After finishing his conversation with Zhao Longfei, Qin Siyang lay back down and went to sleep.
But Hu Chan, next door, wasn't nearly so relaxed.
His eyes were bloodshot.
From dinner the night before until this morning, he had either been making phone calls or answering them.
Every piece of information pointed to the same conclusion: overnight, the Trinity Church's strength had grown several times over.
"Jin Shengyu, are you kidding me? Didn't we agree that you two would deal with the Three Protectors of the Trinity Church, I'd deal with the Pope, and we'd stay out of each other's way?"
["Ah! Shit! You little bastard! Watch your mouth when you talk to me! I'm already in a bad mood. Curse at me again and I'll shove a knife through your skull!"]
Though they were still the Holy Son and Protector on the surface, they abandoned all pretense in private calls.
If they didn't have the Trinity Church as a common enemy, they would already be doing everything they could to kill each other.
"Didn't you say last time that Protector of the Buddha Robe Sarari had already been seriously wounded by Chris? So how did it suddenly become Chris who's seriously wounded? And why are you calling me? Where's Chris?"
["Damn it! Talking to a little bastard like you really pisses me off. Hey, do you even have a brain? Chris is seriously injured. He's hiding somewhere recovering. How's he supposed to call you?"]
"Then how did the situation suddenly take such a turn for the worse?"
["You're asking me? Shouldn't I be asking you? A whole group of Richard family experts popped out of nowhere like scallions growing out of the ground and caught the two of us completely off guard! Where did they come from? Don't tell me you have no idea, you little bastard!"]
"I have no idea? You think I can mobilize the Yan Legion? Or the Chu Legion? Or the Zhao family?"
["Even if you didn't have a hand in it, you definitely knew beforehand! Anyway, you didn't give me or Chris any warning!"]
"What nonsense! You two were planning to kill me. Why the hell would I warn you?"
["Ah! Shit! Then what right do you have to blame us?"]
Hu Chan took several deep breaths to steady himself, "Fine. Stop arguing. Just tell me what you're planning to do now."
["Do I even need to say it? We join forces and crush the damn Trinity Church! If we don't start working together now, the Trinity Church is going to swallow us whole!"]
Hu Chan frowned, but he had no better idea.
Zhao Longfei had already called him and said that he could only coordinate things behind the scenes. He couldn't openly send people to fight the church's top combatants, or he wouldn't be able to explain it to the United Government.
In the end, they still had to rely on themselves.
"Fine. Where are you planning to strike the Trinity Church first?"
["District 75. It's not far from your District 7 or our District 8. We'll take the Trinity Church there first."]
"Hold on!", Hu Chan cut him off at once, "If I remember correctly, District 75 is Protector of the Buddha Robe Sarari's territory, right? Didn't you say Sarari was seriously injured? Do the people in that area still need all of us working together to deal with them?"
Then Hu Chan demanded sharply, "Jin Shengyu! Are you trying to lure me over there so you can kill me? Things are already on fire, and you're still thinking about screwing me over? Are you sick in the head?"
["Damn it! Every sentence with you costs me three blood pressure pills. Doesn't your school have internet? Urit just announced the appointment of the new Protector of the Buddha Robe. You didn't know?"]
"Huh? A new Protector of the Buddha Robe? I've been on the phone the whole time. I haven't had time to check the news! What's going on?"
["Sarari was seriously injured, and District 75 was about to fall to Chris. Then a squad suddenly showed up. Every one of them was highly skilled. They slaughtered Chris's men, and the one leading them, Dibaxi, seriously wounded Chris himself. That Dibaxi is the new Protector of the Buddha Robe."]
"Dibaxi? The governor of State 12?"
["That's right. He resigned last night. Now he's the Trinity Church's Protector of the Buddha Robe."]
"What? This is complete chaos! But if I remember right, Sarari's a stubborn guy. Did he actually agree to step down?"
["Hmph! Whether he agreed doesn't matter anymore. Because the first thing Dibaxi did after taking office was publicly chop Sarari to pieces for the crime of 'lacking ability and desecrating the divine majesty of the Trinity God.'"]
"What the... A Protector of the Buddha Robe was just killed like that?"
["What did you expect? The Richard family has completely gone blood-red with killing. It's obvious they're ready to risk everything for the church's interests. We have to act immediately! Let me remind you of one thing, you little bastard. According to United Government law, if you or I get our heads chopped off by the Trinity Church, it'll only count as friction between churches and a correction of faith. It won't even need to go to court. You won't even have a place to argue your case."]
"I know! I don't need a eunuch like you teaching me the law."
["Hey, damn it! How does a little bastard like you know about that too?"]
"Stop arguing! Let me think."
["Think my ass! Gather every believer at Sequence Level Five and above and go all out in District 75. If we survive this, you and I will still have a chance to turn things around. If we lose this time, we'll die there, and that'll save anyone the trouble of collecting our bodies."]
Hu Chan couldn't think of a better plan either. He sighed, "When do we go?"
["Just the two of us probably aren't enough to beat that Dibaxi. We'll wait until Chris recovers and tells us about Dibaxi's abilities. Then we'll go together."]
"About how long?"
["At most a week."]
Hu Chan frowned.
'A week...'
'That should also be enough time for Yu Ziying to recover using the Titan Foxtail Inner Leaf Fragment.'
"Fine. Let me know when the time comes."
After hanging up, Hu Chan took another shower and went to class as usual.
It was a habit he had developed over many years.
No matter how serious things got, his daily routine couldn't fall apart.
As long as he stayed steady, everything would pass.
Hu Chan, who hadn't slept all night, left early.
Qin Siyang, who had slept all night, was still sleeping in.
Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he glanced at his class schedule.
"Huh? Old Li's A Brief Analysis of Advancing Along the Path of a Believer starts at 9:40. Looks like I'm late."
He yawned, "It's Old Li's class, and it's about the Path of a Believer. Totally useless. Being late doesn't matter. I'll sleep a little longer..."
As he spoke, he turned over, ready to go back to sleep.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Before he could close his eyes, his phone rang.
Qin Siyang looked at the caller ID.
It was Li Tianming.
"Hello, Old Li. What's up?"
["Little Qin, why didn't you come to class?"]
"I'm too sleepy. Going back to sleep."
["Sleep? It's class time! What are you sleeping for? Get over here right now!"]
"What era are we living in? Calling people to tell them to come to class? You think you're still the principal at Ju'an School? Which other professor even takes attendance?"
["Hurry up! You have to come to the classroom right now! Everyone's waiting for you!"]
"Not going. Not going. I'm hanging up."
At that moment, Li Tianming lowered his voice.
["Little Qin, I'm begging you! Saving the situation is like putting out a fire."]
"..."
["You can't just leave me hanging! What am I supposed to do without you?"]
"..."
["We're so close. You can't just watch me get exposed, can you?"]
"Fine, fine. I got it."
["Little Qin, you're the best!"]
Qin Siyang hung up and got out of bed with an unhappy look.
"For fuck's sake... Feels like I got myself a dad."