The whole weird world is waiting for me to go to heaven

Chapter 634: The Time of Intoxication
By the Jiulong Lake, in the Cangshui stream.

The two high priests, High Priest Li and High Priest Lou, along with High Priest Lin, High Priest Gao and other priests, were enjoying delicious food and drinking fine wine together.

On the waterside pavilion, the zither girl gently stroked the strings of her zither, and the melodious tune rippled lightly on the lake, which was fascinating.

The music was intoxicating, as was the wine; most of the priests already had rosy cheeks and were tipsy.

The great priest Li was particularly enjoying himself. He linked arms with several male priests, as if forgetting the boundaries of their identities, and mingled with them as closely as brothers.

"Now, although the temple is facing some small crises..." Great Priest Li looked tipsy, making small gestures with his index finger and thumb, shaking his round body and said, "But as long as we priests unite as one and stick to our faith, why worry about not being able to overcome difficulties?"

"We will definitely follow the high priest closely!" Priest Lin frowned first and patted his chest to make a promise.

The other priests were not as quick-witted as Priest Lin, so they fell behind and could only repeat what he said in frustration.

High Priest Li smiled and patted Priest Lin on the shoulder, saying, "I heard that your daughter who won the second place in the imperial examination is still studying in the National Academy..."

Priest Lin was refreshed and said, "That's right, thank you for your concern, Priest Li!"

"It's a pity that Liu, the top scholar, appeared out of nowhere." The priest beside him said drunkenly, "Otherwise, our niece Shuying is so hardworking, why would she be ranked second..."

Upon hearing this, Priest Lin's face darkened and his lips turned down.

"Hey, you really are talking about something that is not relevant to the topic."

Someone noticed that Priest Lin was unhappy and patted the priest who was talking nonsense.

"Ah...why did you hit me..."

Everyone burst into laughter, but someone said, "Now that Liu Zhuangyuan is gone, doesn't your daughter have the top spot?"

“Hahaha, that’s true…”

Priest Li patted Priest Lin on the shoulder and said, "Lin Yuan, niece Shuying is so outstanding. Later... the temple will reserve a place for her."

Suddenly, the whole audience burst into congratulations.

"Priest reservation!"

"This is a great joyous event!"

"Old Lin, you have to invite the high priest for this meal!"

The priests expressed their congratulations and raised their glasses to Priest Lin.

Priest Lin couldn't hide his smile and raised his glass to drink.

Just as the scene was getting lively, a woman's voice rang out coldly:

"Everyone, please be careful with your words. What happened on Temple Hill today has nothing to do with us, but how can we laugh and play around at this time?"

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured down my face.

Everyone's laughter stopped suddenly.

One after another looked over there.

There was a female priest with a frosty face, pursing her lips and looking coldly at everyone.

This priestess was called Yan Lai. She was always serious and particular, so no one was surprised to hear such spoiling words from her.

The atmosphere was stagnant for a moment.

It was still the great priest Lou who spoke up to break the deadlock.

"What Priest Yan said is not without reason. The temple is now at the center of public attention because of the explosion. You should be careful about what you say and do." She said calmly, "Especially at a time like this, drinking and having fun should not be seen by anyone with ulterior motives."

The priests were startled and nodded in agreement.

However, High Priest Li laughed and said, "We are not drinking and having fun. This is just a routine dinner at the temple. After all, the food at High Priest Lou's Cangshuijian is so delicious and the best in Chang'an. It is normal for us to like to come here."

"That's right." A sensible priest immediately agreed.

"Yes, what can be better than the delicious food of Cangshuijian to comfort our bodies and minds after being troubled by believers all day?"

"Speaking of which, Guangfenglou is not bad..."

"Hush! Stop talking nonsense. How can the crude food cooked in a big pot over a big fire be compared with the exquisite delicacies of Cangshuijian?"

"exactly!"

Even the unflattering Priest Lin stumbled over his words and praised: "Especially the Xiaoxiang Autumn Moon Wine from Cangshuijian, which is truly the best in the world. Drinking it will make you forget your worries."

These compliments made the great priest Lou smile sweetly.

