NovelsAlex Chapter 2777: The Ruined Town
Chapter 2777: The Ruined Town
Chapter 2777: The Ruined Town
sunset.
The golden afterglow shines on a dilapidated medieval town, giving the ancient town a light golden coat.
The town wall has long been dilapidated, with moss and weeds growing between the stones, as if telling the vicissitudes of time.
The city gates were tightly closed and covered with rust, as if they would collapse in the wind at any time.
The two guards were so thin that they didn't even look at people passing by.
Laziness is the best way to describe them.
They even stopped extorting money.
Just live one day at a time.
The streets in the town are narrow and winding.
Most of the houses on both sides are in ruins, the tiles on the roofs have long been broken, and the walls are full of cracks, as if they will collapse at any time.
The streets were dusty and filthy, with piles of dried feces and garbage everywhere.
No one cleans it and no one cares about it.
If placed in the rural areas of Daming, it would definitely be the best compost.
During the Song Dynasty, "the dung bearers emptied the toilets for other women every day, and they never complained at all, but only regretted that there was not enough stuff in the toilets." There were often dung toilets on the roadside, which were contracted to wealthy families in the countryside.
However, even though dung heaps were so important, sanitation became poor in big cities during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
There are not many public toilets and people often relieve themselves on the roadside.
It’s not that farmers don’t want the fertilizers, but there is no one to organize them. Only a few dung heads can open toilets in the city.
But their power cannot cover the entire city.
Also, because the Ming and Qing dynasties were most restrictive and sensitive about the flow and organization of personnel, the dung heads could only work on a small scale.
So a strange phenomenon emerged: on the one hand, manure piles could be sold at a high price in the countryside, and on the other hand, villagers would curse at each other just for picking up a pile of manure.
On the other hand, in big cities, there is feces everywhere, people urinate and defecate everywhere, and the sanitation is terrible.
Even in the Dream of the Red Chamber, there is a description of Jia Baoyu, who walked across the rocks and then stood to relieve himself...
This is the serious waste of means of production caused by the lack of organization and deliberate suppression by the government.
Otherwise, why do we say that feudalism is backward? The backwardness lies in the fact that "even though it is obviously a good thing, they themselves do not allow the people to organize themselves to do it."
And so is this town.
Occasionally, a few skinny dogs would forage for food on the dung and garbage piles on the street corners, their eyes full of vigilance and anxiety.
In the center of the town, an old church stands quietly.
The church's spire has collapsed, leaving only half of the wall, and the murals on the wall have long been blurred.
The vaguely visible statue of the Virgin Mary was flickering faintly in the afterglow of the setting sun.
There was only one old priest in the church, and he was in his twilight years, just like the whole town.
The bells in the bell tower had stopped ringing long ago, and the sound of the bells no longer echoed over the town.
Only the whimpering sound of the wind echoed through the empty streets.
The old priest leaned against the bell tower, basking in the sun.
He thought again of the prosperity before the monsters came.
At that time, the town was a major commercial route.
The carriages of earls, viscounts, barons, and big merchants often passed by here and rested here.
Here, becoming a priest requires paying a lot of gold coins.
To be qualified as a guard at the city gate, one must have a well-known and prominent figure as his backer.
The city was more lively at that time, and of course dirtier.
The dung piles were all fresh, not like now, when they are all old.
Most of the town's residents were pale and thin, wearing ragged clothes.
Their faces were filled with exhaustion and despair.
They had nothing to do, gathered in groups of three or four at street corners, talking in low voices, their eyes revealing confusion and helplessness about the future.
They don't know what to do.
I can only rely on my previous livelihood to make ends meet.
Ironworking, weaving, fur…
Only some ignorant children were still chasing and playing among the dilapidated houses.
Their laughter echoed in the empty streets, as if it was the only life in this town.
The old priest sighed as he watched this scene and was about to go back to sleep when he saw five strangers coming to the city gate in the distance.
They dress strangely.
Wearing a thick cloak, a big hat and high boots.
There is suspicion all over his body.
In the past, when such people appeared, the people in the town would come out and interrogate them.
