Iron Powder and Spellcasters

  Chapter 86 Kulshitahi Ritual

   It was already night.

   A bonfire was lit in the open space in front of the main house of Red Pine Manor, and figures flickered by the fire. A few goats could be seen hanging from the oak trees by the clearing, waiting to be slaughtered by the firelight.

   In a room on the second floor of the main house, Winters sat by the window and played with the steel cone while watching the busy people in the yard.

   After a few knocks on the door, Kalman walked in.

   "Bring the sniffing bottle?" Winters asked lightly. His eyes stayed on the bonfire, and he did not have eye contact with Kallman at all.

"Bring it." Kalman stood awkwardly in front of Winters and swallowed hard: "But I don't recommend waking up the injured. Although the lead bullet has been taken out, his condition is still very dangerous. Awakening from a coma is not... wise, and may worsen his injury."

   "You don't have to worry about this, you just wake him up, I have my own reasons." Winters' eyes stayed on the bonfire, and he did not have eye contact with Kallman at all.

  Kalman touched a soft nail and muttered as if to comfort himself: "I have no right to interfere with what you do with your people, but I have done my duty as a doctor."

   Lieutenant Colonel Contaire, who was unconscious, was lying on the small bed in this room.

  Kalman walked over to the bed and took out a small glass bottle. He uncorked the bottle, put the mouth of the bottle under Lieutenant Colonel Contaire's nostril and shook it.

  The stench escaped from the bottle, and Lieutenant Colonel Conter, who had inhaled the irritating gas, reacted immediately. The lieutenant colonel's nostrils expanded, his chest heaved, and with an instinctive cough, Contaire opened his eyes with difficulty.

  Kalman looked at Winters, and Winters turned his head slightly towards the door, motioning for Karman to leave.

   Contaire and Winters were the only two left in the room.

   Contaire, who had recovered from the coma, was still unconscious, and there were several painful dull sounds in his throat.

   Picking up the water glass on the table, Winters slowly fed Contel some water.

   After the dry lips and throat were moistened with water, Lieutenant Colonel Contaire regained some consciousness. He looked at the person in front of him and asked with difficulty: "Mon...

   "Yes, it's me."

   "I...I am...where?"

   "Red Sulphur Island."

   "Are we... captive?"

   "No, neither you nor I have been captured. It's safe here for the time being."

  Lieutenant Colonel Contell became more and more conscious, and he groaned and reached out to touch his abdomen.

Winters stopped Contell: "Don't touch, there is a wound. Do you remember? You were shot, the doctor here took out the lead for you, he got it clean, and the rest is up to you. already."

  Because of the severe pain, Contaire couldn't stop shaking.

   "The doctor said that the coma is a form of self-protection for you, and I asked him to wake you up."

   "Why...why?" It took a lot of effort for Contaire to spit out a word.

"Because I have some things, I must ask you." Winters's tone could not hear any emotion: "I will leave here in a few hours, if I don't ask clearly, I am afraid that I will never have a chance in the future. already."

   "You want to ask...what?"

   Winters, who was standing beside the bed, leaned down and approached Contaire's ear. His voice was not loud, but it was clear and without any emotion: "Why did you (we) assassinate the special envoy of the State Secretary of the United Provinces?"

  Contaire was struck by lightning, shocked and even overwhelmed the pain of his wound. He took a deep breath, his eyes widening involuntarily.

   After being dumb for a while, the lieutenant colonel closed his eyes and replied slowly, "I didn't kill him."

  [Second-person singular and second-person plural are one word in mainland Chinese]

   As if he had heard the funniest thing, Winters laughed, beating his chest with laughter. After laughing, he wiped his tears and said, "The two of us may not live tomorrow. Is it necessary to play this kind of word game? Is it you who did it or your comrade who did it? What's the difference?"

   "No... I am against assassination from beginning to end." Contell looked at Winters and asked with difficulty: "What about you... How did you know?"

   "Me?" Winters sighed. "Why don't I figure it out so late."

  …

  Kalman anxiously stood at the entrance of the stairs. After an unknown amount of time, the sound of the door closing came from upstairs, followed by the sound of footsteps approaching Kalman.

