VI. The Demise of Manichaeism 4

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Ziming said, "Sect Master, this matter must not be. 78”

Zhao Cao also said: "Yes, sect leader, you can go with us." Even if you want to pass on the throne, you will wait until you escape from Hainan. ”

Zhong Ziang said: "If I go with you, then Qiongzhou is an empty city, Yang Yan will definitely send someone to chase after us, I am afraid that we will be caught up by Yang Yan before we escape to the sea, so only I am here can buy time for you to drag Yang Yan." ”

Zhong Xinyu said: "But, ...... father"

Zhong Ziang said: "No need, I have decided with the scriptures, you don't need to persuade anymore." Birth, old age, sickness and death are just a common thing in life, and no one is inevitable, but sooner or later. The old man is nearly sixty years old, and he has lived enough. As for you, it has been hundreds of years since the Holy Religion was introduced to Middle-earth, and it must not be interrupted in our hands, and the future development of the Holy Religion depends on you. Prepare incense cases and five offerings, and immediately hold a succession ceremony. ”

Everyone knew that Zhong Ziang had decided that he would not change it again. Zhong Zhenxian wanted to say something more, but Chen Ziming signaled to him and stopped speaking. After the incense case and the five offerings were placed, Zhong Ziang worshipped the tablets of the ancestors of Manichaeism, and passed the Manichaean token "Holy Fire Order" to Zhong Xinyu, Zhong Xinyu took over the Holy Fire Order, and also bowed a few times to the tablets of the ancestors of Manichaeism, which represented the position of the Manichaean leader and passed it to Zhong Xinyu.

Zhong Ziang said: Xinyu, this heavy burden will be borne by you in the future, if you can escape the Song army's navy and return to the mainland, you must not make a noise, and don't think about avenging me, or go underground again, secretly develop believers, accumulate strength, at least for twenty years, there must be no rash actions, understand? ”

Zhong Xinyu lowered her head and said, "My daughter remembers." ^^Go see the latest"

Zhong Ziang nodded, then turned his head to look at Zhong Zhenxian and said, "Zhenxian, I passed on the position of the sect leader to Xinyu instead of you, because you are frivolous and boring, and your self-esteem is too high, not as calm as Xinyu, you are not convinced." ”

Zhong Zhenxian lowered his head and said in a low voice: "The child respects his father's orders, and he will never dare to disobey." ”

Zhong Ziang sighed, he didn't know that his children had been fighting openly and secretly for the position of the heir of the sect leader in the past few years, and he always thought that he was still alive and could control the overall situation, so he didn't care, but thought that this could stimulate the self-motivation of the two, so as to select the best one among the two, who would have thought that the situation would change so quickly, not only did he have to decide on the heir very early, but once he decided, he also had to take the throne immediately, and said: "I hope you are the same, and I won't force you to swear, It's just that you have to remember that now is the life and death of the Holy Sect, and only by letting go of selfishness and uniting can you have a remnant of life, otherwise it will only be a dead end, and it is up to you to decide where to go. ”

Chen Ziming said: "Sect Leader rest assured, his subordinates must respect the order of the Sect Master, help the new Sect Master, and will definitely let the Holy Sect continue to continue and achieve the great prosperity of the Holy Sect." ”

Zhao Cao also said: "Sect Master, don't worry, I, Zhao Cao, am loyal to the new Sect Master, and I have no two hearts, if anyone has a different heart, I will be the first to spare him." ”

Zhong Ziang let out a long sigh and said: "Dust to dust, dust to earth, each to travel, each to go his own way, you each go to prepare, leave overnight tonight, so that you can do it yourself." ”

In fact, this Zhong Ziang is not yet sixty years old, and with his skills, it is not an accident to live for another twenty or thirty years, but after this series of losses, the huge gap from the peak to the trough has brought a heavy blow to Zhong Ziang's psychology, so that he no longer has the courage to start over. Although staying is to buy time for everyone to retreat, it actually contains a kind of relief from death, so after arranging the future, Zhong Ziang does not want to care about the future fate of Manichaeism, and everything is left to fate.

At this time, Ziang suddenly heard a soft call: "Dad." I saw Zhong Xinhuan standing in front of him.

Zhong Ziang said: "Xiaohuan, you also go and prepare, let's go with my sister." ”

Zhong Xinhuan shook his head and said, "I'm not leaving, I'm going to stay with my father." ”

Zhong Ziang smiled bitterly, knowing what was on the mind of this little daughter, and said, "Okay, you can stay." I don't think Yang Yan will be embarrassed for you, if you are willing, and Yang Yan is also willing, you can stay with him in the future, at least you can live a stable life. But remember, no matter what happens to your father, don't blame Yang Yan, we just don't say the same, in fact, he is not wrong. ”

Zhong Xinhuan bit his lip, lowered his head, but his eyes shot a determined light, and said, "Dad, I know how to do it, don't worry." ”

Zhong Ziang nodded, didn't notice his daughter's demeanor, and said, "You go back to the house." ”

Early in the morning, groups of people came out of the city of Qiongzhou and surrendered to the Song army, which was also mixed with many soldiers of the Manichaean army. Yang Yan ordered the people to separate the people from the soldiers, find a place to settle temporarily, and send a small number of soldiers to manage it, and then let the people return to their homes in the city after the attack on Qiongzhou.

After more than two hours, when all the people had gone out, they did not see a single Manichaean leader. At this time, it was close to noon, and Yang Yan gave an order, and the Song army's brigade drove to the city of Qiongzhou. When I arrived at the city of Qiongzhou, I saw that the city gate was wide open, and Zhong Ziang stood in front of the city gate with two or three hundred Manichaean soldiers.

When Yang Yan saw it, he knew that Zhong Ziang was at the end of the road, and then he was determined to die, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, this time Zhong Ziang came out of the crowd and said, "Yang Yan, please come and answer." ”

Yang Yan jumped off the war horse and came to Zhong Ziang, and said, "Sect Master Zhong ......"

Zhong Ziang interrupted him and said: "Yang Yan, you don't have to say more, I won't surrender, others surrender, maybe you can avoid death, but I will never be able to avoid it, even if you die left and right, it is better to die in a vigorous battle under the city of Qiongzhou, than to be taken to Lin'an and beheaded in public."