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This sensitive word is really amazing. It is blocked. After it is sent out, it cannot be refreshed. It has to be changed into a square symbol instead.
Chapter 10 Paying Debts Under the Prosperity
Just as Madam Sinlai expressed her suspicion about the Newlonso Cathedral, she was killed that night. Ethan didn't believe that there was no connection at all.
"Are you trying to say that she actually knows much more than we thought?" Ethan didn't even eat his meal and stared at Hitzfeld intently.
"That possibility cannot be ruled out." Hitzfeld scooped up a ball of rice and stuffed it into his mouth. While chewing, he said, "Remember the veil that Lily brought back?"
"Wang?"
Lily was lying on the ground, enjoying the food ordered specifically for her. When she heard her name, she immediately pricked up her ears.
"What happened to the veil?" Darent demanded.
"The veil itself is fine, but...what widow would put on so much powder when going to church to mourn her late husband?"
It didn't take Hitzfeld long to think about this doubt.
If Mrs. Sinley had not died so quickly and so strangely, she probably would not have thought about it in this way - because it is normal for a widow to wear makeup. On the contrary, it is impolite to go to a solemn place like church without makeup.
But Mrs. Sinlai's makeup was too heavy.
It didn't seem like she was going to commemorate her deceased husband, but rather to have a tryst with her lover.
"Oh!" Darent gasped. "Indeed - you said before that she goes there three times a week? And every time is fixed?"
It seemed nothing special before, very normal, but after being pointed out by Hitzfeld, it looked more and more like he was going to the church to do something else.
"Steward? Priest? Clergyman?" Darente guessed several possibilities, but Hitzfeld remained indifferent.
"It can't be that Bishop Lanno..."
"Puff..." Hitzfeld choked on her trachea and began coughing violently while pinching her neck. Ethan, who was standing next to her, quickly handed her a glass of water and gently hit her back with his fist.
"Bishop Lanno may be related to this matter, but I don't think he is the one who had an affair with Madam Xinlai." After she recovered, she glared at Darent fiercely, "...If you don't know how to speak, you don't have to speak. I beg you."
"But no matter how I think about it, I feel that this is the possibility." Darent held his chin in his hand and fell into deep thought.
"Look... Let's assume that Bishop Lanno was behind this. The truth is... they used illegal means to forge Nicholas Brende's will and took away the red tomato orchard. Mark Sinley's elders happened to be involved in this matter, which led to him joining in and enjoying the benefits of the orchard together..."
"Then, somehow, this incident alarmed the Count's ghost, and he returned with a whole ghost street to avenge those termites who destroyed his ideals. Mrs. Sinlai had sensed something because she was married to Mark, so she became suspicious... At the same time, the New Lunso Cathedral was afraid that she had evidence of their corruption of the orchard's interests over the years, so they rushed to kill her that night!"
"Pa!" He clapped his hands vigorously and knocked on the table: "Look! Isn't this logic very smooth?"
"It is indeed very smooth..." Hitzfeld shrugged, "But it is based on two facts... One is that the ghost of Nicholas Brende really exists, and the other is that corruption has appeared again within the cult."
"I don't think these are problems." Darent kept shaking his head. "You are too conservative. We evil gods have done this before. What's so strange about ghosts? As for the corruption of the cult, that's not normal - they are also human beings. You have seen precedents in Nanxinze."
"But I always thought...the bishop of Nanxinze sold his soul in order to prolong his life." Hitzfeld still held a conservative view. "Pure wealth and enjoyment are already available to their class. There is no reason for them to betray their faith for these things."
The treatment in the sect is actually not bad.
There is also a very interesting factional division here, namely the ascetic school and the experiential school.
The ascetics believed that all clergy should live a life of poverty in order to prevent them from being corrupted by luxury and luxury and from polluting their original noble beliefs.
The experientialists believe that if one only emphasizes asceticism without personally experiencing it and reflecting on it, one may not be able to resist the slightest bit of arrogance and will fall into depravity even more quickly and completely.
This theory has a close relative, which is the modern times of Hitzfeld's previous life. Many people pay attention to raising their daughters in wealth. The purpose is to let their daughters experience the glory and wealth early, so that they will not be easily deceived by a little profit when they grow up.
These two factions have existed and have been attacking each other for many years. There is no unified requirement within the cult, and the choice of which kind of life to live depends on personal will.
The knight Karl who died in Nanxinze was a member of the Ascetic sect.
According to her understanding, the leader of the Flintstone Knights, Knight Red, was also an ascetic.
But they are indeed a minority, like Frick, Carlo, Torres, Sebot and others. Judging from the experience of the Crystal Sea group, they are all experientialists.
Because the ship that Baron Skye gave them carried a lot of luxury goods, including various tobaccos, teas and so on... but they were not surprised at all, and they were very familiar with using them. It was obvious that they had been exposed to similar things many times.
The same is true for the New Lunso Cathedral.
This can be seen from the location distribution - the church is not located in the city center, nor in other areas with relatively backward economic development, but was specifically chosen in the north of the city, in the wealthy area.
It is closer to wealthy families, so naturally more of them come, and they certainly give more donations each time. Therefore, its decoration is not simple. Many details... such as carpets, murals, gold powder on the walls... all reflect wealth.
Not to mention that it also owns the Huishi Orchard, whose quarterly revenue alone exceeds that of most wealthy families.
So it’s actually a question of attitude.
The attitude that the New Lunso Cathedral shows to the outside world is that they are not ascetics.
They will stick to their beliefs, but if conditions permit, they are not opposed to living a more comfortable life.
Hitzfeld therefore believed that the probability of Bishop Lanno betraying was not high, because - even if he had secretly supported an interest group over the years, and this group was the source of all the disasters - what would he do with the property he had embezzled in the end?
