Chapter 25 Divine favor is like the sea, divine power is like prison

As dusk approached, the sky, which had stopped raining earlier, was once again filled with dark clouds, and faint rumbles of thunder could be heard in the distance.

Walking on the drier mountain path, all the weapons and belongings of Jilo and others were taken away.

They were barefoot, wearing only thin shirts, with their hands tied with hemp ropes, and they moved forward slowly.

Behind them, about one step away, the young soldiers of the Child Army held their heads high and chests puffed out with long spikes erect, following closely behind the two men, ready to pierce their chests at any time.

Jilo looked at the ground with a wry smile on his face. He had said that he could not be a witcher, but fate had to buy him an official position.

Walking out of the bushes and weeds that were nearly shoulder-high, a thatched cottage camp surrounding a wooden house in the middle appeared in front of Jilo.

There are about sixty or seventy of these huts, forming six long snakes that wrap around the wooden house in the middle.

Each long snake has five rows, each row consists of two huts facing each other, and there is a small path in the middle of the huts that has been weeded and compacted.

These thatched houses are basically made of mud and wooden boards, are square, and all face north and south.

In front of the wooden house, there are several long thatched huts and an obvious open space.

In the campsite arranged like six-petal plum blossoms, villagers young and old, carrying rattan baskets and firewood, walked in an orderly manner under the leadership of a few capable villagers.

In the straw hut, an old lady with arms thicker than her legs was holding a wooden spoon half a person's height and stirring the big pot continuously.

Beside the straw hut, more than twenty young men were singing hymns loudly.

Following the person in front of him, Jilo walked and stopped, and took in the entire scene.

He gradually discovered that something was wrong.

These villagers were definitely not the villagers he knew. The common behaviors of playing tricks, slacking off, and pretending to be confused were gone. These stupid villagers showed unprecedented efficiency.

They even hummed cheerfully while they worked, instead of complaining as they normally would.

Under the command and leadership of several heads of ten households, the villagers gathered in the open space in front of the wooden house like flowing water.

Perhaps in Horn's opinion, this crooked procession was not really neat, but in Gilo's opinion, it was already as neat as a night watchman.

Ji Luo couldn't help but wonder if there was the most terrifying spiritual witch here, otherwise how could she make these people obey her so well.

As a well-traveled demon hunter, he knew how difficult it was to serve these fools.

If you are kind, they will bully you in return. If you are vicious, they will say bad things and deliberately delay things.

In Gilo's opinion, they would not be so obedient unless they were beaten with copper-headed leather belts.

But if the witch of the mind existed, they would not have been able to stay until now, let alone need to be interrogated.

Then, excluding all other reasons, the remaining one, no matter how unreasonable, will be the truth.

This small village of Moulin Rouge and its villagers are all secretive members.

I thought I caught a petty thief, but I ended up poking fun at his lair.

However, Jilo was not afraid. Now that he knew they were a secret party, things would be easier.

It would only take a few words to make them treat me politely and untie me.

"I was wrong, I was wrong, I am not a devil—"

Suddenly, Ji Luo heard a sharp howl like a pig being slaughtered. He looked in the direction of the sound and found that it was the armed farmer who had called out "Everyone wait a moment" before.

He was being tied up hands and feet by several villagers and hung on a wooden pole like a pig.

"Don't make excuses, devil, do you think everyone is deaf and blind?"

"I report it! It's him. It's because of him that we didn't rescue him in time!"

“If you don’t have a firm belief, you are just as firm as not believing!”

Several refugees and public servants from the same ten households as him shouted loudly.

In the open space in front of the wooden house, the villagers, who had finished singing the hymn before dinner, did not start dinner as usual, but gathered together.

They were whispering and pointing at the hung armed peasant.

"You heard it all. Since everyone has said so, you will naturally be put on trial." Suppressing the resentment in his eyes, Horn resisted the urge to look at the armed farmer's wailing.

He raised his hands to stop people from shouting and cursing.

