Chapter 16

Very quickly, she sent a second message.

"I just rode home in the police car. The three things you told me, I will definitely do them well."

After reading, Randy turned off his phone. The other person could see if he had read the message on social media, so there was no need to reply.

Everything was progressing smoothly.

Randy changed his clothes, grabbed his dad's old fishing gear, and disguised himself as a fisherman before riding his bike to the seaside.

Once he arrived at the shore, there was hardly anyone around. Randy casually climbed onto a rock, set up his fishing gear, and then jumped into the water, swimming towards the lotus seed's location.

As he got closer, there were fewer fish and shrimp around, and even the coral and sea anemones were either withered or gone.

The real lotus seed was indeed domineering, sucking out all the surrounding nutrients.

When Randy approached, a third branch had already grown from the seed.

He checked the three nutrients again. One of them had already been absorbed by 60%, and he estimated that by tomorrow, when the new nutrients arrived, it would be ready for replacement.

Randy happily surfaced, climbed back onto the rock, and stretched out.

Of course, he wouldn't just sit there fishing; after all, no creatures would approach the waters near the lotus seed.

He then turned his gaze towards the cliffside next door.

The cliff was covered in a forest, and beyond the woods lay the wealthy district.

Those people loved to hunt. Maybe he could find some other nutrients in the forest?

Randy set his fishing rod in place and then searched along the shore for a way up the cliff. Soon, he found a man-made stone staircase. However, the strong wind and weather had clearly left it unused for a long time.

Once Randy reached the top of the cliff, he was disappointed to find that the forest wasn't very large or dense. From his position, he could even see the school on the other side of the woods, which appeared to be a church school.

Randy looked back down, surveying the entire coastline of Derry.

He pondered for a moment. If someone were to fall from this cliff, and the police came to investigate, they might easily discover the lotus seed he had planted in the sea below.

"Forget it. Who would come to such a desolate place? The teachers at the school would surely warn the kids to stay away from the shore."

Randy stopped worrying, retraced his steps, packed up his fishing gear, and headed home.

This barren coast—Randy had come and gone several times and had never encountered a single person.

Even the three unlucky souls he had dealt with earlier hadn't led anyone to investigate.

The advantage of sparsely populated areas.

If this were in densely populated India, with his delicate appearance, he wouldn't dare step outside at night.

The thought of planting his real lotus seed in the Ganges was something Randy absolutely couldn't accept!

When Randy got home, he had just parked his bike in the yard.

From the direction of the town, he spotted Carrie riding her bike from afar.

Randy glanced at the time, a bit surprised.

It was only just after school let out, so Carrie arriving this early clearly meant she had skipped the last two physical education classes.

Chris must have scared her pretty badly.

Carrie also noticed Randy from afar, but it wasn't until she got closer that she slowly slowed down and cautiously greeted him.

"Hi, Randy."

"Mm."

Randy nodded and then pointed to his house. "Want to come in for a bit?"

"No, no."

Carrie quickly shook her head. This wasn't like the morning. Margaret would be off work soon, and if she found her daughter at someone else's house—especially alone with a boy—Carrie couldn't even imagine what would happen.

"Mm."

Randy had just been being polite, and after being declined, he turned to go inside.

This left Carrie conflicted, as she had a lot of things on her mind that she wanted to talk about.

In the end, she couldn't hold it in and spoke up: "Randy."

"Mm?"

Randy turned to look at her.

Carrie mustered her courage and said, "I just... I wanted to ask, you've changed a lot lately."

Randy smiled slightly, as if she had taken the bait.

"That's because I've found faith in a higher power."

"Faith?"

"Yes, every person needs something to believe in. I used to drift through life aimlessly, living just for the sake of living. But recently, I realized that while life is precious to us, it's meaningless to the world. Life is as insignificant as a blade of grass.

Rather than entrusting my life to this cold world, I choose to put my faith in a deity that offers love and compassion. I can feel the care and warmth from this god, and so I have found faith."

Randy spoke without any extra gestures or overly enthusiastic expressions. It was as casual as saying he had switched from eating rice to noodles, a simple statement of fact.

Carrie remained silent for a long time. In her faith, there was only one god—the God.

The one who, no matter how much you prayed or repented, would never respond.

It was exactly like how Randy had described the "world"—her life was precious, but to God, she was just one of billions of believers.

After years of worship and prayer, Carrie didn't dare to ask more about Randy's god.

But deep down, the emotions she had been suppressing kept looking for an outlet.

"So, who is this god?"

"Shh."

Randy stopped her from asking more.

"You already have one at home. I suggest you observe it carefully and see if it responds to you. If it continues to ignore you, then perhaps you shouldn't misplace your faith. Reject painful repentance, invite the true god into your home, and offer all your discontent to it.

Faith is for those who awaken and realize they have been abandoned."

Preaching wasn't about forcing belief onto someone. Active desire is far more effective than passive indoctrination. All Randy did was inform Carrie that such a being existed, and she would naturally use her imagination to give this god more power.

As she shared her frustrations, she would only wish more fervently for this god to be real.

With her talents and the environment she was in, it wouldn't be long before she started providing him with her thoughts and energy.

This method was far more effective than preaching on the streets or playing tricks to scare people into belief.

Religious spread often relied on brainwashing and fear, techniques Randy was quite familiar with.

Building a living hell at the foot of a holy mountain? That was just to make everyone yearn for the mountain.

Even Christianity had started with fear.

Using the threat of falling into hell for unclean sins, they lured people into believing in God and praying for redemption. It even developed into the classic practice of indulgences, akin to the incense money and merit books of Buddhism.