The mascot of the wishing shop is a cat.

Chapter 187 Internal Situation

"Your cult leader must be very powerful, right? Is there any chance we could meet him?"

Earl continued talking to the church member who had led the way, a gentle smile always on his face.

He's very good at using platitudes.

"Our leader is incredibly powerful, but it's not easy to see him. Only believers who have made great contributions have this honor."

The followers looked proud and spoke with admiration.

"Wow~ If I join the cult, will I have a chance to see him? Have you ever met the cult leader?"

Earl continued to probe for information.

"Of course! I saw the sect leader once when I rejoined the sect. I was very lucky at the time; the sect leader walked past me and I touched the hem of his robe!"

The cult leader became even more excited when the topic turned to him. He even shook his body with excitement as he spoke, causing his black hat and cloak to sway.

"!!!"

"Look at his face!"

Lin Xiyue saw the cultist's face through his swaying cloak and couldn't help but gasp in surprise. Fortunately, she was wearing "Orange Hearing" the whole time, so only Moros and the others heard her.

Hearing Lin Xiyue's exclamation, everyone subconsciously looked at the face hidden under the cult member's black robe.

Through the constantly swaying black robe, the crowd tried to see the mysterious cult member's full face, but could only make out the lower half of his face.

Judging from the exposed portion, his face is actually no different from that of an ordinary person, with nothing particularly striking about it. Upon closer inspection, one can even clearly see a small black mole near the corner of his mouth. Such an ordinary appearance makes it difficult to leave a lasting impression.

However, what truly made Lin Xiyue gasp in surprise was not the unremarkable lower half of his face, but the striking resemblance she suddenly noticed between the person in front of her and the black-robed man who had come to the shop earlier—they both had black holes in their faces!

The previous person had a full face covered in it, but this person only has one on half of their face.

Even more chillingly, a translucent, somewhat ethereal worm slowly emerged from the black hole.

The worm writhed as if it were alive, and its appearance was extremely horrifying, inspiring fear and disgust in people.

"what happened?"

The follower seemed to sense something, pulled at his hood, and turned to look at the crowd.

Although she couldn't see his face, Lin Xiyue still clearly felt a sense of oppression.

The sense of oppression was strange, because this person was just an ordinary human being, yet he gave them a very clear sense of oppression.

"you……"

"How dare you talk to strangers like that!"

Earl was about to say something more, to try and get more information out of her, when he was suddenly interrupted by a slightly angry male voice.

Looking up, they saw that they had arrived at the lowest level of this abandoned factory. Because they had entered through a second-floor window, they were now on the first floor.

Beside a simple downward staircase on this floor, a person dressed in a black robe with red trim hurried over and sternly interrupted the conversation between Lin Xiyue and the cult member.

The follower lowered his head in fear, trembling, not daring to utter a single word of explanation. Seeing this, Earl quickly smiled apologetically and explained that he and his group were new members who had some questions about the doctrine and were asking questions. He also mentioned that they had met the High Priest.

Hearing this, the man in black robes looked Earl and his companions up and down a few times, gave them a few warnings, and then left.

"Young man, who was that esteemed person just now? He seemed to be of high status!"

After that person left, Earl, looking terrified, went over to ask the cult member who had led the way.

"That was His Holiness the bishop. He must have been passing by and found us chatting, which is why he reprimanded me."

The cult member's submissive and self-righteous demeanor made Earl feel somewhat uneasy.

"Where do we go now? Isn't this the last floor?"

Seeing that Lin Xiyue and the others had memorized the general location, Earl decisively began to ask about the specific place they needed to go.

"We're taking you to where newcomers should be. We've dug a basement. The lower-ranking ones are all down there."

The man knew he had been assigned by the high priest to lead them, and in his view, after witnessing the miracle, no one would refuse to join the sect. Therefore, he answered almost every question Earl asked.

Before long, Earl knew most of what he knew, even why he had converted to the church.

He came here to cure his cancer, and, according to him, he has already been cured.

"We've arrived. You are free to move around in this area. I will come to call you again when the ceremony begins tomorrow."

After saying this, the man turned and left. He seemed to be a member of the cult living on the first floor, just one level higher than the others who had woken up.

..............................

After the cult members who had led the way left, Ling Yan first gave the order to his subordinates who were outside on guard to continue to stand by, and then looked seriously at Lin Xiyue and the others.

"It seems this place is heavily guarded; we definitely can't force our way in."

Lin Xiyue and the others also approached Earl and whispered.

Earl nodded slightly, then realized the situation was somewhat tricky.

The group first carefully examined the basement.

This is a mysterious basement that the cult secretly dug. Just by taking a quick look at the incredibly spacious square in front of them, everyone could feel its enormous size—it covered an area roughly the size of a standard playground.

When one's gaze shifts to the thick, sturdy, and seemingly reliable earthen walls around the perimeter, it becomes clear that they were hastily excavated only recently.

Upon close inspection of the earthen walls, one can clearly see traces of incomplete compaction remaining on the surface, and in some places the soil appears particularly loose.

Perhaps it was because of this hasty construction that, when no one was touching the earthen wall, some small clods of earth would slide down on their own, making a slight but unsettling sound.

Seeing this situation, Lin Xiyue and the others couldn't help but feel secretly fortunate. Fortunately, modern technology was advanced enough that the supporting structure above could provide strong strength and stability. Otherwise, this poorly constructed basement would probably have collapsed under the strain long ago.

All of these people in the basement are definitely going to die.

At this moment, a rare person, dressed in a black robe but without a hood, walked towards them.

……