“Bishop Dominic probably wouldn’t, but Bishop Black and Wendell have always been on good terms, so he must be one of them now,” Patrick replied, taking another paper crane from his pocket.
“Cousin, I need to tell Father first, otherwise I’m afraid he won’t know the truth and will be deceived by those people from the Vatican.”
As he spoke, he bit his finger and dripped blood onto the paper crane.
The paper crane flashed white light and then flew up, circling inside the carriage.
“Father, can you hear me? It’s me, Patrick.”
The paper crane continued to circle in the air, but soon a middle-aged man's voice could be heard.
"Patrick? What's up?"
“I’ve found my cousin. He was betrayed by Bishop Wendell and Knight Commander Valck Dodd of the Papacy, and they’ve taken control of the Papacy! You must be careful not to be deceived by them!” Patrick said anxiously.
"I understand. Protect your cousin first, and do it as soon as possible..."
The voice on the other end suddenly stopped, and the paper crane fell onto Patrick's lap.
"What's wrong?" Phil Gray asked.
"I don't know, the communication was suddenly cut off."
Patrick hurriedly dripped more blood onto the paper crane, and the paper crane wobbled and flew up again.
"Father, what's wrong on your end?" Patrick asked tentatively.
There was a long silence on the other end before Phil Gray finally heard a woman's voice, "Patrick, you and His Holiness the Pope should leave the diocese of the Church of Destiny and go elsewhere to protect His Holiness the Pope. Your father will bring you back after he has dealt with things here. You must protect His Holiness the Pope."
“Mother?” Patrick asked in surprise.
"Did they target our family?"
However, there was no reply, and the paper crane lost its white light and fell down again.
No matter how much blood Patrick dripped, there was no further reaction.
“Damn it, they must have teamed up with other families to attack our family,” Patrick said angrily.
“It’s certainly not safe to go back to North City now. Let’s do as your mother said and go hide somewhere else for a while,” Phil Gray said.
"Yes, we're almost in the lower city. I'll say goodbye to you in a bit, and I'll have my servant buy tickets for Duer. Let's set off as soon as possible."
"good."
As far as he knew, Durr was a city within the jurisdiction of the Church of Life.
After giving instructions to the servants, Patrick and Phil Gray alighted from the carriage and headed toward the alleyway leading to the Barry family's house.
But as soon as they reached the alley entrance, they saw a crowd of people gathered there.
Upon entering, one discovers many knights, carrying longswords, moving in and out of the alleyways.
"What happened?"
Phil Gray quickly pulled Patrick aside, abandoning the idea of going inside, and took off his coat to cover Patrick's head, saying, "Hide well."
"Cousin, my hairstyle!"
Phil Gray hid behind the corner, keeping a close eye on the knights' movements.
Until he saw two knights carrying Barry's mother out.
The old woman was pale and clearly quite frightened. Her legs hung limply as the knight dragged her out of the alley and stopped her in an open space at the street corner.
“Damn it, she’s the one who took me in these past few days.” Phil Gray’s eyes were red.
“Cousin…” Patrick held Phil Gray tightly, “Don’t be impulsive, assess the situation first.”
After the knight threw the old woman to the ground, another man, who looked like a knight and carried a long sword, stepped forward.
“He’s the Grand Master of the Knights of Kao City,” Patrick said in a low voice.
The commander drew his longsword and pointed it at the old woman. "Traitor, where have you hidden His Holiness the Pope?"
“I am not an apostate, you are. I have been a believer in the God of Destiny for over forty years. How could I betray my god, let alone harm His Holiness the Pope?” The old woman raised her head, her wrinkled face filled with contempt for the leader.
The regimental commander snorted coldly, "But someone reported that they saw your son carrying back a man with long gray hair and wearing a ceremonial crown."
"Does he have any evidence? Where would we have the chance to contact His Holiness the Pope? Maybe someone is slandering this poor old woman and my foolish son." The old woman said, tears streaming down her face.
The onlookers began to discuss among themselves, "Yes, yes, I know her. When she was young, she went to the cathedral to pray every day. She was a devout believer in the god of fate."
"Yes, later her husband died, and she became paralyzed, but she still made her mentally challenged son go to church to offer flowers every day."
The commander fell silent, then said to the knight beside him, "Disperse the crowd!"
"yes."
The crowd was quickly cleared out, leaving only the old woman sitting on the open ground.
"I'll ask you one more time, where is the Pope?"
"I really don't know."
"Aren't you afraid I'll take your son away!" the regimental commander threatened viciously.
"When I saw you people coming, I let my son run away. He's been playing around in this city for twenty years, and you'll never catch him." The old woman smiled, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I will not give you the opportunity to threaten my son and His Holiness the Pope!"
She charged straight at the commander's longsword, shouting, "Praise be to the goddess of fate!"
The long sword sliced across the old woman's neck, and blood gushed out.
The old woman lay in a pool of blood, her eyes still fixed on the regimental commander.
The regimental commander was clearly stunned and took a step back.
"No!" Phil Gray tried to rush over, but Patrick covered his mouth with his hand and pulled him away from the scene.
“She died so that you wouldn’t get caught. You mustn’t betray her good intentions because of impulsiveness.” Patrick gripped his clothes tightly.
Phil Gray lowered his eyes, gritted his teeth, and tears quickly streamed down his face. He hated his own powerlessness.
“Cousin, we have to go quickly,” Patrick said softly.
Phil Gray followed Patrick in a daze.
Soon the servant returned with three tickets, and they boarded the carriage and headed out of the city.
Meanwhile, news spread throughout the city of Kao that a heretic had taken the Pope hostage, and members of the Knights were searching the streets for any trace of the heretic.
“They know I’ve come to Kao City, so they’ll probably guess I’ll meet up with you. We need to get out of the city before they do.” Patrick sighed helplessly as he saw Phil Gray still lost in grief.
Fortunately, the carriage was fast enough, and they soon arrived at the city gate.
"The city lord has just given an order that no one is allowed to leave the city today!" The guards at the city gate stopped their carriage.
"Don't you recognize me? I am the eldest son of the Gray family. Your city lord ordered me to go outside the city to find the apostates!"
Patrick said, pulling a token from his pocket.
"It's the city lord's order!"
“Yes, I just received your city lord’s request. He even gave me this token. Don’t let anyone else out except me. Even if they are from the Holy See, don’t let them out without the token,” Patrick specifically instructed.
The guard nodded and opened the city gate.
The carriage vanished like an arrow released from a bow in an instant.
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