Chapter 41: The Selected (Part II)

"Yo-hey!"

Longinus leaned over and looked down, seeing a face even paler than the new moon. He remembered, that was Prince Baldwin. The Prince probably hadn't seen his face yet.

He immediately shrank back. He didn't know what the situation in the tunnel was, but if the Prince shot a crossbow bolt at him, he was really afraid that the devil who led him down would laugh until the whole hell shook.

"That is Longinus." Cesar said: "My servant, I let him wait here for us."

As if echoing his words, a rope with several knots tied was soon thrown down from above. Longinus climbed down like a big monkey, helped Cesar carry Baldwin on his back, and climbed out. A few breaths later, he climbed down again. Cesar didn't refuse his kindness and lay on his back to get out of the shaft.

Baldwin was already wrapped in a blanket drinking hot red wine. Cesar glanced at it. "You are really well prepared."

"As long as you are willing to spend a few silver coins or even copper coins... no one cares if you can sleep soundly." Longinus also took out a large stack of sticky roasted cheese. The cheese was roasted and then poured with honey on the melted layer. It was a dessert that was simple to make but a bit expensive. Like hot red wine, it was something that could replenish a large amount of energy in a short time.

"Did Cesar... let you wait here?" Baldwin finally stopped trembling. He asked vaguely while eating the roasted cheese in big mouthfuls.

Longinus glanced at Cesar: "He let me pay attention to the Temple side, saying that those greedy guys probably wouldn't give up too easily."

"How is the Temple side?"

Longinus went to look at Cesar again. "Tell him." Cesar said.

"The King of Jerusalem was assassinated."

Baldwin's movements stopped. He looked at him and then turned to Cesar, whose body was tense: "Don't worry about me," his tone was so peaceful that Longinus's hair stood on end: "I am also capable of thinking. Cesar, when you touched blood in the crack of the door, I knew something big must have happened, so much so that they couldn't come to look after us—it might have been a short time, but it was also calculated by those people."

"I am the King's son. Besides the King, who is before me." Baldwin's eyes flashed with crystalline light, but his speech was as hard as an iron hammer hitting an enemy, every word like a hammer hitting the enemy: "You are right, that is a group of maggots whose cruelty exceeds Jephthah, whose greed exceeds Judas Iscariot, and whose malice exceeds Jezebel (Note 1)! Devils! Excrement!"

"Please don't be too sad," Longinus hurriedly added: "When I rushed over, knights had already rushed out shouting, 'The assassin is caught, the King is safe!' The scene was also orderly, and there was no crying."

He had been staring tightly at the Temple. When the building on the west side of the Temple suddenly rose with fire and erupted into a fierce quarrel, he was immediately vigilant.

He might not be as smart as his little master, but his understanding of those chaplains and monks was much deeper than the former. When they made a decision, it was inevitably decisive and unhesitating, not leaving anyone a way out!

As if in an instant, torches came toward the stables. Longinus didn't know if his little master's plan could succeed—what if they fell into a coma? What if they didn't chisel open the wall of the water room? What if the tunnel entrance was completely blocked? The most terrible thing was, what if they were stuck halfway? He wasn't sure.

The only thing he could be sure of was that if he were caught by those knights, he would definitely be seen as an accomplice to the assassin.

So he didn't hesitate anymore and immediately escaped through the path he had already spotted.

He ran to the shaft he had agreed upon with Cesar. A small house closest to the shaft had already been bought by him. The male owner took several others to a neighbor's house, leaving only a girl to do things for him. The hot red wine and roasted cheese were what he told the girl to prepare in advance.

Praise Jesus Christ! His waiting hadn't been in vain.

"I don't know if your father opened the Temple gate..." Cesar said immediately: "Longinus, you rush to the Temple Mount as soon as possible—Baldwin, you take a token..."

He paused. They only had a linen short robe soaked through, and the only fish bladder potion had been swallowed into their stomachs. But Baldwin immediately picked up the dagger handed by Longinus and cut off a bundle of hair: "Give this to my father."

"Take this, tell the King, no, go find the chaplain Heraclius and say, we are here, and then ask him, is the hunter still guarding the rabbit hole? If not, please make arrangements as soon as possible." Cesar looked at the sky. Venus hadn't risen yet, and dawn hadn't arrived yet. They still had time.

Longinus nodded and asked, "Do you want to go to my little house to rest for a while?"

"No," Baldwin said: "We'll stay here."

From the shaft to the Temple Church, as long as you didn't take the tunnel opened by the devil, it only took the time to recite the Lord's Prayer five times.

Originally, Cesar wanted to let Longinus go directly to Amalric I, but on second thought, the King's side must be heavily guarded at this time. Even if he saw Longinus, he wouldn't be willing to listen to his words and tell everyone to withdraw. It was better to let him quietly find Heraclius and then let Heraclius persuade the King.

