(7,000 words, the amount of the two changes is released in one chapter)

Chapter 340: The Pope's Determination (2-in-1 Chapter!)

As the residence of the Pope, the Temple of Light is the holy place in the hearts of the entire Roland Empire, and the conditions here are naturally the best.

The teachings of the Temple of Light do not focus too much on preaching and promoting "asceticism", so for more than a thousand years, the high-ranking clergy have always lived a very good life.

And tonight, Chen Daolin experienced the "luxury" of these gods!

Chen Daolin, who had been soaking in the stinky ditch for half a day, finally took a hot bath.

The teachings of the Temple of Light attach great importance to bathing, especially before important rituals and ceremonies and ceremonies of the teachings, which require the faithful to "cleanse their bodies". The approximate meaning is similar to the "bathing and fasting" in the Celestial Empire.

The Temple of Light attaches great importance to the "cleansing" of the body before worshipping the goddess.

According to the most traditional and primitive rituals, there are three steps in the highest standard of "body cleansing", that is, three baths, which are said to completely clean the flesh and face the great gods in the purest state - Chen Daolin believes that this complicated bathing process has a lot to do with the fact that the god worshiped by this religion is a goddess.

Women, they always prefer to be clean.

The first step is called "sea bathing", and it is necessary to bathe with clean seawater. To Chen Daolin's surprise, he didn't know what method this Temple of Light used, and actually made a bath that simulated seawater in a secret basement of this temple! This is a thousand kilometers inland away from the sea!

The second step is called "mountain bathing", and according to the teachings, it is necessary to bathe in a pure mountain spring. To Chen Daolin's surprise, there was actually a reserve in the church, which was said to be a clean spring retrieved from a certain mountain in the north!

The third step is called "quiet bath". The so-called holy water is actually water from a clean source, but this water must be brought to the church by a living water channel, and then processed in a special place, and it must be "sanctified" after a sacrificial ceremony, and this water is said to have been blessed by the goddess -- this statement is naturally dismissive of Chen Daolin.

But to Chen Daolin's surprise, this holy water bath used for bathing was extraordinarily luxurious!

At the top of the bath. It is a pure gold sculpture in the form of a goddess! This pure sculpture is safely made according to life-size proportions!

The goddess held a round bottle in her hand, and a steady stream of holy water flowed from the mouth of the bottle, filling the entire bath!

The whole bath was round, the size of a swimming pool, and it was made of a kind of stone that even Chen Daolin couldn't recognize—all the stones had crystallized almost translucently, and Chen Daolin could only tell that it should be a kind of gem-level stone!

Dozens of expensive spices, all for bathing, were thrown away on the edge of this pool and used at will. There are also bright and delicate petals, sprinkled all over the water.

In the steaming heat, Chen Daolin was even in a trance in his heart - the legendary Tsinghua Pool where Yang Guifei bathed was nothing more than that, right?!

Naked soaked in the pool of holy water. Chen Daolin looked at the pure goddess sculpture in front of him, and couldn't help cursing in his heart: This can be regarded as a luxury......!

If my brother quietly knocks down a few pieces and takes them away, I don't know if he will be discovered?

And also...... When taking a bath. Naked and exposed in front of the statue of the goddess, like this...... Is it really suitable?

On closer reflection, it seems that something similar has been said in the teachings. It seems to say: all people are equal in the eyes of the goddess, just creatures left under the creation of the goddess.

So...... Whether you're naked or not, it doesn't seem to make a difference. It's like a mother, who cares about whether her baby is dressed or not?

Sea bathing and mountain bathing represent that the bathing person has been baptized by the sea and mountains. And the last holy water is said to cleanse people's hearts and souls.

At the end of these three steps, it can be considered to be thoroughly cleaned from the inside out.

This bath is very refreshing, but it takes a long time and is a little troublesome. However, Chen Daolin later learned that only a handful of high-ranking people in the church were eligible to enjoy the "three baths", and only before the heavy ceremony would they use this cumbersome and solemn bathing ceremony.

As for himself, it is nothing more than the identity of an oracle to have the opportunity to enjoy this solemn ritual at a time when it is neither a New Year nor a festival.

