Nothing happened on the way to the Forgotten Church. Apart from two encounters with the police and a carriage carrying people infected with the petrified plague, the only thing that filled the blank time was the idle chat between Shad and Hillis.
The old church, even after a preliminary restoration in the last two months, still remained in a relatively dilapidated state. Today, Xia De has lost count of how many times he has walked through here, going back and forth between his house and this southern city.
After entering the main hall of the church, Siris walked ahead of Shade. When the two of them walked along the carpeted walkway between the benches and passed the daylight shining into the room from the dilapidated roof, the blonde girl stopped beside her father's body.
Xia De knew that she was in a complicated state of mind at the moment and must be thinking about a lot of things, so he didn't say anything and just waited quietly.
But Hillis did not remain silent for too long, she suddenly said:
"When this matter is over, we will move this statue away."
"Of course, but where should we move it to? How about the Randall Valley Public Cemetery?"
Shade suggested, and Sirius nodded:
"The opera company has its own cemetery, and most of my elders are buried there. When the time comes, we can just arrange a simple funeral."
She pursed her lips and looked at the seated stone statue:
"After death, no matter what, we will return to the earth. The earth will be with you and me in the end."
After saying this, he and Shad went through the back corridor and entered the back half of the church, which was the route Shad usually took.
When Shade first came here in January, the church was severely damaged, and even the area around the basement almost collapsed, forcing Shade to use the Witch's Light to force a way out.
The recent renovations had not completely solved the problem of collapsed ceilings and crumbling walls, but at least the girls of the Golden Dawn had opened a path for Shade to get directly to the basement.
As for the two's target this time, it was not the basement with hidden walls where Mr. Lathers left the last traces, but the areas that had not yet been cleared.
"I found out my father's last whereabouts."
The illuminated ball of light floated as the two walked, and Sirius's voice sounded calm:
"That happened last weekend. The witches had already arrived, and Vanessa was busy with the final battle. I was alone, visiting the Flower Inn where my father once lived in the city. The old owner seemed to know I was coming, and gave me the things my father left behind."
"Specially left for you? Did Mr. Lathers think of you becoming the next guardian at that time?"
Shade asked softly, but Sirius did not answer the question:
"My father left behind all the research materials about this church. He finally confirmed the location of the church based on the relics of a cult leader that he bought from Cassandra's auction house. That cult leader guided my father to the confessional in the church. This is our destination this time."
That is to say, after Mr. Lathers arrived here more than ten years ago, he went to the confessional first, and then found the basement. After finding that he could not enter, he left those messages on the wall.
"Then the location of the confessional..."
"Among the documents my father left behind, there is a floor plan of the church. The confessional is in the collapsed area that has not yet been cleared. I originally wanted to come with Vanessa, but this matter is not important now, and she has her own things to discuss."
Although Hillis didn't sigh when he spoke, Shade felt something was wrong:
"You didn't ask her?"
"Indeed not."
"If you tell her, I don't believe she will not come with you. You have known Miss Benannis for so many years, you should know her better than I do."
Hillis pursed his lips:
"Now you know her better."
This sentence seems to be understood in different ways.
In short, according to the architectural drawings in Hillis's hand, although the location of the confessional is not in the core of the collapsed area, it is not easy to forcibly open a path.
But fortunately, Hillis herself is a seventh-ring, so even without Shade following her, she can open the road by herself without damaging the main structure of the building.
After some effort, a new branch was opened in the corridor at the back of the church, leading directly to the confessional.
The confessional in the Forgotten Church is similar to most other churches. It is a circular room with seven stone confessional cabinets placed against the wall. They are small cabinets with curtains on the doors and less than three square meters. The inner wall with holes divides the confessional cabinet into two parts. The penitent kneels on one side and confesses to the priest sitting on the other side of the cabinet. They can only hear each other's voices but cannot see each other.
Although the corridor collapsed, the confessional was still intact. Only one of the seven confessional cabinets was smashed, and the other six were fine except that they were covered with dust.
As for the other decorations and furnishings in the confessional, including the chandelier that fell on the ground, they had already decayed over time and there was no need to check them.
