Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 20 Temple Priest
Where is Boss Yuan?

He was drinking tea with the chief priest in the back hall of the temple.

The chief priest was sitting, and Boss Yuan was standing beside him, bowing slightly with a smile on his face.

Unlike spacious and bright churches, temples are much more elegant and solemn.

In order to bless the fleets going out to sea with smooth sailing, the Temple of the Goddess of Wind and Rain was built in the port area to facilitate people's worship.

The temple covers a large area, with high walls made of white stone and green tiles to block out the noise from the outside world. After entering the first door along the long steps, you must first burn incense to the goddess in the large copper furnace. After that, walk inside and you will reach the front hall.

In the front hall, people worship the boy and girl sitting beside the goddess. The statues of the boy and girl have no carved faces, which is not surprising. Whenever a disaster occurs, the people in the city will pick out a pair of boys and girls and send them to the blessing boat to sacrifice to the goddess. Over the years, countless pairs of boys and girls have been offered, so the sculptures do not have to have a fixed appearance.

Coming out from the back door of the front hall, you will arrive at the main hall dedicated to the Goddess of Wind and Rain. The Goddess sits on the altar, wearing a five-colored feather robe, and her eyes are half-closed, gazing at the believers below the altar.

Behind the main hall is a place that outsiders are not allowed to enter.

That was the residence of the chief priests and the officiants.

Just as churches are divided into chapels, sanctuaries, cathedrals, and temples from low to high, temples are also divided into three types: ancestral temples, viewing temples, and treasure halls according to their size and region.

Since Fancheng is the hometown of the Goddess of Wind and Rain, the highest-standard Temple of the Goddess of Wind and Rain is also located in Fancheng, but in the upper city area.

At present, there is only a temple in the port area.

In the factory area church, the priest has the final say, and in the temple, the chief priest has the final say. In a sense, they are of the same level.

There was a faint smell of incense in the air.

Boss Yuan was wearing a long gown with a buttoned jacket on the outside. He held a wide-brimmed hat in one hand and a cane in the other.

Seeing that the chief priest had licked up the tea in the cup, he quickly tucked his crutch under his arm and went forward to add more tea himself.

The time was almost right. Boss Yuan lowered his head and said, "Grandpa Gan, do you think I can enter the temple this month?"

The chief priest glanced sideways and asked, "What's the hurry?"

Boss Yuan forced a smile and said, "Of course I'm anxious. I'm anxious to do the job for the Empress, and I'm also anxious to save face for my uncle."

The chief priest scoffed, but still felt relieved: "Have you gotten rid of the smell?"

Boss Yuan quickly assured him, "It's been thoroughly cleaned. Ever since I moved to Lower City, I've bathed and burned incense every day without fail. I've also handed over the tax collection business to my subordinates, so the stench in Lower City has long been gone."

"I'm not just talking about the smell."

The head priest nodded slightly. "I won't keep you hanging. You're one of the newest clerks in the temple. But I must remind you that new clerks must be trained in the Treasure Hall. I don't need to remind you how many important figures there are in the Treasure Hall. You must not bring your dirty habits from the bottom city with you."

Boss Yuan suppressed his ecstasy and bent even more: "Of course, I dare not lose face for my uncle."

The chief priest took out his pocket watch and asked: "Why hasn't today's tax money arrived yet?"

After he reminded him, Boss Yuan realized that it was indeed too late. He was about to say goodbye to the chief priest and go and check it out in person when suddenly a ceremonial officer rushed in.

"There's an old man outside, he says he's from the Rat Tail Gang, and he has something urgent to discuss..."

Si Li looked at Boss Yuan. He didn't know Boss Yuan's real name, and didn't want to call him "Boss Yuan", but calling him "Lame Mouse" to his face didn't seem appropriate either, so he was stuck.

The chief priest waved his hand: "Bring it in."

Not long after, a strong old man walked in with his face held high.

When Boss Yuan saw that half of his body was covered in blood, he knew something was wrong. The strong old man immediately cried out when he saw Boss Yuan: "Boss! It was Feng Shoumao who did it. He and his men robbed the tax money!"

Boss Yuan subconsciously got impatient: "Bullshit! Where does he get the courage from?"

"Ok?"

The high priest's eyes fixed on him, but he didn't see any movement. He only felt a breeze blowing by, and he was standing next to the strong old man.

The chief priest pulled the old man's arm away and stared at the wound on his face for a moment: "The bleeding won't stop. This is a wound caused by a magic weapon."

"Magical weapon?"

Boss Yuan was stunned. This word had nothing to do with Feng Xiaohu - even though he had served the chief priest for so many years, he had never made a fortune. How could Feng Xiuhu get any?

Boss Yuan's repeated calls of "Fuck Grandpa" were not in vain. The chief priest put two fingers together and made a magic gesture, then put his fingers into the teacup and stirred it, muttering: "Turn into rain, cleanse..."

After a while, the chief priest picked up the cup and poured it on the wound of the sturdy old man. A wisp of green smoke rose and dissipated. The chief priest waved his hand and called the ritual officer: "Take him and sew his face back together. It's a terrible sight."

After the people left, the chief priest became suspicious and wanted to get to the bottom of the matter: "Who is Feng Shoumao? Tell me."

Boss Yuan then told him everything that had happened in recent days, not daring to leave anything out.

The high priest's brow furrowed as he listened. "You mean he killed another choir leader, and then Luo Mengzhang disappeared shortly afterward, which led to Hollis Wu coming to work in the factory area? And Feng Xiaohu wasn't punished, not only is he still alive—he even stole the Empress's tax money today?"

Boss Yuan also felt something was wrong. He exchanged a glance with the head priest and asked, "Could it be that the church was instigating this?"

"Who else could have given him the courage?"

The chief priest thought for a while and said, "Go and test the waters first, but don't act rashly. Feng Xiaohu is just a nobody and can't make the decision. I'll have to ask Hollis Wu for clarification."

Boss Yuan obeyed.

……

Boss Yuan led his men back in a hurry. On the way, he recalled the church secrets revealed to him by the chief priest.

There has always been a rift between Hollis Wu and Luo Meng Zhang. The two of them have similar levels of cultivation and are the two priests with the greatest hope of advancement.

A new church was built in the factory area, and it was necessary to spread the faith to places outside the upper city. Normally, a bishop should be in charge of a church, but because it was still in the stage of opening up a breakthrough in missionary work, only priests were sent to be in charge. This also became an excellent opportunity to gild one's reputation.

Hollis Wu was defeated in the intrigue and handed the opportunity to Luo Meng Zhang. It was not until Luo Meng Zhang disappeared for no reason that he naturally took over the factory area temple.

What the chief priest meant was that Feng Xiaohu was very likely to have been in cahoots with Hollis Wu a long time ago, and that the death of He Dage and the disappearance of Luo Mengzhang might have been instigated by Hollis Wu with the help of Feng Xiaohu.

After taking over the church, Hollis Wu was eager to make achievements, so he started with three things to do, and the first one was taxes.

So Boss Yuan really didn't dare to touch Feng Xiaohu.

why?
Because the chief priest didn't dare to touch Hollis Wu.

Even though they were not much different in terms of ability, even if Hollis Wu and Luo Meng Zhang were tied together, they were still no match for the high priest. But there was no other way. The temple was weak now, and its attitude towards the church was to tolerate it if it could, and to tolerate it even more if it couldn't.

Didn’t you see that the newly built temples were deliberately built in the factory area, just to suppress the temple and make the temple unhappy but have to endure it - just like the location of the lower city and the bottom city, the factory area is above the port area.

　Remember to add a bookshelf.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)