But well...... It's grand, it's grand, but after taking the last step of the holy water bath, suddenly four young women dressed in white veils and with a good figure walked into this bathroom.

The translucent white veil looms over the delicate and seductive body...... Hey, aren't you afraid of bumps?!When did the women of this world also become popular in vacuum dressing?

Dressed so revealingly, but with a golden mask, covering his face?

Hey, since you're so shy and embarrassed to meet people, you might as well wear more clothes!!

Just when Chen Daolin was dumbfounded, the four young women in white veils had already walked to the edge of the bath and gently bowed to the ground......

The girl is prostrate on the ground in this posture, and her slender waist and straight hip curves are suddenly displayed...... Darlingo's reaction was also very direct! He shamefully put up the flag!

Before Brother Darling could react, the four girls had already gotten up and walked into the pool one after another, and when Chen Daolin was still stunned, the four women had already come to his side, each holding a cotton yarn and silk scarf for bathing, carefully cleaning Chen Daolin's body and wiping all parts......

Chen Daolin only felt that the blood on his body rushed to his head almost instantly, of course...... There was also a part of the blood that was immediately concentrated in a certain area......

This taste of "being washed" makes Darlinggo want to die.

Under the transpiration of hot water, the girl's originally fair and delicate skin flashed a touch of red color, which was originally a translucent white yarn, and after being soaked in water, it was even more tightly attached to the body...... I said, even if you put a plastic wrap on your body, it will be more effective than this layer of white yarn!!

The time to "be baptized" seems to be very short. It seems like a long time.

Finally, Chen Daolin was pulled out of the pool in a daze, stood on the ground, and soon two girls came up, and the two of them took a snow-white and soft dry bath towel together, and wiped Chen Daolin's water traces from head to toe...... Not a single detail has been left behind.

Chen Daolin was so mechanically fiddled with by a few girls, and he sat on a clean jade pier. Immediately, the two girls combed his hair with a comb behind him, the movements were gentle and comfortable, and the whole process was gentle and meticulous to the extreme, which made Chen Daolin a little unbearable. When the girl moved, she gently leaned her head in her arms, and the whole person was attached to Chen Daolin's back......

The two girls on the left and right were even more on both sides, holding delicate small silver scissors, carefully cutting the fingernails for Chen Daolin, and then leaning down and cleaning the toenails......

Chen Daolin couldn't help but sigh.

Damn it. This kind of famous bathing hall is just like that in the real world, the famous Dongguan is just like that, although Darling has never been there.

With just a slight cough, the girl brought a glass of warm honey water to her front and took a sip. Twist your neck slightly. Behind you, there will be a slender and delicate little hand, gently kneading on the shoulder.

A qiē and a qiē, there is no need to say anything, even a look. will be served in every detail......

There was silence for a long time, and when the four girls tidied themselves up, Chen Daolin finally spoke in a low voice: "What kind of identity do you have in the church? Is it a legend...... Holy Maiden?"

Let's be honest. At this moment, Chen Daolin has already given birth to a raging anger in his heart!!

Holy Maiden!?? if this is the Holy Maiden, then Chen Daolin really has an impulse to jump up immediately, set a fire to burn this ghost place, and then rushed to the woman named Lan Lan and asked her fiercely: You gave up a qiē just to get back to this church and do such dirty and dirty things?!!

Saint?!Half-stripped and then served the old men in the church in this way, this is what you think is noble and holy?!

I bought a bag last year!

I bought a watch last year!!

After taking a bath, do you still have to sleep!!Is there still the Five Heavens of Ice and Fire!!

At this moment, the anger in Chen Daolin's heart was almost engulfing his reason!!

......

After listening to Chen Daolin's questioning, the four girls seemed to be frightened, dropped the things in their hands, and knelt on the ground on the spot, prostrate on the ground, not even daring to raise their heads, their delicate bodies just trembled, as if they were extremely afraid.

Chen Daolin frowned and sighed: "Okay, I just asked a question, but why are you afraid of being like this." ”

Seeing that these girls were still trembling, Chen Daolin was helpless, so he had to lean over and help the one closest to him, and at the same time shouted: "Okay, stand up for me!"

