Another bright sunny day, and prospective missionary Norton was awakened early in the morning.
A missionary dressed in white church uniform led Norton toward the cathedral's nave.
Norton would be participating in next Monday's Mass, so he needed to follow other prospective acolytes to learn the Mass procedures, protocols, and precautions.
The cathedral where Norton resided was called 'Holy Lord Cathedral.' Norton didn't know whether his location was a remote city or a major metropolitan area, but regardless, the entire cathedral's scale was quite grand, somewhat resembling the architectural structure of medieval European palaces, with the interior housing about ten thousand people year-round.
However, similar to medieval times, this place was also exceptionally unhygienic.
Throughout the cathedral's corners, traces of feces and urine were everywhere visible. Such a massive cathedral didn't even have toilet facilities—church members either found a corner or relieved themselves in the fireplaces.
The air was permeated with the foul stench of excrement and urine. If it were winter, when fireplaces were lit, the accumulated half-year's worth of putrid odor would spread throughout the entire cathedral with the hot air, truly making it a living hell.
Even after twenty years of transmigration, Norton still hadn't adapted to this damned environment.
The primary reason he wanted to escape outside was his inability to tolerate this place's smell.
He was absolutely certain that if the primordial death god Jonah came to the cathedral in winter, he would definitely rename hell as heaven upon returning.Ever since learning about vampires yesterday, he seriously suspected that vampires didn't attack the church because they couldn't win, but because they didn't want to enter this shit-filled package.
Dressed in white robes, Norton followed behind a group of similarly white-robed figures into the Holy Father Sanctuary. What greeted his eyes was a magnificent golden hall and the exquisitely beautiful mural of God on the hall's ceiling.
In this place, God Caesar's eldest son Divine Cause wasn't crucified on the cross, yet the symbol remained the cross emblem. There was even a human-shaped carving on the cross, but neither the Bible nor the books in his hands provided clear records about who was crucified on the cross or the story behind it. This aspect seemed to still be concealed.
But Norton guessed it was God who was crucified on the cross—otherwise, it wouldn't be treated with such solemnity.
The mural depicted God shepherding his flock.
God Caesar, revealing his large buttocks, stood naked with his back to the congregation, holding a pure white lamb in his arms while two or three more lay on the ground.
The lamb was depicted vividly, and like most ancient Western European artworks, its genitalia were visible.
In the mural, this undoubtedly symbolized 'sex' and 'mating.'
These churches always enjoyed painting things that seemed innocent at first glance but became indecent upon closer reflection.
Additionally, Divine Cause stood naked not far away, holding a whip but not daring to approach, while Jonah crouched naked by a distant stream, hanging his head low. At the stream's end where water washed ashore, there was a blood-stained head.
If one looked carefully, they could see two small red dots on the neck of the lamb Caesar held, and on the side of the whip in Divine Cause's hand, there were also red bloodstains.
It was rather embarrassing—after more than twenty years, Norton never understood what this painting truly meant. But after reading the books last night, he finally grasped its underlying meaning.
That blood-stained head must be the captured vampire progenitor Kuba, caught feeding on blood.
Although Kuba's head had been removed, his eyes remained wide open. In the mural, this didn't signify dying with unresolved grievances but rather symbolized that he hadn't truly died.
Furthermore, God's smooth back grew half a pair of pure white wings.
Only the left wing had grown, not the right. It was unclear whether this carried some symbolic meaning or if he simply only grew half a pair.
Norton was studying the mural with intense concentration when Father Mia's sudden voice interrupted him, the priest dressed in silver vestments.
"Norton."
"Father!" Norton quickly snapped back to attention, responding respectfully.
Father Mia nodded, then shifted his gaze from Norton to thoroughly examine the five prospective missionaries standing before him.
"You've all read the books during this period, correct?"
"Yes, Father!" the five responded in unison.
"Excellent, then I won't waste words. You all know the consequences of breaking the rules. Now I will explain the specific procedures of the Mass to you."
Father Mia held a Bible in his hands, his posture quite solemn.
His explanation focused mainly on Mass precautions: when to follow the missionaries ahead while walking, when to stop and stand still, when to distribute the black bread held in their hands to the poor below, and what formation to use when exiting after distribution was complete.
The explanation and drills continued until 3:00 PM before finally concluding.
Norton collected a piece of black bread and a small bowl of thin porridge from the cafeteria, quickly finished eating, then hurried toward the rear hall.
Afternoon lessons were mandatory.
He quickly reached the rear hall, found his spot among a group of acolytes who were closing their eyes and silently reciting the Bible, then knelt down and joined the group in silent Bible recitation.
The church enforced ascetic discipline upon them, essentially forbidding all personal desires. Group companionship of two or three people wasn't permitted, socializing was prohibited. If not occupied, they either collectively performed lessons or returned to their individual rooms to study the Bible and learn divine teachings.
Thus, even after twenty years of living here, people basically never spoke to each other. Even if they recognized one another and had met many times, it was quite possible that no words had ever been exchanged between them.
Norton had made mistakes in this regard during childhood and was severely beaten by church knights using thorny vines. Since then, he never dared to willingly make mistakes again.
The church seemed to be training them into machines that only followed orders without personal desires, thereby maintaining the church's operations and ensuring mutual loyalty.
"Caesar opened his eyes, and chaos became clarity. God said: Let there be cosmos, and the universe appeared. God said: Let there be life, and all things were born......"
Soft yet uniform recitation sounds buzzed through the stench-filled hall, resembling the noise of flies, causing psychological discomfort.
The church didn't require people to come worship God, and those wishing to worship could only earn spots by making significant contributions to the church. Thus their daily routine consisted of chanting scriptures, chanting scriptures, chanting scriptures...
Time passed swiftly amid Norton's scripture recitation.
Finally, the time for his Mass arrived.