13 Mink Street

Everyone seemed to know he was a heretical god. Karon found that rather hard to swallow.

Mr. Hoffen had called him a heretical god. The family cat called him a heretical god. Even the radio host demonkin called him a heretical god. And yet, Karon himself was not one.

He was not the reincarnation of some ancient powerhouse, nor the rebirth of a true god. He had nothing whatsoever to do with the God of Order or the God of Light. His understanding of this world had begun with Aunt Mary and Uncle Mason’s everyday domestic chatter. In his previous life, he had been Zhou Xun. In this one, he was Karon. Of that, there was no doubt.

Still, he was getting used to it, much like he had grown accustomed to his own handsome face.

The gift box was placed on the front passenger seat. After a moment’s hesitation, Karon put it in the car’s compartment instead, securing it firmly with two stacks of rupi so it wouldn’t rattle while he drove.

Unless there was some unexpected twist, the box of pigments had been made from Linda’s ashes.

If it had merely been an ordinary set of pigments, given Piaget’s wealth and Karon’s own family background, there would have been no reason to offer such a gift to him. He was not some destitute apprentice painter scraping by without art supplies.

He started the engine and drove off. As the car moved steadily forward, Karon reflected in silence.

He currently believed that Linda had never been a follower of the Berai Church, but had always been a believer of the Wall God Church. To some extent, the public behavior of the followers of the Berai Church resembled those of the Wall God Church. The former emphasized gratitude to nature and the liberation of natural instinct, and at times, people slid so far morally that even just rumors spreading of an unrestrained party somewhere would prompt jokes that it must be followers of the Berai Church.

As for the followers of the Wall God Church, in an epoch without a formal slave class, they were mostly painters and artists.

The Berai Church had many followers, and anyone could pretend to be an artist, or even convince themselves that they were one. The members of the Wall God Church could hide themselves within those vast numbers.

So what, exactly, was Linda? A human, or a demonkin?

Alfred had once commented that Ms. Molly could no longer be considered human. Whatever remained of her humanity was negligible. Even after she had started wearing the body of the deceased nurse Nas to appear human, Ms. Molly fundamentally remained a demonkin.

Contrastingly, Linda had been entirely reduced to ashes. That alone placed her firmly beyond the category of human. Ms. Molly had at least retained two legs and a face.

The books said that, in order to keep pace with the cycles of divine activity and to avoid being caught unprepared, the Wall God Church had sometimes opted to create murals in advance.

This concept of “in advance” carried the meaning of foresight. It seemed that they had been able to anticipate a god’s next move.

In truth, murals as a vessel did more than simply record the past in a religious sense; They often carried imaginings of the future as well. It was much like murals in tombs, where the first half might be records of the deceased’s achievements in life, while the latter half would depict their existence in the land of the dead. Some might even include curses targeting future tomb robbers.

It was no wonder the Wall God Church had never truly been able to grow. Such an attribute guaranteed it would be suppressed by the major churches. Knowledge of the future was the prerogative of true gods. It was something to be gleaned solely through divine descent rituals, or by interpreting fragments of divine will. How could a minor church be allowed to steal the authority of a true god and the orthodox churches’ livelihood?

Karon had become convinced that this was the real reason Linda had hidden herself behind the identity of a Berai Church believer, but that raised another question: just how powerful was Linda? Comparable to Alfred?

Without Karon realizing it, Alfred had become his unit of measurement for a demonkin’s strength.

Though it seemed possible that some demonkin could not be classified simply as strong or weak. For instance, Pu’er had managed to effortlessly shred a Beguiler’s illusion, yet had been sent flying by a single kick from a possessed puppet.

Unfortunately, the books were vague on such distinctions. Karon would have to ask Tiz when he returned home. His grandfather would certainly know more.

“All right, the heretical god is driving home now.” Karon let out a self-mocking smile.

Then his expression froze. He slammed on the brakes. The abrupt stop flung his body forward, and the seat belt bit deep into his chest.

Who knew he was a heretical god?

Mr. Hoffen and Pu’er had both actively participated in the divine descent ritual and had even known the previous Karon. It was natural for them to know.

Alfred had explained his own understanding. Karon had once relied on Jeff’s corpse to send his consciousness descending a mental bridge that had existed between Jeff and Ms. Molly. Combined with the Chinese rendition of “The Internationale,” which Alfred considered a sacred hymn, and that experience had deeply shaken the man.

Alfred had also crossed paths with Tiz. The Inquisitor’s mystery had reminded Alfred of the illegal grand divine descent ritual that had occurred in Belwyn a short time before.

Through close contact and his own analytical judgment, Alfred had arrived at his conclusion.

To a certain extent, Tiz had even indulged Alfred’s speculation. He had approved of both Alfred and Ms. Molly’s employment, granting them official identities as demonkin assistants to the Church of Order.

But aside from those two, who else could know? Was it possible for someone to tell from a glance that he was a heretical god? Could Linda really be so powerful?

Pu’er and Tiz had both insisted that as long as Karon was not actively engaged in something like reanimating corpses in the basement, he was, in the course of his everyday life, a completely ordinary human. He had never joined a church, and had never undergone purification. Apart from when he occasionally triggered certain special abilities, he really was just a normal human.

So how had Linda seen through him?

Even more important was to reconsider how Mr. Hoffen and Pu’er had initially reacted to Karon’s identity. Mr. Hoffen had believed that the wisest choice was to have Tiz kill Karon. Pu’er, despite appearing friendly after being fed, had always resisted the idea of Karon forming a connection to her descendant, fearing that his status as a heretical god would bring calamity upon her family.

