Water Margin people

The high mass lasted until night, but the fanatical pilgrims did not disperse. They lit a bonfire outside the city and began to sing and dance around it, starting a party.

When the next day broke, many people outside the city fell to the ground, and they did not respond at all when their companions called them.

"Black spots! Black spots!"

"demon!"

"The devil hasn't left yet!"

……

Panic spread again. Those who fell to the ground had more or less black spots on their bodies. The dead had hideous faces, and those who were not dead had high fevers and were vomiting.

The pilgrims rushed outside the church to pray for the church's blessing.

The priests immediately went to check the situation, and after discovering that it was the black spot disease again, they realized that something was wrong.

"Go to the Vatican and inform the Archbishop!"

The priest immediately spoke to the believers beside him. He had a guess in his mind that a new plague was coming.

Inner city, inside the Vatican.

Eugene III was entertaining the emperor and a group of kings.

"Qi is our enemy, and the church has an obligation to deal with them, but you also know that the Arabs are our sworn enemies, and helping the Arabs is inconsistent with the church's teachings."

Eugene III looked at the emperors and kings and spoke.

It wasn't that Eugene III didn't want to issue the edict, he just wanted to delay it so that these emperors and kings would give up more interests.

"Your Holiness, if Qi digs the canal, its navy will reach Rome. Qi has its own religion - the Imperial Religion. How will the church cope with that?"

Conrad III looked at Eugene III and said that dealing with Qi was not their business. Qi wanted to conquer their territory, but Qi also wanted to conquer the believers here. Their situations were the same.

Eugene III looked at the kings and lords and saw that they were all silent. He knew that these people had already colluded with each other.

“You shall have no other gods,” says the Lord.

Eugene III held the cross in his hand and piously recited one of the Ten Commandments, which was considered an answer.

"Your Majesty the Pope!"

A cardinal walked into the hall in a panic.

Everyone looked sideways at the usually indifferent and aloof cardinal who was so flustered.

"What's the matter?"

Eugene III asked with a frown, the atmosphere he had just created was completely ruined.

"Your Holiness, a plague has broken out outside the city, and pilgrims have rushed into the inner city, hoping to enter the Vatican and pray for God's protection!"

The cardinal said hurriedly, he also wanted to calm down, but the situation was already very critical.

"What? Plague?"

Baldwin IV asked immediately. The anxiety in his heart during this period finally reached its limit. He realized that the plague was what he had always been worried about.

"It's that black spot disease. The civilians say it's a demon possession. Only the Lord can save them!"

The Cardinal said.

"Quick, order the city gates to be closed and never let those people enter the city!"

Louis VII spoke immediately. He knew very well what the plague was and that the Holy See had no way to deal with it. If civilians infected with the plague were allowed to enter the city, the plague would break out in the entire city.

Eugene III immediately led everyone to the tower near the church.

“So many people are coming into the city!”

Eugene III felt a headache when he saw the civilians rushing into the city. If so many people entered the city, Rome would be destroyed.

"We are leaving the city!" The kings and lords also realized that Rome was a place of trouble and that staying here would only bring them trouble. It would be safest to return to their own fiefdoms as soon as possible.

Just as Eugene III was about to speak, everyone turned and left. They didn't want to hear any reasons. The plague was far more terrifying than the enemy.

"Your Majesty, what should we do?"

William whispered to Baldwin IV that the most taboo thing about the plague is large crowds, and now there are millions of people gathered in Rome, and no one would be spared under the raging fire.

"Let's go back to the mansion first!"

Baldwin IV spoke.

The grand mass ended in panic.

More and more people died from the plague, and the city of Rome was closed. Although the church tried its best to provide disaster relief, it did not understand what the plague was or how to deal with it. It only knew to ask believers to pray and sprinkle holy water to exorcise demons.

Within a few days, the death toll exceeded 50,000. Panic eventually overcame faith, and devout believers began to flee, looking far away from this place of trouble.

"Your Holiness, we can't let them leave! These people may have been infected with the plague. If we let them leave, wouldn't that just allow the plague to spread?"

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Baldwin IV hurried to dissuade him.

"What else can we do? More than 10,000 believers are dying every day. If this continues, Rome will soon become a cemetery!"

A cardinal roared that the sudden outbreak of the plague really scared them. In the past few days, priests, pastors, and bishops in the church had contracted the disease and died, and even two cardinals had died.

This made everyone in the Vatican feel insecure. The death of church clergymen due to possession by demons was a scandal in itself, and the death of cardinals caused the church to lose face. If this continued, the Vatican would not be able to face anyone.

Baldwin IV had nothing to say. He did not understand the plague, and he did not know how to solve it.

Baldwin IV, with a livid face, walked in the city with his men.

The streets of the city were filled with people lying on the ground. Some had died of illness, while others were dying. The city of Rome, which had been bustling a few days ago, was now like hell.

When we arrived outside the city, we saw corpses everywhere and snakes, rats, mosquitoes and flies running rampant.

"Let's go find someone!"

After Baldwin IV finished speaking, he led his men away with a grim face.

"Your Majesty, who are we going to find?"

William looked at Baldwin IV in confusion. Their kingdom was gone, so who could take them in?
"Go to the Red Sea and find Qi!"

Baldwin IV spoke.

"Looking for Qi? What do you want to do with them?"

William was shocked. They had managed to escape back so hard. Going back to look for him now would be like walking into a tiger's mouth.

"Go to them to find a solution to the plague!"

Baldwin IV spoke.

"Ask Qi for a solution?"

William looked at Baldwin IV in disbelief. Wasn't Qi their enemy?

"The emperor of Qi should have a solution to the plague. The dynasty in that land has been passed down for thousands of years, and they are stronger than us in every way! I have a feeling that the emperor of Qi seemed to have known that the plague would break out a long time ago! So he doesn't want anything, because everything belongs to him!"

Baldwin IV spoke.

"Qi State! Could it be that they are the ones who spread the plague?"

William suddenly had an idea. It was very unusual that the Emperor of Qi didn't want them to do anything and still gave them medicine. But it made sense if he thought about it this way.

"No, although the emperor is cruel, he is not one who kills innocent people. We can see from his Western Expedition that he has never massacred civilians, at least he will not do it himself."

Baldwin IV shook his head. He still had some confidence in Sun Lei. (End of this chapter)