In the magnificent cathedral hall, Fei Li, the priest, was looking down at a farmer kneeling at his feet.

The man, who had originally been burly, was now hunched over, his hands trembling slightly, and his skin was covered with abnormal purplish-blue patches. Before half a day had passed, these patches would coalesce into black spots, eventually spreading throughout his body – the fact that he was only infected today meant he was quite strong.

"I know you. You live in Stone Mountain in the eastern district and often bring fresh wheat grains to the church," the priest said.

"You… remember me! Thank you, Your Eminence," he kowtowed repeatedly. "My whole family is infected with the Evil Disease. I… I need Holy Spirit Potion, please—"

"But what have you brought to the church this time? Holy medicine is not something that can be given away freely," Fei Li said slowly. "It requires you to exchange it with a devout heart."

"I… I was cheated out of my money by the rats when I tried to buy medicine," Stone Mountain said, trembling. "Please forgive my insincerity; I shouldn't have sought shortcuts in the black market. Now I only have… only one egg left. Please accept it." He took out a round egg from his pocket and held it above his head with both hands.

"Putting your hope in the black market, which is full of fraud and injustice, will naturally be punished. But God always extends a helping hand to the lost sheep. Only those who realize their mistakes will go further on the path of pilgrimage," Fei Li took the egg and smiled. "Get up. God forgives you."

"R-really?" Stone Mountain said in disbelief.

"God's messengers never lie." Fei Li beckoned, and another believer immediately stepped forward with a box of potions. He picked out four bottles and handed them to the man. "If I remember correctly, there are four people in your family, right?"

"Yes! Your Eminence," he swallowed and held the Holy Spirit Potion in his hands, bowing down to kiss the priest's shoes. "Thank you, thank you! I will dedicate my whole life to the church, to the True God!"

The onlookers were also moved by this scene and cheered, happy to see a new devout member added to the church family.

When the cheers subsided, Fei Li pressed his hand down to signal everyone to be quiet, then said loudly, "Next."

…

This medicine ceremony continued until dusk.

As the royal city struck the hour, Fei Li, the priest, announced the end of today's ceremony and that it would continue tomorrow morning, leaving the hall amidst the crowd's pleas and requests to stay.

Although he was a little tired, he was still energetic. Standing in the hall, listening to everyone's pleas and prayers, and seeing them eagerly trying to please him, he couldn't help but feel like he was the god himself.

No, it was the church itself that was like a god, Fei Li thought. By dispensing the Evil Disease and medicine, it could easily control the life and death of others. What difference was there between this power and that of the True God? He couldn't help but sigh that the most correct choice he had made in his life was to give up inheriting the family business and instead devote himself to the church.

In the face of such power, no one could stop it. Merchants with vast wealth? Nobles with high positions? In the face of death, they would be willing to abandon everything to exchange for a chance to live.

Back in the lounge behind the hall, a clergyman hurried to greet him and whispered in his ear, "Your Eminence, a 'rat' reported that they have discovered something."

"About what?"

"Eastern Territory refugees. He wants to see you in person to give you the specific details," the clergyman replied.

According to the church's previous instructions, Fei Li should make full use of the Evil Disease and antidote to convert as many believers as possible to Hermes, so attracting refugees was also part of his plan, but compared to the city residents of the royal capital, the importance was not so high. He had originally planned to wait another two or three days, until half of these homeless wanderers had died of illness, before going out of the city to provide treatment, while also allowing them to fill the vacancies in the royal capital. In this way, a large royal city would have nearly 90% of its population become believers of the church. Such an achievement, coupled with the previous King-Selection Decree, would probably be enough for him to go a step further and take the position of bishop.

At least in terms of meritorious rewards, the church was very fair, never considering the bloodline or status of those who contributed. As long as they performed well, they could be promoted.

Could it be that something had gone wrong among the refugees?

He suppressed the doubts in his heart and said calmly, "Take him to the secret room. I'll be there in a moment."

"Yes, Your Eminence."

