Priest died, some scapegoats would be handed over, and the rest would be pardoned.
Thus, whenever a bishop discovered evidence of the Secret Faction's crimes, and the Secret Faction found out, they would initiate a rebellion to destroy the evidence, and then casually push a scapegoat to take the fall.
Some bishops even actively informed the Secret Faction upon receiving evidence to let them help smooth things over for themselves.
In this way, the Church maintains outward appearances while the Secret Faction gains the real benefits.
As for why they don't eradicate it for real, the reason is simply that the gains and losses don't balance out.
Moreover, the common people are timid and easily alarmed, one small slip and you might ignite the powder keg.
Back when a joke about the king selection in Falan turned into a rumor, it resulted in the infamous Bloody Winter riot, with the Royal Capital besieged by rioters for ten days.
The scenes from that event are vividly remembered.
Can't investigate everything, right? If they really uncover something, what would they do then?
When the Green Robe Faction implicated the Great Monarch of Tumu Castle incident, two Great Monarchs, five Counts, and three bishops were involved.
Among them, one bishop was even a former student of the Pope; further investigation would have been unimaginable.
Eventually, the clergy and Demon Hunters handling the matter were either transferred or mysteriously died.
For the old hands of the Secret Faction who understand this principle, feigned rebellion and fake surrender are essential skills.
Many times, they have survived by relying on these techniques.
"So, our goal is to create momentum, incite rebellion, and seize the opportunity to storm the Monastery, capture Durdafer alive, and seize Witch Jia Li." Tommy expertly drew a route map on the box.
"What about those lackeys Danji and Jilo?"
"I've inquired, Jilo is scheduled to investigate Secret Faction activity nearby the day after tomorrow. As for Danji, you know there's an issue here," Grampwen pointed to his temple, "as long as we assure him we won't harm Durdafer's life and use the lives of the common folk to pressure him, he will side with us."
"Who will be the scapegoat?"
"Let's choose Madlan."
"Madlan?"
"Yes." Chervis nodded, "That fugitive, I hear he's a follower of Juanuo, and gets along well with the common folk. The High Castle Archbishop would certainly be eager to take his head."
Madlan, warm-hearted and impulsive, is related to the Juanuo who's a thorn in the Metropolitan Bishop's side.
Simply a naturally destined scapegoat.
"Haven't there been rumors of the Chosen One these days?" Tommy snapped his fingers, "Brother Grampwen, in these days, please spread the word among the common folk, make them associate the Chosen One with Madlan..."
"How do the Chosen One and Madlan align?"
"That's not hard, isn't the Chosen One the moonlight in the night? Just say rain night white light; he's the fugitive who escaped during the rain, isn't that 'rain night'? He leads an uprising, isn't that 'white light'?"
Tommy continued, "Isn't the Chosen One 'Miseria grants the Holy Mark'? He has a birthmark on his wrist, call it the 'chain pattern of Miseria'.
Seeing Grampwen's look of sudden realization, Chervis added with a smile, "These commoners are born stupid, short-sighted, how can they remember those long words? Change a word or two, can they even react?"
"I'm very familiar with this," Tommy said brashly, "Back in Windmill Land, I called a dung heap a miracle, and some commoners believed it.
The key isn't to make them believe in the miracle itself but to make them believe that everyone else does, then they'll invent reasons on their own, and the job's mostly done."
"Brother Tommy speaks the truth, in our line of work, the most important thing is being able to incite.
You can't incite with just words; you need people under you passing it on, spreading the word, making the statements bigger. Once those commoners get riled up, they'll believe anything."
Chervis patted Grampwen's shoulder, "Listen well, learn well, how to end things, how to deal with the Church is the key."
Chervis and Tommy, these old hands, began to explain the logic in detail to the newcomer Grampwen.
After intercepting the evidence against the witch, the High Castle Archbishop was angry but didn't dare to go all out against Tommy and the others.
He lacked the courage to break the fragile balance between the Secret Faction and the Thousand River Valley District.
But to torment them or have Tommy and the others suffer unbearable losses was an easy feat for the Archbishop.
Just a "pilgrimage qualification" as a reward would cost countless money on indulgences.
Capturing the witch would be a significant achievement for the High Castle Archbishop. To redirect anger, prevent the downgrading of merit, Tommy and the others must make this "achievement" bigger.
As soon as Durdafer is captured, we must 'forcefully' elect Madlan as Pope of Thousand River Valley according to the Church's ancient election law."
Tommy snapped his fingers, "How about the hype of Juanuo believers falsely claiming the Pope spreading heresy? Sell a few more of the commoners' heads, with a chance to capture such a high-level member of the Secret Faction, his lord bishop basically wouldn't be angry anymore."
"Let's think carefully about this, no rush."
"So, when do we act?"
Tommy circled the candle twice, "Act separately tomorrow, strike the night after, exactly when Jilo isn't around."
"Alright, then the night after tomorrow!"