"The wounded fell asleep again." Winters walked over to Kalman and said softly, he took a small oiled paper bag from his pocket and put it in Kalman's hand: "If the wounded wakes up again, soak it in warm water. Give him some medicine, just a little at a time."

"what is this?"

   "Sleep aids can make people fall into a deep sleep state." Winters explained patiently. He smiled and said, "Maybe I won't need it after today, so I'll just leave it all for you."

  Kalman opened the oiled paper bag with three layers inside and three layers outside, and carefully picked up a piece of cooked herbs and observed it carefully: "It's fresh, I've never heard of any medicines that can help sleep."

  Kalman's eyes were almost on the herbs, as if he had discovered a new world.

"It's not the plants we have here, these things are special products of the New World, from the colonies of the Empire." Winters smiled and looked at Dr. Kalman, and after the other party put away the herbs, he said sincerely: "Mr. Kalman, I'm sorry for you Trouble."

  Kalman was startled when he heard this, and waved his hands again and again: "It's okay, it's okay."

   "Don't worry, I'm not trying to silence." Winters laughed: "Since you have kept your promise, I will also keep your promise. This is my apology from the bottom of my heart."

  Kalman let out a sigh of relief.

   "But in your interest, I still don't recommend that you report us immediately." Winters added.

   "No no no... How can I report you? I won't say anything." Kalman blushed and shook his head.

"Don't be afraid, Mr. Kalman. This is not a threat, it's from the bottom of my heart. Even if you go and tell us, I won't take revenge on you, not even a shred of anger at you. We broke into your home and you did Nothing is too much." Winters looked into Calman's eyes and said sincerely: "But I suggest you wait and see and prepare yourself. If I fail, you immediately hand over these seriously wounded people, and we Clear the relationship. But if I succeed... keep these seriously wounded people, you will be grateful for the Veneta."

   Ignoring Kalman's complicated expression, Winters left the main house and walked towards the bonfire.

  Karlman was stunned for a while, then followed quickly.

  The old servant Poker ran over and complained to Kalman: "Master...Our family is ruined...I can't stop them..."

   "Don't worry, Mr. Polk." Winters said politely: "I will pay you the price for what the Hurds took away."

   Hearing Winters speak, Polk shuddered subconsciously. He didn't dare to speak, but only whispered: "What about slaves? A strong slave is worth more than ten sheep..."

   "Hahaha." Winters laughed: "Mr. Polk, since ancient times, when slaves bought their freedom, they used the blood of the slave owner to pay the bill. So I think it's better to have free freedom, isn't it?"

  …

  A Heard, with a small knife, can peel off a whole sheepskin in less than ten minutes.

   "Nothing is wasted" is the principle of the Hurds.

  The blood of the sheep was well packed in wooden barrels, and the internal organs were not discarded. The Heard women washed the sheep's water, boiled it to remove the blood, cut it into thin strips and boiled it into a white and thick sheep soup.

  There is no waste of other parts, either boiled or roasted, each has its place.

   The Hurds who were unshackled were busy, and at this moment they seemed to have returned to their hometown thousands of miles away.

  The low table was connected to a long table by the campfire, and the table was full of large and small dishes, and freshly prepared ones were constantly being served.

   Winters saw that his soldiers were sitting on the ground like the Heards, eating and eating. It was not until Winters came to the side that the soldiers realized that the centurion was coming, and hurriedly stood up to salute.

   Winters called the sergeant to his side: "Let everyone eat more meat and not drink alcohol."

   Ten Commander nodded and returned to the table.

   Not far away, at the end of the long table, Andre waved at Winters.

   Also sitting with Andre was Bud and the old Heard.

Winters walked over and just sat down, and immediately a Heard woman served a bowl of white soup and a horrific plate of sheep's head - to be precise, it was boiled in half and placed together. Ripe sheep head.

   "Hurry up and eat, I'm waiting for you to be seated." Andre winked at Winters: "This is what the Hurds give to the most honorable guests."

"what?"

