Heartbreaker

"Sixty, 61...64, 65...68..."

The monks on the edge of the city called out the numbers on our number plates, and Chichikov and I got up, packed our bags, and walked forward quickly.Luo Ze, who had turned into an undead state, got into the obsidian necklace hanging around my neck.

"Lenny Kofer, 64." I told the monk in charge of the record my name, and threw the number plate into the iron box on the table.Another cultivator came to search me. Maybe he caught a glimpse of the scabbard around my waist, raised his eyebrows and said, "You are not allowed to bring knives into the royal city. Quickly take out the weapon from your waist."

I looked at him with the eyes of a caring fool, and lifted the hem of the undershirt, revealing the empty scabbard.

I was stupid to swagger into the city with a dagger in my mouth.I stuffed the sharp weapon intended to suck the blood of the dog emperor into the belly of a roast goose, and it was transported into the royal city along with the package.

I squeezed out a ferocious smile, "May I go, my lord?"

The monk looked at me vigilantly, probably thinking that I was not a fun thing, so he groped me all over, and almost took off my pants.I resisted the urge to kick him to death, and let his dexterous hands take out everything in his pockets and check them carefully one by one.

I bet professional thieves are not as skilled as these monks in stealing pockets.

"Everyone who has checked their belongings, gather here!"

Those white-robed monks checked 20 people at a time, drove us into a neat row like ducks, and stepped onto the carriage to Santa Maria Cathedral one by one.Standing with nineteen other low-browed idiots, I felt like a suckling pig stuffed with spices and ready to be grilled.

"Obey our orders and don't act recklessly!" The oldest white-robed monk paced with his hands behind his back and said sharply, "If anyone resists, he will be disqualified from entering the city within one month! At the same time, we will consider Shall the violators be imprisoned!"

The carriage turned heavily on its wooden wheels, and staggered towards the church in the royal city.The blue sky was as clear as water, and the bright golden light shone on the sloping-roofed fortress. I was leaning sleepily on the carriage, and Chichikov approached me and whispered to me the next arrangement.

"Later we will be brought into the church for a deeper inspection." The old man said mysteriously, "As long as we don't touch the taboo of inspection items, we can leave."

"What taboo?"

"Disease and blood." Chichikov shrugged, "Although I don't know what the inspections over there are like, there is no doubt that the Mogols, Polyyas, and Vila people enjoy the highest authority. species, because the current emperor is a mixed blood of these three races."

I grabbed the old man by the collar, gritted my teeth, and said in a low voice, "Blood...you don't know what bloodline I am? You asked me to do a blood test? You want me to be killed by those bastard monks?" Lock it up."

Chichikov pushed my hand away impatiently, "Of course I have made all the arrangements. Do you think I am you? Why do you think monk Popolo is not here?"

I said fiercely, "Why?"

"He has already returned to the church, and I corresponded with him a few days ago." Chichikov said, "Popolo said that he has the Golden Rose Medal issued by the former king of the Wanjiang Empire in his hand, and the church happened to There is a lack of capable monks, so when they saw the medals, they were allowed to join the church, and they were given a high position. The emperor’s control over the church was not strict, even monks in the old country, as long as they were willing to surrender, they could still be among the clergy. List."

I clenched my fists and said sullenly, "I don't believe things will go so smoothly. The Golden Rose Medal is not a big award even in the Wanjiang Empire. How much power can Popolo get with just this crap? "

The old man said, "Then what do you want to do?"

I suppressed my voice imperceptibly, "What do you think... how about I ask Luo to kill these people and escape?"

The old man sneered, "Oh, I don't think this method is very clever. Even if the little undead can kill for you, the defense of the imperial city of the Twilight Empire is definitely stricter than you imagined. Special envoys and soldiers lurking on the arrow tower. Those metal eyes embedded in the city wall may be a new type of communication device, and everyone who enters or exits the royal city is under their control."

I held back my anger, but I couldn't think of any reason to refute it.The old man's analysis made sense. We entered Elliott's territory, just like two mice stealing food from a cat's nest. There is no harm in being cautious and patient.

The carriage drove on the tidy stone road for a while, and we arrived at the gate of Santa Maria Cathedral.I haven't seen it for many years, but the place is still as magnificent as before. The whole wall is white and pure, as if covered with angel feathers.Ivory white statues of the Virgin are embedded in the gold-encrusted columns, and the thin hollow columns support the beams and stone walls one after another.The outer side of the circular arch is covered with fine threads, which looks like a shelled nut from a distance.

A huge stone clock is carved in the center, and the clock face is finely divided into twelve equal parts.Two brown and black cross reliefs protrude on both sides, just like the scars on the beauty's face.The Cathedral of Santa Maria was once the architectural treasure of the Wanjiang Empire. Standing in front of this beautiful and majestic building, many people would have a heartfelt sigh, lamenting how small they are.There are still many chants written by poets on the stele.

