Work Prophet
Chapter 266 - 24 Q&A Session

Chapter 266: Chapter 24 Q&A Session

It was not just Quintus, but priests in other villages on the continent also encountered the same predicament during this period.

Despite their best efforts to instill the love of the goddess and the hypocrisy of Saturday into the believers, when the Double Rest Sect began preaching again, many villagers were still attracted.

This included not only those who had been on the fence before, but also many devout followers of Pisya.

Now they had all betrayed the goddess.

No matter how earnestly Quintus and others tried to dissuade them, the villagers remained stubborn, determined to hear the monks of the Double Rest Sect speak of their "Land God Kingdom."

The priests of the Silver Moon Church were almost clinging to the legs of the believers, begging them not to go, but to little avail. Even some elderly people with mobility issues, supported by others and trembling, insisted on attending the sermons of the Double Rest Sect.

Quintus was worried they might have an accident along the way.

Some of the more fiery young priests, seeing that kind words were of no use, were driven to desperation and resorted to threats of sin and divine punishment to scare the villagers.

This did have some effect, and fewer people from their villages ran off to listen to the missionary work of the Double Rest Sect.

But experienced and far-sighted priests like Quintus knew that this method was merely a temporary solution, for it was not just one or two villages that were going to listen.

Once those who were scared by the divine punishment realized that those who went to listen suffered no ill consequences, their reverence for Pisya would quickly disappear, and an even more severe collapse in faith might follow.

Therefore, this method was not advisable.

But Quintus was not ready to concede defeat. If it had been a matter of eloquence, being fairly defeated in a debate, he would have nothing to say.

But what was this now? The Double Rest Sect attracted people to their teachings by handing out small gifts, a tactic almost akin to cheating. This was too despicable, too devoid of any scruples!

In Quintus’s view, preaching should be a holy and pure act.

It should be a spiritual enlightenment, the merging of hearts, not picking bargains in the market, swarming wherever there is a cheap deal.

Quintus even wanted to stand up and ask Li Yu if he was not afraid that the day he ran out of money, all these followers would desert him?

People gathered together for profit cannot be reliable, can they?

However, Quintus had to admit that, at least for the moment, Li Yu’s method was quite effective.

Now it seemed almost impossible to stop the villagers from attending the sermons of the Double Rest Sect

Quintus could only reluctantly settle for a lesser alternative, telling the villagers that it was alright to go, but they should not listen to the nonsense spoken by the Sabbaths and should return immediately after receiving the gifts.

This way, they could receive the gifts and still maintain their loyalty to Pisya.

When he said this, the villagers were almost moved to tears; they had not expected the goddess to be so merciful that attending a sermon held by a pagan sect was not an issue, and their hearts still belonged to Pisya!

Added to Priest Quintus’s super charismatic personality, there were still quite a few villagers willing to follow his arrangements.

What seemed like an irresolvable conflict appeared to be perfectly resolved in this way.

Quintus even took the initiative to comfort the villagers who felt guilty, telling them that for every item they took from the Double Rest Sect, it would cost the sect a bit of money, further weakening the heathens’ power. Thus, the villagers had an epiphany.

They hadn’t betrayed the goddess; they were protecting her by freelancing for her and striking at her enemies, so they became even more enthusiastic!

However, the Double Rest Sect quickly noticed this loophole and moved the distribution of items to after the preaching had ended.

But Quintus was prepared; with a grand gesture, he told the villagers to come back after the preaching, but still stick to the old rule: only freeload the gifts without listening.

They could stuff their ears with cloth during the Double Rest Sect’s sermon; as long as they sat through the preaching, they would still be able to receive the items distributed by the sect.

The villagers, hearing this, clapped their hands in approval and even prompted villagers from other villages to follow suit.

But how could these simple indigenous people of the Bratis Continent possibly outdo Li Yu, a modern man, in class shenanigans?

Realizing that people weren’t listening properly, Li Yu changed the rules for distributing eggs again.

After each sermon, listeners had to answer three extremely simple basic questions in order to receive that day’s gift.

Not only that, but Li Yu also added a Q&A session to the preaching. After explaining a segment of doctrine, the missionary monks would randomly select listening villagers to ask questions.

If a villager could answer the question, they would receive an additional gift for answering, and this gift was more valuable than the regular ones.

From then on, during the sermons of the Double Rest Sect, no one plugged their ears anymore.

Everyone was fully attentive, afraid of missing a single word, creating an atmosphere even better than that in a 985 university classroom.

Quintus really couldn’t bear it anymore; he couldn’t even find an excuse to deceive himself.

Because he observed that after returning, the villagers would tutor each other, review the materials from the day to ensure they could answer if they were called upon next time.

If the literacy rate on the Bratis Continent wasn’t so low, those villagers might even start taking detailed study notes.

Quintus felt truly powerless and had no choice but to throw this tough question back to the Church.

In fact, from the very first day, the news of Li Yu drawing crowds by distributing eggs reached the ears of the seven High Priests, and their reactions were similar to Quintus’, all astounded.

Priest Kerkwon was livid on the spot, furiously denouncing Li Yu as despicable and shameless, not a prophet at all but a mercenary schemer who should be hanged!

But while scolding Li Yu was satisfying, it solved none of their problems, especially now that everyone in Green Field was busy attending the Double Rest Sect’s sermons, and the number of followers in Pisya was dwindling.

Moreover, the impact of this tactic by the Double Rest Sect was too strong; if it worked in Green Field, it would surely be effective elsewhere.

So, after Priest Kerkwon had finished his tirade, someone proposed, "Why don’t we also give something to the faithful? If it really comes down to wealth, the Double Rest Sect can’t compare to us."

But as soon as he finished speaking, the hall fell into silence.

After a moment, Priest Reves was the first to speak, "Impossible, the Church has no such precedent."

Priest Genaya also chimed in, "We can’t set such a bad example; it would foster greed in the hearts of the faithful. And if we only give to the faithful in Green Field, what would those in other places think? It’s unrealistic to give to everyone."