Dong Che explained to me in detail the origins of how these believers entered this city.

Their plan of action appeared mysterious and elusive to outsiders like Jiaoshu who were unaware. I had also wondered if they were secretly plotting something unknowable, but after listening to Dong Che's explanation, I realized there was no enigmatic conspiracy at all. Their thoughts were quite simple, which was to imitate my past actions.

As Jiaoshu mentioned earlier, understanding the life events of the God one believes in is a basic skill of believers. Some life events of the Great Impermanence may be difficult to investigate, such as King Zhuanlun who hides himself to the extent that even his existence is questioned. However, I have never hidden my deeds or viewpoints. After thoroughly investigating my life events, the believers have had a relatively clear grasp of my personality inclinations.

They realized my passion and pursuit for magical adventures. To further get closer to the God and strengthen their faith, besides daily prayers and rituals, they also wanted to imitate my actions. Or rather, imitating the deeds of the God itself is a clear intention of ritualistic behavior. By placing oneself in the same circumstances as the God, one can somewhat experience the perspective and thinking of the God, enhancing their understanding of the God they believe in.

My current understanding of Mazao is partly based on being in a state similar to Mazao's, influenced by the broom star power. Although we are vastly different in personality, because I am now in a "misfortune" state that affects those around me, I can thereby ponder Mazao's psychological activities. I have done so more than once.

Thus, during the turbulent times, the Southern City entered the believers' sight. The Southern City had not yet turned into the current intense state of rampant monster exploitation, city destruction, and revival. However, any demon hunter could see that it would soon become a battlefield between Taoyuan Village and Xuanming believers. Any decent person would avoid it, but to my believers, it was like delivering a pillow when sleepy, with no reason to miss the opportunity.

Of course, not all believers are so extreme as to practice their faith even by throwing themselves into the battlefield. Though the scale of my believer group is still steadily expanding, its depth is not as profound as other Great Impermanence believer groups. Lu Chan, the epitome of a decent person among them, ordered all believers wishing to enter the city not to wade into this mess, for fear of inviting unnecessary trouble to the still-developing believer group.

On this basis, those who dared to enter the place were mostly ideologically extreme characters. Perhaps it could be said that they are the roles most ideologically close to me as their faith object. If it were me, I would likely ignore Lu Chan's order as well.

No wonder Lu Chan classified the information about these believers being trapped in the Southern City as the least important Tier 4—after all, these people brought it upon themselves, dying here is fulfilling their wish. Moreover, there was indeed no way to rescue them, so they could only be regarded as already sunk losses. Emphasizing this information with me, causing me to risk myself to save them, would truly be a profitless loss.

As for the subsequent discovery that Xiaoqiao, who had a bond with both Zhu Shi and me, also entered this city, and I had to fight Xuanming to protect Little Bowl, that should be another matter altogether.

Returning to the believers' actions—when the Southern City truly turned into a terrifying battlefield ravaged by monsters, they, amidst panic and fear, also felt that they might have indeed come to the right place.

And not long after, they discovered a very deadly problem.

——What should they do next?

Throughout history, most adventure stories have undoubtedly been themed around the protagonist's adventure. This point, though it seems like an obvious statement, does not apply to those who are protagonists in adventure stories. Whether it's to bring medicine found only in harsh environments to an ailing relative, to pursue an arch-enemy, or for enormous wealth and achievement… most protagonists in adventure stories aren't just "adventuring for the sake of adventure".

To put it bluntly, those who do such things are seen by many as idlers seeking trouble. In my past investigations of various urban supernatural legends, I was occasionally judged this way. It wasn't about any interest disputes with events but actions taken to pursue unrealistic thrills, which isn't something normal living people would do.

Taoyuan Village believers aim to achieve "Paradise", Xuanming believers aim for the healthy continuation of human civilization, both sides have their stances and motives, and both question the sudden appearance of Zhuang Cheng believers on the battlefield—what are these people here to do? Whose side are they on? Given that they have ventured onto the battlefield with a determination of no return, there surely must be some unknown plan and conspiracy!

Yet in terms of results alone, they were indeed here just for watching the commotion.

If asked whether they themselves were really only there to watch the fun, the answer would naturally be no, yet not knowing what to do next was an undeniable fact. Should they help the Taoyuan Village believers? But the God they believe in disappeared after a life-and-death conflict with the Taoyuan Village Master, they certainly shouldn't strengthen the enemy.

Then should they help the Xuanming believers? But Xuanming believers are also enemies of Luo Mountain and have some competitive relationship in faith with the God they believe in. The more devout Xuanming believers disdain Zhuang Cheng believers, and Zhuang Cheng believers couldn't possibly have a friendly face towards a faction that dislikes them, let alone draw their swords to help.