I used to be full of awe and devotion to this sacred place, but when I was taken into the monastery inside, confined and punished, my respect for it immediately disappeared.Even under the banner of "God", the appearance is bright and beautiful, but the inside is just a puddle of rotten water.

****

It turns out that I was thinking too much. Our inspection site was not Santa Maria Church, but a remote courtyard next to the church. It was like walking from a stinky garbage dump into another even more smelly garbage dump.

The preparation process is a bit cumbersome. Both men and women need to wear specific white clothes and white trousers, and walk into different rooms one by one for inspection.The aisle was crowded and stuffy, I was sweating profusely, tied up my long hair with a hair tie, and listening to the whispers of people around me, I felt as if I had been soaked in a cup of steaming bitter coffee.

I said impatiently, "How long do we have to wait?!"

Chichikov stretched his neck and looked around as soon as he entered the door, the loose white shirt hanging down on his shriveled body.Standing on tiptoe, looking through the crowded heads, he called eagerly, "Friar! Here, here!"

Immediately, I heard that familiar voice, but it was a little less crazy, decent and clear.As soon as Popolo saw us, he came over cheerfully and said, "Brother Kofuer, and the old man Qiqikov!"

I stared at the monk in front of me curiously.Popolo held a book under his arm, the black robe was rolled with silver thread, decorated with copper buttons, and tied with a silver-gray waistband. His slightly curly black hair hung thickly on both sides of his cheeks, and he looked radiant , radiant, looks like a monk.

He didn't make unnecessary comments on my current appearance, and probably got the news from Chichikov.Popolo led the two of us to the end of the corridor, handed us two pieces of parchment at the door, and said in a low voice, "You don't need to check other cumbersome items, you only need to do the one at the end - the blood test. There I have already greeted the monks, there is probably no problem, if something goes wrong, I will solve it for you."

Chichikov thanked him contentedly, and Poporu couldn't help but smile from ear to ear, as if it was a great honor to be able to do something for us.The old man entered the blood test room first. While he was not there, I grabbed Popolo's arm and said in a low voice, "What's going on, Popolo? What method did you use to get into the church?"

Popolo stared wide-eyed, "Wang...Brother Kofer, didn't I tell you that I was a member of the church?"

"But it's too strange." I narrowed my eyes and said, "You are a monk who has only won the Golden Rose Medal. You have been outside for many years, and your words and deeds are nondescript. How can you stand in your current position in a short period of time?"

Chichikov may not know what the Order of the Golden Rose once represented in the Church of the Wanjiang Empire, but I can't be more clear.

Popolo was a little angry, "Brother Kefuer, are you doubting me? Do you think I am not worthy of my current honor?"

I said flatly, "Yeah, I'm skeptical about you. Overall, I'm in disbelief at what's going on."

Popolo said solemnly with a straight face, "If you want to sneak into the royal city safely, the church's inspection cannot be avoided... I just want to do something for you, Brother Kefuer. As for your doubts, I don't agree--I The excellence of the bishop is obvious to all, and the new bishop even personally received me. We cherish each other and talked all night."

Hearing this made me even more suspicious, "The new bishop, can I receive you?"

If I'm not mistaken, Elliott would not let anyone other than the Mogul tribe be the bishop of the church.As a citizen of the old country, how could Popolo have anything to do with the new bishop of the Mogol tribe?

I don't believe that there is any "sympathetic" nonsense in this, it is better to say that Popolo has a dirty relationship with the new bishop of the Twilight Empire, which makes me more acceptable.

"Lenny Koffer!" The monk inside sorted out a stack of parchment and said mechanically, "It's your turn, hurry up, don't waste time."

Before I could make a clear question, Popolo pushed me in and comforted me, "Don't worry, Brother Kofuer. Everything will be fine."

Up to now, we can only take one step at a time.I walked over to a table where there was a stack of finger-sized squares of paper with a rough surface, and a polished blade next to it.The wooden-faced monk behind the table handed over a glass vessel and said dryly, "Please cut a small piece of skin with a blade, and let your blood drip into this vessel."

I stared fixedly at the white pieces of paper, as well as the colored papers of different colors in the wastebasket, and said, "These colors, black, yellow, light blue... what do they represent?"

The wooden-faced monk said, "Black represents the Mogol tribe, yellow represents the Vila tribe, and light blue represents the Polyya tribe...Resources are limited, the 'Rainbow Scatter Paper' can only detect ten bloodlines, and analyze the proportion of each bloodline. ratio, and then decide whether you go or stay.”

I looked at the color chart of the major races on the wall...