   At the position of the sheep's head eyes, the two holes stared straight at Winters, which doubled the pressure on Winters. He tasted the mutton soup, and the soup was very delicious. It seems that pepper is put in, and after a sip, my whole body is warm.

   "Centurion Montagne, I have another unkind request." Old man Heard, who was chatting with Bud, looked at Winters.

   "What?" Winters buried himself in the soup, his tone was neither salty nor light, for some reason he just couldn't like the old man.

   "Mustas wants to perform the 'Kurshitahi' ceremony with you." Bud helped explain: "He explained it to me for a long time, and I sounded like it was probably a oath ceremony."

   This ceremony is probably a kind of oath. "

   "It's not an oath, it's not just an oath." Elder Hurd said bluntly in a strangely accented common language: "'Kurshitahi' is a covenant witnessed by the gods, an unbreakable oath."

   "Isn't that still an oath?" Winters said as he drank the soup.

   "No...not the same." Old man Hurd wanted to continue to explain, but after thinking about it, he gave up talking with aliens: "You think it's an oath, so that's an oath."

"Do I have to cut my palms and let blood? Actually, we don't need to engage in this kind of formalism." Winters helplessly put down the soup bowl: "I am a spellcaster, I don't believe in anything, and I also hate self-harm. No matter what the ceremony is, there is no way to restrain people's will, and what I pledge to you is my honor."

"[Old language] I think it's still necessary." Bard suddenly changed to the old language and pondered: "[Old language] The other Hurds don't trust us, they just follow the orders of Mustas. If a ritual It's worth it to gain the trust of other Hurds."

   "[Old saying] I don't want to take a knife and put my own blood." Winters said angrily: "[Old saying] Go if you like it."

   "[Old language] But people are looking for you." Bud said with a smile.

   "[Old language] It is, it is." Andre was also overjoyed.

   Old man Hurd quietly watched the three warrant officers talking in old words.

   "Old man, I have something to ask you." Winters bit his head and asked: "What is the ritual you are talking about? Does it use your own blood?"

   "Yes." Old man Hurd's face was full of smile lines: "But you can also use animal blood."

  …

  The firelight reflected on Winters' face, and also on Old Man Heard's face.

   The two stood face to face.

  The old man Mustas cut his left hand and held Winters' left arm, and Winters also grabbed the opponent's left arm.

   A Heard man kneeled and offered a bowl of blood.

   Old man Heard dipped a little blood on his lips, and Winters followed suit.

  Old Heard took oil and smeared them on their left arms.

When Winters wondered what the meaning of this ceremony was, he heard Old Man Heard reciting some kind of song in a strange way of pronunciation. The flames rose between the two.

   Winters was startled and wanted to retreat suddenly, but Old Man Heard's arm grabbed his arm like a tong.

   In the next second, the flames went out, as if what had just happened were hallucinations.

   But the burn on his left arm told Winters the fire wasn't fake.

   Old man Hurd picked up a little more ashes and sprinkled them on top of their heads, before letting go of his left hand.

   The Hurds who were around the two of them during the entire ceremony suddenly picked up the horn and blew.

   "Who the **** are you?" Winters grabbed Old Man Hurd's arm and asked in a deep voice.

"They are your soldiers now." Elder Heard would not answer, but said tiredly: "They will trust you as much as they trust me. As long as you lead, they will follow even in Hellfire. Please. You kept our promise to send women and children back to our homeland when your soldiers set foot on this island."

   The old man, who looked exhausted, returned to the table with the help of the other Hurds.

   Bud and Andre from outside the crowd squeezed in.

   "It was fire just now, right? Where did the fire come from? Is it fire?" Andre was shocked.

   Winters' eyelids kept twitching: "It's fire, it must be fire, the oil will never ignite spontaneously for no reason, and it will just go out for no reason... Are there spellcasters among the Hurds?"

   Lakhill Ceremony has been divided.jpg

Thanks to the book friends who have voted for the recommendation before, thank you for the recommendation votes of justice and purity is Koala, Yanyunsan, Social Justice Laowang, writersblock, Kekkkk, Ami, please call me Xiyangyang, Yuan Hongjian, thank you everyone, sincerely grateful.

   (end of this chapter)