But what about Linda? She had thanked Karon for befriending her husband. She had thanked him for accompanying Piaget during his bleak period after losing her.

Was her understanding of “heretical god” fundamentally different? And if it was not a misunderstanding, then did that mean she truly understood him? If so, who else knew about him?

Karon’s mind suddenly went back to Tiz’s words in the hearse, what he had mentioned when they had gone to fetch Mr. Hoffen.

Another grand divine descent ritual would soon be held in Belwyn. A powerful demonkin would attempt to summon their ancestor, someone who had been suppressed by the God of Order in a previous epoch.

In exchange for fulfilling that demonkin’s wish, the responsibility and suspicion surrounding the first divine descent ritual would be completely erased.

That demonkin is Linda. Karon restarted the car, sharply turned the wheel, and headed back the way he had just come.

Once more, the car parked in front of Piaget’s house, but to Karon’s surprise, the car that had been parked beside his earlier was gone.

He got out, pushed open the gate, and walked over to find the front door was still unlocked, and even ajar.

“Piaget? Piaget?” He called out in the living room. The breakfast dishes were still on the table.

He searched upstairs, the bedroom, the guest room, and the study. Piaget was nowhere to be found.

Last, Karon entered the studio.

The room was empty, filled only with paintings, but unlike his previous visit, a once-blank wall now held a mural, much like the ceiling of the guest room.

He stepped closer, only to then take several steps back.

The mural was a painting of a woman floating in midair. Beneath her lay a cluster of buildings. On the rooftop of the tallest tower stood a man holding a box, and he was looking up at the woman with a gentle smile.

The woman, tears streaming down her face, stretched one hand to the sky.

Above them hung dark clouds. Within their depths loomed a colossal female figure. She had long hair like vines, and was surrounded by a stardust-like glow. Her outstretched hands held a pond and a massive feather.

The Wall God Church!

The heretical god Linda intended to summon was the true god of the Wall God Church, the same giantess Karon had seen in his dream.

Was this Linda’s ancestor? Or perhaps, as Tiz understood things, to a true believer, the god of their faith was closer and greater than any ancestor.

After all, few could name their grandfather or father with absolute certainty, yet most could name the god they worshipped, even if that god lay thousands of years or an entire epoch away.

Karon’s gaze dropped lower.

At the bottom of the mural was an altar, something which should not have been depicted in the painting, and yet it was there, exaggerated and enlarged through artistic technique.

Karon drew a deep breath. The powerful demonkin Tiz had mentioned, the one preparing to cleanse the Immers family of all suspicion, was Linda.

Why had she hidden herself as a Berai Church believer?

Because the Wall God Church was a taboo, and the one who had suppressed the Wall God Church’s true god was the God of Order Himself.

Why had Tiz known Linda? Because Tiz had already openly called the God of Order “the son of a whore.” With that, knowing or even conspiring with a member of the Wall God Church was hardly strange, not at all.

Karon sat down on the floor and bowed his head.

He knew that he should find Piaget as soon as possible and tell the man the truth. Whether Linda was a split personality or a demonkin who had lost her body, she was about to conduct a one-way divine descent ritual.

Tiz had said as much himself; The ritual was destined to fail, and the demonkin conducting it was destined to perish on the altar.

After the ritual, Piaget would lose his wife forever. She would never again prepare breakfast for him, never help bathe him, never rise quietly to care for him while he slept.

As a friend, this was something Karon should stop. He could involve the police, publish notices, or drive straight to Belwyn and wait at the building shown in the mural. Piaget might not be able to stop it, but he could at least try.

And yet Karon could not do any of that. This was the agreement between Tiz and Linda. It closed the loop that would pull the Immers family out of the vortex created by the first grand ritual.

Karon was not worried about his identity being exposed, but was worried that if he tried to intervene, subsequent investigations by the Church of Order and other orthodox churches would endanger his uncle, aunts, and cousins.

Family on one side, a kindred friend on the other.

He did not struggle over the choice. The fact that he remained seated in place instead of chasing after Piaget meant that the decision had already been made.

Karon chose his family.

After sitting in the studio for more than twenty minutes, Karon stood. He slowly walked out, and went down the stairs.

As he stepped into the yard, he saw Mrs. Seymour from next door peering over. “Karon.”

“Mrs. Seymour.”

She took out a letter. “Mr. Adams gave me this just now. He said that the next time I go over to your place for counseling, I could deliver it to you, or if I just happened to notice when you stopped by to see him, I could give it to you directly.

“Our next appointment is still some ways off, so I wasn’t in a hurry, but I saw you drive back just now, and it looked like you, so...”

She handed him the letter. “Since I was supposed to give it to you anyway, a little early shouldn’t matter, right?”

“Thank you, Mrs. Seymour.”

She added quickly, “I just thought that if it was something important, earlier would be better.”

“Yes.”

“Would you like to come sit at my place a bit later?”

“I’d like to read this letter alone first.”

“Of course. Of course. You should. I’m not in a hurry. I’ll be sitting in my yard. The sun’s nice today.”

Karon returned to Piaget’s house, sat on the same sofa he had fallen asleep on the night before, and opened the envelope.

The letter was brief, even shorter than Linda’s. The handwriting looked hurried, as if it had been written in haste. It was Piaget’s own decision. He had driven to Belwyn himself.

The letter read:

Dear Karon,

Linda told me in a dream last night that she wishes to complete a work she dreamed of finishing her entire life, but that the price is that she will leave me forever. She asked if I would agree.

I said: Oh, my dear, of course!