Chapter 140 The Pious Man Lando
The carriage stopped in front of the busiest street in Dongmen City. [Read the full text] Weiss glanced around when he got off the car - he didn't see the second carriage, but the observer must have been mixed in with the bustling crowds of people everywhere.
Lando stood on the street. If he hadn't known that he had traveled through time and space, he would have felt that he was standing in a postmodern art work.
Modern and medieval, East and West, all are mixed in this bustling street market. Bauhaus-style red brick buildings, Western-style pseudo-classical buildings built with Chinese building materials, all-wood sorting trash cans, policemen wearing bamboo hats and leggings, and black-clad policemen carrying batons on the street... these Everything was strangely mixed together.
Lando resisted the thought of whistling. The group of them was taken to a business restaurant by Father Lu Ruohua. He entered a private room that was quite elegantly decorated - a bit like the private rooms in the luxurious Chinese restaurants in Chinatown where Lando had been.
"This is the best hotel in the area." Father Lu Ruohua calmly took the hot towel brought by the young girl and wiped his face and hands. A faint fragrance of sex spread in the private room. middle.
Then a young girl wearing a light blue tunic dress and a white apron brought a fragrant drink in a fine porcelain tea cup - this was Chinese tea.
6 Father Ruohua skillfully picked up the tea cup, used the bowl lid to stir up the tea leaves, and took a careful sip.
"Here, please use it."
Brother Cecilius made the sign of the cross: "I would like a glass of cold water."
John Dermot looked at the tea leaves in the bowl curiously. He took a careful sip and frowned, as if he was reminiscing about something.
"In summer like this, drinking a cup of hot tea will only make you feel refreshed both physically and mentally." Lu Ruohua has become very addicted to drinking tea. Be kind to his colleagues.
Father Jin Lige frowned. In his opinion, this priest seemed too keen on enjoying sex. A missionary should only be satisfied with the simplest water and bread - if there is a little red wine, it is the greatest gift. He was now addicted to strange foreign drinks.
Father Jinlige was opposed to all strange foreign drinks, whether it was Spanish chocolate, Arabic coffee or Chinese tea. In his opinion, they were all temptations of the devil.
Lunch, or rather this lunch, was a hearty meal for this group of people who had been enjoying the special meals of the quarantine camp. Weiss found it unbearable to say long pre-meal prayers over warm whole-wheat bread.
The chowder stewed with moon clams, shrimps, various fish and kelp was delicious - it reminded him of the "Fish Soup de Provence" he had eaten in France. The large fish fillet was fried to perfection and served with fresh tomato sauce, which made the group of diners gasp in admiration while eating. Since it was not Lent, a large bowl of meat sausage was served. It had been fried in some kind of oil, and it was fragrant when it was served.
Weiss took a bite and almost spit it out: This thing is made from God knows what kind of animal's sewers and bones, broken into pieces and mixed with starch and spices. Probably to cover up the smell, a lot of spices were generously added to it. . This taste is simply not for humans. But several missionaries ate very happily. He put down his knife and fork, pushed his plate aside, and argued that moderation was a Christian virtue.
The drink on the table is some kind of fruit wine, which is very sweet and has a smooth and refreshing taste after adding ice cubes. The priests also drank a lot. This is not only because of the mellow taste of the wine, but also because the priests also need this drink to relieve their fears these days.
Everyone was satisfied with the lunch, including Shlick. As a slave, he could not dine with his masters, but outside the box door, he munched four or five "fish steaks and burgers" and followed his master on the road to the monastery with a satisfied smile.
Dean Wu and Pastor Bai of the Lingao Religion came to greet him in front of the church in person. Behind them are the local monks. The piety shown on their dark faces made Jin Lige very happy.
Father Jin Lige, who had been frightened enough in the quarantine camp, was flattered by the enthusiasm of the Australian church. After entering the church, he could only care about surprise and admiration. From the glass covers supported by cast iron shelves on the walls, bright flames illuminated the small inner hall brilliantly. Even the Florence Cathedral, which is filled with candles during Corpus Christi, cannot be so bright and transparent.
