CH 180

Xiao Qingnian left satisfied with the money.

Xiao Lan and Luo switched to a hidden ruined house and opened the suitcase in their hands.

There was a lot of information in the suitcase and the two men began by sifting through the bits that duplicated the information they knew.

We also removed some rumours that were almost at the level of an IQ tax, such as "look for Sara for infertility", "believe in Sara today and you'll be rich tomorrow", "believe in Sara during the day and forget about her at night! " and so on.

Soon, a set of photographs and a few pages caught the attention of the two men.

The photograph looks somewhat old, yellowed and faded, and above it is a simple chapel that looks plain and unimpressive.

However, on the back of the photograph it is stated that it was taken in the town of Mo Na, thirty-four years ago.

Xiao Lan looked at the photo: "Did this place actually used to believe in God? I thought they always looked like this."

He went through the other photographs, which captured a number of the town's residents heading to church.

In the photographs, the men appear to have their limbs intact and in a normal state of mind, nothing like they are now.

Luo also looked at the other papers and suddenly picked up a few of them and said to Xiao Lan, "Look here, sir, the entry about Sara only appeared thirty-three years ago."

Xiao Lan looked over.

It is the diary of a priest, presumably torn from some book, and the paper is yellowed and brittle, with the year and date clearly written on it.

The diary contains a description of how he heard the strange sound.

At first he thought he was hallucinating, but then he heard such a voice several times, which made him suspicious.

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When he asked people around him, he found that some heard the same sound as he did, while others said it was someone singing, and others could hear nothing at all.

At first people didn't take it seriously.

Later on, the priest who wrote the diary gradually found himself thinking that the voice was getting better and better, like a song.

Later, when people began to behave strangely and have abnormal mental states, the church began to organise prayers for the residents to solve the problem, but to no avail.

Eventually, the diary becomes odd, like runes or drawings, making it impossible to read the meaning.

I'm afraid the priest who wrote the diary was also influenced.

Xiao Lan looked at the information, "I'm afraid that this Sara appeared in the town out of nowhere and then used her powers to forcefully influence the residents of the town. But His influence varies from person to person, some will be affected to a great extent, others hardly at all."

Luo said, "You mean the guy who sold us the suitcase?"

Xiao Lan nodded, "Yes, he's from the town, but has lived in it for so long with very little influence, and the same is probably true of the neighbour he was talking about. People like them probably choose to leave the area, which is why there are so few people in the town."

Xiao Lan saw another piece of cloth with a bloodstain on it.

Clipped to the piece of cloth was a piece of paper that read - "Thirty years ago, a mysterious ritual was held in the small town of Mo Na, all participants were unaccounted for and suspected to be dead, but no bodies were found."

"Sacrifice ......" Xiao Lan rubbed the piece of paper in his hand, "Could it be at that altar?"

At this point, Luo, a resourceful assistant, pulled a hand-drawn map out of a pile of materials.

Luo handed over the map, "This is the map to the church, maybe we can go and see if there are any clues there."

--

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The two men walked over to the location as drawn on the map.

This is in the corner of the town, with buildings tumbling down around it, mostly buried in the wild grass, so perhaps it won't be long before the area is swallowed up by the forest.

With difficulty they discerned the position of the buildings and gradually found where the original church had been.

The roof of the church has collapsed and the cross above is nowhere to be seen, nor is the idol visible.

The broken walls without roofs stand quietly amidst the barren grass, giving them a somewhat forlorn feel.

Xiao Lan was about to go in and have a look when there was a movement from the grass not far away.

Shortly afterwards, a figure emerged from the dead yellow grass.

It was a man with unkempt hair and a head full of grass clippings as if he were a beggar.

His clothes were so ragged that they could no longer be seen in their original colour or style, and he was covered in filth, and at the slightest approach you could smell an unpleasant odour.

"What are you doing in church, stranger?" The man opened his mouth and his voice was hoarse.

When she met his eyes, Xiao Lan realised that his eyes were clear and did not look like he had been affected by Sara. Moreover, there was not even a trace of alienation on his face.

Xiao Lan said, "Hello, we would like to know something about the church, what is the name please?"

The man looked at the two men and took two steps in, "My name is John and I'm a priest."

"A priest?" Xiao Lan looked at his completely colourless clothes with some surprise, "We were told that the town of Mo Na was religious thirty-three years ago, are you the priest of that time?"

John nodded: "It was, when the people of Mo Na used to come to the church for prayer and worship and we had a peaceful and quiet life, not like today."

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He looked at the almost collapsed church with a look of pain and longing in his eyes.

John walked up to the church steps and sat down, looking up at the two Xiao Lan's, "You're here to investigate Sara as well, the Strangers are always interested in Sara."

Xiao Lan nodded: "Yes, can you tell us about it?"

John smiled, "I wouldn't turn down a request like that from a stranger, although telling you wouldn't change anything ......"

" Sara appeared out of nowhere thirty-three years ago. A number of people in the town heard strange noises at that time, but everyone heard it differently to their ears."

