"Your Excellency, I thought about that matter just now." "I appreciate your hospitality," said the innkeeper, "but I am satisfied with a place in your ox cart and in your window at the Imperial Park Hotel, and as for the spot in the Imperial Plaza Plaza, please take care of it." ”

"But I have to warn you first, then you're going to lose a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the spectacle." Awaichiro said.

"Tell me about it later." The innkeeper replied, "The words that come out of your mouth will make a deeper impression than what I have witnessed." I've wanted to see the killing with my own eyes several times, but I can't make up my mind, are you, sir? ”

"I," replied Jack, "I have not seen a killing, and I seem to remember a time when I was drunk, and I left school that morning and came out of Jones's shop all night." Several brothers and sisters acted in dramas, and I played the dead man who was killed. Jack was also relaxed when he saw the two singing and harmonizing.

He didn't come this time to be a savior, and when he first came, he was conveyed to Mi Qi. As long as he brings Mi Qi's results back, he will complete the task of his aunt this time, and he is not interested in caring about the rest, and he does not dare to care. Staying at the Royal Park Hotel is purely for fun.

"Just because you haven't done something at home, you can't do it somewhere else, that's not a reason. When a person travels, he has to see everything.

In the future, someone will ask you, 'How do you kill someone?' And you answer, 'I don't know.'" 'How embarrassed you were then.

It is said that the prisoner was a shameless scoundrel, and that a priest had raised him as if he were his own son, and that he had beaten the venerable professor to death with a large piece of wood.

Damn it! To kill someone in the classroom, one should use another weapon and not firewood, especially if he is a loving and kind gentleman.

Hey, if you go to heaven, can you not go to God? In hell, can you not visit the impermanence that kills you! Even if we're going to see a bullfight now.

Think of the warriors of the ancient arena where they killed 300 lions and 100 men.

Think of the crowd of spectators who gathered around the guillotine, the virtuous housewives with their daughters, and the bewitching girls, who gave their thumbs up with their snow-white hands, as if to say to the lion: 'Come, don't stay!' Come and kill that man for me, he's half scared to death. ’”

"So, are you going or not, boss?"

"Of course! Yes. I, like you, was a little hesitant at first, but the eloquence of the gentleman made me determined! ”

"Since you're pleased, let's go," said Jack, getting up, "but when we get to the Imperial Capital Square, I'd like to pass through Naiho Bridge Street." Is this okay? ”

"Walking, yes, taking a car, no!"

"Well, then, I'm willing to go on foot!"

"Do you have something important to do that street?"

"yes, I want to see something there."

"Alright, let's walk from Naihoqiao Street. We can call the ox cart to wait for us at the second corner of the Imperial Capital Square, for I am glad to pass through Naihoqiao Street, and I want to see if I have done what I have been told. ”

"Your Excellency." A servant opened the door and came in and said, "There is a man dressed like a beggar who wants to talk to you." ”

"Ah, yes!" The boss replied, "I know who he is." Would you like to go back to the living room and sit down for a while? I'll be there right away. ”

The two young men got up and returned to the living room, where the boss apologized again and went out through another door.

"Oh," Awa Ichiro asked, "what do you think of the hotel owner?" ”

"What do I think?" Jack said, apparently surprised that Avaichiro would ask such a question. "I think he's a very interesting guy, he's very particular about eating, he's been to a lot of places, he's read a lot of books, and he's 。。。。。"

"And what," Avaichiro asked.

Jack paused and smiled, "And... Let's eat. ”

Jack's opinion of the owner of the hotel was nothing more, of course Avaichiro knew that Jack could not tell him what was in his heart, and Avaichiro also knew that Jack would not express any opinion.

"But," he said, "have you noticed something very strange?" ”

"What's the matter?"

"He's staring at you."

"Staring at me?"

"Yes," Avaichiro thought for a moment.

"Alas!" Jack sighed and replied, "That's not very unusual. My clothes are very old, and my boss probably thinks of me as a countryman. I beg you, explain it to him at every chance and tell him that I'm not that kind of person. ”

Avaichiro smiled, and after a while, the boss came in.

"Two, I can now listen to the orders," he said, "and the ox carts have gone to the Imperial Capital Square, and we may go the other way, and if you are pleased, take the Naho Bridge Street." ”

"Great," Avaichiro replied.

Jack said; "I'm even more fine. Let's go, we can't waste any more time, it's half past ten, let's go! ”

The three of them went downstairs together, and the coachman had been instructed by the master to drive to Naihe Bridge Street, and the three gentlemen walked on foot like the Imperial Capital Square.

The innkeeper quickly glanced at the three windows, and the two next windows hung 'I' and 'you', the middle one was white satin, and there were no words on it.

