Chapter 2.3 – Gray
Sally quietly sat in front of the prayer table. The priest had just rushed over in a hurry and sat on the other end. The sleeves of his black robe were rolled up, and his hands were still covered in quite a bit of dust. He had clearly been cleaning or repairing something.
The priest looked like he was already more than forty years old. The harsh environment and many years of hard labor had covered his face in deep marks. The priest’s hands were rather large and full of calluses, but one could feel strength from those hands. Even though Sally didn’t like the apostle statue personally, she was still full of respect towards this priest that carved that statue. She always felt that the priest who didn’t have any abilities was surrounded by an unseeable type of radiance, and this was especially prominent when he was working or praying.
The priest straightened his body and crossed his hands. He then looked at Sally with a smile.
“Priest…” There was a faint gloominess in Sally’s eyes. She hesitated for a long time before finding the words she was looking for. “Why do people suddenly change, to the point where they seem like a completely different person? Will everyone be like this… I am talking about suddenly becoming scary…”
The priest sank into a state of contemplation before replying with a smile. “I think I understand your question. Child, the reason why people change is because they do not have belief. Meanwhile, those people that suddenly become terrifying do so because they do not feel any restraint, and perhaps they do feel restraint but do not think that their evil conducts will be punished. Child, in this dark era, change is ever present, because once people obtain power, they lose their principles. Change is not always good, and unrestricted power will always bring about evil. That is why we need faith.”
“Then, is there really a lord out there?” Sally asked.
The priest laughed. Sally had never asked this question before. When people asked about the lord’s existence, then their distance from faith wasn’t far.
The priest thought for a bit before saying, “The lord is omnipresent, but because of this, we are unable to pinpoint the lord’s existence, nor would I be able to prove his existence to you. What we can do, is to maintain our faith towards the lord.”
“Since we can’t prove the lord’s existence, then why is there a need for faith?” Sally asked again.
“Because faith is a beam of light that can point you in the right direction inside the darkness.” When the priest spoke this sentence, Sally seemed to have seen that radiance from his body again.
“What can I even do for the lord? Apart from my heart and body, I don’t have anything.” Sally looked somewhat fervently at the priest. Her body leaned forward, her full chest’s cleavage becoming even more striking after pressing against the table.
The priest saw all of this. His eyes looked as if they were filled with wisdom of the ways of the world. He said with a gentle voice, “The lord doesn’t need your money or your body, all he needs is your faith. I am the same.”
Sally felt a bit surprised. Then, her eyes began to surge with true joy. Her eyes passed the priest and landed on the two divine altars the priest made. From the man nailed on the cross, she still felt a boundless kindness and mercy, but from the apostle, she continued to feel an inhuman coldness.
The short conversation she had with the priest afterwards was short and comforting. When Sally walked towards the main entrance of the church, her face was once again filled with radiance. There was a small door inside of the large entrance, and on the table next to it were three thick books. She saw behind a pillar not too far away Mark, who was secretly looking over. The young child was still full of energy. Even though that incident had just happened, when he saw Sally, his throat began to rise and fall again, as if he wanted to throw himself over again. However, the priest that appeared in front of the divine altar made him dispel all improper thoughts.
Sally looked as if she didn’t see the cowering Mark at all. She lifted the books and walked out from the church. She then carefully closed the small door.
The sky was already completely dark, and the wind was even more so to the point where it was a bit terrifying. Sally tightly bound her large clothes around her and struggled through the cold winds. When she walked out from a small road, she suddenly remembered something. She then took out the cloth from her overcoat’s pocket and forcefully threw it outwards.
The wind was extremely great, great to the extent where it could blow one away. This cloth had just left Sally’s hand when it was blow high into the air and then towards who knew where.
The night was extremely cold. Just this simple motion of tossing out the cloth made Sally shiver with coldness. She hurriedly pulled back her small hand that was cold to the point of almost freezing back inside of her sleeves before tightly carrying the books in her arms in fear of dropping them onto the ground.
When she raised her head and saw the road that was hidden within the boundless darkness, Sally truly doubted whether she would be able to return home through this type of cold night. However, just like the priest said, faith was a beam of light, and even in the darkest times, the path forward would be illuminated. Sally wasn’t sure of the lord’s existence yet, but in her mind, there was always her own beam of light.”
The wind suddenly became weaker, and a bit of warmth emerged in this dark world.
A large cloak that still carried warmth wrapped around Sally’s body, making her trembling body calm down. The body warmth and scent were both quite familiar, and it immediately made her want to jump and cry out. She suddenly freed herself from the cover of this cloak and turned around. As expected, a tall, sturdy, and familiar figure appeared in the darkness.
Sally almost couldn’t believe her eyes. Only after a few seconds had passed did she call out the word ‘uncle’ and then suddenly throw herself into this tall and sturdy man’s embrace! Only now did she truly act like a thirteen year old child.
Li Gaolei tightly wrapped the cloak around Sally before saying with a smile, “Sally, I heard from your companions that you came to the church, so I hurried over. Luckily, I didn’t miss you.”
Sally raised her little face, and with a somewhat unconvinced voice, she asked, “Uncle, how did you come here? Dragon City doesn’t allow outsiders in.”
Li Gaolei patted Sally’s head and said, “Uncle can be considered a Black Dragonrider subordinate now, so of course I can come in. However, your older sister Li only came out of the hospital today, so I only came to see you now.”
Sally’s little head stuck out from Li Gaolei’s embrace, and sure enough, she saw Li’s graceful figure. Despite the temperature being so cold, she still only wore the thin skin-tight combat suit and a jacket over that. Sally knew that the Li with Combat Domain abilities didn’t fear the cold, and as such, she stuck out her tongue towards her. Li smiled and forcefully ruffled her hair.
Sally looked towards Li Gaolei, and this time, she asked seriously, “Uncle, how did you become a dragonrider subordinate? Didn’t you say before that you would rather die than become a subordinate that was no different from a slave?”
Li Gaolei’s face became embarrassed. He scratched his short hair and said ambiguously, “Ah, is that so? Did I say that before?”
“You have!” Sally was extremely certain.
Seeing Sally’s serious face, Li Gaolei grabbed his short hair again. However, this time, Li looked towards a different direction and was grabbing her short maroon hair just like Li Gaolei.
Li Gaolei laughed and said, “Alright, maybe I did say that before. However, this world is always changing right? My leader isn’t bad, a good person and quite handsome as well. He’s called Su. If you met him before, you would definitely like him.”
