[He] concluded.
I see……
Xiwang suddenly understood.
He suddenly understood why Father Yan Zheng always looked indifferent when he first met him; he suddenly understood why Father Yan Zheng always seemed hesitant to speak when he wanted to improve the church; and why the smile on Father Yan Zheng's face was so sincere when he took in refugees.
It is difficult to change this place, but the kind intention is worthy of praise.
But...that's all.
But with just the way I am now... I can't do anything.
If you want to change this place, you need... [power].
Xi looked at it clearly and his consciousness became hazy.
"Well……"
Xiwang woke up slowly, and what came into his sight was Abonia's face.
She must be taking care of herself, as one can see fatigue and exhaustion on her face.
"Father...I'm glad you're awake."
Seeing Xiwang waking up, Aboniya hurried forward.
"How is it? Are you still feeling pain? Are you feeling unwell? Your injuries are really serious, and you have lost a lot of blood. I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to recover in just a few days..."
"It's okay, I'm fine... How many days have I been unconscious?"
Facing Abonia, whose expression was full of nervousness and concern, Xiwang raised his hand slightly, stopping her from touching his hands, and asked instead.
"And...where is Father Yan Zheng?"
"........."
Hearing Xiwang's question, Aponia's expression became gloomy.
"You have been in a coma for seven days, but fortunately, [He] is protecting you."
"Father Er Zheng...died during the negotiation with them."
She said it truthfully.
"Mammy followed him, to add leverage."
"But she died too, and now... I'm in charge of this nursing home."
Xiwang was a little dazed for a moment.
"I...want to go to the church. Can I?"
He said somewhat bewilderedly.
Aponya hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.
"Please wait a moment. I will go with you."
After saying that, Aponiya was about to go forward to help him up, but Xiwang waved his hand, indicating that he could... Although he still felt a little weak, he could walk normally.
She took her own cross pendant from Aponia, hesitated for a while, and finally did not hang it on her chest. Instead, she wrapped the thin chain around her hand so that she could hold it tightly in her palm.
Xiwang waited patiently for Aponiya, and only after she had given instructions to the children in the sanatorium did they go out together.
When Xi Wang left the gate and stepped onto the street, he could feel the slightly dazzling gazes coming from all around him.
No matter who they are... maybe they are those refugees, maybe they are gang members... or maybe they are someone else.
There was mockery, anger, or...guilt and pity in their eyes, and the emotions in them were not concealed.
However, even so, they did not step forward, but just looked at the two of them silently for a while, and then their eyes stayed on Aponia for a while before they retracted their gaze.
Regardless of the notification from the gang or the somewhat strange nun, now is not a good time for them to cause trouble for the two.
So, Xiwang and Aponia returned to the church under everyone's dazzling gazes... This place became a bit desolate, and there were not many people around... It was understandable, after all, this place changed from a [neutral zone] where they could get help to a place that was the focus of gangsters, and no one would be willing to come here.
At most... there will be people who want to bury the body? After all, the cemetery is behind the church, but it is hard to say whether there will be people who come to the cemetery specifically to bury people in Dusk Street...
Pushing open the fence that had become tattered in just a few days, Xi Wang walked into the front yard. Looking at the bloodstains still remaining on the ground and the messy footprints that almost trampled everything clean, he remained silent.
Continuing forward, they walked into the church, where they met another man. He was holding a somewhat tattered curtain and constantly picking up some odds and ends. He wrapped them together with a shovel that was obviously stained with mud and water with the curtain cloth, and then put it on his back. He also picked up a few tattered wooden boards from the ground and held them in his hands.
Xiwang remembered that the shovel should have belonged to the church, and those wooden boards should have been the chairs in the church.
Xiwang also sensed a damp smell from him... Was it an illusion? He felt that after this coma, his perception of water had become more acute.
Of course, more importantly... Xiwang knew him. He and Xiwang had distributed porridge to other people before. His simple sweet steamed cakes were loved by many people. Whenever there was surplus sugar in the church, many people would ask him to make steamed cakes for everyone to share. That simple dessert could bring people a little comfort.
"Ah, Father...you...you are back..."
When he saw the two people coming, he seemed a little flustered and nervous. His eyes were wandering and he almost didn't dare to look into Xi Wang's eyes.
"Hello, I haven't seen you for a few days... Are you doing well?"
"Ah... still... still okay..."
"If possible... could you tell me what you are doing? And..."
Xi Wang looked at the extremely empty church and asked softly.
"Here...what happened later? Are the others...ok?"
"this and that……"
He subconsciously hid the package he was carrying behind him, hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and told the truth.
"The people here...were all taken away by them, but later, they brought us back and let us take the supplies ourselves...They said that anything from the church would be fine, anything that could be taken away by us would be fine, as long as we could get it before they took it away, then it would belong to us, and these would become our [start-up capital], which we could exchange from them for supplies for the first few days..."
"Then... in order to make their lives easier in the next few days, everyone started looting... like cloth, wooden furniture, glass, etc.... anything that looked useful was taken away. At that time, everyone went crazy and almost got into a fight... If they hadn't stepped forward to stop it, I'm afraid many people would have been injured."
He didn't dare describe it to Xi Wang in too much detail, because the performance of everyone at that time... was really too embarrassing. It was as if they wanted to prove to the gangsters that they had nothing to do with this place anymore, as if they had no attachment to this church that had given them a brief peace.
