At the end of March, Anken Rui finally felt tired from the winter that had been entrenched in various places, and began to give up the land he occupied little by little. And the breath of spring, with the still chilly wind and rolling thunder in the clouds, is gradually reviving in one city after another.

"Mommy, Mommy, thundered!!"

In the slums on the south side of the northern city of Ankenrein, a group of seven or eight-year-olds are jumping through cramped laneways. The clear sky and the dull sound of thunder above him followed their footsteps, as if playing with them, and seemed to remind them of the majesty and power of nature.

A woman who was peeling a sweet potato sitting on the side of the alley heard the cry of her child, stopped what she was doing, raised the back of her hand, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and smiled at the children who were running.

"Slow down, little Pablo, if you fall again, beware of your dad hitting you."

"I know, Mom!"

The boy who was running ahead stopped breathlessly in front of the woman, his eyes scanning the two basins in front of the woman. In the two tattered enamel basins, one contained three unpeeled potatoes, and the other contained a peeled potato. The unpeeled potatoes are brown with dirt hanging on them, while the peeled potatoes are yellow and look attractive when soaked in light salt water.

Seemingly hungry, the boy named Pablo Oppenheim reached out and scooped up the only sweet potato from the basin, and opened his mouth to bite down.

"Well, my son, have you forgotten something?"

Pablo's mother, Greta Oppenheim, reached out and gently stopped her child. Life is not easy for people in the slums, and food has always been a vital resource. Today, I can buy some cheap potatoes from the outskirts of the city, which is already a rare food. But even so, Greta didn't want her children to forget to pray.

"I see, Mom!"

Pablo squeezed his eyes, held the sweet potato in his left hand, placed it on his chest, closed his eyes and bowed his head, put his right index and middle fingers together, lightly touched his forehead, and prayed softly.

"Thank God for giving us food, Grace—"

"Orn is above—"

Greta Oppenheim also placed her right middle finger index finger on her forehead, completing this simple blessing ritual at the same time as Pablo. Pablo waited for his mother's voice to fall, and couldn't wait to bite down, but immediately frowned. Even if the potatoes have not been cooked in salt water, they still have a distinctly sour taste and are not delicious.

"Look at you're in a hurry, go inside and cook and eat."

Greta smiled and touched the head of her youngest son, with obvious affection in her eyes. She and her husband had four children, and three of them died in the war, leaving the youngest one alone, no matter what, he couldn't be wronged.

"Hey!"

When Pablo heard her mother's words, she knew that the sweet potato belonged to her. He answered loudly and rushed into the iron-clad and planked room behind Greta. Before entering the house, he hadn't forgotten to wave the sweet potato in his hand at the friends behind him.

"Look, I've got sweet potatoes to eat!"

"You guys go back too, today there are people from the suburbs who sell sweet potatoes, it's cheap. We've all bought some, and now you can go home and eat them. ”

Greta was amused by her youngest son's behavior, and she soothed the group of half-grown children in front of her with green eyes in two words, and began to peel the sweet potato in her hand by herself. Although her tone was relaxed, the four sweet potatoes in front of her were the most formal food for her small family for more than a month. This way of eating from Elena made the sweet potato, which had never been in the mainstream diet before, a lifesaver for poor people like her, and it also strengthened her faith in Orn.

"God Aun will not directly help his followers, but will give his followers an open window. If you want to be saved, you need to find that window and step over ......"

Hale's words were clear to Greta, who saw Elena and the vendors who had come out of the city to sell potatoes as a window for Orn to herself. She used up most of their family's last savings in exchange for the four life-saving food.

"Goo-"

Greta's stomach was also growling, and her gaze looked uncontrollably at the sweet potato in her hand, but she didn't mean to pick it up and eat it. Four potatoes in total, the only food for her family until her man gets his meager salary next week. She didn't feel entitled to one to herself.

"Mom, the pyroxene is not bright!"

