The Death Knell

"What? Old man, something very scary? Is the noble master raising taxes again? Tell us quickly."

His companion didn't even know what the hell Melksham was, but he asked about his worst fear, which was that various gentlemen were raising taxes.

In fact, the taxes that the yeoman farmers paid to the king were not much, but the tax collectors would collect some extra to line their own pockets, plus a share of the money to the church. If the farmers wanted to live on and still come to the bar to drink, they had to care about collecting taxes. this matter.

Even if you are uneducated, you still know what collecting taxes means. It means that the gentlemen are asking for money and food again.

However, the first farmer didn't speak. He just stared at the cup in front of him. A line of snot flowed from his big red nose. His eyes were a little hazy, which showed that he had drunk a lot.

But his companions also understood what he meant, and soon someone called the bartender and gave him another glass of ale. Even though it was the worst quality wine, he drank it down in one gulp, wiped the beard around his mouth, and slapped With a pantothenic burp, he began to tell:

"Their city is cursed by the devil! Since last winter, people have been dying in the city!"

"Hiss~~~"

His friends took a deep breath, which seemed to be a unified action used all over the world to express surprise. After the surprise, someone held his arm and urged:

"God bless us, please tell us carefully, how did the cursed person die?"

Not only did he ask questions, he also tried to please him and bought him a drink.

People in this era are also curious, especially when they live in a small, closed circle, so they are more curious about the outside world.

The emergence of the profession of bards is not unreasonable. They are the prototype of early intelligence dealers, using the knowledge they gained from other places in exchange for money and food.

"I heard from my aunt that the cursed people would suddenly fall down and die on the street, or die in their own homes at night. It wasn't until their corpses emitted the stink of decay that the neighbors knew what was happening next door. The dead people There are too many desolate fields uncultivated, empty wine cellars unattended, ownerless cows wandering on the streets, but the local residents are nowhere to be seen.”

He got another glass of ale, and this time the unshaven farmer didn't rush to finish it. He drank half of it first, then spit out a mouthful of bugs mixed with the foam, and then continued to say enthusiastically:

"Those people are said to be cursed because the dead people will turn black, first starting from their hands and feet, then their faces, and then their whole people, and their necks will burst open, as if they were scratched by the devil's nails in the middle of the night. Open the same!"

When he said the second half of the sentence, he lowered his voice and made it mysterious. At the end of the sentence, he suddenly became louder and startled his companions, which made him even more satisfied.

"Hiss~~~"

Of course, his fellow farmers were frightened again. Although they didn’t know where the city their friend was talking about was, the deaths of those people sounded so weird, so this time besides gasping, these farmers They all started crossing themselves on their chests and praying to God.

I can't say how religious I am, and the environment of this bar doesn't look like a church, but this is a kind of psychological comfort.

When you encounter something you don’t understand, wouldn’t it be easier to make a gesture like this on your chest and leave your destiny to God? Because everything is God's arrangement.

If God arranges for you to die, you cannot live; if God arranges for you to live, you will never die.

Thinking about it this way, is there no need to do anything?

Religion is such a thing, and the major mainstream religions are generally good at cultivating people's spirit of submission to the ruling class.

"This is not good, Slade, we'd better not eat anything."

There was chatting over there, and Hermione was translating in a low voice, but when she heard this, the orangutan, who was already a little sleepy, pulled the man's arm, and at the same time raised his hand to signal the witch to stop, and she had something to say:

"What these farmers are describing is not the invasion of demons, but the plague, the Black Death, and the symptoms of burst lymph nodes in the neck are the most severe of the three plagues, the bubonic plague. In addition to the Melksham mentioned just now, I said that this place name sounded familiar to me, but now that I think about it, wasn’t that the starting point of the Black Death outbreak in England in 1348?!”

Continuing to analyze history and intelligence, the farmer just said that the epidemic broke out there last winter, so wouldn’t it spread throughout the country in the beginning of this spring?

Coupled with the place name here, Scarborough, everyone has fallen directly into one of the areas with the worst epidemic this time. Maybe the pandemic has not started here yet, maybe people have already been infected, but Bobo doesn’t want to Eat the food here.

The Black Death is the plague. Plague is spread by rats and fleas. Who knows if the food here has been crawled or bitten by them?

But compared to his urgency, Deathstroke was much calmer. While he continued to listen to people chatting in the distance, he asked Hermione:

"Have you ever heard the song Scarborough Fair? My cutest student."

"Of course, Professor, I have listened to both the cover version by Sarah Brightman and the original version of the ancient folk song that was circulated in England."

As a top student, Hermione has a wide range of knowledge. Although music is not necessary for wizards, she can remember it after listening to it once:

“The song tells the story of a young man who asks his former lover to perform a series of impossible tasks for him, such as making him a shirt without seams and then washing it in a dry well, etc., and goes on to say that if She completes these tasks and he is reunited with her, who then gives her lover a series of equally impossible tasks and promises to give him the seamless shirt when he is done.”

"Very good. You have memorized Wikipedia and summarized the lyrics well. Do you still remember the first sentence?" Su Ming nodded and continued his teaching.

Hermione liked this kind of atmosphere very much, because Mindy's behavior before made her feel a little sense of crisis, but now she felt that the professor still cared about her the most.

So she raised her chin and recited a little proudly:

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme."

"Well, most people now say the same thing about this song as you said before. But this folk song was probably born during this period, and there is probably a dark story behind the whole song. Can you think of it? ?”

Su Ming gave a few hints, and then started asking questions, looking at his students expectantly.

The witch thought for a moment, and in the blank gazes of the other two girls, she had an answer:

"These four herbs were used by plague doctors to put into their 'beak'-shaped masks. They are mentioned repeatedly in the lyrics, which probably means that the smell of these four herbs is everywhere, which means that the epidemic is full It broke out, and there are many impossible demands in the song, so the hero and heroine are actually separated forever? Is it a soul duet? Or is it a dream or madness? "

Deathstroke rewarded her with a piece of chocolate. Hermione was indeed a good student, and her understanding of darkness was really perfect.

"You are right. These four herbs are the spices used by the plague doctor, so we don't have to worry yet. We smelled all the smells in the air when we were looking for a bar just now. Their smell has not filled the streets in the city yet. Up here, the epidemic here has not started yet, we are relatively safe, at least I, as the symbiote host, am 100% safe."

"What about me?" The orangutan pointed to his nose: "I don't even have a mask."

"Can orangutans also get plague? I really don't know. How about giving it a try this time?"

The evil-hearted Deathstroke said this, and then his eyes began to glance into the dark corners of the tavern, as if he wanted to catch a mouse.