Tianjin people will never lose SAN

Chapter 23 No Trouble

The believers standing on both sides of the giant cauldron were gazing at the boiling water in the center of the chapel. Low and distorted chanting came out of their mouths. It was a language that did not belong to any nation in the world. The intonation was strange, and there were "da da da" tongue-clicking sounds in between.

The door leading to the chapel was opened again, and this time a naked female believer was pushed in by the priest.

The girl looked about 17 or 18 years old, with brown hair. She was thin, probably due to long-term malnutrition, and her hip bones could be clearly seen on both sides of her lower abdomen. But even so, one had to admit that the girl was a rare beauty.

The girl's eyes had a complicated expression, as if she had a sense of shame and a hint of fear, but as the believers sang the songs, her eyes gradually turned into a morbid, confused and crazy expression.

She took the golden cup handed to her by the assistant priest and drank the liquid in it. Then she lost consciousness and fell into the huge cauldron beside her.

Her body did not sink to the bottom of the cauldron like the old woman. Instead, she floated flat on the surface of the water. The surging water pushed her body around in a dark brown whirlpool.

The shaking underwater became more intense, and one could vaguely see the claws that looked like human fingers rising and falling underwater.

Suddenly, the unconscious girl's body began to spasm violently, and her waist seemed to be lifted up from below by some invisible force. A translucent milky white ball suddenly grew out from the girl's waist, like the eggs of some arthropod.

At this time in the chapel, the chanting of the believers reached its peak, and the voices became more and more rapid and high-pitched.

With a "splash", the body of the young girl believer fell heavily back into the water. She seemed to have regained consciousness, her eyes slowly opened, and she stroked her arms, cheeks, and torso, as if she was feeling her body again.

The little priest looked at Lewis. If Mr. Lewis was present, the final part of the mass would usually be presided over by him. Lewis nodded, took a robe from someone else, and pulled the girl out of the cauldron.

The cluster of grape follicles behind the girl's waist had now fallen off her body and floated on the water.

Lewis took the two smallest ones and put them in a box, and let the other follicles float and swell in the water. In a blink of an eye, the follicles burst open, and button-sized crabs crawled out.

After breaking out of their shells, they paddled together, swam to the edge of the giant cauldron, and climbed down vertically along the cauldron. When they reached the relief of the two children, they used their claws to pry open the children's eyes and mouths and crawled in from the outside.

"Ahhhh!" The child's painful howl once again filled the entire chapel.

Until the last crab disappeared, the chanting of the believers finally stopped, and the eerie tranquility returned to the surrounding darkness.

"Little priest, salvage the Holy Communion and send it to the Dead Bone Beach. Preserve the liquid and send it there as well. It is the material for making holy wine."

Xiaoji and his two assistants skillfully drained the liquid from the giant cauldron, and at the bottom of the cauldron was the old woman!

At this time, her eyes were slightly opened, and she seemed to want to move her arms, but she couldn't muster any strength. She could only twist her body comically, like a dying insect.

Several iron chains were tied around her torso and she was pulled up. A wooden barrel had been prepared nearby and the old woman was thrown into it, with only her head sticking out.

"Who am I... and who am I..."

The old woman muttered something with her toothless mouth, but before she could continue speaking, a black hood was put on her head, with a distorted pattern of a one-eyed crab painted on it.

Seeing that the ceremony was completely completed, Lewis took out a white silk scarf from his pocket, wiped his hands, and turned to look at the girl.

"Mrs. Morundi, are you feeling okay? Have you recovered from the gift from the Father?"

"It couldn't be better, Mr. Lewis." The girl's voice was hoarse, low and magnetic, as if she had become a different person.

"I've prepared food and hot water on the third floor. See you later."

"What about you? How long do you want me to wait? It'd better not be more than 20 minutes. I swear to you, this body is in great condition. You can never imagine how wonderful it is."

"I'm quite sure of that, but I have some business to attend to."

"Go to the other two chapels to watch the service? You are such a busy man."

“No, there are other little priests there, so there’s nothing for me to worry about, but my wax figure can’t wait for a new pair of eyes…” Lewis patted the small box where the crab eggs were stored.

After the ceremony, the giant cauldron was pushed back under the stone platform. The believers took off their robes and returned to their ordinary appearance. The lady named Morundi lay in the bathtub on the third floor, tasting sweet berries.

Lewis then arrived at his private room, where a half-finished wax figure was waiting for him.

He opened the box, carefully took the milky white follicle in his hand, and placed it accurately into the empty eye socket of the wax figure.

"Give... it... back... to me..." As the wax figure opened its mouth, the unformed hot wax at its mouth was pulled into threads again.

