Nightmare Light

Chapter 11 Temple Dialogue
Da da da……

Footsteps echoed deep within the temple, among the stone pillars, torches, and statues.

A figure walked slowly and steadily between the stone pillars, passed through the colonnade and headed towards the depths of the temple. In the firelight in the deepest part of the temple, a huge and kind goddess statue, its face hidden in the shadows.

The figure moved forward step by step, and the torch cast its shadow on the wall, appearing tall and twisted, but its gait was extremely steady, neither hurried nor slow.

next second...

Haw!

The man fell face down on the stone slab, his face hitting hard on the hard stone.

"Ah... it hurts..." Sen squatted on the ground, covering her face. She rubbed her face for a long time before she recovered. Feeling a little ashamed, she looked up at the statue of the goddess at the end of the temple. "I did such an unbecoming thing in front of my mother... I hope my mother will forgive me..."

She rubbed her face a few more times, stood up, and looked at the statue of the goddess.

The statue was still some distance away from her. In the dim light of the torch, although the statue had a compassionate face, it was always shrouded in shadow.

Can't see clearly.

Sen took a breath.

Although she was theoretically the only one in the temple, she still looked around guiltily, then whispered "Mother, please forgive me", lifted up her robe, and trotted towards the statue with her legs moving quickly.

This time, she finally did not fall again, but ran to the foot of the temple safely.

"Huh... It's equally disgraceful, but I'd rather run... At least my face won't hurt."

Sen whispered "Mother, please forgive me" again, then bowed his head in front of the statue, knelt on the stone slab, closed his eyes and felt his mother's gaze.

The goddess statue holds her hands in front of her chest, showing an expression of tolerance and compassion, with four arms extending behind her back, lifting up and reaching into the deep space.

The statue has an ordinary and gentle appearance, its face shrouded in shadow, looking down at the ground.

Sen felt the gentleness coming from the goddess statue, and the tension in his heart gradually relaxed a lot.

Mother...

Forgive my indecision...

But that northerner...

In Sen's mind, the strange northerner who had dealt with the unusual incident before appeared again.

He was clearly a normal young man. Apart from his unusually tall stature and upright facial features, which were typical of northerners, there was nothing special about him.

But when he looked at people, that feeling of looking down from the soul, and the fear that chilled people to the bone...

Mother... am I just being overly suspicious, or is that northerner really...

Footsteps sounded behind him, but Sen remained motionless.

After a few seconds, a hand gently patted her shoulder: "Child, I feel your confusion."

"Your Excellency the Bishop." Sen then stood up and bowed to the visitor.

The visitor was a middle-aged man of medium build and plain appearance, but with a pair of extremely dark and long eyebrows. His eyes were dark and bright, and his eyebrows drooped down from both sides, covering up a lot of the brightness of his eyes.

"Kid, there's no need to be so polite when no one is around," he said gently.

"But Mother is always watching us." Sen remained in his pose. "Bishop Du."

"You're always so steadfast." Bishop Du withdrew his hand and asked, "Child, I sense the confusion in your heart. What could have caused you, a saint and the most steadfast person, to waver to this extent?"

Sen hesitated for a moment and said, "I was...helping the Public Security Bureau deal with an unusual case..."

"Anomaly 46." Bishop Du looked at her gently.

He raised his hand, and many dark shadows appeared out of thin air beside him. These lines woven into two chairs in the air. The bishop sat down on one of them and made a "please" gesture to the young saint.

"Yes, during Anomaly 46, I encountered a Northerner at the scene." Sen nodded, remaining thoughtful as he sat down in another chair. "Northerner?" the Bishop replied softly, his expression unchanged. "Nothing, continue."

"He was a very tall northerner..." Sen recalled and told Bishop Du bit by bit about the scene when he saw Lin Wang, his friends' speculations, and his own worries under the goddess statue just now.

The man in front of him was one of the most respected members of the bishops in the entire temple. He was almost the person with the highest status in the entire temple system, and one of the bishops that Sen respected the most.

I am sure that the Bishop will be able to give me an answer to my worries... The young saint girl thought to herself.

The bishop sat in his chair, his head resting on his hands, thinking for a few seconds, then smiled.

"As a clergyman, especially one as important as the Saint, it's a good quality to maintain the necessary vigilance. I'm proud of you." He smiled and glanced at Sen. "However, this young man from the North is fine. There's no need to worry."

"Oh, you agree with me. Then I'll start investigating him as soon as possible... huh?" Sen was stunned for a moment. "You mean, he's fine?"

"This world was created by Mother. If other gods or similar beings appear, they will inevitably not escape Mother's watchful eye," the bishop said slowly. "If such a thing were to happen, Mother would issue an oracle."

Sen subconsciously felt that what Bishop Du said made sense, but at the same time he had an indescribable strange feeling, as if something was not right.

She thought for a moment, ready to ask a follow-up question, but then Bishop Du's voice rang out, a hollow sound that echoed among the boulders.

"no need to worry……"

"Don't worry..."

“Don’t…worry…”

Sen felt it.

That was a reassuring and trustworthy power coming from Bishop Du's voice.

As the sound continued to repeat, Sen gradually put aside his doubts.

"Your Excellency, you are right."

She slowly stood up, saluted the bishop again, and then left the temple with steady steps, neither hurried nor slow.

Bishop Du kept watching her back until she left the temple.

After the footsteps completely disappeared, Bishop Du stood up, his two unusually long eyebrows trembled, and he looked up at the statue of the goddess.

The tall statue of the goddess overlooks the world, with four arms behind her, three in front and one in the back, stretching into the deep space, as if she is holding up the world.

Bishop Du's gaze lingered on the four arms for a while, then he moved his gaze to the lighter-colored arm at the back. He looked at it for five or six minutes before looking away.

Then he knelt down before the statue, prostrating himself in reverence.

"Mother..."

……

Mori walked up the steps and left the lower level of the temple.

Although kneeling before the statue of the goddess made her feel infinite warmth and courage, she still breathed a sigh of relief after feeling the daylight again.

Sen glanced at the solemn stone temple around him, then looked back at the dark and deep entrance to the temple, and slowly adjusted his mood.

"Your Excellency the Bishop is right. I was a little too worried before..."

She shook her head and walked out muttering to herself.

But for some reason, she always felt that something was wrong.

"If there's a chance, it would be great to see that Northerner again."

　Thanks everyone, today is much better.

　　PS: Now I know four ways to make scrambled eggs with tomatoes!

　　There are those with sugar, salt, chopped green onions and chili peppers!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)