Embers of Embers

Chapter 420 Identification
"who are they?"
Lorenzo looked at the slowly dispersing crowd, and he was very curious about these guys who suddenly came out of the shadows.
"Worker, it looks like he's off work," Eve said.
"No, this is an urban area, there are no factories nearby." Hibold was obviously observing more carefully than Eve.
"What a variety of people..."
Lorenzo looked at the crowd. There were men and women, old and young. It could be seen from everyone's clothes and behavior that these people had different identities in society, but they were gathered together for something. together.
"Who do you think they are?"
Eve asked. She suddenly remembered that the guy in front of her was a detective, so this question should not be difficult for him.
"Believers, Orthodox believers, have just finished their gathering."
Lorenzo replied simply.
"How are you sure?" Eve didn't understand.
"These people have nothing in common and have different professional personalities. Looking at the process of their separation, they did not do much to retain them or talk too much. Most of them should not know each other."
Lorenzo stared at the crowd. At this moment, this guy really looked like a detective.
"Think about it roughly, what other reason could bring them together besides a rally? Supermarket sale?"
"Although the official government is prepared to support the Orthodox Church, the Evangelical Church is still the mainstream in Nalona, ​​Gaul, but it is not as strong as before. They do not dare to hold gatherings directly in the public, and can only choose some places out of sight. "
Lorenzo said and walked towards the crowd that was slowly dispersing.
"what are you going to do?"
Haybold shouted hurriedly. Judging from Lorenzo's posture, he thought this guy was ready to kill here.
"Learn about Orthodoxy. After all, all my current understanding of this thing comes from your stories. I want to hear what Orthodoxy looks like in the eyes of believers."
Lorenzo straightened his clothes, turned around and said to Hebold with a smile.
"You may not believe it, but I was once a priest."
After Lorenzo said that, he walked over confidently, leaving Hibold and Eve standing there.
"Has his life always been so colorful?"
Haybold still can't believe the fact that Lorenzo was a priest.
Eve thought for a moment, then nodded.
"It's a pity that you met us too late, otherwise Lorenzo might have taken you with him when he smashed the monster with a train."
Eve looked at the solid muscles of Heibald's majestic body and added again.
"You will definitely be a good at killing monsters."
……
After a full meal, everyone has a little bit of relief and joy on their faces. This is not only the pleasure of satisfying hunger, but also the slight touch of the heart.
Huo was pushed to the street by the crowd, and he saw faces similar to himself in the chaos. He didn't know what other people were thinking, but at least Huo felt that it was the first time he had lived for so long. Kindness is valued.
He looked at Liya beside him. The girl was also very full and burped on the way.
"How to join the Orthodox Church?" Hu Ao lowered his head and asked.
This was not just for the Holy Communion, what Huao longed for more was the atmosphere at that time, the feeling of being accepted. Although it had only been a few minutes, Huao felt that he could only truly live there.
"Join? You are already an Orthodox believer."
Liya smiled.
"How..." Hu Ao didn't understand.
"There is no so-called threshold of belief in Orthodoxy. If you want to believe it, you can. The door of Orthodoxy will be open to everyone who needs it."
Liya stretched her waist, feeling her stomach bloated after eating too much.
"I should go back. See you at the next gathering."
She jumped away like a happy deer, but maybe because she ate too much, the deer jumped a little slowly.
Gradually the crowd dispersed, and Hu Ao stood there stunned for a long time. He stared at the gas street lamp beside him, staring directly at the dazzling wick. He didn't turn his head away until his eyes shed tears.
He looked at the dusty ground, and after a while a shadow approached him and stopped not far away. Huo raised his head and saw a man looking at him with a smile.
"Hello, I assume you are a follower of Orthodoxy, right?"
Hu Ao didn't react for a moment, and he hesitated in his words. Although Liya affirmed him, Hu Ao was still a little at a loss. He was very unsure.
But this scene didn't last long, he nodded.
"Ah."
"Oh, that means you just finished the meeting?"
The man sniffed the air around him. Hu Ao thought he was smelling the fishy smell on his body. His shame and anger just arose, but he was dispelled by the man's next words.
"What does the food smell like? Did you just finish communion?"
Looking at Hu Ao's confused eyes, the man continued.
"I have a good nose."
Hu Ao looked at the man warily. He remembered what Liya had said to him before. The believers of the Evangelical Church did not welcome Orthodoxy, and some extreme guys even regarded it as heresy and used violence.
He suspected that the seemingly friendly guy in front of him was that kind of person and that he was trying to trick himself.
"Let me introduce myself first. I am Lorenzo Holmes, a traveler from Inverg."
Lorenzo extended his hand in a friendly manner. When Huao heard the passenger's words, Huao's expression relaxed slightly, but then he still spoke with vigilance.
"My name is Hu Ao, and I don't know much about Orthodoxy. I only learned about it today...you can say that I have only been a member of the Orthodox Church for a few hours."
"Oh? Then do you have time to talk to me about this? Why do you want to join?"
Lorenzo said and walked aside, like a social idler, and sat on the cold steps.
As expected of a student who studied under Oscar, Lorenzo disguised himself very well, and his kind attitude almost deceived Juao perfectly.
Huao thought for a while and sat on the steps with Lorenzo.
He was just an ordinary sailor, and his only money was stuffed under the bed. Now he has no money on him.
Huao briefly observed Lorenzo. Lorenzo was wearing a band uniform. This embarrassed guy rarely looked tidy.
Looking at the face that was a little pale because he had been staying at home for a long time without seeing the sun, Hu Ao felt completely relieved.
He had met people like Lorenzo before. Those guys laughed at him, but under his clothes was a thin body, while Huao had developed a fierce body under the waves for many years. If it was true, If he takes action, Huao is confident that he can overthrow Lorenzo, a stranger.
