Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 881 "Redemption"
Just when Ke Lan thought Bruno would soon be burned at the stake, a scene that was not recorded in historical documents took place in front of the square -
A group of fanatical believers with crosses hung around their necks took two men with disheveled hair to the stake.
One of the two men looked to be no more than 30 years old, and judging by his clothes, he should be an ordinary vendor. However, the identity of the other older man surprised Ke Lan a little - through the whispers of the people around him, Ke Lan learned that this bald middle-aged man was actually a lecturer in a church school.
Being a lecturer in a church school is actually just a part-time job. Anyone who can hold this part-time job must be a member of the church. However, the man who was now being taken to the stake was actually a very prestigious priest.
Is this... a traitor in the church?
This seemingly unexpected "farce" seemed to have been originally arranged by the church. The cardinal who presided over the execution ceremony nodded kindly to the group of fanatical believers, and then began to read out the "crimes" of the two men to everyone.
The merchant's crime was selling a series of "banned books" including "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres", while the priest was spreading the theory of "heliocentrism" for Bruno in the church school.
"Burn them! Burn them all!" the people began to shout again.
"Archbishop! I didn't know... I didn't know that the heretic gave me those banned books to sell!" The vendor cried out immediately, "I thought they were just some ordinary reading materials, I was deceived by him... If I knew those were banned books, I would have reported them to the church long ago!"
"It's okay." The cardinal had a kind smile on his face. He waved his hand to signal the believers who were holding the vendor to step aside. He walked forward and touched the vendor's forehead. "The Lord will give each of His people a chance to reform. They only need to do one simple thing."
A believer placed a package in front of the vendor. When the package was opened, it contained several nails as thick as fingers and a small hammer.
The cardinal still kept a smile on his face and said, "As long as you nail the hands and feet of the heretic to the stake, the Lord will forgive your sins."
After hearing this, Ke Lan's eyes twitched involuntarily. He thought the merchant would hesitate, but he did not expect that the merchant would pick up the nails and hammer without hesitation, and nodded to the cardinal with tears of gratitude, "I will do it! I will do it!"
He walked up to Bruno with a nail and a hammer. Due to the angle, Ke Lan couldn't see the vendor's expression at the moment, and Bruno's head was drooping, as if he was oblivious to what was happening on the stake.
The vendor walked behind Bruno and placed the long nail against Bruno's palm. At the moment when the hammer was about to hit him, his movements finally paused for a moment.
But it was only a moment's pause, and the hammer finally fell down and hit the tail of the spike.
The spike pierced Bruno's palm and was driven into the torture chamber.
Bruno's shoulder just twitched slightly. He was too weak, so weak that he couldn't even scream.
Only when four long nails had nailed his hands and feet to the ground did the cardinal say to the merchant, "My child, you have redeemed your sins. You can go down now."
"Praise the great Lord!" The merchant's lips were trembling and his face was extremely pale. No one knew if it was because the bloody act just now had given him too much stimulation, or because of the remaining tension after surviving a disaster and saving his life. When he walked down from the stake, he actually stumbled twice in a row, causing a low laugh in the crowd.
"Bruno, you have one last chance to repent." The cardinal turned around and said to Bruno, who was already dying.
Blood flowed from his palms and soles, along the rusty spikes to the stake, and then was absorbed by the wood fibers, leaving a dark brown mark. Bruno lowered his head and said in a barely audible voice: "I am...devoted to the truth...I will not...give in...compromise..."
The amiable smile on the cardinal's face froze for a moment. He frowned, looked Bruno up and down with some displeasure, then signaled to the congregants to bring over the priest who preached "heresy".
“Father Charles, why did even you fall into the trap of associating with heretics?” The cardinal said to the priest, his eyes filled with grief. “You should have been the Lord’s representative on earth, spreading His gospel for the Lord… But look at what you have done now…”
"I...I..." The priest named Charles thought for a long time before saying, "I...I was deceived by the evil spirit...That was not my intention! I am willing to give everything for the Lord. I hope that the Bishop...I hope that the Lord can give me a chance to atone for my sins!"
"Of course! God is merciful. Everyone has a chance to atone for their sins, even heretics are no exception." The cardinal glanced at Bruno who was tied... no, now he should be nailed to the stake, and said meaningfully, "It's just that the heretic is stubborn and stubborn. Even the Lord can only choose to purify him."
"Please...please let me purify this heretic for the Lord!" Father Charles thought for a moment and said with some difficulty.
"Of course, this is your path to salvation, Charles." The cardinal smiled with relief, and an executioner wearing a white pointed hat handed a burning torch to Father Charles.
Charles took the torch and walked to the stake tremblingly.
Bruno's chest rose and fell twice. He seemed to want to raise his head to look at the person standing in front of him, but failed in the end - perhaps because of his identity as an "audience", the voice that was originally only heard by Father Charles could be clearly heard by Ke Lan standing in the crowd dozens of meters away from the stake.
"Charles... my friend...is...is it you?" Bruno asked weakly.
"No... no, please don't call me that... I... I'm not your friend..." Charles responded, "You... are just a damned heretic, and I... I was deceived by you... that's why I..."
"Tsk..." Bruno didn't say anything else, but just sneered contemptuously. A piece of coagulated blood spurted out of his nasal cavity and fell to the ground.
"Heretic... Heretic Bruno, as long as you admit now that what you preached is wrong, you don't have to be burned to death." Father Charles lowered his voice, "This is really the last chance..."
