Moth Chasing the Sun 23
The two returned to the square where the church stood—familiar ground.
The voluptuous stone maidservant still held a slender vase with a long spout, pouring water into the pool. White doves circled before her, rising and alighting, occasionally using the pool water to wash their feathers, keeping them as white as clouds.
The square was more crowded now, the people roughly split into two groups: the believers, whose numbers had swelled, and the refugees queuing for relief grain.
Beside the latter, apart from the believers handing out food, were two people holding scripture books, preaching doctrine, speaking of the Mother Goddess's love for all.
To judge by the moved expressions on most of the faces of those receiving grain, they were not far from becoming believers.
Yan Xianchuan and the others followed the believers' queue into the church. The interior was solemn and revered; only faint footsteps sounded. Despite the crowd, no one spoke; everyone kept silence voluntarily.
Sunlight streamed through the colorful stained-glass skylights, casting dappled halos on the floor. The murals overhead told the story of the Mother Goddess's descent.
The reliefs along the corridor walls recounted the Mother Goddess's aid to humanity.
The vague-faced, merciful deity brought food to mankind, taught them survival and combat skills, imparted knowledge, and enlightened them. She asked for nothing in return—a true benevolent god.
If the Mother Goddess Italu truly existed, seeing herself used as a front to deceive believers, she would probably be furious enough to leap out of the murals.
Alas.
This was truly a man-made god.
Entering the main hall, one's eyes inevitably fell upon her statue.
Some visual design technique must have been employed here, making people unconsciously focus on it first.
Italu's statue remained exquisite and immaculate, free of dust. Its painted and gilded body was marvelously beautiful, imbued with divinity. Even though it was nude, it exuded no hint of sexuality or seduction, nor did it lead the viewer to think of anything else.
Only beauty.
A kind of beauty that was inclusive, compassionate, pitying, loving, and transcendent.
Yan Xianchuan paused to admire it, playing the tourist. She even clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and prayed silently.
But unlike the other believers beside her, she did not pray for safety.
Yan Xianchuan: "Mother Goddess, bless me with success in blowing up the church!"
After a while, Lu Mingqiu, who had gone ahead to scout the terrain, returned and saw her praying earnestly, lips moving as she silently recited something.
She read the lip movements, and her expression suddenly turned a bit odd.
Lu Mingqiu: "..."
Not sure how to comment. That was just like her.
Yan Xianchuan recited a few more times, opened her eyes, saw her figure, and lowered her hands as she walked over. "Finished scouting?"
"Mm, let's go." Lu Mingqiu nodded.
The main task was to find blind spots the cameras couldn't see, like restrooms, and hide small wirelessly controlled robots there. They would be the main force for the next step.
Lunch was roast duck.
The duck meat was sliced into equal portions and served on a plate with scallion shreds; beside it were thin, translucent pancakes.
Yan Xianchuan wished she could pop such wraps into her mouth one by one.
Life in Nanjin City was still peaceful, but that peace lasted only until tonight.
When night fell, the church's doors closed, the believers returned to their dwellings, and the button-sized robots hidden in the restroom extended six legs, scuttled across the ceiling with a pattering sound, came to a spot below a camera, extended a wire to connect to the circuit, and began intercepting signals.
The two, who had crept over early with explosives, received Hei Ge's message and dashed out from their hiding spot like two agile black cats.
"Only five minutes."
Yan Xianchuan pulled out a laser cutter and cut the glass into an arched passage large enough for a person to pass through, then gently placed the cut glass on the ground.
The two entered one after another, sprinted toward opposite directions, and fixed the prepared bombs in place. After rigging the first floor, they went up to the third floor.
Lu Mingqiu was only responsible for the north side; Yan Xianchuan, faster, rigged the south side's bombs, then came to the central area, placing explosives on a round stone altar.
The two returned to the entrance almost simultaneously, slipped out of the church quietly, and, instead of returning to the original lurking spot, chose a new position.
Half a minute after they hid, a thunderous boom erupted, as if the heavens were pouring down their wrath.
The massive church collapsed, walls shattered, dust scattered everywhere. The rumble startled nearby residents.
A passerby ran over, mouth agape as if it could fit a lightbulb.
"The church... the church collapsed! Oh no!"
He ran off shouting, his face full of panic.
Yan Xianchuan changed out of her stealth suit and muttered, "Why is he so surprised? The Mother Goddess herself promised this."
Lu Mingqiu laughed, at a loss for words.
As soon as the church was destroyed, people online began controlling the narrative, saying this was Azbeto's revenge.
He had clearly intended to kill these people, but the Church insisted on opposing him by providing them food—this was the consequence of defying him.
The speculation was reasonable and eloquent; many believed it.
Azbeto would not personally clarify.
Since the start of the war, after posting a video, he had not made any further public statements online.
What made this conjecture more convincing than anything was that the church in the neighboring city was also blown up.
Still their doing.
After destroying the second church, Lu Mingqiu marked a route on the map, preparing to strike a third.
Meanwhile, other members of the Resistance were purposefully and systematically attacking known Church strongholds.
These two organizations had been at odds for so many years that it would be a lie to say they didn't have dirt on each other.
But they were also skilled at weaving intricate schemes; half of the revealed strongholds had already been abandoned, leaving only three.
Bai Ge led a team into one of them. His team had only three people: besides him, there was a speedster named Lightning and an ice esper named Raspberry.
With him there, casualties were inevitable.
Bai Ge's attacks were spectacular—going straight for killing blows. His black holes destroyed almost everything in sight with devastating force.
When it came to hatred for the Church, he could be said to have the deepest.
Although Hei Ge had joined the artificial human project and acquired a bionic body, so what? Their mental link was gone forever. Such a body only served as a constant reminder that his brother was dead.
Killing Church members wouldn't bring him back, but it helped Bai Ge vent.
The more he killed, the more apparent the smile on the gray-haired youth's lips became.
"Enough, retreat." Hei Ge's voice came through the earpiece.
Bai Ge turned a deaf ear, expanding the black hole even further instead.
"Bai Ge, retreat!" His tone grew harsher. "Lightning, get him out."
Lightning immediately placed a blindfold on Bai Ge, ignored his wishes, supported the back of his neck with one hand and his lower back with the other, and in an instant moved him hundreds of meters away. Then he sprinted back and did the same to carry off Raspberry.
His speed was as fast as lightning—around him, everyone's movements slowed, a falling leaf hovering almost still in the air, only to be swept upward slowly by his motion.
By the time both were loaded into the vehicle, Bai Ge's protest had only just emerged: "I don't agree!"
Only after saying this did he realize he was already seated in the car, even seatbelted.
Bai Ge glared at Lightning, who shrank his head, coughed explosively, then slammed the accelerator.
As for Raspberry, she kept her eyes on her nose and heart, pretending to be a wooden figure, turning her head toward the window while silently reciting: "Can't see me, can't see me."