Father and Son

In the gloomy room, the High Priest sat cross-legged on the bed, the smoke from the incense burner beside the bed filling the air with a mysterious atmosphere.

This incense has a magical power to calm people down, making them feel... blissful, especially when they close their eyes and hear the priests chanting in their ears, it seems as if their souls are about to leave their bodies!

On religious days, these incense sticks come in very handy. Those believers who have seen "rebirth," "afterlife," and "disillusionment" in a trance become even more fanatical, which also drives the overall religious atmosphere toward fanaticism.

In their delusions, people believed they had seen the truth of the world and understood the reality of its workings, and they increasingly believed everything the priests said.

This incense is a unique skill of the High Priest. Each High Priest has his own secret recipe for blending incense, which is known only to the High Priest himself and passed down from generation to generation, only to the next High Priest.

Ordinary incense prevents people from seeing the mystical aspects of the rituals, thus diminishing their prestige.

This is why divine authority, like secular authority, can be passed down from generation to generation and is difficult to shake. Too many things are monopolized in the hands of the rulers, and ordinary people have no chance to even come into contact with them, let alone learn about them.

Besides the High Priest, his children were also in the room. They were gathered together, kneeling on the ground, showing not only the respect one would show to a father, but also a deep fear of the High Priest.

It sounds... unbelievable, but that's their truest attitude. Their father, with his unpredictable divine powers, is both their pride and the source of their fear.

People yearn for everything about the gods, yet fear being watched by them.

The High Priest awoke from his thoughts, exhaling a breath of stale air. With his breathing, the children kneeling on the ground seemed to relax a little.

The wisps of smoke rising straight up from the incense burner had a few more ripples, but they quickly became still again.

"The gods have brought a new decree; Great Destruction is coming, but the gods have also mercifully given me a way to escape the calamity..." He looked at the children whose foreheads were pressed to the ground and who were holding their breath again, and said softly, "The Federal, Bayer Federation."

"Only by going to the Bayer Federation, a place beyond the reach of the gods, can we escape the calamity of destruction!"

The High Priest's children did not show any joy or distress; they simply listened attentively to the High Priest's words.

"I am the agent of the gods. I was born in the creation of the world and will inevitably be destroyed in the destruction. Therefore, I will not go there. Only you will go."

"Po Luorui Ka ..." he looked at his youngest, and most beloved, child.

Having fully integrated into Federal society and acquired a somewhat androgynous name, "Rui Ka" flipped her hands, which were pressed to the ground, so that her palms were down and the backs of her hands were up, and her hands were now facing backwards with the backs of her hands down and her palms up.

In local religious ceremonies, this represents readiness to receive divine will and blessings.

"You have been to that Land Outside the Gods, and you have a broader perspective than they do. You must take good care of them."

"When I am not around, you are their guide, with the duty to admonish them and the power to discipline them."

The High Priest's two eldest children stirred; they wanted to object, but ultimately said nothing. The High Priest was different from the Provincial Governor.

The Provincial Governor's prestige came from the power of life and death he held, while the High Priest's prestige came from the gods.

Provincial Governor may sometimes make wrong decisions, but God never will.

Rui Ka turned her hands over again to show that she obeyed the High Priest, High Priest then turned his gaze to the others.

He looked at the children, remained silent for a while, then sighed and said nothing more. "Go out. Po Luorui Ka, stay here. You all go and make preparations. You will be leaving here soon."

The other children stood up, bowed their backs, lowered their heads, and backed away with their arms naturally outstretched to the sides, expressing their piety and openness.

After everyone else left, only Rui Ka and his father, the High Priest with a face full of tattoos, remained in the room.

"Are you really not leaving with me?" Rui Ka couldn't help but ask at this moment, something he thought he wouldn't say.

Regardless of how their status changes, a father is a father and a child is a child. Their blood ties give them feelings that transcend those between ordinary people. Rui Ka hopes that the High Priest can leave with her, but this is destined to not receive a satisfactory answer.

Perhaps because they were now alone in the room, the High Priest seemed a little more relaxed. He patted his leg and said, "Look at me, where else could I go?"

"Po Luorui Ka, I have dedicated my life to the gods. I know some people say these are superstitions, that they are false, that gods do not exist..."

He paused for a moment, then spoke again with a peculiar tone, "But I know that as long as I believe it, it is true."

