The poor student screamed and staggered back – with an axe on his head, he looked like a funny entertainer on Halloween night more than a hundred years later. The axe split through the plague doctor's hat, the flat, heavy fur hat like a helmet blocking the most lethal force, and then the axe went down, embedded in the brass lens frames—if it weren't for the suit, the student would have died without a word.

The quickest of the doctors was Chamborence, who still had the title of Doctor and the leader of the mob, and he drew his musket, pulled the trigger, and the bullet whizzed away, knocking down the farmer who had caught up.

Sidonham was still wondering if it was a misunderstanding, and found himself running after the doctors, whose protective suits were not suitable for running in the jungle in the dark, but fortunately, many of the farmers at this time had severe night blindness, but soon, someone lit a torch, and the police officers or cowherds obviously had plenty of meat supplements, and they followed the doctors closely, constantly shouting, urging people to catch up.

The doctors were intercepted before escaping into the dense forest, a group of villagers who looked unusual, their eyes were wide open in the firelight, and it was obvious that they could still see clearly, and they only had weapons such as pitchforks and wooden flails in their hands, but hundreds of plague doctors with less than ten were really oppressive— What was particularly frightening was that many of the villagers had already contracted smallpox, their skin covered in a terrible red rash, and they spoke upside down, and looked like they were going to collapse at any moment, but they looked at Anfol with a fervent and reverent look in their eyes.

Anfore's parents were an old man over sixty years of age, wearing a hat with a narrow brim, his eyes were gloomy, he had a large hooked nose, his lips were dissatisfied, his complexion was dull, he held a halberd in his hand, the sharp blade illuminated the buttons of the waistcoat, the collar of his white shirt turned out from the collar of his round-necked leather coat, the money bag and amulet were tied around the belt, the knee-high trousers and stockings were well dressed, and the straps of the shoes were neatly dressed, and in all the light it did not look like he had just risen from bed, and then the police officers, and those who clearly had a say in the village, were sober。

Thinking of what happened after the student knocked on the door, Chamborence had already guessed that they might have cracked a conspiracy, and that this conspiracy might be directed against them, and think that these people were planning to kill the doctors that night, or the next day, or do something more dangerous, and the intended victims had already come to the door, and it was no wonder that the man's first instinct was to give someone an axe.

"We are doctors!" cried Lom, "we have been sent by the king, we have heard that you have a plague here, and we are here to help you!"

"Traitor's messenger. Old Anfuel snorted: "I'll just say why there is a plague here suddenly, it turns out that you brought it." ”

The crowd immediately stirred, there had only been two female workers who had been burned to death because they had not been infected with the plague, and it was clear to anyone here that this kind of crime could never be recognized, and at this moment, not only Lom and his disciples shouted, but even Sidonham and Marbicki also shouted, and Chamborence saw the corners of Anfor's mouth rise, and his heart sank suddenly, and immediately knew that they had made a mistake, and sure enough, old Anfors immediately shouted: "Oh my God, they are foreigners, they are spies!" At this moment, not only could the original crime not be cleared, but even a crime of treason was added.

"They are all devils recruited by Louis XIV!" said old Anfort, and then every villager in the firelight nodded, "It is to punish them that God has sent such a calamity!

"That is not quite right," denied Sidonham, "and you say one moment that it is the plague brought by the devil, and the other you say that it is God's warning to you, and I say, what is it!?

There was some truth to his words, but unfortunately they were completely drowned out in the hysterical cries of the villagers, "We are here for you! you are sick and need treatment!" Malbiqui was still desperately explaining, and Chamborence noticed that Dr. Lom had closed his mouth after a sigh - Malbicki was still a new plague doctor after all, and he hadn't seen any more mobs— And like Dr. Lom, the plague doctor who often walks in the epidemic area, when facing the threat of the plague, the most afraid is the patient who is driven to the end of the road by illness and death, and their canes are not only used to direct students and assistants to do things, but also to manipulate corpses, but also to resist the sudden outbreak of patients and patients' families, such as this situation, Dr. Lom should have also encountered it, but this time may be the worst.

The doctors were rudely ripped off their masks and robes by the villagers who rushed up. The leather coats, their hats were trampled in the mud, they were tied tightly, and the ropes were tied around their necks, and the ropes were joined together, and then one of the sons of old Anfuel, like a string of oxen, led them into the village, and this time there was no chapel for them, and the cowshed of the Anfure family became a temporary prison, and on one side of them was the restless herd, and they were hanged, and the tall Chamborence was bound the strongest, perhaps because he seemed the most threatening, or it was possible that the youngest son of old Anfuel was struck down by him。

"Wait," cried Chamborence as he saw old Anfort about to go out, "I am Albert Chambolance!", and if he was indeed a Huguenot, it would be impossible not to have heard his name.

Old Anfort heard this, and with a wave of his hand, he told everyone else to go away, and walked up to Chamborence with a torch: "Hypocrite?"

