Chapter 446: Prayer

Whether there is heaven above the clouds, no one can say for sure, but the Kingdom of Heaven on earth is before everyone's eyes.

Eastern Parish, Central City, under the afternoon sun, the marble spires glowed with crystalline light, brilliant as crystal; the bits and pieces of light gathered together, as if turning into stars under the scorching sun.

One magnificent holy temple after another stood on the earth; under many extremely gorgeous and extravagant decorations, each one appeared solemn and dignified, each one exhausted ingenuity, beautiful and distinct.

Around hundreds of giant holy temples, there were holy temples still under construction; even the foundations and beams were carefully wiped spotless by the believers...

When the bell rang, the sound of prayer and the praise of holy songs would ring out in every holy temple; even in any corner of the streets and alleys, when it was time for praise, pedestrians would also kneel devoutly on the ground, offering prayers toward the direction of the Central Parish, toward the Heavenly City.

Praise the gods, for bestowing upon me a brand-new life; praise the gods, for creating such a peaceful world; praise the gods, for bestowing upon me eternal life...

On faces that were distinct from one another, the same devotion was engraved.

Why not believe?

Why still not praise?!

Brothers, sisters, are we not at this very moment in the Kingdom of God? Have you not felt the love and mercy of the Holy God from that warm sun and gentle moonlight? Is not the life you and I have at this moment bestowed by that holy, supreme, and great god?

So praise, so pray, offer prayers to him for all eternity; only in this way can we repay this love of rebirth, only in this way can humble mortals get closer to that holy throne...

The so-called Kingdom of Heaven is just like this.

"Truly beautiful."

Ji Jue stood on the street, staring at everything before him, sighing from the bottom of his heart.

Controlling countless tools like puppets, making the tools spontaneously offer everything to him, even their selves and souls. Even if he is extorting, it will only be regarded as the god's love, and they will be moved to tears...

How come he didn't think of such a wonderful processing method?

Could it be that his underground assembly line has walked into a misunderstanding?

Learn, learn, must learn a lot... must be able to apply it to Coastal Industry!

Don't know why, Yan Fei, who was like a follower behind Ji Jue, paused subconsciously, feeling a burst of chill, but when he looked up at Ji Jue, he only saw a familiar smile.

Illusion, probably.

He shook his head, dispelling the thought just now, and then, tried hard to restrain his calm expression, his eyes lowered, like any humble pilgrim.

Just stepping on the ground near the holy temple was already enough to... make him want to vomit!

How much he had admired and worshipped all this before, now he was that much resentful and poisonous toward it.

One day, Yan Fei, one day.

You will burn all these things to ashes!

Even if teeth are broken, nails are worn down, hands are worn flat, blood is drained...

Pop!

Someone suddenly patted his shoulder, making his gradually ferocious expression twitch, as if waking from a dream.

It was Ji Jue.

"Want some candy?"

Ji Jue spread his palm, revealing a few sugar cubes extracted from malt.

Yan Fei shook his head subconsciously, wanting to refuse, but the sugar cube was stuffed into his hand.

"Eat it, children should eat candy; the sugar content is good, it can dilute the bitterness and hatred in your mouth."

Ji Jue threw a piece into his own mouth and said indifferently: "If you feel pain, eat candy, Yan Fei; no matter how tormented and desperate, as long as you can still feel the sweetness, it means they haven't taken everything away from you."

Yan Fei was silent, clutching the candy in his hand, and after a long time, stuffed the broken sugar cube into his mouth, lowered his head, and followed closely.

To be fair, even the most critical person, seeing such a city and scene, probably couldn't say any critical words, right?

Everyone loves each other, the streets are filled with a warm atmosphere, no quarrels, no hatred. Although there are not many goods in the shops, the prices are low. No need to work until you forget to eat and sleep to win a place to stand, no need to fight to the death to win a higher status.

Here, even an ordinary person doesn't have to worry about being hungry, doesn't have to worry about the future.

Pray, just pray.

People who can come here prove that they are the most devout believers themselves; as long as they continue to prove their devotion, they can win eternal peace.

Except for those who know the details of this Yellow Millet dream, all souls dragged into here are happy, spending every day in ignorance and peace.

Among them, many people think that they died in the spiritual plague long ago, and the reason they can have a second life is entirely the god's bestowal.

Then what reason is there not to believe?

Even if people who don't believe are treated so cruelly, isn't this reasonable? Since they have received the god's favor and were reborn, yet hypocritically deal with the god, and even, overestimate their own strength, ambitiously wanting to blaspheme the Holy God... it is truly a crime deserving death!

Devout, focused, smiling, happy.

Continue to be devout, continue to be focused, continue to smile, continue to be happy.

So much so that... people in it never realized how long it had been since their expressions had changed, and on that hollow face that had nothing but a smile, could any other expression or spirit appear?

Greed, hunger, jealousy, anger...

How long had it been since such emotions appeared?

"That is to say, only those who pray devoutly and gradually wash away their original sins can be so pure, right?" Ji Jue asked curiously.

Yan Fei was silent and nodded.

