A short walk through the narrow streets of the Mararo Bazaar is the Capuchin Monastery with its dark dome of a mixture of Norman and Saracen monasteries.

When Alexander came again near the monastery, he saw in the distance a gypsy performing in an open field on the side of a slightly wider street.

Santa Rosaría Day is an important holiday for the Palermo people, but a good day for the gypsies, each of whom wears his best clothes and all the elaborate ornaments, and to the accompaniment of tambourines and gitlahs, the women dance wildly to attract the men and the men to show their skills, which attracts a large number of spectators and all kinds of miscellaneous coins, small jewelry, and sometimes even a silver coin thrown into the circle from the air to the applause, such a good day is always generous.

The gypsies put on a wonderful show, but it was not easy to get close and see, the streets were so crowded that almost no one could take a full step, and could only move forward in a dangling way, because it was already early summer, and they were dressed much less than usual, which certainly excited some of the swingers who liked to squeeze around women, and also made the pickpockets and thieves who had been in the area all year round even more happy, and from time to time there would be a woman scolding a man and a triumphant laugh that would follow, Or someone will suddenly find that their money bag has been touched, and then they will shout insults in various dialects.

The Mararo Bazaar is like this, it is lively but not peaceful, but it attracts a lot of people to explore it.

Alexander walked along the crowd, stopping a little as he passed a stall on the side of the road, a vendor selling all sorts of worthless trinkets, and a woman of normal appearance but rather hot was wiping a large white glass ornament with a cloth in the middle of the rattan, and she muttered quietly as she wiped it, as if complaining about who had soiled the ornament.

Alexander remembered Sophia, who was young but had a strong love for beauty, and Alexander had seen her have a treasure of wooden boxes, filled with all sorts of worthless knick-knacks, many of which were shiny things.

Women seemed to be immune to this kind of thing, regardless of age or race, and Alexander thought about looking in the direction of the monastery again, it was still early in the morning, and just after noon, he began to bargain with women for ornaments, and haggling in the Mararo bazaar was also a pleasure, and even some rich people may not be stingy with extra money, but they are still willing to enjoy this kind of back-and-forth argument.

But today the woman didn't seem to be in a good mood, and after a few words of argument she generously sold the ornament to Alexander, and looking at the back of the young man who seemed to be content to leave, the woman shook her head and muttered, "I hope he doesn't see the problem with that thing so soon, little fool." ”

"What are you talking about, Neura?" A drunken man poked his head out of the door behind the stall, and then he looked at the woman's hand and the stall with some curiosity, "Why have you already sold that thing?" ”

"Shut up, if it weren't for you idiot, how could you sell such a good thing so cheaply," the woman angrily turned around and scolded, "I've been drunk all day, I really don't know how I fell in love with you in the first place, and you messed up things, you know, that pendant could have been sold for two ginis." ”

It seems that the man who has been accustomed to the bad attitude of women laughs disapprovingly, he came out of the door and suddenly hugged the woman, pressed his bearded mouth on her neck and rubbed it around: "Forget it, isn't it already sold, there is always some unlucky ghost who is willing to pay the bill, okay, get ready, let's go to the torch prayer in the evening, I can't wait." ”

The woman struggled and glanced at the man angrily, but there was no blame in her eyes.

"By the way, who did you sell that charm to, he won't find it again, will he?" The man asked, a little worried.

"A young man from a foreign country, with a strange accent, should not be Sicilian, and I have carefully rubbed it, it will not be so easy to find." The woman said proudly, and then she looked at the crowd around her, and saw the bunchwood in the hands of many people, and she immediately got rid of the man's entanglement and began to churn around the stall, while shouting loudly, "Come and buy, the last few torches, what if there are no torches for the night prayer, come and buy it." ”

As Alexander walked down the street to a place not too far from the Capuchin monastery, he saw several familiar faces, these people looked no different from ordinary tourists, but if you looked closely, you would see that although they were also walking up and down the street, they were always wandering around the neighborhood not too far from the monastery, but because there were so many people in the market today, no one would pay attention to this.

He pressed the hat on his head so that the broad brim covered his face, which had no fancy feather ornaments, but along which there was a ring of tulle that could be lowered, which allowed him to easily approach the men without being noticed.

Time passed little by little, and Alexander was slowly eating the croquet in front of a stall, which reminded him of the famous Italian pie many years later, but now this kind of pie does not taste very good without knowing what is stuffed inside.

A few more people appeared, similar to some of the people before, most of them were inconspicuously dressed, but they were all tightly wrapped, and it was actually stupid to think about it, in such a hot day in the Mediterranean on an early summer afternoon, although it was to hide the weapons hidden in the clothes, it was a little strange to wear such a long robe.

Like some of the people who had appeared before them, they first looked at the neighborhood and then entered the monastery with only one crack open, and then the bronze wooden door of the monastery was quickly closed.

