Four Split Personalities

"Ah! I remember Yu Chen’s mother is a doctor, the ace surgeon who often performs seven or eight surgeries a day! Could she have ever treated your family to death..."

"So you remember that Yu Chen’s mother is a doctor, but forgot that I’ve been an orphan since I was little, huh?"

"Ah! I remember that Yu Chen was also adopted, so you two are actually long-lost siblings!"

"Hey, let’s not even talk about the genetic standpoint making that impossible, I’m over two months older than her. Why would we be siblings?"

"Then what the hell is it really about! If you’ve got a problem, spill it; how can I help you if you don’t say anything?"

Cordova’s expression was one of utter collapse. It had to be said that he was a particularly contradictory person. Although he vehemently expressed his disdain for couples with a ’die, die’ attitude, he was now eagerly prepared to strategize for Motan.

However, the latter was not appreciative...

"Haha, I’ll take the sentiment for now, but it’s a personal issue. No one else can help."

Motan shook his head with a wry smile, "Can we change the subject?"

Cordova whistled and laughed teasingly, "Change the subject? Sure, when I was out walking around the Diocese I ran into Xia Lian. She said when you’re free, you should swing by your Great Cathedral of the Dawn. She mentioned she has some ideas for Yu Chen’s treatment method."

"Huh?"

Motan sprang to his feet, staring intently at Cordova: "Why didn’t you say so earlier?"

Cordova, lounging casually in his chair with a leg propped up, chuckled, "She said ’when you’re free,’ and besides, you didn’t ask before."

"You’re ruthless."

Motan immediately turned and headed for the door, then paused just before leaving: "About what you said earlier..."

"Only the heavens, the earth, you, and I will know, okay?"

"Thanks~"

"Don’t mention it."

...

A few minutes later, Motan had left the Saint Laite Cathedral of the Dawn, which was a temporary residence set up by the Church of the Dawn for several guests. Besides him and Cordova, General Paula of the Slanka Duchy was also staying there. However, unlike the two of them, she was not so idle, getting up early in the morning to greet the influential figures of various religious organizations.

The street where Motan now found himself, Morning Glory Avenue, was situated in the northern district of the City of Light. The road was lined with a dazzling array of shops, restaurants, and various functional facilities, with an abundance of churches and chapels, most of which belonged to the Church of the Dawn, each building looking particularly grand.

The City of Light was not like what Motan and Cordova had imagined. This ’Holy Land,’ three times the size of the Violet Metropolitan, was not so serious and stuffy. In fact, the place could be said to be quite down-to-earth.

A mix of thirty percent devout believers coming to pilgrimage, fifty percent core members of various religious organizations, and the resident merchants and locals of the City of Light, along with twenty percent of a transient population encompassing various characters, formed this largest ’city’ on the Northeast Continent, bustling with life. It was not conservative, not xenophobic, well-ordered, and full of vitality. Despite its thousands of years of history, this place didn’t give off any feeling of being stale or ancient. On the contrary, one could experience the most popular dining and entertainment of the day here, hear the latest traveling ballads, and even those who had not stepped half a foot out of the Holy Land in years could engage in a conversation about the trendy colors of the season for twenty minutes.

You could easily find facilities like the Cloud Traveler Inn, Adventurer’s Guild, Mage Guild, Mercenary Guild, Knight Association, and Alchemist Association here. Even the Thief Guild had a sizable piece of land in the underbelly of the City of Light. Other than not allowing the devotees (casual believers were fine) of gods in opposition to the Holy Church Union (such as the Goddess of Darkness opposed to the Goddess of Dawn) to settle or undertake illegal services, those who operated in the gray areas of legality could also walk openly in the City of Light without facing any unjust treatment.

As the most densely religious spot in the world, the clergy here were not stuck in their ways. Although there were those whose every other word was ’my lord’, many more clergy were no different from ordinary people. You could see priests being thrown out of pubs drunk, Holy Knights whistling outside nun dormitories, bishops arguing over a few copper coins with vegetable vendors, and high priests who sang hymns with believers in the morning and distributed flyers for the Gold Coin Commerce Association in the afternoon for extra money. All of this left Motan, who had just arrived in the City of Light the night before, absolutely astounded.

He had heard Yu Chen’s descriptions, but only when he truly witnessed everything did the solemn, somber, luxurious, rigid, pederastic, and lifeless image of a religious holy place in his mind completely dissipate.

It was a city brimming with youthfulness and life force.

"It’s just too damn big!"

Soon, Motan found himself gasping for breath, seated on a park bench on an unknown street, feeling an excruciating sense of loss as he realized he was lost once again.

Of course, Motan did not show any panic. On one hand, he was extremely, extremely, extremely accustomed to this sort of thing, and on the other, there were many passersby around. Any local with a better sense of direction than him (which meant everyone) could help him out of this predicament.