Chapter 178 The Bishop's Collapse
In fact, among the four bishops, only Bishop Seal seemed to have little interest in this exploration, while Bishop Water God had a gloomy look on his face, staring at Bishop Mo Fanwo and Bishop Life from time to time.
Bishop Mo Fanwo certainly noticed his gaze. He knew in his heart that the Water God Bishop was jealous of them. After all, in recent days, even though the skill books were made public, there were not many tourists entering the Water God Church. The vast majority of tourists came in for the Four Seasons Church and the Life Church. Children, who were the most popular among the clergy, would not even move their feet towards the Water God Church. Parents were the same. As soon as their children looked in that direction, they would quickly pull them back.
More than a month has passed, and not a single believer has been recruited from the Water God Church, and only a few have learned their skills.
Bishop Mofanwo, who believed he had a good relationship with Thrall and frequented tourists, knew that tourists were reluctant to visit the Water God Church. The first reason was that the clergy there looked strange. After all, they were transformed from pythons, and unlike the Pupchi birds, they couldn't transform into beautiful creatures. They looked like monsters, so it was no wonder tourists disliked them.
The second reason is that the skills of the Water God Church are basically close combat abilities. After learning them, one's teeth can become sharper and longer, and nails can become as hard as steel. In battle, one has to rush forward to bite and tear. It can be said to be quite undignified. When those tourists fight monsters, they all think the monsters are smelly and wish they could all be mages. How could they possibly stick close to them and bite them?
As for the Water God Church's signature skill, harnessing water, it's not as powerful as the Sea God Church's, making it a dislike for tourists. Secondly, the Four Seasons Church and the Life Church have similar skills. After all, life and the four seasons are both, in some way, related to water. With so many options available, why would tourists choose to deal with the Water God Church?
But the Water God Bishop didn't think so. He believed that tourists didn't go to him because Bishop Mofanwo and Bishop of Life bribed Thrall and released information that was unfavorable to their Water God Church in front of tourists. He felt that Bishop of Life and Bishop Mofanwo were both insidious and despicable.
Little did they know that Bishop Mo Fanwo and Bishop Life were also suffering because so many tourists came and went every day, some of whom could even recite the scriptures, but not a single one believed in their Lord! Not even one!
On several occasions, Bishop Mofanwo and Bishop Life discovered that the light of faith was shining on several tourists. They were surprised, but after paying attention to them for a few days, the light of faith on those tourists disappeared. After careful inquiry, the tourists thought they were making a fuss.
What else is there? A few days ago, I thought some sentences in your scriptures were quite beautiful, so I posted them on my Moments. Some people thought they were pretentious, and when I looked at them carefully, I also thought they were pretentious, so I deleted them.
Bishop Mofanwo: ...
He was so angry that his heart ached.
They also suspected that the paradise was too evil and wanted to preach outside the paradise, but they were unable to leave the paradise.
With their mission making little progress, they naturally had to seek other ways out.
It just so happened that people in this world were celebrating the Lunar New Year these days, and tourists were pouring in by the hundreds of thousands every day, with no duplication. Several church bishops were envious. If all these people could believe in their own church, what a great achievement that would be! Remember, the population of a medium-sized town there is only a few tens of thousands.
The sun was still shining brightly today, and Bishop Seal patted his belly in the sun while listening to their plans.
Bishop Mo Fanwo said, "Ever since the Paradise opened the 'Book Travel' experience center, fewer people have come to learn skills. We must not just sit around waiting in the church; that would be disrespectful to the Lord. We should seize every opportunity to explore this world for the Lord. I heard that the 'Book Travel' experience center is filled with ancient books from this world, which can help us understand its history and culture."
The Bishop of Life also nodded. "After all, those tourists are always in a hurry and don't have the patience to explain to us."
Seal Bishop: "I listen to you."
Bishop of the Water God: "We are all allies here now. It's best not to let me know that you are hiding important information."
Bishop Mo Fanwo frowned, but he didn't try to convince Bishop Shuishen of his trust. While the four churches might appear harmonious on the surface, they had fought numerous times in the past for believers, cursing each other harshly behind their backs. Now united by a common goal, they lacked trust.
