13 Mink Street

Chapter 127: Karon’s Family Faith System

Karon raised a hand and gently pressed downward, signaling for the old man to quiet down. He stopped talking and simply watched Karon in silence.

Of course he understood the importance of the three foundational stages in orthodox churches. Divine Servant was a purification of the self, Divine Seeker was listening to the god’s teachings, and Divine Shepherd was inviting the image of the god into one’s heart, letting the god guide one forward and illuminate the road ahead.

These were the most basic stages, but they were still extremely important. You could even say that a priest’s prospects and potential could already be seen, more or less, at this point.

A god was like your parents, supporting you as you learned to walk, teaching you again how to understand the world. The changes in each stage were, in truth, a reexamination of one’s past, because your past was clearly visible. Only by reexamining your past could you better clarify the future.

Yet what shocked the old man was that this young man had just blasphemed a god right in front of him, so how could he turn around and begin the process of becoming a Divine Shepherd in the next instant? If you were doubting a god and betraying a god, then how could that god remain in your heart? Or rather, if you were already doubting and betraying a god, how could you invite that god back in?

In fact, the answer was simple. If Karon’s purification stage of becoming a Divine Servant had been a bit loud, it had still fallen within the procedural framework, but from the moment he reached Divine Seeker, Karon had already stepped onto a path that belonged to him and suited him.

Becoming a Divine Seeker merely established a target, a direction, while the Divine Shepherd at this moment was the filling of his own courage and hope. Having a towering figure standing ahead did indeed make a person feel at ease, but the road Karon intended to walk, he himself would be the one standing at the very front. He had no back to look at. The people behind could only look at his back.

At this moment, the old man appeared within Karon’s consciousness. The old man’s body carried an ethereal quality. He was not alive, nor was he a clone. He also did not seem to be a puppet. Around him coiled a white sheen, or rather, he was composed of that sheen.

Pu’er, Kevin, and Alfred had all examined the apartment carefully, yet none of them had found anything abnormal. That was because the old man truly was only a remnant of thought. The former owner of the house had read in this study and thought here, and the study retained traces of his thinking.

So if you did not count the fact that this old man could lead a person astray, he was actually harmless, because he had no ability to do anything at all.

Within Karon’s consciousness, an image of Pu’er’s appeared. The black cat stood there. Her fur was black, yet within that blackness there seemed to be a suppressed dark red, like a flame pressed to its limit. Pu’er was an heir to the fire attribute of the Allen family faith system, so this color was not surprising.

Next, within Karon’s consciousness, that golden retriever appeared. The golden retriever also stood there. A gentle milky-white sheen radiated from it, as well as a shadowy mass of black. The two were not mutually repulsive or opposed, but constantly blending; at times fully merging, at times gradually separating. When they stayed apart for long, they would fuse back together. Neither seemed inclined to fight. Instead, they seemed to have found the most suitable posture for each other.

Then Alfred’s figure appeared within Karon’s consciousness. Red light flickered in the demonking’s eyes while a faint purple thread flowed across his body. It trailed down to his instep, and then extended beyond his feet, stretching toward Karon until it connected to Karon himself.

Karon could clearly sense Alfred’s faith and worship directed towards him. As the one being worshiped, Karon found the phenomenon bizarre, because even he could not imagine how Alfred had managed to do such a thing.

Right now, Karon felt like a dot that was steadily expanding its field of vision, reexamining each person he had come into contact with.

In fact, everyone appeared from his own memories. The sheens and colors had not been absent. They had always existed, or had at least existed when Karon had last seen the various individuals. The only difference was that he had not been able to see them at the time.

It was like a saying: when you are very young, when you learn to read, you can memorize a passage, and you can understand it, or at least, you think you understand it. However, when you grow a bit older and look at the passage again, you experience a different feeling.

When you become an adult, when you reach middle age, when you reach old age, when you have gone through different things, when you have passed through wind and rain, each time you look at that sentence, you might have gained a different insight and response. The sentence did not have even a single word change throughout all those years, but you have changed.

Life is often compared to a road, which causes people to subconsciously map the road of their life onto some street they have walked in reality, with all kinds of people on both sides and mottled light and shadow through trees.

In reality, when you stop walking, the road stops, but the road of life, when you stop, you are startled to discover that the road beneath your feet is moving forward on its own, unaffected by your will or your actions.

Karon sat in his chair. He raised a hand to gently massage between his brows. His expression was not pained, but completely absorbed. The thinking and discoveries brought about by his self-examination felt comfortable, or even a bit intoxicating.

He saw Eunice and Borg. He saw Judia. He saw person after person from Allen Manor.

He saw the white light on Bertha, so similar to the old man before him.

