If I don't have money to go to college, I can only go to slay the dragon.

July 23rd, Christian Sunday.

Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago, USA.

As the cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Chicago, this Revival Gothic building has everything that Gothic architecture should have, including spires, ribbed arches, flying columns, and flower windows. The overall building structure is 233 feet long and 126 feet wide, and can seat 1,520 people. The ceiling is 70 feet high, and the spire reaches 210 feet.

Perhaps it may not be the best church in Chicago in terms of size, but in terms of location, it is definitely the most beloved church in Chicago among Christians.

The 1,200-pound thick bronze door of Chicago's Holy Name Cathedral was pushed open, and blue skylight flowed out from the crack of the door. It was the clear sky in Chicago on Sunday.

In the hot weather, the azure sky is like a piece of glass, baked into deep sticky honey by the sun, flowing along the skyline into the blue Lake Michigan.

The shore of the dark blue Lake Michigan is bustling with pedestrians. A white girl wearing a sun hat is chasing her companions on a skateboard. She accidentally turns her head between the flippers and glances at the church with its spire reaching into the sky on the opposite street corner. A tall figure stood in front of the church's bronze door.

A black custom-made suit, meticulous silver hair, and a handsome side face that can make a young girl's hormones secrete faster just by looking at it. Although it is said to be a handsome side face, in fact, judging from the distance and angle of the girl, the most he can see is A glance at the figure's jawline is nothing more, but sometimes to tell whether a person is stunning or not, a profile of the jawline can make a conclusion.

At least judging from the jawline of this elderly gentleman with silver hair, his handsome aura must be as strong as the green water of Lake Michigan today.

The girl didn't have time to look or think too much. In her eyes, the gentleman with the best jawline had already entered the church. The door of the church was closed after the person entered, and a sign saying "The church is temporarily closed for religious activities" was quietly placed in front of the stairs.

Hilbert Jean Angers was never a devout Christian.

Therefore, the religious activities on Sundays have absolutely nothing to do with him, but today the Holy Name Cathedral is indeed open to him. If there is a private charter in the church, then this cathedral is It was taken over by him in his own name.

After entering the church, standing under the huge organ, Angers raised his eyes and saw the shocking suspended "Elephant of the Resurrection" sculpture.

In terms of the design of the interior of the church, it may be because this cathedral has a history of being rebuilt on the ruins of St. Mary's Cathedral and Holy Name Church that were burned down in the Chicago Fire in 1871. Therefore, the purpose of the entire church is to 'Resurrection', solemn and silent.

There is not a single clergy person coming and going in the church today. The water ripples in the brass basin with angels engraved on the pulpit reflect the complex dome intertwined with trees and vines. The interlaced grid patterns on the canopy-like roof form a huge tree. Figure - There is no more suitable architectural design theme than the 'Tree of Life' to match the purpose of 'Resurrection'.

The sad purple satin hangs behind the sacred sculpture that symbolizes "Resurrection", and the stained glass without any decoration dyes the sunlight that penetrates into the empty main hall more vividly.

Angers stopped to insert his pockets, and his eyes slid down the interior of the church, and finally stopped at a figure sitting quietly in the large blank seats.

It was a boy, wearing the same formal attire as Angers, sitting in the seat on the left with a slightly stooped waist, two elbows on his legs, fingers intertwined and closed, and his head lowered slightly, just like in the flower window Falling asleep in the beautiful light.

Angers walked from the aisle between the seats. The sound of hard-soled leather shoes stepping on the red and brown ground echoed in the main hall. He walked to the seat on the right opposite to the boy and sat down. He looked up at the sculpture and then After performing a Christian ritual and making the cross on the shoulders and forehead, a boy's voice came from the seat on the left:

"Principal, you don't look like a religious person."

"I just need a relatively quiet place suitable for chatting." Angers raised his right hand and rested it on the seat, raising his head and bathing in the colorful halo, "How was your rest on the flight? Did you successfully book a new hotel in Chicago? ?If not, I recommend you to stay in the business suite of 'Hyatt Regency Chicago'. The night view there is very good, you can see the cruise ships passing by the Chicago River and the neon lights on the bridge at night."

"Hotel. Are there any other tasks in Chicago? I received a text message from the principal as soon as I got off the plane. Chu Zihang, Lu Mingfei and Su Xiaoqiang should have arrived at the Chicago train station by now and will report to the college headquarters in two hours."

