Chapter 439: Offending a saint, slap the mouth

Anthony was the Archbishop... Pope of the Church of Light. His understanding of the Church of Light was clearer than anyone else's, even clearer than the theological research scholars of the main plane, because many classics had been burned by him.

Many symbols, imprints, habits, patterns, etc., passed down by ancient churches had been lost by the churches of the main plane.

So Anthony discovered that symbols and imprints he recognized would appear from time to time in the streets and alleys of Du Luo Ken. They were very inconspicuous, just like a child's graffiti, but Anthony traced them and actually discovered a lot of hidden information.

From the information, Anthony discovered that they were looking to buy the production method of the "particularly hunger-resistant" rapeseed cakes, so Anthony followed the plan and used the rapeseed cakes to fish them out and wipe them all out.

Through interrogation, it was learned that they were Light believers lurking in Du Luo Ken. When preaching among the refugees, they tasted the rapeseed cakes and immediately realized the advantages of this food.

If they could master its production method, they could reduce the volume and weight of food to one-tenth of the original, greatly reducing the pressure of transportation and storage.

Originally, a carriage could transport food for 100 people, but now it could transport for 1,000. Originally, 1,000 carriages were needed, but now only 100 were needed.

The food and horse fodder on the road also dropped by 90%, which meant transportation costs dropped by 90%, and even the space to store them could be greatly reduced.

This was an epoch-making technology.

So, the priest notified the church, and the church quickly issued an order, requiring them to do everything possible to get the production method of this food. Suddenly, all the Light believers lurking in Du Luo Ken moved and quickly threw themselves into the big net laid by Anthony.

Interrogation revealed that the existing power of the Church of Light was still quite large, the number of believers was not small, and they were very rich.

Because they were suppressed by undead creatures, the Church of Light couldn't openly spread faith and couldn't build various wonder buildings that wasted money and manpower, so they now focused on making money and had accumulated a large amount of wealth.

Hearing that there was money and people, Anthony was moved. He hurriedly escorted the people over to see if he could obtain their faith power. If he could, then there was no need to kill them. Believers could provide a large amount of faith power.

Ang didn't know either, so he had to try. They made a huge noise with a "ping-pong-pang," and then transferred the blindfolded Light believers to a new place.

Ai Gu Li was very afraid, walking forward tremblingly, her legs soft several times, almost falling.

Countless terrifying legends surfaced in her mind, such as zombies eating human brains, undead devouring souls, skeletons peeling skin and flesh, peeling living people into bone frames, and so on.

To intimidate believers, the church had fabricated countless terrifying legends and told them to them since they were young.

Especially some who fell into the hands of undead creatures, unable to live or die, conscious, but skin and flesh gradually rotting, until seeing maggots crawling on the internal organs, a terrifying scene that caused many devout believers to prefer to die by sacrifice, burning their souls, rather than fall into the hands of undead creatures.

Ai Gu Li also wanted to die by sacrifice, but unfortunately, she hadn't learned to sacrifice her soul. Biting her tongue wouldn't kill her, and hitting a wall was even harder. Instead, it might provoke the other party's anger and really torture her like that, which would be miserable.

She might as well be obedient and submissive, answering every question, and praying that the other party would be satisfied and grant her death.

She felt that she was led to a closed space, because she could hear the echo of footsteps here, it should be a large space like a cave.

Ai Gu Li felt the blindfold being pulled off, and a holy light flashed into her eyes. For a moment, she couldn't see anything, only seeing a petite figure and six flapping wings.

Rubbing her eyes and adapting to this light, Ai Gu Li saw clearly that the one who pulled off her blindfold was a six-winged Archangel holding a Great Angel Staff and growing three pairs of wings on her back.

"Ah?!" Six-winged Archangel? Six-winged Archangel! Ai Gu Li couldn't help but exclaim, but immediately reacted, covering her mouth tightly with both hands.

Her companions repeated her actions. After everyone had their blindfolds pulled off, they all looked at the six-winged Archangel in front of them in horror.

What's going on? Why is there a six-winged Archangel? Have they arrived in the Divine Kingdom?

Ai Gu Li had never seen a six-winged Archangel. This name only existed in legends, and even pictures didn't dare to circulate, for fear of being discovered by undead creatures.

