New Gods of North America

Hearing Wayne's question, Inessa thought for a moment.

Then she looked towards a backpack on the suitcase:

"You open your backpack. There is a notebook inside. Turn to the last page."

Wayne did as he was told, and then he saw a pattern that seemed familiar.

——At first glance, it looks like an octagonal "Bagua diagram" without the two Tai Chi fish in the middle.

But if you look closely, you will find that what is drawn on the eight positions are not the eight trigrams, but different mysterious symbols.

Seeing Wayne open his notebook, Inissa continued:

"According to the general opinion of the Beyonders, there are roughly eight realms that can be confirmed at present. The top one is the 'holy' realm belonging to the 'holy spirit', which corresponds to the 'dark' realm at the bottom that represents evil.

"The leftmost is 'order', and the rightmost is 'abyss', which represents chaos."

Good, evil, order, chaos...

Faction grid?

Wayne gave the "gossip" a slight sideways glance.

No, it still looks like an octagon.

Inessa continued to explain:

“Between ‘sacred’ and ‘order’, in the upper left corner, is ‘life’; and between ‘sacred’ and ‘abyss’, in the upper right corner, is ‘nature’.

"Corresponding to 'life', the one on the lower right is 'death'. Corresponding to 'nature', the one on the lower left is 'wisdom' or 'knowledge'."

Wayne nodded slowly, expressionless.

There are so many of them at once, my body can’t hold them all…

Inessa seemed to understand Wayne's expression:

“It doesn’t matter if you can’t figure it out for now. Anyway, you just need to remember one thing - the Beyonders in each realm can only safely absorb or devour the spiritual power of the three realms opposite it.

“Otherwise, it’s easy to go crazy or collapse.

"Beyonders with opposite territories are natural enemies. Those who are not within the hunting range of each other can theoretically coexist peacefully.

"So in short, we are not natural enemies, but we have the opportunity to become friends."

Wayne has a question that he is curious about:

"Why do all the other positions have only one name, but the one corresponding to 'nature', you just said it is 'wisdom' or 'knowledge'? Why is it the only one with two meanings?"

Inissa shook her head. "I'm not sure. Maybe it's because the gods representing 'wisdom' and 'knowledge' exist at the same time. In fact, it's common for there to be multiple gods or multiple religious sects in one area at the same time."

Wayne looked down at his notebook, then looked up again:

"Holiness versus darkness, order versus chaos, this is easy to understand. Knowledge transforms nature, so it is normal for them to be hostile to each other.

"But according to what you just said about 'one against three', why is 'holiness' also considered an enemy of knowledge and wisdom?"

Inissa rolled her eyes. "Just think about those crazy witch-hunting fanatics in the Old World. Do they seem to have any 'knowledge' or 'wisdom'?"

What she said made so much sense that I couldn't refute it.

Being too feudal and superstitious will indeed reduce your IQ.

By analogy, each area has three natural enemies, which can coexist with the remaining four.

Wayne looked at the picture for a while. If he understood it from a conceptual perspective, it made sense.

For example, "nature" can coexist peacefully with the contradictory concepts of "life" and "death" because nature already contains all kinds of life and death.

For example, "darkness" representing evil can coexist with "order" or "abyss" representing chaos. After all, bad people can appear in places with good or chaotic public security.

It seems to make some sense.

That's not right.

Wayne reacted, "Why are what you say now different from what you said during the day?"

Inissa said confidently, "Of course they are different. That one is the official version approved by the Holy Spirit Church, and this one is a heretical version shared among Extraordinary People. Who would say heretical things to everyone they meet? What if they are reported?"

Okay.

Wayne thought again:

"But aren't you an exorcist from the Exorcist Association? You should be on the same side as the Holy Spirit Church. Why do you want to cooperate with me in private?"

Inissa was silent for a moment, then lifted her sleeves.

——I saw mysterious patterns painted all over her white arms, and the lines on them were faintly glowing with golden light.

“Whether it is the Holy See in the Old World or the Holy Spirit Church in the New World, in the doctrines of those Holy Spirit believers, they all believe that only the ‘Holy Spirit’ is the only true God, and only extraordinary people in the ‘Holy Spirit’ realm are allowed to exist.

"In their eyes, all other 'spirits' are 'evil spirits'; in their eyes, all extraordinary people from other fields are 'fallen people'. The only difference is between those who are crazy and those who are not crazy temporarily.

"In the Exorcist Association, apart from the church members who believe in the 'Holy Spirit', the rest are just people who have been deceived or enslaved by them. I am no exception.

"Although they think I am still useful and are quite polite to me, I did not escape from the Old World to be enslaved."

Wayne felt mixed emotions as he looked at the mysterious pattern on Inesa's arm that seemed to carry a sense of confinement.

It’s a bit of a waste to use such beautiful arms for tattoos.

Wayne thought about it for a moment:

"So you think I'm also a Beyonder, so you want to work with me, and then we can work together to kill the priests and fake the scene. In this way, you can be free, and I won't be caught by the church?"

Inessa widened her eyes a little, "Mr. Wayne, I think you might be a little too extreme..."

Hey, it was obviously you who was the first to feel bitter and resentful.

"Although I hate their prejudice, I have no hostility towards any specific individuals in the church. I just hope to find a reliable helper, accumulate enough contribution points as soon as possible, unlock the shackles and obtain a formal identity.

"From this perspective, although Reverend Hake is a good man, he does not seem to be a partner worthy of high expectations."

Hmm...

Just talking about the last sentence, it is hard not to deeply agree with it.

Wayne now had only one last question left: "Why did you tell me this? Aren't you afraid that I will report you to the church?"

"The people of the Holy Spirit Church already know that I am a Beyonder, and I have also shown an attitude of being willing to accept the faith of the Holy Spirit. It is not a big mistake to exchange experiences with other Beyonders. So, Mr. Wayne, now it is the fact that you have hidden your identity as a Beyonder that is the bigger problem."

Inissa pointed to the golden rune mark on her arm and said, "If the church knew that you were a wild Beyonder who had hidden your identity, the best outcome you could get would probably be being shackled like me.

“Moreover, the extraordinary knowledge you can learn in the Holy Spirit Church can only be a version with arrogance and prejudice, and it may even be restricted by various authorities. But if our cooperation is effective, I can tell you most of the extraordinary knowledge I know truthfully.”

Speaking of which,

Inessa stretched out her white and tender little hand to Wayne:

"Mr. Wayne, what do you think?"

Wayne shook his hand and said, "Then I wish us a pleasant cooperation."

Hey, it's pretty slippery.

The author likes to tinker with some settings, but this book will be written to be easy to read, not brain-burning, so it won't affect you if you don't have to remember them.

Of course, if you are interested, that’s fine too.