Chapter 653: Upper Rhine, Lower Rhine, and Little Bu No Longer in the Rhine
“Line up, chant the name of Candlelight, and you can receive your meal!”
Frey looked coldly at the church stall and the people queuing up, pulled his hood up, and hid his expression in the shadows.
He had been in the Rhine for several days.
The identity that the Alliance of Ashes helped him to get was very clever. The status of the Mechanical Temple in the Rhine was neither high nor low. In theory, the Mechanical Temple and the Candlelight Society were allies, and the two sides united to govern the Rhine together, but in reality it was just an empty title.
But with this title, he can move freely in the city and can show his identity openly when encountering any inspection.
Moreover, the Mechanical Temple is not affiliated with the Candlelight Society, and he will not be restricted by the Candlelight Society.
As for the real followers of the Mechanical Templar, Frey has not seen any of them in the past few days since he came to Rhine.
But this is limited to the Lower Rhine.
Frey had never been to the Upper Rhine, and sometimes he even doubted whether it really existed.
Frey walked through the alley familiarly, bypassing the path where sewage was flowing. The houses made of rotten wooden boards and broken bricks and stones on both sides were crumbling, cutting the sky into broken light and shadows.
Frey raised his head and looked at the dome above. It was the foundation of the Upper Rhine and also the sky of the Lower Rhine. Countless dim candles hung on it, bringing cheap light to the Lower Rhine.
It is said that the Rhine is divided into the Upper Rhine and the Lower Rhine, as well as a deeper bottom layer.
The Upper Rhine is the residence of the great figures of the Holy See. There is a sun that never sets, fresh air, acid rain that never falls from the sky, and you can even grow some flowers and plants.
The Lower Rhine is always shrouded in dim candlelight, the air is turbid, and it is filled with garbage and filth.
Believers in the Lower Rhine occasionally kneel on the ground and pray to the candlelight in the dome.
Frey sometimes wondered whether they prayed to the candlelight or to the Upper Rhine.
After all, candlelight may not necessarily protect them, but the bigwigs in the Upper Rhine can really dominate the life and death of the lower class.
The mysterious corridors built in the sky were like dense chains, binding the lower level tightly.
And the random debris that fell on the Upper Rhine seemed like a gift to their prayers.
Frey twisted and turned in the alley and somehow turned into a trapdoor.
"Brother Frey, you're back!"
"How's it going out there?"
"I heard that the church has more locations for distributing meals recently. Is that true?"
A group of people rushed over and gathered in front of Frey, their eyes full of anxiety, but they all stopped four or five steps away from him.
Frey didn't rush to speak, but raised his head and looked at the people around him:
Most of these people were covered in dust and their clothes were ragged. No, not just ragged, they almost didn't have any decent clothes to wear.
The more sophisticated ones simply used some hemp ropes to weave a piece of coarse cloth to barely cover their bodies, while more people just randomly tore some rotten wooden boards, or even tiles and broken pottery, strung them together with a rope and hung them in front of them to cover themselves.
There are even some people who don't wear any clothes at all. Their bodies are covered in mud and you can't see the original color of their skin at all. It doesn't really make much difference whether they wear clothes or not.
If you look closely, you will find that these people have somewhat strange appearances. Their eyes are slightly larger than those of ordinary people, and their nails are sharper. Those who stand always have hunched backs, and some people simply stand on all fours or squat on the ground.
Their behavior was also very strange. Although they looked anxious and eager, they refused to move forward, as if they were afraid of something.
Surrounded by these people, Frey showed no surprise and looked as if he was used to it.
He knew that these people were not afraid of him, but of themselves.
They didn't dare touch Frey, or even get too close.
These are the inhabitants of the lower classes, and the people of the Lower Rhine generally call them—
Untouchables.
It is not clear why Frey was given this title, but it is said that anyone who comes into contact with them will be cursed.
Frey once thought it was some kind of infectious disease, but later he found that this curse seemed completely different from what he imagined.
"Brother Frey? Brother Frey?"
"Huh? Oh, what's wrong, Xiaobu?" Frey came back to his senses and looked at the girl who was calling him.
The girl was wearing a large brown paper bag. She had cut several holes in the bag to pass her hands and feet through, and then she pulled the entire bag over her head and put it on.
Among the untouchables, her attire is considered quite exquisite.
Her name is Xiaobu.
"Brother Frey, I've explored all the passages you asked me to explore. Where's the thing I want?"
"Ah, well, I asked several settlements in the lower area, and only found this." Frey took out a bag and handed it over with some regret. There was a crisp collision sound coming from the bag.
Xiaobu blinked her big eyes and didn't reach out to take it.
"Don't be afraid of any curses, Xiaobu, and the others. You can come closer to me, no problem."
"But, that will mean you can no longer be sheltered by the candlelight!" Xiaobu swallowed, hesitantly wanting to reach out his hand, but finally retracted it. "If you can't be sheltered by the candlelight, you can only live in this dark underground."
"Is it darker underground? I don't think so. On the contrary, I dislike the candlelight in the lower levels." Frey shook his head. "And have you forgotten my identity? I am from the Mechanical Temple. I don't need the protection of candlelight."
The Untouchables gathered around looked at each other in confusion and shook their heads.
They don't know what the Mechanical Templar is.
Many of them didn't even know about the Empire. They were born underground and would never come out in their entire lives. Of course, they didn't know what the Silent Temple was. Not to mention the Upper Rhine, they could only look at the lower areas from afar.
Frey looked into Xiaobu's dark eyes, sighed, put the bag in his hand on the ground, and took a few steps back.
Because these untouchables have lived underground for a long time, their bodies have even undergone some changes. Their eyes have become larger, their pupils have become larger, and there is almost no white in their eyes, so that they can see better underground.
When Frey saw them for the first time, he was frightened and thought they were monsters. After all, those big eyes were different from those of ordinary people.
But after spending some time with them, Frey felt that these untouchables were the most human-like.
In this Rhine City, there are many ghosts and monsters, but there are too few people.
Xiaobu's eyes followed Frey's footsteps as he retreated. After he had retreated a sufficient distance, he shouted with joy and rushed to the bag.
It was a cloth bag. She carefully took out the contents of the bag, held it in her arms, and then put the bag back on the ground.
Cloth was a very precious thing, and she could only afford to wear paper.
(End of this chapter)
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