Chapter 617: Kill them all...(4k chapter)
The gloomy sky was hanging low, raindrops were falling thinly in the courtyard of the knight's main house, and the muddy ground was stepped on and became even more slippery.
A group of villagers gathered here, talking in low voices in twos and threes, with deep uneasiness and fear in their expressions.
Adrian Knight stood on the balcony on the second floor, looking down coldly at the crowd in the yard. He held the black envelope in his hand, but a trace of annoyance flashed between his furrowed brows.
"Threatening letter?" He turned around and angrily asked Henderson, who was standing next to him, "Who allowed you to do this? You are just superfluous by tampering with my plan!"
While wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Henderson defended in a low voice: "Probably to make the mountain people more afraid, so that they understand that relying on you is the only way out."
"Stupid! What I want is a surprise attack!" Adrian snorted. , slamming the envelope on the railing, "Now that we've done it, we can only make mistakes, but remember, this is the last time."
"I understand, I understand." Henderson nodded repeatedly. , the sweat from his forehead dripped down his cheeks mixed with the rain.
After all, they are all from the village, and any family can have a few relatives. If it is found that his son brought people here in the future, it will be endless.
After much deliberation, Henderson finally managed to save a chance.
After beating Henderson, Adrian walked down the stairs and came to the courtyard wearing a hooded cloak.
His appearance immediately attracted the attention of the villagers. The noisy discussion gradually subsided, and all eyes were focused on him.
"Countrymen." Adrian's voice was low and powerful. He raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet. "You have all read the letter just now. I can tell you that the resistance is indeed moving here. They are approaching, they are too powerful to resist."
Hearing this, the villagers suddenly became more frightened, and several women even sobbed softly.
"But you don't have to be afraid." Adrian's eyes swept over every face and continued, "I have arranged for manpower to reinforce the wall and mobilized armed farmers for defense. As long as everyone stays in the main If you stay at home, you will be safe!”
There were murmurs in the crowd, some nodded in agreement, and some looked doubtful, but most just stood blankly, obviously not knowing how to make a decision.
At this time, a voice suddenly sounded: "You can't keep guarding like this, right?"
Adrian Knight immediately said righteously: "If the reinforcements never come, I'm afraid it's just me. I went to negotiate with them. They were just irritated by the Holy Father Worship Society, and their intentions were good.
As long as we can save our lives and food for the winter, everything else is secondary. I will give him as much as he wants. Even if they want me to join, I will not hesitate. ”
Arm the farmers! Everyone applauded and cheered continuously, and some public farmers also applauded.
However, amidst the applause, a voice of dissent was so harsh: "There are still some people outside the yard. Brother Ansel is sick and is still in the church. What should I do?"
"Yes, in the church Where are our spinning threads and wool?”
“If the rebels took away the wool and the payment, wouldn’t we have spun it in vain?”
“What? It's time, why bother spinning?" A thin armed farmer stared, "Everyone should take care of yourself first!"
Henderson stood up immediately when he saw that the situation was a little shaken. He came out and raised his voice in a hoarse voice: "Everyone! The Lord Knight has already arranged a defense plan for us. As long as we stay here, we will be absolutely safe."
He pointed at several worried villagers and said in a stern tone: "What happens over there in the church is none of our business! If you run out to die now, don't blame me for not warning you."
It was still making noise. The crowd fell silent instantly, and the sound of rain could be clearly heard in the yard.
The villagers looked at each other, their eyes full of hesitation and struggle. Some lowered their heads and looked at the muddy ground; some clenched the corners of their clothes tightly, as if they wanted to say something, but in the end they did not speak.
"But..." Finally, an older farmer spoke, his voice hoarse and low, "Brother Ansel has done so much for us, and now he is sick and still alone in the church. Do we really ignore him?”
This sentence seemed to poke everyone’s weakness.
The villagers who had lowered their heads raised their eyes one after another, with a hint of indescribable emotion in their eyes.
"You put it lightly!" The thin armed farmer sneered disdainfully. He pointed at the old farmer, "What the resistance army wants is the monk's life! We ran to save him, but in the end we were also killed. Get in!”
These words made the villagers lower their heads again, and the glimmer of hope that had just been ignited seemed to be extinguished by the cold rain.
“And those wool and spinning threads!” Another middle-aged farmer couldn’t help but said, “That’s our life-saving money for the winter. If they are all robbed, how will we live?”
