Absolutely not to be burned at the stake

Li Wei carefully put away the letters, appointment certificates, diaries, and the bag of coins.

Then he began looking for other useful things in the room. Besides his priest's robes, there were several casual clothes in the wardrobe.

The bookshelf is filled with books, mostly religious texts and theological treatises, with a few books on herbs, minerals, and basic alchemy.

Li Wei pulled out the thinnest book, "Basic Prayers and Rituals," and quickly flipped through it. It contained some common prayers, blessing gestures, and steps for simple rituals. Although he had been following Hansen for two years and was generally familiar with these, he had never studied them systematically, which would be very useful for his disguise as a priest.

He also found a small wooden box containing several badges. One was a metal badge, the size of an egg, matching the holy emblem that had flashed on his forehead; it could be pinned to his robe or hung around his neck.

There is also a silver one with a design of crossed keys and a sword, and the inscription "Hansen Crawford" below. This should be the bishop's personal seal.

The most important discovery was a thin booklet called "An Introduction to Divine Arts" found in a hidden corner of the bookshelf.

It details the hierarchy of divine magicians in the Alchemist God's belief system, the characteristics of each level, the basic divine spells that can be learned, and the methods of meditation and cultivation.

Li Wei was overjoyed and immediately began to examine it.

According to the book, the Alchemist God's divine magic system is divided into, from lowest to highest:

Apprentice Divine Sorcerer: With a firm faith and initial divine nature, one can learn 1-2 basic divine spells.

Formal Divine Sorcerer: Possesses mature divine nature and has mastered three or more divine spells.

Then, divine mages are divided into nine ranks: those below the third rank are beginner divine mages, those from the fourth to the sixth rank are intermediate divine mages, and those from the seventh to the ninth rank are advanced divine mages.

Above that are the saints.

Li Wei is currently an "Apprentice Divine Sorcerer," having just entered the ranks. However, Li Wei doesn't know what rank of divine sorcerer Father Hansen is, but given his position as a bishop, he's probably at least a mid-rank divine sorcerer.

No wonder the original owner's sneak attack and poison only severely injured him, but failed to kill him.

However, if that old man hadn't already been seriously injured by the original owner, and hadn't been careless and caught off guard, getting shot through the lung and dying from suffocation and blood loss, his own situation would probably have been even worse.

Li Wei continued reading "An Introduction to Divine Arts," which recorded several basic divine arts that novice divine magicians could learn:

Micro-light technology: Creating a sustainable, soft light source.

Cleaning technique: Cleaning a small area of ​​dirt.

Soothing techniques: calming emotions and dispelling fear.

Mild Healing: Treats mild to moderate injuries.

Each divine spell has detailed prayer gestures, incantations, and precautions. Li Wei tried to memorize them and found that his memory seemed to have improved considerably after becoming an apprentice divine sorcerer; he could remember the general idea after reading it once or twice.

However, the cultivation of these techniques requires the assistance of relevant materials.

Furthermore, one also needs sufficient mental strength.

Although I now have meditation techniques at hand, it seems I don't have enough time to learn and practice them.

He closed the booklet, looked around, and saw a door near the window leading to an inner room.

The door wasn't locked. Li Wei carefully pushed it open and saw a small room inside. On the wall opposite the window hung a small holy emblem, and below the emblem was an oak table with a strange... machine on it.

Li Wei stepped forward to take a look. It was a strange plate-like object with a holy emblem inlaid on it in gold thread.

Li Wei could even faintly sense a faint aura of divine power emanating from the plate.

Then, on top of the plate, there was a piece of paper.

After carefully examining the plate in front of him, Li Wei took a deep breath. This... is probably, perhaps... something like a fax machine?

That holy artifact that Hansen used to submit monthly reports to the Holy Tribunal!

Now that we've found this, many things become much simpler.

I glanced out the window. The eastern sky was beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn, and the deep blue night was fading away.

It's almost dawn.

time is limited.