Following Ji Jue's request, he restrained the poisonous words that were about to come out, and the expression of resentment and hatred that didn't match this place.

It was like coming to the bottom of the sea; in just a few hours, he was almost... suffocating.

"Hey, even walking corpses have such an elegant name..."

Ji Jue sighed sincerely: "Heavenly Human creativity is truly infinite."

The bell rang again!

The prayer and holy songs like a tidal wave rang out again, covering everything from every corner of the streets and alleys; everyone knelt on the ground respectfully.

In the corner, the two people with amulets hanging on them to reduce presence and others' attention were just like common saint statues, inconspicuous.

Ji Jue tapped the wall next to him curiously; a brick on the towering holy temple suddenly fell off, fell, crossed a distance of a hundred meters, and smashed down.

Pop!

A believer kneeling on the ground praying had his head instantly smashed into a lump of meat.

The believers next to him ignored it, as if they hadn't perceived anything, lowering their eyes and praising, until the prayer ended, and then there were terrified screams from the street.

Finally someone discovered...

The glazed tile at the highest point of the holy temple had fallen off!

What negligence!

The crowd gathered, surrounded the surroundings, and began to repair it with collective effort, crossing the headless remains at their feet, and on the ground, the believer who was gradually growing a head back also climbed up, annoyed at the prayer that hadn't been completed just now, and volunteered to roll up his sleeves and climb upward.

Amidst everyone's cheers and shouts, they reinstalled the tile.

Ji Jue also had his eyes opened, almost moved to tears—can humans as tools be so easy to use?

Truly amazing!

He silently witnessed the incredible scene before his eyes, and, on one holy temple after another, strands of brilliant crystalline flashes.

The light rose, even if it was a wisp so fleeting, but countless lights gathered together, turning into a mighty long river, gathering toward the Heavenly City in the distant Central Parish.

Such a magnificent scene would appear every three hours, even more at night, and there were countless people praying day and night, without pause!

No, rather than calling it prayer, it's... 'paying taxes', right?

Relying on the phantom-like emblem in his soul, Ji Jue had already seen the source of countless points of light... all the consciousnesses and souls in the phantasm at this moment.

The god is so generous.

No need for offerings of money, no need for the hard labor and sacrifice of mortals, just pray, just continuously pay taxes with 'self', and it is enough to please the god and bestow generous gifts.

The so-called [Prayer] is the process of gradually peeling off the 'self-nature' that constitutes consciousness, the core of the soul, through focused meditation.

Countless self-natures turn into points of light, continuously falling into the god's mouth.

Just like herding cattle and sheep.

In this dreamlike slaughterhouse, the lambs unknowingly split their souls continuously, offering them to the altar without any resistance.

Over time, piling earth into mountains, accumulating water into seas, and through this kind of long-term, wide-sowing and thin-harvesting collection, the value and income of believers have also been maximized.

And in the process of gradually peeling off and splitting 'self' and 'self-nature', people will gradually lose emotions, persistence, and desires, even the ability to think, step by step walking toward the ending of a walking corpse.

Finally, even forgetting their own appearance, turning into faceless praisers in the dream; even if there is no value to harvest, they can serve as fulcrums of the dream, making this Yellow Millet dream more and more stable.

Even in the end, they don't know what they have lost.

Perhaps, even if they knew, they wouldn't care.

Self?

Is it useful?

Can it be exchanged for a piece of bread in the outside world? Can it be exchanged for a grain of emergency special medicine? Even if you kneel and kowtow, abandon your dignity, and show ugliness, can it make the guns of those warlords raise an inch?

Compared to the cruel reality, doesn't this dream count as mercy?

In the end, people will willingly walk toward the place they have chosen... no matter if it is hell or heaven in front.

But how much blood and tears is heaven made of?

And who created hell?

"Truly sad..."

Ji Jue whispered, continuing forward, his pace as usual.

Yan Fei followed behind him, still following closely, but, in the march, he couldn't help but always look up at the back in front.

Don't know why, he felt that Mr. Ji didn't seem to be smiling anymore.

"Oh, you two, finally back."

Behind the magnificent holy temple, outside the inconspicuous warehouse, Bao Dachai was smoking his hand-rolled tobacco, lazily, yawning: "Really made this old man wait for a long time; don't young people these days know how to respect the old and love the young? My old arms and legs..."

"Dear, it is suggested that if you can't wait, you can go directly to your funeral."

Ji Jue answered with a smile.

Nirvana old codger, stop acting old and selling old, okay?

He dared to bet that if something really happened, this old codger's speed in running away with a bucket would probably be faster than a missile...

"Oh my, this time two new faces have come again."

Beside Old Bao, a middle-aged man with a graceful bearing also showed a warm smile, taking the initiative to reach out: "Sure enough, young talents, heroes and heroines in the resistance camp, emerging one after another."

"You flatter me."

Ji Jue also held the other's palm with both hands, as if reunited with a loved one, like glue and lacquer: "The development of the camp still needs the support of knowledgeable people like you!"

"Where are the words, icing on the cake, just icing on the cake."

The middle-aged man stroked his beard and laughed proudly.