Fei Li took off his priestly robe, took out a soft armor from the closet and put it on, then put on a loose coat. After tidying up slightly in front of the silver mirror, he walked towards the secret room.

In the small room in the basement, the priest saw the "informant" – his hair was messy, his face was sallow, and his thin arms showed the shape of his bones at a glance. But strangely, there were no symptoms of black spots on him.

"Your Eminence, my name is Zhenyan," the man knelt down as soon as he saw the priest. "I have important information to tell you."

"Speak."

"But…" He looked up and glanced at the other two people in the secret room, hesitating.

"It doesn't matter. This is Priest Shatas, my right-hand man," Fei Li said. "The other one is Granny Heye, who is responsible for taking care of this secret room and almost never leaves this place."

"Then I'll say it, but what you promised…"

"The potion is here," he impatiently took out the small blue bottle and shook it. "As long as your information is valuable, I will naturally cure your Evil Disease."

"Your Eminence, I guarantee that this information is absolutely amazing," Zhenyan raised his head and said. "Someone is constantly transporting refugees. There are empty ships everywhere on the canal. I saw it with my own eyes. I'm afraid that in a few days, they will take all the refugees away."

"Take away those patients with black spots?" Fei Li frowned. "Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

He had previously received news that a fleet was receiving refugees from the Eastern Territory, but this was normal – nobles from various places liked to take advantage of disasters or rebellions in other people's territories to scavenge a batch of labor at extremely low prices. Anyway, when the Evil Disease struck, those fools would naturally be punished by God. But now… how could anyone knowingly take in refugees when the Evil Disease was rampant?

"No, they have a way to cure the Evil Disease! After those mercenaries gave the patients a bag of strange water to drink, the black spots quickly disappeared. Someone even claimed that they came from the Western Territory and that as long as the refugees followed the fleet, they would get food, shelter, and rewards." Zhenyan paused. "The most incredible thing is that there are witches in this group!"

"What did you say?"

"It's true, Your Eminence!" he shouted. "I mixed in with the refugees and boarded the ship. I didn't notice it at first, until someone jumped off the ship and fled, and the mercenaries on the shore chased after them in a short while. That's when I noticed that the black shadow hovering in the sky wasn't a bird, but a flying witch. I was so scared that I didn't dare to move, until the sailboat sailed several miles away and I couldn't see the witch anymore. Then I found an opportunity to jump into the water and escape. It took me almost a day to come back." Zhenyan rubbed his hands. "Your Eminence, do you think this information is worth exchanging for a bottle of holy medicine?"

"Wait, you said they have a way to treat the Evil Disease, and you also drank the potion. That means you are not sick now?" Fei Li asked.

"Uh… that's right, but you said that as long as you find out valuable information, you can—" Zhenyan smiled awkwardly, revealing a mouthful of uneven yellow teeth.

So that's it. He wanted to take this bottle of Holy Spirit Potion that he no longer needed and sell it on the black market. Fei Li pondered for a moment. "How many people are there? Are you sure they are all mercenaries from a merchant ship?"

"That's right. They don't have armor or horses. Their weapons are wooden spears, and the number of people…" Zhenyan scratched his head. "No more than a hundred people at most!"

"What about the ships? Which family do they belong to?"

"This… I don't know. Most of the ships don't have flags, and even if they did, I wouldn't recognize them. Anyway, the mercenaries said that the fleet would sail to the Western Territory. Ah… that's right, he also mentioned that this was the recruitment of the lord of Border Town." He racked his brains to recall. "It seems to be for reclaiming land. The lord needs to take in a large number of people. That's all I can remember."

"Okay, that's indeed very important information," the priest took a deep breath after listening and took out the blue potion from his pocket. He threw it towards Zhenyan. "Take it. It's yours."

"Thank… thank you, Your Eminence!" The latter hurriedly caught the bottle, and suddenly his whole body trembled, and his eyes widened. A slender short sword pierced through his neck, and the tip of the sword emitted a faint cold light. Standing behind him was the old and frail manager of the secret room.