"No, I have never betrayed my faith. ”

"But you walked with a Catholic and almost killed my son for him. ”

"I don't know what the situation was like, but sir, there is a plague in this village, and both the Christians of God and we, first and foremost, are doctors – we are here to treat the sick and bury the dead...... If you are angry because of your son's injury, then I am willing to pay the price and let them go. ”

"And then let them call more of the Cultists?" "Old Anfort looked Chamborence up and down with a look that you think I was a fool, "you have disappointed me, Chambolance. I think I'll have to tell the people in Orleans that their leader is a bastard. He took another sip on Chamborant's body: "Don't be delusional, none of you can escape, whether you are a God, a foreigner, or a traitor." ”

"Don't you care about the villagers? they're already showing symptoms! They need rest and treatment!"

"Don't sway me with the words of the devil," cried out old Anfort rudely......, "this is a test of heaven! If only they were pious enough!" he proudly opened the placket so that the faint scars on it could be seen, "Look at me, these are stigmata! The angel has blessed me so that I will not be infected with the plague brought by the devil!" he saw with satisfaction that Chamboren's eyes widened.

"Hell...... Dr. Lom whispered, this is probably what they are looking for, and the funny thing is that it actually makes these ignorant people think that they are saints after giving this group of hidden Huguenots immunity to the plague.

"Don't be delusional," said old Anfort, "and by to-morrow we will burn you." ”

"How do you plan to deal with the interrogation that follows?" said Chamborence, "you don't think that the king would leave his chief physician to be left missing. ”

"Isn't it normal for the plague doctor to die in the plague?" said old Anfort, "unless they can find something out of the mud, that's the only way to do it—when the blockade is lifted, we'll go to England." ”

With that, he was gone, and took the light with him, and the barn was hot and damp, and full of foul smell, and the cowflies and other unknown insects spread on their bare skin, and they soon had innumerable bags of itching and itching.

"I think he's right. After a long time, Seadonham said.

——————

The next day, the four plague doctors and the students had the privilege of watching a most nondescript procession, and everyone knew that the Huguenots, as a derivative religion of the Calvinists in France, had many differences in doctrine and rituals from the Sect of God, but now they saw not only the icon, but also the Savior's Cross and the reliquary, and as the leader, the head and the saints of this procession, the Anfort family was able to turn a blind eye to this, Chambolance was angry at first, and then calmed down after a few minutes, and it is also thought that in these decades, a third of the Huguenots have also betrayed the faith and converted to the Sect of God, which is nothing to blame, just seems unusually ridiculous.

Except for him, the others were just ridiculous and a little desperate, they only hoped that the march would last a little longer, and perhaps someone would come to their rescue in the next moment, and old Anfort may have thought of this, and he took the Bible in his hand, and loudly cursed the demons who brought the plague, and made a terrible sentence, and the people rushed up and beat them violently— Especially those who suffered from smallpox, perhaps they thought that by striking these demons hard, the saints would see their piety and remove the disease from them.

When they were all beaten to death, they were tied to the crude stake - a tree trunk with a sharp end stuck into the ground, the bark of which had not been peeled clean, and the villagers gathered with great enthusiasm and piled straw and branches at their feet, "too bad," said Marbiki, "we will be smoked to death first, and our lungs will be filled with black ashes, and when people dissect us, they will find that our lungs are on fire." ”

"Then do you want to persuade them to dry these things first?" said Sidonham, "I wish you could, but the saint seems to know very well what he is going to do—a cowherd with more brains than a cowherd," he commented, looking at Chamborence beside him.

Chamborence also saw the trick of old Anfort, he may not understand how he is immune, but he can use this to puff his lips and tongues, like a Roman priest to bewitch those villagers, when the epidemic passes, the surviving believers are his most reliable thugs and barriers, maybe when they go outside France, he will become a real saint, maybe he is not a devout God, let alone a devout Huguenot, but it is this kind of person who can wear the brightest halo on the stage of religion- So they had to die.

The fire burned.

As Malbiki had said, the first to rise was smoke, white, grey and black, and they choked and felt a desperate burning heat under their feet, and they heard old Anvole cursing the devil and calling them the lowliest sorcerers of the group, and declaring that they would throw the remnants of their limbs into the swamp.

By this time, the doctors' eyes were completely open, but Malbiqui, who had the best hearing, suddenly heard a woman say, "...... Talk about the devil, and the devil will come when he says it. ”

In its entirety, it should be, pray to God, God may not always hear, but if the devil is on his lips, the devil will come - old Anfuel stared at the woman in horror, and she suddenly appeared in front of him with a smile and a groan, as if she had come out of the air, and the noise of the villagers was suddenly silent, yes, they could burn any "witch" as they wanted Whether she's sinful, innocent, smart, stupid, beautiful, ugly, having children or not, they're all weak anyway—so are the plague doctors, though they're usually big men they don't dare to touch— But under the impetus and prodding of the saints, they can also behave very boldly, and unlike dealing with the lonely old women in the village, these high-ranking gentlemen, even whose underwear is silk, and the feeling that life and death are in their hands are controlled by them, is incomparable to that of any bad wine or wandering girl.

But...... A woman who appears like this shows that she is not extraordinary.

Old Anfor's eldest son shouted violently, raised his musket (the one from Chamborence), and pulled the trigger sharply, thinking that he could kill the witch or hallucinate in one fell swoop, but the bullet exploded in the barrel, and the iron pieces and projectiles sprayed into his face, and his screams became blurred, and blood splattered on Old Anfor's face.

The witch waved her arm slightly, and the fire under the stake was extinguished.