Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation When the sun rose, the old and bloated medieval city seemed to be temporarily reinvigorated. Amid the neighing of animals and the creaking of wheels on the gravel roads, the sunlight swept over the towering walls and towers of the city, illuminating the glittering glass panes of the bell towers, gilding the spires of the churches and castles with a layer of gold. Finally, the sunlight fell on the dilapidated, low, and disorderly slums, as if to dry out the stinkiest parts of the city, warming the stinky gutters of Trout Alley and Black Street.
Many gates in the city that had been closed overnight began to creak open. Soldiers in blue and white overalls stood in front of the inner city gate known as the "Wrangler Gate", watching the hunchbacked residents of the outer city pass through the gate respectfully to the market and the jugglers' square in the inner city to make a living. Among the crowd, one could occasionally see an exaggeratedly large caravan wobbling along the street, with gypsy women dressed in colorful clothes sitting on the roof of the caravan. The soldiers would inevitably make things difficult for these caravans, usually by asking for a few coins or taking advantage of the gypsy women. No one would say anything, because even the beggars in Trout Alley knew that these gypsies were barbaric creatures outside of civilized society. It was already a great favor from the regional bishop and the feudal lord to let their caravans enter the city. If they had not paid enough protection money, these gypsies would have been hanged outside the city as the minions of black magic.
Any difficulties they encountered in this city were actually part of the "protection money."
Lily and Hao Ren also blended into the crowd. They wore hoods and lowered their heads, pretending to be two farmers who had just entered the city from the countryside to cover up their overly obvious Oriental features. This kind of disguise was really crude, and even a dutiful soldier would be able to see the problem at a glance. However, it was obvious that there was no such dutiful soldier among the soldiers guarding the gate. They were only pretending to stand at the gate, mainly to show the majesty of the city lord, and to blackmail outsiders and small merchants who seemed to have something to gain from it.
The inner city was obviously more prosperous than the outer city, and the buildings were cleaner and more gorgeous. But in Hao Ren's opinion, this kind of evolution was limited. After experiencing the baptism of modern cities and even the scenery of a different world, it was hard for him to be shocked by the man-made buildings of this era.
Along the way, they released their mental strength to sense the surroundings. Coupled with Lily's sensitive ears, they quickly gathered the information they needed in this unfamiliar city. Their advance and retreat did not show the slightest sense of awkwardness that outsiders would have. It did not take long for them to find the destination of this trip: a small square on the edge of the inner city.
This square was obviously not a place for a celebration. Several soldiers were yawning around the square, not allowing ordinary people to approach at will. And what they were guarding was in the middle of the square: a terrible gallows and two black stone pillars. The blackened traces on the stone pillars and the buckles used to fix the ropes indicated that they were fire stakes.
The ashes around the fire stakes had been cleaned up, but there was still a man's body hanging on the gallows. The body swayed horribly in the air, a ragged linen wrapped around his shriveled and thin limbs. It seemed that he had been hanged for a while.
"Wow... No wonder there are plagues every few days," Lily whispered with her tongue hanging out. "After hanging people to death, the body would be directly hung here. By the time the body is put down, all kinds of germs would have reproduced here for 18 generations, right?"
"Showing the tortured is a way for the rulers to maintain order, at least in this era. Sometimes a prisoner will be hanged for more than ten days, sometimes even hanging on the gallows until the rope breaks naturally. But that is not usually carried out in the city."
"Of course I know this. I graduated from Peking University four times," Lily said, her mouth twitching. She pretended to tidy up her clothes while looking around. "Mr. Landlord, do you really think there are traces of witches around here?"
"Eighty percent sure."
"Didn't Madam Marie say that there were no witches arrested? The so-called rescue of witches and so on are used to fool people... "
"Hasse told me that in the Dark Age, don't believe anything the otherworldlings told you. In order to survive, they have long abandoned honesty and credibility," Hao Ren said in a low voice. "In this regard, the demon hunters are much more honest and reliable."
Lily dragged out her voice, "Oh, oh ~ ~"
Hao Ren glanced at the husky. "And Hasse also gave me a 'Credibility Ranking of Races in the Dark Age'. He asked me to compare whose words are the most untrustworthy, whose words can be trusted conditionally, and whose words are basically reliable at all times. Do you want to hear it?"