Preparations were hurried in all directions, chairs were arranged, guillotines were erected, flags were hung in the windows, and bells were silent.

Avaichiro, the innkeeper, and Jack continued down Nahobashi Street. Jack had been wondering why the street had such a strange name, but he couldn't resist his curiosity and didn't bother to ask.

As they approached the Imperial Capital Plaza, the crowd grew denser, and Jack was covered in black robes, and no one noticed that a monster was walking around them.

They met the boss's secretary on the street corner, who had been waiting for his master there.

When the secretary saw them, he didn't speak, but nodded slightly, and led them to a small dressing room, from which there was a dormitory, and as long as the door outside was closed, the people in the room could be isolated from the outside world.

The chairs were already covered with elegant clown costumes, made of blue and white satin.

"Since you asked me to choose clothes for you," said the boss to the two friends, "I have taken these sets, and today I wear the most of them, and they are the most suitable, and they will not be on you when people throw paper money at you." ”

For the first time in Jack's life, he saw a guillotine, the knife was crescent-shaped, the edge of the knife was protruding outward, and the pendant on the knife was lighter, and the whole difference was this.

Two men sat on the movable plank where the prisoner was resting, and there was breakfast or lunch while waiting for the prisoner.

One of them lifted the plank, took a bottle of wine from underneath it, took a few sips, and handed it to his companion.

The two men were the executioner's assistants, and when he saw this, Jack felt that a cold sweat was already beginning to break out on his forehead.

A huge prison cart was placed at the entrance to the main street, with a double row of gendarmes on either side, from the door of the cart to the guillotine, and formed a circle around the guillotine, leaving a passage about ten feet wide, and around the guillotine, leaving an open space of nearly ten feet.

Everything else was filled with the heads of men and women dressed in all sorts of ways.

Many people also carry their little ones on their shoulders, so the children can see best.

The solemn scene should have been quiet, but there was a loud noise in the crowd, a noise of laughter and cheers, and it was clear that the killing was only the opening ceremony of Thanksgiving.

Suddenly, the commotion stopped, everyone turned their heads in the same direction--- the heavy doors of the prisoner cart opened.

The first to appear was a small group of gendarmes, one of whom led the way; They were wrapped from head to toe in a robe of coarse gray cloth, with only two holes in the eyes, and in their hands they all held small lighted candles, and behind the gendarmes walked a tall man.

He was naked, his face was painted with all kinds of paint, like a mask in a play, he wore a pair of cloth shorts, a sharp knife stuck in a sheath on his left waist, and a bulky ring-headed knife on his right shoulder.

Behind the executioner is the protagonist of the drama, each covered by a black hood covering his entire head; Each prisoner was framed by two heavily armed soldiers, who attached a long wooden sign behind them with their identities written on them.

According to the order of execution, it was Taro Abe who came out first, and then Pipiru.

Taro Abe walked with a fairly steady pace, while Pipiru was dragged by two soldiers.

Just seeing this scene, Jack felt that his legs were already shaking.

He looked at Awaichiro and the hotel owner; Their faces were as white as white paper, their mouths were uncontrollably open, and something white was running down the corners of their mouths, and their nostrils were wide open, as if a large lizard had sniffed its prey.

Jack quickly wiped his mouth, afraid that his mouth would be like theirs. His face showed a strange smile.

It was an expression that Jack had never seen on any other face before, like a three-year-old child looking at a freshly baked duck.

The two prisoners continued to walk forward, their faces visible as they approached.

Taro Abe was a handsome young man, about twenty-four or five years old, with skin tanned by the sun. He held his head high, as if sniffing the air.

Pipiru was a short and fat man, his face was covered with cruel wrinkles, but those wrinkles had nothing to do with his youth, he was about thirty years old, his head drooped, his legs were weak, and he could not walk at all.

"I remember," Avaichiro said to the innkeeper a little nervously, "you told me I only killed one person." ”

"I'm telling you the truth." The hotel owner replied coldly.

"But there are two prisoners here."

"Yes, but of the two, there is only one one who will die, and the other one has many years to live."

"If the forgiveness is coming, it can't be too late."

"Look, that's not coming!" The boss looked around a corner and said.

Just as Abe Taro reached the foot of the guillotine, a gendarme, who seemed to be a late one of the gendarmerie, desperately squeezed away the soldiers, walked in front of the leading gendarmerie, handed him a folded piece of paper, Abe Taro's sharp eyes had seen all this, the leading gendarmerie captain took the paper, opened it, so he raised a hand, "Thank you, God!" He exclaimed, "There is a decree of pardon for a prisoner!" ”

"Forgiveness!?" People shouted in voices of regret and regret, "Forgiveness!?" ”

Hearing this shout, Andrey. Pipiru lifted his head. "Forgive whom!" He shouted.

