Dust of History Chapter 17: National Pillars

The next day was a fine day. The sun has been shining since morning, as is the high spirits of the villagers. Today they can go home with peace of mind and continue their previous lives.

Last night, they used all the food they had saved for a celebration party, and Brother Bomb also brought out a barrel of wine that had been secretly treasured for a long time. Everyone sang and danced around the campfire. Although Asa did not join their ranks, he could still feel the simple joy and attachment to his homeland.

Early in the morning, the villagers helped the old and the young to take all the things they could carry and walked to the grassland in the east, preparing to receive the gift of pardon and tax exemption. The imperial envoy said that the pardon can only be done after seeing the person, so everyone has to go.

Rod Hart kept talking about how noble and learned the imperial envoy was along the way. It is said that he is a well-known aristocratic scholar in Wangdu. He conducted academic research in the seminary and wrote several books on faith and theology. These completely made Rod Hart admire him. And because of his own mediation, such a great man got out of the predicament, and also solved the plight of the villagers. Such an extraordinary feat kept his excitement from yesterday until today.

Walk through 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 that the old man said on the opposite side of the grassland. Just at first sight, he was absolutely sure this was the place he was looking for.

This does look like a somewhat different forest. The trees are tall and look quite old-fashioned. The other trees around seem to automatically give way to this forest, leaving a piece of grass in the middle. The whole forest exudes a strange and thick atmosphere, which makes people awe-inspiring.

The closer you get, the more obvious and strange this feeling becomes. Asa could even feel that the whole forest was rejecting him. There is no malice, but there is a heavy and majestic aura.

Going closer, Asa realized that this is simply a very huge and majestic forest. Every tree needs at least several people to be able to embrace it. The huge curved tree body and branches show endless simplicity and magnificence. There is a faint mist floating in the forest, and the sunlight leaking from the branches and leaves forms oblique beams of light one by one, cutting in the middle of the veil-like mist. Not a single bird or beast could be heard in the forest.

Stay away from here. Asa seemed to hear the silent cry of the whole forest. Walking so close, he could almost feel the intimidation on his skin. Asa thought of the metaphor of the hunter Levin that sounded incomprehensible at the time, but now it seems extremely appropriate. It is indeed like a huge and majestic ancient giant looking down, asking you not to approach, even thinking about it This great majesty is a kind of pressure.

"Is this right here? The Forest of Whispers." Asa said almost to himself.

"Yes, this is the Forest of Whispers." A voice that seemed to be screaming desperately from many people at the same time replied.

Asa turned around and saw that the villagers had already stopped, standing in a pile in the middle of the grass, and no one looked here. This strange sound came from a person not far from him.

This is a man in a red robe, just like Asa, standing not far away facing the mysterious forest in front of him. The red robe seemed to be the same as Asa wore when he was disguised as a hunchback and lame in the capital, trying to cover every part of his body inside. But the slight difference is that his face is still exposed.

It looks like a face that can be seen everywhere on the street, and there are expressions on it, and the eyes are moving very brightly, but Asa feels that this face and his whole body exude a strange aura Out of proportion. That face is like thousands of dead and stinking poisonous snakes stuffed under the robe, a dangerous breath that seems to carry the smell of corpses.

"Do you want to go in?" the red-robed man asked in his strange voice.

"Yes." Asa replied cautiously.

The man in the 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 it seemed It came out from the throat with great effort, and it was so hoarse that it seemed like thousands of people were wailing at the same time.

Asa suddenly felt a little cold all over.

No one on the villagers' side noticed the situation on Asa's side. They subconsciously didn't look towards the forest, even if they thought about taking a look, the imperceptible but very definite sense of repulsion immediately made them turn around, not even interested in talking about it.

And now they are focusing on their own business. There was a rumbling sound of horseshoes approaching from a distance, and dozens of cavalry came out of the forest. "The imperial envoy is here." Rodhart saw clearly that one of them was the imperial envoy.

"Why are there so many people?" Hunter Levin was terrified when he saw that the cavalry were fully armed with armor and swords. "It won't be...."

"No. The imperial envoy has already said that he will pardon everyone. How could a man of status and knowledge like him go back on his word? I was disturbed by you last time. Of course, I have to bring my guards to come now." Rodhart puts everyone at ease.

But the group of cavalry were obviously not just guards. They rushed straight towards the villagers, and then spread out in front of the villagers, forming a circle, surrounding twenty or thirty villagers in the middle. Then the imperial envoy and a fat man who looked like an official rode over.

"My lord, what's going on?" Rodhart asked.

