The light and heat of the sun are fading day by day, the time of direct sunlight is shortening each day, and the nights are quietly lengthening, when the harvest is over, a sudden rain ends the summer heat, and on the cooler nights, the white horn star gradually moving westward reminds scholars and farmers that summer is coming to an end.

The Frost Moon is approaching, and while autumn is not yet here, as a northern kingdom, much of Ansu will be cooler in the week leading up to the Frost Moon, even in the south.

In the past, this will be the last "golden hour" for the residents of various towns - the harvest of grain in the harvest month is hoarded in the cellars and granaries of every household, there is no need to worry about food for the time being, the summer epidemic of many diseases will decrease as the weather becomes cooler, the annoying mosquitoes will gradually disappear, and it will take some time for the weather to completely turn cold, before the winter fog moon comes, people do not have to worry about the survival threat brought by the cold winter, they can take advantage of this last suitable period of activity to continue to stock up on food, Or repair the house and stock up on firewood......

Theoretically, this short "Ansu Autumn" is the last busy day of the year for the towns and cities.

In Lu'an, however, the prosperity ended at the beginning of the harvest month.

Today is the 54th day of the lockdown, and the atmosphere in the city is still deteriorating.

There were hardly any pedestrians in the streets, the doors and windows of every house were closed, and occasionally hurried figures flashed from the corners, except for the patrolling soldiers of the Holy Cult, there were only clergy or petty officials who came out to inquire about the news, and even though it was noon, the whole city was as lifeless and lifeless as night.

Few would associate such a depressing, tense and lifeless city with the Holy Light Church's holy sites in the south.

However, the atmosphere made sense - the news of the change of ownership of the South and the revival of the Duchy of Cecil had already spread throughout the region, and everyone knew that a new ruler had come to the land, but the bad thing was that the relationship between the new ruler and the Church of Light did not seem to be on good terms: in the astonishing war more than a month ago, the Church of the Light made a bad choice, and an elite army of the Holy Church under the leadership of the Bishop of the South stepped into the battlefield, and it was on the opposite side of Cecil......

The war began with great momentum and ended incredibly quickly, with the defeat of the Bishop and the annihilation of the most powerful Papal Knight in the South.

He even took a ride on all the high-ranking knights from the Plains of the Holy Spirit.

Then the city of Luan was blocked.

The blockade, rather than the attack, put more pressure on Luan City.

If, after the war, the Duke of the South had come directly to Xingshi to ask for his guilt, or had simply sent troops to the city, the priests of Lu'an would have felt more at ease - at least it would have proved a clear attitude, and as long as the attitude was clear, it would be much easier to deal with.

The city of Lu'an can sincerely apologize, can promise a series of compensation conditions, and give up some church land and even some religious immunity, in exchange for the new lord's anger to subside, in exchange for the opportunity to continue to live and proselytize in this land, even if the situation is really out of control, the southern duke insists on solving the problem by force, and the defenders of Lu'an will not be afraid: the fanatical papal knights have long been ready for martyrdom, the clergy and priests are not afraid of swords and magic fire, and the clergy can preach in this barbaric land in the southThey have always been the most stubborn and unafraid of challenges in the Church of Light.

However, the new ruler of the principality chose the most difficult and unpredictable action to deal with: the silent blockade.

He did not send a single soldier into the city, but only blocked all the checkpoints connecting the city to the outside world, and the heavily armed Cecil soldiers and their fortifications blocked every road outside the city like a plug in a barrel, and the movement of people and the spread of information were strictly forbidden - the Duke used the reason to maintain order after the war and to investigate intelligence, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was putting the entire Southern Church under house arrest.

All the Holy Light priests who were missionaries in the southern region were driven to the city, and the channels of communication with the plains of the Holy Spirit were completely blocked, and caravans, scattered adventurers, and mercenaries were forbidden to approach this area. At first, since the Cecil blockade had not yet been closed, there were still sporadic exiled knights running into the city through the paths, and the principals of the cathedral were able to learn about the latest changes outside through the mouths of the exiled knights, but soon, all the loopholes were filled, all channels of information to the outside world were cut off, and the city was completely blindfolded, covered with ears - and mouths.

The inhabitants of the city soon became uneasy, and the nominal city administrators sent by the Ansu royal family fled before the blockade was closed, and half of them were said to have taken refuge with the Cecil.

In this atmosphere, this year's harvest festival was spent in silence - no one organized a celebration, let alone wasted food, the priests directed the farmers to harvest the last crops in the fields close to the city walls, and then pressed these probably the last food into the granary, and began to impose the strictest curfew and rationing on the common people.

It seems that everything has taken its worst, but in reality, in the Cathedral of St. Luan, the steadfast faith still sustains the last of the clergy who remain here.

Fran Béran, who had been provisionally elected Bishop of Luan, ended his morning prayer and stood up in silence in front of the icon of the God of Light, allowing his attendants to come forward and straighten out his still-shiny robes, with a calm expression on his face.

