Part One Involvement Chapter Seventeen The Pillar of the Nation
The weather was good the next day. The sun had been shining brightly since the morning, which matched the high mood of the villagers. Today they could go home with peace of mind and continue their previous lives.
Last night they used all the food they had saved to hold a celebration party. Brother Bangbu also took out a barrel of wine that he had secretly collected for a long time. Everyone sang and danced around the campfire. Although Asa did not join in
They are in the procession, but they can also feel the simple joy and attachment to their homeland.
Early in the morning, the villagers helped the elderly and children carry all the things they could carry and walked to the grassland to the east, preparing to receive the gift of pardon and tax exemption. The imperial envoy said that the pardon could only be granted if he saw the person in person, so every day
Everyone wants to go.
Along the way, Rodhart kept talking about how noble and knowledgeable the imperial envoy was. It is said that he was a famous aristocratic scholar in the royal capital. He conducted academic research in the seminary and wrote several books on faith and
Theological works. These completely made Rodhart admire him. Because of his mediation, he got such a great man out of trouble and also solved the plight of the villagers. Such extraordinary achievements made him excited from yesterday.
It continues to this day.
After walking in and out of the woods for a long time. It was almost noon, and Asa and the villagers walked out of the woods where they lived and walked to the grassland where the imperial envoy designated them to wait.
Walking into the grassland, Asa saw the lost forest opposite the grassland that the old man said. At the first sight, he was absolutely sure that this was the place he was looking for.
This does seem to be a somewhat unique forest. The trees are very tall and look very ancient. The other trees around them seem to have automatically given way to this forest, leaving a gap in the middle.
A piece of grass. The whole forest exudes a strange and strong atmosphere, which is inexplicably awe-inspiring.
The closer he got, the more obvious and strange this feeling became. Asa could even feel that the entire forest was rejecting him. There was no malice, but there was a heavy and majestic aura.
Walking closer, Asa discovered that this was a very huge and majestic forest. Each tree required at least several people to hug it. The huge curved tree body and branches showed endless simplicity and magnificence, floating in the forest.
Covered by the vague mist, the sunlight leaking from the branches and leaves formed slanting beams of light one by one, cutting into the middle of the gauze-like mist. There was not a single sound of birds or animals in the forest.
Don't come near here. Asa seemed to hear the whole forest shouting silently. Walking so close, he could almost feel the intimidation on his skin. Asa thought of Hunter Levine's voice at that time.
It was a very confusing metaphor, but now it seems to be extremely appropriate. It is indeed like a huge and majestic ancient giant looking down, telling you not to dare to approach. Even thinking about this huge majesty is a kind of pressure.
"Is this here? The Forest of Whispers." Asa said almost to himself.
"Yes, this is the Forest of Whispers." A voice that seemed to be many people shouting desperately at the same time replied.
Asa turned around and saw that the villagers had stopped a long time ago and were standing in a group in the middle of the grass. No one was looking here. This strange sound came from a person not far from him.
.
This is a man wearing a red robe. Like Asa, he is standing not far away, facing the mysterious forest in front of him. The red robe seems to be what Asa wore when he was disguised as a hunchback and lame man in the royal capital.
The same, trying to cover every part of the body. But the slight difference is that his face is still exposed.
It looked like just a face that could be seen everywhere on the street, with expressions and shiny eyes moving on it, but Asa felt that this face was incompatible with the strange aura that his whole person exuded.
.That face looked like thousands of dead and stinking snakes stuffed under the robe, a dangerous aura that seemed to carry the stench of corpses.
"Do you want to go in?" the man in red robe asked in his strange voice.
"Yes." Asa replied warily.
The man in red robe didn't seem to care much about him. He still looked into the depths of the forest and said, "Don't worry, I will take you in after a while." His voice was not loud, but he seemed to be using great force.
The sound that came out of his throat was so hoarse that it seemed like thousands of people were wailing at the same time.
Asa suddenly felt a little chilly all over.
No one among the villagers noticed the situation on Asa's side. They subconsciously did not look towards the forest. Even if they thought of taking a look, the imperceptible but very clear sense of repulsion immediately made them turn back.
, not even interested in talking about it.
And now they are focusing on their own affairs. A rumble of horse hooves came from far and near, and dozens of cavalry came out of the forest. "The imperial envoy is here." Rodhart saw one of them clearly.
It's an imperial envoy.
"Why are there so many people?" Hunter Levin saw that the cavalry were all fully armed with armor and swords, and felt scared. "It can't be..."
"No. The Imperial Envoy has already said that he will pardon everyone. How could a man of his status and knowledge go back on his word? I was disturbed by you last time, and of course I have to bring a bodyguard before I dare to come here now." Rodha
I would like to help everyone feel at ease.
But the group of cavalry obviously didn't just mean to protect them. They rushed straight towards the villagers. When they got in front of the villagers, they spread out in all directions and formed a circle, surrounding twenty or thirty villagers in the middle. Then the imperial envoy and the
A fat man who looked like an official came over on horseback.
