Chapter 33: White Robe
"Where are you taking me?"

Despite his body aches and even a low-grade fever, Horn still maintained a certain level of sanity.

After all the torture during this period, his other skills did not improve much, but he made great progress in keeping calm.

"Master Sheng Sunzi, we are going to a meeting." A man with a pointy nose, with a forced smile, led the way and explained.

"I haven't had time to introduce myself yet. I am your aide-de-camp, Grampwen."

"Meeting, what meeting?" Horn asked in a hoarse voice, coughing.

"You'll know when you get there."

In this way, Horn was held by two strong men and walked through the monastery's brick and stone corridors, rose gardens and vineyards without touching the ground. He walked up the spiral stairs and came to the gatehouse of the Gulag monastery's wall.

At this moment, a small shed was built on the gatehouse with a wooden frame.

The shed was surrounded by white cloth and had no roof, so the gloomy daylight could illuminate the faces of everyone present.

In the middle of the shed, there was a round table with a brazier on it.

What's the point of setting up a fire pot in the autumn?
There are about ten people here, but they are clearly divided into two factions.

One group was led by a red-bearded man. Most of them had ferocious faces and wore wrinkled and dirty aristocratic dresses.

The other group was led by a middle-aged man in a leather cloak whom Horn had seen before. He seemed to be called Madeleine.

There were only three or five people behind him, most of whom were only wearing linen robes, but they were starched and very clean.

"Holding a meeting here?" Horn asked puzzledly.

"Welcome, Your Highness, the Chosen Saint Grandson. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am your loyal servant, Townley Model."

After performing a standard chest-touching salute, Tang Li showed his big white teeth and said, "The palace is so simple, and it's really my fault that you have to endure it."

"Ahem, I'm sick and can't stand the cold. If you have anything to say, please tell me as soon as possible." Horn pretended to cough twice and put on a weak posture.

"Yes, sir." Tang Li walked forward with a smile, helped Horn to sit down in front of the brazier, and stood beside Horn.

"Today, I invite you all to come here to witness one thing, that is - the election of the Pope."

"Ahem, ahem, ahem." Horn, whose butt had just touched the seat, almost jumped up on the spot. "Elect a Pope? What kind of Pope are you guys going to elect? How dare you?"

A sense of inexplicable panic crept into Horn's mind, and a lot of sweat oozed out of his forehead.

"You may ask, although our Pope Johnny VIII is old, isn't he in good health? Why do we need to elect a Pope?" Chilvis continued, and then he turned to Grampven and asked, "Do you know?"

After swallowing his saliva, Grampven had no choice but to speak loudly according to the original lines: "Because the Holy Father saw that the Pope was incompetent, he issued a flood warning. Otherwise, why would the Holy Grandson be born? And why was he born in a flood?

Therefore, I propose that we elect a new pope according to the ancient church election law and the law stated in the Gospel that God's elect choose their shepherds."

"Then who should be the candidate?" Tang Li asked in unison.

"I propose that our Chosen One, the Eye of God, the great and noble grandson of the Holy One, His Highness Horn, take up the position."

"What?" Madeleine was confused at first, but now he completely understood the intentions of this group of people.

They actually want to elect a pope themselves?
"This doesn't seem to be in accordance with the rules, does it?" Madeleine stepped forward and asked in a low voice.

Tang Li said openly: "In an emergency, we must take the necessary measures. Besides, didn't your teacher, Juanno, say that the people of the Thousand River Valley should be allowed to govern themselves, that restrictions on the people of the Thousand River Valley should be relaxed, and that the people of the Thousand River Valley should be allowed to become bishops?
If we now directly create a pope from the Thousand River Valley, isn't this a huge support for your teacher?"

Madeleine was not a good speaker. After being retorted by Tonley, she was speechless and could only stand there in astonishment.

"No, even though I am the grandson of the Holy Father, I am a sinner. How can I be the Pope?"

"Being the Pope means you have to bear the sins of everyone. As the grandson of the Holy Father, you should be immune to all diseases. You got such a serious disease, isn't it because you redeemed us?"

“No, no, no, no…” Horn sat there and waved his hands repeatedly, “I am a mortal. I am just sick.”

What the hell? The Pope? Is he crazy?
Does the Chosen One have to be the Pope? Isn't it the intention that the Chosen One will rise in the church step by step and gradually become the Pope?

Will people recognize the Pope you chose?

"Come to think of it, isn't the title 'Chosen Holy Grandson Pope' a bit too long? How about we call him the Emperor?" "No!" Horn immediately objected.

"Since Master Sheng Sunzi has said that we cannot call him the Emperor, then let's follow Master Sheng Sunzi's wishes and call him the Pope!"

"I did not mean that……"

Before Horn could finish, he heard Chilvis yelling behind him, "The weather is cold, why is the Chosen Saint Grandson still wearing pajamas? Come on, put on some more clothes."

Horn only felt his shoulders sink, and a white robe with crooked gold threads embroidered on the collar and cuffs was already draped over his body.

Although the material and pattern were the same as those of a monkey, Horn recognized at a glance that it was the style of the Pope's vestments.

He had seen it in icons and frescoes.

"You, don't hurt me!"

Horn was horrified and quickly twisted his body, trying to throw the white robe off his body.

But the two young men once again pinched him on the left and right, and the white robe seemed to be stuck to him and he couldn't get it off no matter how hard he tried.

"The Pope is in trouble. It's probably because his head has caught a cold. Put a hat on the Pope!"

The next second, Horn's eyes went dark and a heavy hat fell on his head. At the same time, the two people who were holding him let go of their hands.

Horn didn't expect them to let go, and he almost fell down the moment his feet touched the ground.

Fortunately, someone nearby handed Horn a crutch to help him hold on to the ground and avoid falling.

Behind him, Chilvis threw white straw into the brazier, and a puff of white smoke rose.

Seeing the white smoke, the bell in the nearby bell tower immediately rang, attracting the attention of the villagers who were already gathered in front of the gate tower.

Tang Li pulled open the white cloth surrounding the shed in great tacit understanding, finishing off this small combo.

"Look, it's white smoke. A new pope has been elected."

"Look! The one wearing the golden crown, the white robe, and the crozier is our pope, isn't he?"

"Celebrate, folks, the chosen Pope of the Thousand River Valley has been born!" Tang Li stood on the monastery wall and shouted loudly.

"Great!" The refugees below immediately began cheering under the leadership of several supporters.

"Holy! Holy! Holy!"

Hearing the cheers and looking at the jubilant villagers, Horn almost fell off the gate tower.

At this moment, no matter how calm he was, he couldn't remain calm.

What on earth are you doing, you bunch of insects? What kind of secret party are you? You are causing a lot of harm to people, you bunch of secret party!

Now Horn understood that among this group of people, only the three leaders were still sane, and most of the others were not mentally normal.

These are most likely just to make him take the blame!
The remaining villagers, deceived by the church's policy of keeping the people ignorant and the secret party's superstition, are either crazy or stupid.

Pope? Still Pope?

If Horn had a strong army and millions of people under his command, with his knowledge and ability, what would be wrong with him really being called the Pope?

The Pope is the one with the strongest military force.

But now they only have five or six hundred people, including two or three hundred young and strong men, and they are short of weapons, logistics, and manpower.

Apart from anything else, the Archbishop of the High Castle could just send out a few hundred night watch guards to make this group of people disperse.

In this case, calling him the Pope...

Archbishop Gymnostic was ecstatic, what a tremendous achievement!

Are you really not undercover agents sent by Bishop Gaobao?

(End of this chapter)