"I'm sorry to tell you some bad news. Maybe you don't know that the train station in Chicago is out of service."

"Out of service? Why."

"The subway workers are on strike and the subway will be shut down for at least a week. The city government is negotiating with representatives of the subway workers. According to the current progress, the negotiation process is not ideal. The subway workers have higher quality demands in terms of daily working hours."

"So in this meeting, the principal wants me to solve the subway workers' strike?" Lin Young raised his head slightly, "If it is a threat of violence that avoids surveillance and leaves no evidence, I can give it a try."

"No, you misunderstood. The subway workers' strike was just an accident. I have no intention of participating in the conflict between the working class and the capitalist class. This meeting with you is just because I want to chat with my favorite student." Angers shook his head and said .

"Sometimes I suspect that Principal, you have said the same thing in front of Lu Mingfei or Chu Zihang. Or maybe it's not necessarily true that you have said it to every student?" Lin Nian looked at Ange with a dull look.

"Why do you say that?" Angers also looked sideways, "Could it be that among the small group of students who are stranded in Chicago after returning to school due to the subway workers' strike, I can't wait to make an appointment with you in private as soon as you get off the plane? An 'afternoon tea', doesn't this show how much I value and love you?"

Lin Nian did not answer, probably because he felt that the topic he raised was meaningless.

"I"

"However, I do have more than one favorite student." Angers said suddenly.

"." This sudden self-destruction was beyond Lin Nian's expectation.

But why did he suddenly slap himself in the face? Could it be that Hilbert Jean Angers was really a hidden Christian who felt guilty for lying in front of the sculpture of God? But that should be done in a confessional, rather than exposing one's own hypocrisy in front of one's own students.

This is certainly not the case.

Lin Nian was silent for a short while before he understood the meaning of Angers words.

"My students, things will change, and people will also change. Just like one day when you are walking on the street and see a beautiful white flower in bloom, you think it is your favorite flower you have ever seen in your life. You pick it off and put it on your chest. After a day, the white flower on your chest has withered and turned yellow, so you replace it with a new rose."

Lin Nian, who was sitting at the table, did not change his movements, but turned his head to look at Ange. Sure enough, there was always a freshly picked, bright red rose with dew on the old man's chest.

Might there be a story hidden in that rose, the tragedy of Angers and his former favorite student, the white-haired man sending away the black-haired man corrupted by blood with a knife? It must be a story that can be called literature if written down, but Lin Nian didn't want to dig deeper. After all, no matter how changing the core of literature is, it will never change, and the same is true of the tragedy of white flowers being replaced by roses.

There is nothing new under the sun.

"I never question the unreserved and passionate feelings people express towards the things they love, and of course I never criticize the tragic endings they all lead to," Angers said slowly.

"But if a story has a tragic ending, then someone must have made a mistake in the story." Lin Nian gradually looked away.

"What's wrong is definitely not that loyal and unchanging emotion." Angers tapped his fingers on the top of the seat held by his right hand. "What's wrong is just those things. They put all the feelings on them but they happened unconsciously. Things that change.”

Lin Nian was silent for a long time, and finally spoke, bringing the topic back to its original starting point, "So, principal, are you really a Christian believer?"

The topic was a bit confusing, but Ange still picked it up without any objection, "The Secret Party does not prohibit members of the Party from having other beliefs. The Secret Party was originally just a group of people from all over the world with different wisdom, different opinions, and different beliefs. It’s just a fraternity of people of different faiths coming together for the same ideal.”

"Is it surprising that the principal of Kassel College has faith? As people here, every time we put the folded ticket in our bag and stuff it, we should be prepared to never return and have no time to die. It’s always nice to have some faith on the road.”

"Faith will always give people courage that they don't have. It allows you to silently recite the name of the god you believe in when facing the dragon flames, allowing him to bless you and grant you one more step forward, one more roar, and one more chop. The courage of a knife. So it’s not surprising that people in our profession generally have faith.”

The old guy paused for a moment and then said, "So if you are careful and pay more attention to the details of the people around you, you will find that more than 20% of the members of the equipment department in Wat Alhem you come into contact with most often believe in the Tianfang Sect. .”

The church was quiet for a while, and then Lin Nian, who was sitting in the seat on the left, nodded silently, "It's a good joke."

