Chapter 215

Chapter 215

The fifty-second week of the year 991, Sunday.

In the hall of the ten-story Contradictory Twin Church, it was filled with people.

Rarely seen without his white or black suit, Hui Cui today wore a black and white cleric's robe, holding an open scripture book as he stood beneath the altar.

His voice was deep but clear, resonating throughout every corner of the church:

"Everyone should have a heart to protect, not necessarily to protect others, but first to protect oneself.

"Identify what you cannot give up, and have the courage to take up arms for it.

"The moment you begin to fight, He will be with you.

"But also have the wisdom to know when to end the battle; if your heart is controlled by destruction, He will leave you.

"You should feel this sign, you should heed His warning.

"Praise Him, praise the Contradictory Twin!"

The believers responded in unison: "Praise the Contradictory Twin!"

The last sermon before the New Year ended, but the followers of the Contradictory Twin did not disperse. Instead, they lined up to move forward.

Those who came to listen to the sermon today could receive a signature from Apostle Hui Cui Dover!

Of course, their Spire City Judge, known for being approachable, made getting his signature easy, but this year’s signatures would come with a special blessing: “May 992 be peaceful and smooth.” It was unique!

The Contradictory Twin Church had been promoting this event for a week, hoping to bring good luck for the New Year. Many believed that the Judge’s signature could ensure they wouldn’t encounter heretic believers or fiends in the coming year, so the queue stretched outside the church, and more people kept joining after seeing the line.

After over two hours, the church closed its main doors and switched to side entrances, and the queue began to shorten slowly.

Another half hour later, only one person remained in the queue.

This last person, Lin, who usually wore his uniform as casual wear, smiled and handed over a photo of Hui Cui.

The photo, no larger than half an inch, was bought from a gift shop nearby. Hui Cui, surprised to see Lin buying something so impractical, switched to a finer-tipped pen and wrote his name and blessing smoothly on the back of the photo.

"I hope you won't get hurt again, and I hope to receive your letters — Hui Cui Dover"

The first sentence was ordinary, but the second made Lin cough lightly.

"Is it convenient to send letters to headquarters?" he asked.

"If it's to me, it's very convenient," Hui Cui replied, waiting for the ink to dry before handing the half-inch photo back to Lin.

Unexpectedly, when Lin took back the photo, he opened his pocket watch and carefully placed the photo inside the lid, securing it gently.

According to the custom in the dungeon, pocket watches were typically kept in the chest pocket, close to the heart.

Because of this, photos kept in a pocket watch carried a tacit romantic meaning.

I should have picked one for him, Hui Cui thought immediately, but then he remembered he didn't have many personal photos.

Hui Cui, who disliked taking photos, felt regret for the first time about this.

"You've worked hard, sir," said the apprentice priest, who knew who Lin was, his eyes shining as he observed Lin and then turned to Hui Cui, "That's all, no one else will come."

His hint was too obvious, and Lin raised his hand to cover his mouth, his ears slightly red under his black hair.

"Thank you," Hui Cui said, then turned to Lin with a smile, "Lin, would you like to visit my living quarters here at the church?"

At these words, the apprentice priest's eyes shone even brighter.

Lin coughed again, putting down his hand and trying to appear calm, "Of course, I'm curious."

"Come along," Hui Cui's voice carried a hint of amusement. Lin paused for a moment to avoid walking awkwardly.

After a few steps, he remembered to say goodbye to the apprentice priest.

Lin nodded at the apprentice priest, who was clenching his fists in encouragement, and glanced at the statue on the altar of the Contradictory Twin.

It depicted broken swords, a half-broken spear, a damaged shield, and a dagger embedded in the ground.

There were also various types of guns and cannons, piled up like junk on the altar. With a professional eye, Lin determined that none of these items could be of any practical use in battle.

The statue of the God of War was made of disabled weapons, nothing could be more contradictory than this.

Thinking about it, He probably wasn’t someone who enjoyed philosophical contemplation?

Perhaps using such scrapped weapons to wreak havoc on the battlefield was why Teacher Moses described Him as a war maniac.

Lin mocked in his mind, then looked at the hanging swords and heavy machine guns on the church walls.

"These are ready for use," Hui Cui said, "A significant part of the apprentice priests' work is maintaining these weapons."

"Do you do that too?"

"Yes," Hui Cui's face showed a hint of nostalgia, "But I wasn't very good at it. I was always afraid of hurting myself with knives and guns. I had a classmate who accidentally pulled the trigger while cleaning a pistol and shot himself in the lung."

Lin also had classmates who injured themselves during gun practice, and he commented, "When you see guns too often in life, you lose respect for weapons, and that's how accidents happen."

"That's right," Hui Cui agreed, stopping at a door.

He took out a key, inserted it, and opened the door, saying to Lin, "Welcome."

The apostle's room in the church turned out to be just a small one-bedroom apartment.

The newly opened ventilation hummed, and the floor lamp illuminated the small sofa and coffee table.

Beyond the bookshelf used as a partition, there was a tidy double bed.