Only from the narration of the elder priest did Ai Gu Li know that the six-winged Archangel had six wings, one pair of real feathered wings, and the remaining four were light wings.

Ai Gu Li looked carefully at the Little Angel's back and saw the true wings and light wings that matched the legend, but... but... why would the six-winged Archangel in the legend suddenly appear in front of them?

This question echoed in the minds of all Light believers, and was then interrupted by a voice: "You idiots, you almost exposed me. Fools, is this how you act?"

Ai Gu Li and the others followed the direction of the voice, and what they saw made them all gasp in unison. They saw that the person who had captured them was lecturing them there.

But that person was wearing an Archbishop's ritual robe, only it was more magnificent and solemn, and the details were richer and more trendy.

The Church of Light on the main plane had developed for over a thousand years, and both aesthetics and design were much trendier than here.

Ai Gu Li and the others were stunned by this change for a while. They had been captured, and they had expected death, but they didn't expect that after taking off their blindfolds, it would be a six-winged Archangel and a Light Archbishop, and the Archbishop was the one who captured them.

Anthony didn't care whether they were stunned or not, and continued to lecture: "We spent so much energy to mix into the Undead Temple, preparing to secretly rebuild the church in their name, but you suddenly popped out and made a mess of my secret recipe all over the world? You almost exposed me. I really should tie you all to the stake and burn you to death."

There was no malice in the tone, but rather a kind of elder's concern.

However, the content he wanted to express was all revealed in these lecturing words: "mix into," "in their name," "rebuild the church." Didn't this clearly say that they were also people of the church?

Ai Gu Li asked weakly: "You... you mean, we almost ruined your plan, right?"

"Hmph!" Anthony glared at her, let out a muffled grunt, took a deep breath, adopted an impatient posture, and turned to bow toward the back.

Ang, dressed in the attire of an ascetic monk, walked over.

"As... ascetic monk?" E'guli exclaimed. An ascetic monk, an archbishop, a six-winged archangel—what kind of lineup was this? Even the Shadow Pope she knew of probably couldn't assemble a lineup like this, right?

"Bold!" However, Anthony had already barked a reprimand: "This is the God-Favored Monk, Lord Ang. Do not offend him."

E'guli hurriedly bent her waist and lowered her head.

Ang did not speak; he walked straight to E'guli, and a holy radiance shone upon her.

Under the holy light, the pain from the previous whipping immediately subsided. The bloodstains on her exposed arms vanished before E'guli's very eyes, and even her chronic abdominal pain disappeared along with them.

E'guli widened her eyes in disbelief. What a powerful healing spell, what powerful holy light.

A few seconds later, all the pain in E'guli's body was gone. Before she could recover, Ang walked to the second believer, repeated the previous steps, and triggered another round of exclamations.

There were over a dozen believers. Ang walked from the beginning to the end, and by his own strength, he healed everyone's injuries, including three who were severely wounded and on the verge of death, and one who was severely burned.

By the time he healed the fourth person, everyone's expressions had changed. The most powerful priest-bishop they had ever seen could not achieve such powerful holy force.

By the tenth person, everyone was already numb. They began to believe a little in the "God-Favored Monk" Anthony spoke of, even though they had never even heard the name before.

By the fifteenth person, Ang suddenly frowned, took two steps back, carefully scrutinized the person in front of him, and then said faintly: "You are guilty."

Three shackles instantly sprang up from the ground, binding the believer.

"Ori... Original Sin? Shackles?!" E'guli shrieked, her legs involuntarily going weak. She knelt to the ground, trembling as she pressed her forehead to the floor and prayed: "The God says, be pious. Unintentional sins can be forgiven; original sin is innate; a pious belief can wash away original sin..."

The others followed suit, trembling as they knelt and prayed piously, fearing that the Shackles of Original Sin would bind them.

They were now deeply convinced that Ang and his group were powerful figures from the church who had infiltrated the Undead Temple, and they were absolutely capable of representing the God's will to judge sinners.

If anyone dared to question their identities, those questioning must be fakes, unless they could also produce a six-winged archangel, an archbishop, and a God-Favored Monk.

Ang felt thick soul flames rise from these people and enter his body; among them, the belief of the one named E'guli was the thickest.

Bound by the Shackles of Original Sin, holy flames burned, directly incinerating the sinner to death.

