A priest in North America, what the hell is the Demon Gate system?

[Ding! Sect Quest Activated: Investigate Suspicious Outpost]

[A suspicious mortal stronghold has appeared around our current base, suspected to be caused by fellow practitioners. Please investigate.]

[Task Reward: Contribution Points +30]

Li Ang stood in the church's foyer and glanced at Google Maps on his phone.

Jonah's Amish community was located east of the town, near the county road intersection. The area appeared as a large green patch on the map, and satellite images showed neat rows of fields and scattered farmhouses, unlike the dense grid of streets typical of other communities.

"There's no way I can get in just because I'm a priest. I don't want people to see it as a provocation. Maybe I can pretend to be a convert..."

Li Ang stroked his chin, pondering.

He remembered finding something in the system shop before, and with a thought, he opened the panel and quickly swiped to the pill category.

【Appearance-Changing Pill】: Changes the user's appearance and body shape, with effects lasting for 72 hours. Avoids water, as it dissolves upon contact with water.

It requires 30 contribution points to redeem.

Li Ang glanced at his current contribution point balance—211 points. Not bad, he could afford it.

"It's been changed."

A dark brown pill appeared in his palm, with a rough surface and a bloody smell.

Li Ang frowned slightly. This thing gave him a very strange feeling, but he still tilted his head back and threw the disguise pill into his mouth.

The pill felt like a viscous gel sliding down my throat, and then, starting from my throat, it traveled down my esophagus, spreading a burning, wriggling sensation throughout my body.

Li Ang looked at the mirror in the front hall, and his own face began to move. Li Ang felt as if he had entered a highly free face-shaping game and began to make the muscles move according to his ideas.

Soon, the muscles and bones under the skin seemed to gain their own consciousness and slowly rearranged themselves.

Her skin tone gradually lightened from an Asian complexion to a Caucasian white with a hint of foundation. Her facial features also changed, quickly separating her from the typical Asian appearance.

The black hair started to fade from the roots, as if bleach had been added, and gradually turned into a light gold color. The hair also grew in length, becoming a side-parted length.

The whole process lasted about three minutes, and the person in the mirror had completely changed.

A blond, blue-eyed, well-defined white young man, who looked to be in his mid-twenties and about 1.85 meters tall, was the type of person who would be handed a business card by a talent scout if he walked down the street.

Li Ang smiled with satisfaction at himself in the mirror. This face was modeled after Leon S. Kennedy, the protagonist of Resident Evil.

"Sculpting a face based on Leon's is definitely handsome. But wait, going to a secluded village to find a girl... doesn't she look familiar...?"

Li Ang inwardly complained, stretched his neck, and the system panel unfolded before his eyes:

【Li Ang】

[Sect Status: Outer Sect Outpost Steward]

[Cultivation Level: Qi Refining Level 2 (Perfect)]

[Mana: 6]

[Physical Fitness: 4]

[Divine Sense: 5]

[Magic Items: Low-grade Soul Banner, Holy Judgment, Soul-Hooking Bell, Demon-Suppressing Ring]

[Contribution Points: 181]

[Current Mission: Investigate Suspicious Outpost]

Li Ang changed into ordinary clothes, priest's robes, and put his tribunal, notebook, and amulet into his storage ring. Finally, he slung a slightly worn hiking backpack over his shoulder, looking like an ordinary hiker. After getting ready, Li Ang planned to drive to the vicinity of the Amish community.

After driving for about twenty minutes, the town gradually receded into the distance. The buildings along the road became fewer and fewer, replaced by endless cornfields and soybean fields. Occasionally, one could see old barns, their red paint peeling off, their corrugated iron roofs gleaming grayish-white in the gloomy sky.

Following the map's directions, he turned onto a gravel road at an unmarked intersection.

After another five minutes of bumpy driving, Li Ang parked the car next to a small grove of trees. Further ahead lay the Amish community territory, and driving in there would be too conspicuous.

He slung his bag over his shoulder, locked his bike, and walked along the gravel road.

The air smelled of a mixture of manure and damp earth. The road was narrow, barely wide enough for a horse-drawn carriage to pass, with two deep ruts worn into the surface and a row of tenacious wild grass growing between them.

After walking about a kilometer, the scenery began to change.

First, the power lines disappeared. In typical rural America, utility poles and cables stretch along the roads like a spider web, but here there was nothing.

Then there were houses; along the way were old wooden houses, some of which looked at least seventy or eighty years old.

Large patches of paint had peeled off the exterior walls, revealing the original gray-black wood underneath. The roof was covered with dark red tiles or black asphalt felt; there was no TV antenna, no satellite dish, nothing at all.

