Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 220: The Purification Ceremony of the Remaining Curse (5k2)

The next day, early in the morning.

The gate of the Glorious Church was now filled with residents who came to "purify themselves from filth."

Just the day before, after receiving orders from Rossum, the chief officer of the mission station, Maiyev, went to Main Street and Mawei Street to deliver routine church notices to the residents there.

——"It may be a curse from pagans." This news immediately caused panic among the civilians. Although Luo Xiu estimated that the number of people cursed was about a hundred, the number of residents who actually came to the church was three times that number. The road in front of the church was already blocked by people.

At this time, the church door had not yet been opened, so the residents who came were waiting anxiously and expectantly, and from time to time, bursts of whispers could be heard from the crowd.

At seven o'clock in the morning, steady footsteps were heard from behind the gate. Click, click, the sound of the door hinges turning came faintly from both sides of the gate, and the church door finally slowly opened.

Two guiding clergymen walked out from behind the door, and the residents who had been waiting for a long time immediately surrounded them.

"We heard from a great paladin that we might have been cursed with death!"

A resident in the front row anxiously shouted to the clergy who were guiding him: "Please... please, the elders in the church, save us! Save us..."

"Please save us..." The residents behind also shouted to the two priests at the same time. They raised their right hands and placed them lightly on their left chests, performing the non-standard sacrament to the guiding priests.

"Please don't worry, fellow residents of Red Maple City."

The guiding clergyman then comforted the crowd and said, "Our High Priest will hold a 'purification' ceremony for everyone. Don't worry, everyone can be saved."

"That's great! Ahem, that's great..." A middle-aged woman with a pale face said with hope, "Then when can we get redemption from that adult..."

"We can do it now. Please follow us."

A clergyman nodded and said, "The high priest is ready. Please follow me into the church. Remember not to make noise, look around, or touch anything."

After explaining all this, the two clergy bowed slightly to the gathered residents, then turned and entered the church. The residents followed closely behind them and also entered the church one after another.

Out of fear of the curse of death, the residents who entered the church made almost no extra sounds except for footsteps and very quiet whispers. Now they were full of awe for this [Glorious] church, and this awe was revealed in piety.

The clergy led the residents into the church, to the inner courtyard, and walked towards the altar of the statue of Suyu.

Soon after, the residents saw several priests dressed in golden or white robes standing under the huge statue.

These clergymen stood around the altar with their heads bowed, and in the middle of the intersection they were facing, which was the center of the altar, stood a man in a gorgeous white robe.

He seemed to be of high esteem among the clergy, and the faint aura he exuded was completely different from that of ordinary clergy... This made many residents guess that he was the "chief priest" of this church, a big shot like a "bishop"...

The residents immediately showed pious expressions on their faces, quickened their pace, and soon arrived in front of the altar.

They finally saw the face of the "officer" of the church. He was a gentle and reserved young man with handsome features. His golden eyes were full of mercy, and the look he gave to the crowd was full of pity.

However, after seeing the appearance of this "officer", the residents began to worry - this officiant was too young... In the residents' impression, the youngest priests and bishops of the Holy See Church were already in their thirties, and this "officer" in front of them looked like he had just reached adulthood...

But the residents did not express these concerns out loud, only a few hints of sadness appeared on their faces.

"Well... you did a great job, Mayyev."

"Chief Priest" Luo Xiu noticed the expressions on the faces of the residents under the altar. But he did not expose them, but smiled and spoke gently to a clergyman in front of the altar.

Mayev responded without changing his expression: "Thank you for your praise, Lord Luo Xiu. This is just my duty."

Luo Xiu nodded slightly, and his gaze moved away from Mayyev and returned to the residents in front of the altar.

The death curse that "The Announcer of Death" Grion had planted in advance in order to satisfy the "external death" was indeed buried in many of the residents in front of him... Luo Xiu thought to himself, and at the same time he began to detect the residents one by one, carefully distinguishing the differences in their respective status bars.

Sure enough, in the "Status" column of many of them, the status entry of "Moderate Instant Death (1d13h)" was quietly lying on the panel.

On average, for every five residents Luo Xiu detected, one was truly cursed, and the number of residents in front of him who were cursed was about sixty, and there were still many truly cursed people who had not arrived yet.

After he had roughly figured out the status of the residents in front of him, Luo Xiu ended the detection. He smiled kindly and said gently to the residents in front of the altar:
"The curse of the pagans has stained you, my fellow men, with black filth. By the Holy Light, I will purify you of your impurities and return you the pure light."

After saying that, Luo Xiu immediately raised his right hand, and a ball of light emitting pure brilliance began to condense in his palm.

Strands of pure white light gradually emerged from it and lingered around the ball of light; pure purifying power was also nurtured from it, emitting a reassuring and warm power.

