Embers Ad Infinitum

Upon seeing Miens’s actions and hearing his blessings, Jiang Baimian’s first reaction was to turn around and look at the corner of the rock wall.

As expected, the jeep rushed over and stopped a few meters away.

Shang Jianyao then opened the driver’s seat door and jumped down.

With a bang, he—who was also wearing a gray camouflage uniform—quickly walked in front of Miens and anxiously asked, “Which religion are you from? Which Kalendaria do you believe in?”

This reaction and attitude are akin to meeting a brother of different parents… Although Jiang Baimian was already mentally prepared, she still felt that Shang Jianyao’s performance made her have the urge to raise her hand to cover her face.

At this moment, she missed Redstone Collection’s mask life.

Miens was shocked. After seeing Shang Jianyao’s appearance, he politely replied, “We are from the Furnace Church. We believe in the Door of Scorching that represents August’s Kalendaria.”

Door of Scorching… This Kalendaria seems to be relatively low-profile and doesn’t have a huge reputation in the north… Jiang Baimian recalled the situation she knew, the information provided by the company, and Bai Chen’s recount. She then nodded indiscernibly.

Shang Jianyao asked, “Were you dancing when you bowed?”

Miens didn’t understand why the rather good-looking young man was harping on the matter, but he still answered honestly, “Dancing is our way of pleasing the deity. The way the Church bows is a special dance; it symbolizes everyone’s instinctive reaction before the Kalendaria.”

The pain from being scalded by the Door of Scorching? Jiang Baimian and Long Yuehong couldn’t help but criticize inwardly.

Of course, Jiang Baimian definitely wouldn’t be so rude on the surface. She smiled and echoed, “I’ve read some books from the Old World. It says that in ancient times, humans also used all kinds of dances to please and communicate with deities. This is the source of many sacrificial rituals.”

Upon seeing that the team which easily defeated the Mountain Fox bandits was rather friendly, Miens relaxed a little and looked at his companions. “We aren’t sure about these things. We chose to dance because dancing and fire are best at pleasing the Kalendaria. Our greatest respect and best wishes for a person are to bow and say, ‘May the divine aura bathe you’ or ‘I dedicate this dance to you.’

“If one were to say the latter sentence, they would often perform a short dance that they choreographed themselves.”

It’s pretty interesting, but isn’t it strange for an old man with plenty of white hair like you to dance so intensely? Jiang Baimian had a deep impression of the previous scene.

“Oh, oh.” Shang Jianyao’s eyes lit up as he replied.

The next second, he also twitched his body to mimic the actions of being burnt.

After completing a few moves, he seriously said, “I dedicate this dance to you.” With that said, he did another strange dance that he had learned from somewhere.

Miens and the others were a little confused at first before they asked in surprise, “Are you also a fellow believer?”

“I think so, but it hasn’t been approved by your bishop,” Shang Jianyao replied frankly.

Ha, are you not going to ask what Holy Communion they have this time? Is dancing that charming? Long Yuehong—who was wearing the exoskeleton and guarding the surroundings—was surprised and amused.

“You think so?” Miens couldn’t understand what Shang Jianyao meant.

After a few seconds, he smiled in enlightenment. “You want to join our religion? Heh heh, we don’t have a bishop. The person in charge of a parish is a Dedicator. The person who preaches daily is an Extoller. Ordinary believers like us are collectively called The Grateful.”

Jiang Baimian matched the three terms with the other religions’ ranks and asked a question before Shang Jianyao could. “What’s higher? What’s above Dedicator?”

“It’s the Incandescent Man—the Kalendaria’s envoy and spokesperson, Divine Dancer.” Miens didn’t hide it; it was no secret.

“Divine Dancer… Then, is he very good at dancing?” Shang Jianyao changed the topic. He looked like he wanted to have a dance-off with the other party.

“I’ve never seen His Holiness.” At this point in the conversation, Miens consciously took on the responsibility of proselytizing. “The Door of Scorching we believe in is the embodiment of the New World’s door. Only by obtaining ‘His’ recognition and protection can we humans pass through the door, escape the Ashlands, and obtain new life.

“In this regard, we can obtain ‘His’ divine grace by pleasing ‘Him’ and praising ‘Him’ for extended periods of time before being guided into the New World directly. We can also find the New World’s door in reality’s Ashlands city ruins while believing in ‘Him.’ When the time comes, every believer who walks in front of the Door of Scorching will receive redemption.”

At this point, Miens twitched as if he were scalded. He then prayed, “Praise be to New World’s door!”

This can be considered a religion that combines the Kalendaria faith with the New World legend relatively well… Yes, it mainly depends on the term ‘door’ in this Kalendaria title… Jiang Baimian excitedly listened to Miens’s recount and quickly made an evaluation and analysis in her heart.

