Shen Weixun didn't know much about the Holy Cult either.
He only caught a few snippets from the ancient books in the old man's room.
From those snippets, Shen Weixun could infer that it wasn't that few people knew about this organization, but rather that most of the records about it had been destroyed.
The earliest records of the Holy Cult dated back 500 years.
At that time, the world was in turmoil. Wars raged everywhere, and the people were living in dire straits.
Several countries were locked in fierce battles, and it was, of course, the common people who suffered.
Each country conscripted soldiers from the civilian population, almost taking all the young and strong men away.
The fields could only be tended by the old, the weak, the women, and the children left at home.
With so few able - bodied laborers, the amount of arable land was limited. After the crops blossomed and bore fruit, they would be levied for grain, or even directly looted.
At that time, cases of people exchanging children to eat were not uncommon.
The world seemed like a purgatory.
Everywhere one looked, it was simply too tragic to describe.
Many common people, driven to desperation, decided to rebel.
They joined the great army vying for control of the world.
The Holy Cult started to develop from that time.
Led by a hermit - wizard, it gathered many capable and extraordinary people.
Unlike other peasant uprisings, they neither waged war nor looted grain. Instead, they continuously took in homeless refugees and spontaneously built a city.
At that time, many refugees were sheltered by them, and the Holy Cult had an excellent reputation during that turbulent era.
The turmoil lasted for ten years. After that, a young man from a peasant family finally quelled all the wars and ascended to the supreme throne.
This emperor conquered all the countries and could be regarded as the sole emperor of the world at that time.
But he failed to subdue the Holy Cult.
The leading hermit - wizard refused to submit and just guarded the small city he had built.
That emperor was no pushover.
If you were unwilling to surrender or submit, he would fight until you did.
The emperor issued an order to launch a military campaign. Hundreds of thousands of troops were dispatched to besiege a tiny city called Taiping City.
Originally, the emperor wanted to show the Holy Cult his strength and use the sheer number of his troops to force them to surrender.
Unexpectedly, the wizard was a tough nut to crack and refused no matter what.
If they refused, then the battle began.
Surprisingly, the hundreds of thousands of troops were defeated.
It was a crushing defeat.
During the turbulent times, the Holy Cult had gathered many capable craftsmen.
A wave of mechanisms caused the army to lose tens of thousands of men.
The formations set up by the art of divination and geomancy cost them another tens of thousands.
Later, the wizard even summoned thunder, taking advantage of the right time, place, and people, and wiped out another tens of thousands of the army.
Out of the 100,000 soldiers, only 20,000 returned.
The wizard seemed to be really enraged and declared that even if the emperor unified the world, the national fortune of his dynasty would not last more than 50 years.
The emperor was extremely angry but had no way to deal with him.
The talents under the Holy Cult had unpredictable means and could even summon thunder. How could an ordinary army with even the most powerful weapons fight against them?
So the emperor gave up.
Taiping City became a unique small country at that time.
Fifty years later, the wizard's prediction actually came true.
The emperor died in a civil unrest, and the name of the dynasty changed again.
This time, the new emperor was smarter. Instead of resorting to war, he persistently sent people to visit the Holy Cult.
If one attempt failed, he would try a second time.
If the second attempt failed, he would try a third time.
He even often went to Taiping City himself, saying that he would receive the wizard with the courtesy due to a national teacher. As long as the wizard was willing to submit, he was willing to ensure that all the people in Taiping City would have enough food and clothing for a hundred years.
Perhaps moved by the emperor's perseverance and humble attitude, the wizard this time chose to yield.
He took the position of the grand national teacher with boundless power.
After the wizard died, the emperor began to take action.
He used extremely gentle means to eliminate most of the people in the Holy Cult.
From then on, this legendary cult disappeared from the long river of history.
The second time it appeared was in the next turbulent era.
It wasn't too long ago, just 70 years ago.
In that era of war and chaos, it also took in homeless refugees under the name of the Holy Cult.
At that time, it caused quite a stir.
But for some unknown reason, 50 years ago, all the members of the Holy Cult disappeared collectively, and the organization collapsed again.
"The last record in that book was just a few words: The Holy Cult must not exist in the world. Those who encounter it must eliminate it."
Shen Weixun told all he knew about the Holy Cult to Xiaotuanzi.
"What happened after that? Is that all?"
Niannian murmured weakly, trying to hold on to her consciousness.
"That's all. Go to sleep quickly."
"Okay."
Niannian really couldn't hold on any longer.
After listening to the story for so long and reading books for so long, it was far past her bedtime.
Almost as soon as Shen Weixun finished speaking, she fell into a deep sleep.
Even breathing came from the girl in his arms.
Shen Weixun carefully withdrew his arm, picked up one of the books prepared for Niannian beside the bed, took out the yellow paper and cinnabar from the drawer, and quietly went to the balcony.
He quickly drew a fire talisman and used it to ignite the book in his hand.
A priceless rare book instantly turned into black ashes.
The remaining ashes gradually drifted away with the gentle breeze until they completely disappeared.
Shen Weixun stared at the direction where the ashes drifted away, his expression unfathomable.
He lied.
Actually, there were other things recorded in the master's book.
The book he just burned also had records about the Holy Cult.
Seventy years ago, the Holy Cult suddenly emerged and took in homeless refugees.
Twenty years later.
They sacrificed ten thousand people in an attempt to overturn the general situation of the world and establish themselves as kings.
Later, a thousand orthodox Taoist priests, at the cost of sacrificing all their lifespans and their own fortunes, offered a blood sacrifice to the sky to prevent the gradually peaceful world from falling into chaos again.
After that, the talent in the Taoist sect declined, and the inheritance was almost severed.
Therefore, for all future descendants, any orthodox disciples of the Taoist sect, if they saw the Holy Cult, must chase and kill them to the ends of the earth and definitely eliminate them.
As for the process of the Holy Cult's development, the techniques they used, the process of the Taoist sect's elimination of them, and the list of the Holy Cult's followers, none of these were recorded.
They had wiped out the cult on such a large - scale. It couldn't be because no one knew about it that they didn't record.
They must have deliberately ignored these things.
The Holy Cult, which should have disappeared, appeared again.
The other side was deliberately targeting Niannian, and their intentions were unclear.
This was a bottomless muddy pool.
Shen Weixun didn't want Niannian to know too much.
Once Niannian was really involved and personally participated, with her temper, she would surely fight the Holy Cult to the death.
This girl was stubborn, and when she got serious, she was terribly obstinate.
Knowing too much would only drag her into the whirlpool and make it impossible for her to get out.
Little junior sister had the ability to protect herself. Even if she was targeted, as long as she didn't get too deeply involved and just stayed within her own territory, no one could touch her.
As for the rest...
No matter how many storms there were outside, he, his senior brother, and their master would do their best to shield Niannian from them.
All little junior sister needed to do was grow up happily.
He thought that the master should share the same view as him.
Otherwise, the master wouldn't have broken his own vow and rushed down the mountain in a hurry.
He probably did it to help Niannian get rid of future troubles.
After completely destroying the book, Shen Weixun stood in the wind for a while.
He didn't go back into the room and crawl back into the quilt until his hands were ice - cold.
Looking at little Niannian sleeping sprawled out, Shen Weixun smiled helplessly, his eyes full of doting.
"You know, it's best to be carefree."