When the four girls all stood up, Chen Daolin stared at the one in front of him, and said in a deep voice: "I ask you questions, and I don't mean to blame, why are you afraid of being like this?"

The girl trembled, and finally spoke, her voice sounding very young and delicate, and she said in a low voice: "When the noble man says such a thing, I, of course we are afraid......"

"What are you afraid of? I'm just asking you if it's a saint. ”

The girl's body trembled so much that she quickly lost her voice and said, "Your nobleman, don't say such blasphemous words again...... I, we are just lowly servants of God, where can we compare with the Holy Maiden...... The Holy Maiden is the most holy and noble person in the Church, serving only the gods, that is the most noble position, and we cannot compare with her. If you just listen to it, it's blasphemy!"

Servant of God?

Chen Daolin's face was slightly gentle, and then he asked a few more carefully, and from the mouth of this trembling girl, he found out some truths:

In the church, there has always been a "tradition" of cultivating servants of God, and young girls like them have come to the church since they were young, and some of them have no father or mother. Some are extremely poor families who cannot support their children, and some are parents who are so religious and fanatical that they lose their minds and "dedicate" their children to the church......

From these children, the church has a special department, which will regularly select some people from the middle, like the four of them, who have been selected since childhood because of their outstanding appearance, and then brought into the church for slow training until they reach adulthood. They will be assigned to the church to serve some high-level personnel. For example, the archbishops of various local dioceses, and some high-level figures above the bishop level in the Temple of Light in the imperial capital.

These cultivated "divine servants", both male and female, are basically good-looking, born with clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes from an early age, and then, after many years of training, learn to serve people in the most subtle way, and are familiar with all kinds of etiquette -- this kind of training. It's even stricter than the training of court servants in the palace.

These "servants of the gods" do not have the status of formal clergy, but only the lowest status. Of course, there is a difference, those who are responsible for cooking and cleaning. It is higher than those who do coolies, and these servants who serve the "nobles" have a higher status.

And in the church, it seems that there has always been this custom of "raising servants of God". The more high-level "nobles" are, there are absolutely a few young and beautiful servants with outstanding appearances around them.

And the special department in the church seems to "stockpile" some beautiful girls. After the training, once a new nobleman takes the position, he will immediately be assigned to pay tribute to the new nobles to choose and enjoy......

When Chen Daolin heard this, he couldn't help but sigh.

Even in a place like the Church, which carries the most sacred banner, there should be no such thing.

And it seems that there are too many words, and the fear in the hearts of these girls gradually subsides, and they inevitably accidentally reveal some more.

It turns out that the high-level of these churches in the imperial capital, from the Pope down, are relatively restrained, and they will not do things too publicly, although the high-level of the church also have "divine servants" to serve, but in order to take care of the image, as well as being in the imperial capital, pay attention to the influence, self-respecting identity, and dare not do too out-of-line.

It's local, it's more exaggerated. In particular, some local dioceses far away from the imperial capital, the archbishops of local dioceses are simply like the emperors of the soil, arrogant and lascivious, and even those nobles are ashamed of themselves! It is said that some local archbishops have a hundred young and beautiful "divine servants" around them to serve day and night, and that is simply an ordinary thing.

The Roland Empire has always suppressed the influence of the church, focusing on the political level, and the political influence of the church has been weakened repeatedly, but in order to appease the hearts of the church, it will also be extra tolerant in other places.

To put it simply, as long as the church is obedient and obedient, does not plunder local power, and does not resist local government, then in other aspects, the imperial officials also turn a blind eye, in short, they would rather raise these people in the church as pigs, brocade clothes, beautiful delicacies, and they will grab them as they please.

Chen Daolin listened, his face was silent, but he sneered again and again in his heart:

Such a religion, if it is not dead, is simply unreasonable.

That Heynckes seems to be a powerful person, but no matter how powerful he is, such a church that has been rotten to the roots, how easy is it for him to turn the tide? ?