This was her hobby.

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and finally raised the question. “What’s your Holy Communion?”

“Our Holy Communion is related to fire.” Miens did the introductions.

The better this powerful team’s impression of the Furnace Church was, the safer he and his companions would be.

When it came to Holy Communion, Miens—who had interacted with many religions—was rather proud. Upon seeing that Shang Jianyao, Jiang Baimian, and the others were a little confused, he quickly explained enthusiastically, “Our Holy Communion is called ‘hotpot’ in the Old World.”

Shang Jianyao’s eyes lit up a little.

Miens smiled and continued, “Fire is the beloved of the Kalendaria. Using it is to please the Kalendaria. South of our Linhai Alliance has many spices. Chili is planted, and it can be used to make hotpot bases.

“After we start a fire with coal or charcoal and let the hotpot boil, we can lower meat slices, organs, potato slices, and bamboo shoots that we cut in advance and cook them… The exact type depends on the ingredients around you. There are ways for both the poor and the rich to eat it. Even if you don’t have any soup base and are in the wilderness, you can still enjoy Holy Communion as long as you can boil water.”

Long Yuehong couldn’t help but gulp a mouthful of saliva. Fortunately, his dry mouth prevented him from succeeding.

This Furnace Church has a different style from other religions… This is the Food Fanatics Alliance, right? Even I’m a little tempted… Yes, I can tell that there’s still plenty of food in the Linhai Alliance… Jiang Baimian turned her head to look at Bai Chen and realized that she was still focused on monitoring the few captured bandits.

After hearing Miens’s description, Shang Jianyao directly asked, “Then, how can I join your religion?”

Miens became increasingly happy and smiled. “As long as you can encounter a Dedicator—uh, an Extoller would do as well—then you can become one of The Grateful under his guidance. Yes, the closest Dedicator is in Tarnan.”

Tarnan… Isn’t that our destination, Mechanical Paradise’s foreign trade point? Jiang Baimian asked in surprise, “Do people from Mechanical Paradise also believe in the Door of Scorching?”

Miens shook his head. “The people we encountered in Tarnan are all smart robots. They don’t believe in religion at all. His Excellency Li Zhe is in Tarnan; he serves the merchants and hunters of the Linhai Alliance. Apart from him, there are clergymen from other religions.”

At this point, Miens explained, “Our Linhai Alliance and Mechanical Paradise are close in proximity, and we have a long-term trade relationship. At least half of the humans in Tarnan come from our Linhai Alliance.”

“You guys also came from Tarnan?” Jiang Baimian acutely grasped the main point.

“Yes.” Miens didn’t hide this. He sighed and said, “We’ve been in Tarnan for some time, and the transaction has been completed. Everyone can’t wait to go home. Thinking that there would be few caravans in the winter and that there wouldn’t be many people leaving their nomad settlements, the bandits would definitely reduce their activity frequency and tide through the winter quietly. Therefore, I decided to take advantage of the fact that the weather is still cold to traverse Mount Chilar and return to the Linhai Alliance.

“Who knew that we would encounter the Mountain Fox bandits…” Miens wanted to say that Mountain Fox was a relatively famous and powerful bandit group in the Mount Chilar area, but he shut his mouth when he recalled the one-sided battle.

To the team in front of him, Mountain Fox was nothing worth mentioning.

After hearing Miens’s answer, Jiang Baimian laughed. “Sometimes, reverse thinking is indeed effective. Doing the opposite is also a solution, but the premise is that you have to consider if you have the ability and preparations to withstand any accidents if the development doesn’t go according to your expectations.”

Just as she said that, Bai Chen asked, “Why are you in a rush to return to the Linhai Alliance? Anyone with experience wandering the Ashlands knows that winter is the most difficult season.”

Miens immediately hesitated. He looked at his companions and deliberated for a moment. “I really don’t know what to say. The personnel from Mechanical Paradise in Tarnan are all smart robots. They have no need for food and have never thought of farming. All the food that caravans and hunters eat is either brought over by themselves or obtained by organizing teams to search the surroundings. There are also factions that fancy this business opportunity and specially bring food over to sell, but such things are portable. They are mainly canned food and biscuits.”

Miens paused and said with a bitter expression, “After eating canned food and biscuits for a month or two, everyone misses home food.”

He originally imagined that such ‘sentimental talk’ would be laughed at. Unexpectedly, apart from the person wearing the exoskeleton—whose face couldn’t be seen—the powerful team in front of him revealed a sorrowful expression.

“In that case, Tarnan really isn’t a good place.” Jiang Baimian couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

Shang Jianyao sighed as well.

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