Chapter 43 I only want you to be mine...
Ling Qiu stared into the man's deep, murky eyes, her heart pounding. She didn't know what he meant by those words. Did he realize that Cyrus was on her?
Does this person really have some kind of special ability? Or is he under the guidance of an evil god?
She didn't know, Ling Qiu didn't speak, and then the man said, "You're very interesting. Go on, go to that room inside and have some bread."
Ling Qiu was still standing there, not having reacted, until Aunt Qiao came and pulled her away.
"This means they agree to your joining! Oh dear, they asked me several questions before, but they didn't ask you anything when they met you."
Ling Qiu asked, "What question did they ask you back then, Aunt Qiao?"
"It's nothing much, just home address, job, family, friends, and such, all basic questions." Aunt Qiao said as she led her into a small room where a group of people were sitting around a table sharing white bread.
As they entered, one of the little girls reached out to hand them the bread, but Ling Qiu shook her head and didn't take it.
It's best not to touch things from places like this; who knows what might be inside?
"Eat something, how can you not eat bread?" the little girl said.
Why can't she not eat bread? Ling Qiu didn't understand the logic. She lied naturally, "I got carsick and felt nauseous on the way here. I don't want to eat anything right now."
"Oh." The little girl didn't say anything.
Ling Qiu sat down on a stool and slowly looked at the people. There were men, women, young and old. It was clear that their conditions were not very good. Some of them were probably poor. The bread on the table didn't look very good, but they were eating it with great relish.
Free food and water should also be a means for cults to recruit the poor.
And what about Aunt Qiao? Aunt Qiao, who is not short of money at all, why would she believe their lies and join the cult?
"Do you think that man really saw you?" Ling Qiu asked in a voice only the two of them could hear.
Cyrus: "No."
Yes, that means he was just playing tricks and scared her.
Ling Qiu remained silent throughout, watching the people at the table interact and chat. Some of them were even dressed in rags, but they were all very excited. When they talked about what they were going to do, they sounded like they were about to accomplish something great.
"Hahaha! Timmy, you're always the one with the best ideas!"
"That's right, that's not how you hand out flyers. Who knows as much as I do?"
They were discussing the promotion of cults, sharing methods and rhetoric to attract more people and pique their interest.
Ling Qiu listened half-heartedly, but gradually her gaze fell on the girl who had handed her the bread at the beginning.
From the very beginning, this girl never spoke to anyone else. She always did things by herself, leading by herself. When faced with other people's conversations, her expression was either indifferent or disdainful.
Ling Qiu's curiosity was piqued, and she couldn't help but sit down next to the girl, lowering her voice to ask, "What's your name?"
"What do you want?" The girl glanced at her, her eyes showing more impatience than wariness.
She seemed unwilling to communicate with anyone, living only in her own world.
Ling Qiu thought for a moment and decided to change her approach: "You look very special, unlike anyone else here."
"Hmph." The girl chuckled, her eyes gleaming with smugness. "Of course, the archbishop said that I have two souls in my body, and I am the most special one."
Oh, I see. So it wasn't just her who said it.
Ling Qiu was relieved; it seemed that the man was just talking nonsense.
But he probably won't say that to everyone, right? People here talk all the time, and if they're not careful, they might let something slip, and then everyone will have two souls.
It must be true; he must have only chosen a few individuals.
Ling Qiu observed the girl, trying to find common ground between them.
They were all girls, all young, and all... Ling Qiu's eyes swept over her from top to bottom; they were all free agents.
She suddenly remembered that in the Huanyu explosion more than ten years ago, almost all of those who died were free people.
During the sacrificial ceremony, these people had a preference for choosing free people.
Why?
"Because it is generally believed that a person's soul is only complete if all their organs are intact," Cyrus's voice echoed in her head.
Ling Qiu suddenly realized that because the bodies of cyborgs are not complete, but are replaced by machines, the cult sees them as incomplete souls.
"Can the soul really be incomplete?" Ling Qiu asked. "So, do people really have souls?"
“That’s right,” Cyrus answered her second question. “But I haven’t tried it. This is my first time in your world. Before this, I had never seen such semi-mechanical people and did not know whether their souls were intact, which could only be seen after death.”
At ten o'clock in the morning, as if wound up, these people stopped talking abruptly, got up, went outside, and all walked in the same direction.
“They’re going to worship,” Ling Qiu said. “Keep an eye out for the monster at the place of worship.”