"At the time, the bishop was one of the first to hear the singing, and he described it to us as the most beautiful song in the world, which must have come from the music of the angels. This made us think for a moment that it was a miracle and that only devout believers could hear the singing."

"Oh ......" John's smile was bitter, "No, Sara is not a god ......"

Xiao Lan asks, "What about you? What did you hear?"

John said, "I could barely hear it, only a vague bit of noise, nothing was felt, probably that was my luck."

"Gradually, we noticed that the bishop had changed. He stopped praying and had no interest in the Bible, just chanted 'Sara' all day and was even seen by other priests hiding and hurting himself."

"The same change is gradually taking place among the inhabitants of the town, more and more people are having such strange reactions, we pray to God but to no avail, things are still getting worse."

"Later on, they got crazier and crazier, even toppling the idols and building an altar to Sara underground."

"And then there was the whole town going crazy with self-harm and falling into a frenzy of adoration for Sara, just like now."

"Some people were so frightened by this that they left the town and never returned."

Xiao Lan wondered, "What about you? Why don't you leave?"

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John's eyes were firm: "I will guard my Lord and not retreat, even if I am the only one left."

Xiao Lan asked about the information he had seen earlier, "I heard that there was also a ritual."

John's expression firmed up, "Yes, it was the bishop who led the most fervent of Sara's followers, but none of them came back and I'm not sure what happened."

Xiao Lan: "And do you know where the place of worship is?"

John held out a dirty, withered finger and pointed to the ground, "It's down there, there was a path under the church that led to the altar, then they didn't use this place when they had other path's, but this one is still there."

Xiao Lan asked, "So, have you met Sara?"

John shook his head, "No, not just me, probably no one in the whole town has ever seen one, and I even wonder if Sara really exists."

Xiao Lan, seeing that it was still early, turned back to Luo and asked, "Do you want to go down and have a look?"

Luo smiled and said, "I'll always be there for you if you want."

John looked at them, "It's dangerous there, I tried to go in but something was attacking me inside and I couldn't get much deeper at all, you'd better not try that easily."

Xiao Lan said, "Thank you, but we have very important goals to accomplish."

Without further persuasion, John whispered, "May the Lord bless you."

Xiao Lan also said to him, "All the best to you too."

--

Xiao Lan and Luo followed John's instructions and headed for the ground floor of the church.

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He planned to go scouting first, after all, they are all advanced players now, there is no need to huddle for any risk, if the danger is really high, then come back and gather his buddies.

Soon the two arrived at the dark passage that led to the altar.

It was so dark inside that Xiao Lan had to pull out his [nuclear torch] to light the way.

The passage is very rough and you can see that it has been poorly repaired, the floor is not cleaned of debris and it is not a good experience to walk on.

The sound of the two men's footsteps echoed in the silent passage, accompanying the darkness little by little towards the depths.

"Sasha ......"

There was a rattle from ahead, like some kind of shuffling footsteps, and it was slowly approaching this way.

Xiao Lan stopped in his tracks and looked over.

What appears is a human figure.

He was dressed in shabby priestly attire and may have been one of the priests in the church at one time.

But his exposed face was devoid of any features, as if his features had been born open together.

Not only that, but the man's demeanour was very bizarre.

He took one step in the direction of Xiao Lan and the other, his body as rigid as a stone statue.

He slowly approached the two men and just when he was less than a metre away from Xiao Lan, he suddenly accelerated towards him.

He stretched out his stiff arms, his fingers as withered as twigs, and his nails were indeed sharp.

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It is not difficult to imagine that the Reverend John of Mr. Mai had no choice but to flee in the face of such a monster.

His opponent was different now, however, and before Xiao Lan could make a move, Luo leapt forward.

In the light of Xiao Lan's torch, a black shadow was seen leaping out of his side, landing violently in front of the inhuman priest and then kicking him back with a graceful gesture.

The whole process was sharp without losing its beauty, showing off her long legs while perfectly showing off her boyfriend strength and her own waist and leg strength.

Xiao Lan's eyes could not help but glance at his strong, lean waist and long legs.

Well ...... looks very powerful.

The priest's outstretched hand was still stiffly raised in mid-air, but his back had landed heavily on the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

The two darted away from him while he was down.

By the time he got to his feet with awkward movements, the area was empty.

The priest's head turned and seemed a little puzzled.

But having ascertained that no one was around, he resumed his foot-dragging prowl, as if he would only appear in this fixed area and attack intruders.

Such a move was watched by two people hiding a short distance away.

Xiao Lan whispered, "It looks like we just need to pull away to get away from them and dive in without wasting time fighting."

Luo asks softly, "What if they are found out?"

Xiao Lan smiled: "Then use the ancestral physical invisibility technique."

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A certain master assassin said it well, just take out anyone who finds me and it's a perfect infiltration.

Xiao Lan is very keen on this skill, but is often unable to use it to its full potential due to various circumstances and time constraints.

Luo smiles: "At your service."

The author has something to say.

Luo, sir, do you see my waist?

Xiao Lan: Good.

Luo: So would ...... like to try it?

The priest kicked to the ground: although I am no longer human, you are real dogs!

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