Chapter 363: If you keep showing off, I'll make you fly!

Grandma devoutly stretched out both hands, and in the morning light she made a round, lustrous sun.

"Our Lord once said, His statue is merely an ordinary sphere; believers need not clash with anyone over it."

"Therefore, not erecting a divine image does not mean lack of faith; they simply spend this money more on their own happiness, Holy indeed, which counts as accumulating merit for our faith."

The surrounding believers, hearing this, also hurriedly clasped their hands; instantly the chanting in the church hall never ceased, a scene of peace and joy, as if Tenisi were the destroyer.

Wow, that makes so much sense, I'm actually speechless……

If she hadn't already known everything behind the scenes and come with a settling‑of‑scores attitude, she might truly have thought she was a good bishop, the local church still operating normally, and left sorrowfully burdened with guilt.

"Oh~ No wonder I feel so warm after walking into the church!"

So she simply went along with it, using her own hands to hold Grandma's hands, her face showing a moved expression.

"Now that I'm here, the princess is here, the God's Chosen is here, I believe the great deity would surely be willing to hear our warm story happening here!"

Grandma's smile froze for an instant, she steadied her voice.

"……The great deity sits exalted in the high heavens, with countless matters to attend to; there should be no need to focus His holy gaze upon our mundane world, should there?"

Tenisi chuckled, pinning her wrinkled hand.

"No, it is necessary, very necessary."

"……"

It must be said that Grandma's cultivation of composure is excellent; seeing the situation turned around, she did not panic.

Instead, she kept her smile, turned her head to glance at the surrounding believers, and quietly raised the holy light within her by a notch.

"Hmm…… Since you insist, that's fine."

According to the Holy Light Church's division, an archbishop overseeing multiple dioceses can be said to be a regional governor without exaggeration.

Thus even if Tenisi had long since relinquished actual power, retaining only the honorary archbishop title, she still held the right to communicate with the deity.

Although it's not nearly as instantaneous as Ji Ming's near‑feishen‑like sync, occasionally when there's official business, giving the leadership a call is still no problem.

Thus she took out a scepter shaped like a lance but at least twice the size, the archbishop's scepter, and inserted it into the groove beneath the blazing sun statue deep in the hall.

But just as the scepter began emitting white light from bottom to top, as if to reach the heavens and connect with something, a shadow silently seeped out from behind the statue, cutting off the source of that power and halting the call to the deity.

Moreover, this shadow was extremely faint, appearing only for an instant; even a high‑level archer with keen perception would hardly notice it if not examined closely.

What's more, in the next moment a divine aura descended upon the church, an unavoidable, distant and heavy pressure weighing on everyone's shoulders, like a gaze from beyond the nine heavens.

Just like those pranksters who like to wear shirts and trousers, grab a water bottle and swagger around school pretending to be leaders, strangers among classmates and teachers would certainly be startled.

One second the archbishop said they wanted to communicate with the deity to have it gaze here; the next second a divine aura truly descended, and almost everyone would assume it was the Holy Light God's true form.

For example, the Wind Shadow Marquis who had never witnessed a god's descent, and his clueless guard detail.

The marquis felt his head turning to mush; I wasn't I just saw last night those evil‑god cultists sneaking into the Holy Light Church?

Could it be that the cultivators here are actually innocent, unaware that heretics have mixed in?

No way!!

"Oh, praise the Nameless, thank you for your mercy!"

Moreover, without waiting for anyone's reaction, Grandma suddenly flung open her arms, shouted a praise, and knelt straight down,

the surrounding believers, as if waking from a dream, babbled chaotic praises, ah‑ah wu‑wu continuously praying, and in an instant knelt en masse.

People tend to follow the crowd, especially in such tense and complex situations; seeing everyone say it's true, one will also believe it.

For instance, Eleanor, who has seen a god's descent but not often, and the other protector‑knights in the squad.

Eleanor lifted her head, curiously looking back and forth at the ceiling mural for a while.

