Twilight Blessing

The Bishop's kneeling left the hearts of ten thousand laborers complex and filled with trepidation.

When facing this old man, they were filled with gratitude; as the Twilight Bishop and a high-ranking councilor, he had rooted himself in Yuguang, dedicating nearly half his life to the laborers.

Now, seeing him drag his aged body to his knees, no one felt they could bear such a sight.

A sea of people—the laborers in the back mountain cemetery who had been furious and demanding answers—all knelt down as well, for everyone felt they had no right to stand before this kneeling elder.

Behind the Bishop, a priest with a face full of self-reproach and grief stepped forward quickly, attempting to help him up, only to be stopped by that withered hand.

His voice was not loud, yet in the quiet night, it was clear to most of those present.

"The theft of remains from the cemetery is the responsibility of the Church, and it is my responsibility. I guarantee that I will investigate this matter as quickly as possible and provide everyone with an answer. No matter who committed such a crime, they will be handed over to the public for judgment!"

The Bishop's guarantee held immense credibility in the hearts of the laborers.

He had only made a verbal promise, yet the laborers dispersed one by one. The once-crowded back mountain of the Church became empty again, leaving only the Twilight clergy, the labor union, and the police force led by Tian Yuan.

Supported by the union president and Tian Yuan, the Bishop's hunched frame stood up and he sat back down in his wheelchair.

He looked extremely exhausted, leaning back against the chair as his cloudy eyes lifted to look at Tian Yuan.

"Chief Tian."

Tian Yuan could throw his weight around in front of Feng Yanyi and put on airs before Li Ming, but he dared not act arrogant before this Bishop.

He bowed his head, his tone filled with a respect he had never shown before.

"I am here, Bishop."

"Can I entrust the matter of the cemetery to you with peace of mind?"

Already annoyed to the point of distraction by the lack of progress on the Feng Zi case and unable to provide an answer within the seven-day deadline set by the council, Tian Yuan dared not show the slightest hesitation or refusal.

He stood at attention, bowed solemnly to the Bishop, and promised.

"I will investigate this matter thoroughly. Please, leave it to me!"

"That is good. The public needs an answer, and the laborers need a belief that they can hold onto."

The Bishop sighed and shook his head, signaling for Nanny Cheng behind him to push the wheelchair away from the back mountain.

After he left, Tian Yuan no longer masked his expression, which had turned incredibly ugly.

Almost everything was weighing on him: the escape case of Feng Zi that the entire council was watching, the brutal murder case that had terrified the laborers of Yuguang, and now the empty-grave case that was enough to shake all of Sun City!

Except for the murder case, he could not afford to delay the other two; the council was his superior, and the Bishop was a powerful figure he could not afford to offend.

Tian Yuan roared in a voice bordering on self-abandonment.

"Investigate! Everyone, go and investigate! Have people check the time the graves were emptied! Check everyone who has had contact with the cemetery over these years!"

Li Wei stood behind the crowd, watching the entire process with cold eyes.

Feng Zi stood beside him, clutching his sleeve, her pale face full of worry.

"Why would someone steal so many corpses?"

"Let's first think about how to solve our own troubles," Li Wei said softly.

Feng Zi turned to look at him, looking nervous.

"What troubles do we have now? Have the police found us?"

Li Wei scanned the surroundings and asked a seemingly unrelated question.

"Did you see Nanny Cheng this afternoon?"

Feng Zi shook her head.

"I didn't. It seemed like she went off to busy herself with something after lunch ended."

By the time they saw Nanny Cheng again, it was the morning of the second day after the incident.

Because of the empty-grave case, the entire Church staff was being questioned and investigated by police officers, causing the Choir training to be suspended for another day.

On this same day, the reappearing Nanny Cheng conducted the first round of screening for the already over-capacity Choir.

Two children were cut because they were not literate enough and struggled to recite the Gospel, causing the atmosphere of the once-relaxed and cheerful Choir to become tense.

Where there is screening, there is competition, and where there is competition, relationships are no longer so pure.

At the same time, after this screening, Nanny Cheng called out five people individually for private talks.

Li Wei and Feng Zi were among these five.

They were brought into a room. The other three children looked uneasy; after all, two people had just been kicked out, and being called out separately now easily led to some bad associations.

Li Wei and Feng Zi exchanged a look. Feng Zi's face was full of anxiety; she thought this was the trouble Li Wei had mentioned yesterday.

But Li Wei himself understood that things were likely not that simple.

After closing the door, Nanny Cheng's sharp eyes, which usually made people afraid to look directly at her, held an inexplicable tension and urgency for some reason.

"You are the children who have performed the best over the past three days, so the Church will give you extra rewards. Tomorrow there is a Twilight Blessing that only clergy can attend, and you may follow along."

Hearing these words, the worry on the faces of the three children vanished instantly, and even Feng Zi's expression relaxed.

Having brought the five of them into such a small room, Nanny Cheng seemed to have done so only to say this one thing, and once finished, she let them leave.

On the way back, Li Wei asked Feng Zi, looking thoughtful.

"Are there scientists within the Twilight Church as well?"

Though this should have been common knowledge, Feng Zi did not find it strange coming from Li Wei; he had been confined for seventeen years, so it was only natural for him to be ignorant.

"Of course. The Twilight Church was founded by a great neurobiologist, and almost every priest is a doctor. The high-ranking bishops of the Church all hold positions at the Central Biology Institute, including the bishop here at the Sun Branch District, who spent time at the Central Biology Institute in his youth."

Feng Zi also explained the matter of the Twilight Blessing to Li Wei.

"Aside from the Biology Institute, the Twilight Church gathers almost all the top biological talent in the underground city. They are highly experienced in treating bacterial diseases, improving human physical quality, and extending lifespans, which is why the Twilight Blessing is so sought after by many wealthy people. However, the Archbishop's blessing is generally something money cannot buy."

"The blessing the Church has invited us to attend tomorrow should only be a minor one hosted by a high-ranking priest, but even so, it is a rare stroke of good fortune for an ordinary person."