### Chapter 6: Temple of Destiny (1)
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“What happened up ahead? It suddenly looks chaotic!”
It wasn’t just Lin Nan who noticed this; Trissa and Adeline, who shared the carriage, jumped out suspiciously and gazed up the mountain.
The road leading to the steep temple was so treacherous that regular horse-drawn carriages could only make it to the foot of the mountain before throwing in the towel.
The followers always considered this a test from the Goddess of Destiny. Some even hiked up and down repeatedly, hoping to clear their minds and establish a mystical connection with the goddess through physical exhaustion.
But with the rise of the Church of Light in recent years, it had become a rare sight to see the believers of the Goddess of Destiny scaling the mountain again and again.
Even though the goddess statue was still quite far away, the three could already see a dark mass of people crowding below it.
At the same time, seven or eight people were standing protectively by the statue, staring defiantly at the incoming mob.
“Let’s go check it out,” Lin Nan said.
“Alright, my lord,” Trissa replied.
Meanwhile, Trissa unconsciously dug her nails into her palm, feeling an overwhelming knot in her stomach.
Talk about a “What could go wrong, will go wrong” moment!
Those ruckus-makers around the Goddess of Destiny’s statue were dressed in gray robes—definitely not members of the Church of Light.
Darn it!
And of course, Lin Nan was thoroughly intrigued, stepping forward with strides that could rival a runaway horse.
If Lin Nan felt dissatisfied and threw a fit, and she actually was the Goddess of Destiny herself, then that would be… well, let’s just hope the imperial capital doesn’t suffer too much collateral damage.
Trissa trailed anxiously behind Lin Nan, nearly sprinting towards the grandiose temple.
About thirty meters from the temple’s main entrance, at the cliff’s edge, stood a ten-meter-tall statue of the Goddess of Destiny.
A group of gray-robed followers had surrounded a ring of white-robed men and women.
“k*ll the heretics!”
“k*ll the heretics!”
One of the white-robed women shouted, “To see others as heretics makes you a greater heretic yourselves!
We, the followers of the Goddess of Destiny, will never submit! We will not relinquish the Temple of Destiny!”
“That’s right! The goddess’s followers from the imperial capital are on their way; you won’t have a good ending!”
A bald priest dressed in gray robes with golden trims laughed heartily, “Don’t you know you’re the last of the goddess’s followers in the imperial capital?”
“No, that can’t be!” the white-robed woman exclaimed.
The bald priest sneered, “Don’t bother struggling. Today marks the renaming of the Temple of Destiny!
From now on, there will only be the Church of Light, and only one god!
All other deities are false gods, and all who believe in them are heretics who deserve a thousand deaths to atone for their sins.”
“No, this can’t be happening…”
It seemed the white-robed woman realized they were at the end of their rope; she kept shouting in vain while holding hands with her remaining companions, trying to protect the last iconic statue of the Goddess of Destiny.
Unfortunately, just a few of them stood no chance against the sheer number of followers from the Church of Light.
Before long, they were torn apart, and more people rushed in, brandishing shovels and clubs, aiming to uproot the statue.
“You can’t do this! This statue is a precious legacy left by the Four Warriors!”
The white-robed woman shouted desperately.
But then, a slap landed squarely on her face, and bl**d dripped from the corner of her mouth.
The opposing side fell silent.
“A new era has dawned; it’s the time for the Church of Light to rule the world! The faith in all gods has come to an end!”
“Believers of the one true god, come forth and push down the last false god’s statue in the imperial capital! From now on, no one will defy the gods or desecrate their dignity.”
“Yes, Archbishop!” the crowd replied in unison, digging in with renewed vigor, quickly chipping away at the statue’s base.
Trissa, who had just arrived at the statue and witnessed everything, was taken aback.
She couldn’t believe that the Goddess of Destiny, who once bestowed powerful skills to the Four Warriors, had become worthless in the eyes of some after hundreds of years.
The rapid change in the world left her stunned.
As for Trissa, seeing all this unfold was pushing her to the brink of insanity.
Did these fools want to topple the goddess statue right in front of the Messenger of the Goddess of Destiny? Were they asking for trouble?
“Stop, stop!”
The followers glanced up and saw just three insignificant women, causing them to speed up their efforts.
“I am Trissa, Imperial Harpist. If you don’t cease this madness, I might have to take action!”
Trissa immediately pulled out her four-stringed harp and strummed a note.
At the mere sound, the followers felt their hearts shudder as if something heavy was pressing down on their chests, making it increasingly hard to breathe.
The bald priest jumped forward, sizing Trissa up.
Recognizing her identity, he still said without a hint of respect, “As far as I know, Lady Trissa hasn’t joined the Church of Light, so what qualification do you have to stop us?
If it weren’t for your father, you’d be sharing the same fate as those heretics who worship the false goddess!”
As soon as the bald priest finished, several black-clad cultists with masked faces appeared by his side, radiating an aura that screamed “Stay away from us, mortals.”
Lin Nan observed with a cold gaze; in just a few short exchanges, she had picked up plenty of information.
And this was merely a microcosm of the complex situation currently facing the imperial capital.
With those black-clad cultists blocking her way, Trissa felt confident she could defeat them, but the thought of her family facing the wrath of the entire Church of Light—especially with the emperor backing them—made her hesitate, leaving her to watch helplessly as the statue’s base was gradually exposed.
She turned to look at Lin Nan.
But Lin Nan, hands behind her back, stood tall against the wind, elegantly tilting her head back. Her long hair cascaded down her back, strands swirling as if they had a life of their own.
In that moment, Trissa’s eyes widened in surprise,
for she noticed that the statue’s eyes seemed to be slowly turning to meet Lin Nan’s gaze.
It was a connection of hearts—Trissa knew it without a doubt.
In the next second, the towering statue of the goddess, seemingly on the verge of toppling under the frenzied digging of the cultists, began to glow with a hazy light emerging from the green jade-like leaves in its right hand.
The light quickly spread out, enveloping the entire statue.
Everyone present froze in shock.
Especially the white-robed believers, who were spitting bl**d on the sidelines; they forgot their pain and desperately knelt on the ground.
“O vile bandits, you have disturbed the Goddess of Destiny!
The Goddess of Destiny is angry! You will face retribution! You certainly will!”
