Serena sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of my favorite castle hall, the sunlight reflecting a hazy dreaminess through the rough frosted glass, she wore a fashionable pointed silk hat, a few strands of silky hair scattered between her temples, her fluttering eyelashes decorated the entire facial contour more and more vividly, and the silhouette of her side face blended with the warm light behind her.

"Come here!" Gently opening her lips, she opened her arms and smiled softly.

The fat nurse, who always likes to sleep, put a round little boy on the ground covered with a thick velvet blanket, the little baby is learning to walk, and he can't stand up on his own, he staggers and falls down after staggering two steps, and snorts in pain, and then stares at the big eyes of the water and prays for the help of the nurse, but the mother sitting on the chair clapped her hands and encouraged him again:

"Don't be afraid, come to Mommy."

The little boy recognized his mother's voice, and although he spent most of his life comfortably in his mother's arms, he had a natural closeness to the beautiful woman in front of him, and the kinship of blood was like an invisible thread that tied the strange and alienated people of the world.

The little boy crawled hand and foot in the direction of his mother, humming a toothy language that no one could understand, he clenched his fat little pink fist, and knocked the ground while crawling, as if this could make him full of strength.

"Oh my little Martin, oh God, look how cute he is!"

Serena lovingly picked up her son and put a lip mark on his face: "My little Martin must grow up to be a brave knight like his father." ”

The mother has infinite love and longing for the child, because it is the flesh of her heart that falls, at this time I am like an outsider, just quietly gazing at the true interaction between mother and child, as a man, is there a happier moment than this?

Suddenly!

A black shadow quickly rose from the ground in the corner of the room, its face blurred but exuding a hideous and terrifying aura, dangerous!

I screamed, but Serena, who was immersed in happiness, couldn't hear it!

The black shadow grabbed her smooth neck and slowly tightened it, and Serena was strangled with bruised muscles and bloodshot eyes, unable to escape the black shadow's control no matter how much she struggled.

"Uh...... Ah......h

She let out a painful moan in her throat, and waved her hand with all her strength, hoping that the fat nurse would quickly take her son away, but unexpectedly, the nurse smiled and picked up one of Little Martin's feet, and pulled cruelly under Serena's frightened gaze, and the child cried in pain, but she tore harder.

"Die. Go to hell! ”

The nurse roared like crazy, and gradually turned into a green-faced and fanged demon, with black festering wings growing from her back!

"No!"

I threw myself down and fell to the ground, a clear pain on my scalp, and the things in front of me staggered and shifted, slowly becoming reality.

"My lord, are you having nightmares again?"

Luo Luo looked at me with concern: "Get up and wake up, I've tossed several times this night." ”

I smiled wryly and rubbed my head, my hands were slimy, probably broken and bleeding.

"yes, the bags under my eyes are falling straight down."

When the thoughts are endless, it is tantamount to a nightmarish existence, and sometimes the obsession is too deep, and it is often not a thing to be happy about.

"Are you feeling better?" His face looked much more rosy than yesterday.

"Minor injuries and illnesses are fine."

Kohler pretended to smile easily, for fear that I wouldn't believe it and stretched his arm hard: "Look, it's okay for a long time, it won't affect the bow." ”

He mischievously posed with a bow and arrow: "If I can't shoot accurately in the future, the bull will definitely laugh at me with this, and I must not give him a chance!" ”

I knew Kohler was trying to amuse me: "That thing...... I'm worried that your body won't be able to eat, after all, it will have to be bumpy for a long time. ”

His wounds healed slowly and needed to be recuperated.

"How can I say so much, I have suffered more serious injuries than this before, and now I am not alive and kicking?"

He spread his hands indifferently: "You go and do your own business, and I will help take care of the rest, and when the matter is completed, we will meet according to the agreement." ”

Kohler said, patting his chest in a smug manner, which hit the wound right on the wound, making him grin in pain, and his facial features were almost twisted together.

Outside, the sky was bright, but the sun had not yet fully displayed its power, hiding under the horizon and dressing up shyly, the sky and the earth were filled with a vague haze, and the noise of people and horses gradually sounded, and the castle came back to life, waking up with the city.

"Why is it so noisy?"

