"As expected of the Head of Church — ever perceptive.
Lady Go Lis's... condition is rather complex. I already have so ideas, but the thod is risky, and there's one prerequisite."
Berios's eyes widened ever so slightly, a trace of excitent flickering beneath his composure. But he didn't respond imdiately, instead tightening his grip on the staff as though weighing whether Cheng Shi's words were truth or lies.
"I can tell you love your wife deeply. In that case, I trust you won't refuse my treatnt plan. The prerequisite isn't complicated. Lady Go Lis's soul has suffered so kind of accidental damage from an external force. As for what that external force was — you should know better than I do.
I can attempt to repair her soul, but first I need to know how she ended up like this."
Berios's expression froze. "What does that have to do with the treatnt?" he asked coldly.
Cheng Shi shook his head honestly.
"Nothing. It has absolutely nothing to do with the treatnt thod. But it has everything to do with my mood.
I told you we're here to collect fear. From that, you should be able to deduce that the deity we follow holds authority over certain aspects of emotional perception.
Your story will be the perfect catalyst for my emotions. When my emotional state is at its peak, the treatnt process will go much more smoothly.
So if you want to say there's so connection — well, it's not entirely wrong."
Indeed — Cheng Shi was being completely honest. He simply wanted to hear the gossip. Berios had no way of knowing whether what he'd said was true or false. The normally lofty Head of Church deliberated for a long ti, scrutinizing Cheng Shi multiple tis before finally choosing to trust him — just this once.
It wasn't really trust, though. From his perspective, if Go Lis could be healed, these stories didn't matter. And if she couldn't, the listener would end up as lake-bottom nourishnt anyway, trapped forever in this underground chamber.
And so, under Cheng Shi's eager anticipation, Berios began to speak.
Whether it was to stir Cheng Shi's emotions or because he'd genuinely lost himself in mory, the story Berios told went far beyond Go Lis alone. He started from his own childhood, carrying Cheng Shi back to a Dolgod of several decades past.
In those days, Dolgod was still under the rule of the previous Head of Church — the one who had used the Evil Infant Inquisition to usher Dolgod into a golden age, only to die suddenly upon being promoted to Bishop of the Federation.
Before that forr Head of Church had departed Dolgod, the young Berios and Lis Field had still been the best of brothers.
Raised by the Church, nurtured under the constant drumbeat of religious education, they grew strong. Both were exceptionally gifted and genuinely devout, and many in the congregation regarded them as the next generation's hope for the Theocracy of Growth. Even the Head of Church himself showed them great favor.
But excessive adulation bred arrogance. Especially once they began handling Church affairs, youthful curiosity swelled with their expanding knowledge until, one day, curiosity conquered faith. The two conspired to sneak into the Church's most prominent institution: the Evil Infant Inquisition.
Inside, they saw rows upon rows of suspended infants. Brimming with confidence that Birth's blessing protected them, the two boys felt no fear whatsoever of these so-called sinners. So with reckless audacity, they freed one of the dead infants.
The mont the Umbilical Shackles were released, the curled-up infant gradually reverted into a nude, flawless young woman.
That Uma woman was Go Lis.
It was the first ti either Berios or Lis Field had ever seen such a beautiful girl. She was like a lunar spirit descended to earth — in their eyes, more beautiful than every female citizen of Dolgod combined.
Her exquisite face and immaculate body struck them both straight through the heart, and both fell in love in the sa instant.
But Go Lis was no ordinary object of courtship. She was a self-condemned Uma Sinner!
Rember — the first thing an Uma Sinner does after being freed from her shackles is to find a suitable container and use the Descent Technique to birth an heir to continue the bloodline!
So when Go Lis was unsealed and saw the two blushing, trembling, heart-pounding boys before her, she smiled happily.
She knew that Dolgod possessed the power to change one's sex. And so she extended an invitation to the two boys — to join her here, in this cold, eerie Inquisition, and conceive a child together.
Of course, in this arrangent the "father" would be her. And the "mother" would be one of the two boys.
Berios — for the sake of his future and his faith — gritted his teeth, suppressed his desires, and refused her on the spot. But Lis Field fell completely. He raced back to the Church that very night, changed his sex, and returned to the Inquisition. There, right in front of Berios, he beca the recipient of Go Lis's Descent Technique.
Ordinarily in Dolgod, sex change and conception were the most unremarkable business imaginable. But the problem was that the child in Lis Field's belly had been fathered by an Uma Sinner. Even though the vast majority of believers had no idea the enforcers inside the Evil Infant Inquisition were Uma Sinners, certain Church leaders did.
Dolgod could shelter Uma Sinners, but it could not allow one to seize supre power through offspring. The petrification death of the previous Head of Church remained fresh in mory. So the Church's power-brokers abandoned their investnt in Lis Field and elevated Berios to the position of heir apparent.
Yet Berios still didn't give up on Go Lis. Not a single woman in all of Dolgod was more beautiful. Even though Lis Field was already carrying Go Lis's child — this was Dolgod. There were no moral taboos here.
And he knew: only by climbing to the pinnacle of Dolgod's power could he override all objections and openly unite with an Uma Sinner.
So he pursued supre authority with one hand and secretly courted Go Lis with the other.
Under Berios's tireless pursuit, Go Lis... accepted.
Her reasons were simple. The Theocracy of Growth's heir apparent stood closer to Him than any commoner, and the Uma people's hereditary obsession was to draw near to Him and beg His forgiveness.
Although Go Lis believed Birth had already forgiven her, she still wanted to be even a little closer to Him.
So she accepted Berios's pursuit. On the day he ascended to Head of Church, she beca his lawful wife — and his representative at the Evil Infant Inquisition.
As for Lis Field, who had lost in both "career" and "love" — he did not give up. He declared that he respected Go Lis's devotion but firmly believed her piety was temporary. Eventually, she would see the truth and return to his side.
He was willing to wait. But what ca wasn't Go Lis's change of heart. It was a catastrophe.
His and Go Lis's child had grown up. Even in early childhood, the girl had begun to resemble Go Lis. Her appearance filled Lis Field with dread — he feared that his unrequited longing might drive him to sothing foolish, and he feared the little Go Lis's beauty would cause turmoil within the Church. So in an act of ruthless resolve, he clamped the Umbilical Shackles onto the child himself and hung her back on the second floor of the Evil Infant Inquisition.
And that was the ordained fate of a newborn Uma Sinner.
Until, over a decade ago, soone stumbled into the Inquisition and unsealed her — finally bringing this toddler-ford "Go Lis" back into the world.
Lis Field had no desire to raise the child. The Head of Church took pity on her circumstances, adopted her, had her sex changed, claid her as his own, and nad her Turadin.
"..."
By this point, Cheng Shi's brain had burned through its last fuse.
So Turadin was so stunningly beautiful because she was a perfect copy of her mother Go Lis's appearance?
No wonder she'd said she was originally a woman — because the Descent Technique was designed to produce another version of oneself!
It all fit. Every piece clicked into place.
But here was the thing: in terms of biological parentage, her "father" should be Go Lis. As for the "mother"...
At that thought, Cheng Shi's jaw dropped slightly. His expression was priceless.
'Oh no. Turadin, oh Turadin — you know absolutely nothing about your family.'
'The one you think is your father isn't actually your father. The one you think is your mother is actually your father. And the man you believed to be the Church's opposition leader? His real identity is your mother!'
'And what a magnificent beard your mom has grown...'
"..."
...
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