"Your Majesty, what's going on?" Rodhart asked.
"That knight, you can come out." The imperial envoy nodded to him. Rodhart walked over. "Looking at your noble character and good education, I don't need to hold you acquainted with these gangsters at all.
sin."
Rodhart asked cautiously: "Then they..."
The imperial minister said naturally: "Of course he will be executed." Upon hearing this, the villagers screamed.
"But you promised to pardon them." Rodhart said hurriedly.
The imperial envoy raised his finger to his head in a cultivated manner and said in a voice full of superiority: "This is wisdom. If I didn't say that, would they let me go? I wasn't really making my promise at that time.
, just exercising a clever strategy."
The fat man who looked like an official stood beside him and sighed with admiration: "Sir, your plan is amazing. If you go to the battlefield, you must be an invincible general. You are so versatile in both civil and military affairs, you are really the pillar of the country."
The imperial envoy smiled and nodded, and said modestly: "I'm just a scholar, a scholar, and I'm not suitable for fighting and killing. Speaking of pillars, you can count on me, Mr. Daote. I've inspected so many places.
The situation here is one of the best, and building a chapel is a sure sign of your devotion to God."
"You saw it yesterday. They all apologized to you and admitted their mistakes. Doesn't this mean that they are still kind-hearted civilians?" Rodhart knelt down to plead. Expectation and reality are exactly the opposite. This sudden change
The sudden change was completely unacceptable to him.
"Of course I remember. As a reward for their apology, I will execute them at the same time to save them the pain of losing their loved ones. You know, when punishing pagan villages, children are usually executed first, so that those who are responsible for the crime can be punished first.
People who disrespect the gods feel the greatest pain in their souls to cleanse their ugly souls.”
"I heard that this method was invented by you, right?" the fat man asked respectfully.
The imperial envoy's face was filled with a proud look. "This is what I came up with when I was studying books in the seminary. Let the souls of those pagans feel this painful baptism while they are still alive, so that they can
Atoning for their sins as quickly as possible in hell."
The fat man squeezed the fat on his face into a charming smile and praised: "You are so kind and wise."
Rodhart's voice was already crying. "But they are not heretics. Didn't I tell you the true situation yesterday?"
The imperial minister was already a little impatient. "They are not now, but what about in the future? Since they came to kidnap a minister for some money and food, this is completely a sign of no law and order in their eyes. And I have already investigated clearly,"
He pointed to the fat man next to him with the dignity of a judge and said, "They are completely slandering the incorruptible magistrate Lord Daute. Lord Daute collected a small tax from the people in order to build a chapel in the city.
.This is an achievement for God. Not only did they not hand over this glorious tax, but they also slandered such a pious Lord Daote, which shows that they have completely no teachings and gratitude to God in their hearts. As a theology expert, I can tell
It turns out that such souls are most easily seduced by the devil. It is the best way to put them to death before they become heretics who serve the devil."
He turned to the fat man named Daute and said, "But Master Daute, why do you insist on executing them here? Wouldn't it be more effective to have them captured and burned to death in the city as a deterrent?"
Fatty Daunt said: "That's because a philanthropic gentleman visited me more than ten days ago. He said that he was worried that our cemetery was not enough, and that it would be inappropriate if pagans were buried together with God's people.
He suggested that we bury them here, and he gave us one silver coin for each corpse. That's why I suggested that these gangsters be executed here. It would take a lot of effort to transport so many corpses."
The imperial minister looked worried and said: "Such a strange thing, are you sure he is not a heretic?"
Magistrate Daute shook his head quickly, shaking the fat on his face, and said: "No, I have used all the money he gave me to build our chapel. People who spend money on such a meaningful cause
He must have great feelings. Do you think so?"
The imperial envoy nodded, turned to look at the trembling villagers and said in a condescending tone: "You heard it, your corpse will also increase the construction cost of the chapel in the city. This is also your honor."
He waved to the cavalry with a gesture that seemed like some kind of etiquette. "Okay, execute them."
Dozens of cavalrymen drew their weapons and slaughtered the villagers, mostly old, young, women and children, like slaughtering animals. Cries and screams along with blood burst out from these unarmed bodies.
"Stop." Rodhart jumped up from the ground. Immediately, three cavalrymen put their swords on his neck. At the same time, the cavalry behind him hit him hard on the head with the hilt of the sword and knocked him to the ground.
.
The imperial envoy looked at it and said with regret: "It seems that your loyalty to the law and your belief in God are not as good as your feelings for these gangsters. Even though you have some merits, I have to kill you together to prevent you from being defiled."
He received the honorable title of knight."
Although he was kidnapped yesterday, he used a little trick and immediately killed all the gangsters easily. Listening to the screams of these heretics, the imperial envoy felt that what Daote said just now was reasonable, and that he might really
You can become a general. Suddenly he saw a man running from the edge of the forest in the distance, so he really looked like a general and waved his hands to the few cavalry around him: "There is another enemy over there.