The sound of artillery fire rang out all night,

The next day, Prince Meyer's Northern Army set out on its journey again.

encountered a strange thing on the road,

A chubby musician stands on a large rock on the side of the road,

Dressed in a tattered tuxedo, a dirty white shirt with a ridiculous blue bow tie on the collar, and a few pitiful strands of hair left on his bare head, he pulled the bellows of the accordion desperately with a pair of fat hands, and sang voodoo church carols in a deep bass voice, attracting many Imperial soldiers to stop and watch.

Seeing Prince Meyer passing by on horseback, the musician stopped singing, he put down his accordion, and began to reprimand in a loud voice:

"Damn Valstake, they're all ungodly heretics! When the gods of the other world come, you will all go to Hellfire! ”

The onlookers of the Imperial Army were not angry, they had long been accustomed to this, and continued to watch the excitement as if they were watching monkeys.

"This fat guy plays the violin and sings very well, but it's a pity that he's a fucking stupid cultist!" Someone commented.

Suddenly, the seemingly harmless musician pulled something out of his coat pocket and pointed it in the direction of Prince Meyer.

"Be careful, this guy wants to assassinate His Royal Highness!"

"Kill him!"

"Phew! "Two gunshots,

The stocky musician fell to the ground, only to realize that what he was holding in his hand was not a pistol, but an obsidian statue of an obsidian god from the Voodoo Church.

"Fuck, this guy is looking for his own death! It's okay, the alarm is over! ”

Two soldiers came over and stepped on their heads and bodies with their leather boots,

The musician's big hole in his chest was bleeding, and his mouth was still unrelenting, and he insulted the Emperor Valstad's family with extremely vulgar words, and after half a minute, the insults became quieter and quieter, and only a fat corpse lay quietly.

"Dead." A nurse in white said: "It's terrible, a few minutes ago the big guy listened to him play the accordion and sing, and now he is beaten to death!" ”

This was heard by Prince Meyer, who responded:

"Listening to music is a recognition of his artistic attainments, and shooting is a soldier's duty."

Then he added: "This guy has a sick brain, and he still insists on worshipping cults to this day, but he is also a brave fool, come on, wrap him in a bag, and bury him on the spot!" ”

There was no more resistance from the enemy and no more cold guns on the road, and it seemed that the other side had begun to gather forces and prepare for the next big battle.

The sound of birdsong attracted attention, and a large number of crows and vultures swirled in the sky ahead, and the officers sent more reconnaissance teams to investigate.

After a while, a light cavalry scout galloped back on horseback, his expression a little excited:

"There was no ambush, but the scene was horrible."

After a few hundred meters, the crowd finally understood why the crows and vultures were hovering over the land, but it was a horrific sight, as the scout said.

There are two rows of tall and straight poplar trees planted on the left and right of the road, and corpses are hanging from several branches facing the road, men and women, old and young, dressed differently, looking like local farmers.

The hanged corpses were quite horrible, some rotting and some fresh,

His face was blackened by the rope, his tongue was sticking out, his eyes were bulging, his stiff body and limbs were blown back and forth by the breeze, and the branches creaked and creaked, looking strange and eerie.

Almost every poplar tree has a person hanging from it, and there is no end in sight.

Prince Meyer Onassis stepped forward to take a closer look, and on the branch of the first poplar tree hung an elderly peasant woman, with a broken plank tied to her feet with fine hemp rope, on which was written in striking red paint:

"I'm an infidel, I'm supporting the Valstad invaders, I've betrayed Lord Regent, and that's what happened to me."

At this time, more reconnaissance teams came back to report:

"Report to His Royal Highness, the nearby villages are empty, we have found several survivors who are hiding, they say that the Voodoo cultists have unleashed a bloody massacre,

All villagers suspected of opposing the Voodoo Church were executed, saying that their souls were sacrificed to the Chaos Gods. ”

A chaplain stumbling to the hanged corpse in sight as he stumbled to a tree and looked at the body of a little boy hanging from the branches.