Taking advantage of the quiet of the night and the departure of the last wave of tourists, they quietly entered the "Book Travel" experience hall.
For the four bishops, this was another huge and strange building.
The tourist entrances, which required ticket verification, held no significant deterrent power for bishops like them, whose average level was above 30. They felt they had easily cracked the door lock and opened the book selection interface in front of the tourist entrance.
The lower-class people in their world have a low standard of living, but the upper class people don't live badly at all. They have similar things like LCD screens, but they are made of extraordinary props. They don't understand that they are electricity and technology, they just think of them as extraordinary props.
Since they didn't know the language of this world (they usually relied on the director's translation skills that covered the entire park to communicate with tourists), the four bishops had to use their translation skills several times before they understood what the text on the LCD screen meant.
Bishop of Life: "It seems that this place is maintained by an extremely large extraordinary prop."
Bishop Mo Fanwo: "It is inevitable that we can accommodate so many tourists every day."
The Water God Bishop spat out his tongue and said, "Stop talking nonsense. I'm leaving now."
He clicked on a book at random and left.
Bishop Seal took a picture of a book called "Introduction to Earth's Species" and left, leaving only Bishop Life and Bishop Mo Fanwo.
After the two had left, the Bishop of Life sneered, "This animal race is truly intellectually retarded. What's the point of reading that kind of book? Understanding the changes in world history is the key."
Bishop Mo Fanwo frowned when he heard this. He thought that although the intelligence of the strange race was not as good as that of humans, it was still an intelligent race and was also blessed by the righteous gods. Since the other party scolded the two in front of him, they must not respect him behind his back. So he moved away from them.
Bishop Life didn't care at all. He ordered a book called "World History" and left.
Bishop Mo Fanwo chose and chose again, and finally chose a book called "Chinese Mythological Figures".
At this time, they didn't know that they had walked into a trap carefully designed by the Lord of Paradise.
After Bishop Mo Fanwo walked into the tourist entrance, he saw a vast expanse of white in front of him. He keenly felt the fluctuation of extraordinary factors in front of him, and walked forward decisively. The fog in front of him dissipated, and a vast ocean appeared.
No, this is not a big swamp, but fields and houses that have been washed away by the flood. There is a hole in the sky, and a huge column of water is pouring down from the sky. Millions of people are displaced and wailing in pain under this flood.
Only a goddess with a human body and a snake tail picked up the colorful stones and flew over to repair the sky.
Mo Fanwo suddenly understood and nodded, saying, "This is Nuwa mending the sky." He interacted with tourists every day and of course learned a lot of mythological stories from them.
After Nuwa mended the sky, there were the mythological stories of Jingwei filling the sea, Kuafu chasing the sun, Gonggong touching the pillar, etc. Bishop Mo Fanwo was watching them intently, exclaiming in admiration from time to time. Suddenly, the scene in front of him gradually shrank, and the mythological stories flew into a book, the pages flipped, and the book closed and landed on a podium.
A young teacher told the students in the audience, "Myths like Nuwa mending the sky and Jingwei filling the sea are all legends fabricated by the ancients. They are the result of the imagination and yearning of that ignorant era when people could not understand natural phenomena."
Bishop Mo Fanwo held his breath and cried out in his heart, "Absurd! This is disrespectful to the gods!"
However, no matter whether it was the teachers on the stage or the students in the audience, everyone reacted calmly and did not find this statement surprising. Some students even suggested that the reason for the legend of Nuwa creating humans was that she gave birth to many children at that time, and snakes lay many eggs at a time, which were regarded as a symbol of fertility in the wild era. So Nuwa and snakes were combined to create this image?
Some people also say that Nuwa’s real identity is a matchmaker. Because she has facilitated many marriages, she is regarded as everyone’s mother?
A student said, "Kuafu chasing the sun and Prometheus stealing fire are somewhat similar. In fact, were these legendary gods actually tribal leaders who made contributions? The fire Prometheus stole belonged to another tribe, and then they were retaliated against. To commemorate him, people made him into a god in the story."
