812
"The Ancestor? Or the M-Mother Goddess?"
Emlyn was a little dumbfounded. The red moon and bat wings, combined, undoubtedly signified the Ancestor Lilith. But why had the Ancestor told him to go to Harvest Church? Hadn't that place already been... sealed off, then abandoned? Everything related to symbolism and religion had been cleared out and taken away, and the empty building and benches had ultimately become a shelter for vagrants and the homeless.
Wandering people sleeping peacefully in the Earth Mother's stripped-bare church made for a rather philosophical and religious scene, but Emlyn felt none of that when he passed by. All he felt was emptiness and sadness.
"Could the Mother Goddess and the Ancestor be working together? The Church of the Earth Mother has always had a tradition of making Sanguine clergymen, and they even sent me an invitation..."
Although he couldn't quite make sense of the situation, Emlyn's heart stirred.
He hastily tidied his workbench, first putting away the dangerous substances, then locking the window and drawing the curtains tightly shut. Finally, he locked the door, put on a hat and scarf to cover his face completely, and jogged toward Harvest Church.
Stepping onto one of the East Borough's relatively spacious streets, Emlyn keenly noticed that tonight seemed somewhat different from usual.
"It's true!" A woman in a filthy dress took two deep breaths and exclaimed in delight, "I'm not coughing anymore!"
Emlyn glanced at her-oh, she was one of this area's patients suffering from Great Smog sequelae.
Apart from those who had died during the Great Smog itself and in the following months, some mildly affected patients who hadn't received timely treatment had developed lesions of varying severity in their lungs and throats. Emlyn knew the truth behind the Great Smog: it had been the Beyonder