In the end, Shade accepted the [blasphemous cross], but felt that Miss Swift kept looking at him strangely after lunch.
After lunch, Shade left the auction house and took a carriage alone to the Home for the Blind in Rufu Lane. Even though the weather has turned cold recently, Sister Devlin, who was already waiting, still wore the same dark gray silk cloth.
Nun's robe attire.
According to the agreement the two made last Wednesday, Sister Devlin will take Shade to the headquarters of the [Spiritual Cult] today and inform him of more information about the cult and Chu Huo.
After confirming that Shade was free all afternoon, the two of them boarded the carriage at the back door of the House of the Blind and drove out of the city.
Even Grandma Cassandra didn't know exactly where the religious order was located. She only knew that it was from the old city in the south of Fort Midhill to the mountains. In the end, Sister Devlin brought Shad to Sikal.
Snake Heart Hospital at the foot of Mt.
"Snake Heart Hospital" is a long-established hospital chain in the Old World. It is very famous among civilians. It specializes in pediatrics and gynecology. It has even become the face of Rhodes Brand because of its semi-charitable profit method [Charity·
Snake Heart Hospital], this Rhodes card is now in the hands of the owner of [Sin Mansion].
The Ring Warlock organization has its own way of making money. After all, even extraordinary beings cannot print gold pounds out of thin air. The [Spiritual Cult Order] relies on operating hospitals of similar nature and cooperating with universities to obtain profitable income and policy support.
Appropriation.
Although it may not sound as profitable as an auction house or the like, it is more than enough to support a ring warlock organization that focuses on asceticism.
The Snake Heart Hospital in Fort Midhill is located on the edge of the slums in the old city in the south of the city. The hospital is a three-story building that occupies most of the street. The building itself is the same as the gradually declining old city. Although there are still shadows of the glory of the old era,
Compared with the buildings in other areas of Middleburg, it is unremarkable.
Although it is large in area, it is not well-known because it is located in the old city and only treats a few types of patients. Before this, Shade did not even know that this hospital existed in Fort Midhill.
"Sister, if your station is here, how could Granny Cassandra not know about it?"
Shade asked curiously as he walked down from the carriage holding an umbrella. The old city looked even more decayed in the rain, as if the dirty oil paintings had been splashed with water. There was a moist earthy smell in the air.
, there are almost no people on the streets.
The nun wearing a silver eyepatch shook her head slightly, and under the guidance of the nun who hurriedly came out to greet him, she led Shade up the steps and past the two open wooden doors into the hospital.
The gas lamp was a little dim, but it could barely illuminate the corridor of the hospital on a rainy and cloudy day. There were wet marks on the floor, and I didn't know if it had just been mopped. Inside the hospital, there were poor people from the area wearing black or gray coarse cloth.
While walking up the stairs, you can still hear the cry of a baby, which heralds the arrival of new life.
Therefore, although it looks a bit spooky on a rainy day, there is no scary atmosphere here.
The structure of the hospital is very interesting. If you want to reach the east part of the first floor of the hospital, you cannot go directly from the first floor of the hospital. Instead, you need to reach the second floor, go to the east part from the second floor and then go down the stairs.
Shade observed the internal conditions of the hospital as he walked, and then he realized that he had not been sick since he came to this world.
On the way, a red bird flew from nowhere and landed on Sister Devlin's shoulder. A rare smile appeared on the nun's delicate face under the eye patch, and she called the little bird.
Say hello, and then it flew out of the window and flew towards the Sikal Mountain in the distance.
Shade hesitantly looked at the golden color at the bottom of the crimson bird's wings and asked in a low voice:
"Is this true?"
"Yes, it has re-nirvana and plans to stay by my side for the next hundred years. This is also a rebirth for it. It needs my flame to regain its power as soon as possible."
The two's final destination was the basement of Snake Heart Hospital, but there was no passage to the deeper underground. At the end of the basement, there was a small room hidden by illusion. The size of the room was roughly the same as that of Shade's current residence.
The master bedroom is about the same size, and there is almost no furniture in it, but the floor and walls are covered with various styles of runes.
This is not a rune commonly used by ring magicians in this era. It should be an extraordinary system from an older era.
In the center of the room is a high platform with three steps. The iron frame on the high platform displays a huge oil painting. Even if Shade's bed is erected, it is not as huge as the oil painting.
The oil painting is mounted in a huge square metal frame. The thickness of the metal frame exceeds Shade's waist. Viewed from one side, the width of the frame itself is about the size of Shade's palm. The metal surface is uneven, as if a worm has penetrated it.
Inside the metal, there were strips of raised marks left on the surface.
As for the content of the oil painting, it is an ancient sacrificial site built with gray stone on the top of the mountains. The background is mountains and clouds. The background is very dark and looks a bit depressing.
"I feel the power of space."
Shade said, paused and added:
"But it's not a relic."
"Yes, please follow me."
The nun climbed up the steps, reached out and touched the surface of the oil painting, and then disappeared.
"Space movement? No, space movement in the material world is very dangerous. This is not a space movement, but two abnormal space zones that have been connected for a long time."