"A harmonious conversation always starts with a joke, which can effectively close the distance between the talkers. If the person I am talking to now is Caesar Gattuso, he will definitely laugh without restraint. "

From Ange's tone, it seemed that he felt a little regretful that Lin Nian didn't laugh out loud.

"So I will take the fact that you are a Christian, principal, as a joke." Lin Nian nodded, "If I'm right, principal, you should be a top student graduating from the philosophy department of Cambridge University. If you have faith, you should only believe in faith." philosophy."

"Yes, I am not a religious person. I am just friends with the archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. It should be said that I am friends with every archbishop." Angers raised his left hand on his thigh and waved it gently. Admitting that he believes in Christianity is just a joke, "but I really don't dislike Christianity, and I even find time to go to church every weekend."

"Because Principal, when you were 12 years old, you received an annuity from a bishop to study in London, and thus entered Cambridge University and met the first-generation Lions Heart Club such as Meneke Cassel, who you regarded as your predecessors and colleagues, and with this He joined the Camarilla for the media." Lin Nian said, "It can be said that without that bishop, there would be no Angers of Cambridge, and naturally there would be no Angers of the Camarilla later."

Angers raised his head, but said nothing, then lowered his head again.

After a while, the old man said, "In fact, even if there is no such bishop, at most there will be one less 'Angers of Cambridge' in the future historical trajectory. It will only be a matter of time before the 'Angers of the Secret Party' appears. . The secret party’s method of selecting people is not just to recruit elites and screen them one by one. For the core members who are truly valued by the secret party, they are already included in the list before they are born or even have names.”

"Kassel College is an elite college. Some people mock it as a 'bug cup', or a 'cricket jar' with a castle standing on it. To be honest, I prefer the latter kind of ridicule, because the college is located in the mountains. Crickets also live in the mountains." Ange said, "If you understand the history of raising and fighting crickets, you should know that whether it is raising or fighting crickets, a large-scale selection of 'gladiators' will be carried out. But what’s interesting is that those who finally win the championship seat in this life-and-death struggle are most likely the descendants selected through artificial and systematic training, the descendants of previous champions.”

Lin Nian remained silent, and the topic was moving in the direction it should have gone.

"I don't like bloodline theory, no one likes bloodline theory." Angers closed his eyes, "But every July, which is also the season at this moment, there will still be countless people rushing to the fertile racecourses to look for champion stallions. Breeding in the hope that the next horse racing champion will be born in the womb of his own mare. In the subsequent training of horse racing, the offspring of these stallions will always be at the top of the candidate list, which is the so-called 'seed player' '."

"Most of the people who can truly win the championship on the racecourse, be undefeated in the cricket crown, and survive to the end in the cricket cup are the 'seed players' who have already been given high hopes."

Lin Nian looked up, was quiet for a few seconds, and then finally spoke, "Then when was it that I was favored by the Secret Party? No, by you, the principal? As the same 'seeded player'? After all, it was just as you said, principal Yes, before the name Hilbert Jean Angers appeared in this world, the baby in the womb of that outstanding mixed-race mother in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England was already on the secret party's list. Come to think of it, I'm the same, but I'm curious, when and how did I first appear on your list, principal?"

"If you really want to trace it back, it was really a long time ago." Angers replied.

"Principal, how much do you know? How many things have you participated in?" Lin Nian asked.

"A lot. After all, for people of my age, many things that you think are in the past seem to me like they just happened yesterday." Angers said, "This time I asked you to come here, isn't it just to Answer your doubts?"

"I was also specially reminded to attend in formal attire." Lin Nian said.

"In a place like the church, there are only two formal occasions to attend," Angers said, looking up at the brass basin on the pulpit, "weddings and funerals."

He touched the newly dripping rose on his chest, and the light passed over the edges of the sculptures hanging deep in the church, outlining light or thick shadow trails.

Lin Nian closed his eyes, but did not open his mouth to avoid the topic that was bound to come.

"I'm sorry about your sister." Angers picked off the rose and placed it on the seat next to him, "But you and I both know that as time goes by, this is bound to happen, but sooner or later. "

ps: I'm back to collect information (referring to reading the book), and the plot of the next story will start to derail. The preface is indeed a prophecy, but do you, Ah Shui, look like someone who can throw knives randomly? (probably not)