My esoteric uncle Jules

Chapter 85: Dagon Paganism (Damn, forgot to post it!)
After reading the letter, Jules thought for a while, called a priest and said:
"Has there been any unusual activity in the Dagon cult recently?"

The priest thought for a while and said:
"After the last crackdown, there seems to be no movement, but I have always suspected that they are just accumulating strength."

"Well, I understand, let's go down."

After sending the priest away, Jules held the letter in his hand, and a look of interest gradually appeared in his eyes.

The letter didn't say much, but it provided some possible locations where the Dagon cult might have been active recently.

The original intention of the messenger might have been to hope that he could destroy it - but he didn't think so.

A priest of the Steam Church would naturally be committed to eradicating heresy, but he is not.

The corners of Yule's mouth curled up slightly, and a method that might be dangerous but quite feasible emerged in his mind.

He was going to "join" the pagan Dagon sect.

……

After dressing up in disguise and strolling around the market in Innsmouth, Jules gradually confirmed one fact -

Here, it should be at least a few years, and if it is far away, it may even be more than ten years ago.

It seems that due to the characteristics of the Sixth History Fragments, there is no specific time record here, but he also inferred the changes that have taken place here from various details.

For example, in his own history, the streets of Innsmouth had fallen into disrepair and most of them had turned into muddy ground.

The streets here are relatively flat and have obviously been carefully maintained.

The differences in the surrounding streets were even greater, almost as great as the difference between heaven and earth, but Jules could still see the shadow of the past - or rather, the future - in them.

"The key to breaking the deadlock should lie with Dagon the heretic..."

Jules lowered his hood, trying to make himself inconspicuous among the people on the street.

hum-

The whistle of a steam tugboat came from the direction of the dock, a sound that seemed to have long since disappeared in his time.

No one had ever seen the Innsmouth people sailing; they seemed to hate boats, but they always had a good catch.

But the people of Innsmouth at this moment did not show the distorted appearance in their memories at all.

Jules sat near the dock, feeling the sea breeze and using his enhanced hearing to listen carefully to the words of the boatmen and others around him.

Soon, he captured a key piece of information:
"Hey, recently, some towns outside seem to be suffering from famine..."

"Hey, we don't farm here, what are we afraid of?"

What followed was a burst of laughter.

But Jules's face gradually darkened.

"famine?"

In other words, this actually happened no more than five or six years ago?
There was little information about Innsmouth. He only knew that after the famine broke out, the Dagon cult occupied the entire town of Innsmouth at an unparalleled speed and almost drove the Church of Steam out of Innsmouth.

He had always believed that the Dagon cult was slowly taking over Innsmouth and subtly distorting the place.

But now it seems that the changes are happening faster than he imagined.

……

late at night.

The bright moon slowly rose, and the dock, which was bustling with people during the day, was now silent.

Jules frowned, feeling a little impatient.

I've been waiting for half a day, but why haven't I seen any trace of Dagon's paganism?
The letter said that this place was suspected to be a contact point of the Dagon cult. Are they trying to fool me here?

"Hmm? Wait, it seems to be coming."

There was a sound of footsteps approaching quietly. Yule raised his brows slightly, crouched down and hid his figure.

A translucent moth cloak wrapped around his body, concealing his breath.

But he noticed one thing.

The moth's cloak actually began to tremble slightly, with a tendency to move without wind.

"It seems to smell like a moth... No, not quite."

This feeling was somewhat similar to the strange changes he had sensed when night fell in the real Innsmouth.

As he was pondering this, three hooded figures in black robes slowly approached.

They gathered at a wooden pile near the dock, carved a few marks on it with a knife, and then left quickly, as if afraid of being discovered.

After the three men left, Jules approached the wooden stake quietly.

He reached out and stroked it gently.

Under the damp salt, his fingers touched a few fresh scratches - when he removed his fingers, he saw three overlapping scale patterns.

"This seems to be some kind of rally sign?"

Yule's eyes flashed slightly, and he decided to follow the three men in black robes.

The other party obviously did not notice him, but just walked back and forth throughout the town of Innsmouth, leaving new marks from time to time.

The pale moonlight almost stretched the trees on the shore into tentacles, making them look particularly strange.

Finally, the three black-robed figures stopped.

Jules listened attentively, trying to decipher their language.

The language they used was extremely strange and did not belong to any existing language in the world - Jules swore, at least he thought that humans did not use it.

Having lived in London for so long, he had seen and heard almost all kinds of strange accents and languages, but he had never heard of such a strange accent.

It doesn't sound like talking, but more like singing.

But to call them songs seems to be an exaggeration. It might be more appropriate to say that they are the croaking noises of toads in the fields.

The sea breeze, carrying a salty and fishy smell, blew across Yu Le's face.