"I can't go to the Federal, nor can I go anywhere else. What sustains me is the God in my heart. If I leave here, I will no longer be myself. So I will not go anywhere, not because of power or status, but because of my faith. I hope you understand."

Rui Ka was destined not to understand these words, but the High Priest didn't expect him to either. "Let's talk about the Federal. I haven't had a chance to properly ask you how you're doing over there."

"Those young people are too troublesome and wasted our time communicating."

The "young people" mentioned by the High Priest actually refer to the young people of the Nagaril Youth Party. These young people are not only actively involved in movements and fighting against foreigners, but they are also actually targeting theocracy and faith.

During this period, they destroyed a town's temple, smashed the statues that had existed there for hundreds of years, and expelled the priests and Holy Maiden, claiming that these were all superstitions, and that these things had prevented Nagaril's society from developing at all in recent years.

People fucking believe they can be reborn into a better family after death, so how could they possibly work hard to develop society? No matter how hard they try, they can't escape their status as inferiors and Lowly People people. But if they can be reborn, they might as well just live a good life and wait to die.

To make these fools understand that the gods can be both benevolent and angry, the High Priest arranged for some people to represent the gods and bring down punishments.

Only now has he had time to talk to his youngest child, the one most like him, and the one he loves most.

Rui Ka pondered for a moment and described what she had seen and heard in the Federal: "It's a society where money is worshipped everywhere. In our country, power is absolute, but in the Federal, as long as you have money, you can buy everything, including power!"

Rui Ka was indeed deeply moved. After Lin Qi's "warning," he began to develop in the right direction and became a priest himself. He began to understand the society of the Federal and began to reflect.

"People can run for mayor and have a chance to become mayor by spending money to make themselves known to others. Even their president is elected, and it all comes down to money..."

"I'm also doing missionary work now. I'm planning to buy some time on some cheap Television Station in my area to preach on television. This will attract more attention to us, which is something you can't see here..."

Rui Ka spoke attentively about work, study, and life, and the High Priest listened carefully, occasionally offering his own opinions, such as—"I've heard that the Federal people are incredibly stupid; they believe whatever you say, is that true?"

Rui Ka nodded. "I already have more than a dozen followers, Father. They are even more convinced than I am that our god exists and that this world will be destroyed..."

"This is divine guidance!" The High Priest corrected Rui Ka's words. "Your thoughts are dangerous; you must be careful!" He paused, then added, "From what you've said, it does seem like a nice place; you will live very comfortably there."

Rui Ka shook her head. "Not entirely, Father. The Federal is a society governed by the rule of law. Their laws are more comprehensive than ours. Even divine authority cannot interfere with the adjudication of the law. Many things that are normal here may mean crimes there."

"I am very worried that my brothers will not be able to adapt to the rule of law society there. They may cause trouble for themselves, or even for me and us."

The High Priest nodded as he thought about it. "That's why I've appointed you to oversee them in my place, and to punish them when necessary."

Rui Ka hesitated for a moment, but he still spoke his mind, "This is not enough, Father. They are all my brothers, they are older than me, and I cannot control them, not even with what you have said."

"I need something to control their behavior, otherwise they can leave..."

The High Priest frowned slightly. "What do you want?"

Rui Ka paused for almost half a minute before uttering a single word, "Money!"

"I will manage our joint account so that I can control their behavior..." Rui Ka said, lowering his head. He knew his words were a bit naive, and he believed his father could guess what he was thinking.

However, he still said it out loud: the High Priest was unwilling to go to the Federal, which meant that this might be the last time they would meet. So no matter what he said or asked, he wouldn't think he was being unreasonable.

The High Priest was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded. "I will seriously consider this matter, perhaps through other means, such as... a foundation."

Although the High Priest could not be certain whether the children were all his children—because of the tradition of the Holy Maiden, anyone could give them some genetic fragments before they became Holy Maiden, and the boys they gave birth to would be claimed by the priests in the temple.

The children the High Priest adopted were not necessarily his own flesh and blood, but they were not necessarily not. Even if his youngest son looked very much like him, he would not completely favor Po Luorui Ka.

When he uttered the word "fund," Rui Ka was somewhat shocked, but he didn't show it. He controlled his emotions well and expressed his agreement and acceptance of the High Priest's choice, which was the only thing he could do at the moment.