Chapter 92.2 – The City in the Sandstorm
The car stopped in front of the church and the two got out of the car.
The gate was badly rusted.
Lu Tinghan grabbed the door with all his strength, stretching his forearm into a beautiful line, and Shi Yuan also helped to pull the handle with his tail. The two of them worked together until they heard a “squeak” and the door opened unwillingly, and their eyes suddenly lit up.——
Behind the door, the light of the sky fell through the high dome and stained glass, falling on the cobwebbed seats and on the gorgeous mural.
On the mural, white pigeons spread their wings to fly, and people rushed to stretch out their hands and hold flowers, facing the king on the high platform and the little girl next to him.
They cheered.
The light and dust danced and the colors were as old.
Shi Yuan: “Wow!”
He tilted his tail and leaned up to look at the mural.
The king and the girl were in the center of the mural and at the far end of the church. They were gorgeously dressed, their crowns were embellished with jewels, and they both had sword scabbards around their waists.
Lu Tinghan stood behind him and said, “The Empire King Morton von Cavendish and his daughter, Princess Alicia.”
Shi Yuan asked, “Are they still alive?”
“Morton was in his 60s before the end of the world, so he couldn’t possibly be alive,” Lu Tinghan said, “Alicia, who was ten years old at the time, would have been in her eighties if she was still alive.” He looked at around,
“The Cavendish family has always ruled the Empire, ambitious, warlike, and fanatical. They certainly didn’t expect the dynasty to end like this.”
The past was over, and the church was still there. Murals praised their reputation.
Shi Yuan turned his head and swept his gaze over the rows of seats: “Was the church built for them?”
“Yes, the people of the Empire were very fanatical about the royal family, and regarded them as a spiritual faith, and would pray to them.” Lu Tinghan walked slowly along the murals. The colorful light under the glass brushed the tips of his hair and his marble-like facial features. He thought thoughtfully, “The founding emperor of the Empire, Anthony von Cavendish, was a very courageous and charismatic monarch. Anthony’s influence spanned a hundred years and influenced the thinking of the Empire in all aspects. His descendants were also very good, especially Morton, who was extremely prestigious.”
Shi Yuan: “Oh, he must have been a very scary human being.” He looked at the mural, “He looks so fierce, and he’s not smiling at all.”
“Aside from the aura, he was actually just an ordinary person,” Lu Tinghan smiled, “I will tell you later.”
Shi Yuan loved listening to stories, so he happily followed Lu Tinghan to the top floor of the church.
This was not the structure of a traditional church, it was more like a combination of…a church and a castle. There were corridors and terraces on the top floor, and they could shuttle between the stained glass.
There was a lot of sand in the corridor, which was the masterpiece of the sandstorm. Lu Tinghan found the end of the corridor near the terrace, cleaned up the area, and placed the transmitter.
When he finished adjusting it and waited for the transmitter to start, he and Shi Yuan leaned side by side on the wall of the corridor.
Half of the glass in the window disappeared.
Thus, half of the blue sky was exposed.
Lu Tinghan looked at the sky and said, “Morton’s wife is named Anna, of aristocratic origin, and as beautiful as a flower. Morton and she had known each other since childhood, and he married Anna when he was still a prince.”
Shi Yuan listened intently.
Lu Tinghan continued: “Anna’s health was not good and she had been unable to conceive for a long time. Morton had been on the throne for several years and had no heirs. This made the royal family a little anxious.”
Shi Yuan asked, “Why? Does the royal family especially like children?”
“Because they wanted an heir to inherit the throne,” Lu Tinghan explained, “Only people with royal blood are eligible to inherit the dynasty. The royal family is also divided into its own lineages, close and distant relatives. If Morton has no children, it’s up to his distant relatives to inherit the throne – it’s tantamount to another line of royal family gaining power.”
Shi Yuan bent his tail in confusion.
Lu Tinghan smiled: “You can simply understand that Morton has to have a child to pass on the family business.”
“Okay.” Shi Yuan no longer dwelled on it, “You go on.”
Lu Tinghan: “Morton is an affectionate person, and he will never marry again except Anna. The two grew old day by day, and when Morton was 50 years old and Anna was nearly 40 years old, Anna accidentally discovered that she was pregnant.”
Shi Yuan: “Old but vigorous!”
Lu Tinghan: “…you can say that.”
He said again: “Morton was ecstatic, and worried that Anna would not be able to hold on. Anna insisted on giving birth to the child. In the third month of her pregnancy, they learned it was a girl and named her Alicia. Unfortunately, Anna eventually died in childbirth.”
Shi Yuan: “Ah…Morton must have been very sad.”
“Yes, the whole empire remembered the passing of the queen,” Lu Tinghan said, “Alicia grew up safely. Morton vowed to give Alicia the best things in the world, all gold, silver, jewelry, jewelry decorations, and rare objects. The little princess was loved by the whole empire, and every time she appeared, she was cheered by a sea of people. However, she is a very delicate person.”
“Very delicate?”
“She must taste the delicacies of the mountains and seas when she eats, otherwise, she will be furious. The clothes she wears, the jewelry she wears, if she has the slightest bit of displeasure, she will put on a sullen face for days. This is unusual in royal etiquette, but the old father, Morton, transferred all his love for his wife to his daughter and spoiled her too much.”