"Shh..." Lewis's right hand with a ring on it pressed on the wax figure's head. "Doris, beautiful girl, please trust my craftsmanship. Your soul will rest here. Your flesh is a gift from the Holy Father, and your humble and crude soul will become a tiny beacon for the Father to peek into the world again. This is your honor."

After finishing everything, Lewis took out a white silk scarf and wiped his hands. Should he go up and have some fun with Ji Li, or... go to another chapel to watch the ceremony?
Forget it, the little priests are familiar with the process of the mass, so there shouldn't be any problem. Although this is the first time that Dounivar is presiding over the mass, with his deep understanding of the gods, plus the assistance of Marcus and the others, there will surely be no trouble.

Thinking of this, Lewis casually picked a rose from the vase and put it in his pocket, then walked up to the third floor.

……

"I am angry with Zhuge Liang, who forced me to cross the river and venture into the dangerous places..."

On the corridor on the third floor of the relief center, Liu Yonglu, wearing a sacrificial green robe, hummed the lines from the opera "Yellow Crane Tower". Today was the night of the new moon mass, and he would be presiding over the ceremony soon.

Why should we bite the bullet and preside over the mass instead of following Mr. Nan Guo's example and running away?

Liu Yonglu also had this question in his mind at this time. Thinking back, it all started from his meeting with Mediterranean Rogers that day.

After Liu Yonglu handed over the intelligence file, he talked incessantly about the intelligence from various sources he had obtained in the past week.

Mediterranean, who was sitting opposite, was stunned. He still remembered clearly that five investigators had died in Excel Town a few months ago. In the end, it was he and another investigator who came to collect the bodies.

What? Five people came in and all failed within three days. You stayed here for a week and became a middle-level member of the cult?

Mediterranean was a little skeptical at first, but after comparing the information provided by Liu Yonglu with the information in the archives, he knew that the guy with an extremely chaotic language system on the other side should not be lying.

With such success, we should have stopped there. After all, the headquarters had sent five people to investigate last time because they believed that the risk factor of this case was extremely high.

"Investigator Ricky, what are your plans next? I suggest you hide in my circus for two days, and leave here as soon as our show is over. What do you think?"

Mediterranean also had good intentions. He was afraid that Liu Yonglu would have a hard time getting away. After all, he had already joined the cult, and his sudden disappearance would surely alert the other party, and they would then search the entire town. With Lewis' underground power that he had run in Excel for decades, there was a high probability that Liu Yonglu would be found.

"Hide? I won't meet you? No way. They have a mass ceremony in two days and I have to preside over it."

What Haidong said was really taunting to Liu Yonglu. He had a problem and couldn't stand other people saying bad things about him. The more you said something bad about him, the more upset he felt and he had to prove himself.

"Mass ceremony...you preside over it..." Mediterranean was also confused. He had heard of undercover investigators in cult groups, but the one in front of him was the first one to be directly involved in the core industry.

Mediterranean was concerned about intelligence, so he began to persuade Liu Yonglu earnestly, saying that the mass ceremony was dangerous and that it was easy to expose one's identity. The more he persuaded, the more excited Liu Yonglu became.

"Brother, stop talking. Why did I come all this way? I came here just to fight against this evil cult. How can I run away from this great opportunity? Please save your breath!"

After Liu Yonglu explained everything clearly, he went out with Xiaohu in high spirits.

Rogers was also a little angry. How could this guy not understand good or bad words? Okay, you are awesome, but I want to see how you end up.

Back at the relief center, Liu Yonglu paced back and forth, thinking, now that he had made all the big promises, how should he deal with this ceremony later... He glanced down and saw a believer carrying a tray into a ward.

As it was already night, there were no irrelevant people in the orphanage, so the believer was particularly conspicuous in the deserted corridor.

Liu Yonglu suddenly thought and walked downstairs, just when the cultist had just come out of the ward.

"Hey! I'm talking to you. What are you doing?" Liu Yonglu asked with his hands on his hips.

"Return to Master Xiaoji and give the necessary items to the sacrifice."

"Is it a gift?"

"Blood, a small amount of poison hemlock, mercury and tongue." This man is also a capable believer in the relief center, but usually the other two people arrange his tasks. When he heard Liu Yonglu ask this, he was a little puzzled. It seemed that this new priest didn't know much about the ritual.

"Oh, I know. I'm just testing you..." Liu Yonglu scratched the back of his head and continued, "Give me the key. I'll go in and take a look. You're too young and I'm afraid you'll be careless."

Without waiting for the believer to reply, Liu Yonglu snatched the key and went in.

After closing the door, Liu Yonglu looked around the ward. As he expected, this was not a ward at all, but a prison cell.

There has to be some prelude before telling the main story. Today I will do some prelude to warm up the story, and tomorrow will be the main event. Guys, I hope you enjoy reading this and please read and support me. Thank you.

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(End of this chapter)