"To enter Heaven, one must find the pure land within one's heart—I understand that. But why must we recite the name of the Holy Lord of your Western Holy Church?"
"Reciting the Lord's name is meant to resonate with Heaven, to sense its existence and reduce the difficulty of entering it." Michael spoke calmly. "If your heart is pure and flawless enough, free of stray thoughts, and you can step into Heaven in a single stride, then naturally there is no need to recite the Lord's name. But apart from newborn infants, very few people can achieve that."
Lin Qiye nodded. "I understand... Then when do we go in?"
"Now."
Michael rose from his seat. With a flash, he arrived outside the cabin, his form rapidly expanding until, in the blink of an eye, he became a giant. Six pure white wings unfurled from his back as he returned to his original Seraph form.
His entire body was shrouded in sacred golden radiance, like a blazing sun that scattered the fog and darkness over the sea. Golden mist churned endlessly, so dazzling that no one could keep their eyes open.
He hovered in the air, his furnace-like eyes sweeping across the cabin as he spoke indifferently:
"I'll wait for you in Heaven. Hurry up."
With a slight tremor of his six wings, he vanished from where he stood. The boundless golden light receded like a tide, and the world once more sank into pitch-black, deathly silence.
Inside the cabin, Lin Qiye and the others exchanged glances, each seeing helplessness in the others' eyes.
"Let's begin."
An Qingyu laid Jiang Er's coffin beside him and sat down where he was. Lin Qiye and Shen Qingzhu likewise sat cross-legged on the deck, their bodies swaying gently with the ship.
Lin Qiye slowly