Henderson said coldly: "How much is that bit of wool worth? If our lives are gone, what's the use of money? Let's think about it clearly. The Lord Knight has promised to protect our lives. That's enough. ”
"But...but Brother Ansel..." The young farmer muttered, but he no longer had the courage to continue. His voice was quickly drowned in the silence of the villagers.
Raindrops hit the cloak and eaves, making a ticking sound. This sound makes the air more dull, making people breathless.
Gradually, the mood of the villagers became calmer, or a kind of helpless calm.
They no longer argued or refuted, they just stood there mechanically, letting the cold wind and rain hit their faces.
Henderson looked around and said coldly: "Just understand. Staying here is the best way to protect yourself and your family."
I don’t know who started to move first, and then the villagers retreated under the eaves and to the base of the wall one after another.
They lowered their heads and walked heavy and stiff, like a group of birds looking for a haven in the cold winter.
No one mentioned the church again, and no one mentioned Brother Ansel again. It seemed that the monk who risked his life for them had been forced to leave it deep in their memories.
The rain is getting heavier and heavier.
Adrian, standing in the middle of the yard, watched all this and breathed a sigh of relief.
He glanced back at Henderson and whispered: "At this point, don't let these people cause any more trouble."
"I understand, I understand." With a flattering smile on his face, Han Dessen nodded repeatedly.
Unfortunately, as soon as he finished speaking, he was interrupted by a burst of rapid footsteps.
“Look, look.” A young mountain man suddenly pointed at the branches outside the yard and shouted.
Outside the wooden fence, in the falling rain, Lalor, wearing a leather waistcoat, climbed hard with the tree trunk between his legs.
His clothes had long been soaked by the rain, and the mud had condensed into traces on his face. Only a pair of eyes were as bright as two clusters of burning flames in the rain.
Are you preparing to jump into the yard to escape? But what should his daughter do? The villagers who heard the noise raised their heads.
However, as soon as Lalor opened his mouth, the mountain people lowered their heads involuntarily.
"Brother Bryson has sent people around the road to request reinforcements from the superior order. They will arrive at the evening at the latest!" Lalor shouted towards the yard while picking up the branches.
“The rebels have less than 100 troops. It’s raining and their knights can’t do their best. We set up trench barricades around the church and we will be able to hold on until the reinforcements arrive.
I want to ask everyone to come out and go to the village church to defend our homeland and the Constitution together! "
The villagers in the yard were silent, no one responded to him, the rain hit the ground, banging like a dull drum beat.
Before the villagers could reply, , Henderson rushed out first: "You are crazy, you will be implicated by those two monks if you stay outside. "
"Is there no one? We don't need too many people, just a hundred adult men. Lalor ignored him at all and still shouted at the crowd. "You are possessed by the devil, but everyone is not." "Henderson shouted towards Lalor in the tree, "I tell you, no one will follow you today. ”
"Is there no one? Is there really no one?" There was even a hint of despair in Lalor's voice.
In this dead silence, a voice finally came from among the villagers who lowered their heads.
“But why? Isn’t it good for us to stay here?”
“Yes, this is the trouble caused by worshiping the Holy Father and has nothing to do with us.”
The voices of the villagers were hesitant and hoarse, but in this seemingly weak inquiry, Lalor seemed to hear something else.
"Brother Ansel has already said that the incident in Mason Parish was instigated by someone behind the scenes, and the Holy Father will promise to give you a reasonable explanation." He tried his best to speak loudly.
Countrymen, you look at me and I look at you. There was a bit of wavering in the eyes. Henderson stopped him immediately: "He is in the same group as the Holy Father Worshipers. Of course he said so. Why should we believe him?”
“I have a fifteen-year-old child. If Brother Ansel hadn’t braved the storm to get the medicine, she would have died.” La, hugging the tree in embarrassment. Lore's almost broken roar reached everyone's ears clearly.
“She finally survived. I hope she lives in a country where monks are willing to brave wind and rain to get medicine for the mountain people, rather than a country where priests only make money through the sacraments!”< br>
“Do you believe in a man who works hard for us, or a man who holds a whip and forces us to hand over food?”
“Do you believe in a person who is willing to provide wages for labor, or in a person who forces us to work for free?”
“If the mountain people abandon such a good person, then I ask you, who else will come? "How about helping the poor and desperate mountain people?"
The mountain people who had lowered their heads raised their heads one after another. The mist-like rain wetted Lalor's hair, but his face As red as fire.
The firelight in the yard illuminated his face, like the white light reflected on the crossbar that night.