The atmosphere became lively again. Yan Lai watched from the last seat, feeling depressed, and drank a sip of wine alone.

But the familiar high priest next to him remained expressionless, and whispered through his teeth: "It's rare to be confused, don't you understand?"

Then, he smiled the cheerful smile that older female believers loved the most, and chatted and laughed with the other priests.

This split performance made Yan Lai doubt for a moment that the words he just heard were just hallucinations.

She couldn't do what the high priest said.

Thinking of the explosion on Temple Mount today that killed seventeen people, she felt that the clinking of glasses in front of her was really dazzling.

How can I be confused?

Feeling depressed, she stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the vast Jiulong Lake, with the lights of restaurants flickering on the lake.

The gauze curtains fluttered, and the cold wind mixed with snowflakes blew on Yan Lai's face, which was very refreshing and blew away the depression he had just felt at the table.

At this time, the voice of the great priest Lou sounded:
"If you think too much at this time, you will only be asking for trouble."

Yan Lai was startled to find that the great priest Lou suddenly appeared beside him at some point, and the smile on his face had disappeared.

I saw the great priest Lou looking into the distance and continued, "You are also a female priest, and so am I. And here, most of the priests are male, it's obvious."

Yan Lai nodded and said respectfully: "There are 183 priests in the temple, and only 38 of them are women."

This seems to be true everywhere.

"You are the only one who can attend the banquet." Great Priest Lou chuckled, "Do you know why?"

Yan Lai lowered his head and said, "Those who can attend the banquet are either close to...the two great priests, or have a higher rank. I can come because I am ranked fourth."

"She is also the only female above the fourth level besides me." Great Priest Lou said with a smile.

"Yes." Yan Lai said respectfully.

"Then do you want to go a step further?" Great Priest Lou suddenly asked in a low voice.

These words hit Yan Lai's heart directly.

She didn't hesitate and said bluntly: "Of course I do."

Great Priest Lou chuckled and said, "If you want to be promoted, you need to surpass the fifth-rank priest above you, but have you succeeded in all these years?"

Yan Lai suddenly fell silent.

“So what you need is not your personal efforts, your efforts are enough, and everyone can see it.”

"So what do I need?" Yan Lai asked calmly.

"It's me you need." High Priest Lou said softly, with a smile on his face. "Only when I take power and become the number one high priest can I select more female priests. Do you understand?"

Yan Lai's heart sank.

The great priest Lou continued, "In short, there are some things I cannot explain to you yet, but I hope you can follow me carefully, do not hesitate, and do not have any second thoughts, understand?"

Yan Lai didn't know how to respond to these words for a moment, he just felt that there was a lot of weirdness in them.

But the great priest Lou stared at her with a smile, as if expecting her answer.

Yan Lai felt a panic in his heart, his eyes lingering on the slightly parted red lips of the great priest Lou, as if a voice of urging would come out in the next moment.

At this moment, her sight inadvertently turned and she caught a glimpse of nine bright lights that suddenly lit up above Jiulong Lake. They were like nine shining silver lines, rising straight into the sky.

The light in Yan Lai's eyes flashed so obviously that even the great priest Lou turned his head, with a hint of astonishment in his eyes.

"This... How is this possible? Why is it here? Why is it at this time?"

Great Priest Lou muttered to himself.

Yan Lai didn't understand, so he just looked up.

The vision was dazzling, and the priests present naturally noticed the silver lines that shot up into the sky. They were all amazed and wondered which restaurant on Jiulong Lake was holding some kind of celebration that would launch such novel fireworks.

Only the Great Priest Lou showed a strange look. He no longer paid attention to Yan Lai, but walked quickly towards the Great Priest Li. The two exchanged a few words in a low voice, and then hurriedly left.

There was a priest who had just been arm in arm with the great priest Li. He thought he was familiar with him and chased him up to ask a few more questions, but was scolded and retreated to the side in dismay.

Yan Lai watched everything quietly.

Watching the two high priests' departing figures disappearing hurriedly in the corridor, she knew that something major must be happening.

Her gaze then turned to the place where the white light was emitted in the distance, her brows furrowed, as if she was thinking about something.