CH 15

Evan was stunned for a moment, then he nodded again, “Of course. As long as I can do it, I will definitely help you.”

Mrs Sanders suddenly gasped and Evan hurriedly stepped forward to help her pat her back.

“Ahem….Reverend Bruce, I know you’re a good person.”

You’re wrong, Evan thought to himself as he gave Mrs Sanders some water to drink.

“My illness this time seems to mean that my time is over. When I die, can you please bury me in the southeast corner of the cemetery?” Struggling with difficulty, Mrs Sanders grabbed Evan’s hand with her dry hand as she asked.

Evan looked at Mrs Sanders in surprise, the southeast corner of Delanlier’s cemetery is very remote and almost no one would use it as the first choice for their final resting place after death.

“Why is this?” Evan asked softly, “Don’t you want to be buried in the exclusive cemetery for the staff of the parish and sleep with God?”

Mrs Sanders struggled to squeeze Evan’s hand with difficulty, “I beg you.”

Evan had no choice but to nod his head, “But you have to tell me, what’s wrong with you?”

Hearing this, there was a bleak look in her eyes, “Reverend Bruce, the only person I have left in this world has been called by the Lord, and I have no meaning left to live in this world.”

Evan frowned, “What are you talking about? Mr Chandler and I are looking forward to your recovery.”

Mrs Sanders smiled bitterly, “The only hope that could let me live in this world has been shattered. I have no reason to live anymore.”

Evan looked at Mrs Sanders and let himself make some panicky guesses.

Mrs Sanders looked out the window and said, “Reverend Bruce, where are you coming from? Are you busy with church matters these days?”

Evan restrained his inner restlessness, smiled and said, “I’m coming from the police station, Sheriff Chandler asked me to help him find out the truth about Mr Lawrence Jr’s death.”

When Mrs Sanders heard these words, her face instantly turned pale. She clenched her hands nervously, her face slightly twitching.

Evan remained calm but he sighed deeply, “What an excellent young man, it’s a pity he died at such a young age. But today, the incident had a sudden twist. I didn’t expect that Mr Lawrence Jr. left an illegitimate child.”

Shocked, Mrs Sanders looked at Evan in disbelief.

“The Lawrence couple also know about it but because having an illegitimate child is considered indecent, they didn’t mention it. Sheriff Chandler found out for himself.” Evan tried his best to downplay the role he played in it.

When Mrs Sanders heard this, her eyes flickered faintly, “Is what you said true? That…..that poor child, did he really leave a child?”

Evan patted the back of Mrs Sanders’ hand, “Of course, it’s true, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. You should know Amy, a maid of the Lawrence family, she is pregnant with John’s child. Poor little John finally has a child of his own, it’s a pity the Lawrence couple don’t seem to be paying attention to that.”

Evan replied in a low voice, but a look of tenderness flashed on Mrs Sanders’ face. She originally thought that she was a strong-willed lady, and if she wanted to live, she would not easily give up on her life.

“Thank you very much, Reverend Bruce. Thank you for coming to see me.” Mrs Sanders leaned back on the pillow on the bed, her usually cold eyes had become a little warmer.

Evan nodded slightly, glanced at the wall clock and warmly said, “it’s almost time for lunch so I’ll go first. You need to rest.”

Mrs Sanders gave a slight nod, looking at Evan with grateful eyes.

Evan left Mrs Sanders’ little room and he saw Mr Chandler standing in the doorway with a piece of beef in his hands.

“Reverend Bruce.” His expression was a little sad, “What did she say to you?”

Evan patted Mr Chandler on the shoulder and said warmly, “Don’t worry, Mrs Sanders will survive.”

Mr Chandler looked at Evan with some surprise. Evan smiled without saying a word, nodded and left.

Evan went out of Mrs Sanders’ house and he suddenly remembered that he wanted to buy some candles for the church. He had been staying up late these few nights to sort out the account books of the church. The consumption of candles was amazing. The losses in the books were also worse than he imagined.

Evan didn’t know much about the small town of Delanlier. He asked a few people for directions to the grocery store but the roads in the town were not very clear to him. Evan walked around and soon got lost.

He turned around a tavern but found himself walking through a back street. The place was very desolate and there were only a few shops open, looking at it, it was not a good place to be. There was even a woman sitting at the entrance of one of the shops. The half-naked woman, wearing a shirt with a plunging neckline and showing half of her breasts, was lazily leaning on the door, giggling as she watched Evan.

