Your Lord Has A Screw Loose?
Chapter 705 - 707: She Xi Rises Again, Sacrificial Rites Leave Hidden Troubles

Chapter 705 -707: She Xi Rises Again, Sacrificial Rites Leave Hidden Troubles

“She Xi really went to extremes. It seems that being in prison is indeed an awful experience,” Qin Muye wasn’t surprised. Given She Xi’s character, he would certainly seize this hard-won opportunity.

He indeed had been released and declared that the Power temporarily lent to him by Qin Muye was a boon from the Serpent Father. It must be said that She Xi really had the audacity to impersonate so blatantly.

Upon his release, he was naturally suppressed by various members of the Snake-man Clan, but because he had enough Power and immediately cut off the Snake-men’s ritual practices, this led to a direct and violent seizure of power.

As the new High Priest did not have the 8th tier, She Xi’s power was withdrawn by the Serpent Father and not granted again, which allowed She Xi to succeed in his coup.

However, She Xi didn’t kill or depose the High Priest. Instead, he allowed him to continue in his role while progressively weakening his spiritual authority.

Of course, these were not major issues; the real twist was that as soon as She Xi got out, he admitted his wrongdoings. He claimed that the war and such were illusions, and he too had been deceived, so he wanted to restore the old life of artistic and hedonistic pleasures.

The incumbent High Priest, being You Si, vehemently opposed this. Naturally, as the High Priest, he understood what the Serpent Father was thinking. The wars initiated by She Xi were actually in line with the Serpent Father’s wishes—it’s just that they failed. Had they been successful, all would have been forgiven. Hence, the incumbent High Priest shared this viewpoint, although he was much milder than She Xi.

Yet as soon as She Xi took charge, he set this notion in stone, and it was unstoppable. It was the popular will, as all the Snake-men had been terrified by the two previous defeats. Upon hearing the news, they immediately reinstated She Xi without hesitation, especially since She Xi once again received the grace of the Serpent Father.

Another way of putting it was that restoring their life of art and pleasure was the will of the Serpent Father; otherwise, how could She Xi regain his power again?

Although some Snake-men still harbored bad feelings toward She Xi—mostly the families of those he had executed—She Xi managed to appease them one by one with various forms of compensation.

Eventually, She Xi even fashioned a bureaucratic system similar to that of Great Qian, creating a management system independent of the Snake Temple’s rituals, and he also took over the approval process for ritual activities.

If it were really about making the Snake-man Clan thrive under She Xi’s management, that would be quite difficult, as all his political skills were focused on causing harm. But now, letting She Xi harm the Snake-man Clan was right up his alley.

Otherwise, how could he possibly have changed the Snake-man Clan’s banner on the city walls again in less than ten days after his release?

“He’s quite capable, although his Skill points are allocated in a very biased way,” Qin Muye couldn’t help but remark. If the other party had truly developed in the direction of a king-making talent, it would be possible, as determining the quality and implementation difficulty of a policy also requires corresponding abilities.

Like the Grand Canal project, if it had been built over several generations without major labor levies, there wouldn’t have been much of an issue. But to build it within one generation, and use corvée labor without compensation, even if it benefitted future generations, it would still cause even a tepidly performing Great Qian to collapse, regardless of whether the Alien Clans incited rebellion or not.

“The issues with the Snake-man Clan are resolved for now; at least there’s no need to worry about it for the next ten or eight years. As long as She Xi keeps the Snake-men stable, that will suffice.”

“However, it remains to be seen whether the Serpent Father will react; after all, this is a significant crisis for him. As long as the rituals are performed, anomalies will surely arise.”

“But if the rituals aren’t carried out, that seems to be an even greater problem.”

The social structure of the You Si Snake-men is inherently dominated by spiritual authority. Although She Xi has interfered, he cannot completely shatter the faith in the Serpent Father. The faith was weakest when his father, She Qi, was the High Priest. Unfortunately, he doubled down and pulled himself back into the pit.

“So we have to let the Spirit Monsters find a way to interfere; at least cutting off the signal so the Serpent Father cannot receive information about the outside world through the Snake Temple.”

The Spirit Monsters have already discovered that the Serpent Father is able to interfere directly or indirectly with the outside world only through the Snake Temple. Without the Snake Temple, the Serpent Father would not be able to take action.

Just like during the siege on the Alien Clan in the past, it was through the subsidiary altar carried by She Xi that the Serpent Father managed to save She Xi’s life.