At this point, Dong Che paved a clear path for the believers through his actions—that is, from the stance of Governance Realists, to help those ordinary civilians struggling to survive on the harsh battlefield.

Why was Dong Che present in this city? Unlike the believers, he wasn't there for the adventure. He was there to persuade them to come back.

Firstly, it needs to be pointed out that, possessing the Furnace Slag Impermanence Sword, Dong Che holds some prestige within my believer group.

The Furnace Slag Impermanence Sword was one of the batch of ash weapons I handed over to Lu Chan back then.

After joining the group of believers, Dong Che spent several consecutive months completing various bizarre incident handling tasks in the name of believers. He was the first among the believers to summon the Divine Fire through faith, and being the direct disciple of Gua Tianshi added special significance to him becoming my follower. To set an example, Lu Chan and Mr. Zhu, acting as the current leaders of the believers group, publicly awarded the commemorative "First Furnace Slag Impermanence Sword" to Dong Che.

The believers were not particularly impressed with Lu Chan, but they did respect Dong Che, this uniquely positioned young genius. This in turn gave Dong Che a strong sense of mission and responsibility. Therefore, when believers who disobeyed orders ventured into danger, Dong Che found it impossible to ignore.

As a committed Governance Realist, Dong Che could not overlook the ordinary people suffering on the battlefield.

Although outwardly the "Zhuang Cheng believer" camp was Governance Ideology, those who had stronger faith in me seemed increasingly likely to exhibit self-centered tendencies indifferent to such ideologies. These believers diving deep into peril were typical examples. However, when everyone is lost and directionless, if someone stands out and moves unwaveringly in a direction, their presence can inspire others.

Believers urgently needing an "adventurous motive" considered seizing resources from Taoyuan Village and Xuanming believers and protecting the remaining survivors to be a challenge worth tackling. Furthermore, the leader was one of their own wielding the "weapon symbolizing God," the Furnace Slag Impermanence Sword, which aligned with their Governance Ideology camp's public stance and was impeccable from all aspects.

Gradually, they established a sanctuary in a corner of the city, saving hundreds of survivors, while also forming survival cooperation relationships with some local demon hunters who had been reduced to defeated soldiers filled with despair.

Since Dong Che was the most powerful Evil in this sanctuary and had the aura of a Great Unpredictable Disciple, he scored very high in the strength-valuing demon hunter community. At present, he was also the "spiritual guide" for all Zhuang Cheng believers, so he naturally became the nominal leader of all demon hunters despite his youth.

"...That's how things are," Dong Che said, "Being called the leader, the only things I truly excel at are battling and handling bizarre incidents. The actual operation of the sanctuary has been handed over to others and some survivors with specific management and operational experience."

"So you are the leader, huh? I thought it was those few people who always look serious..." Xiaoqiao seemed to have heard this for the first time too.

"I know myself well and am aware that my face doesn't bring a sense of security. The demon hunters value my opinions; the survivors, not necessarily. Some have suggested establishing prestige through intimidation tactics, but instead of arbitrarily stepping forward, it's better to delegate suitable tasks to suitable people. I want to first complete those tasks that only I can accomplish." Dong Che explained,

"Does Lu Chan know about your activities here?" I couldn't find related reports in my mind.

When demon hunters deal with bizarre incidents, they often don't know what might happen, especially when handling events of a cursed nature. To prevent the situation from spreading more widely, they often resolve dilemmas very secretly until the event is over. Thus, Dong Che suddenly disappearing for a while isn't something to be shocked by.

However, I think that someone as astute as Lu Chan should have been aware, and having no response to this seems rather unusual.

"Lu Chan used to always keep track of my activity information and consistently knew my whereabouts. But I don't particularly like him, so I asked him not to keep watching me." Dong Che explained, "His monitoring ability is strong, but my perceptiveness is not weak either. After catching and shaking him off a few times, he stopped tracking me."

No wonder. Lu Chan's "possibility avatar" is quite powerful in breadth and depth of application, but to fool Dong Che's almost unreasonable perception remains extremely challenging. Coupled with Lu Chan's likely unwillingness to excessively offend Dong Che, he probably eventually gave up on continuing to locate Dong Che.

"Is there anything to add or correct?" Dong Che then asked the leading believer.

The leading believer first shook his head, then said, "What you said is mostly the truth, we have nothing to add or correct from our side. But..."

He exchanged glances with a dozen believers around him and seemed to make a decision. Everyone simultaneously turned towards me.

"I have a question I'd like to ask God face-to-face." The leading believer said solemnly.

"Ask me?" I felt some foreboding.

"Yes," the leading believer said seriously, "We hope you can guide us and tell us the answer... What exactly is 'adventure'?"