"-No need to even think about it. It had to be those bastards... We wiped out the Church Branches in the last two towns. They lost so much that they must be trying to win back some favor with the church by snitching like this."
Doghead Gold immediately replied in the party channel.
The others nodded, agreeing with his explanation.
"Let's go."
Chen Lun twirled the Silver Cane in his hand and rested it lightly against his forearm.
Holding his Black Hat, he stepped inside.
Dongyang and the others followed close behind, entering the cathedral's outer courtyard.
Their many footsteps echoed through the empty, silent surroundings. They crossed the outer courtyard and went straight to the entrance of the cathedral hall, where Chen Lun personally pushed open the enormous, heavy, carved wooden doors.
Creeeak-!
Low prayers, perfectly in unison, suddenly reached everyone's ears.
Dongyang and the others looked closely and discovered that men and women, old and young, knelt almost throughout the entire hall. Dressed in ordinary residents' clothing, they prostrated themselves devoutly, murmuring the scriptural teachings of the Red Apple Church.
These believers seemed deeply eerie, their expressions devout yet fanatical, their eyes filled with longing.
"God said, hunger is humanity's innate desire, and devouring is obedience to one's true heart..."
"God said, flesh and blood are humanity's origin, and growth is the continuation of life..."
"God said, illness is but a necessary passage, and we must endure the trial..."
The chanted prayers came in wave after wave, filled with holiness. The sound washed over Dongyang and the others, sending chills down their spines and making their skin crawl.
Chen Lun surveyed the hall expressionlessly and discovered that none of these believers had a heartbeat. They appeared alive, but in truth, they had long since died.
They could behave