hunting light

The top-floor suite of the emperor's bedchamber has been converted into a small medical center.

Ian followed Dr. Hassan along the way, passed the small laboratory, the rehabilitation room, the nurse's station, passed through several doors, and finally arrived at the emperor's bedroom.He also had to go through layers of security checks by the guards, and even handed over the metal Holy Light Talisman before he was allowed to enter the room.

A wrinkled old man was lying on the wide high bed. Ian couldn't believe that he was Felix IV who he hadn't seen for more than an hour.

The lines on the emperor's face that had been kept tight by cosmetic techniques all lost their elasticity, hanging on his face like loose spider threads.In the half-opened eyes, the pupils were cloudy.Several gray age spots even popped up on the cheekbones, like something moldy.

The air in the house is fresh, with the fragrance of fruits and vegetables, and Felix is ​​also clean and tidy.But Ian still smelled an indescribable faint sour smell.

It was the breath of a dying man.From his breath and skin, the smell of corruption inside his body began.

"Your Majesty." Ian sat in a chair by the bed and said softly, "You summoned me?"

Felix's eyeballs rolled, but they couldn't focus on Ian's face smoothly.Ian followed his gaze and turned his head to look. There was a lonely high-back chair under the open window beside him.The emperor seemed to be staring there.

"Do you believe in ghosts, Father?" the emperor said suddenly, his voice hoarse like a broken bellows.

Ian came back to his senses and said: "I believe that people have souls, Your Majesty. Human bodies will perish, but our souls will not perish."

"Then do you believe that the souls of the dead will continue to haunt the living?" the emperor asked again.

Ian looked at him: "Once the soul leaves the body, it will be penetrated by the holy light, taking away all its obsessions, loves and hates. It will restore the flawlessness before birth and return to the light. Only the living , will use extremely strong ideas to bind the souls of the dead so that they cannot leave."

"You mean," the emperor finally turned his gaze back to the priest's handsome, fresh face, "if I always see the dead frequently, it's not because he's pestering me, but because... I'm pestering him?"

Ian replied gently: "I think the answer lies in your heart, Your Majesty."

Felix turned his gaze to the chair by the window again.He seemed to be smiling, but the corners of his lips could no longer be moved.

"You are very smart, Father Mitchell. You seem to follow the rules, but you are a very independent, even uninhibited person. You will fight against the whole world in order to stick to your beliefs."

Ian didn't speak.

"Xiali only saw your rebelliousness, but not your brilliance." The emperor said, "I think it's too wasteful for an outstanding person like you to only wear blue robes. Red robes, even platinum robes and power A staff is more suitable for you."

Ian clenched the scripture in his hand.

The red robe means the position of bishop or archbishop, and the platinum robe is the holy robe exclusive to the Pope!

"How did Adam hold Xiali up, and I can send you to a higher place." The emperor stared at Ian again, with two will-o'-the-wisp lights jumping in his eyes, "Just give me enough time, you You will become the youngest pope in history, Mitchell. Your penniless surname will become one of the most noble names in the whole star field!"

On Ian's tense hands, the joints turned white.

"I thank Your Majesty for your appreciation." The priest lowered his head humbly, "But my qualifications are too shallow to be worthy of your great love..."

"You summoned the holy light for me and cured my disease." The emperor said, "I know you can do it."

Ian felt an invisible whip lashing his back.He bit the tip of his tongue, restrained his body's reaction, and sat firmly in the chair.

"Of course I will pray for you..."

"You don't really think that what I want is the kind of stupid ritual used to fool stupid civilians, Father?" Felix laughed, his voice was piercingly high.

"After Guangji, I have studied your past. Although they all said that your so-called summoning of the Holy Light was just luck, and it was a gimmick you used to flaunt yourself. But I know that the Holy Light of God can be used by you. Or , You have a powerful force in yourself."

"I don't..."

"I don't know how you did it, but you escaped through the remote control mech every time! You even awakened Asura, who had been sleeping for 4000 years!" The emperor stared straight at Ian.

"Your Majesty, I'm sorry, but your understanding of the Holy Lord and the Holy Light is wrong!!" Ian put on a handsome face, "God is not called by us! All we have to do is pray and wait Miracles come."

"I've waited long enough!" the emperor burst out, "Since I fell ill, I have passed on countless times to Xilin, asking them to beg the Holy Lord for a cure for me. The wealth I donated is enough to cover the entire The Holy See is refurbished. But the Holy Lord never responds! Never responds!"

The loose muscles on the emperor's face trembled slightly and rapidly, as if an electric current was passing through it.

"My sons, I hope that I will die soon, and then fight in front of my Weihan's bones. My wife is cowardly and has no opinion, she can only cry. I can only save myself..."

Suddenly, the emperor cursed: "The Holy Master is just a dog!"

Ian was shocked and angry.

"He was just a human servant, driven by us, a shepherd dog!" The emperor's expression was almost crazy, "but now this dog has become our master, and the former master wants to beg for the gift of the former slave ! And he just watched us kneel and struggle at his feet..."

"Your Majesty!" Ian stood up abruptly, and said angrily, "You must be too tired, you don't know what you are talking about..."

"I'm not crazy!" Felix laughed, and looked at the chair under the window again, "I've been seeing the ghost of my brother Adam sitting there, mocking me, waiting for me to meet him. Hallucination."

Ian was facing the chair under the window, suddenly felt a gust of wind blowing behind him, and shivered.

"The god you worship all day, he will not save suffering. He is just...using us..." Felix murmured, his voice gradually lowered, "Our ancestors were too greedy. We Let this dog grow up, so big that we can't kill him..."

"I'll ask Dr. Hassan to come in." Ian turned and walked towards the door.

"We are all paying the price for killing Guang..." said the emperor.

Ian stopped suddenly and looked back in disbelief.

"The teaching from the ancestors is correct." The emperor lowered his head slowly, "We want to welcome the light back..."

What followed was a long silence.

If it wasn't for the monitoring equipment showing the emperor's steady heartbeat, Ian almost thought he was dead.