Are there almost 30 people already? Alexander was a little surprised, he didn't expect so many people to gather, although more than thirty didn't seem to be a lot, but thinking about the scene tonight, he found that things might not have gone as smoothly as he thought.

Alexander left the meatloaf stand and walked through the bustling crowd, and when he walked up to a man who had been wandering around the monastery, the man immediately looked wary.

"Take me to see Osborne," Alexander whispered a little helplessly, and at the same time he was disgusted by the professional level of the 'agent' in this era, and when he saw that the man was still dumbfounded, he simply asked, "Tell me where Osborne is, I'll go find him myself, and you guys are so stupid, even the blind can see it," After saying this, Alexander shook his head again, "But some people who are blinder than blind can't see it." ”

When he met Osborne, the tailor was standing on the roof of the second floor of a house facing the monastery gates, with a typical Saracenian flat roof and a concave and convex zigzag breastwork, which gave the tailor the illusion that he was commanding an army.

"It seems that what you said is true," said the tailor happily to Alexander, who had been worried about Alexander's inaccurate news, and now that he saw that someone had quietly entered the Capuchin monastery, the tailor's heart was finally relieved, "The palace minister will be very happy, but I want to thank you even more." The latter sentence lowered his voice.

"Don't rejoice too early," Alexander walked to the wall and looked at the black crowd below, "They won't do it so early, and tonight is the torch prayer, and that's the right time." ”

"What do you think they're going to do?" Osborne asked in a low voice, "Is it going to attack the bishopric?" ”

"I don't know about that," Alexander smiled slightly, "you should tell the palace minister that all this credit belongs to Michelangelo, who discovered the secret of the old buildings of the city of Palermo, and as for me, I only told you after hearing about these things." ”

"The stonemason?" Osborne was stunned for a moment before remembering such a person: "I have heard that the priest thinks highly of him, but it is better this way, who would have thought that it was the priest's people who would end up ruining his plan." As for you, you really shouldn't show your face too much. ”

Alexander nodded, from the moment Michelangelo got the architectural drawings confirmed, although he did not know what the priest or the French were doing, he already knew that the key to many things should be in this monastery, and more importantly, he knew some things that others did not know.

In about half a century, a huge catacomb, with nearly a thousand mummies sleeping in the Capuchin monastery, will be discovered beneath the Capuchin monastery, a thrilling discovery both now and in the future.

There are many theories about the origin of these mummies, but there is one theory that may seem somewhat absurd to later generations, but it is confirmed by Alexander's discovery in the library that the tomb was originally used to hide and study the dead of the Black Death.

This can be confirmed by the fact that a large number of various tools for dissecting corpses and mummifying were later found in the tombs, and as for the people who discovered these tools, they were only keen to imitate mummies with these tools, rather than continuing to conduct anatomical research, and it can only be said that people at that time were more interested in mysticism than rationalism.

The discovery that St. Rosalia was staying in the Capuchin monastery at that time gave Alexander enough room to think that perhaps the female saint was a pious, brave and loving person, but now it seems that she may not have another unknown side.

Alexander was somewhat curious about what St. Rosalia was doing in the Capuchin monastery in that terrible age of death, but he knew that it was not that he was concerned about now, but about the people who were using the huge catacombs under the Capuchin monastery to do what they were going to do.

Another person entered the monastery one after another, Osborne's originally excited but relaxed face slowly lost his smile, he hesitated and finally decided to send someone to send a letter to the palace minister, he began to worry about whether he had enough people in his hands.

Alexander was also a little puzzled, he guessed that if the priests and the French really colluded to compete for the position of Bishop of Palermo or even the Archbishop of Sicily, they might bribe or simply blackmail the bishopric, but the number of people used should not be too much, but now it seems that nearly 40 people have entered the monastery, which makes Alexander a little swayed by his previous speculation.

It was getting dark, and when the bell tower of the Cathedral of the Assumption rang again, a golden afterglow had already colored the whole street with magnificent colors.

Alexander shook the short sword at his waist, but his hand was held down by Osborne next to him.

The tailor shook his head at him slightly, and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "You can't go, you have more to do." ”

Alexander shook his head, his attitude was resolute, the signs that had made him believe that he had not judged wrong, and that he was about to find out now, and he was always uneasy if he could not solve the mystery himself.

At the same time, he was driven by a strong curiosity to explore the secrets of the famous tomb that would be full of mystery and gloom in later generations.

Osborne did not object again, but asked the two men to follow Alexander.

"Be careful, it's probably going to be messy tonight." The tailor muttered.

As night fell, the streets of Palermo were lit up with fires, gradually increasing and flickering in the darkness like stars in the sky, reflecting different figures and flickering faces.

It was countless people who lit the torches in their hands.

In the royal palace, the couple appeared on the wide terrace with Alfonso, and the most important torch prayer ceremony of Santa Rosaria Day finally began.