At a certain moment, the ball of light in Luo Xiu's palm began to emit layer after layer of dazzling white light, and the purifying power contained in it had reached its limit.

He then raised his right hand, his expression became sacred and solemn, and he prayed solemnly:

"--Please listen! I pray to use the remaining fire of the forging sun to purify the impurities;"

"——Please grant me your grace! I pray that you can purify the filth with your pure light!"

"..."

As Luo Xiu prayed, the pure white ball of light in his palm rose into the air and slowly floated over the heads of the residents.

The next moment, the ball of light began to expand rapidly, and strands of pure white light emanated from it, surrounding and covering the bodies of all the people around the altar.

After Luo Xiu finished casting "Pure Glow", he lowered his arms and looked calmly at the changes in the residents in front of him.

The pure white light penetrated the bodies of the residents, and those who were cursed among them began to emit black smoke that exuded a deep and ominous aura.

That was the "death curse" planted by Grion. They were pulled out from the residents, broken into pieces, dissolved, and restored to their original intangible spiritual state.

These residents who were cursed felt as if something that had been stagnant in their bodies for a long time was slowly being drawn out, and the blood in their bodies began to flow happily, making them feel extremely light and comfortable both physically and mentally.

The residents who were not cursed but had the discomfort symptoms that Mayyev described also gradually alleviated and healed those symptoms under the care of the pure light. Their bodies turned healthy, as if they had become several years younger in just a few minutes.

Looking at the reactions of the residents in front of the altar, Luo Xiu understood that the "purification of filth" ceremony held for them was a success.

It was not until the last person who was cursed had the curse on him expelled from his body in the form of black mist that Luo Xiu took back the realm of "Pure Glow".

The white light lingering around slowly dissipated, and the residents came back to their senses from the enjoyment of "purification" before. The suspicion and worry they had when looking at Luo Xiu had disappeared, and instead, their eyes were filled with piety.

"My compatriots, I have cleansed you of the filth. There is no need to worry about the curse coming again. I will give everyone equal protection in a moment."

Luo Xiu said to the residents in front of the altar, raising his hands at the same time, with a solemn and pious look on his face, and solemnly praised:

"——Praise for a moment!"

At this time, many residents who had personally felt the warmth of the "Glory" raised their hands together with the "Chief Priest" Luo Xiu and praised in unison:

"——Praise for a moment!"

"Of course, we should praise you even more, the respected 'High Priest'!" "It was you who purified the terrible curse for us. We witnessed with our own eyes that the wisps of black smoke were removed from the body..."

"Praise you! Lord High Priest of the Church! You have given us a second life..."

The residents who were bathed in the purifying light expressed their heartfelt gratitude and praise to Luo Xiu. Luo Xiu just waved his hand and responded to them with a humble attitude:
"My compatriots, this is just my duty and mission as a clergyman of the church. Of course, I also sincerely thank you for your praise and support. The glory will bless you for a long time, and I wish you will be bathed in the holy light forever."

After saying this, Luo Xiu looked at Mayyev and said to him, "Mayyev, I need to take care of the following matters. You lead the clergy of the Mission House to escort the residents back. After that, I need you to go to the main street and Mawei Street again to ensure that all the cursed residents can be purified."

"I understand, Lord Luo Xiu." Mayyev nodded in response.

Afterwards, Luo Xiu walked down the altar and left towards the Holy Office under everyone's gaze.

It was not until Luo Xiu's figure completely disappeared from the end of his sight that Mayyev turned around and said to the residents in front of the altar:
"The High Priest still has matters to attend to, so I and other clergy will escort you all away. On behalf of the church, I thank you all for your trust, and I sincerely hope that you will maintain this trust in the future."

After saying this, Mayyev and other clergymen led the residents to leave the inner courtyard in an orderly manner, walked out of the church gate, and returned to their respective homes on the main street and Mawei Street.

During this time, Mayev listened carefully to the discussions of the residents as they left. "I didn't expect the high priest of the church to be so young", "Although that man is young, his divine attainments seem to be no less than those of other priests", "I didn't expect such a high-ranking figure to personally perform a purification ceremony for us", etc. These voices kept coming to his ears, and Mayev carefully wrote down these words.

……

The inner courtyard of the Glorious Church, the Holy Office Hall.

Luo Xiu had just finished a purification ceremony for the residents and then returned to this core "office".

Luo Xiu was very satisfied with the reaction of the residents. This meant that the church had truly "entered the hearts of the people" for the first time, and as this incident fermented, the people's faith would be more concentrated.

Solving the residual effects of the curse of Grion, the "Courier of Death", as much as possible not only ensures social stability, but is also a necessary step to truly gain public recognition.

After this first wave of residents were purified, they would be able to establish a good reputation for the church when they returned. After that, there would be a second and third wave of residents to be purified, which would minimize the casualties caused by Grion's death curse.