The teacher at the podium said, "You're right. Gods are man-made. Not to mention the ancient barbaric periods that can no longer be traced back, even from the few dynasties for which we can find information, there are numerous historical records of man-made deities. Take, for example, the Guan Gong of Guan Gong Temples, Mazu of the South Sea, and the Emperor Wenchang... Some of these figures are real historical figures, while others are legends based on the deeds of many heroes. Passed down through the generations, they became revered gods. Then, after being canonized by an emperor with a particular preference, the god's fame and status soared, becoming the official deity."
Finally, the teacher emphasized, "In fact, the real gods are human beings themselves, the heroes and martyrs of each generation. The gods in the temples cannot protect people. The gods who truly protect humanity are human beings themselves."
Bishop Mo Fanwo frowned deeply and was on the verge of leaving. In his opinion, these were all heresies.
But before he could react, another book opened in front of him. The book was glowing and sucked him in in the blink of an eye.
He found himself in a temple where a tall statue of a god was enshrined and several Taoist priests and nuns were lighting incense and worshiping the god.
He snorted inwardly, "They say there are no gods. Are these majestic statues and prayer rituals fake?"
But then the nun said, "Ancestor, this is our last time to burn incense. The country is in danger now, so we have to go down the mountain to participate in the war of resistance."
Bishop Mo Fanwo was stunned.
Then these Taoists emptied all the money and rice in the Taoist temple, went down the mountain to join the battle, and died heroically in the enemy's artillery fire.
Until the Taoist temple was dilapidated and covered with dust, and until the people living at the foot of the mountain were bullied and harmed, the scene that Mo Fanwo had envisioned of the gods showing their power and saving people from suffering did not occur.
The scene changed to a Buddhist temple. The golden Buddha statue looked majestic and compassionate. Several monks smashed a hole behind the statue and hid the injured soldier inside.
Later, this place became a soldiers' stronghold and a training ground for child soldiers.
He looked at the children, the youngest of whom was less than nine years old, carrying guns taller than themselves, and rushing out of the temple and onto the battlefield without fear of death. They shouted "We will fight the Japs in the next life" and tore a bloody path through the hail of bullets.
Many children died next to Bishop Mofanwo. He saw one of the children lying on the ground with a small toy in his arms that he was reluctant to part with.
Bishop Mo Fanwo began to tremble all over.
These are all children! Such young children, why don’t they pray for the gods’ blessing, why don’t they pray for the gods’ favor, why do they send such young children to the battlefield!
Bishop Mo Fanwo did not roar again, because when he saw the monks smashing the Tibetan statues, his three views had already collapsed.
[Since there is no God, how can we expect God's protection? ]
Bishop Mofanwo immediately made a gesture of prayer to the Lord God, muttering, "That's because you don't believe in the right gods. That's because you haven't met our Lord, the Great Goddess of the Four Seasons."
[God is nothing more than a more powerful human. God relies on the faith of believers to exist. Once humans completely withdraw this power, the god will be vulnerable.]
Bishop Mo Fanwo: "Nonsense, it's all heresy!"
Along with the grand background sound, there was a movement of countless people demolishing the temple and smashing the statues. The scene in front of him was sometimes fast and sometimes slow. When Mo Fanwo felt the dust from the toppled statue still flying on his face, the world before his eyes changed again.
In the blink of an eye, the temple was rebuilt and the statues were reshaped, but they were no longer revered. They played and laughed in the temple, complained in front of the statues that this one was not working, and burned incense to which one, treating them completely as tourist attractions and stones to place their wishes.
The more people fear monsters, the more powerful and terrifying they become; the more people believe in gods, the more powerful and unpredictable they become. So, what is the difference between gods and monsters?
"Stop talking!" It was like a demonic voice filling his ears. Bishop Mo Fanwo instantly recalled countless scriptures and legends in the church, the gods' thirst for faith, the gods' instructions to unlock skill books, the kingdom's believers who were still struggling for life, still living under the shadow of monsters, and the tourists in the paradise who had no faith but were full of happiness...
He rushed out yelling.
***
At the same time, Chi Yizhen, who was watching silently, said: ...
Ah, this is unbearable. Fortunately, the most exciting one was not put on directly.
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