Chapter 701

The smoke and dust brought by the meteorite finally dissipated, and the noise on the street gradually subsided. Because the injured had received effective treatment, they had basically escaped their dangerous situation, but people were still dying, sparking intermittent cries.

Inside Saint Cien Church, Father Cali finished his repentance, stood up, and turned to look at Lu Mian, who was sitting in the first row watching him quietly.

Lu Mian laughed and asked as if chatting:

"Is repentance still useful now?"

Without waiting for Father Cali to respond, he habitually added:

"You should be very clear that your fate of death is already doomed; you won't live for many more days."

Father Cali's dark brown face showed a bit of paleness, and he replied in a fairly calm voice:

"If repentance were useful, it wouldn't be repentance."

After saying this, he seemed to relax a bit:

"I repent because I want to repent, not to exchange repentance for forgiveness or a chance at salvation.

"Looking back at previous events, I did indeed make many mistakes. I was too eager to obtain a higher status, too eager to obtain the recognition of you Northern Continent people, to the point that my heart was blinded by desire, and I listened to the devil's bewitchment."

Hearing this, Lu Mian let out a sneer:

"Is that really so?

"Was it really desire that blinded your heart?"

Seeing Father Cali's expression look slightly dazed, Lu Mian leaned against the back of the chair and looked at the Sun holy emblem:

"Was it the desire to obtain a higher status and the recognition of Northern Continent people that forced you to cooperate with Tewanaco, forced you to become a wraith in the identity of an 'Eternal Blazing Sun' priest, forced you to accept the devil's temptation, and forced you to molest little boys?

"No, it was a choice you made yourself."

Father Cali's lips twitched, seemingly wanting to refute, but he couldn't organize his words for a moment.

Lu Mian smiled and said further:

"There are still many people in this world who desire higher status and desire the recognition of certain groups. A large part of them just work hard to make contributions, desperately purify evil, never have any communication with the devil, and hope to get what they want through normal methods. Even if they fail again and again, it doesn't make them fall into the abyss.

"Clearly having the same desires, why can they control themselves, but you can't?

"It wasn't desire that blinded your heart, but your heart that chose to fall."

Father Cali was suddenly speechless.

Lu Mian sighed with a smile and said:

"A relative of mine once told me:

"'Strong desire is the driving force for human progress, and also the devil that drags humans into the abyss. Whether this is good or bad, light or darkness, depends on ourselves, depends on that one thought at that moment.'"

Father Cali, whose face was increasingly pale, lowered his head and said in a hoarse voice:

"I have sinned..."

Lu Mian pressed his hand on his left chest, his expression settling down.

He looked at Father Cali and laughed at himself:

"I also have strong desires; everyone has their own strong desires.

"If having strong desires is a sin, then you are a sinner, and I am a sinner; we all have sins."

Father Cali's expression was dull for a while, and he slowly turned his body back.

He knelt in front of the altar again, looked at the huge Sun holy emblem, and said in a low voice:

"You have no sin; strong desire is not a sin, but I am a true sinner."

He lowered his head, letting his body gradually become ethereal and transparent.

Just like that, Father Cali displayed his "Wraith" form in front of the Sun holy emblem.

A cold and gloomy aura dissipated, touching the holy emblem and the altar.

The entire church shook slightly, and sunlight-like radiance seeped out from the altar, the holy emblem, the surface of the stained glass, and the religious murals, quickly wandering and gathering at the spherical dome.

A brilliant and grand golden pillar of light accompanied by a chant-like sound descended and landed on Father Cali.

The wraith-formed Father Cali trembled slightly, not dodging.

In the intense sunlight, his body gradually dissolved and quickly turned into ashes.

Lu Mian watched this scene with no expression on his face.

He was neither happy nor sad.

After the holy light descending from the dome faded, only candlelight remained in the church. Lu Mian still sat in the first row, looking silently at the place where Father Cali had been purified, without leaving.

I don't know how long it had been when Camus and Ria, who had finished disaster relief, walked into the church.

Seeing Louis Berry sitting in the first row, Camus breathed a sigh of relief.

He showed a slight smile and said:

"We are still not calm enough; it's easy to panic when encountering things. Just now, we only thought about helping the injured and trapped, and didn't think about whether people like Father Cali, who deserve to die but haven't died yet, would suddenly go crazy, thinking about dragging more people to be buried with him. Fortunately, you are here."

Ria looked around and said:

"Where is Father Cali?"

Lu Mian looked at the front of the altar and replied straightforwardly:

"After he repented, he purified himself with the help of the spirituality accumulated by the church itself and the special nature of the holy emblem."

Ria fell silent.

After a few seconds, she spread her arms slightly and said loudly:

"Praise the Sun!"

Then, Ria sat on the first-row seat on the other side of the aisle, clasped her hands, lowered her head, and began to pray earnestly.

Camus didn't know whether he should sit down or continue standing.

