"Oh... So that's how it is? The Holy Spirit once descended here and defeated the evil beast, so this is a holy place. I finally know the reason. Thank you, sister."
“Haha… Thanks to you, Sister, for your explanation. We are all from the countryside and don’t have much education. The child wanted to ask me, but I didn’t know why. Today, he finally learned something new…” Next to the boy, the man who was his father also answered with a smile. After listening to the conversation between the father and son, the nun in white continued to respond with a smile.
"It's nothing. If there is still one person in this world who has not heard of the Lord's deeds, then we must spread the word. This is our duty, and I am just fulfilling it."
"Ah...Is that so? This nun is truly a devout believer."
After telling the story of the Holy Mother, the father and son said goodbye to the nun in white and went to visit other places. For a while, the nun was the only one left standing there, gazing into the distance to the south, thinking about something in her heart.
'The story of the first advent of the Holy Spirit to fight against the beast from the south... Although I have read it many times in the scriptures before, and I believed it without a doubt at that time, but now I have a completely different feeling when I revisit it.
'Leaving aside the holy rooster aspect, the description of the Beast of the South in the holy scriptures cannot help but remind people of the Rooster of Cups. The main god worshipped by the Afterbirth Cult has many similarities in the descriptions of Him and the Beast of the South. Could it be that the Beast of the South is the Rooster of Cups?
"But if that's the case, then the story in the Holy Scripture is that the Holy Ghost, the God of Many Colors, defeated the Pure-Colored God, the Cup-God? Theoretically, this should be impossible. According to what Miss Dorothea said, the Pure-Colored God should be higher-level than the God of Many Colors. How did the Holy Ghost defeat the Beast of the South? Or is the real history really as described in the Holy Scripture?"
Staring at the southern horizon, looking at the direction where the southern beast attacked as recorded in the holy scriptures, Vanya thought so in her heart, and as she thought about it, she found that something was wrong.
"Ah... No, why am I doubting the contents of the Holy Scripture, or even the power of the Three Saints? Do we have this idea that the Holy Spirit should not be able to defeat the Beast of the South? These are things that cannot be doubted, these are stories that should be believed unconditionally, why am I starting to doubt them?"
'That's so disrespectful, Vanya...'
Knocking her forehead, Vanya blamed herself in her heart. In the Church of Radiance, the holy scriptures must be believed unconditionally and without any doubt. It was too blasphemous for her to suddenly make a rational analysis in her mind. She even doubted the combat effectiveness of the Three Saints. This kind of thought was not something a nun should have.
"Hmm... I've been communicating with Dorothea-san a lot lately, and I've been influenced by her a little without realizing it. She's the type who wants to analyze everything, even gods...
'So should I spend less time with Miss Dorothea recently and focus on practicing my faith? But if I don't talk to Miss Dorothea, there will be no one else in the church that I can talk to openly... Lord, what should I do?'
Standing in front of the tall statue of the saint, Vanya thought a little depressed in her heart, and at this time, a voice suddenly sounded behind her.
"Sister Vanya, you are here."
Hearing the voice, Vanya turned her head and looked. What she saw next was a slightly older priest walking towards her. After seeing him, Vanya immediately responded.
"It's Father Volka, are you looking for me?"
"Yes, the last batch of ships are almost ready, Sister Vanya, we can now wait at the dock to set off. As for your ceremony, the church has already prepared it, and now we are just waiting for you to come."
Facing Vanya, the priest named Volka spoke bluntly. Hearing these words, Vanya couldn't help but feel a little surprised.
"Eh... Is the ceremony ready? It's so fast. I thought we would have to wait until the pilgrimage was over before the ceremony."
Vanya spoke in confusion, and Volka explained bluntly.
"That's fine, but Sister Vanya, you are now an evangelist for Xia Shu. In order to publicize the content of Xia Shu's conversion during this pilgrimage, you need to play a more important and special role in this pilgrimage, so your rank cannot be too low. So we have decided to advance your promotion ceremony.
"Now all the conditions for the ceremony have been prepared, and all the requirements have reached the best standards. We are just waiting for you to pass, so we'd better hurry up."
Volka said this, and Vanya was startled after hearing what the other party said, then nodded and replied.
"Oh, okay, I understand, let's go now."
In this way, Vanya followed Volka to the dock at the entrance of the valley, boarded the small boat prepared in advance, rowed into the Laer Valley, and went upstream all the way to the depths of the valley.
On the boat, Vanya paddled symbolically while admiring the stone tablets and beautiful scenery on both sides of the river bank. After nearly an hour's voyage, the boat she was on finally arrived at the deepest part of the valley.
At the end of the valley was a huge waterfall rushing down from between two mountains. Under the waterfall was a large church built across the river, as if it was built on a huge bridge. On both sides of the church were densely packed religious buildings. Vanya knew that this was probably the Cathedral of Redemption in the Laer Valley.
Arriving at the end of the valley, Vanya thought the boat was finally going to stop, but to her surprise, the boat did not stop but continued to move forward. After passing the bottom of the bridge church, it actually went all the way to a huge waterfall in front. Vanya expressed concern about this phenomenon, but Volka advised her not to panic.
"Don't panic, Sister Vanya, we are heading to the true Church of Salvation, it's okay."
"The real...Church of Redemption?"
Listening to Volka's words, Vanya suppressed her inner emotions and watched the boat sail into the turbulent waterfall. She found that the boat under her was moving forward even without paddling, and it was stable in the turbulent water.
Vanya and her friends entered the waterfall. At this time, Vanya was surprised to find that the turbulent water falling from the sky actually miraculously avoided the boat they were riding in. Not a drop of water fell into the boat. Vanya crossed the waterfall without getting her clothes wet and came to a cave dotted with lights all around.
In the long and narrow cave with an underground river, the boat that Vanya was riding went deeper and deeper. After paddling for more than 20 minutes, they finally came out of the cave through a narrow cave entrance, and then the view suddenly became clear.
After exiting the cave, Vanya saw another world. It was another vast, open and rich valley. In Vanya's eyes, clear streams flowed from afar, with trees lining both sides of the river bank, countless flowers blooming in the green grass, and all kinds of wild animals like deer were drinking water leisurely on the river bank.
At the end of the river, Vanya saw a huge church that looked like a castle, three or four times larger than the one outside and even more exquisite. From the towering tower of the church, the melodious bells could be heard throughout the entire secret valley. Behind the church was a towering tree with a diameter of hundreds of meters, rising from the ground. The shade of the tree blocked out the sky and seemed to cover half of the valley.
Seeing the giant tree in front of her, Vanya couldn't help but stand there in a daze for a moment. This was more out of surprise than shock.
She had actually seen similar giant trees in other places. Yes, the giant tree that shaded the Fertility Festival on Summer Tree Island seemed to be of a similar species, but the giant tree in the Holy Land of the Holy Temple was much larger than the one on Summer Tree Island.
…
Hmm... I couldn't help but fall asleep, and when I woke up it was already afternoon.
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