Pablo, who was still elated just now, walked out with his head hanging down at this time, with a look of chagrin. Greta knew that the pyroxene, an inferior pyroxene the size of half a palm, had been used stingily, and had supported their warmth for half a month, and now, it had finally exhausted the last of its heat.

"Well, use this."

Greta pulled out a thumb-belly-sized pyroxene from her belt, small in size, but very high-grade, it was the last reserve of their family. She knew she shouldn't use it, but she couldn't resist her child. Pablo looked at the pyroxene, his eyes flashing, but he didn't take it.

"Mom, forget it, I'll eat it directly, they said that the potatoes can be eaten raw."

As he spoke, Pablo turned and went into the room. Greta endured the hunger in her belly, put away the pyroxene, and began to peel in silence. Uncooked potatoes are indeed edible, but they are not very tasty, and they can even be said to be very unpalatable. In order to save the last pyroxene in the family, her son was so sensible that her own nose was a little sour.

"Ohne, may we be well fed and clothed—"

With the index and middle fingers of her right hand on her forehead again, Greta finished her simple prayer. She picked up the enamel basin with the three peeled potatoes and turned and went into the room.

"Son, mom goes to church, you take care of this basin, and no one will give it to anyone, you know? It's your dad's food, he has nothing to eat, we don't have any money, you know? ”

"Hmm!"

Pablo nodded, his voice not loud, his eyes determined. Greta smiled, fished a sweet potato out of the basin, wrapped it in a cloth, and hurried out of her slum. She walked through the alleys, past one dilapidated building after another, carefully dodging the corpses in the darkness in the corners, and finally stopped in front of a stone, grand building four or five stories high.

"Oppenheim Priest!"

The two young men standing in the doorway saw Greta, raised their right hands, and saluted.

"Orn is on top!"

"Orn is on top!"

Greta returned the salute and entered the church through the heavy wooden door of the two soldiers. The interior of the stone-clad church is huge, and the dome that closes up from the bottom is surrounded by windows, through which sunlight enters the church, reflecting a distinct pillar of light in the air.

"You're here?"

In the midst of the pillar of light, the standing Haile Scott turned around and looked at Greta with a smile. Those pillars of light hit Scott's body, giving Greta a faint sense of dazzle.

"Yes, Lord Shepherd."

"Then pray first, it's not time for evening prayer yet."

Hale Scott nodded at Greta and asked her with concern.

"I heard that there are farmers selling grain from outside the city today, have you bought them?"

"Some sweet potatoes can only wrap up the stomach", Greta did not hide her thoughts in front of Scott, "Lord Shepherd, our days are so miserable, when will they come to an end?" ”

"The suffering of this world is to pay for the sins we have bought, such as devout faith, and after death we ascend to the temple of God, so that we can live in peace and happiness."

"I see."

Greta lowered her head, slowly placed the index and middle fingers of her right hand on her forehead, and chanted in a low voice.

"Orn is on top."

"Orn is on top."

Scott repeated the same movements with her, his gaze calm and deep. After chanting the Lord's Prayer, the two began to recite the original text of the book of Revelation. The deep sound reverberates through the specially designed church, evoking countless resonances. People who were working or praying in the church heard their prayers and stopped their work to join the recitation. And so the sound grew louder and louder, and finally merged into a river of majestic sound, which reverberated in this newly built church.

Haile Scott, who bowed his head and chanted, was a little agitated when he heard this magnificent echo. It's been more than half a year since I arrived in Muenze, and the city, which was almost slaughtered, is slowly recovering from life. And his Aunzism has also grown from being questioned, excluded, and neglected at the beginning to the point of having almost the entire city's faith. The Cult of Orn denied the tritheistic doctrine of the supremacy of the three gods, and put forward the concepts of suffering and sin, as well as the temple and hell, and persuaded people to live with good intentions and perseverance in order to achieve a blissful life after death. At the height of the fighting in Roninger, the city was filled with mourning, and the teachings of Orn's religion quickly spread and laid the initial foundation for Hale Scott. Later, Prince Wenfeng recovered the city, the people's livelihood slowly recovered, the Ouenjiao did not charge a faith tax, and the believers' free service to the people and their efforts to save the dead and help the wounded further deepened their sense of existence in Muenze, and when Ronninger surrendered, seven or eight percent of the people in Muenze began to believe in Ouenjiao. And the construction of this church also began at that time.

