As the sun rises, the old and bloated medieval city seems to be re-energized temporarily, running with the neighing of cattle and the rattle of wheels over the cobblestones, the sun sweeping over the city's towering walls and towers, illuminating the glittering glass panes of the bell towers, gilding the spires of churches and castles, and finally falling into the tattered, low, cluttered slums, as if to dry the stinking parts of the city, the stinky gutters of Trout Alley and the Black Block.Many of the floodgates that had been closed overnight around the city began to creak open, and soldiers in blue and white smocks stood proudly in front of the inner city gates, known as the "Wrangler's Gate", watching the hunched, respectfully hunched out-of-town residents pass through the gate to beg for a living in the inner-city markets and jugglers' squares.In the midst of the crowds, the soldiers would occasionally see an exaggerated caravan staggering down the street, with gypsy women dressed in fancy clothes sitting on the roof of the caravan, and the soldiers would inevitably make it difficult for the convoys, usually by asking for a few coins or begging for an innocuous bargain from the gypsy girls.No one would have an opinion on this, because even the beggars in Trout Alley knew that these gypsies were savage creatures outside of civilized society—that it was a great favor for the bishops and lords of the region to let their carts into the city, and that if they hadn't paid enough protection, they would have been hanged outside the city as minions of the dark arts before they even entered the city.Any harassment they face in the city is actually part of the "protection money".Lily and Hao Ren also mingled in the crowd, wearing hoods and keeping their heads down, disguised as two peasant farmers who had just entered the city from the countryside to hide their overly obvious Oriental characteristics.The camouflage was so rudimentary that it was even a matter of a conscientious soldier who came to see the problem, but it was clear that there were no such dutiful men among the soldiers guarding the gates, who were just standing at the gates in disguise, and their main purpose was to show the majesty of the lord and to blackmail the outsiders and small merchants who seemed to have some money to gain.The inner city is obviously much more prosperous than the outer city, and the buildings are also neat and gorgeous, but in Hao Ren's opinion, this evolution is really limited, after experiencing the baptism of modern cities and even otherworldly landscapes, it is difficult for him to have any sense of shock from the man-made buildings of this era.Letting go of the psychic sense all the way, coupled with Lily's sensitive ears that don't let go of any wind and grass, the two of them quickly collected the information they needed in this strange city, and there was no sense of crampedness of outsiders between advancing and retreating.It didn't take long for them to find their destination: a small square on the edge of the inner city.The square was clearly not a place for gatherings and celebrations, and a few yawning soldiers stood guard around the square to keep the common people from approaching at will, and what they were guarding was in the middle of the square: there stood a horrific gallows and two black stone pillars, their purpose illustrated by the blackened marks on the stone pillars and the clasps that held the ropes in place: the burning stake.The ashes around the stake had been cleared, but on the gallows hung the body of a man, swaying horribly in the air, a tattered linen garment wrapped around his shriveled limbs, which looked like he had been hanging for some time."
Whoa......
No wonder there is a plague every once in a year," Lily muttered with her tongue out, "After hanging the man, he hung the corpse here, and by the time he put it down, all kinds of germs had already multiplied here for eighteen generations, right?"
”"The display of the tortured was a means of maintaining order for the rulers, at least in this era, and a prisoner was sometimes hung for ten days, or even on the gallows until the rope broke naturally—though that was not usually done in the city.""
Of course I know this, I've graduated from Peking University four times," Lily pouted, pretending to tidy up her clothes as she peeked around, "Landlord, do you really think there will be traces of witches in this neighborhood?"
”"Eighty percent sure.""
Didn't Lady Mary say there were no witches arrested?
The so-called rescue of witches and the like are all used to fool people......"
"Hasselblad told me that in the dark ages, don't believe anything that aliens say to you, in order to survive, they have already rotted their honesty and credibility in their stomachs," Hao Ren whispered, "In this regard, witchers are much more honest and reliable. ”Lily stretched her voice: "Hmm~~" Hao Ren glanced at the husky: "And Hasselblad also gave me a 'Dark Ages Credibility Ranking of Various Races', let me compare it to see whose words are the least credible, whose words can be conditionally believed, whose words are basically reliable at all times, do you want to hear it?"
