King Solomon's Treasure

Chapter 17 The Witch Hunt (2)
"People who are shrouded in the shadow of death are of course quiet." He said coldly.

"Are many of them going to be killed?"

"A considerable number of people did not escape death."

"It appears," I said, "that we are about to witness a brutal show of combat."

Hearing this, Sir Henry shuddered, and Good wanted to leave immediately.

"Tell me," I asked Inverdus, "are we in danger?"

"I don't know, God, but don't be afraid, I don't think so. If you are safe tonight, all will be well. Soldiers complain to the king privately."

We walked forward while talking, and came to the center of the square.There are some stools.We noticed a group of people coming from the direction of the palace.

"That's King Tewala, the king's son Skarga, and the old woman Gagul, and the others are all executioners." Inverdus pointed to about a dozen large men with a fierce look, each holding a sword in one hand. Spear, stick in one hand.

The king sat on a stool in the middle, Gagul crouched at his feet, and the others stood behind him.

"Hi, white people," he said loudly as we stepped forward, "please take a seat and don't waste your precious time. Time is tight and there is a lot to do tonight. You are on time and will Seeing a good show. Look around you." He rolled his evil one eye, scanning the procession. "Is there such a scene on your planet? Look, those people with ulterior motives are already trembling with fear. They fear the judgment of heaven."

"Get started! Get started!" Gagul yelled in a shrill voice. "The hyenas are hungry. They are howling for food. Get started! Get started!"

Then there was another silence, which seemed to foretell something terrible to happen.

The king raised his spear, and suddenly [-] feet were lifted up at the same time, stepping heavily on the ground, and the solid ground seemed to tremble slightly.After repeating it three times, a weeping voice came from a distance, singing repeatedly:

"What will be the fate of the men born to women?"

All the soldiers answered loudly with one voice:
"die!"

Soldiers in squadrons took turns singing, and finally they all sang together.I couldn't make out the lyrics until later, I just knew they were expressing different human emotions: passion, fear, joy.It began as a lingering love song, then a majestic battle song, and then a mournful dirge, before ending with a blood-curdling wail that left a lingering echo.The clearing was dead silent again.The king raised his hand to signal, suddenly hurried footsteps sounded in the team, and a group of strange and frightening figures ran in front of us.It turned out to be a group of women, mostly elderly, with white hair adorned with small fish maws, billowing behind them.Their faces are painted with yellow and white stripes, their backs are covered with snake skin, and their waists are tied with several strings of human bone necklaces, and they hold a wooden fork in their wrinkled hands.There were ten women in this group.They stopped in front of us, and one of them raised a wooden fork and shouted at Gagul who was squatting beside the king:
"Mother, old mother, here we come."

"Very good! Very good! Very good!" cried the ruthless old woman, "Isanus (witch), have you kept your eyes open? Are your eyes sharp in the dark?"

"Mother, let's keep our eyes open."

"Very good! Very good! Very good! Isanus, have you pricked up your ears? Can you hear the silent words?"

"Mother, we pricked up our ears."

"Very good! Very good! Very good! Isanus, are your senses of smell and other senses sensitive? Can you smell blood? Can you tell who has evil intentions against the king or your neighbor? , you have tasted the fruit of my wisdom, drank the liquid of magic, are you ready to execute the judgment of heaven?"

"Mother, we are ready."

"Then go, vulture, don't waste time, look at the executioners," she pointed to the murderous executioners behind her, "they have sharpened their spears. The white people from afar can't wait to see the show. Go Bar."

The witches yelled, and immediately ran in all directions like a cracked shell, and the human bone necklace around their waists jingled.They ran towards the crowd, we couldn't see all of them, we could only stare closely at the nearest witch.She walked a few steps away from the soldiers, stopped suddenly, and began dancing wildly, twirling rapidly, screaming "I smell the bad guys!" "He's nearby, he poisoned his own mother! ""I heard what he was saying, he wanted to do something wrong to the king!"

She jumped faster and faster, she went completely crazy, her lips twitched, her mouth was foaming, her whole body was shaking, and her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.Suddenly she stopped, stiff all over, like a hound that smells prey.Then she stretched out her wooden fork and quietly crawled towards the soldiers in front of her.The soldiers panicked and trembled with fright, and we watched in horror.Soon she crawled up to the soldier like a dog, stopped and pointed, and continued to crawl forward a step or two.

Then with a shriek she sprang up, and touched a tall soldier with her wooden fork, and two soldiers standing beside him seized him at once, and each took an arm, and brought him before the King.

The tall soldier didn't resist, his legs seemed to be paralyzed, and his hands had no strength at all. The spear fell to the ground with a bang, and his whole body was weak, as if he had just died.

At this time, two vicious executioners came up to him and looked back at the king, as if waiting for the king's order.

"Kill!" said the king.

"Kill!" Gagul screamed.

"Kill!" Skaga laughed dryly and echoed.