"That knight, you can come out." The imperial envoy nodded to him. Rod Hart walked over. "Looking at your noble character and good education, you can completely ignore the crimes you have known with these gangsters."

Rod Hart asked cautiously: "Then they...."

The imperial envoy said naturally: "Of course he is going to be executed." Hearing this sentence, the villagers screamed.

"But you promised to pardon them." Rodhart said hastily.

The imperial envoy raised his finger to his head very cultivatedly, and said in a voice full of superiority: "This is wisdom. If I don't say that, will they let me go? I was not in the Sincere commitment is just exercising a clever strategy."

The fat man with the appearance of an official sighed in a tone of admiration: "My lord, your strategy 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." Ah."

The imperial envoy smiled and nodded, and said modestly: "I'm just a scholar, a scholar, and I'm not suitable for fighting. Speaking of pillars, Mr. Daot, you can also count. I have inspected so many Among many places, the situation here is one of the best, and building a chapel shows that you are devout to God, which is also certain.”

"You also saw it yesterday. They all apologized to you and admitted their mistakes. Doesn't this mean that they are still kind civilians?" Rod Hart knelt down and pleaded. The expectation was just the opposite of the reality, and this rapid change made him completely unacceptable.

"Of course I remember. As a reward for their apology, I will execute them at the same time, so that they will not suffer the pain of losing their loved ones. You know, when punishing heretic villages, children are usually executed first, Let those who disrespect the gods feel the greatest pain in their hearts to cleanse their ugly souls."

"I heard that this method was invented by you, isn't it?" the fat man asked respectfully.

The face of the imperial envoy was filled with complacency. "This is what I thought of when I was studying books in the seminary. Let the souls of those heretics experience this painful baptism while they are alive, so that they can expiate their sins as soon 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."

Rod Hart's voice was already a little crying. "But they are not heretics. Didn't I explain the real situation to you yesterday?"

The imperial envoy is getting impatient. "They are not now, but what about in the future? Since they kidnapped a minister for some money and food, this is completely without the slightest law and discipline in their eyes. And I have already investigated it clearly," he pointed with the majesty of a judge Pointing to the fat man next to him. "They are completely slandering this incorruptible local official, Dao Dao Dao Dao. Dao Dao Dao Dao Dao Dao a small amount of taxation among the people is to build a chapel for the city. This is a feat done for the gods. Not only did they not Handing over this glorious tax, and slandering such a pious Lord Dot, shows that they have completely lost the teaching and gratitude of God in their hearts. As a theological expert, I can tell that such souls are most likely to be tempted by the devil. It would be best for them to kill them before they become heretics who serve the devil."

He turned his head and asked the fat man named Dot, "But why do you insist on executing them here, Master Dot? Wouldn't it be more deterrent to capture them in the city and burn them to death?"

Fatty Daut said: "That's because a benevolent gentleman visited me more than ten days ago. He said that he was worried that our cemetery is not enough, and it is really not good if pagans are also buried with God's people If it is suitable, I suggest that we bury them here, and he will give us a silver coin for each corpse. That's why I suggest that these gangsters be executed here. It will take a lot of effort to transport so many corpses."

The imperial envoy said with a worried look: "Such a strange thing, are you sure he is not a heretic?"

The magistrate Dout hurriedly shook his head, shaking the fat on his face, and said: "No, I have used all the money he gave to build our chapel. Spend the money on such a meaningful cause The people above must have great feelings. Don’t you think so?”

The imperial envoy nodded ~IndoMTL.com~ Turning his head and looking at the trembling villagers, he said in a gifted tone: "You heard it, your corpses 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 of some sort of courtesy. "Okay, execute them."

Dozens of cavalrymen drew their weapons and killed the villagers who were mostly old, young, women and children in the middle like slaughtering animals. Crying and screaming burst out from these unarmed bodies together with blood.

"Stop." Rodhart jumped up from the ground. Immediately three cavalrymen's longswords were on his neck, and at the same time the cavalrymen behind him struck him **** the head with their sword hilts and knocked him down.

The imperial envoy looked on and said regretfully: "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 made some contributions, I have to execute you together. Lest you tarnish the honorable title of knight."

Although he was kidnapped yesterday, he managed to wipe out these gangsters with ease. Hearing the screams of these heretics, the imperial envoy felt that what Daot said just now made sense, and that he might really be able to become a general. Suddenly, he saw a person galloping from the edge of the forest in the distance, so he waved his hand to the several cavalry around him like a general: "There is still an enemy there, who will take his head. "