freenovelworld Chapter 345 Church Bells
Chapter 345 Church Bells
In the Iberian coastal town, the damp and fishy sea breeze erodes the walls of the streets and buildings. Residents with sallow faces and emaciated bodies wander aimlessly in every corner, a scene of zombies.
The Grand Inquisitor, with his face covered with a mask, rested his left hand on the hilt of his long sword and held a long, worn cloth bag in his right hand. The young Inquisitor followed closely behind him with a serious expression and tense muscles.
The appearance of the judge attracted the gazes of countless lifeless and cloudy eyes. Those residents who had been sitting on the ground, hoping to reduce their energy consumption, slowly stood up and followed the two judges with their weak legs.
"What's in that bag? Is it food?"
"Not really. Food can't be packed in such a tattered bag..."
"I'm so hungry, so hungry, I want to eat something...I want to eat something..."
"You're crazy. That equipment belongs to the Grand Inquisitor. Do you want to die?"
"But I'm so hungry... I feel like I'm dying..."
"Why doesn't the Inquisition help us? Have we been abandoned?"
"Darkness...waves...tide...it's coming..."
The streets were filled with murmurings and discussions, full of strong negative emotions. The young Inquisitor lowered his head and tightened his grip on his sword and lantern.
The Grand Inquisitor quickened his pace and left the town. What was in his tattered cloth bag was not food.
Through the tear in the old cloth bag, one could vaguely see the withered and graying hair and dark blue skin. It was a male corpse, and the cause of death was starvation.
When the Grand Inquisitor and the Young Inquisitor were investigating the abnormal activities of the Terror Fish, they found the corpse that had just begun to rot in a collapsed building. The strong and pungent stench of the corpse attracted a large number of carrion-eating insects, and maggots were wriggling in the red and yellow rotten wounds.
Judging from the shape of the wound, it was caused by a rodent bite. Preliminary judgment is that the time of death is more than a week.
Out of respect for the deceased and to prevent the outbreak of unknown infectious diseases, the Grand Inquisitor packed the corpse into a body bag and planned to take it to the wasteland outside the town for burial.
After the two judges left, the gathered townspeople gradually returned to wandering aimlessly. A thin girl in a black dress with suspenders and a red flower on her chest walked quickly through the street holding a pottery jar.
He skillfully avoided the traps set on the first floor, stepped onto the creaking stairs and went up to the second floor.
"Anita, you came back late today. What happened on the way..." The girl pushed open the door of the room at the end of the corridor, and a pair of plain words mixed with concern came to her ears.
"Nothing, I just ran into those two judges on the street again. Hunter, don't you need to go out and look for someone today?"
"Those two people you call Inquisitors are hostile to me. They have memorized my face after the last battle with them. I can't go out during the day for the time being..."
"Oh, I thought you were going to give up."
Skadi, known as the hunter, withdrew his gaze from the sea outside the window and looked at the pottery jar held in the girl's slender arms.
"What are we eating today?"
"I plan to use the dried seaweed to make soup with the remaining mussel meat."
The thin girl walked quickly to Skadi and showed her seaweed, a precious food in the eyes of the locals. Her wet bare feet left a series of footprints on the floor.
"Okay, I'll make the fire and you go get some water." Skadi nodded expressionlessly, then turned around and went to the kitchen to make a fire.
"Dong! Dong! Dong!" The deep and loud bell sounds came from the church tower, the tallest building in the town, and soon echoed in every corner of the town.
The residents who were originally wandering around aimlessly heard the church bells, and their cloudy and lifeless eyes instantly ignited with crazy flames. They let out inhuman roars and rushed towards the church with twisted limbs.
"What's going on with them? What's going on with you?" Skadi, an outsider, couldn't help but frown when faced with such a strange situation.
Especially when she found that Anita also had a surprised expression, her doubts were deepened.
"There's no time to explain! Come on, Hunter, disguise yourself and come out with me now." Anita grabbed Skadi's hand and walked out the door with an anxious look on her face.
"Why? What's wrong with you?" Facing the pull of the thin Anita, Skadi did not move and still stood there.
"The Inquisition is going to allocate food, and the bell is the signal for food distribution. If you go too late, there will be nothing." Anita's sallow face flushed with excitement, and her eyes sparkled. Skadi had never seen her so excited.
......
Outside the seaside town, in the hard saline-alkali land, the Grand Inquisitor used his long sword to dig out a rectangular hole, put the body bag and the corpse flat into the hole, and took out the scripture and chanted something.
The young Inquisitor bowed his head, mourning the dead together.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The church bells were carried by the sea breeze to the newly excavated cemetery. The startled feathered beasts flapped their wings and flew out from the gloomy sky in groups.
The Grand Inquisitor interrupted his prayer and turned to look in the direction of the town with a look of surprise in his eyes. He recognized the meaning of the bell, which was the signal from the Inquisition to distribute food to the residents.
However, according to what he learned from the priest, the Inquisition had not provided any food aid to this seaside town for more than ten years. Although it sounded cruel, in a realistic sense, this place had been abandoned.
Why did the Inquisition suddenly send precious food aid to this inconspicuous little town?
"Sir..." The young judge was also surprised, and looked at his commander with questioning eyes.
"Let's finish the funeral first, and then we'll go back to the town to find out what's going on." The Chief Inquisitor took a deep look at the town's church tower and continued with the funeral prayer.
"Yes."
......
When Anita dragged Skadi to the church door, it was already surrounded by hungry people. As time was tight, Skadi casually put some ashes on his face as a disguise.
Dozens of court personnel armed with tactical long sticks kept the crowded crowd out and maintained order at the scene. The priest shouted loudly for everyone to line up and receive the rationed food one by one, and not to fight for it.
Anyone who disrupts the order will have their food distribution quota canceled on the spot.
The pressure of survival brought by hunger can drive a gentle scholar crazy, but it can also tame a crazy beast. The priest's words made the crowd that kept pushing forward regain some sanity, and they began to line up.
In order to get food faster, some people always wanted to get to the front of the line, which led to physical conflicts. However, under the threat of force from the members of the Inquisition, the conflicts did not escalate.
Twenty minutes after the bell rang, no one appeared on the street. The long wait had caused the crowd at the church door to start to feel negative.
"Silence!" the priest shouted, calming the restless crowd below. Then he looked at the people in the court, as if asking when the food distribution would begin.
"We can begin now." A dull voice came from the open church door behind the priest, followed by a group of people dressed in clothes somewhat similar to the Inquisition uniforms, who continued to carry out sealed cardboard boxes.
The carton was printed with a logo that had never been seen before. Golden ears of rice were woven into the shape of a cross, and the cross was surrounded by a zigzag black border. That was the outline of the Iberian border.