My esoteric uncle Jules

Chapter 86 Black Skeleton
In the hut, groups of refugees crowded in the corner, looking at Jules and his group with curiosity and awe.

Jules saw that subtle changes seemed to have begun to take place in them, and some characteristics of "deep divers" had appeared.

Seeing that Jules' attention was on the refugees around him, the previous leader explained:

“These are believers in God the Father.”

At this moment, they had all taken off their black robes, revealing faces that did not even resemble human beings.

In Yule's opinion, the figures of these people under the black robes were even enough to be described as "horrible".

The skin is rough, the eyeballs are bulging, and the rudiments of wrinkles and gill slits are beginning to appear on the neck.

In the most serious cases, scales have even begun to form on the face and mucus is still dripping down.

Under the moonlight, they looked like a group of incompletely transformed fishmen.

Under the leadership of the previous leader - or the current leader, Jules quickly learned about the current situation of Dagon's paganism.

Although Innsmouth appeared to be prosperous and without any sign of famine, the actual situation was not so.

"They were all so hungry that they couldn't stand it anymore and fled."

The leader pointed to the refugees huddled together for warmth not far away and sighed:

"Although the situation in Innsmouth is better than outside due to the fishing, it's not much better. Many people are already unable to eat."

Jules said nothing, but just quietly observed his surroundings.

What surprised him was that these refugees seemed to be coming voluntarily, rather than being forced or semi-forced.

This was completely different from his impression of cults - they were actually doing good things.

Moreover, these dilapidated houses are not only homeless and starving believers, but also several "messengers of God" of higher status.

"Strange, really too strange..."

He shook his head, his eyes full of confusion.

If that were the case, how could Innsmouth become like that in the future?

How did the Dagon cult, which originally seemed normal, suddenly emerge in such a short period of time and be distorted into the weird appearance in his impression?

"Son of God, please wait here for a moment. I will go and settle the new believers we accepted today." The leader apologized and left quickly.

Seeing the leader leave, Yu Le randomly found a believer who had not yet gone to bed and asked in a gentle tone:

“How did you come into contact with the faith of God the Father?”

The believer was a fisherman who looked to be about thirty or forty years old, with a pale face and thin body, and a lingering fishy smell on his body.

Hearing Yule's question, he was a little flattered - he heard clearly what the leader said about "Son of God".

"Sir, in my most difficult time, it was the messengers of God who came forward to help me heal my daughter and support our family."

“Although famine ultimately destroyed my family, I also managed to understand that only God the Father could save us.”

His expression was extremely pious, and it was obvious that his words came from the heart.

When the other believers around heard this, they nodded and echoed in unison.

Obviously, their experiences were similar.

"I see," Yule nodded. "Then weren't you afraid when you first came into contact with those 'divine messengers'?"

The believer was stunned for a moment at first, and after a while, he said bitterly:
"Of course we are afraid! But we understand that we are not worthy of living like humans. Only by throwing ourselves into the embrace of the sea like the Lord God's Messenger can we live well."

Hearing this, Yule didn't even know what to say.

He could only pat the believer's shoulder and nodded slightly.

"Don't worry, the famine will end soon."

A glimmer of hope appeared on the believer's face:

"The leader often told us that a Son of God would come to lead us out of the darkness. I originally thought I wouldn't be able to wait for him in this lifetime..."

Son of God...

Jules knew that he was not the son of God at all. Even though he had a close connection with the waves, he was still far from the level of the son of God.

What's more, there happened to be a genuine Son of God right next to him.

Moreover, the so-called "coming out of the darkness" also needs to be questioned.

Dagon's paganism did indeed achieve glory, but the final result seemed to have only dragged the original light into darkness.

What exactly happened during the famine years?
Jules felt that he was getting closer to the truth step by step.

Soon, the leader seemed to have settled the believers, walked to Yule, and said respectfully:
"Sir Son of God, we have arranged a banquet to welcome you. Is this welcome?"

Banquet? Yule paused for a moment and said:

"Let's go then."

In any case, he still had to use the title of "Son of God" to find out what exactly happened to the Dagon cult.

……

After a while.

Following the leader, Yule slowly stepped into the low brick house in the backyard.

The brick house was filled with a pungent musty smell, intertwined with the sour aroma of food.

Several shabby wooden tables were put together, covered with a dirty tablecloth with countless patches.

The so-called banquet on the table could be described as extremely shabby.

A plate of potatoes, boiled so mush that they were unrecognizable, had long since lost their heat and were still tinged with a faint grayish hue. There were also a few pieces of hard black bread that seemed to have been soaked in seawater, giving off a uniquely salty, fishy smell.

