A Grave Omen!

"Sir, our town may be small, but back in the Great Qing, it was famous for its tribute wine. A foreigner came and built that church around then, but no one knows why he disappeared later. The church fell into ruin after that," the waiter explained.

After hearing the waiter's explanation, Hao Shuai remembered that in the late nineteenth century, under the "wise" leadership of the Great Qing, the country had signed a series of unequal treaties with the great powers, including Britain, France, America, and Russia.

Besides ceding territory and paying reparations, one of the treaties also allowed foreign missionaries to preach within China.

Jiuquan Town was in eastern China, so it was perfectly normal for a missionary to have come and built a church there.

"Why has it reopened now? Did another foreign missionary come?" Hao Shuai asked.

"Exactly! We heard yesterday that a missionary had arrived in town. I didn't expect the church to open today!"

"I see." After sending the waiter away, Hao Shuai turned to Bai Rourou and asked, "How about we go see what's happening after we eat?"

"Sure! I've never seen a foreign missionary preach before. Is it like the Taoist Sect or the Buddhist Sect?" Bai Rourou looked quite interested.

After the meal, Hao Shuai and Bai Rourou followed the crowd to the church.

People had already packed the area outside. More than half the residents of Jiuquan Town must have come to watch.

In front of the church, several missionaries held up banners with the words: "Believe in the Lord and gain eternal life."

"What's this?" Hao Shuai asked, looking at the church with a puzzled expression.

It wasn't that the church looked especially grand. From the outside, it was like most churches—plain and ordinary.

But from the perspective of