The night was dark and windy.0

On the east bank of Taihu Lake, an army of several thousand was gathering to fetch water and make food. 0

They were not particularly disciplined, and they were making a fair bit of noise, which was particularly loud in the quiet of the night. However, compared to the military forces that Zhao Changhe had seen before in Yangzhou and Gusu, this army could be considered much more orderly. Indeed, in comparison, they were a well-trained elite force.0

This was the vanguard army led by the Ten Abodes Bodhisattva Fa Sheng.0

The so-called Ten Abodes Bodhisattva was not a title for Fa Sheng, but a rank within the Maitreya Cult, given to someone who had killed countless beings. The term “Ten Abodes” also referred to the position of a Bodhisattva. By killing more, they could become Buddha. 0

When he planned to entice Zhao Changhe, Fa Yuan hoped that the latter could become a Ten Abodes Bodhisattva.0

Fa Sheng had only just arrived in Wuxing the day before, and after a day and night of rest, he had made use of the night to circle northward around the lake, heading straight for Gusu.0

The entire vanguard could not be considered large in terms of numbers. However, there were both troops on land and ships on the lake, which clearly showed that it was not just a rowdy gang. Considering Fa Sheng’s unstoppable momentum in the past few days, even with these limited numbers, they clearly had what it took to easily break into cities.0

This was partly because within the cities, there were officials and citizens that were followers of the Maitreya Cult, and partly because the military forces in Jiangnan were even...0