Kohler asked with a frown, of course, his orange-peeling expression was most likely caused by a dull ache in his chest.

I pouted to express the same confusion as he did, the room was in the innermost part of the corridor, so there was no window open, and the fireplace was hot, but it was stuffy.

"Knock, knock."

A short and long knock on the door was quick and powerful, a signal from my own people, and I walked over and pulled the latch, and Reyek flashed in lightly, placing the food on the tray on the table:

"I didn't do anything in the kitchen when I got up early, I'm afraid you're hungry, so I'll just bring something first."

One by one, he laid out the dry bread, the pudding left over from last night, the cold roast chicken, and a few slightly deflated olives.

"That's all I found...... The fat pig in the kitchen was carefully hidden, and there was nothing in the cupboard except for a little scraps, damn it! ”

"What's going on out there? It's so lively in the morning. ”

I peeled off the skin of the dried fruit, hesitated for a long time and couldn't eat it, so I simply threw it aside.

"I'm preparing for the execution ground, and I'm going to cut people later."

He replied nonchalantly, "The one we discussed yesterday." ”

I broke the dry bread and soaked it in the wine, watched the red wine slowly soak through the white fibers with a very visual impact, and said lukewarmly: "It's easy to find for the dead ghosts." ”

Reyek didn't seem to hear me, he must have been hungry, and he was eating quite happily when he had brought us food, and his mouth was full of stuff.

"Knowing that I was going to cut people today, the people who came to see the excitement gathered early in the square, living a lifeless and boring life every day, and the bloody scene of cutting people was much more exciting than killing cattle and sheep or something."

He bites the bone stick of the roast chicken, desperately smits the liquid bone marrow, and can talk and laugh about the details of the killing, and the only one who can feast on it is the rough and savage northern man.

"Now you hear the noise, the prisoner is being kicked by the soldiers, this is a lynching from the Viking Age to the present, the deserter must cover his head and let all his comrades kick before being executed, indicating that he is no longer a respected Viking warrior, this practice saves the face of the deserter's family, the living still have to live, I am afraid that it will be difficult to raise his head to be a man for the rest of his life with this black cauldron on his back, and everyone does not know whether their comrades died in honor or did a shameful deserter, It's always good to have a brotherly affection in your heart. ”

"You Normans...... There's a way to do things. ”

This is a bit of a humanistic concern, and I nodded approvingly: "While there are many people outside, I'll go out to do something." ”

"No, it's too dangerous!"

Kohler and Reyeke vetoed almost at the same time, and the two looked at each other awkwardly, and Kohler tilted his head to signal the other to speak first.

"You also said that there are many people and there are many people, and there may be enemies lurking in it."

Reyek waved his fist very firmly: "You are their key target, in case something goes wrong......"

He paused, his eyes moving back and forth between me and Kohler, his voice as small as a mosquito humming, "Who can afford it?" ”

It turned out that I was afraid that I would be responsible, so I raised my eyebrows with tears and laughter.

"Get me a hooded robe, you see, no one will notice in the crowd."

I gestured with my hood over my head: "I'm going out to find someone, he's an important part of the plan." ”

“………………”

Reyek slurped and finally didn't say anything more, and Kohler furrowed his brow in acquiescence.

By the time he had put on his robes and buried his whole face in the shadow of his hood, Rejek had already obtained permission from Duke Richard, and when he was waiting at the entrance of the corridor, he saw me from a distance, and immediately found an excuse to support the soldiers guarding the door, and at the same time pointed to another corridor that led to the floor where the servants lived, and at the end of the corridor there was a small unguarded door for the servants serving in the castle to carry food and dump garbage.

The small square of the castle was bustling with people, and two duke's own soldiers with shields on their backs escorted the condemned prisoner with his head covered through the crowd, and the Norman warriors next to him booed and cursed, angry at the shameful deserter in their midst.

The overheaded prisoner struggled desperately, but the duke's personal soldiers in charge of escorting him were like two iron locks, cutting off his hands, even if it was a distance, I could still feel the deep despair and fear of this ghost for the dead, he could not defend himself after his tongue was pulled out, and he could not immediately end the pain, and he had to accept the reality of death step by step, I prayed for him with a cross in my hand, this is how to be a human being, nothing more than falling from one despair to another.