She followed the crowd until she reached a stone-built, pointed-roofed house, where the so-called archbishop stood directly in front of her, waiting for their arrival.
Ling Qiu stood in a corner with a wide view, watching them silently bow their heads in prayer. Then the archbishop began to recite some random things. Everyone was devoutly closing their eyes and bowing their heads. Ling Qiu couldn't look around too openly, so he could only glance around out of the corner of his eye.
Only after the archbishop fell silent did everyone raise their heads and wait quietly.
Is this all there is to the worship service?
Just as Ling Qiu was thinking this, she heard the archbishop speak: "Now, I will choose a lucky person to come to my side and receive God's favor."
The next second, the archbishop's gaze fell on Ling Qiu, and he said, "It's you, Ling Qiu, come here."
Are you planning to do something supernatural or mysterious to her so that she will become a devout follower of the religion?
She's new here today; they might already be planning today's performance while they're asking her name.
She can't be a passive spectator.
"No, thank you." Ling Qiu refused. "I haven't made up my mind to join yet, so I'm still an outsider. I hope the Archbishop will give this opportunity to someone else."
"Are you sure?" he asked rhetorically. "The chance to be favored by the gods is very rare."
“I’m sure, and I think God will support me in helping others.” Ling Qiu gave a perfect excuse.
“…Alright.” After a moment of silence, the archbishop selected another person from the crowd, a young man who looked to be about twenty years old. He seemed extremely excited, and his legs were shaking as he walked onto the stage. He kept glancing at the archbishop.
"Alright, child, speak your wish, and God will bless you."
The young man pointed to his left eye and said, "I was injured in an accident before, but the surgery to make a prosthetic eye is too expensive. I don't have the money. Can I make a wish to God to restore my sight to my left eye?"
After listening to him finish speaking, Ling Qiu noticed that his left eye was a bit grayish.
A prosthetic eye... If making a wish here can restore sight, then what about Wang Zheng spending tens of thousands of dollars on a prosthetic eye surgery?
“Alright, now please close your eyes and listen to the voice of God,” the archbishop said solemnly. “In a few seconds, God will bestow good fortune upon you.”
Ling Qiu waited to see the results.
The young man obediently closed his eyes, and then the archbishop murmured something, saying to everyone, "Let us all pray for him..."
Then everyone began to whisper among themselves. After a while, the archbishop gestured for everyone to stop and said to the young man, "Open your eyes, child."
The young man opened his eyes, startled at first, then cried out in disbelief, "I saw it!!! I really saw it!!!"
"Oh my god! Thank God!! Thank you everyone!!!"
Ling Qiu pursed her lips. She saw that the young man's eyes had indeed brightened and become more lively. Everyone in the church was cheering for his regained sight, but no one felt surprised or incredulous.
In other words, the same thing had happened before.
"Did you see anything strange just now?" Ling Qiu asked.
"I saw a dark figure; it must be Him."
“It seems this is how they gain the trust of the people. It’s very convincing,” Ling Qiu said. After a pause, she added, “Just like you, I also feel that as long as you can make my life better, I would not mind sacrificing myself for you.”
"Like me?" Cyrus's voice was full of dissatisfaction. "He won't be wearing an apron and cooking for you in the kitchen."
Ling Qiu laughed out loud, and blurted out subconsciously, "He wouldn't kneel by the bed to kiss me either."
After they finished speaking, both she and Cyrus fell into an eerie silence for a while.
"So, Ling Qiu," the archbishop stood before everyone, gazing at her, "are you now willing to join us?"
Ling Qiu twitched the corner of her mouth. Now that things have come to this, it would be a miracle if she said she didn't want to join.
She looked at him with reverence: "Would the gods grant my wish? Yes, I would! I'd like to join them!"
More than a decade ago, Ling Qiu could never have imagined that one day she would become a member of the Red Armband team.
“Of course, as long as your heart is devout enough, God will grant everyone’s wishes,” the archbishop said. “Welcome to the team, Ling Qiu.”
"You want to believe in Him?" Cyrus's voice rang in his head. He sounded very dissatisfied, and Ling Qiu felt a sour taste in his mouth.
Ling Qiu whispered, "I'm just pretending to believe in it, but in the end I will really sacrifice myself for you."
She thought that Cyrus would be pleased to hear her say that.
Unexpectedly, he remained silent for a while, then whispered, "Don't say things like that anymore, Qiuqiu."
This was the first time He had called her by her name.
"I don't need your sacrifice, I just want you to be my bride."
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