Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 675 Is there anyone coming to greet you?
The Great Hermitage of All Saints is the oldest religious building in human history. Its long history can be traced back to the ancient times, the first city built by human civilization: Ardes, the home of all spirits. It was an era when the fire of faith had just sprouted and the power of human wisdom was gradually strengthened. Tumi, who was undoubtedly a saint in the minds of countless people, led the process of sprouting and strengthening, and wrote the beginning of human religious history with the name of "Spiritual Prayer Meeting". The prefixes of "All Saints" and "All Spirits" both interpret the core doctrine of this great sect: all things have spirits and can be holy.

When the chaotic era came, after the three catastrophes of catastrophic, divine and natural disasters, which are not well described in the history of modern civilization and have puzzled countless historians, the Pangaea continent split into the two continents of the present day, the East and West. In the violent turmoil, the Land of All Souls, Ardes, sank into the ground, and the Great Hermitage of All Saints' Gospel also disappeared. In order to fight against the heretics of the Holy Kingdom of Nordorn in the East Continent and compete for the name of orthodoxy, the animists in the Western Continent decided to build another church of the same shape on the land of Runkwell, which has an equally ancient history and is believed to be the place where Ardes, the Land of All Souls, sank. That is the Cross Church of St. Annville.

From then on, it became a holy place in the minds of all animists on the Sigiriya continent, even though the Spiritual Prayer Society had split into countless small sects such as the Fertile Soil Sect, the Ancestral Spirit Sect, the Holy Spring Monks, and the Druids. However, the power in the religious world is always changing, and no one is the eternal master. Therefore, the rise of the Steam Cult and the United Cults has greatly shaken the foundation of animism, especially the "Religious Decree" issued by the latter, which has forced countless animists into exile and become rootless wanderers.

St. Annville Cross Church was closed during that era. Ling remembered the time very clearly: on August 1778, 8, the "Law Restricting the Operation and Preaching Rights of Illegal Church Organizations Such as Spiritual Prayer Societies and Druids" was promulgated, and animism was no longer respected; and 12 years later, on June 77, 1855, the supplementary regulations of the "Religious Decree" were promulgated, and all sects met the same end as animism, including the Church of the Holy Goddess.

In this way, the closure of St. Annville Cross Church was 77 years earlier than that of Tianxin Church. Just as Tianxin Church still stands at 13 Pine Stone Street, Holy Cross District, Linwell City, St. Annville Cross Church has also been standing in the Seven Stars Pan District of the capital, Lunweiting, but it is no longer popular. No more animist believers will come here to make a pilgrimage and offer a pious prayer for the holy spirits in the church.

However, Ling Ge did not expect to see the spiritual successor of St. Annville Cross Church, another hidden church named after the Gospel Convent, in the Three Mountains so far away from the city of Lunweiting. I just don't know whether the prototype mentioned by Shesta was claimed by the owner of the Gospel Convent himself, or was it recognized by the animists?
She seemed to have said that the owner of the Gospel Convent, who was also the founder and manager of this alien shelter, should be called Pancras, right? Linking this name with St. Annville Cross Church, Ling finally understood why he felt familiar with it.

While he was daydreaming, Yieta, under the guidance of Belfi, had already controlled the Cloud Whale Sky Island to fly past the Holy White Arch, the Column Corridor and the two towering cross spires outside the Gospel Convent, and along the walkway formed by the inclined flying buttresses, he came to the atrium square with a huge fountain pool. This place is wide and there are no other buildings around to block it, which is just right for the Sky Island to dock. Moreover, when they arrived here, someone was already waiting on the ground.

"Hey, here, here!" Best flew out of the windmill tower excitedly and waved at the ground: "Everyone, I brought the guests back!"

Then there was a warm cheer on the ground. Linger borrowed her beloved telescope from Yieta and looked down. He found that the races of the crowd were all kinds of strange: there were common natural spirits such as water spirits, wood spirits, rotten wood spirits, stone spirits, tree spirits, etc., as well as extremely rare intelligent races such as wind spirits, dust spirits, beebots, dwarves, etc.; there were kind races such as half-feathered eagles, sphinxes and Neferti lions that symbolized peace and justice, as well as gray races such as werewolves, vampires and night watchers that were not very glorious.

Some of them Ling Ge had seen and dealt with before, and even had their kind living on Yunjingkong Island; while some were completely unfamiliar, and he could only determine their race by observing their appearance and recalling the characteristics described by Saint Xia Liya. However, they all had the same characteristic, that is, there were very few people, and there were only four or five people of the same race at most, which did not constitute the basis of a large family or tribal life. From this aspect, it can be inferred that they should be the survivors of the joint extermination operation of the cult. Because they lost the support of their relatives, they became part of this shelter, and the owner of the shelter also accepted everyone, no matter what their personality or reputation, as long as they were desperate, they could find a living space here.

He should have great prestige among these aliens. This can be seen not only from the fact that werewolves and vampires, wood elves and tree spirits, wind elves and dust elves, these hostile races can coexist harmoniously without fighting, but mainly through observation with the naked eye: because the old man named Pancras, leaning on a cane, silently stood at the front of the crowd to greet them, and the other aliens respectfully kept a distance of at least half a meter from him. Judging from the expressions on their faces, this respect was obviously sincere.

He was a very distinctive and impressive old man, which was reflected in every aspect of what the naked eye could see. First of all, his appearance. Lingge didn't want to slander the elderly, but he didn't want to lie either, so he had to admit that this Lord Pancras was actually very ugly. He was about seventy or eighty years old, short in stature, with short limbs, hunched back, silent, and dull brown skin covered with age spots, like dead bark. His lips were rough, and his left eye had no pupil, only the white of the eye. His right eye was cut by a hideous scar and was tightly closed. His hair was sparse, revealing a forehead as uneven as a ravine. His long, messy red beard dragged on the ground, and the luster easily reminded people of the cracked red soil, which was dry due to lack of water.

However, in sharp contrast to this appearance is his demeanor: it is a gentle, calm, and seemingly all-embracing spirit; in his eyes you can see the tranquility of the night and the warmth of the sun, as if he is looking at every soul in the world equally; in his hunched back body there is a kind of spirituality and wisdom bestowed by the goddess who created the world, all that is human. Even the most hard-hearted person would have to ignore his appearance and be deeply moved by the qualities he displayed that are worthy of being recorded in history.

His appearance, his demeanor, and his bearing all make people believe that if there is a true saint in the world, it is probably someone like him.

"He is the master of the Evangelical Convent, Lord Pancras."

The Countess's voice came from the side, and her words were full of sincere praise: "A respectable elder."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)