Leaving the reception room, heading towards the elevator.
Despite feeling severely dizzy, Shang Jianyao, fueled by excitement overcoming weakness, walked beside Jiang Baimian, continuing to chatter incessantly:
"You were born in October, perfectly aligned with 'You Gu,' and you've even felt Her gaze. This indicates a connection, a destiny for you to worship at..."
"Stop, stop, stop!" Jiang Baimian interrupted the Pudu Monk's sermon.
To maintain his persona, this guy had been consuming a lot of related Old World entertainment materials recently, sometimes acting rather strangely.
Is it really okay to mention "You Gu's" gaze at the bottom of the Vigilance Church? Do you want to end up like DiMarco, suppressed within the Ark, unable to leave for life and unable to enter the "New World"? Jiang Baimian pondered internally, adding a disgruntled remark to change the subject:
"You were born in September, but I don't see you acting like a 'Mandala' believer."
Shang Jianyao didn't respond, silently removing the tactical backpack from his back.
"What are you doing?" Long Yuehong didn't follow his train of thought.
Shang Jianyao frankly replied:
"Taking out the 'Six Senses Beads' to wear. That way, I'll be a qualified 'Mandala' believer."
As he spoke, he raised a finger and gently touched his lips.
This was a ritual of the "Beyond Spirituality" Order, learned by Shang Jianyao from his good brother, Terence, the second boss of the "Black Shirts."
"Pay attention to etiquette!" Jiang Baimian chose the reason most acceptable to Shang Jianyao. "We don't know how many people will be there later."
"Mm," Shang Jianyao deeply agreed, zipping up the tactical backpack.
At this moment, Bai Chen muttered to herself:
"I was born in May, belonging to the 'Overseer.'
"Little Red is November, belonging to 'Shattered Mirror'..."
"I feel like the connection between the Zodiac Gods and the months isn't that strong. At least, I don't have the spirit of 'illusory dreams everywhere, why be serious?'" Long Yuehong immediately started discussing Bai Chen's words.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Baimian silently rolled her eyes upwards.
She then pressed the button, "summoning" the elevator.
After arriving on the first basement level of the Vigilance Church, they re-equipped their masks and walked upwards along the somewhat familiar path.
The hall here was still as Jiang Baimian remembered it, deep and wide, heavily using red, giving a very dangerous, alert feeling.
Amidst the red, gold was interspersed, rendering a strong sense of holiness.
On the wall at the back of the hall, the huge symbol composed of a half-covered white door, darkness behind the door, and a female figure made every entrant instinctively want to lower their heads, avoiding the gaze of the unknown existence across the mysterious gate.
At this moment, two groups of people were sitting on either side of the huge symbol, communicating in the air, their tone sometimes fierce, sometimes slow and heavy.
At a glance, Long Yuehong felt that the seven or eight people on the left side of the emblem should belong to the Vigilance Church.
It wasn't that he recognized these guys, but because they were all wearing iconic masks and hoods.
The five or six people on the right side of the emblem were huddled further back, almost hidden in the dusk brought to the hall by the evening.
They weren't wearing masks, sometimes trembling, fearful, like a group of quail scared out of their wits.
Perhaps they were too focused on the dispute, or perhaps the sky had almost completely darkened, and the church hall only had a few candles lit in front of the emblem, so the two groups hadn't noticed the arrival of the "Old Task Force."
Therefore, Shang Jianyao tiptoed, using the professional spirit of hide-and-seek from his childhood, secretly and sneakily approaching.
Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen followed behind without concealment, but the two groups didn't even bother to give them a glance.
Vigilance! Where is your vigilance? Jiang Baimian "heh"ed in her heart.
Just then, she saw Shang Jianyao, who had reached the vicinity of the emblem, quietly sitting down.
Wearing a monkey mask, he sat next to the people of the Vigilance Church, very close to them, as if he were one of them.
Long Yuehong's mouth twitched, grateful that he was wearing a mask, so he wouldn't lose face.
As the distance shortened, Jiang Baimian and others clearly heard what the two groups were arguing about.
An ordinary clergyman belonging to the Vigilance Church said in a serious tone:
"This world is too dangerous, and all kinds of disasters may come at any time, so we must be vigilant and face life with this attitude. Only in this way can we completely survive the destruction of the Old World and usher in the opening of the New World's door.
"This is what the Zodiac God truly wants to warn us about."
Across from him, a middle-aged man who looked frightened and shivering shouted in a slightly shrill voice:
"Yes, there's nothing wrong with this statement, but you've missed the point.
"The key is fear!
"Fear is the oldest and most primitive emotion of mankind, helping mankind survive to this day.
"Only by knowing how to fear the gods, fear all things worth fearing, will we naturally generate vigilance and make corresponding preparations.
"Therefore, vigilance is just an inevitable result of our strictly adhering to the doctrine, not the essence!"
Another Vigilance Church member, wearing a veil hood, retorted sharply:
"The purpose of fear is for vigilance, not to let you indulge in fear, pathologically pursuing fear.
"You've put the cart before the horse!"
