Chapter 1444: The Bear Child Six Hundred Years Ago
The news of the burning of witches spread throughout the city immediately.
In this dark and chaotic era, people's thoughts are highly restricted. The princes and nobles may still rely on hunting in parks and endless banquets to pass the time. However, the entertainment activities of the common people are almost non-existent. In the dual relationship between the church and the nobles,
Under high pressure, any behavior that expresses emotions may be labeled as "witchcraft." This extreme "purification of thinking" has instead spawned a more extreme and distorted emotional catharsis: witch hunting.
Since early morning, the sky has been overcast, with layers of lead-stained dark clouds hanging over the city, and then hanging low to the horizon like a cover. The weak sunlight cannot penetrate the clouds and can only shine through the gaps in the clouds.
A hazy halo of light leaked from the space, no longer able to illuminate the earth. The cold wind, mixed with moisture, rolled through the moldy streets and roads filled with sewage and mud, filled with the stench of corruption.
Under this dim sky, the whole city seemed to be filled with a dead air. This bad weather seemed to be an ominous sign. Some old people took to the streets, looking at the low dark clouds, praying and chanting the name of the Holy Spirit.
, they remembered those long-standing superstitious stories about the devil hiding underground in the city, the informants wandering at night, the ghosts crying in the small attic, and the cemetery outside the city that is said to mysteriously disappear when the fog falls.
, they believed that this weather at least indicated that one of the evil forces was at work, and therefore warned their families not to go out at such a time.
However, for most people in the city, burning the witches was still more attractive than the bad weather.
A large number of civilians passed through the gates in the inner city early and gathered in the square. They were even willing to wait here for several hours just to watch a burning. The high platform on one side of the square was prepared for nobles, who are interested in coming here."
Gentlemen who "watch" can calmly ride a carriage and wear warm furs to the high platform at any time, but ordinary people can only get up early to occupy a place on the square. Such "events" have also spawned many people of this kind.
For those who make a living, some help people grab seats in the square, and some set up wooden platforms on the roof outside the square. For two or three small bucks, you can get these "special seats" with a good view. There are also small vendors in the square.
Stalls were set up outside, preparing to take advantage of the burning 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 double.
Hao Ren and Lily didn't arrive early enough, so by the time they arrived, there was almost no place to stay in the square, but with enough strength and flexibility, the two of them still managed to squeeze in, causing curses along the way.
After complaining and complaining, they came to a place very close to the burning rack. Lily stood on tiptoes and looked around curiously. Even if she turned into a human form, she still seemed to have a tail wagging behind her: "Wow, it turns out that this was the scene of burning witches in the Middle Ages.
It looks like..."
"After all, people in this era don't have many entertainment activities," Hao Ren said casually. "This is an era where couples who make too much sex may be reported as heretics. People can only vent their anger by 'watching' executions."
Feeling emotional."
"Hey, what a pervert," Lily muttered in a low voice. At the same time, she also saw the traders and idlers who made money by being burned at the stake. She had seen descriptions of this in books, but reading books was one thing, seeing it with her own eyes
That's another thing: some markets and attractions in later Europe were developed on these foundations, and now it's really better to see them than to see them. "By the way, it seems that Lady Mary has arrived, I can smell their scent."
"
Hao Ren nodded: "Well, we will wait and see what happens."
After saying that, he looked up in the direction of the burning stake and waited quietly for the witch named "Hesiana" to be escorted up.
He didn't wait long.
Witches who were sentenced to be burned at the stake had to be escorted into the venue in advance. The process of tying the witch to the stake was also part of this crazy "entertainment". Therefore, after the hay and oil were ready, Hao Ren saw a strange-looking car.
The prison car drove in from the entrance to the back half of the square: the prison car was pulled by a pure black pony wearing an eye patch. There was a large black iron cage on the car. The railings of the iron cage were surprisingly thick.
to the extent, and there are countless chains tied criss-cross between the railings. Every few links of the chains have a silver-white luster. They are obviously made of pure silver, and there are many more chains that can be seen around the prison car.
Hao Ren believed that crosses and sharp spear-like decorations were more than just decorations.
These things meant that there was a real witch in the iron cage, not a poor victim.
The witch sat quietly in the center of the cage. She was wearing a simple coarse cloth dress and a dark blue belt. Her long black hair covered most of her face and hung down to her waist. Her long hair was invisible.
There is no decorative embellishment. What is amazing is that there are no whip marks on the witch, and there is even very little dirt on the witch, as if she had not been abused in the dungeon of the church: this is simply incredible in this era.