E'guli took a quick glance, and her belief became even firmer on the spot.

She knew that sinner; that guy had occupied a pretty widow, made the widow earn for all his food and clothing, and even sold the widow's daughter. He was indeed a sinner who deserved to die.

Lord God-Favored Monk did not punish randomly. Lord God-Favored did not know the sinner, yet he could see the other party's sins at a glance. Heavens, it turned out that what the elders said was all true.

E'guli's heart received a strong impact.

She had been raised by the church since she was a child, growing up listening to various legends. She had belief, but how pious it was was hard to say, because they had never seen many of the things in the legends.

After growing up, they operated like thieves, fearing discovery by undead creatures. Where was there any holy majesty?

Now, those holy, powerful, and sacred things from the legends appeared before her, and the final missing piece of her faith's puzzle was finally filled.

Ang also felt this change and pointed at her: "She, pious."

Anthony's eyes lit up: "Very well, my lord."

Certified by the God of Scales himself, the way Anthony looked at E'guli changed; it was much kinder.

"Everyone, get up. Consider yourselves lucky. We have already dealt with the people who were escorting you. From now on, you will accept E'guli's direct leadership. If I have any orders, I will entrust them to her," Anthony said sternly.

E'guli suddenly raised her head, somewhat surprised and incredulous.

Anthony walked to her and said: "Follow me."

Until she left the cave and returned to the secret stronghold, a remote village, E'guli still felt like she was dreaming.

After Anthony took her away, he tested her strength, and then, with a look of disdain, gave her a storage ring, a magic ring, and a cloak that looked plain and strange on the outside.

But after E'guli put it on, she immediately noticed something unusual; this cloak could actually hide her holy force.

Originally, her holy force was not strong—the kind that was dispensable—but Anthony had bestowed upon her half a Heart of the Holy Spirit.

Although it was the lowest first-rank Heart of the Holy Spirit, and only half of one, she now felt as if her holy force was about to lose control at any moment, overflowing from time to time.

But all these fluctuations were covered up by the cloak, and even her companions did not notice.

That was not all; the storage ring was what truly made E'guli feel a strong shock. This ring was enough to buy all the land around the village where she was born and raised, and Anthony had just given it to her so casually.

Heavens, she was just the most ordinary believer, not even a priest. Was it really appropriate to give these things to her?

"Appropriate. These are not precious things. What is precious is this of yours." Anthony pointed to her forehead: "A pious belief is the source of these things, and it is also the most powerful thing you possess."

"My belief? The most powerful thing?" E'guli looked blank.

"Where have you learned your scriptures?" Anthony scolded, wishing she would improve: "Our power comes from the God's bestowal. Do you remember Lord Ang? In times of crisis, recite his name, and he can project the God's favor onto you. This is your most powerful strength."

"The firmer your belief in Lord Ang, the more he can protect you. Do you understand?"

Firm belief, the greatest strength... Firm belief, the greatest strength... E'guli muttered all the way back to the village.

Just as she returned home, before she could say anything to her family, her fat and greedy stepmother had already seen the ring on her hand and walked over with eyes glowing.

She reached out to grab the ring on her hand, cursing: "Why are you back? You money-losing wretch, where did you steal that ring? Let me see."

E'guli pulled her hand back and said: "It wasn't stolen. Don't touch it."

One of them was a magic ring. According to Lord Anthony, it contained a sealed Phoenix. If it were lent power by a large amount of flames, it could incinerate an entire city.

Besides, how could she not know what this woman was thinking? Let her see? Once it was in her hands, don't even think about getting it back.

The fat stepmother was instantly enraged, raised her hand, and cursed: "You money-losing wretch, what did you say? You dare talk to me like that, I..."

E'guli subconsciously wanted to dodge, but immediately she realized that she was now a saint with the greatest strength and firm belief.

She immediately lifted her skirt and kicked out, landing on the roll of fat on the other party's belly, knocking her to the ground.

"You... you... you dare hit me? Ah—! Ah—!" The fat stepmother pointed at E'guli in disbelief, screaming as she tried to crawl up, intending to come over and tear E'guli's mouth apart.

But it was too late; five or six believers who had returned with her were already standing in front of the fat woman.

E'guli imitated Anthony's tone and said faintly: "Offending a saint, slap the mouth."