Chapter 275: Son Of God
In a church somewhere in the Ghost Painting World,
a sculpture of the Son of God hung high, as if gazing at the world with eyes of mercy.
There was no pure choir voice, yet eternal and devout prayers swirled in that pristine church.
“Lord Jesus Christ! I, a grievous sinner, have offended God, and now for God and for love of God above all, I sorrowfully repent my sin, I sorrowfully repent my sin, firmly resolving never again to offend God, hoping God will fully pardon my sin. Amen.”
“Have mercy! Jesus, Savior of the World, have mercy on us, mercy on all the world, Amen.”
“Have mercy! Jesus, Savior of the World, have mercy on us, mercy on all the world, Amen.”
Helpless people gathered in the holy church, ceaselessly reciting prayers; even the most rebellious thug had now become a devout believer sincerely confessing his sin.
They believed the outside world had ended, that this was the last place protected by the divine, that they were the chosen Noahs, and in the next life, they would create a new world as the most faithful believers.
They awaited the Lord’s descent and his next instructions.
Just as the crowd devoutly prayed and continued to confess their sins, the church door suddenly opened.
However, the one who appeared was not the omnipotent god they had imagined.
Under the dim lights, the crowd finally saw that the newcomer was neither one of those demons wandering outside the church nor the God they prayed to, but a man just like them.
A young man with a chilling temperament, holding a weapon resembling a stick in his hand; what most concerned the crowd was the man’s eyes, calm and indifferent, with no emotional fluctuations, like a living corpse, making people feel afraid.
The crowd hadn’t seen a living person for a long time, let alone an armed weirdo who looked so weird, so everyone was extremely alert and retreated one after another.
“Are you a messenger of God?” a middle-aged man asked first.
“I’m not, but I can give you a chance at salvation.”
“Ah, does that mean the outside world hasn’t been destroyed yet?”
“Of course not.”
The crowd rejoiced at this news.
“Great, my family might still be alive!”
“Don’t get too happy yet. I have questions for you; answer well, and you’ll have a chance at salvation.”
The crowd quickly quieted down, with some whispering: “Don’t you think that man is very weird, just like those demons?”
The young man ignored the idle talk and asked in a calm tone:
“How long have you been living here?”
The middle-aged man from earlier replied: “Sorry, we really don’t know. Since the demons appeared, all clocks have stopped, but I estimate it’s about two months.”
“What do you eat?”
“Oh, food and water stored in the church basement. Father Johnson had foreseen this and stockpiled a lot of food underneath the church.”
The man seemed to catch the key point. “Who is Father Johnson? Where is he?”
“Oh, Chrisman Johnson is the administrator of this church. About ten minutes ago, he said he was going to drive away the demons, and now none of us know his whereabouts.” The middle-aged man seemed very sad as he said this.
“You haven’t been attacked by demons in the church?”
The middle-aged man shook his head and said: “No, not once. Several times demons wandered outside the church, but they never came in.”
“Did Father Johnson warn you about anything?”
“Never leave the church, and don’t let the candles before the Lord go out.”
“Candles?”
Jiang Shan, who had learned everything through the Ghost Domain, wanted to see what this Ghost Wielder detaining Yang Jian, hidden in the church, was up to.
Moreover,
that weird white candle and candlestick inserted beneath the sculpture seemed to have a deep connection to the Ghost Painting.
Jiang Shan followed the middle-aged man through the vigilant crowd to the statue of the Son of God, where an exquisite silver candlestick was placed, with a pristine white candle lit on it.
“Silver candlestick, candle. It seems very likely to be a Ghost Painting Puzzle Piece, using a Ghost Painting Puzzle Piece to block the perception of ghosts within the Ghost Painting. Not a bad idea.”
“Not only that, the origins of these Two Ghosts might not be simple.”
Amid the crowd’s shocked and angry gazes, Jiang Shan walked to the candlestick and casually picked it up along with the candle.
Beneath the candlestick was a sharp long needle, perfectly embedded into the limestone surface.
In the flame of that candle, he saw such a scene:
In an exquisitely beautiful room, a flawless, stunningly beautiful woman was sitting sideways at a vanity; her hand was cruelly pierced and nailed to the table by the candlestick, her whole body slightly slumped, looking extremely fragile.
Weirdly,
though the woman was clearly sitting in front of the dressing mirror, her face was not visible in the mirror.
If not for that key detail, this would be an unbelievable work of art; it was just that the painter had deliberately omitted the face of that incomparably beautiful woman in the mirror, as if forgotten.
It seemed Jiang Shan’s Ghost Characters on his hand had suppressed the supernatural power of the candlestick, making the ghost hidden in the Ghost Domain truly appear before everyone.
“Thud~!”
“Thud~!”
The moment the woman appeared, a group of people behind Jiang Shan knelt to the ground; the fanatical crowd buried their heads deeply in the church’s red carpet, continuously reciting prayers.
“What are you doing?” Jiang Shan, holding the Ghost Candle Holder, asked in a calm tone.
“Messenger of God, you’ve finally come! We doubted your identity earlier, but seeing the miracle when you lifted the candlestick confirmed it. Please forgive our apologies.”
The middle-aged man on the ground trembled uncontrollably with excitement, his voice quivering as he continued:
“Only the sinless are not burned by the holy fire, and we are all born sinners; only the Son of God is sinless. Have you come to save us?!”
“Miracle?”
Hearing these two words, Jiang Shan’s gaze instantly turned icy; he looked toward the crowd and said coldly: “The one playing tricks, come out.”
“Hiding among a group of brainwashed Christians. Let me guess your purpose?”
Looking at the crowd kneeling before him, Jiang Shan’s gaze always fixed on a man wearing a black hood:
“Using a Ghost Painting Puzzle Piece to block the perception of the Ghost Painting and the wandering ghosts outside, but doing so must come at some cost.”
“If I guessed right, these Two Ghosts haven’t resurrected and are suppressed to the point of almost unable to attack because of your supernatural power and the lives of these believers, right?”