However, now, the two guards at the city gate ignored them, just looked at them a few more times, and let them enter the city gate as they pleased.
The old priest didn't bother to care.
This town is dying.
Everyone knows that the difference is only this year, next year, or the year after.
Those who are able are moving away.
Those who have no ability will just wait to die here.
When the day comes when even the farmers in the countryside stop coming here to sell their goods, it will truly be dead.
The old priest watched the five men come in, their voices coming from afar.
"This place is so dilapidated, will monsters come here?" A girl's voice came from among the five people.
"Don't talk too much, wait until I get the information." Lin Feng ordered.
"Oh, I see." The girl nodded and then looked at the ghost.
The ghost, on the other hand, had no expression on his face.
In this way, everyone walked all the way to the center of the town.
There was a run-down pub there.
It used to be a popular entertainment venue for townspeople.
But now it has long been dilapidated.
The door panels of the pub have long since rotted away and the paint on the door has long since peeled off.
Only the four words "Happiness Comes Again" were vaguely visible, flickering faintly in the afterglow of the setting sun.
There were tattered curtains hanging on the windows of the tavern, and through the gaps in the curtains, you could see the interior of the tavern.
At this moment, there are still some people here.
The interior of the pub was dark and crowded.
The air was filled with a strong smell of alcohol, tobacco, and various sour and smelly odors, making people feel like this place was a slum.
Normal businessmen will not tolerate this.
Unless it is a port tavern that entertains sailors, there will be no scruples.
Because only sailors don't care, as long as the price is cheap enough and the quantity of drinks is large enough.
At this time, several shabby wooden tables were placed casually, filled with wine bottles and glasses.
The dark yellow wine in the glass glowed under the light, and no one knew what was mixed in it.
Five people pushed the door open, and it fell off immediately.
This made Warrior No. 1, who was pushing the door, feel very troubled.
"I didn't use any force."
"It doesn't matter. It should have fallen long ago." Someone in the tavern said.
"Hahaha, it should have fallen off long ago, just like here." Someone else laughed.
Five people walked into the pub.
They looked at the tavern and saw seven or eight drunkards sleeping soundly on a table in the corner of the tavern.
There was a lone man in a black cloak in the corner, and next to him were a few homeless people.
These people did nothing but drink.
You know, it's just dusk now.
The drunkards' faces were full of alcohol and saliva was hanging from the corners of their mouths.
The pub owner was a short and fat Western man.
His withered face was covered with wrinkles, and his eyes revealed a hint of cunning, fatigue, and despair.
He was lazily pouring drinks for the customers.
His movements were skillful and quick, as if he was already used to it. But every time he poured a glass of wine, he would say, "This glass is 20 grams of copper!"
The drunks just waved him off.
The tavern owner then left.
His voice was hoarse and low, as if he was also sighing for the dilapidated state of the town.
Lin Feng walked to the counter and found the boss.
He threw out a few large silver coins.
Hope suddenly appeared in the boss's eyes and he quickly picked up the silver coin.
"Hello, dear sir, is there anything I can help you with?"
"Is there anything strange happening here?" Lin Feng said.
The boss thought for a moment and said, “If there’s anything strange, it’s what happened ten years ago.”
"At that time, a large group of rats ran out of the mayor's house. It was a busy market at the time, and a baron was buying goods at the market."
"Crazy, hungry rats attacked and ate half the people in the market."
"Since then, this place has been known as an ominous demonic place."
“The town just fell apart.”
The five of them looked at each other, and interest immediately appeared in their eyes.
Before coming here, Lin Feng used special means to determine that this world was the next world that the incense monsters wanted to explore.
Now it seems that this is likely to be true.
Because the people here are in despair, they need salvation.
At this time, it is very easy to invade with incense.
……
at the same time.
In a corner of the pub, a few ragged homeless people were sitting together, talking in low voices.
Their eyes were full of vigilance and uneasiness, as if they were discussing something secret.
One of them suddenly stood up, his eyes swept across the tavern, finally stopping on a table in the corner.
Sitting at that table was a mysterious man in a black cloak.