There is no test color written on the "Royal Saul" bloodline.

"Please let me go, thank you!"

Popolo squeezed in from the door, and gestured friendly to the wooden-faced monk.I heard the wooden-faced monk let out a cold snort, but reluctantly nodded.

When the blade was about to cut through the skin, I paused and asked, "What if I don't have any of the bloodlines mentioned above?"

The wooden-faced monk raised his face and stared at me, glanced at Popolo not far away, and said, "For you, it counts as a pass."

I cut my finger, and the blood dripped into the glass dish, fainting into scarlet blood stains.The wooden-faced monk took out a piece of rainbow paper, dipped it in some blood, and observed the color change on it.

I said, "What would it be like without the above bloodline?"

The wooden-faced monk replied, "That's red...wait."

He shook the piece of paper in the sunlight by the window, and said, "It's colored."

I opened my eyes and furrowed my eyebrows.The wooden-faced monk put the colored paper on the color card for comparison for a long time, and said loudly, "Lenny Kefuer, Polyya blood, 50.00%!"

****

I stood quietly by the table, and there was no movement for a while.Popolo was blubbering and seeing the man put a red stamp on my parchment, happily grabbed my arm, and led me out of the house.

The monk was surprised and happy, and said excitedly in my ear, "I didn't expect that you don't need to arrange it deliberately, but you have Polyya blood, Brother Kefuer! What a surprise, I thought you only had So..."

When he said this, he turned around in disbelief as if he had been struck by lightning, and stared straight at me, speechless for a while.

Without his support, I leaned back against the wall, raised my neck, raised my hands, took a deep breath, and covered my sweaty cheeks with my palms.In the dimness, Chichikov seemed to come to us and asked a few words about the inspection.My mind was dizzy, as if isolated from all the hustle and bustle, I shrank alone in a dark corner.

Polyan descent.

I know.

People with Polyan blood are often slender, fair-skinned, light-colored hair and pupils, with clear and beautiful voices, good at rhythm and poetry, and are known as "the spirits of the world".

Only one person I know is of Polyan descent.

Gerson Renssel, the man who is rumored to have an affair with the queen of the Wanjiang Empire, my teacher.

……

I don’t know how long it took, when I came back to my senses, Popolo was gone, and Chichikov and I were sitting in a spacious and luxurious room, the floor was covered with a cherry red carpet, and the surrounding curtains were made of gold thread. There were two glasses on the table, containing blackberry juice as bright as onyx.

The old man said, "Are you okay?"

"..." I held my forehead, only to feel pain in my head and exhaustion in my limbs.It took me a long time to dispel those useless suspicions in my mind, and with one hand clutching the obsidian around my neck, I whispered, "I don't care, let's go... Now that we have permission, we should go out..."

"No, Lenny." Chichikov stared at me as if observing my reaction. "Things have changed."

Alarm bells were ringing in my head like an out-of-key opera, "What?!"

"Look at this."

The old man handed me a piece of gilt letter paper with the lacquer seal scratched off.I dug out the letter inside and read it word by word.

"Dear Mr. Lenny Kofer, Mr. Chichikov,

Glad to hear that you are Church monk Popolo, former companion.In order to thank you for taking care of him, I invite you to stay here and attend tomorrow's dinner.I hope you both will enjoy your attendance, we are very honored.

Douglas Hayden"

I angrily crumpled the letter into a ball of paper and threw it aside, "Thank you for taking care of Popolu? This reason is really fucking lame! No, this must be a trap, we must not go there."

The old man sat on the sofa smoking his pipe without saying a word.I stood up abruptly, paced back and forth in this ghostly room, and said in a daze, "Chichikov, look at what you have done! You actually brought me into this room, which has nothing to do with being under house arrest." What's the difference?! Satan, you are so fucking stupid..."

My chaotic mind suddenly cleared up, and I observed the furnishings in the house to see if there was a way to escape.The doors and windows are closed, and it may be difficult to escape.

But there are more than two of us.I stroked the necklace around my neck, wondering how likely it was that Luo would get out of the window and destroy the protective fence...

"I must accept this invitation, Lenny." At this moment, Chichikov breathed out a puff of smoke and said in a strange tone, "You must also accept it."

I sneered, "I'll fuck you. If you want to die, I won't accompany you!"

"You must agree," the old man repeated, his voice calm, but his gray-blue eyes threatening.

I stared at him and said, "Why?"

"This is an agreement between you and me."

Chichikov stood up, knocked off the cigarette ash, and looked at me coldly.At that moment, I actually saw Senhan's murderous look on that weather-etched face.

"My eyes." He said slowly, "The eyes that can only see the 'future' are in this church."

"You said you would help me find my other eye... Do you want to go back on your word, Lemon Bone Spur?"