"If you think a person who harvests food for us, finds a way to make money for us, and cares about our lives from the bottom of his heart is a bad person, then you can stay here."
< br>
"Seeing that the man who works hard for you, who lays the bed for you when you are sick, and who seeks welfare for you falls into the hands of robbers and bandits, then you just stay here."
In Henderson and other armed As the farmer yelled and cursed, Lalor stepped on the branches under his feet, pulled the branches with his right hand, and actually stood up on the swaying tree.
He widened his eyes and let out a low growl like a wild beast: "Stay here, stay here, wait for the storm to pass like a coward."
"Open the door, the world will come next. , it’s still the same as before!”
“If you don’t finish harvesting your wheat, it will only be snatched by others, and if you don’t finish harvesting the grain, it will only be stolen by others, and no one will do justice to you!”
"You are short of money and have a famine. You are about to starve to death. No one will support you with wool in one hand and silver coins in the other!"
"After your children got the disease, everyone just I will stand by and watch, no one will pick up the medicine for you anymore!”
"After your children are made into wine, others will only lament their bad luck, and no one will be able to redress your grievances!"
Unconsciously, the leaden gray clouds Only the sound of rain and Lalor's roar were left between the pale manor.
“If you don’t want to open the door to this world, then come with me.”
He gasped for breath, and even glanced at the farmers with their heads raised in the yard with sad and pitiful eyes. Without a word, he jumped off the branch and disappeared behind the wall.
The cold wind with raindrops blew on the farmers' clothes. No one spoke or made any move.
They stared blankly at the swaying branches, as if Lalor was still there.
But beyond the branches, it seemed that the rural church in the distance had been engulfed in flames.
The young monk who was refined but never arrogant and the cowardly but kind middle-aged monk howled in the flames and turned into blackened bones.
Those precious wool, those yarns that were finally spun, were licked by the tongue of fire and turned into flying catkins and black ashes.
Not only Henderson, but also Adrian Knight felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere.
Under the pressure of Adrian's eyes, Henderson had to stand up, cleared his throat and shouted: "Do you really believe what he said? They have only been here a few months, not just us. , the people in Mason Parish next door have been there for decades, don’t you still believe them?”
No one responded to his words, only the crackling noise of the rain hitting the roof.
Just a middle-aged farmer wearing a straw hat sighed: "This is the first time I have seen a monk who is willing to apologize to the farmer."
The crowd that had been standing together became commotion. Old Laf shook off his wife's hand, suddenly walked out of the crowd, and walked towards the door alone.
Behind him were his wife who was crying silently and little Raph who was protecting his mother.
"Old Raph!" Henderson rushed forward angrily, stretched out his hand to stop him, his face full of anger, "Your brother has got madness, you have it too?"
< br>"I owe him a favor, he returned the spinning wheel to me."
Pushing away Henderson's hand, Laf Laf walked out of the yard in front of the main house.
A few more farmers came out right after Old Laffer, and Henderson asked the same question, and received a variety of answers.
“The Sickle Brothers will thresh grain for my family for free, and I have to return the favor.”
“They help me buy and sell spinning threads for free, so I have to go there no matter what.”
Henderson was choked He was speechless, his face flushed, and he turned to look at the idle men and armed farmers standing on the edge of the main house: "Stop them! What are you doing standing still?"
But these idle men and armed farmers Nong just stood there, no one moved.
They exchanged glances with each other. No one wanted to take the risk. These people were the shrewdest and the most discerning.
With this atmosphere and this situation, who dares to stop it?
In desperation, Henderson could only look at Adrian helplessly.
Adrian's eyes changed inexplicably from shock to anger. After a while, he breathed out: "Let them go and seek death!"
One leads two, and two One led three, and finally the public farmers left the yard in groups.
Their pace was slow but without hesitation, like a turbulent and quiet stream flowing in an unknown direction.
In the wind and rain, no one spoke, no one looked back.
No matter how much Henderson tried to dissuade and block them, he still couldn't stop them from moving silently.
The autumn wind blew past Adrian's frown and livid face. He looked at the empty courtyard and didn't know what to say.
At this time, apart from the armed peasants, there were only about a hundred old, weak, sick and disabled people left in the knight's main residence, as well as the adult farmers who stayed to take care of them.
The rain wetted Adrian's cloak, and his whispers seemed particularly cold in the wind and rain: "Kill them all... It's okay."
(End of this chapter)