If, in the future, the ability to receive from the outside were to be sealed, then no matter how strong the Serpent Father is, it would be limited.

Moreover, the adversary is dead.

That’s right, the Serpent Father is dead, not sealed. The reason he can still cause trouble, even in death, is quite simple—there’s still the presence of the Snake-men.

If it were Qin Muye and the remnants of the Clan, it wouldn’t be indirect interference anymore, but a direct crawl out of death itself, unlike the Snake-man father who is still in death doing sit-ups.

This also further confirms that You Si is indeed the corpse of the Snake-man father, which is why it can withstand the invasion of the national fortune.

“The technology to cut off the receiver, given the efficiency of the Spirit Monsters, is probably going to be tough; I’ll have to make it myself.”

“Given the current situation, She Xi will likely have the current High Priest perform a ritual sacrifice soon. If it fails, it’s still okay for She Xi to continue muddling through. But if it succeeds…”

Without considering it, one knows what the result would be: the current High Priest would instantly boost his own strength to the eighth rank and then leverage the power of the Snake-man father to directly suppress She Xi. This time, it’s likely not going to be another life sentence, but rather an immediate execution.

But the sacrifice must go on, for She Xi certainly did not entertain the thought of taking a step back when using faith as motivation.

This kind of atmosphere can only be gradually eroded.

Qin Muye doesn’t have a firm foundation in making the signal disruptor either, despite having a large amount of data. After all, it’s a ninth-rank Priest, and it’s the only one left. Even if the Snake-man father is dead, it’s still not to be underestimated.

The Mother of the Clan has been dead for who knows how many tens of thousands of years and can still rise up. The Snake-man father is still resilient in death, so naturally, it can’t be taken lightly.

“If it really doesn’t work, then make several types, defend from multiple angles. There will always be one that can hold up,” Qin Muye said, unable to go himself. If he could go and inspect it personally, he would undoubtedly make an infallible signal disruptor.

“Dad, why don’t you let Ji Shan go? He’s free anyway,” Huangfu Xing suggested from the side.

“He’s not up for it. He can handle ethereal and elusive things, but he’s not quite cut out for dealing with this matter. Better let him continue to dig into Subspace,” Qin Muye shook his head.

In Huangfu Xing’s eyes, Qin Muye and Ji Shan were like the ultimate all-rounders, capable of everything. At least in the two years he had been alive, he had never seen Qin Muye come up short or fail to solve any problem.

“Ah… this is the first time I’ve seen something even Ji Shan can’t handle,” Huangfu Xing felt his world view crumble. He had learned early on that Qin Muye couldn’t leave the Dragon Throne, though the reason was not explicitly stated. When he asked about it, Qin Muye had joked his way around the question.

“You’ll see more of this in time. Just do your homework for now, so you don’t have to double down on it tomorrow if you don’t finish,” Qin Muye glanced at Huangfu Xing, who was trying to slack off on his homework while talking to him. His little schemes, did Qin Muye not know them?

Huangfu Xing’s face turned bitter; he hated doing homework and detested practicing martial arts daily. He just wanted to be a layabout like Qin Muye.

After all, striving is so tiring. His father and brothers were each more unreasonable than the last, so it was fine for him to just lie low.

But clearly, his unreasonable father and brothers also wanted to lie low, intending to hand over the work of getting up earlier than a chicken and sleeping later than a dog to him.

In Qin Muye’s presence, the Emperor indeed seemed to have the Profession of a layabout because he had offloaded all tasks onto the Spirit Monsters. But Huangfu Xing didn’t have that luxury, so once he took the throne, he would have to manage most tasks personally.

If he doesn’t work hard now, Qin Muye will make him work hard in the future, that much Huangfu Xing can be certain of!

So, he didn’t dare speak up and started earnestly on his homework for the day. He couldn’t contradict Qin Muye, or he really would end up with more homework.

Qin Muye had a hundred ways to make him voluntarily do his homework, rather than by force.

“Notify Black Hand to work with She Xi to swiftly deal with the Snake-man father’s faith and the Snake Temple, to prevent any complications,” Qin Muye immediately said.

Despite the Snake-man father being dead, Qin Muye still harbored fear towards the ninth rank and remained very cautious.

“Yes, the message has been conveyed to Black Hand,” replied the Sound Transmission Tube·Evangelical Spirit Monster with efficiency. Black Hand received the message and had already made some plans. Implementation would take some time; it couldn’t be done immediately, as it involved many aspects.