"Humane tragedy! O iniquity! The pastor wailed and said, "What a sin this is! Such atrocities! May the gods save the wretched humanity! ”

Hearing the pastor say this, many of the officers and soldiers of the Church also bowed their heads, clenched the cross in their hands, and began to pray for the deceased in silence by reciting the words of the ceremony.

Meyer Onassis whispered to the Chief of Staff:

"No God can save mankind, only we can save ourselves."

Several representatives of the local villagers came with the scouts, and one of the old men said to Prince Meyer:

"We don't dare to bury the bodies of our loved ones, there are Voodoo people secretly watching in the dark! We are afraid of reprisals! ”

The quartermaster began to distribute rations and fresh water to the poor men, and the news spread, and more and more villagers gathered, all of whom seemed to be choking on hunger, and Prince Meyer made a promise to them:

"The suffering people of Soran, now we are in charge of maintaining order in the Valstad Empire, religious vendetta is absolutely forbidden, and we will leave a part of our forces to protect the nearby villages."

After talking with the villagers' representatives, about 600 volunteers stayed behind to help the villagers.

The 112th Light Infantry Regiment was given a gloomy task to do a disturbing but obligatory job,

They had to assist the surviving villagers by putting down the poor ones who had been hanged one by one and burying them on the edge of a nearby ridge, a job that was expected to last a long time, so they simply camped on the side of the road.

Several large carts drawn by six horses approached, and the logisticians on them distributed supplies to the villagers.

The adults were given tortillas and jerky, and the children were given bread and cheese.

William Einfurt rode over and saw a dirty girl crouching on the side of the road.

She looked to be in her early teens, her body was emaciated from long-term malnutrition, her face was red from the cold, her eyes were sunken, her unkempt brown curls were mixed with grass roots, and her terrified green eyes were staring at the corpses in the trees.

"Don't look, kid, you're going to have nightmares." William persuaded. "Why don't you go to the car and get food?"

The girl did not answer, but asked, "Sir, are you a soldier of Valsta?" ”

"yes, what's wrong?"

"Forgive me for not getting too close to you."

"Why?"

The girl raised her head and looked at the young and handsome general, in fact, she especially liked this sunny and handsome big brother in her heart, but her heart was full of contradictions and fears:

"The Voodoo people told me," she pointed to the hanged man, "that this is what happens to the rebels, who are hung from a tree with a rope, whose soul is burned in the flames of Hell and whose soul is caught in close proximity to the Valstad officer." ”

"Don't be afraid, kid." William continued: "I will crush their reign of terror and restore hope to you, and those who threaten you will be punished as they deserve, I promise." ”

"Really?"

"No, look at our team, how mighty and majestic, if the Voodoo cultists dare to continue to commit atrocities, they will be beaten into a sieve by hundreds of guns."

"Sir, you look very powerful, and you are very kind." The girl seemed to relax a little, and began to approach him timidly, and stopped halfway through.

William beckoned: "Logistics quartermaster Sartre, you go to the car and get some food for this child, she is too timid to come." ”

"Yes, sir!"

William looked at the girl gobbling up, obviously hungry, "Eat slowly, little darling, don't choke." ”

"It's pathetic...... She reminds me of ...... When I first met Vera's sister......"

It was Edgar who spoke, and she had dismounted, hugging the girl in distress, not at all disgusted with her dirty clothes.

"What's your name, little one?"

"My name is Janet, ma'am, and you're so pretty."

"Oh, your little mouth is so sweet, you're so thin, eat more to grow your body, what about your parents?"

"Dead." The girl's tears fell on the bread and cheese, "I have no relatives, my home has been burned down, I have no relatives in the city, and many of my friends have suffered the same thing." ”

William and Edgar looked at each other and nodded, already made up their minds to help the children.

"Janet, how many children are there in the nearby village like you?"

The girl scratched her unkempt hair: "Hmm...... I know Jabecht Jr., Big Jim, Brother Sael, Sister Faraval...... Well, there are about twenty of them. ”

William Einfurt picked up the little girl and put her in the carriage.

"Follow my brother! Gather your friends along. ”

"Sir, where are you taking us?"

"Find you a new home, a warm, new home for the winter."

Legend of the Heroes of Valstad