"I'm not a cold-blooded person." Horn rubbed his bloodshot eyes. "Everyone present here is the Holy Father's chosen people. The Holy Father's will will be manifested through you and nature... cough cough cough..."

When he was dragged away just now, something like sand grass seeds may have fallen into his throat, and Horn felt an itch in his throat. "So, ahem, in the name of the Holy Father, fifty strokes of the cane. If he lives, it means that his sins have been redeemed. If he dies, it means that he is a devil, and his family will be expelled!"

Two strong refugees stood up, holding sticks as thick as their arms. They used to be laborers and tenants of this armed farmer's family.

"Fight with all your heart." Horn glanced at him and said in a hoarse voice.

"Snapped--"

"Ugh!"

The "crackling" sound of the club hitting flesh suddenly echoed in the small open space.

As time went by, dark clouds gradually gathered, the shouting became weaker and weaker, and blood gradually dyed the tip of the stick red.

When the white bones were exposed, many timid villagers cried out.

The peasant women covered their children's eyes to prevent them from seeing this cruel scene.

Through the blood light rising into the sky, looking at Master Horn who was standing there with an unchanged expression, the original glory called divinity seemed to have a layer of red veil of fear.

Horn had to do it.

If betrayal has no cost, then loyalty is meaningless.

He didn't want to see what happened today happen again.

Facing the man whose lower body was only connected by a layer of skin, Horn turned around expressionlessly: "The Holy Father sentenced him to death and his entire family to exile."

After two seconds of silence, the villagers raised their hands in fear and cheered wildly.

The armed farmer's wife and two children were driven by the same group of people from the ten households and pushed towards the river.

They knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, and kowtowed to Horn, but it was of no use.

Driven away by other young and strong men from the same ten households with sticks, they fell into the water one after another.

Seeing the family struggling in the water, a trace of pity flashed across Jeanna's brows.

She turned her head away and didn't look at them.

Father Cosse once again stood up and said, "My Lord, Grandson, let me say something very frankly. This is unprecedented. There is no such rule to involve someone like this..."

"My rules are the rules!" Horn growled, his brain dizzy, and an unnatural blush flashed across his face. "You want to defend him?"

Father Cosse looked around, but got no support from anyone. Even the looks from others were cold.

The cold sweat on his forehead immediately came down: "No, no, no, I don't mean that. The Holy Grandson Master speaks of the Holy Constitution, which is too fair!"

The family still wanted to go ashore, but they were driven away by the same ten households with sticks, who knocked them into the water again and again.

They cried and yelled at the other people from the same ten households, and pleaded with Horn desperately.

Standing on the shore, Busak shouted to the armed peasants, "You'd better swim to the nearby hills as soon as possible. It's going to rain soon. The emperor has made up his mind. If you keep wasting time like this, you might even lose your life."

Seeing that it was about to rain heavily, the families of the armed farmers grabbed a piece of driftwood and swam to the other side.

Covering his mouth, Horn coughed violently for a while before spitting out a mouthful of thick yellow-green phlegm.

He shouted to the well-fed children's army, "Come on, follow me to interrogate the witcher and the monk."

If you want to run away and want to make a fortune through formal channels in the future, then you must never report this matter.

Especially since there is a "saint" here, if a big monster is attracted here, the consequences will be disastrous.

He had to know the details. Why did the priest from Hedge Village send someone? What went wrong?

Before he took two steps, Horn felt an extremely itchy nose and subconsciously sneezed.

As if the fuse had been activated, Horn sneezed seven or eight times in a row. Jeanna immediately walked over and held Horn's arm.

"Brother, why do you seem to be sick..." Jeanna reached out and touched Horn's forehead, "You have a slight fever. Why don't you take a rest first and go after dinner."

"No, let's go now." Horn broke free from Jeanna's arms, and surrounded by the children's soldiers, he still wanted to interrogate first.

Just when Jeanna was hesitating whether to use force and carry the holy grandson back, she saw Haze running towards her with a terrified look on his face.

"Master, Master Saint Grandson, the monk, the monk ran away!"

The sound was not loud, but Horn felt a roar in his ears.

(End of this chapter)