Lu Tinghan pinched Shi Yuan’s face, his hand felt delicate: “That’s why I said that no matter how wise and great people are, they will have weaknesses and make mistakes.”
He continued: “Once, Alicia wanted the most beautiful pearl in the world, Morton sent people to the distant North Sea, looking for fishermen and pearl pickers, saying that the person who offered the most beautiful pearl to the princess would be rich and prosperous. Those people have been poor all their lives, where have they seen such a good thing? Every one of them went to the sea like crazy, even when there was a typhoon, just that short quarter drowned more than twenty people.”
“In the end, Alicia got the pearl as she wished. After playing for a few days, she lost interest and left it in the jewelry box and never touched it again.”
Shi Yuan asked, “What about the person who found the pearl?”
“Morton fulfilled his promise and made him prosperous and rich.” Lu Tinghan said lightly, “But a person who was extremely poor suddenly became rich, and he completely lost control of himself. His temperament changed drastically, he was addicted to gambling, and within a few years, he lost all his belongings and disappeared from the world.”
He paused: “Then, Alicia fell in love with horsemanship. Morton once again tried his best to travel the mountains and rivers for her before finding a beautiful pony – this is another story. In the end, Alicia was only interested for a while and never rode it again.”
Shi Yuan thought for a while: “Won’t anyone be dissatisfied?”
“The enthusiasm of the people of the Empire for the royal family is unimaginable, and even if there is opposition, it will be drowned out,” Lu Tinghan said, “Until the last day before the end of the world, Alicia was the little princess who gathered all the love in the world.”
“Beep beep beep—”
The transmitter beeped.
Lu Tinghan confirmed that the signal was stable and prepared to go back.
When the two returned to the first floor of the church, Lu Tinghan suddenly stood still.
“What’s the matter?” Shi Yuan asked.
Lu Tinghan made a silent gesture, and Shi Yuan waited silently. Two seconds later, Lu Tinghan took out the terminal and whispered, “Adjutant Bing, can you hear me?”
Adjutant Bing replied: “Copy, copy.”
Lu Tinghan: “Find a safe place immediately, the monsters are coming. Shi Yuan and I will be back soon.”
On the aircraft, Adjutant Bing’s breathing stagnated, and he subconsciously looked into the distance.——
At the end of the bright sky, a large group of creatures appeared in a few seconds, covering the sky and the sun, heading straight for the small city!
The three people on board reacted extremely quickly and acted immediately. Adjutant Bing called: “General! They are too close, we can’t wait for you to come back!” He glanced at the radar quickly, and Douglas gestured to him, “…at their speed of travel, they shouldn’t be able to catch up with the aircraft!”
The aircraft was still some distance from the small city.
As long as they leave quietly, maybe they won’t attract the attention of the monsters.
Lu Tinghan pondered for half a second and made a judgment: “Then you guys make a detour, maintain communication, and meet with us as soon as possible. Be careful in all things.”
“Roger that!”
The aircraft quickly increased its altitude and traveled around the monster group.
As Lu Tinghan and Adjutant Bing expected, the monsters did not notice them, but flooded the small city.
In the church, Shi Yuan and Lu Tinghan saw the monsters clearly.
It was a large group of… marine life.
Marine life swimming in the air.
Facing such a large group of monsters, they had to be cautious and hid in the church and did not go out.
Shi Yuan looked through the glass and saw colorful tropical fish, slow turtles, writhing eel, and manta rays with protruding fins… They had become strange due to infection, but were still recognizable as their original species.
They roamed freely, stretched their bodies, and floated across the city slowly, reminding him of the jellyfish in Iron City.
“What are they doing?” Shi Yuan asked Lu Tinghan softly, “Why are they here?”
Lu Tinghan said, “I didn’t see the purpose, it seemed to be simply passing by.”
“Oh,” Shi Yuan said.
Another group of shadows passed by, Shi Yuan raised his head, translucent silver dolphins chased each other in the air, making strange noises, and fluorescent fish surrounded them like small lights. After that——
Huge shadows covered the sky and the sun.
It was a giant whale with a huge body, roaming in the air.
It obscured all light sources and was bigger than this small city.
Words could hardly describe the sense of oppression. They couldn’t see the whole body clearly, they could only see the abdomen and front fins.
It flew too low, so low that its abdomen scratched the top floor of the building, and a lot of steel bars mixed with cement smashed down.
It flicked its tail fin again.
“Watch out!” Lu Tinghan said suddenly.
Before Shi Yuan could react, Lu Tinghan protected his head and dragged him out of the church. There was a crackling sound above the head, the ground shook, and the chandelier of the church fell down!
The whale’s tail fin swept to the building next to the church.
The building collapsed and fell on the church. The church was extremely strong, but it also trembled. The chandelier was mixed with countless mud and dust, and a huge pit was smashed on the ground.
In fact, even if they didn’t move just now, they wouldn’t be hit.
But Shi Yuan still said with a little emotion: “Ah.” He looked at his human, “Are you okay?”
Lu Tinghan didn’t speak.
The smoke and dust slowly dissipated, he stared at the pothole and took a few steps forward.
Beneath the broken floor was a staircase.
A deep, dark secret staircase.
Tiny, flowery letters were carved into the first step.
[Dedicated to my love, Alicia von Cavendish]