He felt ashamed of himself for making the same choice as those people, and also felt guilty towards Xi Wang who still cared about everyone even at this point.
So at that time, he did not go forward and join others in looting the last bit of supplies left in the church. He felt ashamed of everyone and of his own choice.
Of course, more importantly, he had already been favored because of his decent dim sum skills, so he didn't have to compete with those people...
As for why I came back now, on the one hand, I was asked by several people to come back to take care of some things. The shovel and the curtain cloth for collecting things were also provided by those people. On the other hand, I came to see if there was anything left that could be used.
As expected, he was also a hypocritical person - thinking so, he became more and more afraid to look into Xiwang's eyes.
But... I should still have some conscience, just like those people who... asked me to do that thing for them, so... I should still have some conscience - he comforted himself like this.
"Thank you for your answer... Please go back quickly. It would be bad if they scold you because of me."
"After that... please take good care of yourself. May [He] bless you."
Hope nodded vaguely, stepped aside slightly to make way, and politely asked the other party to leave using the etiquette that had become her habit.
"Uh-huh……"
He walked away in a hurry, as if he was running away.
"...Sister, please go back first. The children need to be taken care of."
After a moment's silence, Xi Wang calmed himself down and then spoke to Abonia.
"As for me...I need some quiet time."
"...I understand, but...please come back before sunset. Your body still needs to be healed."
Aponia looked at the increasingly shining gold in Xiwang's pupils, hesitated for a moment, and nodded slightly. After making some caring instructions, she slowly left.
Xi Wang watched her leave and then walked towards the small living cottage behind the church.
Following the damp smell, he found the place where the person who had just left had been. Here, Xi Wang sensed other smells mixed in the damp air, the smell of blood, and... the smell of a corpse.
Very faint, just the remnants.
Look around carefully for clues, and then continue forward, you will find two piles of earth next to each other, which are obviously newly piled up. There are also two wooden boards serving as tombstones in front, with the names of Father Yan Zheng and the nun written on them.
Obviously, this was done by the person who just left, and maybe... there were also efforts from others.
Xi Wang knelt in front of them, gently stroking the two simple tombstones, and the emotions that were constantly surging in his heart were slightly soothed.
It turns out that there are still people who are willing to do this...
As Xi Wang thought about this, the madness in his heart gradually subsided, and the golden color that had begun to spread in his pupils at some point also began to slow down.
As long as it exists... As long as it exists... At least it can prove that our efforts are not all in vain, and our kindness will be rewarded after all.
"call……"
Xi Wang took a long breath, adjusted his breathing, and when he opened his eyes again, his expression had become firm.
He stood up, bowed deeply to the two tombstones, then left resolutely and returned to the empty church.
Kneeling in the place where you used to pray, wrap the pendant's thin chain around your hands, place the cross between your thumbs, close your eyes and lower your head, letting the cross lightly touch your forehead, and offer your piety to the place that has long been empty.
Pray to Him.
“My beloved Lord…”
Ask Him.
"Please give me strength, and change this place, this chaotic place..."
Pray to Him.
“Let the kind be rewarded, let the ordinary be at peace, and let the greedy and evil be punished.”
“Let everyone receive the appropriate judgment for their actions, and let everyone receive the appropriate results for their actions.”
"At least, let the people here have a place where they can feel at ease..."
【What are you willing to pay for this? 】
[He] asked.
"My everything."
【……Can】
[He] seemed to think about it for a while, and then readily agreed.
[I give you strength, you follow my words. I will lead you to change all this]
[He] did not mention the exact "price" that Xi Wang would have to pay. Perhaps in [Him's] opinion, when Xi Wang was willing to answer with "everything", [Him] had received the most satisfactory "reward".
Soon, the sound of wings flapping gently could be heard, and a burning and sharp feeling quickly came over Xi Wang, making him think of the [Sword Fire] he had seen before, but soon, this feeling faded.
"...Father? Father?"
In a trance, I could hear a soft and somewhat anxious call, and I felt my shoulder being gently shaken.
It was Abonnia. It was almost night, and she came again because she was worried about Xiwang. However, this time, she found that Xiwang... seemed to be different.
The aura belonging to Him became stronger.
"Nothing, Sister."
Xi Wang spoke softly, without much change in his tone, but it gave people a "irresistible" feeling.
He stood up, facing her, and looked at her with his strange three-color eyes that had changed to almost completely gold, with only a little dark and scarlet left on the outer circle.
"Let's go back."
He said this, and then took the lead to leave. Abonya was slightly distracted for a moment, and then quickly followed him.
But this time, she did not walk side by side with him as usual, but lagged behind him by half a step, following behind him - she already knew something.
Xiwang didn't seem to have any objection to this and just moved forward silently.
After returning to the sanatorium, Xi Wang didn't seem to have changed much except that he became much quieter and his speech became strange. He was still willing to play with the children with a smile and help with chores.
However, he and Aponya had fewer topics to talk about, and it seemed that they no longer had the same equal relationship as before, but had turned into a relationship...similar to that of a "superior and subordinate".
"Nothing tonight."
Late at night, the children had all fallen asleep. In the dim hall, Xi Wang looked at the silver moon outside the window and said softly.
"Don't go out tomorrow."
He turned and spoke to Aponya who was kneeling beside him and doing his routine prayers.