Taro Abe still waited with bated breath.

"Amnesty Taro Anbe." The leading gendarme said, and he handed the paper to the commander of the gendarmerie, who had read it and returned it to him.

"Amnesty Taro Abe!? No!! "Andrey. Pipiru shouted, as if he had woken up from his previous paralysis.

"Why don't you forgive him? We should die together. You've decided that he'll die with me. You don't have the right to die for me alone. I don't want to die alone! I don't want to! So he broke free of the two soldiers, and struggled and roared like a wild beast, desperately trying to break the rope that bound his hands.

The executioner made a gesture, and his assistant jumped down from the guillotine and caught him.

"What's wrong with him?" Jack asked the hotel owner if he didn't understand the words because they were spoken in the local language.

"Alas," said the boss, with a long sigh, "this man is dying, and he is mad because his fellow sufferers have not died with him, and if he could, he would tear him to shreds with his teeth and nails, and would not let him be left alone to enjoy his own life, which he was about to be deprived of." ”

"Oh, man, man! O crocodile offspring! The boss was a little agitated, and his words did not look like a businessman in the hotel business at all, but more like a philosopher, and he stretched out his hands clenched into fists into the crowd and said loudly, "I have known you for a long time." You are at your own disposal at all times! ”

During this speech, Andrey. Pipiru had been rolling on the ground with the two executioners, and he was still there shouting, "He deserves to die!" I want him dead! He must die, and I don't want to die alone! ”

"Look, look!" The boss exclaimed, "Look, in good conscience, it's strange, this man has bowed to his fate, he's going to guillotine, like a coward, it's true, he's ready to die in obedience."

Do you know why he was like that, what comforted him? It was because there was another man who was to be put to death with him; share his pain together; And die before him! He took two sheep to the butcher, and brought them to the slaughterhouse, so that one of them would know that his companion would not die, and the sheep would bleat with joy, and the oxen would roar with joy.

But man, man created by God in His own likeness, every most important commandment God has given him is to make him love his neighbor, God has given him a voice to express his thoughts, so what is his first cry when he hears his fellow kind saved! It's an insult! Glorious enough, man, you masterpiece of nature, you spirit of all things! Then the boss burst out laughing, but the laughter was terrible, and showed that he must have been suffering a great deal of pain in his heart. ---- from Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo

The fight continued, the crowd was boiling, some were laughing, others were scolding, they were targeting only one target, all against Andre. Pipiru, whether it was laughter or scolding, had only one meaning expressed in his voice, and the voice was overwhelming, "Kill him!" Kill him! ”

Avaichiro jumped straight back in fright, but the boss grabbed his arm and pulled him to stand in front of the stage.

"What's wrong with you?" He said, "Do you have pity on him?" Suppose you hear someone shouting, 'Mad Dog! You will grab your gun and kill the poor brute without hesitation, but its sin is only to bite another dog."

And this person, no one bites him, the professor just exhorted him to study hard and earn more money in the future, so that his parents, his wife and daughter can live a more decent and calm life. And he, as for him, felt that this professor had offended him and tarnished his lofty ideals, and you know what his ideals were! He said he was going to read for the rise of the whole universe! Listen, listen, what a lofty ideal!!

It was because the professor's ideals did not obey his ideals, and he wanted to destroy all those who did not agree with his ideals, so he killed his teacher, and now his hands are tied, and he can no longer kill people, but he still hopes that his prisoner will die with him, such a person, you still pity him! No, no, look, look! ”

This kind of introduction is really unnecessary. Jack was already engrossed in this terrible scene.

The two assistants had dragged Pipiru to the guillotine, and no matter how much he struggled, how he bitten, how he shouted, he had already knelt down according to him.

By this time the executioner had taken a firm foothold beside him, raised the hammer, and motioned for the two assistants to go away.

The prisoner's face twisted horribly, writhing and struggling to his feet.

But before he could stand up, the back of the executioner's ghost-headed knife had already hit his heavenly spirit cover, and with a loud sound, the man fell face down like a puddle of mud, and then the two assistants turned his body upside down and made him lie on his back on the platform.

The executioner threw away the devil's broadsword, drew the dagger from his waist, slit his throat with one sword, and jumped onto his belly, stomping violently with his foot, and with each step, a stream of blood spurted out of the wound.

Soon, the prisoner was fastened to a stake, head to foot. As a ray of fire rose from the soles of the prisoners' feet, the crowd boiled again, and people sang and danced----- Thanksgiving officially began!

Jack couldn't stand it anymore, and if it weren't for the hotel owner's support, he would have collapsed on the ground. Avaichiro stared wide-eyed, refusing to let go of every detail. Only the boss stood upright, with a triumphant look on his face, like an angel of vengeance.