The husky maiden was fooled. "Mr. Landlord, where does the werewolf rank?"
Although she had long accepted the fact that she was a husky, she could not help but pay attention to the werewolf when it came to this kind of topic.
"The werewolf is the most trustworthy because this group of honest guys will not conspire with you. Usually, if they don't like you, they will drag you to the corner to talk about life ideals. The descendants of the vampires and the Olympians are relatively trustworthy because they care about their reputation, family glory, and so on. As long as you follow their worldview, you can figure out how to deal with these guys. And the most untrustworthy are the witches and the like, who were originally at the bottom of the hierarchy in the Mythological Era."
As Hao Ren spoke, his eyes fell on an inconspicuous floor tile in the corner of the square.
"Because they are weak, they are more unscrupulous. Because they have suddenly lost their shackles, they are more unscrupulous. It is the most difficult for them to survive in the Dark Age. So those who survive... are not easy to deal with."
There was a vague mark on the inconspicuous floor tile. The mark was probably just an ordinary crack to ordinary people, but Hao Ren knew what it was.
It was a Letta rune.
A single Letta rune had no power, so there should be more runes here, probably hidden in other corners of the "execution ground."
But Hao Ren was not interested in these runes. He just needed to confirm the existence of these runes.
"Mr. Landlord, what did you find?" Lily looked at Hao Ren curiously.
"Letta runes. The witches have been here. They may be planning to rescue their companions during the execution, but they did not know when the captured witch would be executed, so they set up Letta runes here in advance. It seems that the captured witch is an important member of their organization or group, maybe even a leader. Otherwise, witches in this era would not take such a big risk to rescue their companions. "
Lily blinked. "They seem to have a wizard helping them. What's the relationship between a wizard and a witch?"
"There are fewer wizards than witches because during the Mythological Era, wizards were used as cannon fodder by their masters. Witches, on the other hand, were not as powerful as wizards, so they stayed away from the battlefield. As a result, they became the mainstream wizards in the Dark Age," Hao Ren explained. "The inheritance system of wizards and witches is different. When the otherworldling 'gods' raised the wizards, they designed different 'teaching' programs for the different physiques of human beings. In fact, it is different human experiments. Under normal circumstances, wizards and witches would not have much interaction, but there was no conflict between them either. After the end of the Mythological Era, they all formed their own circles, minding their own business. But since they were from the same school, they would still communicate when necessary. My guess is that the place where Vivian hibernates will produce a relatively strong energy release, and this energy attracted a group of witches. They may have intended to take advantage of Vivian's hibernating place, but they accidentally exposed themselves and led to one of them being arrested. The wizard could be their external help, or he could be a passing wizard who accepted the invitation of the witches. But one thing is for sure, they knew each other before. In this era, no secret organization will accept strangers... "
Lily was a little curious. "Can ordinary people in this era also catch witches?"
"Ordinary people are certainly weaker than wizards who have mastered magic, but they are not completely defenseless. After all, humans have been dealing with the otherworldlings since ancient times. Even if humans have always been at a disadvantage, there are some ways to deal with them. These methods are usually mastered by the medieval church class and some secret exorcism organizations. Their predecessors are basically various human resistance organizations in the Mythological Era. Some of these organizations may have even received technical and even material assistance from the demon hunters. Even until the 21st century, some secret organizations are still operating in the dark, monitoring the world's supernatural forces. However, with the passage of time and the growth of humanity's positive forces, the demise of these organizations is inevitable. "
As Hao Ren talked about what he heard from Hasse and what he learned in his daily life, he slowly walked in front of the small square with Lily and left the place without attracting attention.
The soldiers guarding the square looked at the passersby lazily. Their eyes lingered on Hao Ren and Lily for a second or two, but they quickly thought that they were neither rich nor entertaining country bumpkins, so they turned their heads back.
They began to talk about the poor prisoner hanging on the gallows and the recent rumors of "black magic."
Throughout the day, Hao Ren and Lily wandered around the city. Sometimes they followed the crowd to investigate the situation in the open places, and sometimes they used their inhuman skills to sneak into places that were off-limits to civilians to collect information. They did this until nightfall.
The two disguised themselves and climbed over the city wall under the cover of night, ready to meet the mysterious witches.
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