The icon of the God of Light stands silently in this prayer room, a layer of clear light enveloping the icon, as it has been for the past hundred years, and in the eyes of François Béran, this icon of eternal brilliance represents the Cathedral of Luen at this moment: no matter how bad the situation outside, no matter how wild the darkness and heretical beliefs may be, the great God of Light will always shelter here, and his light will never fade, which means that all challenges from the outside world are temporary.

After letting the attendants step aside, the tall black-haired bishop left the prayer room, and outside, in the rest room, he saw several men in clerical robes already gathered there.

On the round table in the lounge were delicate snacks and fragrant black tea, and some had clearly been enjoyed.

Food rationing is underway in the city, and the civilians can only receive enough food to survive, and in order to avoid exhausting their physical strength, most of the civilians now choose to stay at home all day, but the priests of the cathedral are not within the scope of the "ration limit" - as the messengers of the gods, the priests cannot starve like the untouchables, which not only insults the majesty of the god of light, but also seriously affects the combat effectiveness of the priests.

It was a reasonable arrangement, so François Béran just glanced at the snacks and tea, and then came to the priests with a blank face: "How is the situation in the city?" ”

A priest stood up: "There is no chaos, the Holy Cult and the exiled knights who have taken refuge in us are on patrol, and the civilians are basically staying at home. ”

Fran nodded, and turned to the other priest: "What about the movements of the Cecil?" ”

"Nothing has changed, they are still locking down the city, but there are no further moves."

"That foolish and arrogant 'duke' ......who has taken refuge in the devil," said a middle-aged priest indignantly, "...... His behavior is simply unreasonable! Treating the Church of the Light like this, did he think that there was only one St. Luan's Cathedral in the whole of Ansu? ”

"Perhaps the bishops of the Plains of the Holy Spirit and the royal capital will come to our aid, but at least for the time being, we are still under the control of others," Fran Béran said, glancing at the angry middle-aged bishop, shaking his head slightly, "Gawain Cecil's actions are indeed tantamount to being with the devil, but he is a powerful devil. ”

The priest who was the first to speak before had a look of sorrow on his face: "Bishop, what do you think that Gawain Cecil wants to do?" ”

François Bérang groaned for a moment, then said unhurriedly: "It is obvious that he wants to get us out completely. ”

Then he added: "Neither attacking nor retreating, maintaining the blockade and waiting for the city of Luan to collapse on its own, his purpose is very clear, and that is to hope that we will voluntarily submit to the city—that we, the servants of the Lord, will leave the city on our own, so that he can take over it as a matter of course, and banish the faith of the Light once and for all, without fear of moral repercussions." This is a typical vicious trick, full of cunning and dishonorless, as we have judged at the beginning: the seemingly great and glamorous Founding Hero is in fact a man who is in fact a man of arbitrary greed who wants nothing but absolute power, as he reveals when he destroys all the nobles of the South by his cunning. ”

"We are servants of the Lord, how can we yield to such people!" The grumpy middle-aged priest immediately exclaimed, "He can only do this in vain—he doesn't understand the power of piety!" ”

"Those powerful magical weapons blinded his judgment, and he thought that the capture of Luan Cathedral would be as easy as the capture of the Rock Fortress," Fran Béran shook his head, but then his tone was a little solemn, "but Gawain Cecil is still a very cunning man...... The fact that he did not directly attack the Luan Cathedral shows that he at least understood that he was morally inferior. ”

An elderly priest who had never spoken nodded slightly, with a hint of pride and reserve in his tone: "That's right, he realized at least one thing - a direct attack on Luan Cathedral would only turn us into martyred saints, and he himself would lose the support of the people." ”

"Yes, his opposition to the Church can only push him to the point of injustice, especially at this moment," said François Beran, his gaze swept over everyone in the room, and his language was flat but unwavering, "Our insistence is the greatest counterattack against him—his blockade of Luan cannot last forever, and the clumsy excuses he uses will soon be untenable, and as long as we hold on to the cathedral, the doubts of the people of the Holy Light about Gawain Cecil will gradually drown him out......

"We may have to make some sacrifices in the process, and the process may be longer and more difficult than we imagined, but I believe that all of you here must be ready and even ready to be martyred.

"The God of Light will bear witness to our piety and courage, and we will prove by our proof that Gawain Cecil's deviance and blasphemy are unjust, and we will not withdraw, we will not disgrace the God of Light, and perhaps we will eventually fall, but we will fall in the name of a saint, and Gawain Cecil may finally set foot here – but we swear that he can only set foot here as an executioner and a blasphemer!"

François Béran's voice was powerful and powerful to everyone present, who thought of the martyred Bishop of Lemont, of the crisis facing the city of Luan, and of the glory of dedicating himself to the Lord, so everyone stood up and followed the voice of the temporary bishop:

"We swear!" "We swear!"