Chapter 76
It couldn't possibly be a high-ranking member of the Salvation Society, could it? That seemed unlikely... If it were a senior figure from the Society, how could they allow their own sister to be a student under someone as incompetent as Xie Lun?
Jidi might not understand academic achievements, but the higher-ups of the Salvation Society certainly would.
"Yulis."
Xia Er spoke slowly, "Currently, the high priest overseeing the Bell Tower Church, a second-tier 'Missionary.'"
A "Missionary" from the Church of the Savior Goddess? And a high priest at that?
This indicated that her potion digestion was nearing completion, at least more thoroughly than her own...
If Adele really had a sister in the Church of the Savior Goddess, that would indeed complicate matters.
If Adele had been missing for too long, that high priest would surely launch an investigation, and the plan would undoubtedly be disrupted.
Every piece of information from the bishop made Jidi break out in a cold sweat. Although the bishop spoke little, each piece of intel was weighty.
It was as if her understanding of this place surpassed Jidi's, who had been operating in Boleun for several years.
"She is at the 'Good Night Inn,' Room 202."
Xia Er turned to look at Jidi, who had buried her head deeper. Xia Er continued, "I need to see her alive here."
"Yes, Your Excellency, I’ll prepare immediately. Within three days... no, within two days..."
Jidi nodded repeatedly.
"Must she be captured alive?"
A second-tier "Missionary," and with the enemy hidden while they were in the open, killing her would be relatively easy. But capturing her alive would pose a bit of a challenge.
"Heretics must be judged."
A stiff smile began to form beneath Xia Er's mask, making her words sound even more sinister, "Just in time for her to see how her sister has turned from darkness to light."
Jidi watched as the bishop's legs drew closer to her. She swallowed hard, and to avoid eye contact, she quickly knelt down.
Jidi felt the bishop's hand resting on her hair, the bishop leaning slightly closer, her face coming nearer and nearer...
A warning blared in Jidi's mind, the hidden mark on her lower abdomen resurfacing involuntarily, and frantic whispers crashed through her thoughts.
"The Mother Goddess wishes to hear me declare her guilty."
"Do you understand?"
"I give you just 12 hours... bring her to me."
"Otherwise, the Mother Goddess will bring judgment upon you."
The warmth from the mark and the cacophony of whispers overwhelmed Jidi's mind. She could only nod repeatedly, and after receiving the bishop's approval, she fled the cell, hastily preparing for the capture plan.
The bishop... was terrifying! Jidi's heart screamed.
This was even more fanatical and deranged than the bishops she had encountered through the 'Avenger' pathways. Their faith in the Mother Goddess was far purer than her own.
Meanwhile, Xia Er, standing still, took a long moment before rising again, gently brushing her hand over the mask on her face.
Was playing the villain a bit too natural for her?
Well, she had indeed done quite a few bad things... but those were actions of the simulated Xia Er, not the real one.
By the next simulation, she'd be a paragon of virtue, the savior of the Bell Tower Church.
After casting one last glance at Adele in the cage, Xia Er turned and walked toward the door of the cell...
**Chapter Seventy: Heretic Trials and Slaughter.**
As soon as Xia Er stepped out of the cell and into the stone hall, she saw three maids wearing red chip masks, heads bowed, standing on either side, seemingly waiting for her arrival.
"Your Excellency."
Upon hearing Xia Er's footsteps, they all bent at the waist in unison, greeting her.
Two of the maids stepped aside slightly, one of them spoke up, "Your Excellency, the Lady Administrator has sent us to tend to the new sister."
"Go ahead."
After receiving Xia Er's approval, the two cultists circled around her, keeping their heads down and their bodies oriented toward her until they turned to walk toward where Adele was held.
Xia Er turned to the remaining maid, waiting for her to speak.
"Your Excellency, I was sent by the Lady Administrator to serve you."
The maid kept her head bowed, speaking respectfully, "If there are places you wish to inspect, I can guide you."
"Alright."
Xia Er nodded slightly and said, "Show me around."
This was exactly what Xia Er hoped for.
What she lacked was information about the inner workings of the Holy Arrival Society. The more she understood, the less likely she would be to slip up in her disguise.
"Please follow me."
For the next while, the maid led Xia Er through the underground palace. It seemed Jidi had ordered a temporary halt to traffic, as no cultists came down to disturb Xia Er's "inspection."
Main hall, side corridors, transverse corridors, altars, back halls... the layout of the underground Holy Arrival Church was essentially a one-to-one replica of the Church of the Savior Goddess in Boleun.
Based on the layout of the Bell Tower Church she had visited, Xia Er arrived at the location of the small chapel Yulis had taken her to in the simulation, only to find it was almost identical.
Aside from the faceless statue and some altered religious symbols, it was practically a carbon copy of the Church of the Savior Goddess.
It was no surprise, given that it had split off from the Church of the Savior Goddess.
Finally, Xia Er's footsteps halted at the scripture room.
This place stored numerous religious texts and research notes. On the central desk used for copying scriptures, Xia Er spotted seven or eight familiar notebooks.
Those were spiritual notes.
It seemed the Holy Arrival Society had inherited the habit of writing spiritual notes from the Church of the Savior Goddess. Xia Er approached the desk and opened one of the notebooks to begin reading.
Her actions did not seem strange to the maid; one of the important tasks for upper-level church personnel was to regularly check the spiritual notes of those below them.
The maid stood about four or five meters behind Xia Er and explained, "These are the notes of the extraordinary individuals who have become brothers and sisters in the Dedun Manor, but the Administrator's notes are not here. We will have to wait for the Lady Administrator to return to find out where they are."
Perhaps due to her own mark, Xia Er could freely browse the spiritual notes before her without any spiritual imprint hindering her.
She flipped through the notebooks one by one. Most of the spiritual notes began after the individuals were converted into cultists, lacking detailed descriptions of the conversion process, but they recorded many events that occurred afterward.
The earliest conversions could be traced back two years, while the most recent conversion had happened just a day ago.
From the patterns in their notes, Xia Er confirmed a previous hypothesis: the Holy Arrival Society had two methods for imprinting their mark.
One was to imprint the mark when the individual drank the potion and was most severely affected by the whispers. The other was to imprint it when the individual had already consumed the potion for a while but could no longer resist the whispers, and their body began to be assimilated by the potion.
Originally, some individuals on the verge of failing to digest the potion or suffering severe backlash found their minds more stable after receiving the Holy Arrival mark.
They might have been bombarded by multiple whispers from the potion, but after accepting the Holy Arrival mark, they would only be subjected to the whispers of "Sadana."
Of course, for ordinary people like those maids, Jidi's "Missionary" ability could directly brainwash them without needing the potion as an aid.
Is Sadana really a god? If not, how does she manage to block out other whispers?
Xia Er set the notebooks down and turned her attention to other church documents on the bookshelf.
After flipping through a few, she decided not to continue.
These were just ordinary church scriptures, likely not much different from those of the Church of the Savior Goddess, perhaps with just a few names changed. They held little research value.
As Xia Er returned the scriptures to the shelf, she suddenly felt a gaze from behind her.
Turning around, she saw the maid with the red chip mask quickly bowing her head, seemingly trembling under Xia Er's gaze.
"What's wrong?"
Xia Er stepped closer to the maid and asked.
"N-nothing, Your Excellency."
The maid stammered, then tightly grasped her skirt, whispering, "Your Excellency, do you remember me?"
Hmm?
Remember her?
Xia Er had indeed been to Dedun Manor two days ago, and there had been a maid guiding her...
Almost forgot about that...
"Of course I remember,"
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