High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1357: Chapter 104 Public Opinion Preparation

”...When Jesus sat at a long table with his twelve disciples, He already knew there was a traitor among them. He knew it was Judas. Yet, He still sat with him, breaking bread and pouring wine for him.”

”This is not kindness, not magnanimity, nor about mercy.”

”This is faith... believing that destiny will deliver a just verdict. Believing that sacrifice will cleanse sins. Believing that His followers can be not only the benevolent but also the malevolent...”

At the dawn near Lakeside of Bell Lake, an Atlas Academy student in a yellow robe was loudly preaching by the shore, proclaiming the Lord’s Glory to the Fishmen.

Passing Red Robes looked at him with queer expressions.

Zheng Qing was among them. He was worried that the yellow-robed student might be stoned to death by the irate Fishmen in the lake, as several pairs of menacing, dark yellow eyes were emerging on the water’s surface.

But Xiao Xiao reassured him not to worry too much.

”Most Fishmen won’t contemplate such profound words,” Xiao Xiao flipped through the Campus Newspaper in his hands and casually explained: ”Jesus, kindness, mercy, sin, faith... I doubt a few Fishmen could understand the meanings of these words.”

”Fishmen have their priests; they also have faith,” Zheng Qing disagreed with the doctor’s view.

”That’s not faith; it’s just worship. Ancient totem worship.” Xiao Xiao multitasked, reading an article from the newspaper while still managing a somewhat arduous conversation with Zheng Qing: ”True faith is of two kinds; one is internal, a firm self-awareness; the other external, a firm reliance on others. The worship of the Fishmen is not firm, easily shaken. Thus, it cannot be called true faith.”

”Relying on others’ firmness?” Zheng Qing repeated Xiao Xiao’s words, raising his head to glance at the sky, suddenly struck by a thought: ”If there is no faith, does that mean the Outer Gods can’t descend?”

Xiao Xiao finally looked up from the newspaper.

”That’s one way to understand it.” His gaze penetrated through his smooth glasses, as if seeing right through what Zheng Qing was thinking: ”The essence of external faith is ’coordinates.’ Divine Spirits stabilize their existence through coordinates; the followers anchor their spirit through coordinates... The true Gods are high-dimensional beings transcendent of time and space; reality cannot withstand their descent. They are unknowable, unmeasurable, and only through the guidance of faith can they cast a shadow in this world, manifesting their existence.”

”That sounds complicated.”

”Why do you think these high-dimensional beings would cast projections down to low-dimensional existence?”

”Maybe they need the power of faith?” Zheng Qing speculated.

”Those who treat faith as sustenance ultimately get poisoned by it. Such foolish deities no longer exist.” Xiao Xiao sneered: ”Their projections descend for two reasons; one purely out of pity, like the rich pitying the poor; the other, out of interest... They regard every occurrence in the low-dimensional world as their spiritual nourishment—like when we read comics or novels, isn’t there a sense of immersion? That is actually a projection act. The three-dimensional world projecting onto the two-dimensional world.”

Zheng Qing shrugged.

”You say that, and it makes us sound pretty formidable,” he inexplicably thought of Mr. Ah Q.

”Indeed, it is so,” Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses, ”Mr. Karl Strauss once said, ’The most interesting life is not the being that transcends everything in high dimensions, but the invincible existence in low dimensions. Even if high-dimensional beings destroy the low-dimensional world, it can still tumble and fall into other low-dimensional worlds’...”

Karl Strauss is the author of ”Philosophy of Magic,” a textbook impressively remembered by Zheng Qing as the only non-academic professor authored textbook.

But he did not know the statement Xiao Xiao just quoted.

That was normal.

Xiao Xiao summed up: ”...so, just like when we find a cockroach at home, it means there are tens or even hundreds hidden where you can’t see. Similarly, when we realize that divine spirits have descended upon this world, it means their followers have already carried out numerous secret sacrifices and invocations.”

Zheng Qing thought of the Trickster, whose body was possessed by an Outer God in the streets of North District, and of Satoguya that descended in the Secret Realm, this thought in his mind growing stronger.

”So, you mean if no one summons them, they won’t come, right?” he asked softly.

”That’s the theory,” Xiao Xiao nodded.

”Do you think, if we change our perspective and trace the followers of Nicolas, we might find Lin Guo’s Black Mountain Goat faster?”

”The Trident Sword has an independent department specialized in ’hunting’ those cultists. As far as I know, they rank last in performance among the entire Trident Sword every year.” Xiao Xiao tactfully expressed his opinion, ”Absolution is a new hunting team; we can’t possibly be more professional than them.”

”This is a new idea,” insisted Zheng Qing.

”Yes, it indeed is a new idea,” Xiao Xiao perfunctorily agreed, lifting the newspaper in his hand, ”but compared to this new idea, I think this matter deserves our attention even more...”

”What is it?” Zheng Qing finally shifted his attention from his recent new idea.

”The Campus Newspaper has republished several articles from ’Beta Town Post’ and ’Ladies in Flowers,’ along with comments... and some articles of their own,” Xiao Xiao pointed to a few pages turned down:

”For example, this article in the ’Tales of Ancient and Modern’ section, which usually publishes stories like ’Ancient Corpses of Mountain Villages’, ’Southeast Asian Witchcraft’, ’Loch Ness Water Beast’, ’Library Haunted Tales’... but today, it features an extensive piece on ’The Guardian of the Moon Mirror’—an ancient being living in the cave system of the Great Britain Goat Forest, worshipped by a group self-proclaimed as ’The Black Mountain Goat Esoteric Society’. According to the article, the supposed ’Guardian of the Moon Mirror’ is an incarnation of Nicolas.”

”Or this piece, in the current affairs commentary section, where the commentator extensively discusses the negative impact of Evil God worship on Atlas Academy, particularly highlighting how those Outer Gods in the Deeps of Starry Sky influence wizards in their ’Path’ selection, turning them into followers. Such accusations are rare. Especially since that commentator is from Alpha Academy...”

”And this one, from the ’Beta Town Post’ via the Campus Newspaper, it mentions ’according to reliable information, several small-scale gatherings of Evil God worshippers have emerged in Beta Town’ ’reports say some followers tried to summon their master’ ’the impact is clear, with many students in school developing a taste for goat milk’ ’some students have lost pets’ ’First University remains indifferent’...”

”And this article, reprinted from ’Ladies in Flowers,’ harps on the old tune about ’The Black Mountain Goat of the Forest that breeds thousands of offspring’ and its dangers to pregnant women... It might make it easier for witches to give birth to tricksters... etc.”