He only hoped Heraclius wasn't waiting by the King's side.

Heraclius was indeed not by the King's side.

The scene was very chaotic—when Amalric I rushed out of the room covered in blood, shouting the name of Saint George, the attendant on duty immediately screamed, and the news spread like ripples, with everyone calling for their knights and attendants.

Some hid in their rooms, some ran to the stairs, others crashed into the hall, and more ran toward the King. The worst thing was that it was the middle of the night, and some knights even forgot to put on their tunics in their haste, while others saw strangers of unknown identity and immediately drew their swords to fight them...

Heraclius had just stopped the bleeding for the King and saw this scene, and couldn't help but feel his face go numb. He immediately ordered on behalf of the King, calling the Count of Tripoli, the Prince of Antioch, and other nobles, together with the Grand Masters of the Templar and Hospital Orders, and the Prior of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and gathered dozens of the most loyal, strong, and brave knights, letting them walk through every place holding flags and torches while shouting "The King is safe, the assassin is caught."

People they discovered, if they could prove their identity, would be ordered to return to their rooms. If they couldn't, they would be thrown into prison, and if they dared to resist, they would be executed on the spot as accomplices to the assassin.

After finishing these, Heraclius was about to report back to Amalric I, but his heart suddenly tightened. He couldn't care about anything else and immediately ran toward the Temple Church, bumping into the Grand Master of the Templar Order, whose face was gray, head-on. He had already discovered the six Templar knights killed outside the church, who hadn't even been able to make a sound or movement.

The Grand Master had shouted, but there was no response inside. He couldn't decide whether to open the door, so he turned back to ask the King.

Heraclius only felt his eyes go dark. Fortunately, at this time, an attendant brought Longinus.

Longinus hurriedly relayed Cesar's words to Heraclius. He said: "The black rabbit and the white rabbit are both safe and sound, but I don't know if the hunter is still guarding the hole from before."

"The hunter is greedy and arrogant, why would he be willing to spend effort?" Heraclius replied: "He has already gone back and is sleeping soundly on his pillow—it's a good opportunity, let us put the rabbits back into the hole."

He quickly returned to Amalric I's side and told him the good news. Amalric I immediately stood up and wanted to go with him. Heraclius hadn't had time to persuade him, when Raymond firmly opposed, "Either you take me with you."

He was full of hot blood, but didn't notice Amalric I's suddenly changed face. "No," the King said coldly: "You stay here."

Raymond was stunned for a moment. He had always been the right-hand man Amalric I relied on most. The King had never been so disrespectful and distrustful of him, treating him as if he were a traitor.

He stood there until Bohemond, the Prince of Antioch, walked over leisurely with his arms crossed: "Don't take it too seriously. Encountering these disgusting things one after another, even the King can't help but be emotional for once."

Although he didn't like Bohemond much, seeing him come to persuade, Raymond's face softened slightly: "I'm just worried..."

"Oh, don't worry, don't worry. We are the least worried about you here," Bohemond smiled: "If I were you, I wouldn't go to Amalric I to ask for trouble at all. Haven't you discovered one thing yet? He hates you."

"What?"

Bohemond leaned close to Raymond and whispered: "Isn't the matter obvious? If Amalric I dies, and Prince Baldwin also dies, then who is the person to inherit the throne of the King of Jerusalem? Of course, only you, the grandson of Baldwin II, the cousin of Amalric I, the person closest to the throne!"

——————————

Amalric I, upon seeing Baldwin, couldn't care that he wasn't wearing a veil and hugged him tightly, weeping bitterly. Heraclius saw this and felt an indescribable emotion surging in his chest—he walked quickly toward his student, not bothering to ask about the details before, and discussed the matters that needed to be prepared immediately.

The Patriarch of Jerusalem had indeed returned to his residence. His residence was not far from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He stood by the window, gazing at the most sacred place, savoring the pleasure of wantonly scolding the King in front of countless people.

A moment later, he returned to his desk and used a key to open a wooden box. Inside were three manuscripts he had carefully written. The first was that Prince Baldwin didn't die but wasn't selected, the second was that Prince Baldwin was already dead (so it didn't matter whether he was selected or not), and the third was that both King Amalric I and Prince Baldwin were dead.

Of course, whichever one it was, he conscientiously and earnestly told the people that this was precisely the thunderous wrath sent down by God.

Yes, he admitted, Amalric I and other Crusader knights were indeed warriors of Christ, but they had already received the generous rewards promised by God, yet they weren't satisfied because of this, but instead gave birth to arrogant and greedy hearts.

This city should have belonged to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Mortals had no right to overstep. They actually put crowns on their own heads...