Lin looked at the bed and suddenly felt nervous for some reason. Hui Cui, who had walked in, noticed Lin wasn't following and turned back in surprise to see the black-haired ritualist's face flushed red.

"Lin?"

"It's... it's nothing!" Lin stammered, plopping down on the sofa and trying to compose himself, suppressing some... things he shouldn't have seen before his age... Uh.

Get out of my head! Hui Cui definitely didn't mean anything by it!

Oh no, compared to people from another world, I'm so dirty...

Lin reflected but also began to think about something.

Their original plan was to go to the city museum after the signing event. What did Hui Cui mean by inviting him here?

"..." Lin realized his mind was full of nonsense and quickly picked up the hot water Hui Cui had poured, drinking it to wash away the clutter in his head.

After putting down the thermos, Hui Cui went to the corner of the bedroom hidden by the bookshelf.

There, he couldn't see Lin.

Lin saw his chance, put his hand in his pocket, and gripped a cold piece of paper.

He took a deep breath, feeling more nervous than he had been before giving a speech at the ritualists' conference a few days ago.

Finally, Hui Cui came out.

His hand was also in his pocket. Lin seemed to have a premonition and spoke at the same time as Hui Cui, who stood opposite him:

"I have a gift for you."

"A New Year's gift, I don't know if you'll like it."

As they finished speaking, Hui Cui took out a small gift box, and Lin pulled out another half-inch photo.

"Sorry..." Lin placed the blank side of the photo on the coffee table, turning away with a burning face, "It's very simple..."

Hui Cui also bent down to place the gift box on the coffee table, then picked up the photo and flipped it over.

It was a photo of Lin.

The gift shop at the Cathedral of Contradictory Twins offered photography and quick photo printing services.

Quick photo printing was expensive, and Hui Cui was surprised again today that Lin had spent the money on this.

In the photo, the black-haired ritualist had removed his bandage to reveal his eyes, but he wasn't looking straight at the camera.

His gaze was shyly averted, making the uniformed photo look less like a work portrait and more like a cute, bashful snapshot.

"I want to carry your photo with me, or carry you with me."

A few weeks ago, Hui Cui had said this.

Now, Hui Cui smiled unconsciously but pushed the photo back to Lin.

He knelt beside the coffee table, took out a pen from his chest pocket, and handed it to Lin.

"Write a message for me too," he requested.

"I can't write anything particularly nice," Lin complained softly, taking the pen.

After a few seconds of thought, he wrote:

"Sleep well, maybe we'll meet during rest—Lin"

Hui Cui raised an eyebrow.

He wasn't sure if he should look forward to this "maybe we'll meet during rest." Lin wouldn't use the Mirror Pupil ritual for this, would he?

Now, it seemed Lin's eyes were also under the influence of the Mirror Pupil ritual...

Hui Cui remained silent, while Lin shivered slightly with a chill deep in his consciousness.

In the end, Hui Cui didn't ask Lin to change the message and pushed the small gift box toward him.

Lin sized up the box, first confirming it wasn't a ham, then opened it. When he saw what was inside, his eyes widened in surprise.

"These are my fallen ear feathers," Hui Cui said softly.

Birdmen's ear feathers, like hair, shed and regrow.

Lin knew birdmen usually kept their feathers until a certain moment, when they would make jewelry from old feathers and give it away.

The meaning was clear, and understanding its value, Lin hesitated to touch them, afraid of leaving sweat marks.

Hui Cui then reached out and took out the feathers, or rather, a pair of earrings made from six feathers.

The light illuminated the snow-white feathers and clearly showed the tips, which had a grayish tinge like dirt.

"I'm not a pure white-feathered Dover Birdman," Hui Cui explained, "My feathers have a greenish-gray hue, which is why my parents named me this.

"After becoming an apostle, the propaganda department wanted my image in the posters to be simpler and more powerful, so they asked me to dye my feathers white.

"It was a deception, but when they found out that the white-feathered posters were indeed more popular and could get more people to accept safety manuals, I couldn't say no."

Unable to say no, I remained uneasy until I met you.

"…The Propaganda Department really has no taste," Lin said.

Hui Cui chuckled and asked, "Shall I put it on?"

Lin had ear piercings, which were for additional accessory slots—ahem, because alchemical communicators are usually earring styles, and clips tend to fall off easily.

However, Lin rarely wore earrings; the pendant around his neck already felt heavy enough.

But the feather was light and soft, a delicate little thing.

Lin turned his head, lifting his hair to reveal the fiery red ears beneath.

Hui Cui stood up, holding the feather earring, leaning over the narrow coffee table to gently touch Lin's burning earlobe.

Click, the clasp of the earring closed.

"The color and appearance of the feather do not affect one's true self. All I need to do is fulfill my duty," Hui Cui said, picking up the second feather earring, "Now, I understand this."

Lin obligingly presented the other ear.

Click.

Lin let his hair fall back into place, tilting his head to meet Hui Cui’s gaze, seeing himself in Hui Cui’s eyes and Hui Cui in his own.

He heard Hui Cui’s heart speak.

Hui Cui said, "Just like, no matter what you are hesitating about, it won’t affect my feelings for you."