Only God-Chapter 540 - 465: What Are They Praying For?

To reach the Ancient Elf Kingdom, located in the high mountains, passing through Ajia Land via the desert was a good choice for the Sects.

Although this road was not very safe, like when Prophet Noen crossed the desert years ago, if they did not take this road, they would have to take a much longer route through Nus to reach the Ancient Elf Kingdom. The Sect Priests estimated that this detour would take almost three years, whereas the direct route from Ajia Land would take only six months.

Moreover, most importantly, as the number of True Believers increased, more and more people traveled to the Holy Land to make pilgrimages. The desert, once fraught with dangers, had become much safer than before. With several more guides, as long as there were no major mistakes, they could definitely reach the Ancient Elf Kingdom.

After weighing all considerations, the Sects decided to pass through Ajia Land.

They boarded a ship at the border port of the Dwarf Kingdom of Kaelonde and landed at a port in the Ajia Kingdom after half a month. During this time, many suffered from seasickness, Veldor included. Dwarves, after all, are dwarves; they spend most of their lives in the mountains and seldom venture into the sea, so they are generally poor swimmers.

But the Sects finally arrived safely in Ajia Land. Veldor, still dizzy, disembarked from the ship and immediately saw the towering statues of a King and a Queen. Upon closer inspection, these statues were of two humans, not Three-eyed Ape People!

"What’s going on here, isn’t this Ajia?"

Veldor exclaimed in surprise.

An old Believer looked down and saw a stone tablet under the statues with inscriptions in both Danschel and Ajia languages.

"Doesn’t it say right there?"

Veldor looked over, but he was illiterate and couldn’t understand what was written.

"I can’t read."

muttered the young dwarf.

"In short, Ajia has long changed hands. The current King and Queen are humans who likely took over during a period of civil unrest in Ajia," the old Believer explained in plain language, pointing to the stone tablet.

"This is already the sixth generation of rulers here. The stone tablet says this human family was called upon by Kagawus and granted supreme authority to rule this land by the Prophetic God."

At this point, Veldor finally understood. The land of Ajia, where the Three-eyed Ape People had lived for generations, had indeed changed rulers. However, looking at the expressions of the Three-eyed Ape People, they didn’t seem to despise the human family ruling from the throne.

Ordinary people tend to care little about who governs them.

As they walked on, the old Believer suddenly turned and asked:

"Don’t you know how to read?"

Veldor nodded, not hiding the fact.

Being illiterate was nothing to be ashamed of; many people were illiterate.

"Then I will teach you..."

Pausing, the old Believer added,

"So later on, you can help with my work."

Hearing this, Veldor was initially stunned, then a wave of euphoria surged through him.

Helping with the old Believer’s work, meant he would get to handle the Sect’s finances—a prospect that Veldor was more than willing to embrace fervently.

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

The Sects set off from the port city where they landed, heading towards Ajia Royal City. They aimed to reach the mountain where Prophet Noen and Disciple Xilan established the Church ruins for worship.

Nowadays, the land of Ajia no longer harbored the same hostility toward True Believers as it had for millennia.

Why was this?

As more True Believers came to worship at the ruins and make pilgrimages to the mountains, the Three-eyed Ape People of Ajia experienced increasing benefits.

True Believers were not made of iron; every one of them required food and shelter, flesh and blood. Coming from far away, they traded with the Three-eyed Ape People, and an influx of gold and silver enriched the already wealthy land of Ajia.

Whether for the convenience of trade or influenced by the True Believers, many of the Three-eyed Ape People converted to the True Religion, abandoning Kagawus. It just shows that money indeed is a vice that often conquers barriers of faith.

With the benefits brought by the True Believers, and as more True Believers appeared in Ajia, the original Three-eyed Ape Priests became more amenable. The conflict of faiths no longer led to bloodshed, and while opposition still existed, it had become much more moderated.

Places like the ruins of the Church, and the prison where Xilan was last held, had all been repackaged into famous tourist attractions. True Believers visiting these sites for worship or pilgrimage were required to pay a tax to visit.

The Sects, always frugal, had little idle money. Even though the True Believers wished to worship the footsteps of their predecessors, they ultimately had to let it go.

In response, the Sect Priest counseled them:

"Do not worry about the ’New Rule Garden’ here; when we reach the Holy Land, the Rule Garden there is far more ancient and closer to God."

The True Believers of the Sect heeded the advice, so they resolved not to linger in the Royal City and continued on their path to the Holy Land.

During this process, the old Believer taught Veldor to read day by day.