Suddenly feeling a bit abrupt, she quickly lowered her head to pray, hoping the deity would protect them from another assassination before they return to the Royal Capital—she couldn't take it anymore!

Even Tenisi herself was stunned, doubting that Ji Ming could be someone who likes to spout nonsense; he couldn't possibly be pulling my leg on such a big matter, could he?

Among the crowd only Ji Ming remained calm and composed, not because he is naturally calm, but because no matter which side's big leader… upon seeing him they have to offer a toast with both hands.

Moreover, as a deity himself, he could clearly sense this so‑called divine aura; although the feel was right, it was really too…… stiff?

Just like at a party, some ladies may smell fragrant, but if you savor closely you'll notice a tobacco note between lips and teeth—she couldn't resist smoking a cigarette beforehand.

And some gentlemen look respectable, yet there's a smudge of peach‑red on their collar—he's quick‑eyed and quick‑handed, relying on striking first to have already won one in this match.

These are indeed noises that shouldn't exist, yet they are also a side manifestation of their life trajectories, a personal trait that every sentient being inevitably possesses.

But now, the divine aura descending in the church has no distinctive trait at all.

It is neither as heavy and suffocating as the Shadow God, nor as intense and blazing as the Holy Light God.

It is as if a radio were hidden behind the statue, now loudly calling out.

"I am the deity! I am the deity! Look, there's a deity here!"

Besides that, there's nothing else to say.

But Ji Ming doesn't need to point it out; Tenisi has already sensed something off.

She isn't one to doubt herself; she stepped forward and touched the scepter, feeling that this weapon that had accompanied her for years seemed a bit strange today.

And after using it to convey goodwill to the Holy Light God, there was no response whatsoever.

If it weren't for that distinctive divine aura still present, she would have thought she was shouting at a blank, icy wall.

"How strange, why won't the great deity respond to me……"

【He said: "You haven't dialed the right number; how can I talk to you?"】

Seeing her rear‑hand tactic work, Grandma's face also regained that assured‑victory kind smile.

"Ah, Archbishop lady, perhaps the great deity has other business; after receiving the message confirming this place is safe, just hurry back to attend to it."

She walked toward Tenisi, her crescent‑shaped eyes holding a hidden gleam.

"Hehe, after all, as I said, the great deity has to manage a vast territory and many affairs; we…… had better not bother His old self, right?"

"Uh……"

This time it was Tenisi who showed a troubled expression.

She believed in Ji Ming, but this matter was too big; to avoid these heretics scattering like frightened mice everywhere, she also couldn't raise objections here.

Helpless, she could only try to say something nice to gloss over it for now, and act later after gathering more evidence.

But just then, a voice suddenly came from the crowd.

"Oh? Grandma, do you mean the deity isn't home today?"

Since things have come to this, only the clear-sighted Ji Ming dared to speak up; he adjusted his robes and came beneath the sculpture of the blazing sun representing the Holy Light deity.

Although we now have a great advantage, Grandma still couldn't help but shrink back upon seeing this so-called God's Chosen.

But she wouldn't lose face, so she kept her mouth tough.

"Yes, the deity also has a life; how could they possibly wait for our questions at all times?"

Moreover, Grandma immediately followed with a compliment, giving Ji Ming no chance to continue questioning or seize the floor.

"Ah! You must be the God's Chosen from the Southern Border, right? You certainly look like a blessed child; I once saw the current Pope, and he would surely be delighted to meet you!"

One doesn't strike a smiling face; if it were someone else, hearing praise would naturally give them a step up, so one's words should soften—why make things so stiff?

Moreover, they even brought up the Pope as the deity's direct worldly spokesperson—dragging in the company general manager, this second-in-command—so no matter how spoiled you are, you should be polite.

Unfortunately, the premise of all this is that Ji Ming treats the other as a person, so he merely shook his head.

"You're quite mistaken; the least fortunate time in my life was when I was still a child."

"Ah…"

Those words were unbearably harsh, leaving Grandma wondering how to respond with high emotional intelligence; even as clever as she is, she had to purse her lips and think.