But this still cannot completely purify all the death curses, there will inevitably be a very small number of people who are cursed and eventually die. In a hurry, the church cannot quickly locate them, and some people will die as a result. This is a result that must be faced.

But Luo Xiu felt calm about this. He had asked Mayyev to warn the residents of the cursed land. If they ignored the warning, they would be doomed to die. This was not the fault of the clergy, they had fulfilled their duties.

As Luo Xiu thought this, he walked into his "Bishops' Room" and began to deal with the affairs of the day.

About three hours later, a guide entered the Holy Office and told Luo Xiu that the second group of residents had gathered in front of the altar. Luo Xiu stopped his work and went to the altar again to hold a purification ceremony for the people.

From morning till night, Luo Xiu performed six purification ceremonies in total. His panel detection of the residents showed that he had removed the curse from 132 residents.

This number of people was greater than Luo Xiu had expected, and after presiding over six purification ceremonies, Luo Xiu already felt a surge of fatigue. After maintaining the operation of the purification field for a long time, even though Luo Xiu's mana tank was deep, it had consumed nearly two-thirds of it.

The last wave of residents who came to seek purification only had about thirty people, and among them there was only one person who was truly cursed. As time went on, there were more and more people who had no real symptoms of the curse and were just joining in the fun, so there was no point in holding the purification ceremony.

Luo Xiu then asked the clergy on duty to close the church door, and the busy day was over. He then went to his residence, lay down on the bed and slept soundly until the next morning.

……

Two days later.

In the Glorious Church, in the high priest's residence, in the meeting hall.

In the morning, the chief officer of the "missionary station", Maiyev, came to the high priest's residence early and reported the latest information to Luo Xiu.

"I will report two things to you, Lord Luo Xiu."

Mayev reported to Luo Xiu:

"Just the night before, residents of Lane 3, Mawei Street, heard several extremely shrill howls."

"The residents rushed to the house where the wailing sound came from. The situation was urgent. They broke open the door of the house, but saw a very horrific scene."

"A horrible scene?" Luo Xiu sat up straight with a solemn expression on his face.

"Yes, a horrible sight."

Mayyev nodded and said, "They saw four corpses, with countless bloody spikes piercing their bodies from the inside out. Rot flies kept flying out of their eye sockets, ears, mouths and noses, and their exposed skin and flesh had long been rotten and crawling with maggots."

It was a scene that made me feel sick just thinking about it... Luo Xiu imagined it for a moment, then frowned and said, "That's a curse... a curse left by 'Death Announcer' Grion that has not been completely purified."

"I think so." Mayyev nodded again and continued, "The resident who came to inform me of this also told me that the four dead people actually received our warning."

"But they were dismissive of it, thinking it was just a trick by the church to defraud donations. Until the last moment, they were still joking with their neighbors: 'If I was really cursed to death, Mrs. Nago would shed tears for us and give us a grand funeral.'"

"The same situation also occurred in the residential area of ​​Main Street at almost the same time. Five residents of Main Street suddenly died. Their cause of death was the same as the four people who died on Mawei Street. It is suspected that they were also cursed to death."

"They did receive our warning, and their neighbors can testify for us. But they didn't believe us, thinking that the so-called curse was a fabricated panic that eventually led to such a tragedy."

Mayev's face looked a little gloomy, as if he was mourning and blaming himself for the victims.

Luo Xiu was silent for a long while, just looking at him quietly. After a long while, he gently patted his shoulder and said, "Don't blame yourself, Mayyev. We have done everything we can, and if we still can't save lives, it's because of stubbornness and prejudice, not our problem."

"...Alas." Mayev sighed and said, "I feel guilty. As a paladin, I am unable to protect innocent people."

"But... it is precisely because of this that when the residents who came to the church to undergo the purification ceremony learned that some residents had really died due to the curse, they felt sincerely fortunate and became more supportive of us."

"Some of them came to the church early in the morning to participate in the praise ceremony. Residents who had some savings also donated a lot to the church. My subordinates reported to me that the donation was about 2,000 gold coins."

"Yeah... I understand." Luo Xiu nodded.

After listening to Mayev's report, Luo Xiu finally put down the heavy stone in his heart. The remaining curse on the 'Announcer of Death' Grion was now over.

He then asked Mayyev: "What about the second thing?"

"The second thing..."

Maiev organized his words and said, "The second thing is that Lord Nelson has come to the church again and hopes to visit you in person."

"He told the Guiding Clergy that he heard from the 'Border Court' about your resolution of the 'Death Announcer' Grion. He was deeply grateful for this and hoped to express his sincere gratitude to you again."

"It's Lord Nelson... I know."

Luo Xiu nodded and said, "Let him in, and have the guiding clergyman take him to the reception room to wait. I will go to see him after I finish processing the remaining files."

……

(End of this chapter)