The news of witch burning spread throughout the city immediately.
In this dark and chaotic era, people's thoughts were highly imprisoned. The princes and nobles may still rely on garden hunting and endless banquets to pass the time, but the entertainment activities of the common people are almost non-existent. Under high pressure, any act of expressing emotions may be labeled as "witchcraft". This extreme "mind purification" has instead led to a more extreme and distorted emotional catharsis: witch hunting.
From the early morning, the sky has been cloudy, lead-stained clouds cover the city in layers, and then hang down to the horizon like a hood, the weak sunlight can't penetrate the clouds, only in the gaps in the clouds A hazy halo leaked from the sky, unable to illuminate the earth anymore. A chilly wind mingled with humidity, blowing over the musty alleys and the sloppy roads, filled with the stench of decay.
Under this dim sky, the whole city seemed to be filled with death. This bad weather seemed to be an ominous omen. Some old people walked onto the street, looked at the low dark clouds and kept praying, chanting the name of the Holy Spirit , they recalled the age-old superstitions—of the devil hiding beneath the city, of the dead who roamed the night, of the weeping ghost in the attic, and of the tomb outside the city that was said to mysteriously disappear when the fog fell. They thought the weather was a sign that at least one of these evil forces was at work, and they warned their families not to go out at such a time.
Yet for most of the town, the witch-burning was still more attractive than bad weather.
A large number of civilians passed through the gates of the inner city early and gathered in the square. They were even willing to wait here for hours just to watch a burning. The high platform on one side of the square is prepared for the nobles. Gentlemen who are interested in "watching" can come to the high platform in a horse-drawn carriage and wear warm furs at any time, but ordinary people can only occupy the square by getting up early in the morning Take a place on it. Such a "big event" has also spawned many people who make a living from it. Some people specialize in helping people grab seats in the square, and some specially build wooden platforms on the roof outside the square. You can get these good-looking places for two or three small money. "Special seats", and some small vendors set up stalls outside the square, planning to take advantage of the fire to earn enough bread and bacon for the whole family for a week: if it weren't for the bad weather that started in the morning, the number of these vendors would even will be twice as much.
Hao Ren and Lili didn't come early enough, so when they arrived, there was almost no place to stay in the square, but the two of them managed to squeeze in with enough strength and agility, causing curses all the way After complaining and complaining, he came to a position very close to the burning frame. Lily looked around curiously on her tiptoes. Even in human form, she still seemed to have a tail swaying vigorously behind her: "Wow—so that's what the witch burning scene looked like in the Middle Ages..."
"After all, people in this era don't have many entertainment activities," Hao Ren said casually. "This is an era when couples who make too much sex may be reported as heresy, and people only have to 'watch' executions to vent their feelings. emotional."
"Tch, what a pervert," Lily muttered in a low voice. At the same time, she also saw those traders and idlers who took advantage of the burning to make money. She had read about this description in books, but reading books is one thing. Seeing them with your own eyes It’s another matter: some markets and scenic spots in Europe in later generations were developed on these foundations, and now it’s really better to see than to hear, “It seems that Mrs. Mary has arrived, and I can smell their scent. "
Hao Ren nodded: "Well, wait and see."
After he finished speaking, he looked up at the direction of the stake, and waited quietly for the witch named "Hessiana" to be escorted up.
He didn't have to wait long.
The witches who were sentenced to be burned at the stake had to be escorted into the arena in advance, and the process of tying the witches to the stake for public display was part of this crazy "entertainment". Therefore, after the hay and oil were ready, Hao Ren saw a strange car A prison cart drove in from the entrance in the back half of the square: the prison cart was dragged by a pure black pony wearing a blindfold, and there was a large black iron cage on the cart, and the railings of the iron cage were astonishingly thick In addition, there are countless chains tied criss-cross between the railings, and every few rings of the chains have a silver-white luster, which is impressively made of sterling silver, and around the prison car, you can also see many Crosses and sharp spear-like decorations—Hao Ren believed that those things were more than just decorations.
These things meant that what was in the cage was a real witch, not a poor victim.
The witch sat quietly in the middle of the cage. She was wearing a plain coarse cloth dress and a dark blue belt. Her long black hair covered most of her cheeks and hung down to her waist. Accent to any decor. What is amazing is that there are no whip marks on the witch's body, and there is even very little dirt, as if she was not abused in the dungeon of the church: this is simply incredible in this day and age.