Chen Daolin's heart calmed down, and then he put on clothes under the service of the four girls, he changed into a black clergyman's robe, the cut and texture of this robe are not ordinary at first glance, although there is no grade mark on it, but it can be worn on the body, it has a luxurious temperament.

He left the bathroom and was led outside by four girls, and there were already two young "divine servants" waiting at the door, and respectfully invited him to a small lounge, where the table was already full of food, in addition to the "roast leg of mutton" that Chen Daolin ordered, there were all kinds of delicacies, and even the wine vessels and dinner plates that held the wine were all pure gold!

Chen Daolin glanced at the food in the room and frowned, "What about my companion?"

The two divine servants looked dazed, Chen Daolin was a little unhappy in his heart, and waved his hand: "Go and invite my companions here." ”

......

Hook's injuries have been treated.

Chen Daolin was very satisfied after checking it. The wounds on his body were cleaned, and in some places, some of the flesh and skin of the wounds were even cut off to prevent infection.

There are no antibiotics in this world, in the stinky ditch, the body is cut by those rusty iron fences that have been soaked for I don't know how many years, and one carelessly gets a tetanus wound infection or something, ten lives are not enough to die.

But Heynckes was still trustworthy. Hu Ke told Chen Daolin that there was an old person in the church, who seemed to be of great status, and personally performed the healing technique of the light system on him, and the wound healed quickly.

The treatment technique of the light system has a kind of anti-toxin effect, and it is also quite effective in cleaning the wound, which is much better than antibiotics. At least after using the light healing technique, I have rarely heard of wounds that are infected and rotten.

Hook was shirtless and had a lot of gauze wrapped around his body. casually put on a white robe. The werewolf Chuck was also cleanly washed, and his fur was shiny. Both girls had also been washed, and their hair was wet.

Barossa was quite calm, but the little maid Xia Xia, with a surprised expression, came to this restaurant, and immediately exclaimed when she saw the food on the table, and went up and grabbed a gold wine glass and hugged it in her arms, looking like a wealth fan.

Chen Daolin looked at his companions unharmed. I breathed a sigh of relief in my heart, and after asking again, I learned that they all had someone to take care of them, after bathing and changing. It was sent here.

"Sir...... Why did you suddenly become a distinguished guest of the church?" The little maid Xia Xia was the most heartless, and couldn't help but ask loudly: "When we were at home, didn't you often say that they were a group of gods?"

Hook was the most cautious, and quickly covered Xia Xia's mouth. Losing a warning look, he lowered his voice and said, "Master, be careful that the wall has ears." ”

Chen Daolin smiled faintly: "It's okay." The people in the church have already found out my details, and I don't scold the 'god stick' more often than I do on weekdays? ”

He didn't care at all. As early as when he first stopped Montoya from assassinating the emperor, the church must have secretly adjusted his own. And after he later let Montoya and Lanlan go, if the upper echelons of the church haven't checked themselves out, then it's a hell.

Saying that, Chen Daolin walked up to Hook, pulled Xia Xia in front of him, touched her head, and said with a smile: "Your lord and I are the oracle of the Temple of Light, and that Goddess of Light asked me to help her do a big thing, and let me bring a message to these people in the church, which is also true." ”

Xia Xia's eyes widened, and she couldn't help but say again: "But...... Why didn't the goddess of light look for someone else, but instead of you?"

"Haha, I don't know about this, she's a goddess, God, doing things is naturally unexpected, if a god can be guessed by mortals casually, is it still called a god?"

As he spoke, he pointed to the food on the table: "The world is big, and the stomach is the biggest!" I've been hungry for most of the day, come, have a good meal, if there is anything, fill my stomach first!"

He winked at Hook and Barossa again, and then took the lead and sat down, grabbed a leg of mutton, and shoved it into the werewolf's hand.

Chuck is an orc, so he doesn't care about the goddess of light and the goddess of darkness, the werewolf believes in the beast god, Chen Daolin is a magician, or a god stick, the werewolf doesn't care, anyway, it just follows the master, if there is something to eat, then naturally it has to eat first. After grabbing the leg of mutton, he gnawed it down, and the sharp wolf teeth even the bones were bitten and swallowed directly......

......

"陛xià...... Is this Darling Chan credible?"