Just like there will be traitors everywhere, there is never a shortage of turncoats who take risks for personal gain.

Who would have thought that this respected priest of the Eastern Parish would be the biggest collaborator of the resistance camp?

It is not easy to live in the Holy Temple.

If you can't handle your superiors, how can you stand out from countless other competitors? And how... make those eyesores and stumbling blocks walk into the Border Prison themselves?

It's all cooperation, all business.

You are good and I am good, why wouldn't everyone be happy?

Amidst a warm and enthusiastic exchange of greetings, they were soon invited into the warehouse; the seemingly ordinary warehouse was magnificent inside, extremely extravagant, not even inferior to the holy temple.

"Come, good tea, everyone taste it."

The middle-aged man who picked up the black tea took an elegant sip, and there were even various fresh fruits and snacks presented by servants, the water pipe furnace was lit, and the fragrance was rich.

After taking off his priest's robe and changing into silk and gold-threaded long clothes, the priest lay on the couch, enjoying the massage and service of young girls, waving his hand generously, letting the servants bring more delicacies and fine wine.

Ji Jue didn't dislike it, calmly rolled up his sleeves and started eating, not polite at all, even tearing off a lamb leg roasted until it was crisp and rotten, sprinkling it with spices, and sharing it with the boy behind him.

Seeing Ji Jue so grounded, unlike those people before who were greedy to death but still pretended, the priest's smile became a few points happier.

It seems he can make a profit again this time.

Unfortunately, I heard that the other side's camp is almost unable to hold on, so there will be fewer and fewer such businesses in the future...

After eating and drinking, washing his hands clean, the priest clapped his hands, and naturally, servants presented a prepared list; the various supplies on the list were for them to choose from.

Flour, cloth, steel, and even drugs that accelerate regeneration and holy water that can restore to its original state even if only one bone joint is left, almost everything is available.

And the price is... compared to the real value, it is ten or a hundred times more expensive!

The benefit of being the only one is just this.

If you don't want it, you can go buy it elsewhere?

"Just one panacea that accelerates healing, it actually costs forty tons of jade essence?" Ji Jue pinched his chin, looking troubled: "This... isn't it a bit exaggerated?"

"Hey, I can't help it either."

The priest sighed, looking distressed: "This isn't my business alone; up and down this line, where don't I need to handle things? Moreover, recently these things have been checked strictly from above, and it's not easy to do tricks."

Although he looked distressed on the surface, in his heart... he was also a bit distressed.

After all, this resistance camp felt like it was hard to scrape any more oil and water.

Should I report them later, sell them, anyway there are other camps, not worried about no business. It just so happens that the recent holy event inspection is still missing a lot of progress; putting positioning in the supplies to follow the vine and find the melon, maybe I can catch a few big fish!

In the scattered thoughts, he heard Ji Jue's voice.

"I want this, this, and this, these."

Ji Jue held a pen, ticking and drawing on the form, moving without stopping, so fast that the priest was dumbfounded and incredulous.

Just looking at the things he ticked and the price to be paid... just thinking about that number, the priest's face turned red, almost unable to breathe.

Damn, why did I just feel there was no oil and water, and now it's starting to spray fuel?

No, buddy, is your resistance camp this rich?!

Or did you rob the warehouse reserves of other parishes and come to sell the stolen goods?

His eyes lit up; if that's the case, the price must be pressed hard!

Watching the list Ji Jue almost filled, the priest was almost happy enough to close his legs, beautiful enough to bubble.

Then, he heard Ji Jue's final voice.

"Oh, by the way, coming here this time, besides purchasing some items, the main work is to promote."

Ji Jue paused, suddenly grinned, revealing a standard eight-tooth enthusiastic smile: "I don't know, do you accept the trading method of barter?"

Pro...mote? Barter... trade?

In the brief silence, the priest was dazed, looking at him, and suddenly laughed.

Don't know if he was amused or angered.

Promote?

You bunch of poor people who can't even build a textile factory, what can you promote to me? Oh, the old men and old ladies in the camp have nothing to do and started doing handicrafts?

Looking for me to sell knitted wool sweaters or embroidery paintings?

Pop.

At that moment, the thing in Ji Jue's hand fell onto the table and slid over.

The sharp edges left two scratches on the smooth lacquer surface, making the priest couldn't help but frown, but immediately after, he saw the thing in front of him.

So familiar.

That is...

"...Holy Seal?"

The priest pinched the thing in his hand, his brows furrowed, then furrowed again, tightly furrowed, almost wrinkling his five features into a ball, tilting his head to look at Ji Jue, as if looking at a mentally retarded person.

No, you damn representative of a resistance camp, come to the cult, find me, and want to sell Holy Seals that the cult gives away for free every holiday to believers?

Wait a minute, let me sort this out.

Excuse me, are you crazy or am I crazy?

Or are you here to tease me?!

"Hmm, it is indeed a Holy Seal."

In the priest's gaze that gradually darkened, Ji Jue still smiled, so warm: "However, I prefer its other name..."

He paused and said slowly:

"—Fully Automatic Prayer Machine!"