Hao Ren heard that someone in the crowd seemed to be talking about this witch. They mentioned that this witch possesses great power and is hard to harm even surrounded by holy water and crosses. Leaving scars, even the executioners who get too close to her will be affected by miasma and curses—she only showed a certain fear of the flames, so the church finally decided to abandon her "judgment" and turn directly to the square Burn to death.
I don't know if these rumors are true or not.
At this time, the witch was finally transported to the stake. She was covered with heavy chains, and even here, the people in charge of the escort seemed to have no intention of removing these chains: they seemed to intend to let the witch be with these instruments of torture. tied to the stake. Seeing the appearance of the two burly men escorting the witch, Hao Ren couldn't help but guess what the witch did to frighten these vicious guys.
A gust of wind blew away the witch's long hair hanging in front of her face, and finally her face was completely exposed in front of Hao Ren.
It was younger than Vivienne, but the outline was almost the same.
Hao Ren couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise: "I'm sorry... is it really that little bat spirit?!"
Lily also said in unison: "Landlord, landlord, it's really Heather Anna!"
Hao Ren was already in great shock at this moment—although he had also guessed that the Hessiana mentioned by Mrs. Mary and Helen was the brat he knew, but he still couldn't believe it because there was only one reason. : How could Hesianna be caught by humans
How could such a weirdo who drank holy water, garlic, and wielded a bible to play with silver swords, be caught by a human church with only basic exorcism abilities
She inherited Vivienne's miraculous talent, and she is not afraid of those common exorcism methods at all!
Hao Ren couldn't help staring at the "instruments of torture" on Heatherana's body. Most of those instruments of torture were just ordinary steel with some silver parts mixed in between. Perhaps those silver parts had also been blessed with salt and holy water, but they had nothing to do with demon hunters. The holy silver used is still very different, not to mention such a chain, even if the human church poured pure silver into an airtight dungeon, it may not be able to trap Heatherana!
He noticed the expression on Hesiana's face: Although she was bound by a heavy chain and was being tied to the stake, there was no depression or fear in her eyes at all. On the contrary, there was only calm in her expression, And a hint of well-hidden banter.
After dealing with this brat for many times, Hao Ren somewhat understood her little expression: it was the expression that a trick was about to succeed.
"It's a bad thing," Hao Ren said in a low voice, "This time it's a bad thing!"
"Landlord, you mean Hesianna? It's okay, let's just rescue her—now she still owes us a big favor!"
"I'm not saying that something bad happened to Hesianna, it's that those witches might do something bad—Hessiana was caught on purpose!"
"Oh?"
At this moment, Heatherana was firmly tied to the stake, and the shackles on her body were tightly locked with the buckles on the stake, and the click of the shackles seemed to wake her up from her thoughts , she raised her head and looked around the square lazily.
Then I saw the expression on her face froze for a moment, and a huge "fuck" seemed to be gushing out.
An emaciated man in a robe stood on the stage near the seat of the nobility, and began to read out the crimes according to a piece of parchment (according to the practice of the Middle Ages, these crimes are basically "standard articles" fabricated by imagination):
"...infiltrate the cemetery after nightfall, and carve symbols of desecration on the headstones...
"Hosted a witchcraft conclave, summoned a devil from hell in an apple orchard, and killed an innocent grown man with the devil...
"Abusing the mother, grandmother, great-grandmother of the district bishop, and going back to..."
The thin man's speech was convoluted and long-winded, making people drowsy, while the witches in the crowd had already stood at the predetermined positions, stepping on the Leta runes that had been set in advance.
Hessiana suddenly turned her head and shouted to the high platform: "Your XX is endless! My mother recognizes it! Hurry him. Mother's fire! You XX! Your whole family's XX is XX! Hurry up and light it!"
A series of jaw-dropping shouts resounded in the square, and everyone on the scene was in an uproar, but the thin man with a deadpan expression like a zombie didn't respond, and continued to say in a leisurely tone: " Insulting the judge, the judge's mother, and the judge's father in public on the burning ground, and fabricating the unclean behavior of the relatives of the judge's family... "
Hesianna yelled: "I XX you XX!"
Madam Mary's voice sounded after a second of delay: "Do it!"
A cloud of locusts instantly covered the sky and covered the sun from all directions, and the ground under everyone's feet squirmed like a living thing. The people gathered in the square instantly let out a huge exclamation, followed by crying father and mother Crying and screaming—everything became extremely chaotic in an instant!
Several figures rushed towards the execution ground, and Hessiana uttered a final roar in the chaos:
"Where did this motherfucker come from? A bunch of idiots forced to rob the court!!"