Tianjin people will never lose SAN

Chapter 237: The Gear Priest is in pursuit, and the Dry Well Inn is strange

In the basement of the Cathedral of Wisdom in Saint-Domingue, several young believers in the church were carefully carrying boxes in their hands, while two other believers were helping the Pope to tidy up his clothes.

The Pope's clothes are very simple, a khaki robe that has turned white from washing. The two pockets on the lower left corner had been torn several times before and were sewn back on. The Pope sewed them himself, so his craftsmanship is inevitably a bit poor. The pockets were slightly moved, and you can see that the color of the robe is obviously wrong.

Every year, senior priests would suggest that the Pope change his mask, but he would just shake his head and never agree.

"The Supreme God of mechanical wisdom and steam miracles knows everything. Your Holiness has sorted it out."

The tall young Catholic was terrified. This was his first time in the basement. Everything in front of him made him feel awed, but he dared not look at it too much. After tidying up the Pope's clothes, he stood aside with his hands hanging down.

"Come and sit down. Balji and the others still have a few boxes to carry up. I will always feel a little uneasy if I don't watch these parts being loaded into the boxes one by one."

The Pope spoke slowly and gently, just like he did during mass. The tall man quickly pulled a chair for the Pope and placed his own chair diagonally behind him, with his buttocks only touching half of the chair.

"Who performed the burning ceremony for you?"

"Your Holiness, I...I just turned 20 last year and have not yet received the Burning Ceremony."

"Well, who are you going to let introduce you?"

"It was originally from Monsignor Jiuli. He and I are from the same hometown, but last month I heard the bad news that he was killed by the Saint's Sect. Now I am going to ask Father Bastoli to help."

"Bastoli is not bad either. He doesn't talk much but he's very talented. Have you been studying with him recently?"

"Yes, it was Lord Bastoli who ordered me to come here today."

"Where's Bastoli? What's he doing now?"

"It seems that several priests went to the meditation room behind the courtyard to discuss some important matters."

The Pope raised his head and looked into the distance. The lenses of his glasses reflected a white light under the dim light. He listened with his ears tilted, as if he could hear everything.

In the meditation room, three priests in khaki robes stood beside a stove in which orange-yellow molten metal was bubbling. There were many bottles and jars on the ground with a lot of liquid left in them. They gave off a pungent sour smell. No one knew what had been soaked in them before.

A young priest was lying on the ground, wiping the scarlet liquid with a white towel. After the towel was soaked, he threw it into the burning stove.

"Bastoli, find a believer to clean up later. The Pope will be leaving for New Nurent tomorrow, and we still have a lot to discuss."

The priest named Bastoli said nothing, but took a new towel and wiped the floor carefully.

"If you insist on doing this regarding Nicholas's matter, remember to exercise due discretion."

The elderly priest who was trying to persuade Bastoli paused with the crutch in his hand on the ground. Although he had already replaced his legs with brass mechanical prostheses, he was still used to holding the crutch.

Bastoli stood up, smiled and nodded. When he smiled, his mouth corners always twitched exaggeratedly, and his eyes also revealed a bright smile, but other people, including the priests who worked with him in the church, felt that his smile was never sincere, as if he was simply sending a friendly signal to the outside world.

"Tell me about your plan, so we can be prepared if something goes wrong."

"Everyone, I don't have any plans. I'll wait for Nicholas to come out of Novedon, catch up with him and kill him, then take the things."

The other three priests remained silent. They knew Bastoli. This was how he had spoken and acted over the years. He seemed reckless, but he had never failed.

But today is different from the past. If Nicholas is allowed to leave, it will not have much impact on the Church of Wisdom in the short term. However, it is foreseeable that after the expo, Nicholas and his Rodwell Company will surely gain momentum.

But if the machine he brought with him broke down on the way and was not brought to New Newrent, the Church of Wisdom would also be affected.

"Redstone Town." The priest with a cane mentioned a name: "Redstone Town is the only way from Novedon to New Newrent Road. If Nicholas takes a carriage, he will pass by there, but... this town seems to have been abandoned seven or eight years ago."

"Ok."

Bastoli is not mute. His tone and intonation are normal, and he looks intently at the person he is talking to when he speaks.

"Redstone Town... I once heard a cotton cloth merchant from Seven County mention it. Although it's deserted, there's still a small inn running there. Bastoli, is he one of yours?"

"No."

"Then you'd better be careful. Let me think... It seems to be called the Dry Well Inn. I heard that there are three or four people running it, providing some hot water, bread and other things to the merchants. The boss is a drunk fat man. The merchants just call him Barrel Billy. He has a problem with his tongue and speaks slurred."

"I see." Bastoli looked at his watch and said, "I can catch up with him if I chase him now."

After saying this, he squatted in the corner and carried his box on his back. It was a big square thing without any pattern on it. The people from the Church of Wisdom had never seen it opened. From the outside, it looked like there was no place on the box that could be opened or closed, and the joints of the four legs were covered with ugly lumps of melt.

……

On the other side, on a dry earth slope, the people from the Holy Maiden Sect pushed open the door of the Dry Well Inn. They came out of New Newrent not too late, so how come they only got to Red Stone Town after this?

Because they have to go to church every morning, they had no plan to enter the city of Noviden. In Calder County, the influence of the Church of Wisdom is very strong, and if they really plunge in, they will be walking into a trap.