He saw Little John. Around where the boy’s heart was coiled a red shadow, the source of his corruption.

He saw Mr. Pavaro. On that balding, unkempt middle-aged man, pure black flowed with extreme clarity.

He saw Mr. Hoffen. He saw Ms. Molly.

Yet the one person Karon did not look at was his grandfather. It was not that he could not, but that he did not want to.

Deep down, Karon wanted to preserve the most beautiful memories of Tiz, and then when the day came, when he returned home and looked at his grandfather with his own eyes, Karon would awaken him. Because Tiz was not a single point in Karon’s memory, but a part of Karon’s past itself.

From the old man’s perspective, black mist continuously seeped from Karon’s body. As it roiled, it transformed into something like black liquid that then sank back into Karon’s body, forming a cycle.

The problem was that this cycle was lasting far too long.

No different from how Bede had reacted when Karon had become a Divine Seeker, the old man was also shocked by Karon’s depth. What kind of terrifying accumulation could sustain this cycle for long without any sign of stopping?

Pu’er had once given Karon a very down-to-earth analogy: when everyone scores one hundred, that did not indicate that Karon was equal to them, but that the exam only allowed for a maximum score of one hundred. A foundation far beyond that of ordinary people will, at certain moments, reveal itself in extraordinary ways.

Karon himself had already grown somewhat used to what he was experiencing. He continued selecting people from his memories of the past to examine them, continuously exploring special aspects that he had once seen but had not been able to detect.

This was a rare opportunity. For ordinary priests, a genuine chance to receive a god’s teachings probably only came during the time that they became a Divine Seeker. In the same way, this sort of internal self-examination for Divine Shepherds could only achieve the best effect during this period.

Finally, Karon finished examining his memories, but he still felt unsatisfied. The root of his frustration was the feeling that he still had strength remaining.

So it’s ending, it’s finally ending. The old man sighed inwardly. Just what kind of person had he sold this house to?

Unfortunately, his existence was limited to the study, and even limited to contact with Karon. From other people’s perspectives, the old man did not exist at all, and that was true even of his own true self. He could only hope that the real him who had sold the house would never consider coming back to take a look.

It was then that he noticed something. The old man saw a figure appear behind Karon. This figure was only an image. It did not emit any substantial aura, yet anyone who saw her would be able to sense her.

It was a woman.

The old man finally understood; Karon was observing and examining his own guide. At this moment, Karon was like someone who had finished a project, yet still feeling unsatisfied, had started reading the side stories.

He sought out existences with special links, and then reexamined to gain new understanding.

A guide was such a relationship. In reality, even a priest who baptized an ordinary infant counted, while within ecclesiastical circles, a guide referred to the person who led a person into the circle, or more specifically the one who guided a person through their purification.

Without question, Karon’s guide was Pu’er, or rather, Poelle Allen.

The image behind him gradually grew clearer. The woman wore a wide-brimmed black hat and a formal red dress. There were jeweled magic boots on her feet, and in her hand she held a purple staff.

The old man let out a long breath. He could sense that this woman was a terrifyingly powerful existence. Her presence could almost be considered, to a certain extent, having reached the peak of a family faith system.

That was because behind the woman incessantly swayed a mass of netherfire. For an existence to be able to control netherfire, her mastery of the fire attribute had to have reached a horrifying level.

The old man rose from his chair and bowed to the image of the woman. It was a gesture of respect.

She might appear young, but on the path of power, no ranks were divided by age. Not only that, the old man felt that this woman might not be any younger than him. It was even possible for her to be far older.

What the old man did not know was that the true body of this powerful woman was lying in bed in the bedroom across the hall, sleeping soundly as her cat mouth made smacking sounds from time to time. Her whiskers twitched, as if she was dreaming of sweet-and-sour fish.

From Karon’s perspective, he was seeing a different scene. In his scene, he seemed to be a painter, drawing a portrait for the noble being before him. She sat in a chair, at times having the appearance of a noble young lady, other times looking like an arrogant black cat.

As the painter, Karon broke out in a cold sweat. He could only continue with trepidation.

As he created a picture, Karon discovered that the floor beneath his feet had turned into magma. The terrifying roiling aura of devouring and incineration was like volcanic ash that might erupt without warning. It not only clogged the eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, it even annihilated his conscious senses.

He started clawing at his eyes and digging at his ears, hoping to stop being able to see and hear.

In the dark, he had a sense that some special power was guarding against and obstructing his examination, which could also be considered peeping. His eyes still could not see anything, but beside his ears he heard a woman’s extremely proud and dissatisfied voice. “Sigh. Why would I have to believe in you, Progenitor Allen. I really didn’t expect your achievements to be so limited. If I had known, I would have gone and believed in a church faith instead. It would have been better than being so young yet already having no room to improve.