A group of cute children wearing black and white uniforms with crosses hanging on their chests were singing psalms to praise the Lord in front of the altar. The melody accompanied by violin and harpsichord echoed in the church like water. Father Jin Lige felt extremely excited and surprised. The music praising God was so harmonious and shocking, but there was not a band or a musician in the church. He remembered the amazing technologies of the Australians introduced by Father Lu Ruohua: they could put all the musical instruments into a box made of metal and wood, and play complex and magnificent music inside. Then the sound of the organ joined in, and its solemn roar filled the whole church. The sound of the organ expanded and deepened, turning into rumbling thunder that overwhelmed all sounds. Then suddenly it turned into heavenly music, like a girl's high-pitched song, floating high under the vault, and finally turned into a deep roar and thunder, and fell silent. The thunderous roar still lingers under the vault. Father Jin Lige opened his mouth half-open and was shocked by this solemn sacred music.
At this time, a clear and high-pitched female voice sang an unaccompanied hymn. The children in the choir harmonized with their children's voices. The clear and slow rhythm slowly rose from the depths of the church and slowly moved toward the dome of the garden. rise slowly. The priests could not help but make the sign of the cross.
In this solemn and soul-touching music, he saw a group of devout believers already prostrate on the ground. One believer at the front even excitedly kissed the feet of Jesus who was crucified on the cross. The flame of the gas lamp illuminated his body. A long shadow on the ground. Jin Lige discovered that the man was actually his attaché Weiss Lando.
Father Jin Lige couldn’t help but praise the Lord’s miraculous coming again. The holy voice of praise to the Lord had evidently cast out the demon that possessed the man, and made the half-crazed soldier once again a dutiful servant of the Holy Father. Weiss Lando was obviously very excited to hear the voice of Heavenly Father again, and he asked to confess his deep sins in this church.
This sudden request surprised everyone. The Jesuits, however, were excited. There is no greater joy than a fallen person returning to the fold of the Church.
Bai Duolu reluctantly walked into a confession room dedicated to Wu Shimang. As a conscientious young priest, he was very reluctant to play the role of informer at the same time. He knew that the closed confessional contained a microphone. The tapes in the recorders are taken away by special personnel every day and sent to the listening room of the political security agency.
There was a cough, then a loud blowing of the nose. Bai Duolu knew that the strange man was already sitting opposite.
"My child, what do you have to say to the Lord..."
"I need to see your President Wen," the white man opposite suddenly spoke in a broken Cantonese vernacular, occasionally adding a few English words: "Your situation is not good. Guangdong's pirate leader Liu is preparing to fight with The Dutch fleet in the East Indies unite to destroy your fleet, then attack the port and sack Lingao."
If the purgatory in Lingao is the prison cell in the quarantine camp, then Father Jin Lige must think that the Lingao seminary is heaven. As for where Lingao's hell is, the priest doesn't even want to think about it. But he also heard that the Australians had set up a prison called a "labor camp" in Lingao. Those who were lucky enough to come back from there were no longer interested in the priests' illusory preaching about hell.
The Lingao Church has a strong interest in this hell. Priests often go there to preach to the poor prisoners. 6 Father Ruohua also goes there often.
The Lingao Church seems to have a special interest in saving secular "sinners." Father Jin Lige soon discovered this.
Now, Father Jinlige is sitting at the table in the spacious and bright study room - Father Lu Ruohua has generously given up his residence in the monastery. He doesn't have to feel guilty about this - a two-story building owned by the monastery is under construction, and the Lingao monastery is constantly expanding their building area to accommodate an increasingly large religious group.
No matter from which angle you look at it, Lingao Monastery is thriving. After Jinlige delivered a mass and a sermon on the first Sunday, he fully felt the prosperity of the local church. He couldn't help but rejoice that he could be in such a place to expand the flock of God.
An elderly nun came to the study respectfully, her wrinkled, dark face full of respect, and she carefully cleared the tableware from the table in front of him. The priest had just finished a delicious meal of sorbet and iced kvass on a hot afternoon in Lingao.
He suddenly felt a little ashamed of his indulgence in food enjoyment. This feeling was particularly strong when he thought of his entourage.
Even a well-informed and knowledgeable man like Father Jin Lige was astonished by the enthusiasm that emerged from Weiss Lando, a soldier with unknown origins. Perhaps thinking that the long confession given by the Australian priest was not enough to cleanse him of his sins, Weiss resolutely stayed in the East Gate Church and lived a life of asceticism. He had his hair cut short, wore a coarse shirt, and lived on a few rice crackers and clear fruit every day. He didn't even want to live in a room, he simply lived in the bell tower of the church, alas! ~!