In a secret room, Tacitus was dressed in military uniform, with a solemn face, looking at the back of Heynckes, who was kneeling there and praying silently.

Heynckes sighed and stood up slowly, but first reached out to remove a burned candle, lit a new candle, and carefully placed it on top of the candlestick before turning around.

The Pope's face was very complicated, and he glanced at Tacitus......

"How many years have we known each other?"

"Huh?" Tacitus was stunned for a moment, and then said: "I have known His Majesty since I entered the sect back then, and to this day, there have been ......."

"It's been forty years. Heynckes smiled lightly, looked at Tacitus, and said in a calm voice: "You are much younger than me, and now you are in charge of the Holy Knights...... Alas, Tacitus, I tell you the truth, in my heart, the best candidate to be the Grand Knight Captain was not you, but Montoya. Montoya was fierce, brave, and loyal, especially because of his high prestige among the Knights, making him the best candidate for the Grand Knight. ”

Tacitus was not angry, and said sincerely: "Your Excellency Montoya is indeed more suitable for this position than me. ”

"It's a pity that Montoya revealed his identity in the previous operation, and in order not to cause a backlash from the royal family, I had to hide him. As for you, Tacitus, your martial arts and loyalty are no worse than his, and you are tough and resolute in what you do, but I warned you that you are too keen on the shady things and have lost some light. Alas, in fact, with your temperament, if you are to preside over the court, the position of presiding judge is the most suitable for you. ”

Tacitus looked dazed, not understanding why the Pope had suddenly turned the subject to his position.

"I just want to tell you, Tacitus, that in the future, you should use your brains more. I'm not going to let you rule the Holy Order forever. In the future, I will find a suitable time to put the court in your hands, and if I become the presiding judge, I cannot speak by force alone. You've been with the Knights for a few days, but you've gradually forgotten to use your mind. You have to remember that many times, wisdom is far more important than the sword in your hand. ”

Although Tacitus didn't know what he meant, he seriously bowed his head: "My Majesty's mention, I must keep it in mind." ”

"Hmm. Heynckes nodded in satisfaction before looking into Tacitus' eyes: "As for this Darlingchen...... Whether or not the identity of his oracle is true or not, to be honest, I am not completely sure yet. At least, when he was talking to me, the little bit of divine power he exerted was genuine! I would never be wrong about that!"

Power!

Tacitus's gaze changed suddenly, but then he thought about it, grabbed his hair, and said distressedly: "Your Majesty said so, naturally I don't dare to question it." But...... We have all checked the details of this Darling Chen. He was cunning and changeable, and he was often disrespectful to the goddess, and I heard that he used to speak out to the church in many places...... How could the goddess choose such a person as the messenger of God......? It doesn't make sense!!"

Heynckes' face was calm: "How could I not have thought of what you said?"

After a pause, seeing Tacitus's anxious face, Heynckes smiled slightly: "I know, you want to say that the identity of the divine envoy is a matter of importance, how can it be ambiguous, right?"

“...... That's what I thought!" Tacitus nodded.

Heynckes smiled slightly, the candlelight flickering, and the expression on his face seemed to be shrouded in shadows, and he couldn't see clearly.

"If he's true, that's great. For more than 100 years, the Temple of Light has not been able to contact the goddess, not get the slightest hint of God's will, and even be unable to show miracles...... We are like abandoned babies who have lost their parents, and more and more young people have lost their fear and faith in God. If he is a true oracle, then we have regained the favor of the goddess...... The revitalization of our religion is right at hand! This is a once-in-a-lifetime event!"

After a pause, he heard the Pope's voice become low, and he continued: "If he is fake...... Tacitus, but the divine power in his body is always genuine! As long as we have this trace of divine power, we can exert this trace of divine power to the greatest effect!! I don't care where his trace of divine power comes from...... Now, in order to revitalize the great cause of my teaching, even if it is a life-saving straw, I will hold on to it!

Even if he's fake...... I'll find a way to make it real!!"

In the end, the tone is categorical!!

When Tacitus heard this, his face changed wildly, and he exclaimed, "Ah!!".

(To be continued......)