Veldor had a knack for it; he learned to read quickly and was very enthusiastic. The old Believer seemed to trust this disciple and began qiving him a small portion of the money to manage.

Veldor, thrilled, took over that portion of the funds, feeling his dream was ever closer to fulfillment. Now, the most important thing was to stay calm and not be hasty, to avoid exposing his intentions.

The Sect’s expenses started passing through Veldor’s hands, and this young dwarf did an exceptionally diligent and wise job, giving the impression of loyalty and intelligence, making nobody suspect his ulterior motives.

When they arrived at Ajia Royal City, due to the bustling crowd, the Sect had encountered pickpockets multiple times. However, Veldor, relying on his experience as a former Wanderer, not only prevented the pickpockets from succeeding but even managed to recover a few silver coins from them.

However, there’s an old saying: if you always walk by the river, you will eventually get your shoes wet.

Veldor slip up at last.

The pickpocket was a little girl with an innocent and lovely appearance that made people smile involuntarily. She was blind in one eye and appeared pitiful.

At that time, the little girl politely begged Veldor for some money to buy bread.

Even Veldor had not anticipated that beneath her courteous exterior hid expert thieving skills.

Veldor didn’t know what had come over him, whether it was the years spent with the Sect that had blinded him with false sympathy, or if the touch of faith had finally left its mark on his heart. Either way, he was robbed, with exactly thirty silver coins disappearing without a trace.

The young Dwarf was alarmed and searched everywhere for the girl, trying to claim back those thirty silver coins. But being unfamiliar with the place, he ultimately ended up empty-handed and reluctantly reported the truth to the old Believer.

"She stole thirty silver coins from you?"

the old Believer asked.

Veldor had braced himself for a scolding, but after explaining the situation, he was surprised when the old Believer’s demeanor unexpectedly softened.

"All the money you were in charge of is almost gone,"

Veldor said with a facial expression full of annoyance.

"Perhaps you should thank her,"

the old Believer replied.

"She stole not silver coins, but sins,

I hope she didn’t steal your kindness as well."

After saying this, the old Believer tossed a bag of coins to Veldor, instructing him to continue looking after it and be more wary in the future.

As Veldor caught the money bag, he realized he hadn’t lost the old Believer’s trust and, for some unknown reason, the young Dwarf felt inexplicably happy.

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

The pilgrimage continued.

The Sect’s True Believers led a life of continuous prayer and endurance.

They hired three guides and began crossing the desert under the scorching sun towards the Ancient Elf Kingdom.

The guides were all experienced, assuring throughout that there would be no mistakes in their route. But when they reached about a third of the way, issues arose.

The old Believer and Veldor were the first to notice something wrong—these guides seemed to have a scheme, leading them to remote areas to extort more money from the Sect.

Decisively, the old Believer and Veldor exposed the guides’ true intentions. Panicked, the guides tried to flee on the spot. The True Believers of the Sect managed to catch two of them after a chase, but the last guide escaped successfully.

After being threatened, the two guides agreed to lead the True Believers on the correct path, and indeed, after this minor disturbance, the pilgrimage resumed its proper course.

Just as everyone was about to rejoice at this fact, they were suddenly caught in a sandstorm.

The sky filled with yellow sand, the immense force of the wind tearing at the barren desert, making the sand sting against the skin like knife cuts, and one had to be careful not to be blown away by the fierce winds.

The Sect scattered in search of shelter, and in the face of nature’s might, human strength seemed utterly insignificant. Nearly everyone was in a state of panic.

Fortunately, they found a cave where everyone poured inside to wait out the sandstorm. When the storm finally subsided and the Sect’s Priest counted everyone, they discovered that only one guide had fled in the chaos; all others were safe.

Veldor’s face was haggard, his throat filled with sand.

"Is it always this difficult?

Is our pilgrimage always this challenging?"

The old Believer, panting heavily and wiping the sand from his neck,

said, "There are many people in the world who have experienced much harder situations.

Our current pilgrimage is not the most difficult path."

Veldor turned and asked hoarsely,

"Harder situations? Like death?"

He was delirious from the sandstorm,

speaking somewhat nonsensically.

"I heard that in the face of storms striking cities, volcanic eruptions, or mountain collapses... no matter the catastrophe, there will still be True Believers praying to God."

"Somebody always has to pray, but what exactly are they praying for?

Is it to thank His silence, or to praise His arrangements?"

This was the unresolved question of Veldor, who deep down, still seemed to be a selfish Wanderer.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