“What meaning does a life like this even have? Hah! I might as well become a cat.”

The voice cut off abruptly there.

Just as Karon thought it had ended, light exploded, instantly dispersing everything that blocked him and allowing radiance to completely wrap him. At that moment, Karon was like a moth stuck to a lightbulb, a little lost and a little awkward.

The old man saw a halo appear behind Karon, and his mouth fell open. He... he... he’s actually a believer of the God of Light??

The old man placed both hands over his chest and said with utmost sincerity, “Praise Light.”

It was not truly surprising that light had appeared. Pu’er was indeed Karon’s guide, yet the holy relic she had used was a finger of the God of Light.

Before long, the light dispersed, and Pu’er’s image dispersed with it. Karon was showing signs of mental exhaustion.

The old man also climbed up from the floor. When he looked at Karon, his gaze was much gentler than before. This young man might be unorthodox, he might speak without restraint, he might have all kinds of flaws, but he was still one of them.

Still, it should be over now.

The old man was not the only one to think so, as those were Karon’s thoughts as well. He could feel that his examination had lasted a long time, and he had seen many details that he had never noticed before. Now it could end, and he could sleep well.

Karon ended the Divine Shepherd process of his own accord, and the process ended with his will, yet when he tried to wake and open his eyes, he discovered he was completely unable to do so.

An invisible force suppressed his ability to open his eyes and rise. That force did not come from outside, but from within his own body. The process of becoming a Divine Shepherd had ended, but the examination had not ended.

Since he had examined others, how could he omit examining himself?

You could say Divine Shepherd was a trigger, a fishhook cast down. It hooked a fish, and at the same time it dragged back a whole mass of weeds with the line.

A gray shadow appeared before Karon, staring at him coldly. From that shadow, the old man sensed a chilling, terrifying aura. What kind of existence was this?

Even though the old man was not ordinary Light vermin, he still could not connect the gray figure before him to a heretical god, because the existence of heretical gods was far too mysterious and far too distant.

Yet Karon’s body truly had been remodeled by a heretical god. His body had originally been intended for a heretical god’s own use, but Karon had forced that being aside, leaving Him with no choice but to become a dog.

At last, Rhanedar’s figure dispersed. His appearance seemed only to prove that He had come.

On the dog bed in the nearby bedroom, a golden retriever rolled over, still sleeping and utterly unaware that in the study across the hall, his image had been dragged out and he had been whipped even after death.

The old man was already somewhat dazed. He was only a thought imprint, so the consecutive scenes had begun to slightly twist that imprint. Now he felt that it would be best if the real him who had sold the house never returned to take a look, because he did not know what kind of end his real self would meet upon encountering this fathomless young man.

Yet this was still not the end.

The old man no longer felt surprised. He even felt that this was only natural. Fine. Fine. Go on. Keep going.

In becoming a Divine Shepherd, Karon had abandoned inviting a god to guide him, and had instead replaced the god’s position in his heart with himself standing there. This was not a simple difference between idealism and materialism, nor was it simply the difference between praising a god and mocking. This was not insisting that materialism earned preferential treatment, and it was not showing that constantly criticizing a god earned special attention from them.

A subjective consciousness detached from the foundation of reality had already lost its meaning.

It was like a rich man saying he did not care about money, and a beggar on the street saying he did not care about money. The impression the two gave was completely different. After all, no matter how much a beggar imitated a rich man’s tone when saying he did not care about money, he could never become as wealthy as the rich man.

And for example, Karon. He dared to use a dialectical approach to argue the path of gods, while still being able to progress and step from Divine Servant to Divine Seeker, and then from Divine Seeker into Divine Shepherd. This was essentially because he had long since possessed the qualifications to stand on this road.

This world had never lacked thinkers. It had never lacked doubters. It had never lacked truly clever people. The problem was that they did not have conditions as good as Karon’s.

Like right now. Some things flowing in his bloodline began to manifest.

Behind Karon, the figure of an old man appeared. He was very old, yet his back was straight.

When Tiz had used a blood sacrifice ritual to strip spirituality from descendants of Immers family, it had also meant that Karon was the sole remaining keeper of Immers blood.

You could even, irresponsibly, understand it this way: the grandfather and grandson of the Immers family could be considered a new beginning. They had removed the weeds and all impurities, cutting away their relationship with the church to form a new beginning.

Perhaps in this world, only this grandfather and grandson could do such a thing.

The old man collapsed back into his chair.

If what he had witnessed before had only twisted his thought imprint, then what was unfolding before him did not merely shake his understanding, but shattered it entirely. That was because on a priest who had only just become a Divine Shepherd, he saw something that should not have existed at all: a family faith system.