Chapter 71 Mr. A's Excellent Preaching
Chapter 71 Mr. A's Excellent Preaching
186
Mr. A is preaching.
"My Lord was once the great sun god, the unique creator, but he was betrayed by other gods and fell into filth..."
"Teacher!" The little blonde girl in the class raised her hand, "Why was the Lord betrayed by other gods? Who betrayed the Lord?"
"All the gods!" Mr. A was very happy to get the response from the children. Such sermons and teachings were meaningful. "The gods betrayed the Lord, took away the Lord's power, and made the sun dim from then on! They..."
"Ahem!" Maria, who was standing by the door, coughed quickly. Mr. A was talking in the middle of his speech and was very unhappy about being interrupted. Maria said with a wry smile, "How can you talk about the gods in front of the children? Moreover, it is the secret knowledge that has just been made public within your Aurora Society... If you say all those words, you will explode on the spot. Don't do whatever you want just because you know flesh and blood magic?"
Mr. A looked at Maria nonchalantly and said, "I will not hesitate to die if I can spread the gospel of the Lord. Apart from the secret knowledge, they will be our compatriots sooner or later. What's wrong with talking about it now?"
"...Don't decide the children's beliefs without authorization. I still hope that they will believe in the Three Gods and grow up peacefully, and not have anything to do with us anymore..." Maria sighed, "Mr. A, I feel very relieved and touched by your arrival. When are you going to start the commission? And please remember the matter of the detective..."
"Sister Maria!" The little blonde girl raised her hand again, "I like listening to the new teacher's stories!"
"No, you can't just listen to stories all the time. You need to study grammar, arithmetic, and sewing!" Seeing that Mr. A was very pleased, Maria interrupted him and said, "Just listen to those stories. Let's go to class! Ten minutes have passed!"
"What do you mean just listen? This is from the Lord..."
Mr. A was dragged out by Maria. A middle-aged man who had been standing in the corner for a long time and dared not speak finally breathed a sigh of relief, straightened his patched windbreaker and tie, walked up to the podium where half of the class had been taken away, and said to the children of all ages: "Now is the arithmetic class. Today's lesson is addition and subtraction within one to ten. Everyone, look at the blackboard..."
"Please consider the commission as soon as possible!"
"Why are you in such a hurry? We can't act immediately just because we are in a hurry." Mr. A was calm and unconcerned. "If I want to sneak in smoothly, I have to wait for Kapin's Beyonders to go out, but now you don't even know which Beyonders he has and their shift changes. I have secretly stationed flesh puppets near Kapin's house and kidnapped the kidnapped people from them. Kapin's men will soon be unable to sit still."
"As long as you have a plan. Of course, I'm sorry about the detective. I wanted to rescue the children as soon as possible, so I didn't refuse him..."
"I know, I know. Sherlock Moriarty, right? If I run into him, I will try not to hurt him and get him away safely without exposing myself, right? It's really bold for a private detective to get involved in such a thing. I don't know where the courage comes from."
"...Maybe he has his own connections and methods." Capin's mansion is quite dangerous, and Maria is a little uneasy. She doesn't know how the great detective Sherlock will obtain the internal structure diagram.
"Now that I'm here, I can rest assured. I won't fail and I won't bring shame to the Lord."
Maria wanted to say something, but seeing Mr. A's confidence, she stopped talking. There were many affairs in the school and hospital, and there were many unemployed people in the workers' guild waiting for her arrangements. Maria really didn't have that much time to watch Mr. A.
After talking for a few minutes, Maria hurriedly left, and reminded the other idle people in the pilgrim sect to pay attention to Mr. A's movements, lest he suddenly start to talk about secret knowledge and accuse the gods of sins, which would eventually bring disaster to everyone.
The blue-haired supervisor followed far behind, but Mr. A didn't mind. He followed the familiar route to some inconspicuous corners in the East District. This place was relatively sheltered and quiet, and was always crowded with unemployed poor people who couldn't even afford to rent a floor bed. Even the better-off streetwalkers would not set foot here.
"It's a pity. It seems that the god you believe in has abandoned you."
