Because Kurozawa had added points to his Charm Stat, his voice was deep and powerful, sounding convincing. If one wasn't already wary, they would likely feel very at ease speaking with Kurozawa.
Hearing Kurozawa's words, the middle-aged man nodded in agreement. "I heard about the cult from someone else back then. Now that I've joined, both my body and mind are much better."
Kurozawa glanced at his withered, sallow complexion, and a subtle twitch appeared at the corner of his mouth.
His mind might be better, as faith has a strange magic to it, but looking at him, his body certainly wasn't in good shape.
"Then take us to see the cult. We're very eager to join," Kurozawa said, pointing to Kanae who had also walked over. There was indeed a sense of urgency in his words.
"If you want to join now, you'll probably have to wait a bit. Because tonight, there will be a Sacred Selection in the Prayer Plaza to send people to Ascend to Eternal Paradise and serve the divine master. After the Sacred Selection is over, I can take you to apply for membership," the middle-aged man said, revealing a look of yearning.
Sacred Selection? Ascend to Eternal Paradise? The words that came out of the middle-aged man's mouth and what he said gave off a strong sense of strangeness.
Kurozawa and Kanae exchanged glances, both seeing the seriousness in the other's eyes.
The so-called Ascend to Eternal Paradise, simply put, meant death. This Eternal Paradise Cult, after just a few exchanges of probing conversation, had already revealed its sinister nature.
Kurozawa calmly said, "You seem quite envious. Do you really want to Ascend to Eternal Paradise?"
The middle-aged man still had a look of longing as he said, "What we seek is precisely to Ascend to Eternal Paradise. The flesh is weak, and reincarnation is endless. Only by joining the Eternal Paradise Cult can we escape suffering and ascend to the Paradise Divine Realm after death."
"Then how about just committing suicide?" Kurozawa thought of a church from his previous life that bore a slight resemblance to this Eternal Paradise Cult.
The middle-aged man's eyes widened, and he said seriously, "Suicide is not allowed. Only the Master can help us find liberation. Suicide will only lead to continued reincarnation and suffering."
"The Master is the Son of God. No one else except him can send us to the Paradise Divine Realm."
Meaning suicide leads to hell. Kurozawa smiled without speaking. As expected, it was a cult. To exploit people, they wouldn't even allow suicide.
Seeing how easy the middle-aged man was to talk to, Kanae spoke up at this point. "The Sacred Selection you mentioned just now, are you participating in it too?"
She now had sufficient reason to suspect that the Master of the Eternal Paradise Cult was a Demon. This so-called Sacred Selection was him choosing preferred blood meals for himself, and Ascend to Eternal Paradise... it was probably ascending to eternal bliss within his stomach.
The middle-aged man gave a wry smile. "I wish I could participate, but the candidates for the Sacred Selection are only pure women. People like me can only hope to have enough faith after death to be led into the Paradise Divine Realm. How could I have a chance beforehand?"
"I can only watch the Sacred Selection from outside, but being able to see the Master's face is also a kind of grace."
"The Master's appearance is very special. Once you've seen him, you'll naturally believe in the Master's identity and understand that everything about the cult is real."
Pure women, Doma has quite high standards. Kurozawa cast a sidelong glance.
Kanae still needed to guess, but he already knew that the Eternal Paradise Cult was Doma's cult. Doma seemed infatuated with the flesh of women and enjoyed devouring human females.
Perhaps in the perception of Demons, humans also have different flavors? What flavor am I? Kurozawa couldn't help but wonder.
"Then since I'm not yet a member of the Eternal Paradise Cult, can I participate in the Sacred Selection?" Kanae asked after a moment of consideration.
The middle-aged man sized up Kanae for a few moments, then suddenly became excited. "Yes, with your appearance, young lady, you are very likely to be chosen by the Master. Beautiful women are highly favored by the Master."
"How about this, I'll take you into the Prayer Plaza. If you are chosen, young lady, after ascending to eternal bliss, could you put in a good word for me? So that I also have a chance to ascend to the divine realm after death."
