Eagle Byzantium

When the entire city of Antioch was swirling in a whirlpool of anger and killing, St. Andrew's Church next to the dog gate seemed particularly quiet. However, at the intersection of the church leading to various roads, there were layers of guards. The soldiers were holding torches and guarding the outside, as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

In the distance, the Pisa people's fortress has turned into a huge, constantly burning torch in the starry sky and night city. The pilgrims occupying it are distributing all the gold and silver coins Moniqueni had hoarded and deceived to the original ones. The cheers of the masters, soldiers and civilians were thunderous and never stopped.

Under the shade of the trees in the church courtyard, Gawain stood thoughtfully, while Godfrey, the Baldwin brothers, Raymond and Robert, Bohemond and Tancred's uncles and nephews were all gathered there. At the firewood door of the wing room, several soldiers came out hunched over and holding torches. The ropes in their hands led a thin man out. The guy's steps looked very stiff. When he went out, he hit his head. The door lintel let out a scream. The soldiers in front laughed viciously, grabbed the man by the collar, and pushed him in front of the lords.

"Is this a priest? It seems that the personnel with divine orders are coming out of the pig pen one after another." Bohemond said sarcastically, looking at Raymond who was also embarrassed, and then Provence The Lord stammered, "That, that was just what this person called himself. He was, indeed, one of my kitchen servants, but then, he disappeared."

"What was this man doing in Provence before all the soldiers of Christ went on an expedition? He said he was a priest. Is there any reliable proof?" Baldwin asked, akimbo.

"Dear Count Adana, this Bartholomew is undoubtedly a peasant in the countryside and a bumpkin with mud legs." A church deacon next to Raymond replied with unquestionable words.

Then, some of the lords raised their eyebrows and some shrugged their shoulders. Bohemond publicly stated that this was a waste of his precious time.

But Bartholomew, who was blind, was very excited. He trembled his hands, crawled on the ground, and sniffed the corners of each lord's robe. In an instant, he identified Raymond's position and struggled to grab it. "Saint Andre has entrusted me with divine inspiration three times in dreams, Just now, my noble lord, he was still lying on the bloody cross, telling me the real revelation - although I am blind, my ears and heart are not blind. Saint Andre used his golden Mouth, tell me that the King and the Spear of Jesus are in this courtyard.”

Raymond tilted his mouth, with an attitude between belief and disbelief. Then he saw Gawain nod, which probably meant that he was asking Bartholomew to point out where the divine spear was.

"The gables of the entire courtyard are horizontal, and then there is a huge and towering beech tree in the middle, which just forms the shape of a cross." Bartholomew said quickly, his white eyeballs rolling.

Several lords, including Gawain, couldn't help but take a few steps outside - because the place they were standing just now happened to be under the shade of the large beech tree, which originally grew in Anatolia. It was from the sub-plateau and was transplanted into this church a long time ago.

When he heard that everyone, including many soldiers, fell silent in surprise, Bartholomew grinned, although he could not see anything, and then said in a strange and mysterious tone, "I should be right. Come on...look up now."

Although they were full of disbelief, everyone still raised their heads, and then they saw that the green tree crown made a chestnut-like whine in the wind in the night sky, and its shadow and the shadow of the gable were reflected in people's eyes. In the eyes, it really looks more and more like a cross, and under the blue-gray dark sky, the tree crown with some fiery red branches and leaves really looks like it. A skinny man with a crown, "Is this the news? Don't get me wrong, it's the cry of Jesus who was crucified after bearing the sins of the world!" Suddenly, Bartholomew shouted loudly, and several timid people The soldiers immediately knelt down, and the rest of the rude and ignorant ones also knelt down one after another, constantly shedding tears, crossing themselves on their chests, and reciting the mercy of our Lord.

Now Lord Raymond couldn't bear it anymore. He snapped and covered the missing eye with his hand. Then he shouted "Lord forgive me", then walked to Bartholomew and lifted the blind man up. He stood up and said in a rough voice, "Say, say it quickly, the divine spear, the divine spear, is in this tree!"

Bohemond and Tancred, with sweat dripping down their foreheads at this moment, stared at the blind man, watching him slowly and solemnly raise his hand, with a hoarse and firm voice, "Look Next to the beech tree, there is a small shrub, which is not high but has sharp branches, just like the Holy Spear of Longinus that pierced the side of Jesus..."

When these words were spoken, even Gawain and Godfrey, who had always been calm, could not hold back. Gawain followed Bartholomew's pointer with his eyes, and sure enough, there was indeed an inconspicuous little tree growing crookedly on the edge of the big tree. The shrub, gloomy, looks like a father and son to the big tree, but it also looks like a murderous weapon plunged into the big tree.

"Call the soldiers to dig under this bush!" Gawain and all the other lords almost all shouted this sentence. Suddenly many soldiers ran to the target tree with pickaxes and shovels, and Basel Lomue suddenly broke away from Raymond , even rolling and crawling, he came to the foot of the small shrub tree. He was almost immersed in crazy joy. He kept shouting the songs in the Gospels about Jesus being pierced by a spear and being martyred. Sometimes he sang and sometimes wept. Gawain was simply They all doubt his mental state.

The sound of the shovel rustled, and the branches and leaves of the tree crowns were blowing in the wind, like sea water, with a deep echo. In addition, the entire church courtyard was eerily silent. Even Gawain could not believe this kind of thing that he had only believed in before. Scenes from bloody movies will really appear in the reality of this world: under the dark tree roots and in the mud pit, soldiers dug out a shining golden war spear.

Outside, the streets of Antioch City were still in boiling water, with no intention of stopping. However, a leading soldier holding a shovel took a breath, wiped the sweat from his face, and shouted to all the lords in surprise. To, "Your Excellencies, please take a look!"

All the lords couldn't wait to get closer, and then they and the soldiers stood around the dug-out bushes and trees, inside and outside, for several times. Then everyone swung their torches and huffed and huffed, and got together, just in time. The mud pit dug by the soldiers just now was illuminated brightly.

What Gawain saw was that in a large area of ​​soil, the remaining tree roots and plant stems were lying crookedly. In the black soil, a few toads were crawling in panic, escaping from the feet of the soldiers. , they were originally the masters of this underground.

Apart from these, there is nothing else... (To be continued ~^~)