Shade found the answer from the knowledge he learned in St. Byrons. He knew that this kind of solidified space channel is equivalent to the top alchemy item, which can no longer be reproduced in the modern era of the Sixth Age. It is not that the alchemy craft has been lost, but
The space of the material world is very different from previous eras.
He followed up and touched the oil painting carefully, feeling as if his body had passed through a transparent water film. Then he realized that he was standing at the door of the gray stone sacrificial site painted in the oil painting. The sky was a little gloomy, but it was not.
It was raining. Looking outside, there was a steep and rugged stone mountain road. There was only a man-made path that could be walked up, and Shade was standing at the end of the path.
Compared with the oil painting, the sacrificial site in front of you is not very dilapidated. It is about the size of three or four St. Teresa Square. You can tell at a glance that this is definitely not a building built in the Sixth Age.
This should be the peak of a high mountain somewhere. Looking further away, you can see rolling mountains:
"This is the depth of the Rommel Mountains?"
Schad could only roughly estimate that the Rommel Mountain System is located in the central and eastern part of the Old World, and the Sikal Mountains are only part of the mountain system, but only on the northern periphery. The mountainous terrain in the mountains is extremely complex, and even in the steam age, civilization has not completely covered it.
Every corner of the mountainous area.
In other words, even in the steam age, most areas in the mountains and forests are still untouched by civilization. If the spiritual cult is based here, even if the Witch Council deliberately searches for it, it may not be able to find it.
"Yes, this is deep in the Rommel Mountains and falls within the scope of the Principality of Set. If you walk here from Fort Midhill, even if you know the road, it will take at least three days and three nights of sleepless journey. The Order
The illusion has hidden the nearby roads, and the nuns and monks of the order generally do not enter or leave here by walking. The most convenient way at present is through the painting. In addition, we can also go to a few places in the old continent.
city, but complex rituals need to be performed to activate the passages left over from the previous era inside the sacrificial site. Therefore, there is no problem in identifying the sect’s residence as Midhill Fort.”
Sister Devlin said as she led Shade into the ancient sacrificial site.
The [Spiritual Cult] is an organization of ring magicians inherited from the Fourth Age, but the predecessor of the Order was part of the Ancient Death Cult, so the history of this sacrificial site is probably older than the Fourth Age.
Although Shade only saw one building, in addition to the sacrificial site, there were towers, tombs, and abandoned ruins around it. The ruins were once the church of the ancient god, the ancient god of death, but the church was in the fourth era.
It was completely destroyed in the earthquake.
The main body of the sacrificial site is made of gray stone and is divided into three floors: upper, middle and lower. The lower floor is inside the mountain peak, so the middle floor is the one entering from the door.
Although the sect operates in the civilized world, a quarter of its members are still stationed here all year round for penance and study. Although it looks deserted, there are actually many people here.
Compared with the appearance of an ancient building at first glance, the interior of the sacrificial site looks quite like the steam era. The ground is paved with a relatively flat floor, and the walls have been painted. There are even steam engines and gas storage tanks underground for supply.
Used by the nuns and monks living here.
If Shade had appeared inside the sacrificial site from the beginning, he would never have guessed how ancient the history was here.
"We also need to keep up with the times."
Sister Devlin, who was leading Shade in the corridor, or rather in the corridor, said:
"If you don't adapt to the times, you will only be eliminated by the world. Only with this kind of wisdom can you move from the past era to the present."
Shade had already begun to imagine whether St. Byrons, who was also very wise, also had this kind of combination of "modernization" and "occultism".
The outsider is very curious about this place. Strictly speaking, this is the first gathering place for ring magicians that he has officially visited - St. Byrons is not counted. He was only in the library, and all he saw was the bookshelves.
Sister Devlin introduced to Shade as she walked, and immediately after leading Shade through the corridor, a young nun came over.
The spiritual cult does not have a very precise hierarchy, but generally those with normal eyes are the most ordinary members, those with linen covering their eyes are official members, and those with silver eyepatch to cover their faces are core members. At this time, two people came over
A nun who looks about the same age as Lesia and has normal eyes.
They greeted Sister Devlin in a low voice, and then talked about some things that needed her to deal with.
Most of the high-level warlocks of the order, Shade, have been seen before, especially the three high-level nuns who helped him open the road to the narrow room on Wednesday night. No one expressed doubts about Shade's appearance here. Devlin
None of the nun's decisions will be questioned.
The interior of the sacrificial site is divided into multiple areas, including many accommodations and libraries. Most of the areas other than these are related to the religious order's daily activities of praying, stargazing, moon worship, and ring warlock research. Dave
Sister Lin took Shade on a tour, and even used a crystal ball to perform divination for Shade herself, but she could only "see" a white mist.
There are many ancient murals on the stone walls of the corridors throughout the sacrificial site. Because some people have maintained them, they are still clear. Through those murals, Shade roughly knew the origin and development of the [Spiritual Cult]. He even read on the walls.
As for the mural depicting the battle on Mount Sikal, this is also something worth recording in the development of the Order.
What connects the middle and lower floors of the sacrificial ground is not a staircase, but a huge stone elevator, which uses steam as a power source. After stepping on the elevator, it will run automatically, and the hinges will make a rattling sound, which makes Shade very worried about this kind of lifting.
To be continued...