It doesn't occupy a large area, but it looks like it has been around for a while.
The surrounding area is relatively remote. There are mountains on one side of the road. In summer, the mountain peaks are green and flowers are in bloom. Amidst the greenery, there is a small church.
The red French Gothic building's deep and slender lines are so clear.
Even a person like Cheng Lin, who only has a superficial understanding of architectural art, can see it at a glance.
The small cross on the gray spire shone in the sun, but Cheng Lin was a little unhappy.
Lowering his gaze, he saw that the neat flower bed connected the main entrance of the church to the black iron door with hollow patterns, very close to him.
Cheng Lin remembered that there were indeed many churches in the Magic City.
For example, the one in Xujiahui built in 1905 was said to be the largest in the Far East at that time.
Another example is "Jinglin Hall" which is famous for the Song family.
etc.
Quite a lot actually.
But the one in front of me obviously does not belong to this category. It is really small and belongs to the kind of little famous chapel.
At this moment, a woman was walking in through the gate with a child in her hands.
There seemed to be a faint sound of bells coming from the church, and it seemed to be mixed with the sound of people.
"Is it worshiping?"
Cheng Lin couldn't help but think.
Then I suddenly realized that today is the 28th, Sunday.
It happens to be a church Sunday, or rather Sunday.
Cheng Lin suddenly remembered a book he had read before.
It is said that these believers first observed the Sabbath, which was on Saturday.
Later, the Roman Emperor Constantine I issued a decree to suspend business.
Then Saturday was changed to Sunday, which is still used today.
It is said that Sunday worship is to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus.
"Is it such a coincidence?"
Cheng Lin was a little surprised.
Today happens to be Sunday, and it seems that we have caught up with people to have church service.
After hesitating for a moment, Cheng Lin walked slowly over, passed through the iron gate, and walked along the stone road towards the unknown chapel.
There were indeed people doing the ceremony inside, not many people, maybe twenty or thirty.
When he came in, the staff on duty glanced at him.
After looking at his clothes emphatically, and then making a gesture to him, Cheng Lin nodded, walked to the corner and sat down quietly without disturbing anyone.
In melodious singing.
The cool breeze blows in, sweeping away the heat.
Gothic architecture inherently contains elements such as "darkness", "fear", "loneliness"...
In this atmosphere, Cheng Lin felt that all the heat was gone for a while, and his heart felt peaceful.
He looked around. People seemed to be attentive and no one was gossiping. Occasionally, someone noticed his gaze and looked over. They just nodded and then moved away.
Cheng Lin saw the mother and daughter who came in just now again.
It should be mother and daughter.
My mother is tall, slightly plump, and well-dressed.
Apparently a believer.
"A religious family?"
Cheng Lin was slightly surprised.
Although there are few believers in China, it is not uncommon.
As for the child beside her, she is a girl, very young, probably only five or six years old.
The black hair was tied up in a ladylike manner, and a pair of moist eyes on the little face with a little baby fat were looking at the adults curiously.
The white skirt spreads like flowers.
Standing very upright next to her mother, she followed the example of adults and performed rituals. She opened and closed her mouth, and you could see the small gaps in her teeth.
It seemed that he felt Cheng Lin's gaze.
She turned her head, her eyes full of curiosity.
But soon, her mother whispered something, and she quickly turned back, not daring to look at him again.
"Well."
Cheng Lin shook his head and laughed.
Didn't care.
At this moment, he felt his legs sink slightly.
The unknown book with a hardcover cover that was placed in the dormitory (safe house) quietly appeared on his legs.
It's like it's always been there.
Fortunately, there are all seats here, and people are so focused that no one notices.
Cheng Lin lowered his head and looked at the book.
He reached out and opened it.
The first page is still the same newspaper clipping, unchanged.
Cheng Lin did not hesitate and continued to turn to the second page.
He had tried it before and couldn't flip it, but now he could, easily.
He opened the second page.
Then Cheng Lin obviously found that everything around him was blurred.
The church, those people, the flower bed outside the door, the stone road, the iron gate, the sunlight... everything was blurred.
Even the seat behind him was blurred into a ball, like graffiti soaked in water.
Cheng Lin didn't panic, he just lowered his head and looked at the content on the second page.
There are no pictures on it, just a few lines of words printed on it.
Seeing the content of this text, Cheng Lin raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Is this how the world will change in the next year?"
"Could it be said that when I turn a page, a year has passed?"
Cheng Lin guessed.
At the front of the second page is written the Annual Event Briefing.
Cheng Lin looked at them one by one.
This briefing is really "simple".
It is almost just the most general summary of major events. There are few specific times and no specific people involved. The amount of information is very small. All the information is basically related to the recovery of spiritual energy and practitioners.
Cheng Lin finished reading this short briefing.
Say nothing.
Continue trying to turn to the third page.
Still successful.
There were no new changes in the surroundings, and all the scenes seemed to be obscured by some kind of force.
Cheng Lin couldn't see the changes in the surrounding scene, and the blur continued.
The third page is a summary of the entire year.
Still very simple.
Cheng Lin could only find very little useful information.
This information is unusually general and brief, focusing mainly on spiritual energy recovery and practitioners, with very little mention of other matters.
And its information collection coverage is all over the world.
Cheng Lin continued to remain silent.
Continue reading.
Page 4.
Page five.
Page six.
…
Page ten.
…
There was very little information on each page, and Cheng Lin was interested in very little of this brief information.
It wasn't until the tenth page that a text appeared that attracted him.
This line of text seems very unusual and abrupt among other major events:
"This year, the talents of the Twelve Apostles awakened."
…
"Are you awake? You're eighteen years old."
Cheng Lin sighed with emotion when he saw the news.
According to the previous arrangement, the gifted talent will be awakened at the age of eighteen.
Those boys were all about eight years old at the time.
Now that Cheng Lin has turned ten pages of the book, ten years have passed in this world.
The original orphans have all grown up.
"In ten years, I am afraid they have long forgotten that incident in their childhood, and have even regarded my original words as a wrong memory from childhood, or a dream."
"But it doesn't matter. When the talent awakens, they will naturally recall it and confirm that those deep memories are not dreams. What will happen next?"
"After you get the golden finger, of course you are just pretending to be a slap in the face... Ah, no, you should be practicing hard and then waiting for the end of the world to turn the tide."
"There are still ten years left for them... With the plug-in enabled, in ten years, no matter how stupid they are, they can still make a name for themselves, right?"
"I'm really looking forward to it."
Cheng Lin touched the pages of the book, which were as smooth as virgin skin, and sighed.
Then he continued to lower his head and flip through the book.
This time I browsed a little faster.
Soon, another ten pages passed.
Another ten years have passed in this world.
Cheng Lin flipped through twenty pages in one breath, and twenty years passed.