"Inervig? I saw it from a distance on a fishing boat."
Hu Ao said and made a gesture, "At the end of the sea level, there is a hazy shadow. That should be the time when I was closest to Yin Erweg."
"If you are interested, you are welcome to come at any time. If you tell me my name, maybe you don't have to make the transition in Xiacheng District."
Huao obviously didn't understand what Lorenzo meant by transitioning to the lower city, but he didn't care. He might never have the chance to leave the fishing boat in his life, let alone go to Inverg.
"Speaking of Orthodoxy, I have a friend who is a pastor of an evangelical church. Perhaps due to his influence, I am quite interested in things like theology."
Lorenzo was observing Huao's reaction as he spoke. He realized that there was something wrong with his words, and Lorenzo continued.
"But don't worry, I'm not a believer, I'm just an ordinary person who is interested in theology."
"Is that so..."
Hu Ao could not let go of his guard, he wanted to end the conversation quickly.
"What do you think about Orthodoxy... Like I said, I've only been a believer for a few hours, and I haven't even heard the entire teaching."
Hu Ao felt a little embarrassed when he thought of this. The priest was reading loudly in front of the stage, but he didn't pay attention to it at all and kept eating.
"To look at something, you must first understand it, but I..." Huo smiled a little embarrassedly, "I can't give you more answers about Orthodoxy."
"It's okay, tell me why you joined? There must be some reason, right?"
Lorenzo continued to ask, he wanted to know what the development of Orthodoxy was like, and from his experience, the fastest way to analyze it was to learn from these ordinary believers.
After countless years of development, the evangelical church has completely changed into another form. The believers at the bottom still believe in God, and the cognition of the high-level cardinals has become a division of interests. .
Lorenzo still remembered the worst time in the history of the evangelical church. In order to ease the internal economy, those priests even came up with things like indulgence coupons.
"reason?"
"Yes, the reason, you also said it, you haven't even remembered the most important thing about doctrine, so what is the reason that drove you to join? Regular Holy Communion?" Lorenzo asked.
Lorenzo was right, but Huao felt a little uncomfortable, and then he felt nameless anger and... shame.
Yes, Huo came for the Eucharist, he didn't believe in any gods at all, he only pretended to be pious for this benefit.
This side was exposed by Lorenzo, and he became angry, but before the anger fully rose, an unspeakable sense of shame filled his heart.
It was as if he had done something wrong. Although he had done nothing, Huao felt that it was a mistake in itself to have that thought.
Huo was ashamed of his pitiful purpose and blamed himself.
He... began to believe.
"I don't know how to explain it. In fact, I just wanted to save some money at first, but...but I don't know why, I really want to stay there, as if the people there are all my kind, Only when I get along with them do I feel like I am a living person.”
Huao had lived for so long, and this was probably the most complicated question he had ever thought about. He wanted to explain it to Lorenzo, but the knowledge he had learned was not enough for him to express his feelings perfectly.
He was like a child at a loss, whimpering and describing something he didn't understand.
"You can be recognized there as a real person, not just some disposable guy, right?"
Lorenzo looked indifferent, as if he completely understood Juao's mood.
"Probably... it's something like this."
Huao answered blankly.
Lorenzo stood up and sighed softly. For some reason, at a certain moment just now, he saw himself in Juao.
I was once a fanatical believer, because only by guarding this sanctity could I and others have a place.
That ridiculous sense of identity.
To be honest, humans are social animals. No matter what, everyone will have similar troubles to some extent.
Lorenzo shook his head helplessly and said goodbye to Huao.
"I think I understand. See you again when you have a chance, Huao."
Lorenzo walked towards the other side of the street, where Highbould and Eve were waiting for him not far away.
"Anything gained?" Eve asked.
"There's not much gained," Lorenzo shrugged, "But judging from his description, the Orthodox Church is somewhat upright."
"Fair and fair?"
"It almost sounds like a beautiful paradise built by a group of idealists," Lorenzo recalled, saying with some helplessness, "The evangelical church was like this at first, but everyone turned into a dragon in the end."
"It seems that Orthodoxy has gained a group of devout believers." Lorenzo turned back, and Huao's figure at the end of the street became blurry little by little.
"Compared to what we have to do, what Maruli and Gaulonaro will face next is even more severe."
"What's going to happen?" Haybold asked.
"In the conflict of faith, fanatics will fight together to the death. The history of the development of religion is also a history of war. People from different sects fight together. In the end, only the one alive is left. The Evangelical Church is that living."
He feels sad for the bad nature of human beings, and sometimes despairs because he cannot find answers.
"If humans can understand each other, why do we need weapons?"
Lorenzo smiled disdainfully.
"Don't you think these people are ridiculous? They place everything on those illusory gods, but are unwilling to reach out and grasp the things around them."
Perhaps it was because he had looked like that before, but Lorenzo couldn't stop scolding him.
"Okay, let's go." Eve said.
Night has completely shrouded it, and the bright street lights shine like stars.
Lorenzo paused for a moment, looking at this unfamiliar street, and then he recalled that he was in a foreign country... After all, Old Dunling was not his hometown.
Without saying anything else, several people speeded up their pace and returned to the hotel. After making plans, they still had too many things to prepare.
Of course, more importantly, I hope that Kestrel is still alive when I go back, and Irene is still tied up.
In the hotel, Kestrel and Eileen were sitting at opposite ends of the living room. Although their hands were cuffed, this did not prevent Eileen from grabbing the book with her hands. She was looking at the book with a calm look. Hong Falcon on the other side Falcon couldn't stop the thoughts in his mind.
(End of this chapter)