Chapter 93 Patience and Deterrence (7)
The wind whistled past her ears, and Wei Shengqianheng remained unbelievably quiet after hearing her words; only the rise and fall of his chest allowed her to feel his gentle breathing.
After a moment, he hesitated before speaking.
"Are you going to find Prometheus's men?"
Her sudden appearance in the new place is almost impossible given the current situation.
Despite the looming threat and impending storm in Phineas, and the fact that the missing students have yet to be found, Shu Ningmiao doesn't believe he's completely unaware.
"Are you scared?" Her gaze shifted between the rearview mirror and the front. Several church members in white robes were nearby. They saw Wei Shengqianheng's figure in the distance and hesitated, not moving forward.
Wearing Allen's shirt, Shu Ningmiao remained calm and said slowly, "What is your doctrine... universal love? In short, your faith should not allow you to stand idly by."
“The core doctrine is that all things in the world are of the same kind, possessing similar souls.” Wei Sheng Qianheng quickly replied to her, “I don’t mind going with you to save people, but you know very well that I can’t help at all.”
“In other words,” his voice was low and soft, like melting snow in spring, lingering in her ear, clearer than the howling wind, “were you originally the kind of person who wanted to take responsibility for other people’s mistakes?”
Although it was a question, Wei Shengqianheng's tone rose at the end, carrying a smile, yet also sounding like a slightly sharp question.
"I'm asking you something," Shu Ningmiao skipped over the question directly: "What abandoned churches are there in the church district?"
"There are too many. Can you remember the nests of every single ant on the roadside?"
"Is this something a Holy Son should say?"
“That’s the truth.” As he said this, a detached indifference matching his appearance was revealed: “The churches that have perished in the New Earth are no less numerous than ants.”
“Go to the edge.” Wei Shengqianheng returned to the main topic, slowly leaning close to her ear and whispering, “People want to move closer to the center. The further out a church is, the weaker its church becomes, and the easier it is to disappear. The most remote places are also the oldest. Over time, people subconsciously exclude these places when rebuilding. Some churches have been abandoned for nearly a hundred years, which meets your requirements.”
Just as she had guessed, Shu Ningmiao stepped on the gas and drove in the direction he indicated. Sure enough, the further they went, the more desolate it became, overgrown with weeds. It was as if they had stepped back from the modern world into a primitive era.
In addition, the air quality in the new place is extremely poor; the sky and earth are a rather unclean yellow, dry and hazy.
Driving further in, one could occasionally see several man-made pools covered with aquatic plants and moss. Only then did Shu Ningmiao realize that the "main road" she had been driving on should have been the front hall of a church, but now even the steel bars were hard to see.
How many years have passed before it became so desolate?
After driving to the end, further in was a no-man's land. Shu Ningmiao circled the area again before parking her motorcycle by the roadside.
Too much dilapidation is also not good. Unlike what she imagined, there isn't even a decent wall here. There are broken walls and wildly growing plants everywhere. The surroundings are completely exposed, with nowhere to hide.
Shu Ningmiao was quite certain that Achini was in the church district; if not here, the possibility was even lower in the densely populated central area.
She got out of the car and quickly walked through it, reaching out to remove the heart-shaped earring from her ear and holding it in her hand—she was more inclined to believe that some supernatural power here was clouding her judgment.
Wei Shengqianheng followed closely behind her, his footsteps almost imperceptible.
A strong wind blew through the vegetation, and the shrubs and weeds collided together, making a loud crackling sound.
He wasn't lying to her; there was no one there, and as she stepped over the scattered, sparse, dry leaves, not even a single insect was disturbed on the ground.
They walked through the dilapidated buildings when Wei Shengqianheng suddenly quickened his pace, walked alongside her, and tilted his head slightly: "It's a little different."
"What's different?" Shu Ningmiao was intently observing the fine cracks on the broken half of the wall in front of her, trying to see what led to the basement.
"—A church here has disappeared." Wei Shengqianheng frowned, seemingly annoyed: "...a church of praise to the Church."
"You have a church in such a remote place?"
As a prominent and influential church, the church of the Church of Praise undoubtedly occupies the most central position.
“The church district was built up little by little. It’s quite old here, so it’s normal for our church to be here.” Wei Shengqianheng frowned, but his expression remained very gentle: “The layout here… is not right.”
Sure enough, some kind of supernatural power was interfering with her judgment.
Shu Ningmiao stood up, slightly opened her fingers, but the heart stone earring in her palm still did not react.
Do you remember where that church is?
“I don’t remember.” Wei Shengqianheng gently closed his eyes: “This place is completely different from what I remember.”
He had a dignified and holy appearance, but his furrowed brows revealed a hint of aloofness and indifference.
Wei Shengqianheng did not turn his gaze away for a long time. His dark eyes did not reflect any emotion, but instead appeared somewhat frightening.
Noticing his changing expression, Shu Ningmiao remained completely unmoved. She turned around, grabbed his wrist, pulled him tight, and focused intently on walking forward: "Use your superpower."
The girl's fingers were slender, and she gripped him tightly, almost forcefully, but it was like steel, leaving him no room to struggle.
Wei Shengqianheng's beautiful brows furrowed even more, and he followed her stiffly for a few steps before finally relaxing after taking a deep breath.
“I can’t do it.” Wei Shengqianheng tilted his head and shook it slightly: “My ability prevents me from moving.”
His ability "Forgiveness" can nullify other abilities, but it doesn't work on him personally.