Although Father Hansen and he were the only people in the church, Father Hansen's body had to be disposed of as soon as possible, and the traces in the cellar had to be removed to avoid any mishaps.

Then, with a new identity, facing a new day, you achieve option C.

Li Wei tucked "An Introduction to Divine Arts" and "Basic Prayers and Rituals" into his pocket. Then, he walked to the wardrobe and looked at the old but well-made priest's robes inside.

He chose a relatively new black robe that seemed to fit well. The robe had a thick lining, and the collar and cuffs were decorated with simple silver embroidery. He also found a wide leather belt and a pair of soft-soled leather shoes.

He took off his tattered clothes, stained with blood and covered in ointment, and crumpled them into a ball. Then he fetched a basin of water from the kitchen, quickly wiped his body, and washed away the blood and ointment.

After drying himself off, he changed into his priest's robe. The robe was a bit loose, but it was fine once the belt was fastened. The shoes were slightly too big, but he managed to wear them by padding them with scraps of cloth.

He walked to a faded mirror in the corner of the room.

A strange boy was reflected in the mirror.

Her skin was a healthy, fair color, her dark brown hair was a little messy, her face was slender, and her features were well-proportioned, especially her eyes, which appeared particularly bright and spirited in the dim light.

He was very handsome.

"From this day forward, I am Levi Payne..."

He looked in the mirror and whispered. Then, trying to mimic Father Hansen's somber, slow tone, he lowered his voice and said, "May my Lord...bless you."

The sound echoed in the room, which was a bit strange, but with a few more practice sessions, he should gradually get used to the role of a priest.

He also practiced several standard hand gestures he had seen in "Basic Prayers and Rituals," such as the finger flame shape during prayer and the waving gesture during blessing.

He practiced for a few minutes, then stopped. Now was not the time to practice.

He had to deal with the bodies in the cellar.

Li Wei glanced at the messy room, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door to go out.

The corridor was still dim, but the faint light coming through the east-facing window had made the surroundings much clearer. He went down the stairs to the first floor, crossed the main corridor, and came to the wooden door leading to the cellar.

I pushed open the door and descended the stone steps. The cellar still reeked of blood and the pungent smell of ointment. The oil lamp was almost extinguished, its flame flickering weakly.

Father Hansen's body still leaned against the stone table leg, his posture unchanged. The arrow protruding from his chest, its blood congealed and blackened, formed a sticky stain on the ground.

Looking at the corpse in front of him, Li Wei took a deep breath, and to be honest, he was still a little nervous.

I composed myself, walked over, squatted down, and looked at the old man. He was cold, lifeless, and completely dead.

He pulled out the arrow. The arrow shaft scraped against congealed flesh, making a teeth-grinding sound.

Suppressing his discomfort, Li Wei wiped the arrow on the priest's robe and then placed it together with the miniature composite bow.

Then, he took the bunch of keys off Father Hansen's waist.

This bunch of keys held the keys to all the rooms in the church, and Levi didn't want to keep using the Origin Flame to pry open doors. After checking Father Hansen's body again to make sure there was nothing there, Levi stopped.

However, looking at Father Hansen's corpse, Levi frowned.

How should a corpse be disposed of?

Burn it? Setting fire to the cellar feels like courting death. Besides, burning a corpse seems rather difficult.

Bury it? There's a patch of wasteland in the church's backyard, but it's daylight now, and people might see it. Besides, digging a hole would take time and tools.

Li Wei frowned in thought.

Suddenly, he thought of the "experiments," "materials," and "potions" mentioned in Father Hansen's diary.

This old man is conducting experiments in the cellar; could he have some ready-made tools for disposing of corpses?

He began searching the cellar.

The cellar wasn't large; besides the stone slab and table in the center, there were wooden barrels, boxes, and shelves piled around it. The shelves were filled with all sorts of bottles and jars, with hastily written labels attached.

He looked at them one by one. Most of them were medicinal herbs: dried plant roots and stems, ground powder, animal organs soaking in liquid... until he found a few things in an inconspicuous wooden box in the corner.