Chapter Thirteen: The Movable Sky Brother

After the ceremony concluded, Wu Han continued to guide Sun Shiwan through a tour of the cathedral hall.

As the landmark structure of the Purple Banner Khanate, the Empress Temple boasted a long history and had been renovated and maintained using a substantial portion of the Khanate’s resources, resulting in a meticulously crafted interior. Sun Shiwan observed it with great interest.

“This temple, although repeatedly damaged and repaired, still retains the core structure from a thousand years ago. The fact that it has survived until today is nothing short of a miracle,” Wu Han explained.

“Of course, this is also related to the decline of Rome. Throughout the centuries, successive dynasties never had the funds to build a new one. Sometimes, they couldn’t even gather enough money for repairs. During the Greek dynasty’s rule, the funds to repair this temple were actually donated by Moscow,” Wu Han added.

“At least they managed to raise some money, which is an accomplishment in itself,” Sun Shiwan remarked. “As businessmen, that’s something we definitely appreciate.”

“Mainly, the repairs never really got done,” Wu Han continued. “The Greeks took the money and diverted it to hire Turkmens for civil wars. That’s when the Ottomans were brought over here.”

“What a bunch of spendthrifts…” Sun Shiwan sighed along.

“But things are much better now,” Wu Han said, pointing to the ceiling of the hall. “Back when Master Yin was the abbot here, he spent over a decade renovating and reinforcing the entire structure. The building’s condition has improved significantly.”

“Moreover, in recent years, we’ve added many additional functions to the worship hall.” He walked over to a nearby podium and pointed to some buttons. “The Khanate welcomes Romans from all corners of the world, and their beliefs vary widely. Using the same altar for all would be quite unreasonable. So, to accommodate our friends’ diverse needs, we installed numerous interchangeable devices.”

“Here, this is the Catholic series of sacred vessels, designed and installed with the generous sponsorship of our sincere old friend, His Majesty the Frankish Roman Emperor,” Wu Han introduced. “Of course, you can also call it the Latin set. That term was suggested by Master Guo, and I find it quite fitting.”

“Please show me right away,” Sun Shiwan said eagerly. Having seen so many unique exhibits since the start of the tour, his curiosity was thoroughly piqued.

“Certainly,” Wu Han replied, pressing a white button. “Please wait a moment.”

As the button was pressed, several bells chimed within the cathedral. To Sun Shiwan’s surprise, the semicircular shrine began to slide backward, and two wooden doors painted with religious scenes extended from either side and slowly closed. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a track on the floor in front of the shrine along which the doors slid.

At the same time, the floor opened to reveal a ritual table that rose slowly. On it were arranged, according to Catholic standards, scriptures, a crucifix, bread, and wine. Peering down before the floor closed, Sun Shiwan spotted a basement below, where several clergy were busy at work. Some saw him and nodded in friendly greeting.

Suddenly, a series of metallic clinks sounded overhead. Looking up, Sun Shiwan saw a massive cross being lowered from above. Just as he was about to comment, the statue of the Heavenly Brother at the front of the hall underwent a transformation.

Originally seated like the smaller statue inside the shrine, the chair and the robe on the Heavenly Brother suddenly opened with a soft sound. Startled, Sun Shiwan realized that the seat and robes were wooden and split into two halves that fit snugly around the statue.

At that moment, two ropes descended from either end of the cross.

The clergy had been dismissed, and Wu Han and Guo Kang took charge. Wu Han approached and released a clasp on the statue’s back, causing the arms to loosen and fall naturally at the sides. It turned out the arm joints were movable.

Each man then took hold of a rope end, where iron nail-shaped hooks were attached. Sun Shiwan noticed that the statue’s wrists, previously concealed by the robe, had openings specifically left for these hooks. They carefully inserted the nails into the holes, securing the statue’s hands firmly. Their movements were practiced and efficient, suggesting this procedure had been done many times before.

“This is the tricky part,” Wu Han explained. “Currently, we have no way to automatically attach the ropes precisely, so staff must manually insert the clasps.”

He returned to the control panel and pressed another small button. Bells chimed again, and the cross emitted creaking sounds as the ropes began to retract.

Soon enough, the ropes were fully drawn up, and the hooks securely hung the Heavenly Brother statue on the cross. There was probably a locking mechanism at the shoulders that allowed the arms to form a perfect “Y” shape with the body.

Looking further down, a clear movable structure was visible at the waist cloth area—the legs’ joints were also articulated. Once suspended, the legs naturally hung downward.

“How is it?” Wu Han asked proudly. “This automatic hanging apparatus for the Heavenly Brother is our invention. No other church has such advanced equipment. Of course, there is still room for improvement, and we will continue to work on it. Master Sun, do you have any suggestions?”

“I think… it’s okay,” Sun Shiwan replied, clearly seeing this for the first time. “But why not just replace the statue? Wouldn’t that be simpler?”

“This was specifically designed for demonstration purposes,” Wu Han explained. “Religious relics carry strong symbolic meaning. Our Heavenly Brother statue symbolizes the worship of the same Heavenly Brother Mouse across all sects. If we replaced the statue, that clear significance would be lost.”

“I see,” Sun Shiwan said, enlightened. After pondering, he asked, “You say this is for Catholic visitors? Is it proper to hang the Heavenly Brother in front of them? Couldn’t it be considered impolite?”

“That doesn’t matter because we are Romans,” Wu Han waved dismissively, defending the practice. “Romans hanging up the Heavenly Brother isn’t a big deal. We’re simply restoring history.”

“Then there’s no problem,” Sun Shiwan said, glancing again at the suspended figure. “Oh, by the way, should the expression on its face be changed as well?”

Wu Han looked up. Although the statue was hanging, its face wore a broad, cheerful smile, which seemed somewhat incongruous.

“I’ve already mentioned this to them,” Guo Kang said. “My idea is to create interchangeable facial sculptures so that the face can be swapped out whenever the posture changes.”

“But that would require modifying the statue further, and manual replacement. Some clergy feel that changing faces in public might be inappropriate, so it hasn’t been done yet. If I come up with another method, I’ll give it a try.”

“If possible, I’d really like to hire your craftsmen here to build some similar devices for us,” Sun Shiwan said with evident satisfaction. “This truly reflects technological prowess.”