Mr. A's arrival did not cause any disturbance to these stagnant people. Even though he said so, only a few awake people looked up. There were old and young people, all with the same sad and numb faces.
"You pray day and night, but have you ever received God's salvation?"
"Have you ever felt God's grace in your life?"
"But we are pious enough." An old woman said in a sandpaper-like throat, "The pain in this world is for the happiness after death. After the miserable life is over, we can go to God and get peace and eternal happiness."
One or two people nodded.
"If piety can bring salvation, then what is the meaning of the pain you are experiencing now?" Mr. A sighed, "The rich live a life of luxury and never need to experience pain. As long as they are pious and donate money to the church, they can get the same peace as you, so why do you have to suffer?"
No one responded for a moment.
The old woman was a little confused: This gentleman said the doctrine the other way around. God's doctrine says that no matter if a person is rich or poor, as long as he is pious, he will receive the same treatment after death, so the sufferings in life are just a test to sharpen faith. But after hearing what the gentleman in the red cloak said, it seems that only the poor need to be sharpened, and the rich don't need it... This, this doesn't seem right? Isn't faith the salvation of people? Why is it not right when I think about it carefully?
No, no, how could I doubt the merciful goddess? On the Winter Liturgy Day, I did see my husband and children sleeping. There is no doubt that they have found peace. I must pray devoutly so that I can go to them in the future... The old woman quickly cut off her thoughts and recited in a low voice.
"...Sir, what do you think our suffering is?"
As the old woman bowed her head in prayer, the young man curled up opposite her asked aloud. Unlike the old woman, although they were the most likely group to die in the East District, the young people’s lives had just begun and they would not settle for the status quo. “We are just like this, poor and useless.”
Mr. A smiled and said, “Suffering is indeed a test.”
The boy heard the same answer and slowly lowered his head.
"But a truly merciful God will not sit idly by in the face of suffering! Pain can sharpen a person's mind, and grief can awaken a person's will. There are gains and losses. If you want to gain something, you must first lose something. The great Lord uses this method to select His most outstanding lambs on earth and then save them."
Mr. A turned around and reached out to the blue-haired man leaning against the wall: "Bring out the food."
The blue-haired man was stunned: "Huh?"
"If you have it, take it out now!" Mr. A said, "I'll give it back to you later!"
Faced with Mr. A's intimidating and self-righteous request, the blue-haired man had no choice but to search his body, then took out half a piece of black bread from the left pocket of his jacket, and a piece of bran toast from the right pocket of his pants. Like a magic trick, he even took out a fingernail-sized piece of low-quality butter wrapped in tin foil from his outer pocket.
Mr. A grabbed it and held it high. When they saw the food, all the people, whether awake or pretending to be asleep, looked at him. Their gray faces filled with desire were like sunflowers chasing the sun.
"You have been deceived by the words of false gods!" "If they are truly merciful, how could they turn a blind eye to your prayers?"
"But the Lord will save you." Mr. A said loudly, "I was born in the poorest and dirtiest place. After experiencing pain and despair, I was redeemed by the Lord and was able to look up at the sun in the mud. Now, I have power, money and status. I bring the glory of the Lord to redeem my compatriots! Don't be afraid, come to my side and follow the great "True Creator" together!"
"Hey." The blue-haired man said quickly, "Don't take me with you!"
If food is just a temptation, then Mr. A's speech is an extremely effective shot of adrenaline. The same origin and experience brought him closer to the poor. People are most receptive to people who share the same fate as them, and are most willing to listen to their stories. They stared at Mr. A, who was obviously not malnourished or a vagrant, and at the cheap but life-saving low-quality bread in his hand, as if they were seeing a miracle happening in front of them.
The sound of swallowing saliva came one after another. The mere presence of food was enough to irritate the nerves of the poor people, but they still lacked the opportunity to stand up bravely and could only watch.
Mr. A was not in a hurry and waited quietly.
At this moment, the young man who had just taken the initiative to talk to Mr. A stood up suddenly, mustered up the courage to walk through the crowd and came to Mr. A. His slightly trembling voice revealed his hesitation and determination.
"I, I am willing to follow, to follow the Lord."
He bravely raised his head and looked directly at Mr. A, fearful and determined.