Now, they should feel afraid, because facts had already proven that anyone who dared to offend God, no matter how prominent, would go to hell. Not only would they go to hell, but they would also be hooked by their eyebrows, roasted on the lake of fire until the end of the world, with maggots drilling in and out of their bodies, devouring their flesh...

He thought for a moment and took out a piece of charcoal—because he was too lazy to call a chaplain to scrape the parchment, he added a few threatening words to the blank part to make the believers more obedient...

After modifying the manuscript, he locked the box again and the Patriarch went to bed.

And in a place he couldn't see, Amalric I holding Baldwin, Longinus holding Cesar, and Heraclius entered the main hall of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre silently.

It was interesting to say that before, in order to catch Amalric I off guard and give him a blow, the Patriarch generously gave promises and bought a group of chaplains—they had fought against Thomas of the Gerard family before, and as a result, Thomas successfully turned defeat into victory with the help of Cesar's penance—these days they hadn't had a good time.

They worked for the Patriarch and were also making a desperate gamble. It was just that they probably didn't expect that after the Patriarch achieved his goal, he would abandon them and ignore them.

Now these chaplains had swapped positions with Thomas of the Gerard family. It would depend on whether Thomas was willing to let them go to the desert for penance or go to the army for atonement.

Anyway, at this moment, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre had returned to Thomas's hands. Regarding Amalric I's request, he of course agreed to everything. "But how will you explain to the world that you brought them out of the Temple Church?"

"You can go and see," Heraclius said, "the beeswax on the gate of the Temple Church is intact."

"What will we say then?"

"Just say that some devil or servant of the pagans wanted to destroy the Selection Ceremony and set a fire outside the church. The merciful God saw it and picked the two children out and placed them in the arms of His only Son, so that they would not be harmed." Heraclius said fluently, showing that he had already thought of the excuse on the way.

Thomas was a bit nervous. "Did the Temple Church catch fire?"

"It will catch fire before Matins."

Thomas opened his mouth and couldn't say anything.

"I will come to buy a thousand-year indulgence." Amalric I said.

Thomas was immediately overjoyed and sighed: "This is God's will, to make people turn back from the wrong path."

He happily opened the door of the main hall himself, watching them place the two children. "They..." he signaled with his eyes, "how are they?"

Heraclius was stunned. When selected, a burst of white light would erupt from the person being tested. In terms of shape, the one like thunder was "Blessed," and the one like a river was "Bestowed." The longer the time and the brighter the light, the more favor obtained, and the stronger the saint perceived.

But when they saw Baldwin and Cesar, they had already left the Temple for a while.

I don't know if they left after being selected, or... if it was the latter, their Selection Ceremony would be considered a failure.

"This is already irrelevant." Unexpectedly, it was Amalric I who spoke this time. Thomas looked at the King but was frightened by his pitch-black eyes.

"How many people know about this now?"

"You, me, Thomas, and..." Heraclius looked at Longinus: "This knight."

Longinus only felt that he was still in that freezing shaft. "In the Holy City, the only person I have sworn to is Cesar."

"He is not a knight yet."

"Precisely because he is not a knight, Your Majesty, no one will notice me. You know, they all say I am the slave of a slave."

Amalric I laughed shortly. "Is there anyone else?" His gaze didn't leave: "Anyone."

Longinus closed his eyes. "There is... Your Majesty."

————————

What exactly were "Blessed" and "Bestowed"?

Cesar held Baldwin's hand. After seeing Amalric I, Baldwin couldn't hold on anymore and fainted. Cesar was also indescribably exhausted and sluggish. It wasn't until Heraclius gave them the antidote that they slightly recovered.

However, being able to sit here together, whether it was Baldwin or Cesar, they were already satisfied.

"Even if I wasn't selected," Baldwin said optimistically: "it doesn't matter anymore. By then, I will just go be a monk with you. If they aren't willing to let me be with you, I will ask my father to build a new monastery for us."

"I think even if you weren't selected, you wouldn't necessarily be abandoned." Cesar said his judgment, but he didn't say Amalric I's true intention. Baldwin might be able to glimpse the cruel reality one day, but if it could be one day later, then one day later it would be.

Baldwin turned his head to look at Cesar. Those emerald-like eyes were like obsidian in a place with dim light—a little light was slowly spreading from the center of the obsidian...

"God..." he said tremblingly: "God bless, Cesar..."

"No," Cesar watched Baldwin, who was glowing: "It is you."

Note 1: Judas Iscariot (one of Jesus's twelve disciples, who eventually betrayed Jesus out of greed), Jephthah (a cruel general who won a battle by sacrificing his own daughter), Jezebel (a queen of Israel who encouraged her husband to carry out cruel persecution and slaughter).

(End of chapter)