America 1881: Legend of the West

While Abiot had attracted the attention of the people outside, Chen Jianqiu had quietly opened the side door.

This church is very old. There is a high threshold at the entrance, which symbolizes the division between the holy and the secular.

Chen Jianqiu crossed the threshold, gently closed the door behind him, and stepped into the church.

Facing him was the church lobby.

I don't know whether it was because today was not a weekend, or because Thiago's people cleared the scene, but there was no one in the church at this time.

Sunlight shines in from the colorful windows, through the dust, and shines on the rows of benches.

Directly opposite the door is an altar.

This is a traditional Latin altar.

In the center of the inner side of the altar, there is an exquisite monstrance cabinet;

On the outside of the tabernacle, a copy of the "Gospel" is placed neatly; directly in front, is an ever-burning lamp, and six candles are arranged from the table to the outside of the altar.

They are also on fire.

The entire altar symbolizes a tomb, the resting place of Jesus.

Chen Jianqiu raised his head and saw a holy statue.

The Virgin Mary holds the infant Jesus in her arms, lovingly looking down at everything beneath her feet.

If you are a Catholic believer and see such a lifelike icon, you will definitely bow down and pray devoutly.

But Chen Jianqiu is not.

Thiago and Ariana are not here.

Chen Jianqiu continued to move forward.

He wanted to see if there were any other side doors or rooms.

So, he slowed down his steps and walked along the wall of the church towards the back of the altar.

On the side wall, there is a door.

He pushed the door open gently.

This is a room with large wooden compartments that look like newsstands.

If you want to ask who holds the most secrets in a Catholic country.

The priest must be one of them.

Catholics will devoutly get into the booth of the confession booth, and confess their crimes to them through a small wooden window that cannot be seen on the opposite side, in order to obtain God's forgiveness.

And this room is the confessional of the church.

Chen Jianqiu sniffed his nose.

He smelled a scent.

This is a local incense in Mexico, generally only used by ladies of high status.

Not surprisingly, Ariana should be in this room.

And, right in front of you is one of these wooden confessional booths.

For the privacy of the confessors, the soundproofing effect of these confession booths is very good, and people outside cannot hear what the people inside are saying at all.

Therefore, it is completely impossible to tell which confessional booth has someone in it just by hearing from the outside.

Chen Jianqiu began to observe the traces in the house.

As he and Holiday chatted in San Francisco on the way back to Roswell, Holiday told him that there was more to shooting talent than shooting and night vision.

People with the talent of a shooter have an extraordinary perception of not only light but also the details of the surrounding environment.

Therefore, this talent can also be used for early warning and tracking.

Chen Jianqiu felt something was wrong.

There were not only footprints on the ground, but also a trail of robes dragged on the ground.

This trace ended abruptly in front of the door of a confession booth.

Chen Jianqiu walked to the confession booth and put his hand on the door handle.

His hand gently pulled the door.

The door was opened easily.

A bald priest lay inside with his eyes closed.

Chen Jianqiu tested his breath with his hands and found that he was still alive. He must have been knocked unconscious, and then dragged him in.

So far, he has not seen any trace of Thiago. This matter is most likely related to him.

Chen Jianqiu closed the door.

There was almost no light inside, so it was a good place to sleep. He decided to let the bald priest continue to sleep inside for a while.

He followed the footsteps extending from the door of this confession booth to a compartment door of another confession booth on the opposite side.

Chen Jianqiu squatted down.

He carefully observed the footprints, which were invisible to the naked eye.

Judging from the size, it belonged to a grown man.

He looked around again.

Finally, I found the footprints of another pair of women in front of the door of the next cubicle in the same confession booth.

It seems that Ariana is with a man inside, and there is at least an 80% probability that this man is Thiago.

Since they met by chance, Chen Jianqiu did not intend to let Thiago live to see the sunshine outside the confession booth.

He took out his dagger from his boots.

The compartment door was opened.

The light from outside shone into the dark confession booth and shone on a man's face.

The man stayed in the darkness for a while, and the sudden light made him feel a little dazzling.

He subconsciously raised his hand to block the light, and then took a closer look at who had broken in.

But the next second, the intruder's face was already close to his.

A dagger penetrated his heart accurately.

His mouth and nose were covered, and his body was pressed firmly to the seat. He tried to struggle, but to no avail.

When he finally saw the face of the intruder clearly, surprise, confusion, and fear flashed through his eyes in turn.

Then, there is endless darkness.

Chen Jianqiu stood up after confirming that Thiago was motionless under him.

He took a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his hands, then sheathed the dagger and returned it to his boot.

There was a piece of black cloth hanging on the wooden window between the cubicles, and Ariana on the other side was obviously not aware of what was happening here. Still mumbling confessions in Spanish.

Chen Jianqiu was not interested in listening and could not understand.

He groped around Thiago's body for a while to see if there was anything that could be used as a token.

A letter fell from the clothes of the boss of the Crocodile Gang.

Chen Jianqiu picked up the letter and took a look at it in the light outside.

It is all written in Spanish, and only the long list of names at the signature can prove that the author of this letter is Thiago.

Chen Jianqiu put the letter into his pocket, then gently walked out of the cubicle, and at the same time, closed the door again.

He walked out of the confessional and left the church through another side door.

At the same time, in another cubicle of the confessional, Ariana devoutly confessed to the "priest" next door.

"Lord, forgive me, I really don't know how I should face Romero. He is an honest man and a good man."

"Perhaps, I just have a little attachment to him and a little affection for him."

"I don't want to marry Ricardo. He is a fool. My father only regarded my marriage as a deal with the Prigo family."

"There are too many fools around me, and there is also that gangster who is attached to my father. He is a toad who actually has a sweet dream of eating swan meat."

"Father! Father! Can the Lord hear my confession? Can He forgive me?"

Ariana lowered her head and prayed to herself.

But for some reason, the priest next door did not offer her absolution on behalf of God as usual today, but was strangely silent.

There was some strange noise coming from the next door just now, but it soon calmed down.

In the closed compartment, Ariana was breathless by her own fragrance, which made her feel even more depressed.

The girl felt that her nose was malfunctioning.

She was ready to end her confession, but she was afraid that the omniscient Lord would think she was not pious enough.

"Father! Father! Are you still there?" she asked in a low voice.

no answer.

A strange smell came through the window from the next cubicle, mixed with her own fragrance, so that she couldn't tell what it was.

Has the priest already gone to the toilet?

Ariana decided not to wait any longer.

She pushed open the compartment door and walked out of the compartment.

The girl looked around.

Thiago, the toad who wanted to eat the swan's flesh, also disappeared from the door.

He was originally standing guard at the door of the confessional.

The door to the next cubicle was closed, but she smelled the smell she had just smelled in the cubicle again.

Ariana looked down.

She finally understood what she smelled just now.

Red blood was slowly flowing out from under the compartment door.

"what!!!!!!"

The girl's screams echoed throughout the church.