As far as she knew, Bishop Lanno had no wife, no offspring, and had very little contact with the outside world.
This means there is a lack of channels and means to transfer property.
He has reached the top of this level in this region and he is already very rich.
Even if he wants to spend more money to enjoy himself, no one will say anything as long as it is legal.
Then why did he betray?
Just for more money?
Just Sera gold coins?
"I don't think it's that simple either..." Ethan shook his head along with Hitzfeld.
Of course, he didn't think that much. He simply rejected the idea that the Count's ghost had committed the murder.
Even if he had sufficient reasons to kill in this case, but...
But Brodie Sinley is only 7 years old.
A man who once created the candy kingdom, he is a hero in the eyes of all children.
After becoming a ghost, he actually fell to the point of attacking children?
Ethan didn't mean to cover up for him.
But he couldn't accept this kind of thing for the time being.
"Let's consider this possibility as a backup," Hitzfeld suggested.
"Only a backup?" Darent was dissatisfied.
"If you think this is it, then we'll separate and you can investigate according to your ideas."
Hitzfeld's words silenced him.
"So where to go next?" Darent looked listless, scratching the empty plate back and forth with his fork.
He has finished eating.
Hitzfeld was almost done eating.
Ethan was speeding up. He ate much faster than the girl and would definitely finish within three minutes.
"I think your brain has become wooden..."
Hitzfeld rubbed his temple, speechless at his slowness.
“Have you ever thought that there are restaurants near Enling Road? Why should I let Ethan open a restaurant in this place?”
Yes.
why.
Not only Darent frowned, but Ethan, who was eating, also began to feel puzzled.
city center.
bustling.
There are many people in the shop.
All this information combined...
The two looked at each other and turned to look at the window at the same time.
Through the glass, they saw a long queue in front of a store with a bright red sign across the street. On the sign, the image of the count in a tuxedo was clearly visible.
“This is the DreamWorks store closest to Enling Road.”
A girl's voice came from behind.
"A lot of powdered sugar was thrown into the dream... Didn't you want to start with the candies?"
"Go ask if anyone has bought a large number of candy gift packs recently."
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Chapter 29: Weird Guests 1
The street where the three of them had their meal has a nice name, Dream Narcissus.
Narcissus is not a verb, but a pure noun. It is actually a local specialty plant, which is called this because it can grow in coal mines where ordinary plants cannot survive, and its leaves are shaped like narcissus.
This thing is strictly a weed, with no medicinal value, and even livestock will not eat it unless they are desperate and hungry. But the people of Fellington love this plant very much, gave it a dreamy name, and proudly used it as a symbol of the city.
This was all information Hitzfeld had taken down while reading the DreamWorks biography. She knew that this was actually a deliberate self-deprecation by the early Fellingtons.
At that time, the city had not yet developed and was far from being as large as it is now. As mining resources gradually dried up, the crazy development of Fellington was stopped with an abrupt brake. Without resources, Fellington could no longer attract caravans and theater troupes, and they could only start seeking industrial transformation for a long time to come.
This is not ahead of the times. Industrial transformation is not a concept but a demand. It does not require any economist to propose it, but is a spontaneous choice made by the people living on the land.
The people of Fellington chose to transform themselves into "creating culture" after repeatedly hitting a wall in other directions.
Fellington has a well-developed theatre culture. According to statistics, there were 130 theatre troupes in Fellington 950 years ago, and today the number has expanded to . Because Fellington cannot digest this huge cultural market, more than half of them are moving around - but they are indeed registered locally, and they never forget to use their local name when performing.
They have the largest and most extensive theater audience in Sara, and the most exaggerated proportion of professional theater personnel in Sara.
There is a local saying that there is no Fellington man whose wife cannot sing opera. Maybe that is why... a group of miners have such romantic feelings.
When she first saw this, Hitzfeld was very involved. If she hadn't been sober and still thinking about "some very bad things did happen to Fellington during its rise, and very bad things for the girls in the troupe", she might have applauded this tenacious spirit that grew out of the coal mines, just like countless ignorant and ignorant citizens.
This is the story she read in a book.
In reality, personal experience is different.
When they went out, the three of them were blocked by a convoy.
This is a convoy of a theater troupe. They modified the truck, attached 2-3 more trailer boards, built wooden frames and stages on them, and arranged the whole thing magnificently. They also placed some actors on it for rehearsal.
Preview - of course, because this kind of performance is impossible for every audience to watch the whole process. Passersby can only see the general idea, it is not worth spending all their energy on such a performance.
Usually, there are people handing out flyers behind these trucks. They don't care whether passers-by want to go or not, they just hand out flyers with the specific address of the official performance, and if someone is interested, they will go.
"Those should be the new talents in the troupe." Darent smacked his lips. When he saw Ethan take out a cigarette box from his pocket again, he reached out and poked him, forcibly taking a cigarette from the box.
"..." Hitzfeld and Ethan were both stunned. They stopped watching the traveling troupe and turned to stare at him. They saw him take out a box of matches from his arms, light the cigarette with clumsy movements, and take a sip with his eyes squinted.
Hitzfeld: ???
She didn't understand.
You, Mapus-Dalent, are a wooden man... You said you like to eat fried pork chops. Oh, that's because you were once a normal human being, and your internal organs are flesh and blood. This can be barely explained.
But there are many parts of your body that tend to be woody, right?
You dare to smoke in this state? Do you think you are not dying fast enough?
“I just want to experience it.”
Seeing the two people's surprised gazes, Darent raised his arm, holding the cigarette between his fingers and waving it gently.
"I just... ahem! I want to reminisce about this taste..."
"You've remembered someone, Maps." Hitzfeld didn't react, but the experienced Ethan saw through it at a glance.