No one knew that the Holy Daughter, who could calmly chant with millions, was an insecure abandoned child who dared not even speak before she became the Holy Daughter of the David Sect.
Xianxian’s background was known by only a few within the David Sect, not even the man she deeply loved, Lin Yi, had ever heard her talk about her own past.
Before she was eight, she had always lived in a government orphanage. At the age of eight, she was chosen by Father David during a selection event at the orphanage organized by the David Sect, and he took her out of the orphanage.
At that time, "Father" was as young and handsome as he is now, not at all like the highly respected figure others spoke of. It was he who chose her among all the children.
Xianxian still vividly remembers how when "Father" reached out his right hand to her, she trembled, neither speaking nor daring to hold his hand. Heaven knows, this matter has always troubled Xianxian; if there is another chance, she would definitely grasp that hand, the hand of God.
However, "Father" didn’t mind, he merely had someone take her out of the orphanage, and then she joined the training to become the Holy Daughter of the David Sect.
Over ten years, Father never visited them, the children in training, until she turned eighteen. One day, out of the blue, the Holy Father summoned them.
Just like the first time, he reached out his hand. This time, Xianxian gathered her courage, stepped forward, and held Saint Father David’s hand. It was because of her initiative, she outlasted nearly a hundred orphans and became the Holy Daughter, a position on par with the bishop under the David Sect.
That was the first time Xianxian tasted the flavor of "initiating." Afterward, she initiated actions time and again, including getting to know Lin Yi and becoming friends with Ding Ling. Any form of "initiation" that could benefit her future, she would never easily give up.
As a Holy Daughter, she had to proactively care for every believer, so when Xianxian saw the "conflict," she did not hesitate to resolve the dispute at the scene. More than a decade of training not only gave her good speech and demeanor, but under the tutelage of Saint Father David, she also learned medical skills and basic knowledge of human acupoints.
Her hand brushed past Xia You, though it was an unintentional action, Xianxian could have used a gentler method, yet when she met Xia You’s gaze, she was heavy-handed.
Now Xia You looked at her with that same gaze. Neither happy nor sad, without respect or reverence, just like looking at an ordinary person, looking at the admired Xianxian.
"Foolish mortals, unable to understand the Divine Voice," Xianxian lamented in her heart. The Holy Father had said that all the people in the world could become believers of the David Sect. But if some people, no matter how much they are baptized, could not become believers, then these people could only be eliminated or simply used as experimental subjects.
After Xianxian finished chanting, several others took their turns on stage. As time went on, Xia You became increasingly disinterested and simply dozed off, not waking up until about three in the afternoon, hungry and ending the tiresome worship with Li Zhen.
Listening to Li Zhen endlessly recounting her profound experiences, Xia You felt as if she were a vulgar listener at a sophisticated music concert, merely responding with a few words.
Thinking about the hour-and-a-half drive back to Qinyang, Xia You couldn’t help but feel downhearted. Worse still, they could not get a ride.
You should know that the worship lasted for six hours, and the taxi drivers who brought people here weren’t devout followers—most had driven away, and the few who chartered the transport left in groups, leaving the rest waiting for a chance for a taxi to return.
"Is there a convenience store nearby," Xia You had only eaten a couple of dough sticks and a bowl of soy milk in the morning; now there wasn’t even a speck of soybean residue left in her stomach. She was not like the believers who could satiate their hunger just by listening to the Holy Poem. Better to find a place nearby, even a pack of instant noodles would do. There wasn’t a village in front nor a store behind, no point hoping for a supermarket, even a vending machine would do.
"There’s no convenience store, but there’s a tea room ahead called Lanting," Li Zhen had only heard others mention it. The tea room was also set in the wilderness, supposedly one of the activity rooms of an old villa.
The David Sect had only about a dozen permanent staff members in the area, leaving it quite empty after the worship ended.