Chapter 421 — The Beast Unleashed

In Amber's eyes, Gaoyang rarely expounded on a concept at such length—the man who had risen from his coffin always had a head full of ideas, but those ideas seemed to exceed the understanding of the common folk of this world, so he preferred to quietly do a thing, to lead everyone in doing a thing together, and in the process let them come to understand bit by bit what the cause they were engaged in was really about. He would explain along the way, would guide, but he seldom preached. All his "sermons"—if they could be called that—were essentially confined to the academy's textbooks.

In the textbooks for social studies and history, Gaoyang had personally written a great deal of this sort of material, because he had once said: an adult's worldview changes very slowly, and only children can be shaped from an early age.

Imperceptible influence and labor reform for adults, schooling and worldview-shaping for children—this seemed to be the method Gaoyang had always employed. Unfortunately, Amber was neither interested in school nor willing to sit through meetings, always slacking off and slipping away...

But she was no fool. On the contrary, she was exceptionally clever. She quickly discerned a great deal of deeper meaning in Gaoyang's words, and after careful thought she realized something that shocked her: "The landowning nobles you want to destroy—that includes..."

"Yes, it includes myself. It includes the Cecil family," Gaoyang said calmly, looking into Amber's eyes. "Have you never paid attention to how the Administrative Hall operates?"

Amber blinked and couldn't help scratching her hair. "How would I ever think about that... it's not my specialty..."

Beside them, Wright had been thinking in silence, and at last he raised his head and let out a breath. "My lord, I think I understand... please forgive my question earlier."

"Think nothing of it. It's good that you think more about such matters," Gaoyang said. Watching Wright, who seemed to have worked through some knot in his heart, he began deliberately to guide him. "You can extend this line of thinking further—consider the changes in the Shining Star Church, consider the question of faith in the Holy Light."

Wright's expression turned solemn, and within that solemnity hid a trace of thought and confusion that was hard to detect.

"Cast aside that false god, embrace the true Holy Light—you have regained the power of the Holy Light, but will you stop there?" Gaoyang continued. "Will you be content with regaining your power, or will you press on, go deeper, seek the secret behind it all, and understand the truth of the Holy Light? Will you be satisfied with your own solitary awakening, or will you spread that awakening to more people, so that more may realize the true meaning of the Holy Light's virtue?"

Wright fell into brief thought and silence, but soon raised his head. "I will not stop here—I already know the true meaning of the Holy Light. It belongs to everyone. Before the Holy Light, the church that monopolizes it is the true blasphemer."

"It's good that you can think that way," Gaoyang said, having long known this would be the answer. He nodded slightly, then said, "As for the changes in you, I'll send for Piyun and we'll study it together. You may well be the first person in history to voluntarily abandon faith in the God of the Holy Light and then, by your own strength, gain control of the Holy Light. The only ones whose situation resembles yours are perhaps the druids of three thousand years ago who transformed natural divine magic into druidic magic. Piyun is something of an expert in this field; he may be able to offer some reference and advice for the road ahead."

"That would be best," Wright said at once with a nod. "I happen to have many confusions of my own."

"Rest a while before that," Gaoyang said. "Take some time to sort out your thoughts."

Gaoyang left with Amber, and only Wright remained in the small church.

He stood before the wooden pulpit, gazing for a long while at the empty place where the holy icon had once been placed. Sunlight poured in through the window and fell there; a few motes of dust floated in the light, reflecting glimmers of starlike brightness.

"Break the monopoly of the Holy Light, and return to man what belongs to man..."

Wright murmured softly, then lowered his head, slowly closed his eyes, and prayed in silence.

There was no holy icon here anymore, and he no longer needed one. He was praying to the Holy Light within his own heart; his prayer was the virtue and conviction he had believed in for decades.

All was quiet in the church, save that radiance gradually emerged from the air. A hazy, limpid halo enveloped the armored priest, as though sunlight had condensed into water flowing through the air. Within that clear brilliance, tiny motes of light drifted and gathered, slowly coalescing into a small figure.

The small figure drifted lightly down through the light onto Wright's shoulder, as weightless as a leaf. She raised her head and looked around; seeing that no one was watching her, she settled quietly on Wright's shoulder and drifted soundlessly into sleep.

...

On the road to the lord's manor, Amber fidgeted restlessly at Gaoyang's side, circling around him like a hamster that could not keep still, occasionally studying him with a strange expression. Gaoyang had meant to ignore her at first, but her maddening, mischief-seeking behavior finally got the better of him. He stopped, casually pinned the little runt in place. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"Nothing! I'm just curious how that head of yours is put together," Amber said with perfect self-assurance, arms crossed and voice full of conviction—though with her head being held down, the pose had not a shred of dignity to it. "It's just the two of us now, so tell the truth—what you said in the church, was all of it real?"

"Do you really never read the newspapers?" Gaoyang said, half amused, half exasperated. "If you looked at what the papers say, you'd know I'm serious."

"I do read them. I finish the strange tales and oddities, then toss them to Betty," Amber said, still perfectly self-assured. Then she shook her head, flinging Gaoyang's hand off her crown, and wore an expression of puzzlement. "But why would you do it... throw away your own privileges, even your descendants' privileges, just to bury the class you belong to... All right, it sounds noble enough, but why do it?"

In Amber's perpetually unreliable expression, Gaoyang caught a rare trace of seriousness. He couldn't help but smile, and raised a finger toward the rapidly rising city. "Tell me—which do you prefer, the city of Xuanque or the castles of the old landowning nobles?"

"Here, of course," Amber answered without hesitation. "I know what castles are like—they only look grand. Living inside is worse than the workers' dormitories here—no running water, no heating. And outside the castle, never mind—filthy and stinking, and inside you'd freeze to death."

"That's the first reason. I want to live in a better world. Only a stronger, more advanced, more enlightened society can build a city like this—and build cities even more advanced than this. In that respect, the old noble order has reached its limit. They cannot build the strong, advanced, enlightened world I require, so I will build one myself."

Amber blinked. "And is there a second reason?"