Li Ang slowed his pace and observed carefully.

A dozen or so clothes hung on a clothesline in front of a house, swaying gently in the damp breeze. They were all plain-colored, without any patterns.

In the corner of the yard stood a white cylindrical tank with the word "propane" printed on it. This is one of the few modern energy sources used by the Amish to power their stoves and refrigerators.

Further on, Li Ang saw a strange little wooden pavilion standing in an open space between three or four houses. Inside the pavilion was an old-fashioned telephone, with a black receiver hanging on a hook.

Public phone booths, Li Ang recalled, in Amish communities several households usually share one phone, and the phone must be placed outdoors to prevent people from getting engrossed in chatting.

Just then, a horse-drawn carriage passed by on the road.

The black open carriage was pulled by a brown dwarf horse with steel rims and rubber tires.

The driver was a man in his fifties, wearing a dark blue shirt and black overalls, with a wide-brimmed straw hat on his head. Next to him sat a woman in a dark long dress, a white apron, and her hair completely covered by a white soft hat.

As the carriage passed by, both men turned to look at Li Ang, their expressions filled with scrutiny and curiosity.

Li Ang raised his hand in a friendly gesture, the man nodded, and the carriage continued creaking forward.

Li Ang actually walked very fast and soon arrived at the core of the community, which was larger than he had imagined.

Along both sides of the gravel road, there are about twenty or thirty houses, each with a large plot of land around it where vegetables and corn are grown, and some houses also have chickens and sheep.

Further away are rolling farmlands, where several people dressed in similarly simple clothes are bending over and working.

The world without power lines was unusually quiet, with only the sounds of wind, birdsong, the occasional bleating of livestock, and the distant sound of sawing wood.

Li Ang followed the road to a fork in the road and was hesitating about which way to go when the door of a house next to him opened.

An old man came out.

He looked to be around sixty years old, tall and thin, with a slightly hunched back, but a steady gait. He was dressed like other Amish men, but with a dark gray vest over his clothes.

His face was deeply wrinkled, as if carved with a chisel, and his gray beard was neatly trimmed, hanging down to his chest.

The old man was holding a wooden-handled hammer and was about to walk towards the work shed behind the house when he saw Li Ang and stopped.

"Good day," the old man said in a low voice with a heavy German accent.

"Good day," Li Ang replied in as calm a voice as possible.

"Do you know Elder Jacob Byle?"

The name was given to him by Jonah, who said it was his father and an elder of the community. Because the Amish don't like having their pictures taken, no one knows what the man looked like.

The old man's eyes flickered slightly.

"I am Jacob Byler, stranger. What do you want with me?"

Following his prepared remarks, Li Ang put on a sincere expression:

"Elder Barry, my name is Leon S. Kennedy. I come from Ohio and have been searching for a place where I can live quietly and be close to God. I have heard that the Amish communities in Uldum preserve ancient virtues, so I would like to come and learn from them and see if it is right for me to convert."

Jacob silently sized him up, his gaze sweeping over him from head to toe.

"Those who convert are very rare," the old man said slowly.

"Especially someone like you... a young person from the outside world. Do you know our rules?"

"I know some things, and I can learn them too," Li Ang nodded.

Jacob was silent for a moment, and the wind blew through the clothes on the clothesline, making a rustling sound.

"The community hasn't been very welcoming to outsiders lately," the old man finally spoke, but his tone softened slightly.

"But God teaches us to be welcoming to visitors. You can stay, participate in the work, and learn our ways. But we have our rules, and you must follow them."

"I understand, thank you." Li Ang bowed slightly.

"Come with me." Jacob turned and walked toward the house.

The interior of the house was even simpler than the exterior. The wooden floors were polished to a shine, and the furniture was all handmade, with rough but sturdy lines. There were no electric lights; instead, kerosene lamps sat on the windowsills. The walls were devoid of any decorative paintings or photographs, save for a simple wooden cross.

Jacob called upstairs, "Serrey!"

Accompanied by the sound of thumping footsteps, a boy of about seventeen or eighteen years old came down, with brown hair and a clever look.

"Let's show this Mr. Lyon around, and if he'd like, we can let him try some work."

After Jacob finished speaking, he ignored Li Ang, picked up the hammer, and left.

Serhir turned his head and looked at Li Ang with a curious expression.

Are you a tourist?

"No, I am a convert," Li Ang said with a smile.

"That's rare... Come with me, I'll show you around."

As the boy spoke, he led Li Ang out.