The people of the castle flocked into the town square outside, and more people gathered here, on the rooftops, on the trees, on the balconies, on the shoulders of people......

Everywhere crowded to see the lively ****** citizens, the noisy scene reminds me of the grand occasion of the head killing at the entrance of the vegetable market in the movie, and it is also a sight of thousands of empty alleys, in order to grab a good position to watch on the street, rich people even spend a lot of money, human beings are the most complex creatures created by God, there are two extremes in the body, the benevolent compassionate and the cruel murderer, divided and concentrated, perverted to rule the planet.

The presence of the condemned prisoner drove the people who had been agitated for a long time into a frenzy, they cheered, jumped, cheered, and rejoiced in the opportunity to enjoy the rare spectacle, but no one sympathized with the helpless prisoner, paying attention to his reaction, his origins, his family, and the bloody words swirled in everyone's minds!

"Kill! Kill! Kill! ”

I lowered my hood, hurried into the crowd, and walked in the opposite direction with great difficulty, accidentally stepping on someone's foot, who yelled angrily, but saw that I didn't say anything back, and the novelty of the guillotine attracted him even more.

The people behind kept hugging forward, trying to get closer to see the truth, the front row that was knocked down suffered countless black feet, crying dad and shouting mother, couldn't get up, and saw that there was going to be a stampede, fortunately, a pair of well-dressed Norman warriors opened a path to the guillotine in the crowd, giving the fallen a chance to get back up.

The condemned prisoner was already frightened to learn that he was completely unconscious, his legs were as weak as overcooked noodles, and all his strength was pressed on the two duke's personal soldiers who were holding him, and the excited crowd reached the first emotional high, screaming excitedly one after another.

The executioner in charge of the execution, a burly warrior with a huge axe on his shoulder, with a thick beard almost all over his face, revealing only a pair of small sparkling eyes, he commanded several soldiers to tie the prisoner's feet with ropes, and he himself rubbed the blade of the dagger to make the final preparations before the execution.

After a few crazy passers-by, I finally managed to reach the back of the line, the air was instantly fresh and open, and there were mostly elderly people and women with children who came to join in the fun, and there was no strength to push and shove, and there was no adrenaline-pumping mania.

I first determined the location of a small grocery store I had seen when I came that day, and then searched for the corner where the beggar king Houdini, who had been basking in the sun, from memory.

Ever since the Normans occupied ******, the bustling town square has been a memorable sight in the memory, with shops closing, occupants moving away, gardens withering, and no benefactor.

Beggars are rarely seen in the area, but the ownerless houses become the domain of thieves and homeless.

The crowd erupted in cheers again, and I looked back to see two strong men hanging the condemned prisoner upside down with ropes, and the executioner tore through his clothes, showing his white breasts, like a dried salted fish waiting to be disemboweled.

Strange to say, I have seen quite a lot of hideous corpses still do not look at the live skinning of cattle and the beheading of the execution ground, and always feel that it is a naked crime not to give them a chance to fight to the death, and to arbitrarily manipulate their lives.

"Are you looking for me, friend?"

A voice rang cold close to my ears, stimulating the hair on the back of my neck to burst crispy, and I reflexively touched the short knife in my arms, but my arm was pressed by the owner of the voice.

"We're all friends, so why bother?"

It's Houdini! I relaxed and breathed a long sigh of relief, and glared at him angrily: "Won't you say hello to the same person well?" ”

He spread his arms and looked helpless on his dirty face: "Didn't I say hello properly?" You must have a ghost in your heart, right? ”

Houdini's last sentence seemed to mean something, and the two fell silent.

The crowd's screams again resolved the embarrassment in time, and the executioner skillfully submerged the dagger into the throat of the condemned prisoner, and then slashed straight to the navel along the lines of the muscles and bones, the movement was both fast and gentle, the skin and flesh were turned over but there was no blood, and the prisoner still couldn't survive and couldn't die with a hanging breath, and the means were as sharp as that of an experienced old butcher.

In fact, the heroic warrior is no different from the butcher of the five big and three thick, and there are many souls under the knife, so he knows the direction and strength of the knife like a cow, and knows what to do to meet his intention of slaughtering.

(End of chapter)