As soon as the words fell, a terrifying scene happened.One executioner raised his spear and thrust it straight into the heart of the tall soldier, while the other raised his club and struck him on the head.

"One." Tavala counted, and, in Good's words, Tavala was like Mrs. Defarge.The body was dragged a few steps away.

The tall soldier had just been killed, and another poor man was picked out.Like cattle in a slaughterhouse, soldiers were killed one by one.This person was wearing a leopard skin cloak, and he seemed to have some status.With Tevara's relentless command, another fell dead.

"Two." The king continued to count.

The horrific game continued, with hundreds of corpses piled up behind us.I've heard of Julius Caesar's gladiatorial shows, and I've heard of Spanish bullfights, but I daresay neither is half as horrific as the Cucuana Witch Hunt.At least the gladiatorial and bullfighting shows are meant to please the audience.But if you know that you will be the next to die, even those who like to create sensational events and grandstanding will avoid it.

We stood up and protested halfway, but Tewala severely stopped us.

"Let the law do the talking, white man. These bad people are bewitched by sorcery and do evil, and they should all be damned." That was the only answer Tavara gave us.

Around midnight, the manhunt was temporarily halted.The witches gather, apparently exhausted by the bloody carnage.We thought the carnage was over.But who knows it's not the case.To our great surprise, the old Gagul woman who was squatting next to the king stood up, leaning on a cane, and walked unsteadily towards the center of the square.This hideous bald old monster was bent almost at right angles, running back and forth like her vicious apprentices, singing something, and finally she suddenly rushed in front of a tall man standing at the front of the line, Touched him with a cane.There were murmurs of discussion in the team, and it was obvious that the tall man was the commander of the team.Then two soldiers came out of the team and escorted him to be tortured.We later learned that this tall man, rich and powerful, was the king's cousin.

After he was executed, the king counted to one hundred and three.Gagul started bouncing back and forth again, slowly approaching us.

"I dare say she's coming for us this time," said Goode, terrified.

"Nonsense!" said Sir Henry.

Seeing this old devil getting closer and closer to us, I was too scared to breathe out.Glancing at the pile of corpses behind me, I couldn't help shivering.

Gagul hopped toward us like a magic wand with a crooked handle, his horrible eyes gleaming with the most sinister light.

As she got closer and closer, every pair of eyes in the square were fixed on her movements, and the air was about to freeze with tension.Finally she stopped and pointed.

"Who is she referring to?" said Sir Henry to himself.

Soon all doubts were resolved, and the old woman rushed to Ambopa, that is, Agnus, and touched his shoulder.

"I smell evil in him," she screamed. "Kill him, kill him. He's a demon, kill him, or the land will bleed for him. Kill him, king. "

At this point, everyone was silent, and I jumped at the chance.

"Your Majesty," I cried, rising from my seat, "this man is your guest's servant. Whoever kills him will kill us. Is this your way of hospitality? I must protect him .”

"Jagul is the mother of witches, and since she smells the evil in him, he must die, white man." Taiwala replied angrily.

"No, he can't die," I said without giving in. "Whoever dares to touch a hair on him, I will tell him to die first."

"Catch him!" Tavara yelled at the red-eyed executioner.

The executioner immediately came towards us, but hesitated again.Agnus had already picked up his spear, ready to fight to the death.

"Stand back, you lackeys," I yelled, "if you still want to see the sun tomorrow, back off from me. If you dare to touch a hair on him, I will kill your king." I picked up The revolver was aimed at Tewala.Sir Henry and Good also raised their guns.Sir Henry took aim at the executioner, while Good deliberately aimed at Gagul.

The barrel of my gun was aimed straight at Tavara's broad chest, and he flinched visibly.

"Then," said I, "what is to be done, Tewara?"

He said: "Put down your magic tube. Since you want me to observe hospitality, then I will let him go. But you remember, I did not do this because I was afraid of you. You go."

"Fine," I replied nonchalantly, "we're tired of the carnage and going to sleep. Is the dance over?"

"It's over," Tevara said grimly. "Throw these to the hyenas and vultures." He pointed to the pile of corpses.

Soon the entire army quietly withdrew from the square, leaving only the soldiers who dragged away the corpses.

We also stood up and bowed to the king, but he was still angry and turned a blind eye to us.After saluting, we turned around and went back.

After returning to the residence, Sir Henry first lit an oil lamp used by the Kukuana people. The wick is made of palm leaf fiber, and the lamp oil is clarified hippopotamus fat."My God, I'm so sick of it," he said.

"If I was hesitant to help Ambopa rebel before," Goode interjected, "I am absolutely sure now. During the massacre, I just sat silently, helpless, watching so many People were killed. I tried to close my eyes, but I opened them when I shouldn't. Where is Inverdus? Ambopa, my friend, you should thank us, you almost died."

"I am grateful for the life-saving grace of everyone. I will never forget it. Inverdus will come soon. We must wait patiently." Ambopa replied.

So we smoked while we waited for Inverdus.

(End of this chapter)