Great time travel

Chapter 20. The Angel Comes with Cat Ears

March 1348, South of France, Port of Marseilles
The bright and splendid spring light once again fell on Provence, a land full of romance, but it could not remove the haze in people's hearts.

Even though they are bathed in the warm sunshine, the hearts of most people are as cold as an ice cellar—although the vegetation, birds and beasts are thriving, human beings, the spirits of all things, are falling down in thousands, like winter The ants died one after another. .

Since January of this year, the god of plague called the Black Death has swept across this land. Wherever he went, there were corpses and people cut off. Moreover, the epidemic is still intensifying as the temperature rises.Especially in Marseille, where the Black Death first landed, this city with a population of about 8 actually carried out [-] corpses in just one month!And in the next month, people continued to die in pain with dark spots all over their bodies.

(Don't underestimate this population size. At that time, Europeans mainly stayed in the countryside, and the cities were quite small. More than 2 people were considered metropolises. The largest Venice had only 20 people, London had only 5 people, and Paris had 15 to 18 people. Marseille, with a population of 8 and [-], was already the second largest city in France at that time—although Provence had not yet fully integrated into France at this time, and the Marseilles at that time did not necessarily consider themselves French.)
Facing the unprecedentedly severe plague, the doctors and priests of this era were all helpless, and they couldn't even find out what the source of the plague was.

(Modern people certainly know that the Black Death is the plague, but Europeans in the Middle Ages knew nothing about it, and it took hundreds of years to confirm it.)
Compared with overwhelming and ensuing deaths, the more terrifying problem lies in the collapse and confusion of people's hearts.

In fact, large-scale deaths have never been uncommon in human history, but if they die in wars and massacres, the survivors will work hard to survive and take revenge, and at the same time naturally vent their resentment on the murderer and the enemy; if If they died of famine, the hungry people would do whatever they could to get food to fill their stomachs, and cast their rage on those rich people who hoarded food, drove up food prices, and were rich and unkind...

However, in the face of this unprecedented plague called the Black Death, although relatives, wives, children, and friends fell one by one, the surviving human beings could not find anyone to hate-the rich are as precarious as the poor. Both wealth and wealth are meaningless in the face of death... Facing such a death of "everyone is equal", people become hysterical and extremely vulnerable in despair, and they don't know where to vent their resentment.The medical knowledge of this era is still unable to correctly determine the cause of the disease, but the terrified people need to find an explanation for the disaster, so that they can get rid of the boundless despair.

So, under this unfortunate external pressure, some inner catharsis naturally appeared in this city...

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"……woo woo woo woo--"

As the sun gradually rose, in front of the long-silent cathedral in the Port of Marseilles, the loud trumpets finally sounded again.

A moment later, six heavily armed soldiers with halberds in their hands, long swords in their waists, and cloaks with a cross pattern on them walked out of the church's open copper-clad gate, and dragged out a ragged figure with shambling steps.

Although the current Marseilles are empty, the square in front of the church is still full of thousands of Marseille citizens who came to see the excitement. The spectacle of human misery is indeed a stimulating entertainment.

Seeing the guy in the ragged linen shirt being escorted out, a commotion broke out in the crowd of onlookers.Everyone was shaking their fists, booing and swearing at this criminal, former gentleman who had just been accused of being a witch:
"...Look! That guy is an evil wizard! He is the one who colluded with the demons in the east and brought this plague!"

"...He is a member of the Rhode Island Hospital Knights in name, but in fact he is secretly raising evil cats and practicing blasphemous witchcraft!"

"...God! A wizard who sneaked into the Knights of the Hospital?! Is this guy sent by Satan to destroy the world?"

"...Oh! You damned ghost! Accept your retribution and go to hell!"

"...Kill him! Chop him up! Burn this blasphemous bitch!"

……

Amidst the roaring and tsunami of people, Knight Li Wei walked barefoot on the cobbled square with the infinite malice that seemed real. The armor and accessories that once belonged to him had already been stripped away by the jailer. Wearing only a tattered linen shirt, his hands and feet were heavily shackled, and a thick chain stretched from the collar around his neck to the hand of the soldier in front of him.

After only one day, he was no longer a respected knight lord, but an evil "wizard" that everyone can punish!
——Although Lord Li Wei actually really wanted to be a savior, and he has really started to put it into action...