After the five people came in, the mysterious man did not move and continued to drink slowly.
He wore a silver mask that covered his face, leaving only a pair of deep eyes exposed.
There was a hint of indifference and mystery in his eyes, as if he was observing everything in the tavern.
Those poor homeless people finally mustered up the courage to walk towards the mysterious man.
The five people's eyes turned away immediately.
In fact, they had noticed these people from the beginning, but they did not alert them.
When the tramp approached the mysterious man, the atmosphere in the pub suddenly became tense.
Even the drunks sobered up.
Their eyes were all focused on the mysterious man.
The mysterious man looked at the homeless people.
He seemed to be looking for something from the other person.
His body leaned forward slightly, his hands crossed on the table, his fingers long and pale, as if hinting at his identity and power.
"Hello, sir, we came here because of God's...revelation." said one of the homeless people.
His words were unclear and if Lin Feng wasn't very good, he wouldn't be able to hear clearly.
"Haha, tell me, what do you want?" the mysterious man said lightly.
"We want to... kill you!" Suddenly, one of the homeless people pulled out a dirty tetanus blade and stabbed the mysterious man fiercely.
The knife pierced into the mysterious man's body as he looked at him in surprise.
"Kill you, kill you!"
"You devil!"
"It was you who released those devil rats! They ate my daughter, my father, my mother, and my whole family!" the tramp said viciously.
Everyone was stunned.
Only the tavern owner was not surprised at this.
He even hid behind the counter skillfully.
Everyone else in the tavern was horrified by what happened to the mysterious man.
They all hid in the corners, whispering and wondering who he was.
Why did the tramp kill him?
Is the other party really a devil?
"What an ignorant and stupid place." The mysterious man was stabbed many times.
But there was not a drop of blood on him.
The mysterious man just stretched out his hand and pushed the homeless man, who fell to the ground.
The mysterious man's eyes did not look at him, but at the tavern owner.
He stood up slowly and walked towards the tavern owner.
The steps are steady and powerful.
"Boss, you just told those people what happened in this town."
"But there must be more secrets hidden behind this matter. Can you tell me?"
The tavern owner stood up from behind the counter.
His expression changed slightly, and a hint of vigilance and uneasiness flashed in his eyes.
That’s right, the appearance of mice naturally has a secret.
He immediately knew that the mysterious man had bad intentions.
But he also knew that he couldn't easily reveal the secrets of this town.
The tavern owner smiled slightly, trying to ease the tense atmosphere with humor.
"Sir, there are no more secrets in our town."
"The rats have run away, the rich have run away, and here are only the poor and desperate people who are destitute."
"Haha, tell me who the mayor is and what does he do?"
As the mysterious man said this, he pulled out the knife from his body and stuck it on the counter.
The boss was stunned for a moment, then quickly said:
"Well, actually the mayor's family is a cannibal."
"His family would buy slaves from the merchants who came and went every year."
"Those slaves often didn't survive a winter."
"He actually had a deep hole in the ground at his house."
"He stored the slaves in a cave and went down to enjoy them regularly."
"The remaining flesh of the slaves was fed to the rats, which gnawed them clean."
Hearing this, no one in the tavern reacted.
They were numb, like listening to stories, rumors, and jokes from a faraway place.
"Until one day, the mayor died unexpectedly, and his son who was studying outside came back and continued to serve as the mayor."
"The son didn't know about this at home, so there was no one to feed the slaves."
"The slaves starved to death, and then the rats came out like crazy."
"They are used to eating people, so they treat the market as a restaurant."
After hearing what his boss said, the mysterious man shook his head pitifully.
"It's a ridiculous place. You need God's salvation."
"There is a statue of Buddha here. If you worship it, this kind of thing will never happen again."
As he spoke, he picked up a wooden sculpture, which was a spider sculpture.
The boss looked over and then couldn't take his eyes off it.
There was fanaticism in his eyes.
"Can this thing drive away demons?"
"Yes, where it is, the devil will not exist."
Nonsense, this is the biggest evil.
It's like there are no wolves where there are tigers.
(End of this chapter)