Lu Mian turned his head to look at him:

"Did you collect Reyasa's Beyonder characteristics?"

Camus fell silent, and it was a long while before he said:

"Collected."

"What about Maslow's?" Lu Mian withdrew his gaze and looked at the Sun holy emblem again.

"I don't know where it is," Camus replied.

Lu Mian said in a calm tone:

"It should be in the area directly hit by the meteorite."

Camus was stunned for a moment and said:

"The function of that meteorite is to take away most of the dead?

"Is the power of the 'Dream Festival' that strong?"

"Stronger than you imagine," Lu Mian said in a tone of discussing tomorrow's weather, "Reyasa and Maslow were both people of the 'Spirit Sect's' Royalist faction. General Queralir knew their identities and also knew that Reyasa came to Tizamo Town to complete the mission assigned by the high-level Royalist faction."

Camus's expression changed a few times, and he sighed slowly and lengthily:

"Even if you didn't say these things, I wouldn't resent or hate Captain Reyasa. He really saved me several times, and this time, on the surface, it wasn't a betrayal of me, but a betrayal of the Patrol. My sense of belonging to the Patrol isn't that strong.

"Now, I am very relieved that he is not a traitor."

Lu Mian laughed in a "provocative" tone:

"It's also a good thing for you; the Pylos Harbor Patrol has a vacant deputy captain position, and your competitor is already dead."

Camus wasn't provoked and smiled bitterly:

"I plan to leave Matani.

"Thank you for your generosity; I have saved almost enough money to be promoted to Sequence 6. Compared to searching outside, returning to the family to contact the main branch is a safer and simpler method.

"The Patrol, after all, isn't a large organization; Sequence 6 is the limit. If I want to be promoted to Sequence 5, I have to establish close ties with one of the 'Spirit Sect,' 'Rose School,' Intis Eighth Bureau, 'Eternal Blazing Sun' Church, or the Mother Goddess Church, or become General Queralir's confidant. I have the surname Castilla; why should I choose?"

If you are really accepted by the Castilla royal family, your ceiling will be much higher... Lu Mian laughed and said:

"I thought you were choosing to stay away from the land of sadness because your secret love was shattered."

Camus was suddenly choked by his saliva and coughed several times.

After Ria finished praying, she left Saint Cien Church with Camus.

Lu Mian still sat in the front row, as if enjoying the empty environment.

After a while, Amandina, wearing a black hunting suit, appeared at the church entrance.

"Why are you the only one here?" the young girl muttered.

Her gaze looked left and right, as if searching for something.

"Why did you come?" Lu Mian asked casually.

Amandina sat beside him and laughed:

"I wanted to secretly see if Luo Bote would come to find Father Cali, who is about to die. Who knew I'd only see you."

"Father Cali purified himself; Luo Bote shouldn't have come," Lu Mian said truthfully.

"So that's how it is..." Amandina was a bit regretful and disappointed, "If he really came to beat Father Cali up, it would show he's still a man..."

Lu Mian didn't respond to the young girl.

Amandina faced the altar and the holy emblem and prayed simply.

After finishing this, her eyes turned slightly, and she asked with hidden anticipation:

"Will there be a 'Dream Festival' next year?"

"Yes," Lu Mian didn't hide it.

Amandina's joy immediately surfaced on her brows and the corners of her mouth:

"Is that black ancient tomb still there? Can I still obtain supernatural power by touching it?"

"Yes," Lu Mian turned his head and looked at Amandina with a smile, "But the outsiders participating in the 'Dream Festival' next year will be more powerful and terrifying, exceeding the evil ragdolls, crystal skulls, and human-skinned men you saw."

Amandina's expression collapsed:

"So that's how it is. Then I'll find an excuse to stay in Pylos Harbor for next year's 'Dream Festival,' and drag my father and mother along."

"Have you returned to the Palm Manor?" Lu Mian asked instead.

Amandina sighed and said with a smile:

"Went back to take a look, didn't want to disturb them pretending to be loving, and came out again."

She paused, her eyes shining as she asked:

"Besides touching the black ancient tomb, do I have other ways to improve my sequence?"

"Buy formulas, drink potions; you can choose one of the three pathways: 'Seer,' 'Corpse Collector,' and 'Warrior,'" Lu Mian didn't hide the corresponding occult knowledge and said while thinking, "Moreover, essentially, it's not the black ancient tomb that bestows you supernatural power, it's that figure..."

Speaking of this, Lu Mian suddenly froze.

What is the relationship between Amandina, Luo Bote, and the Netherworld Daoist?

Normally, gifts are given to believers by gods or angels, but Amandina and Luo Bote don't believe in the Netherworld Daoist at all, and don't even know of the other party's existence.

Applying the situation of various secret organizations, according to the customs occasionally mentioned by Franca, Amandina should call the Netherworld Daoist "Teacher"!

(End of chapter)