This, however, gave Ji Ming a chance to regain the floor.

He took out the halo he hadn't worn directly and tapped the outer rim of the sunlight lamp.

"Actually, the deity has discontinued the contact method for Archbishop Lady; they only changed the phone number yesterday, so they haven't had time to notify her."

"What… a phone number?"

That nonsensical remark left Grandma bewildered, but sensing something off, she hurriedly tried to interject, even if it was meaningless junk.

"Really? Is that so? Well, let's contact Him another day; I think we should…"

The more one does, the better it gets; lies flow more easily, and in a flash she found a reason.

"Today is our local believers' special blessing festival! Everyone will together listen to the stories of past holy followers and share the Lord's grace, right, folks?"

Since they could appear here, the surrounding believers naturally were in league with Grandma, being veteran extras, so they heard this and nodded without any strangeness.

"Yes, yes, we've been looking forward to this day for a long time!"

"Oh, great Lord, I can't wait to witness your glory!"

"Right! And moreover… uh, ah! The church will also hand out free food today—for example, winter melon pork rib soup, pan‑fried lamb chops, and…"

"Ox demon, you're just putting out these dishes, huh!"

The God's Chosen nodded repeatedly at the words, a relieved smile appearing on their face.

"Good, good, good—so you also celebrate with the people; Grandma, you really are a fine archbishop!"

Now everyone laughed, the hall filled with a cheerful atmosphere, indeed a scene of harmonious joy, almost enough to bring out the cutting board for everyone to make dumplings together.

Until Ji Ming rubbed the tube in his hands again.

"So, such beautiful scenery shouldn't just be for us to see; we should let the deity take a look too."

Grandma wondered if this thing was brain‑damaged, why it clung on so stubbornly.

But her face still bore that grandmotherly kindness.

"Child, didn't we already know earlier that the deity is temporarily absent? Let's…"

"Yeah, didn't we already know earlier? I have the deity's new phone number."

He rudely interrupted Grandma, extending both arms into the ring and pulling outward, actually expanding it to the size of a makeup mirror.

Moreover, its center was no longer the simple hollow structure before, but a pure white shining like sunlight.

"Deity, come out and have a look—what are your beloved followers up to now?"

Along with Ji Ming's question, a divine aura far hotter and more intense than before descended.

As for the previous one, it vanished silently with a barely audible crack from the statue, like a mouse fleeing the light.

Not only Ji Ming's halo, but all the blazing‑sun statues big and small in the church, the weapons carried by the Holy‑Light knights, including the archbishop's scepter standing there—all responded to the deity's summons, turning into one magical sunlight lamp after another.

This sight might be a bit of an exaggeration for Holy‑Light believers—saying it happens once a thousand years—but it's absolutely a once‑in‑a‑century miracle; even the somewhat nervous Holy‑Light knights were moved to tears.

—The deity has finally appeared in person; now we'll soon see what's going on with this church!

Then the next second, the Holy‑Light adornments worn by the local believers began to glow, yet for some reason they all looked as if covered with a black cloth, dim.

Especially the archbishop Grandma standing opposite Ji Ming, who as the local overseer should possess the deepest Holy‑Light power, yet her adornments had not a single glowing point.

"What? I…"

Then, as Ji Ming silently placed the demon‑revealing mirror before her, the reflected old woman showed a face full of black energy, the corner of her mouth hidden in shadow grinning like a ferocious ghost.

"You, you're defaming me—I'm not! I didn't! You…"

The situation reversed so quickly that Grandma instinctively began to make excuses.

But once the objective facts of the exposure were quickly confirmed and could not be denied, she stepped back several paces and chose to come clean outright.

"Heh heh heh heh, right, you're sharp—I actually defected to the Shadow Sect long ago… ah!"

Ji Ming, long unable to tolerate it, pulled out the box gun from his waist and unleashed a magazine‑emptying shot at Grandma's face.

"Showing off, huh?"

"Keep showing off and I'll make you fly!"