"The secret should be in the six confessional cabinets."
Hillis said, but both she and Shad could sense obvious traces of elements in those ancient prayer places.
In other words, the secret cannot be seen by opening the door.
"Let's go and have a look together."
Shad chose the one closest to the door. Due to confidentiality requirements, the priest's side exit of the confessional was in another room, so he could only open the door through which the confessor entered.
With a gentle pull, the slightly deformed metal door embedded in the stone opened, revealing a clean and tidy space with even an intact long wooden chair.
Just as Xia De was about to speak, he heard Mo Hu's male voice coming from the other side of the inner wall with the hole:
"What do you want to confess? Come in, close the door and confess to me."
Shade raised his eyebrows. He was sure that there was no one on the other side of the inner wall. Just as he was about to speak, Sirius grabbed his hand:
"This is the path I'm looking for. Here I come."
"OK."
So Shad made way for him, and Hillis walked in and sat down. Shad wanted to close the door for her from the outside, but the young girl pulled Shad in as well, and then the door was closed.
Of course, the confessional cabinet, when used for normal purposes, can usually only be used by one person, so it is still a bit crowded for two people to squeeze in. But since he promised to accompany Hillis to complete her father's final journey, Shade would not complain.
"Father, I am guilty."
The young girl whispered in the darkness, her head bowed but her voice calm;
"I knew my father had greater things to accomplish, but I still hated him for abandoning me."
And in the darkness on the other side of the inner wall, the man's voice continued to be heard:
"It's normal to desire your parents' love. It's also understandable that your father abandoned his family for the sake of the world. No one is at fault in this matter. This is a joke of fate."
"Destiny?"
Hillis was silent for a moment:
"I see."
No more sound came from the other side, but at the bottom of the inner wall, something was stuffed into a gap less than a finger's width that connected the two spaces.
Xia De bent down and lit the moonlight on his fingertips to look, and found that it was a fragment of a mirror. Judging from its size, it was about one-third of a mirror.
"Let's move on to the next one."
The blonde girl said, but before Shade tried to push the door and leave the small space, she asked Shade again:
"I hate my father. Is this really something that can be forgiven?"
"He did abandon you and threw all the responsibilities onto you. Moreover, you didn't hate him, but you had resentment. Otherwise, you wouldn't have insisted on following Mr. Lathers's footsteps, just to make him tell you the reason why he did that back then."
Although the confessional cabinet was pitch black, because the distance was so close, Shad's dark vision was enough to help him see the slight smile on Sirius's face:
"Well, let's get on with it."
The six confessional cabinets looked identical in appearance, so Shade simply opened the next one in a clockwise order.
Because the first one was not dangerous, the cautious Shade relaxed his vigilance. Unexpectedly, as soon as the door of the second confession cabinet was opened, a transparent thread like a spider web was sprayed out from the darkness.
Even though Xia De dodged to the side at the last moment, the left half of his body was still covered by the threads. For a moment, it felt as if a stone was forced into his brain, but fortunately, he had the experience of having a "brick" forced into his head when he first came to this world, so he endured the dizziness and severe headache.
But even so, he still couldn't help but say lines that didn't belong to him:
"I hate him, I hate him!"
"Memory Thread!"
Hillis exclaimed, pulled Shade's right hand and led him back quickly. Then he used magic to summon a transparent knife, and like performing surgery, he quickly removed the transparent silk thread that had dissolved most of Shade's body.
"I'm fine, be careful, something is coming out!"
Shad warned, and he was supported by Hillis, but his right hand was still pointing in the direction of the door that had just been opened.
Under the light of the silver moon, Sirius Lathers, with a hateful expression on his face, walked out from the second door that was opened.
She didn't even look at Shade, but looked directly at Sirius:
"I hate him! I hate him!"
As he spoke, he rushed directly towards Sirius. Shade drew out the Moonlight Greatsword with his right hand and stabbed it into the ground:
"Hedon Seal!"
The golden shield with flowing light exploded around, blocking the "hating" Shiris outside. Although she was covered with black smoke and had an extreme expression on her face, her actual combat power was far less than that of the real Seventh Ring Warlock Shiris.