Although Jacob was not afraid of those ignorant and blind believers, he would inevitably be delayed in his work if he was entangled by them.

"Boss, three rooms, prepare food and hot water."

Jacob came in and took a look around. Fortunately, compared with the shabby exterior, the hotel looked very cozy. There was a long table and seven or eight chairs in the spacious hall, and a group of old sofas next to the stove. The charcoal was crackling in the fireplace. This place was quite weird. No wonder it was abandoned. The town was built on a slope. There was no river or trees around. The cold wind was so biting that people couldn't open their eyes.

But why is there no one in the hotel...

"Three rooms, no problem. They're all on the second floor. The stove is burning brightly. There's stewed venison for lunch, but the price is a little high."

A man leaned out from under the bar. He was a sturdy man with a blue turban tied around his arm, muttering something about business.

"Okay, take care of our carriage. Do you have any red wine? Let's make it warmer. The wind in this damn place is unbearable.

Are you the boss? There seems to be a shortage of employees in the store? "

Jacob turned his head and looked at the door. The other five people had already entered, and the wind made the closed door creak.

"It's the real boss here." The turbaned man poured a glass of cold water and handed it to Jacob: "Hey, buddy? You are all busy with your own things, a bunch of lazy guys, sometimes you don't kick them to work, they will definitely find a place to slack off.

Are you guys going to Novidon to do business? I heard that shipping the trinkets back to Sevenshire is a great way to make a fortune."

The turbaned boss picked up the banknotes that Jacob had placed on the table, looked up at them one by one through the light.

"Not business, bank."

"Banks are good. Money can make money. They are better than those of us who run shops." The turbaned man hung a small pot of hot wine on the firewood and turned his head to ask, "I see there are many of you. Aren't two bottles enough?"

"Three bottles, please. I'll buy you a drink, too."

"I don't drink alcohol, and I'm too busy to handle the store. Those bastards are always clumsy, so I have to take over. Sometimes I don't know who is the boss."

While Jacob was chatting, Bill and others had already delivered the things to the guest room. The room upstairs was not bad, with unobstructed views in both directions, and one could observe the carriages passing by while staying in the room.

But there was one strange thing: there seemed to be no other guests in the hotel, and Bill didn't even see the waitress who was cleaning the room.

"Are you going to Noviden City or Saint Dowdin? It must be a big bank in New Nurent, otherwise six people wouldn't come at once. It must be a big deal."

"Well, the bank's business is not small, and it has many customers."

Although Jacob also wanted to find out more information, the boss in front of him was a little too talkative, and kept asking about Jacob's identity from time to time.

But this is normal. It is indeed strange that six adult men, with no goods on the carriage, stepped into an inn in the wilderness in broad daylight. Fortunately, Jacob had already thought of an excuse on the way here.

Lunch was served soon after. Just as the boss said, it was a big pot of stewed meat, black bread, and a vegetable salad with little seasoning. Although the taste was wild, the ingredients were fresh. The six inquisitors had only had a few hot meals along the way, so they finished most of it in a short time.

"Any pepper? I need to sprinkle some on the food."

An Inquisitor said this and walked behind the bar, where most of the restaurant's condiments were displayed.

"I'll get you pepper, chili powder, and sugar for your coffee later."

The turbaned shop owner was sorting firewood by the fireplace. When he saw the judge was about to enter the bar, he hurried in from the other end and frantically took out seven or eight small bottles:
"It's all in there, with cinnamon and everything else. Feel free to use it."

The seasoning bottles were all made of iron and had no labels on the outside, so the judge could only open the bottles one by one and smell them while the boss stood behind the bar and watched.

After lunch, the judges went back to their rooms to rest. Then a man and a woman came out from the kitchen:

"Has everything been taken care of?"

"It's a piece of cake. What do these people do?"

"He said he was from the bank, but his hands were quite delicate, not like someone who does rough work. But I couldn't tell what was wrong with him."

"It doesn't matter. This is our territory now." The waitress wiped the fork in her hand with her apron, poked a piece of cheese and put it in her mouth:
"Would you like me to change your medicine?"

"No, the bleeding has stopped."

The boss untied the bandana on his arm and took a look. The blood on the bandage had changed from dark red to dark brown.

"You're so impatient. Fortunately, you found a place to live, otherwise I would have torn you apart."

The sound did not come from the hotel, but from another guest coming outside the door.

Liu Yonglu pushed the door open, came in, put his hands on his hips and looked around. Okay, I don’t have to sleep in the car tonight. At least I found a place to stay.

My fellow men, I don’t know what’s happened to me lately, I’ve been unlucky!
I have to take a short leave today because our cat is constipated again. You may think it’s nothing, it’s just constipation, but every time our cat is constipated, it is a serious illness. We have even had a minimally invasive surgery before just to get the feces out of his stomach.

But I am so worried. Yesterday, when I was writing beside him, he went into the litter box to go to the toilet but couldn’t come out. He was worried and so was I. Today I will give him medicine first. If it doesn’t work, I have to take him to the hospital again. Every time I go to the hospital, the doctor says that the treatment risk is very high and asks me to sign. I am so worried…

Please, brother, please poop, I beg you...

If he doesn't poop, I won't have the energy to do anything. Oh...I want to cry...

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(End of this chapter)