Evan frowned. According to his more than 20 years of experience in his last life, he has come to the red-light district* of Delanlier.

With some embarrassment, Evan immediately turned around and left. Although he had been to this kind of place in his last life, he was wearing the skin of a priest in this life. If he remembers correctly, the reason why this character became cannon fodder in the end was because of his lustful and despicable self, so he must not have anything to do with this kind of place now.

Evan hurriedly left, but he had just walked to the entrance of the alley when he suddenly saw a figure in front of him. With a guilty conscience, Evan quickly hid in the shadows at the entrance of the alley.

He looked at the two people in the alley, one was a big person sloppily leaning against the wall looking at the other person, who was also in the shadows, with only a delicate jaw exposed.

Evan frowned, he felt like the big person looked familiar.

“Lord Duke, what do you think?”, the big person said in a low voice.

Evan was shocked, it turned out that the other person was Duke Wilson.

The other person slowly came out of the shadows. His face indifferent with gloomy eyes, it was indeed Duke Wilson.

“What do I think? James, I remember we negotiated the price before.” Duke Wilson’s voice was cold.

The big man, James, sneered, “We negotiated the price but it did not include the price of going to prison.”

Evan finally remembered where he had seen this big man, he was the gypsy who was mistakenly arrested by Sheriff Chandler. It turns out that the duke really has something to do with these gypsies.

“I personally got you out of prison. Doesn’t that show my sincerity?” The duke’s voice was still calm.

James gave a wicked smile and suddenly leaned forward, reaching out to touch the duke’s profile but the duke avoided him with a look of disgust.

“What the hell are you trying to do!” The duke snapped.

James smiled sullenly, “Lord Duke, you’re really more beautiful than all the women I have ever seen, do you know what I mean? If you want my silence, you should pay me a satisfying reward.”

Duke Wilson instantly squinted his eyes with a dangerous light flashing in his eyes. Even Evan, who was standing at the entrance of the alley, felt cold.

But James didn’t realise it at all, and was still speaking in a disgusting tone, “Lord Duke, I’m strong and I’ll do a good job. You will be satisfied.” (Wow, this idiot is really doing a good job of courting death, he actually dares. I bet he’ll be dead before the end of the next chapter)

When he heard this, Evan couldn’t help taking a deep breath, but he was immediately noticed by the people in the alley. James was very alert and he ran away through the other side of the alley but the duke stood still, staring at the place where Evan was standing and said coldly, “Come out!”

Glued to the spot, Evan’s expression trembled and he felt uncomfortable. He had been really careless today.

Evan slowly walked out of the shadows and the duke’s expression changed from that of ruthlessness to a shocked expression. Speechless, he looked at Evan in disbelief.

“Lord Duke.” Evan spoke with a little embarrassment.

“What are you doing here!” The duke spoke angrily.

Evan looked at Duke Wilson with his mouth half open but he felt bitter in his heart. He was really unlucky to run into the duke’s private matters.

“I…. lost my way…” Evan replied weakly, he didn’t believe his own excuse.

Looking at Evan’s innocent and clear blue eyes, the duke only felt dazzled. He bit his lower lip, the resentment in his heart overflowing.

“Go! Get out of here!” Facing Evan, the Duke didn’t say any bad words but he just waved his hand irritably and turned away without looking at Evan.

Evan was also embarrassed. Hearing this, he turned and quickly left.

Duke Wilson turned around and looked at Evan’s back. For some reason, there was a hint of embarrassment in his heart. How could this person have seen his worst side?

Duke Wilson hated James even more in his heart. No one in this world could threaten him, not to mention daring to talk to him so boldly. There was a look of viciousness in Duke Wilson’s eyes and a vicious smile crept up his cheeks. He strode out of the alley, a slight breeze lifting up the corners of his coat.

Evan fled to the main street with embarrassment. He looked at the crowd coming and going around him, and only felt his heartbeat was so strong that his heart was palpitating.

He looked up at the store opposite, it was the grocery store he had been looking for all this time. But at this moment, Evan had no intention of buying candles. He was about to leave but was stopped by the store owner who had come out.

“Reverend Bruce, the candles you ordered for last time have already been made. When do you want me to deliver them to you? I didn’t expect to meet you here, are you here to get the candles?” The store owner spoke while dragging Evan into the store.

In a daze, Evan followed the store owner but his heart was in a mess.