No matter how excited the citizens in the square were, the six soldiers continued their work silently. They roughly dragged Li Wei onto the pyre, tied the heinous heretic wizard to the stake with iron chains, and then struggled to lift him up. Heavy oil barrels pour expensive grease on these firewood.

While they were preparing for the stake, a bald priest stood up, holding a scroll of documents, and read the indictments of Knight Levi to the citizens of the city—under normal circumstances, the Inquisition had no right to judge a noble without authorization. But the Bishop of Marseilles is planning to do something special this time.

According to the parchment, the Knight of Levi was accused of dealing with the devil, using human sacrifices in exchange for magic power to perform witchcraft, concocting poison from frogs, snakes, and scorpions, and then releasing poison into the air.This has led to the current great plague. In addition, he also raises monsters named cats in the manor, and feeds the cats with human flesh, thus summoning evil spirits...Because of these crimes that sound absurd and funny, he was sentenced to death.

But the citizens of Marseilles did not raise any objections to this, only fanatical abuse and ridicule—although everyone knew that the plague was first transmitted from that group of Genoese merchant ships, but in this warm atmosphere On the execution ground, no one intends to expose the truth in public.

This kind of situation that is almost crazy in common sense is exactly the attitude that the so-called "model Christians" of this era should have. Like the previous "witch hunts", this heresy interrogation is just a good show of bullying. The cruel execution of the so-called "wizard" is really a wonderful performance that can make them temporarily forget the pain in the eyes of these poor and hungry civilians.Pushing this "sacred ceremony" to a climax and enjoying it is also a proof of your own devout belief.As for whether the accusation is true or not, it is something that no one will care about at all.

But at this moment, the fire torture also has the meaning of a pressure relief valve-the horrible Black Death destroyed cities, tore apart families, and made loved ones abandon each other in a very short period of time.No doctor can cure it, no power can resist it.But people still get angry, they get crazy, they get scared, they cry, and they want to do something about this disaster.If this kind of madness accumulated over time cannot be effectively channeled, the city will become a powder keg, and as long as an occasional spark bursts out, it will be wiped out in a devastating explosion.

Therefore, the church needs to introduce a "suspected criminal" to bear all the sins, and use his blood to free people from despair and rage. , just like the animals slaughtered during sacrifices.

In the process of reading the crime, more and more people got the news, walked out of the house, and poured into the square, on the roof, on the tree, on the balcony, on the shoulders of people... Citizens crowded everywhere to watch the excitement.Such a noisy scene is just like the grand occasion of beheading at Caishikou in the Chinese Qing Palace Opera.

——Human beings are the most complex creatures on this planet. The benevolent sympathizer and the cruel murderer are often two faces of the same person.

Finally, the lengthy indictment was read out, and the time was approaching noon.The bishop of Marseilles, who had been closed for many days, wore his most luxurious brocade clothes, and appeared in front of the citizens again. He first made the sign of the cross, and then held a torch with his own hands, and lit the pyre under Li Wei's feet.

As the raging flames ignited, the people who had been excited for a long time fell into madness for a moment. They cheered, jumped, and applauded, thankful that they had the opportunity to appreciate such a rare grand event, but no one sympathized with the unknown. Helping the prisoner, paying attention to his pain and struggle, there is only one bloody word circling in everyone's mind - "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Seeing himself falling into a sea of ​​flames, the gagged Li Wei began to struggle desperately, but the thick iron chain tied him to the pillar and he couldn't move...Deep despair and fear surged into his heart, but he couldn't help himself. Immediately end the pain, and can only accept the reality of death step by step...

At the same time, the bishop of Marseilles rubbed his hands and watched the prisoner engulfed in flames casually.As the leader of this tragedy, he certainly knows very well that the plague will not end even if he burns this guy who has been accused of being a wizard, but at least he has given people a reason to deceive themselves: the root cause of the disaster has been wiped out up!So that they feel that everything around them still has hope of getting better - that's enough!
As for what will happen in the future... Only God really knows.

He pouted, and was about to turn around and go back to the church... However, at the next moment, an unexpected change occurred in the square:

Almost without warning, a burst of magnificent music, as smooth as a clear spring, without losing its majesty and sanctity, sounded very abruptly.

At the same time, the bright golden light far surpassing the scorching sun in midsummer also lit up over the square, making everyone unable to open their eyes.

Although the person illuminated by this light couldn't see anything, the bishop immediately realized that something unexpected seemed to have happened!
Then, he heard an incredible term.

"...Angel! It's an angel! An angel has descended!!!"