He sniffed subconsciously and suddenly heard the sound of a new wave of blood surging not far away.

And, it seems, more and more.

He followed his initial sensation and looked.

In the mist, a hunched figure gradually emerged——

Judging from his attire, he seemed to be just an ordinary fisherman, barefoot. Seawater dripped from the hem of his ragged linen shirt, and each step left a dark brown footprint on the muddy ground.

"Could he be seeking refuge?" He decided to wait and see.

The three men in black robes naturally noticed the approach of the fisherman, but did not rush to do anything.

Because at this moment, more figures are seeping out from various alleys.

They were as skinny as dead trees pushed ashore by the tide, and their sunken eye sockets glowed bluish-gray in the moonlight, looking extremely creepy yet somewhat pitiful.

"Everyone, are they all here?"

After dozens of residents gathered, the man in black robe looked around and said lightly.

Everyone nodded.

Jules, mingling with the residents and using the shadows to hide his not-so-sick face, also nodded.

Seeing this, the man in black robe placed his hand on his chest and drew a few times, drawing the shape of the triangular scales from before, and muttered syllables close to "Dagon" in his mouth.

"May Father God Dagon protect us."

Many residents followed suit, apparently doing it very skillfully.

"May Father God Dagon protect us." Everyone's voice was extremely soft, as if they were afraid of being discovered by the Steam Church.

At this moment, Yu Le felt that he was Mr. Dongguo in the story of the imposter - he knew nothing at all and could only follow the gestures.

He thought the black-robed people would lead the residents to some ceremonial site, but to his surprise, they simply entered an ordinary courtyard.

The courtyard was extremely simply furnished. As soon as he entered, Jules smelled a strong fishy odor.

"Each person, five loaves of bread and two fish. Do not take more than that, otherwise Father God Dagon will punish you." The man in black robe said hoarsely.

After saying that, he lowered his head, reached out and opened the snakeskin bag next to him.

In just a moment, Jules had seen clearly what the hand looked like.

It was embedded with several slippery scales and covered with a lot of mucus. It didn't look like a human hand, but more like the fin of some fish.

He was expecting something to happen, but after distributing the bread and fish, the man in black robe shook the bag and said calmly:
"Today's share has been distributed. Come back in two days."

After saying that, he waved his hand and drove everyone out of the yard.

……

The residents left, but Jules did not.

"I want to see what's going on..."

He was lurking outside the courtyard gate, holding the bread he had received earlier in his hand, looking at it carefully.

It seemed to have been soaked in sea water, and even obvious salt stains could be seen on it.

A unique temptation came from the bread, and Jules couldn't help but take a bite.

"The temptation of the cup?" He nodded in understanding. This was consistent with his imagination of Dagon's paganism.

However, Jules opened the bread again and again but still could not find anything unusual inside.

It is as if the symbol of the cup attached to it is only to facilitate the residents' entrance and has no sinister intention.

"Strange...why does it look completely unlike a cult?"

If that's the case, then it's not impossible to communicate directly...

Thinking of this, Jules took action immediately.

He took off his moth cloak and knocked on the door.

"Who?!" A nervous voice came from inside.

Jules said calmly:

"Those who believe in God the Father."

After the people inside whispered for a while, the gate finally opened slowly.

Several men in black robes looked at Yule warily and said:

"You said you believe in God the Father, do you have any evidence?"

Any evidence?
Yule chuckled and said:
"Can this be considered evidence?"

He used the power of the blood tide and gently took out a drop of light blue blood.

This is the blood that belongs uniquely to the Heart of the Wave.

Under the night sky, it faintly emits a crystal clear blue light.

Although the Heart of the Wave was severely damaged, it was still no problem to take a few drops of blood.

If it were an outsider, he would definitely not be able to see the uniqueness of this blood. After all, the rules of the wave have been lost. They can only see that there are more than just the rules of the cup.

But if their faith is really a wave, then the connection can definitely be seen.

The leader of the black-robed men slowly approached, his voice trembling as he said:

"Can you... let me see it?"

Yule smiled faintly and gently flicked out the blood.

"Please look."

The man in black robe suddenly reached out and grabbed it, as if afraid that it would fall to the ground.

He held the drop of light blue blood in his hand and slowly raised it up.

In the hazy moonlight, it was almost transparent.

As if in disbelief, he placed the blood on his palm and muttered a strange prayer.

As he chanted, the drop of blood began to tremble faintly, emitting a breath unique to the waves.

That breath that has been dormant in the world and has not reappeared for a long time.

"It really is, it really is the legacy of Father God on earth..." His voice was trembling.

Yule was shocked to find that all the black-robed men knelt down at the same time, almost crying with joy:

"Welcome back the Son of God!"

(End of this chapter)