”The husky girl was really fooled: "Landlord landlord, how many werewolves are in line?"
”Although she has long accepted the fact that she is a husky, she still can't help but pay attention to the matter of werewolves when she encounters this kind of topic."
Werewolves are the most credible, because these upright guys won't conspire with you at all, usually if you are unhappy, they will directly drag you to the corner to talk about life ideals, vampires and Olympus and other descendants of big families are relatively credible, because they have a good face, family glory, racial glory or something, as long as you follow their worldview you can figure out how to deal with these guys, and the most unbelievable......
It's witches and other people who were originally at the bottom in mythological times. ”Hao Ren said, his eyes falling on an inconspicuous floor tile in the corner of the square."
Because of the weakness, they are more unscrupulous, because they suddenly lose their restraints, so they act more and more desperately, and it is not easy for them to survive in the dark ages, so whoever can survive is ......
None of them are fuel-efficient lamps. ”On the inconspicuous floor tile, a vague mark could be seen, which was probably just a normal crack for ordinary people, but Hao Ren knew what this thing was.A Leta rune.A single Leta rune has little power, so there should be more runes here, presumably hidden in other corners of this "execution ground".However, Hao Ren was not more interested in these runes, as long as he confirmed the existence of these runes."
Landlord, what did you find?"
Lily looked at Hao Ren curiously."
Leta Rune, the witches have already been here, they may be planning to rescue their companions during the execution, but they don't know when the captured witch will be executed, so they set up the Leta Rune here in advance.It seems that the witches who were arrested were important members of their organization or group, and perhaps even leaders—otherwise witches in this era would not have taken such a risk to save their companions. ”Lily blinked, "They seem to have a wizard to help - what is the relationship between a wizard and a witch?"
”"There are fewer wizards than witches, because in the mythological era, male witches were consumed a lot by their 'masters' as cannon fodder, and witches were far away from the frontal battlefield because they were not as good as male witches, and as a result, they became the mainstream wizards of the Dark Ages at this time," Hao Ren explained.Under normal circumstances, male witches and witches will not have any dealings, but there is no contradiction, after the end of the mythological era, they are all well water and do not violate the river water and form their own circles, but after all, they are 'out of the same door', and they will still communicate when necessary.Here's my guess: Vivien's sleeping place produces a powerful release of energy that attracts a group of witches, who may have intended to take advantage of Vivien's sleeping place, but accidentally exposed their whereabouts and led to the arrest of one of them, the wizard may have been invited by them or a passing wizard who accepted the witches' invitation, but one thing is certain: in this day and age, every hermit organization does not accept strangers at will......
Lily was a little curious: "Can ordinary people in this era catch witches?"
”"Ordinary people are of course weak compared to wizards who master magic, but they are not completely incapable of resisting, after all, they have dealt with aliens since ancient times, even if the human side has always been weak, there are some ways to deal with it, these methods are usually in the hands of the medieval church class and some hermit exorcism organizations, their predecessors are basically various human resistance organizations in the mythological era, and some of these organizations may have received technical and even material assistance from demon hunters......
Even into the 21st century, some hidden organizations were still operating in the shadows, monitoring the supernatural forces in the world.It's just that with the passage of time and the growth of human beings in terms of positive forces, the demise of these organizations has become an inevitable trend. ”As he said what he had heard from Hasselblad and what he had learned on his daily life, he slowly walked through Lily in front of the small square and left the place without attracting attention.The soldiers guarding the square lazily watched the pedestrians passing in front of them, their eyes lingering on Hao Ren and Lily for about a second or two, but they soon thought that they were two rednecks who had neither oil nor fun, and turned their heads back.They began to discuss the poor prisoner hanging from the gallows, and the recent rumors of "black magic".Throughout the day, Hao Ren and Lily wandered around the city, sometimes following the crowd in open places to investigate, and sometimes sneaking into places that were forbidden to civilians to gather information with their inhuman skills, until nightfall.The two disguised themselves and climbed over the walls of the city in the darkness of the night, preparing to go to meet the mysterious witches.