Hao Ren heard someone in the crowd seem to be talking about something related to this witch. They mentioned that this witch has great power and is still difficult to harm even if she is surrounded by holy water and crosses. It is said that neither whips nor awls can hurt her.
She left scars, and even executioners who got too close to her would be affected by miasma and curses. She only showed a certain fear of flames, so the church finally decided to give up her "trial" and instead directly put her on the square.
Burned to death.
I don't know if these rumors are true or false.
At this time, the witch was finally transported to the stake. She was covered with heavy chains, and even here, the people responsible for escorting did not seem to have any intention of taking off the chains: they seemed to intend to let the witch be included with these instruments of torture.
He was tied to the stake. Seeing the two burly men escorting the witch as if they were facing a powerful enemy, Hao Ren couldn't help but guess what the witch had done to scare these vicious guys out of their wits.
.
A gust of wind blew away the witch's long hair hanging in front of her face, and her face was finally completely exposed to Hao Ren.
She is a little younger than Vivian, but her outline is almost the same.
Hao Ren couldn't help but exclaimed: "Oh my god... is that little bat spirit?!"
Lily also said in unison: "Landlady, it's really Hesiana!"
Hao Ren was already in great shock at this time. Although he had guessed that the Hesiana mentioned by Mrs. Mary and Helen was the naughty child he knew, he was still not sure for one reason:
How could Hesiana be captured by humans?
How could such a weirdo, who drinks holy water, eats garlic, wields a Bible, and wields a silver sword without doing anything wrong, could be caught by a human church that only has basic exorcism abilities?
She inherited Vivian's magical talent and is not afraid of common exorcism methods at all!
Hao Ren couldn't help but stare at the "torture instruments" on Hesiana's body. Most of those torture instruments were just ordinary steel with some silver parts mixed in. Maybe those silver parts had been blessed with salt and holy water, but they were not the same as the demon hunter.
The holy silver used is still very different. Let alone such a chain, even if the human church uses pure silver to build an airtight dungeon, it may not be able to trap Hesiana!
He noticed the expression on Hesiana's face: even though she was bound by heavy chains and being tied to the stake, there was no depression or fear in her eyes at all. On the contrary, there was only calmness in her expression.
And a hint of well-hidden banter.
After dealing with this naughty kid many times, Hao Ren understood her little expression to some extent: it was an expression that indicated that the evil plot was about to succeed.
"Something bad happened," Hao Ren said in a low voice, "Something bad happened this time!"
"Landlord, are you talking about Hesiana? It's okay. We can rescue her. Now she still owes us a favor!"
"I'm not saying that Hesiana did something bad, but those witches probably wanted to do something bad. Hessiana was caught on purpose!"
"Ouch?"
At this moment, Hesiana was tied firmly to the stake, and the shackles on her body were tightly locked with the buckles on the stake. The clicking sound of the shackles seemed to wake her up from her thoughts.
, she raised her head and looked around the square lazily.
Then I saw that the expression on her face froze for an instant, and a huge "fuck" seemed to be ready to burst out.
A thin man in a robe stood on the stage near the noble seat and began to read out the charges from a piece of parchment (according to medieval practice, these charges were basically "standard articles" made up based on imagination):
“…Sneak into the cemetery after dark and carve blasphemous symbols on the tombstones…
"He held a witchcraft secret meeting, summoned the devil from hell in the apple orchard, and together with the devil killed an innocent adult man...
"Insults against the regional bishop's mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and as far back as..."
The thin man's reading was convoluted and long-winded, almost making people sleepy, but the witches in the crowd had already stood at several predetermined positions, stepping on the Leta runes that had been set in advance.
Hesiana suddenly turned to the high platform and shouted loudly: "Are you done with your ****? I already recognized him and hurry up. Light the fire! You ****! Your whole family's **** is ****! Hurry up and light the fire!"
A series of jaw-dropping curses resounded in the square, and everyone on the scene was in an uproar. However, the thin man with an expressionless face like a zombie showed no reaction at all, and continued to speak in an unhurried tone: "
He publicly insulted the judge, the judge's mother, and the judge's father on the burning ground, and fabricated the unclean behavior of relatives in the judge's family..."
Hesiana yelled: "I will **** you, you ****!"
Mrs. Mary's voice was slower for a second and followed suit: "Do it!"
A black cloud of locusts instantly covered the sky and swarmed into the square from all directions. The ground beneath everyone's feet also squirmed like a living thing. The people gathered in the square instantly let out huge exclamations, followed by crying for father and mother.
With screams and cries, everything suddenly became extremely chaotic!
Several figures rushed towards the execution ground, and Hesiana let out a final roar in the chaos:
"Where did this damn bunch of idiots come from? They are trying to rob the execution ground!!"