To be precise, "Forgiveness" is similar to Edwina's ability "Golden Chains," which is an ineffective magnetic field centered on herself. Once it is activated, it exists objectively, is beyond human control, has a limited range, and will become ineffective if she leaves it. Therefore, it cannot serve as a means of investigation, and blindly walking around is entirely a matter of luck.
"Not now."
Shu Ningmiao did not answer directly. She held the earring in her other hand and moved it around her with minimal movement, focusing most of her attention on the fluctuations of the Heart Stone Earring, trying to discern the possible direction from the amplitude of the earring's vibrations.
Finally, after circling around for a long time, Shu Ningmiao stopped in front of a plain, overgrown patch of grass, but there wasn't even a building ruin here.
She nodded to Wei Shengqianheng, indicating that he should use his special ability here, her expression resolute.
The Pandora fluctuations here far exceeded those in other areas. Shu Ningmiao explored the surroundings but didn't encounter anything resembling an invisible wall, and her hand passed through the air without any resistance.
The soil beneath our feet was compacted, leaving no extra space whatsoever; it was truly incredible.
What kind of superpower could be hidden to such an extent?
Wei Shengqianheng swept his long hair behind his shoulder, sighed silently, and obeyed her, closing his eyes and unleashing his supernatural power.
Along with the hem of Wei Sheng Qian Heng fluttering in the wind, time seemed to stand still at this moment. He pointed his fingertips forward, and beneath the thin robe, the taut lines of his back and waist were revealed.
A soft halo of light spread out from beneath their feet. Shu Ningmiao and he stood on either side of the light, watching as the weeds beneath their feet gradually peeled away, like peeling paint from a wall.
The faded illusion was no different from what she saw again—the same desolation, the same desolation.
This time, however, she saw faint, spires in the sky.
Under the gloomy sky of the new land, the faded, towering spires have lost their former glory, and the stone surface is covered with moss and cracks, making it look particularly desolate.
After Wei Shengqianheng used his superpower, the scene in front of him remained in this strange, half-hidden, half-revealed state, like a painting that hadn't been wiped clean, only revealing a few mottled, incomplete parts.
However, her appearance had already been exposed, and her superpowers were gradually losing their effectiveness. Her appearance was like peeling paint falling off a wall, and soon her full form was revealed.
Unlike the church ruins outside, which consist of only half a wall and a section of a pillar, the doors of this church are intact. The iron doors are covered in rust, and the edges of the door frame have been eroded by wind and rain, making them indistinct. Shu Ningmiao doesn't even need to open the door, because the high walls and fences outside the door have collapsed and deformed.
She stepped over it. The courtyard in front of the church was overgrown with weeds, and the hoarse chirping of unknown insects added to the eerie atmosphere.
Some of the stone bricks on the exterior of the church have fallen off, and all the glass in the windows has long been broken. The remaining fragments are scattered on the ground, reflecting her image.
Shu Ningmiao, however, was focused on the pool outside the church: "There's water in it."
Of all the pools she had passed, only this circular one had water in it, so she was now certain that there were people inside the church.
Wei Shengqianheng stood at the edge of the pool. Upon hearing this, he bent down, touched the water with his hand, and gently shook his head: "This is not water, it is Pandora."
He held out his fingertips, letting her see the water stains remaining on his gloves, which shimmered with a pale blue light.
Shu Ningmiao frowned. Where did this Pandora in the pool come from?
Liang Siyan said that Achini is likely a life form created by Pandora, but due to the law of conservation of mass, he alone could not have produced so many Pandora.
Could there be a Pandora's Spring here?
Shu Ningmiao was startled by the sudden thought that popped into her mind, but Wei Shengqianheng had already reached the church door and slowly pushed open the heavy door.
She walked quickly over and caught a glimpse of a large spray of blood in the shadow behind the pushed-open door, a horrifying sight at first glance.
What followed was an almost cruel, bloody stench that forcefully assaulted one's sense of smell.
Upon closer inspection, the bloodstains on the ground were still half-dry, and drag marks were clearly visible on the floor.
Blackish-red, congealed blood mixed with mud and sand, along with some unidentifiable body parts, formed clusters of grime on the church's exquisitely carved floor.
Shu Ningmiao felt a chill on her skin as Wei Shengqianheng's fingertips pressed against her wrist, tightening slightly, his expression filled with intense displeasure.
Doing such a thing in a place of prayer seemed to him to be a great defilement.
Shu Ningmiao avoided the bloodstains and stood in the front hall. She saw a decapitated corpse tightly wedged under the prayer chair, covered in wounds and shriveled up.
Such cruel torture and killing is truly disheartening.
Shu Ningmiao has little compassion, but any human being present in such a scene would feel uncomfortable.
This is the most basic compassion for one's fellow human beings.
She shifted her gaze to the girl at the end of the church. Although it had only been a few weeks since she last saw her, Shu Ningmiao felt that the girl in front of her was extremely unfamiliar.
The girl with pinkish-brown hair sat stiffly and upright on a high chair at the far end of the church, motionless, wearing a black and red cloak, like a still flame.
Beneath the wide cloak, Erici's face was expressionless, his facial muscles twitching, as if petrified and desolate. His left hand gripped the armrest of the high chair tightly, and he spat out the words, "We've been waiting for you for a long time."
Shu Ningmiao lowered her eyes, but her gaze swept past her and looked at the pink-haired young man sitting under the chair.
— Su Ni propped her legs up on the steps, propping her face up as she looked at her. Her smile was clear, but her face was covered in splattered blood. The curve of her lips on her fair and delicate face was extremely eerie.
He twitched his lips slightly and slowly made two mouth shapes.
Shu Ningmiao merely sneered.
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