Chapter 106 A Night of Boiling at Sea (Part 2)
"Hey, hey, hey," Xin Que swallowed hard, her hands trembling slightly, "the way you treat your new colleague is a bit scary."
Arnoun placed his hand on the butt of the gun at his lower back, his sinister gaze falling on Xin Que's hand tightly gripping the lever. "I'll count to three... if you don't open it now, I'll have to do it myself."
"three……"
"two……"
"I'll open it!!!" Xin Que's hands trembled as she laid the box on the ground and quickly unlocked the combination lock.
The box was filled with foam padding, as if to protect the box from being bumped or knocked over, placing it in the very center.
Arnoun checked all the fillings, reopened the box, saw the familiar image of the Virgin Mary, and then signaled to the bodyguard to put away his gun.
“Miss Xin, things haven’t been peaceful on the ship lately,” Arnon gave a cold laugh. “Being cautious won’t do the church any harm, don’t you think?”
Xin Que's face was full of anger that she dared not express, "I understand, I understand."
With a stiff expression, she carefully reinforced the box with padding before closing it and walking to Arnoun's side. "Shall we go?"
Arnoun didn't even glance at Xin Que, and led his men forward.
As Xin Que walked into the lobby, she glared fiercely at Arnoen, then pulled her precious suitcase behind her. "I need to go to the restroom!"
Arnoun "..."
"You even bring this suitcase to the restroom?" The disdain on his face was barely concealed.
Xin Que glanced around at the believers who were scrutinizing her with various expressions, and became even more tense. "Who knows if you'll use the excuse of checking my suitcase to switch my things?"
Arnoun "..."
Xin Que dragged her suitcase and ran all the way there, not forgetting to warn Anon's people, who were very afraid of dying, not to go too far, lest she encounter danger and call for help and no one would notice.
Arnoun "..."
How can someone be so cowardly?!
Xin Que was very fast; in no time, she was jogging out of the bathroom with her suitcase.
Arnoun glanced at the greedy and cowardly woman and was utterly speechless.
"How are the offerings being prepared?" Arnon turned to ask the cultist in charge of managing the warehouse.
“Hmm,” a cultist, also wearing a dark patterned shirt, walked over and handed the statistics table to Arnon. “The headmaster is taking this sacrifice very seriously, and we’ve been guarding him every step of the way.”
"Did the chairman convey the Lord's will?" Arnon asked, making sure everything was correct before handing the documents back to the believer. "Is it hanging, or some other way to escape the mortal world?"
The follower thought to himself, "The president didn't give any instructions, he only mentioned the venue arrangements... But he's changing clothes, he'll be here soon, we'll wait for him to make the arrangements himself."
Arnoun glanced at the time; it was eleven o'clock. He didn't say anything more.
Arnon glanced back at the woman who was guarding the box closely, and frowned. "Aren't you a priest?"
Xin Que: "???"
“You will be involved in presiding over the ceremonies from now on as the new pastor,” Arnon said, unable to bear seeing her lack of professionalism. “I’ll have the old pastor teach you the procedures so you don’t make mistakes later.”
Xin Que reluctantly dragged her suitcase and followed the old pastor arranged by Arnoun.
As the group entered the large warehouse, Xin Que felt a sense of relief when she saw the dark-patterned silk cloth wrapped around the sacrificial offerings.
If we can't see their faces... that makes things easier.
She put her heavy suitcase aside and then quickly followed the old pastor.
...
By the time the believers had busily placed all the offerings in their corresponding positions behind the array candles, it was already 11:30 p.m.
When Arnold saw Xin Que come out, he glanced at the suitcase she kept close at hand.
Seeing that Xin Que immediately became alert, Arnoun withdrew his gaze.
Li Zhonghan, dressed in a long robe, was respectfully supported by the believers and limped to the front.
When Xin Que was called to walk to Li Zhonghan's side, Arnoun stuck out the tip of his shoe and kicked the suitcase that she was forced to leave behind.
The suitcase wobbled slightly, but Arnoun quickly pulled it back to its original position.
The weight is correct.
Arnoun gradually calmed down.
A dozen or so offerings were arranged in a bizarre shape, forced to kneel on the ground on patterns outlined by a pungent red liquid.
This was followed by Li Zhonghan's lengthy prayer.
The expensive grandfather clock placed at the center of the array features a lifelike image of a saint suffering.
The twelve numbers were arranged in a circle, and the pointer gradually moved toward the number 12 amidst Li Zhonghan's low and eerie prayers.
The offering, embroidered with the small characters "huayi luo" on silk, was tightly bound and covered by dark-patterned silk. It knelt directly in front of the grandfather clock, before Li Zhonghan.
“Now…” Li Zhonghan finally stopped the prayers, looked at the grandfather clock that was striking the floor, and said solemnly, “Offer the offerings we have carefully prepared to the Lord.”
"Pfft."
The sacrificial offering in front of Li Zhonghan had its mouth already gagged, and could only let out a muffled groan before the dagger inserted into its neck took its life.
The offering fell to the ground, twitched twice, and then quickly became still.
Blood soaked through the dark-patterned silk embroidered with the names and initials, quickly seeping out from the fabric and staining the patterns drawn beneath the sacrificial offering.
Soon, the old pastor stepped forward and took the dagger from Li Zhonghan's hand.
One by one, the offerings fell to the ground.
“Xin Que,” Li Zhonghan gestured for the old pastor to hand her the dagger, his smile concealing a bottomless threat, “As the new pastor, you must personally offer the last sacrifice to the Lord.”
Xin Que was taken aback.
The densely packed cult members surrounding the hall all turned their gazes to Xin Que.
"Don't worry," Li Zhonghan's voice was full of seduction, "This is to send him to the Western Paradise as soon as possible, not death in the secular sense... This is only your first time offering a sacrifice, it's normal that you're not used to it. After presiding over a few more sacrifices, you won't be so hesitant."
Xin Que looked around at her followers.
Psychological enslavement to recruit her?
"No...please don't," Xin Que said nervously, her hands trembling again, "I can't..."
Just as Xin Que was about to turn and leave, she saw Arnoun expressionlessly place his hand on the butt of his gun at his lower back.
With nowhere else to turn, she could only reach out with trembling hands to take the blood-stained dagger from Li Zhonghan's hand.
The woman was led tremblingly to the last offering.
Urged on by loud calls, she was about to raise her dagger when she heard the hurried footsteps of mercenaries rushing towards her.
"President," the mercenary strode up to Li Zhonghan, "the people from the arena have arrived... and they say they want to discuss cooperation matters for the next quarter with you."
Li Zhonghan immediately looked at Xin Que, who was standing to the side, tears welling up in her eyes, sawing at the sacrificial offerings with a dagger.
"What happened?" he asked.
Xin Que felt as if she had been granted a pardon and immediately dropped the dagger. "How would I know? Could it be that the arena is planning to use Han Wei's matter to blackmail you?"
"After all, no one gets up early without a profit. After going to such lengths to frame you two for fighting, I have to make a good deal from both sides, right?"
The mercenary looked grave. "Boss, they brought quite a few people... their demeanor doesn't seem like a simple negotiation."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