As the voices of prayer faded, the believers finished reciting a chapter of the book of Revelation and returned to their work. Greta Oppenheim, the guiding priest of the slums, was silent for a moment, and looked at Hale Scott with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Here, here."

Haile Scott led Treta Oppenheim to the front row of the church, turned to her sideways and asked her.

"How's the Taron neighborhood doing, I heard that the price of food has risen last week, and I'm starving to death?"

The Tallon neighborhood is where Greta is located, the city's old town, the slum.

"Well, there was no work for a winter, and many people fled, and some said they were going to Elena, saying that as long as they worked well, they would be fed and the house would be returned. But it's so far away, I don't know if they can get there. Sixteen more people starved to death last week, and our congregations have done everything they can to share food, but everyone is dying of hunger, and there is almost nothing to share. ”

"I asked for some food from the city lord here, and I left some for the church to give porridge, and you can find some people for the rest, and take them back."

"Thank you, Lady Makimori."

Hearing that there was food, Greta excitedly stood up and saluted, but was held down by Hale Scott. The Ornjue system adopted a new system that Scott had come up with himself, and the vast majority of the priests were part-time priests like Greta Oppenheim, who chose to serve as believers with a good reputation, popularity, and justice in his community. The church does not pay these people, but only provides some physical and human help in times of difficulty. This system isolates the vast majority of false believers who want to take advantage of the opportunity to enrich themselves, ensuring the purity of the church ranks. And those very few full-time priests have been reviewed by Hale Scott one by one, and they are his faithful followers, and they will not have the intention of disobedience.

"Now that spring is coming, soon the factories in the city will be up and running. After the war, you men should find jobs one after another, and with jobs and income, they will not starve to death, and life can go on. In the will of God Eugen, the Prophet Tata also experienced the hardships of hard labor. You can't resist or question, you can find pleasure in suffering with peace of mind, you can wash away your sins and enjoy the shrine. ”

Hearing that Hale Scott had begun to preach, Greta hurriedly put her middle and forefinger on her forehead with her right middle finger and forefinger, "Orn is on top." ”

"Orn is on top."

Scott returned the salute and asked about the missionary work in the Tallon neighborhood. The middle and lower class poor have always been the main missionary targets of the Auenchists, and the results have always been good. He asked casually, and Greta answered the missionary work in the slums very seriously, and she followed the teachings of God Au'en, humility and love, kindness and forbearance, and guided the believers to help the poor and suffering, and she absorbed many believers. The two chatted for a while about missionary matters in the ghetto, and then it was time for vespers. Hale Scott and Greta whispered goodbye and walked to the front of the church.

The daily evening prayer is the official prayer of the Cult of Orn, and Hale Scott must preside over it himself. The number of believers who came to the church was quite large, and the hall of the university was almost full. When the bell struck, Hale Scott raised his right hand, put his index and middle fingers together on his forehead, and chanted.

"Orn is on top."

"Orn is on top."

The faithful spoke in the same voice, their voices neat and low, with immeasurable power. Greta stood in the front row of the prayer procession, infected by this solemn atmosphere, thoughtless, immersed in this religious atmosphere.

Vespers lasted an hour before they ended. Believers and part-time priests took their leave. Hale Scott went to the back of the church, changed into a simple robe, went out through the side door of the church, and boarded a carriage without any signs. The four sturdy young men who had been waiting by the carriage boarded the carriage one by one. The coachman waved his whip and the horses neighed softly as they left the church, which had been built by the masses on their own initiative.

The bell rang again.