Apart from these two, there are various kinds of fish - although there are many types and quantities, the seasonings are extremely scarce.

The strange thing was that despite this humble banquet, Jules actually felt a surge of appetite.

"Using the principles of the cup as spices? Interesting..." Seeing this scene, an interest appeared in his eyes.

These foods, if eaten normally, would naturally be hard to swallow, but these believers had apparently processed them through rituals, giving them the aura of the Cup's Code, making them less difficult to swallow.

"Sorry, that's all I have." The leader said apologetically.

"Please eat it quickly. If you wait, the effect of the ritual will weaken and it won't taste as good."

As he spoke, he also reached out, grabbed a piece of dried cod, and put it directly into his mouth to chew.

Several "God's messengers" around also began to eat voraciously.

"...Didn't you eat lunch today?" Yule couldn't help but ask.

Judging by the time now, it's probably already midnight.

"Since we became members of the Lord's family, we tend to eat more at night."

Jules nodded, said nothing, and just ate quietly.

However, he was not hungry, so he just ate two pieces of dried salted fish and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes to rest.

Seeing this, the leader put down the half-eaten cod in his hand and said sincerely:
"Sir Shenzi, could you please help me?"

Finally here? Yule opened his eyes slightly and said calmly:

"What's the deal?"

The leader lowered his head, and spoke with some trepidation:
"As the Son of God, you should be able to get closer to that thing than we can."

That thing? Could it be the thing that caused the mutation?
Yule raised his eyebrows and said:
"Take me to see it."

……

Click——

As the mechanism was activated, a seemingly ordinary floor suddenly collapsed, revealing a passage leading to the basement.

The leader led the way for Jules and said:
"Down here is the Holy Temple of God the Father."

The basement was filled with a strong salty and damp smell, and the walls were covered with mottled water stains, as if water would seep out at any time.

Walking down the narrow stone steps, Jules saw that the walls were engraved with strange patterns, all of which were creatures similar to deep divers.

Either playing in the water or worshiping devoutly to a huge shadow.

The further down you go, the more oppressive the air becomes.

After a while, when we reached the end, the view in front of us suddenly became wide.

In the center of the basement stands a huge stone altar, engraved with mysterious runes.

It is so huge that it takes up almost half of the entire space.

However, even on such a large altar, there was only a black bone enshrined on it, which looked very ordinary.

"This is the thing we were talking about, Master Shenzi."

There was a hint of awe in the leader's voice:
“Many years ago, the first leader fished this object out of Devil’s Reef and placed it on the altar. From then on, our Dagon sect had its foundation.

As long as we pray to it, a strange black liquid will flow out from the gaps between the bones. It can attract fish and also transform us into our followers.

However, for some reason, since the past two years, its response to our prayers has become increasingly weak, and recently it has almost stopped responding to our prayers. We are always worried that our Father God has abandoned us..."

While the leader was chattering, Jules kept staring at the bone.

In his perception, although the dark bone looked ordinary, the sound of tides could be faintly heard from it.

Whether it was the sound of the blood tide or the sound of the real "wave", it was enough for him to confirm one thing - this thing was definitely related to the wave!
Could it be that this is the source that caused the residents to mutate and become "deep divers"?
【Broken Black Skeleton】

[Quality: Fifth-level rare item]

[Effect: The residue left after the deterioration of the tide can be used as a medium to communicate with the "Black Skeleton" of the Sichen during rituals.]

[Introduction: Scholars believe that the Red Cup once drank the Hour of the Waves and gave its remains to the sea. One day, that Hour will return to the world—but not in the form it desired, and the Insatiable will be pleased to see this happen.]

After seeing the message, Yule's eyes fixed.

Black skeleton?

He had never heard of the name of this Si Chen, and even in the Anti-Suppression Bureau, he had never seen anyone mention His name.

The following introduction made him even more concerned.

It seems that there is something fishy about the resurrection of Langchao - Chibei seems to have played some kind of ambiguous role in it.

Judging from the current appearance, the remains of Langchao after his death have turned into Si Chen named Hei Hai.

However, he knew that the wave itself was not actually dead.

There are many levels of history, but Mansu has only one. Sichen, who lives in Mansu, is naturally the only one in all history.

How come there is one more?
Could it be that, as described in the introduction, the birth of Hei Hai was driven by Chi Bei?

Jules pondered for a while, then suddenly turned his head and said:

"Tell me how you usually pray, and let me do it myself."

(End of this chapter)