This seemed to be a Greytowner.
Hearing this, Long Yuehong understood somewhat, and immediately slandered in his heart:
So, you guys wear masks, hide, and act like someone is holding a gun to your back...
Jiang Baimian listened with relish, sitting down at a distance.
Frankly speaking, she felt that the debating skills and theoretical level of both sides were not very high. As far as the many books she had read were concerned, the doctrinal disputes of those Old World sects with thousands of years of heritage had risen to the height of philosophy, with each side arguing based on scriptures and quotations.
Of course, this didn't prevent Jiang Baimian from listening attentively, as similar things were not common in the Greylands.
"Yes, yes, how can you treat a condition as a conclusion?"
"No, no, no, this is not a relationship between condition and conclusion, this is a relationship between the root and its development result!"
"..."
As Jiang Baimian listened, she suddenly felt something was wrong.
She was very familiar with some of the words used in the previous conversation.
She subconsciously looked at Shang Jianyao.
Shang Jianyao was sticking out his neck, loudly agreeing.
The next second, he quietly shrank to the floor, crawling on the edge of the light, to the other side.
After sitting down again, he took off the monkey mask with the hairy face and pointed mouth, refuting his previous remarks with all sorts of emotions on his face.
Having so much fun... you can't even tell he's sick... Jiang Baimian almost laughed out of anger.
Just then, a rumble sounded in the air.
The first spring thunder of the year had arrived in the Anguish Lake area.
By the time the thunder subsided, the group that preached fear had fled the hall "with their tails between their legs" and returned to their rooms.
The people of the Vigilance Church hid in various places, preventing themselves from being exposed to the eyes of outsiders.
In just over ten seconds, only Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Shang Jianyao, who was sitting alone near the emblem, were left in the hall.
After a while, Jiang Baimian sighed:
"Let's go, let's visit Vigilance Enforcer Song."
Inside Song He's room, the "Old Task Force" once again saw this acquaintance.
He was still the same, his eyebrows slightly sparse, his temples a little white, his beard shaved clean, not much older.
"May your vigilance last forever." Song He raised his arms, crossed them in front of his chest, and took a step back.
"Distance is our friend!" Shang Jianyao responded in the same posture.
Song He had no change in expression, looked at Xue Shiyue, who was wearing a delicate monk mask, and asked with a smile:
"Why have you returned to Redstone Town again?"
"Planning to go to the Iron Mountain Ruins, meeting up with that Artificial Intelligence here." Jiang Baimian simply replied.
Before Song He could ask further, she curiously inquired:
"Vigilance Enforcer Song, what was going on with those people in the hall just now?"
Song He showed a wry smile:
"Fellow believers of the same root are debating doctrine."
He then explained a few words:
"After the Old World was destroyed, the first batch of favored ones who received the Zodiac God's revelation developed believers and formed a sect, but as time went by, differences arose among them. One group believed that the Zodiac God was the embodiment of vigilance, and the other group insisted that fear was the root.
"They couldn't convince each other, argued for several years, and each pulled their supporters to establish their own sect. The initial 'You Gu' Church split into the Vigilance Sect and the Fear Order.
"After that, every few years, they would choose representatives and locations to gather together and continue their initial arguments."
"So that's how it is..." Shang Jianyao acted as if he had suddenly understood.
Too bad he was wearing a mask.
Jiang Baimian continued to ask:
"What about the group that promotes friendliness?"
"That's another one." Song He's expression sank slightly, obviously unwilling to talk more.
Seeing this, Shang Jianyao raised a question that he "couldn't figure out no matter how hard he tried":
"Didn't the Zodiac God point out which side was wrong?"
The teacher doesn't give reference answers or grade the test papers?
Song He smiled gently:
"Until now, both churches can still receive the Zodiac God's response, occasionally, every year.
"So, in my opinion, they are actually both right, and they are both practicing the Zodiac God's teachings to a certain extent, just embodied in different aspects.
"Haha, I can't say any more, and don't tell anyone, otherwise the bishop will punish me for copying the doctrines related to vigilance."
Since Song He had said so, Jiang Baimian naturally couldn't ask any more about this, after all, this was the Vigilance Church, with the gaze of "You Gu."
She opened her mouth with deliberation:
"Vigilance Enforcer Song, DiMarco's father, grandfather, or great-grandfather, did they ever leave the 'Underground Ark' and go to the Iron Mountain Ruins?"
Ah... What does the team leader mean? Why ask such a strange question? In his daze, Long Yuehong suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
DiMarco, or rather, the Awakened who "played" DiMarco and his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, is in the "Bodhi" domain!
The Iron Mountain Ruins, separated by a mountain, have one of the five holy sites of Buddhism!
This seems a bit of a coincidence.
Only at this point did Long Yuehong truly understand the reason why the team leader insisted on waiting for Genava in Redstone Town, rather than in the area near the Iron Mountain Ruins.
She not only wanted to see the effectiveness of the Ark Management Committee's work, but also intended to investigate the "Yanhu" issue, and the relationship between DiMarco and the Buddhist holy site in the Iron Mountain Ruins.