Well, Kurozawa had to admit, this middle-aged man was quite clever in this regard. It was just a pity that the Paradise Divine Realm didn't exist; only the Demon's belly was waiting for him.
However, when would the men in Lotus Town stand up for themselves? They couldn't even willingly seek death. It was truly difficult.
Kanae only thought for a few seconds before agreeing readily. "Of course, no problem. I can see your faith is devout enough." She also adapted to the local customs, starting to talk about faith.
"Alright, then you can wait at my house for a while. When it gets dark, I'll take you to the Prayer Plaza."
Afterward, Kurozawa and Kanae followed the middle-aged man to his home.
His house was very small, just one room after opening the door, with a lot of miscellaneous items inside. The three of them felt a bit crowded. The middle-aged man apologized, "I live alone on weekdays, and my house isn't big. Please bear with it for now."
"You're at this age and still haven't married?" Kanae looked around.
The middle-aged man said nonchalantly, "I had a wife and children, but my wife didn't believe in the cult and ran away with my children."
"But it doesn't matter. As long as I can ascend to the Paradise Divine Realm, nothing else matters."
When it came to manipulating people's hearts, Doma truly had a knack. This man, whose wife and children had left him, still deeply believed in the Eternal Paradise Cult.
"I still have things to do outside. You two rest here. I'll come back and call you when the Sacred Selection is about to begin in the evening."
Fighting Spirit perception had a lie detection function, and Kurozawa didn't detect any signs of lying from the middle-aged man.
After he turned and left, Kanae couldn't help but ask, "Why would he believe in a cult of unknown origin, but not his own family who he lived with?"
Kurozawa smiled. "Did you see how he looked? His body bears the marks of hardship. You can tell he's used to suffering."
"He's probably already fallen into despair about his own life. At this point, if someone tells him that simply having faith will allow him to enjoy a beautiful eternal bliss after death that he's never seen in this life, wouldn't he be tempted?"
"Especially when the Demon possesses Blood Demon Arts, creating 'miracles' in their eyes isn't difficult, and it's easy to gain trust."
Let alone these people in the countryside and mountains; even people in cities with more experience, if they don't know the truth and encounter a being using Blood Demon Arts, and if that being has a human form, it's hard to say whether they would mistake them for a divine being descended to earth.
"Then ultimately, it's because their lives are too difficult. The Eternal Paradise Cult exploits people's suffering. The Demon who created it truly deserves to die." Kanae was soft-hearted and couldn't stand suffering. For a moment, anger towards Doma rose in her eyes.
The Eternal Paradise Cult being established in a remote area was mainly because the conditions in these places weren't good. People needed hope, so it was suitable for proselytizing. In larger places, far fewer people would fall for this.
"Summer days are too long. Now we just have to wait for the sky to darken and for me to confirm the Demon's identity."
Kurozawa paused for a moment, then suddenly asked Kanae, "Oh, by the way, what would you do if the Master of this Eternal Paradise Cult was just a human who wanted to satisfy his own desires and played with other people's lives?"
If it were such a person, describing him as utterly wicked would be an understatement. His doctrine made believers yearn for death. Who knew what would happen? Perhaps some people would take a gamble and commit suicide to find the so-called eternal bliss.
Kanae's expression froze, stumped by Kurozawa's question.
After a moment of hesitation, she said, "I would return to the Demon Slayer Corps and tell the Master about this. He has ways to contact relevant human organizations to handle it."
"We in the Demon Slayer Corps are only responsible for hunting Demons. We shouldn't meddle in human affairs, or it will put the Demon Slayer Corps in an awkward position."
Hearing this answer, the corner of Kurozawa's mouth slowly curved up, revealing a smile with a hint of temptation. "Then what if the Sacred Selection he's holding will kill many people, and you must stop it now? Waiting to contact human organizations will only result in a large number of deaths."
"And the Master is protected by a group of fearless human followers. Only by killing them can everything be resolved. What will you do?"
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