They still traveled by carriage to the city where the Pope resided. However, after Helen lifted the restrictions, the carriage no longer had to travel by road, unlike ordinary carriages.
Pandora raised her whip, and the horse reared up and stepped into the invisible path in the sky.
Wherever they went, white-gray snow began to fall. Helen made snow as she walked, and the swirling snowflakes fell on the ground, occasionally revealing a few new shoots.
Pandora slowed the carriage down. Artemisia peered out and saw the clouds parting to reveal a brightly lit city below.
Helen smiled and raised her hand.
Deep black clouds, composed of swarms of bats, lay poised to strike in the sky.
They landed on the outskirts of the city. Pandora stopped the carriage at the city's edge, and Helen and Lillian then cast concealment spells on it. They entered the city. As Ai Cao stepped onto the city's paved streets, she was still somewhat dazed—she had seen far too many cities along the way where even roads weren't paved.
Ai Cao said softly, "It's quite bustling here."
Lillian jumped up and down. Her shoes made a dull thud on the cobblestones, the sound carrying a distance before disappearing around the street corner.
Lillian nodded: "Yes. We share his past with others so that everyone can have a... shared, new future."
Helen clapped her hands. She turned to look at the carriage with satisfaction before hurrying over to them.
Pandora asked, "Shall we wait until he finishes his prayers?"
The system thoughtfully marked the Pope's current location in Ai Cao's mind.
Ai Cao thought for a moment and said, "I'm fine with anything." She tilted her head, "Anyway, he's going to die sooner or later."
What she said wasn't wrong. If they killed the Pope now, he would die sooner; if they waited until after his service, he would die later. The Pope wouldn't live past today anyway.
Helen thought for a moment and said, "I want to see how he worships."
Lillian agreed: “I want to see too. I’ve never seen how worship is done. And once we see how the Pope worships, we can talk to the bishop about it.” The excitement on her face faded a little. “Before I met the bishop, I’d only ever seen clergy giving alms in the countryside.”
Now, even the most hard-hearted Pandora couldn't bring herself to refuse.
Helen then cast a simple spell on them, disguising them as ordinary country women, and had them stand outside the church where the Pope held services. It was still early, but a large crowd and carriages had already gathered outside the church.
They stood silently at the edge of the crowd.
Some people were chatting idly in the crowd.
"Have you heard about the snow that fell recently?" asked a young woman whose nose was red from the cold. She pulled her hands further into her scarf and whispered, "I heard it was God's punishment."
“Nonsense,” another, slightly older woman said sternly. “This is clearly an auspicious sign. Many places where that snow fell say there have been no more bat attacks.”
The young woman fell silent. She tucked her nose further into her scarf, concealing her slightly flushed face. But their conversation had already stirred something, and more people were whispering about it to their companions.
A pond that has already had a stone thrown in is naturally difficult to keep calm. While Lillian was whispering to them what she had just heard, Ai Cao had already been listening for quite a while with the help of the system.
Lillian lowered her voice and said, "They're talking about snow."
Helen chuckled: "Is it that snow?"
Her fingers, hidden beneath her sleeves, curled slightly. She was now familiar with her body and could skillfully use the spells she used to know. Although she hadn't had a body of her own for many years, she had never felt better since she was reborn from the male protagonist's body under the guidance of Lillian and Artemisia.
She regained the abilities that had been taken from her; moreover, she could clearly sense that she was stronger now than she had been in the past.
Even now, she can… Helen’s eyelashes droop slightly, her half-closed red pupils glowing faintly.
She could kill everyone present right now.
Neither Pandora, the vampire hunter, nor the devout bishop in the church could withstand a single breath from her. She has combined the strengths of both vampires and humans, and even facing the progenitor of vampires, she has a chance of victory.
Helen's gaze fell on Lillian and Artemisia. The murderous intent that had been surging in her eyes faded, and she returned to a calm state.
Helen smiled slightly.
The grayish-white snow fell silently.
The snow finally fell on this bustling city.
A few snowflakes fell on the young woman's head, and she stopped arguing with the woman, raising her flushed face.
Her eyes reflected the deep gray sky. A grayish-white snowflake entered her pupil. She reached out to catch the snowflake, and the woman standing beside her said nothing, only staring up at her in a daze.
The whispers that had been going on disappeared into the snowflakes.
They watched the snow in silence.
The church bells rang out in the snow.
The church doors opened, and several neatly dressed clergymen slowly walked out. Their handsome faces were adorned with gentle smiles as they calmly guided the people outside into the church.
Warm lights shone in the church.
They mingled with the crowd and quietly entered the church. This church was larger than the one where the bishop resided, and its decorations were even more exquisite. Beautiful stained-glass windows depicted the outline of God; the enormous chandelier in the center of the vaulted ceiling displayed the glory of God's salvation of all people.
They sat in the seats towards the back of the middle. After the children finished singing hymns, an elderly man holding a Bible walked slowly onto the podium.
The Pope has arrived.
Despite his advanced age, he still insists on coming to this church every week for worship.
His platinum eyes, framed by wrinkles, were full of gentleness, and even his voice was loving and clear, as if God had truly descended upon him.
He recounted the Lord's past and glory, and spoke of human suffering and aspirations. In the vast church, only his sermons echoed.
The mugwort also bowed its head, closing its eyes just like the believers.
But she did not reflect on her sins, nor did she pray to God. She simply clasped her hands together calmly—and then fell asleep sitting up.
She slept exceptionally soundly that night.
When Lillian woke Ai Cao up, she opened her eyes in a daze and left the church with the other believers.
The mugwort asked, "What does it feel like to do prayer?"
Lillian smiled, pursing her lips. "I didn't hear a thing." She said with a grin, "Sister Artemisia was sleeping so soundly that I fell asleep halfway through."
Pandora nodded, "He didn't speak as well as the bishop." Her expression was serious, clearly indicating she had listened attentively to the whole thing. "He doesn't radiate the Lord's light."
Helen stretched lazily and asked, "Why don't we just kill him right here?"
She didn't want to listen to the old man chanting scriptures anymore.
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