Tianjin, starting with unorthodox methods to achieve immortality

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Nine o'clock in the morning, East District of the Inspection Bureau.

Chen Mo sat alone in Shen Dajiang's office, idly drinking tea and waiting for him to return.

The other party went to the Zhenyi Division early this morning, and there has been no news since.

"It's been so long, could something have happened?"

He took out his pocket watch and glanced at it; it was already ten o'clock.

"Is that guy going to come back hoping to freeload another meal?"

Chen Mo stood up, walked to the window, and looked down.

From this angle, you can see the gate of the inspection bureau. Several black cars are parked on one side of the gate, gleaming in the sunlight.

His gaze lingered on one of the cars.

I remember that morning, the car sped past the puddle, and if he hadn't dodged quickly, he would have been splashed with dirty water.

Chen Mo's mind raced.

Something silently split open from the shadows at my feet.

The thing was as thin as a hair, and it slithered along the cracks in the office floor, through the corridor, and finally slipped out under the steps of the inspection bureau's main entrance.

At this time, the sunlight is just right, and all shadows are huddled at the base of objects.

The fine threads were mixed in, even less noticeable than a spider web.

Having done the trick, Chen Mo clapped his hands and recalled the thin thread, saying, "Hopefully those two idiots won't drive too fast."

Before he could return to his seat, Shen Dajiang pushed open the door and came in looking frustrated.

My movements were much heavier than when I left home in the morning.

"What's wrong?"

"The higher-ups haven't approved it. Inspector Cai said he would personally warn them not to go to their door privately."

Shen Dajiang sat behind the table, his face extremely grim. He picked up his teacup and took a large gulp. "They said there wasn't enough evidence. A single corpse isn't enough to prove anything. It's also possible that other forces are impersonating members of the Xikai Church."

Chen Mo wisely kept quiet and didn't ask why.

In the end, strength speaks for itself in this world. It's likely that the other party has some means that make Zhenyiju hesitant to act.

Well, it seems I'll have to get my revenge myself.

"Director Shen, that Xikai Church..."

"Um?"

"Just who are they?" Chen Mo leaned forward. "Are there too many experts, and the higher-ups don't want to provoke them?"

Shen Dajiang remained silent for a moment before putting down the cup in his hand.

"The people at the Xikai Church are different from the gods worshipped by the Sun God Church. They worship the Spider God, and their power is also very strange."

Chen Mo nodded; he had heard these things from that foreigner.

"Then their strength..."

Shen Dajiang glanced at him. "Want to know?"

"Um."

Chen Mo nodded vigorously.

Shen Dajiang remained silent for three seconds before slowly speaking.

"Their people are divided into four levels."

"The lowest level are priests, just ordinary people who run errands. At most, they know a few rudimentary Western magic tricks, not worth mentioning."

"Above them are the deacons. These are the people who have entered the sect. They can deal with ordinary evil spirits, and their strength is about the same as our team members whose blood and qi are like mercury."

"Next up are the priests, and this level is already not to be trifled with. Each of them has a mother seed implanted within them."

Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat.

"The mother species?"

"Yes." Shen Dajiang nodded. "In the West, there is an evil spirit called the Shadow Spider. It is said to be one of the descendants of the Spider God. The mother is the Shadow Spider's egg, which is implanted into a living person's body, slowly parasitizing them, and finally bursting out of the body."

"High-level priests all have a mother seed within them; it's not something that's parasitized, but rather something that's actively planted."

Chen Mo was stunned.

"Willingly plant it? Isn't that suicide?"

"You don't understand." Shen Dajiang shook his head. "With the mother seed inside their bodies, they can gain the power of the Shadow Spider, as well as that ability to transform."

"The price is that if you can't control it, you will be devoured by the mother species and completely turned into a Shadow Spider."

He added, "That foreign devil who was chasing you must be a priest, and he's very powerful."

"And what about bishops?" Chen Mo pressed. "You just mentioned level four. What level is a bishop?"

Shen Dajiang's expression changed slightly.

"bishop……"

He remained silent for a long time, as if recalling some unpleasant memories.

"The bishop is the highest fighting force of Xikai Church in Jinshi. In the entire Jinshi, only Xikai Church and the Sun God Church have bishops guarding the city."

"Only two?"

"Yes, because those at the bishop level no longer need a mother seed."

Chen Mo frowned: "Then what do they rely on?"

Shen Dajiang looked up at him.

"Séance of the spirits."

The words he uttered carried an indescribable weight.

"A séance?"

"right."

Shen Dajiang's voice was very soft, as if he were talking about something taboo, "When they reach that level, they can communicate with the gods they believe in, summon divine projections, and even attract the gaze of the gods' true forms."

"Anyone below the Cave Heaven Realm will either die or go mad if they encounter a projection of a god."

"As for the divine gaze, someone of your strength doesn't need to inquire about it."

"Did their bishops ever perform a séance?"

Chen Mo's face darkened, and he couldn't help but press for more information, feeling that he was bound to run into this sooner or later.

Shen Dajiang did not answer immediately, but picked up his teacup, as if he was recalling something.

He didn't speak for a long time.

Thirty years ago, there was no Xikai Church or the Sun God Church in our territory.

Chen Mo sat up straight.

"Back then, I had only been in the Town Strange Division for a few years and was just a junior errand runner."

Shen Dajiang looked out the window, as if he were looking into the distance. "That autumn, people from the Sun God Cult suddenly appeared in Jinshi, saying they wanted to preach and build a church."

Shen Dajiang looked out the window, as if he were looking into the distance. "That autumn, people from the Sun God Cult suddenly appeared in Jinshi, saying they wanted to preach and build a church."

"The head of the Zhenyi Division at that time was surnamed Zhou. Old Master Zhou was a great master of the Qi and Blood Cave Heaven Realm, and he was ranked among the top in the entire six northern provinces."

"He only said one thing: foreign gods are not allowed to enter Tianjin."

Chen Mo nodded: "And then?"

"Then a bishop came over there."

Shen Dajiang put his teacup down on the table, his gaze becoming distant. "The bishop of the Sun God Church, his name was Marshall or something, I can't remember."

"That night, Grandpa Zhou went alone."

"later?"

"And then?" Shen Dajiang chuckled, but there was little of a smile in his eyes. "How could we younger ones resist? We secretly followed them."

"It was just west of that wasteland in Laoxikai, where the church is now, but back then it was a mass grave."

Chen Mo listened intently, subconsciously perking up his ears.

"The moon was quite big that night, a ghastly red. We lay on the back of a sloping hill about a hundred paces away, barely daring to breathe, while Grandpa Zhou stood there with his hands behind his back, waiting for us."

"Is that foreigner here?"

"They've arrived." Shen Dajiang nodded. "Bishop Marshall, dressed in a red robe, came in like a blazing fire in the middle of the night."

"The two of them stood there and talked for a while. We didn't know what they were saying, but then they started fighting."

"Back then, I didn't know what a séance was; I only knew... it was dawn."

"One moment the crimson moon was still hanging in the sky, and the next moment, a sun suddenly appeared in the sky."

"The entire city of Tianjin was as bright as day..."