Mr. A became serious, straightened his body, and solemnly placed his palm slowly on the boy's heart. At this moment, in the eyes of the poor people in the East District, he seemed to have a real holy light, even compared to the archbishop of the true God: "Time will prove you right."
"We are people with the same fate. We are destined to suffer and to be redeemed. From now on, the Lord's merciful gaze will fall on you. We will advance and retreat together and be with Him."
Mr. A patted the boy on both shoulders and on the top of his head, making an inverted cross, with a solemn expression as if he was really baptizing him:
"Welcome, my compatriots."
Then, he broke the black bread in half and gave it to the boy. Seeing this, the poor people were immediately excited and rushed to Mr. A, fearing that they would not get the bread.
The young man also took the bread solemnly, his Adam's apple rolled, and he suddenly felt that he was not that hungry. Before his eyes flashed countless painful faces that he had seen when he was with him day and night, and he suddenly felt that he should do something.
He raised his head and saw Mr. A looking at him with a gentle, encouraging look that he had never seen since he was born. He was like an imaginary parent he had never met, or a kind teacher in a church school.
"Go ahead," Mr. A said. "Do what you want."
The people behind him had already squeezed to within one meter of Mr. A, and the one closest to him was almost touching his back. But since Mr. A hadn't spoken, they didn't dare to speak either, and this corner was eerily quiet.
The boy gritted his teeth, suddenly turned around, and raised the half piece of black bread in his hand high, imitating Mr. A just now.
"The Lord, the Lord says! We are, we are people with the same fate!"
"Well, in that case, then, since the priest gave the bread to me, I should also share it with you..."
Under the oppressive gaze of more than a dozen people, the boy's voice became smaller and smaller. He glanced at Mr. A in panic, but found that his face was full of relief and joy, and he even made an encouraging gesture. The boy was a little bolder, and he gritted his teeth and broke the half loaf of black bread in his hand into more than a dozen small portions that were only a circle larger than the thumb. He started from the front and distributed them to everyone present one by one.
A few people couldn't wait to eat the finger-sized bread, but more people said nothing and looked at the boy and Mr. A with surprise and respect. At this time, no one doubted it anymore.
After the distribution, the boy had nothing in his hands, so Mr. A gave him the bran toast and cheap butter.
"You deserve it, and you'll be an excellent believer."
The boy was flattered, but he didn't know how to express his gratitude, so his face turned red and he lowered his head shyly.
"Everyone, please listen carefully!" Mr. A said in a loud voice, facing everyone, "As you can see, the Lord has used this fellow's hand to convey the sign of salvation to you! You have the qualifications to follow the merciful Lord, but you still have freedom. Those who are willing to go with me, come to my side."
"Hey, you're really good at preaching." Seeing that everyone stood silently beside Mr. A, the blue-haired man covered his face in pain, "Has our unemployment problem not been solved yet? Since you're here to preach and recruit people, then bring them to the Aurora Society as soon as possible..."
Mr. A raised his eyebrows and said, "Of course I will take them away, but you are the Lord's allies after all. Don't you have the money to pay for their resettlement?"
"I... never mind. There are only fifteen people. I can afford it myself." The blue-haired man covered his face and squatted on the ground, making a painful sound. "It will cost me at least 2 pounds... Miss Maria will definitely scold me. Mr. A, you must pay me back and plead for me!"
Mr. A rolled his eyes and said, "You pilgrims really like to nag. Got it, let's go."
"Let's put them near my house first. I have an empty warehouse. It's not big, but if we squeeze in, more than a dozen people can sleep there."
The blue-haired man stood up resignedly and led the way: "And at least it can shelter us from the wind and rain, so that the elderly and children won't get cold. Most importantly, I have to settle you down before my wife comes back, otherwise she will definitely try to arrange for a few people to live in our house, but all the beds on the ground floor of my house have been rented out... So, everyone, let's run!"
TBC
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What I imagine: I will write slowly, and you will read slowly.
Actually: I want to write slowly, but everyone forces me to type twice as fast with rewards.
It's horrible, bro, don't do that again.
It was quite easy to write about Mr. A.
(End of this chapter)