The autumn wind in October blew through the valley, bringing with it a bit of chill and a silent chill. The two knights, one old and one young, talked for a few more words, then took their men and prisoners to the water source upstream. Once everything was settled, the Venetian cavalry team set out on its way back to the northeast again.
The way back is through valleys and streams in the mountains, as well as dry land far away from the streams. Along the way, abandoned farmland and burned-out Moorish villages can be seen everywhere.
The towering Sierra de Baza Mountains rise and fall in front of everyone's sight. The highest peak of the mountain range is the Santa Barbara Peak (Calar de Santa Barbara), which is more than 2,000 meters high. The origin of this name is St. Barbara, one of the fourteen saints of Christianity and the "White Ballet" in ancient Rome. Her worship is actually more common among Orthodox Christians.
As for the Moorish name of this mountain, no one in the team knew it, and it was not passed down to later generations. Because the Spanish Inquisition will completely erase the Moorish mark on the peninsula and the Moors on the peninsula in hundreds of years of brutal trials.
The sky was bright and the valleys between the mountains were unobstructed. The Venetian cavalry squad took the captives with them. Not long after traveling, they encountered several cavalrymen in cross-hooded robes. They rolled up a plume of smoke and dust on the horizon and hurried over.
"Everyone, be careful! Take out your weapons and prepare for battle!"
The old knight Luo Lunzuo's expression changed and he gave a stern order. He remained vigilant, holding a shield in one hand and drawing the knight's sword from his waist with the other, ready to charge at any time. He knew that even the cross-robed Jihadists could not be trusted if they were encountered in the wild without the witness of others. Because internal fighting and fighting for the sake of grabbing the spoils of war are not uncommon in holy wars. The deaths of many ordinary knights had nothing to do with the Moors.
"God bless you! Dear Knight Giovanni, dear Knight Lorenzo, we finally found you!"
It wasn't until several cavalrymen came closer and shouted loudly from a distance that the old knight put down his weapon and recognized that they were the few knights' retinue who had stayed in the camp before the team left.
"Marino, why are you? Why are you here? Huh? All the followers who stayed in the camp have come with them?! Who is taking care of the baggage in the camp now?"
"Dear Knight Lorenzo, we took away all the valuable items. As for the remaining sundries, they were all thrown into the siege camp and we couldn't care about it... Something big happened in the camp and we can't stay any longer. !...Hoo! Hoo!..."
At this point, Marino was panting and a little out of breath. He was already quite old. He had been running around searching for two days and his physical strength was really low. At this moment, when he found the old knight Lorenzo, his heart relaxed and he felt a little dizzy.
"God bless! What happened in the Crusader camp?"
Seeing this scene, the old knight Luo Lunzuo frowned, feeling uneasy in his heart. Marino was his trusted leader and would never make such a reckless move unless...
"Marino, don't worry! Take a break and speak slowly!"
"Hoo! Hoo!..."
Marino breathed for a while before calming down a little. When he talked about what happened in the camp, panic appeared on his face involuntarily.
"O Lord! A new plague has broken out in the siege camp, a new Black Death! Many people, hundreds or thousands, have been infected and have died!..."
"Ah! Black Death?!"
"What?!"
Hearing this, the old knight Laurent Zuo could no longer maintain his usual calm expression. And for the first time, deep fear appeared on the fearless face of the young knight Giovanni.
For Europeans in this era, the recurring Black Death was a symbol of death, even more terrifying than death itself! Because, according to the church, this is a disease spread by the devil. And if you die under the power of the devil, your soul may be defiled and you will be unable to go to the Kingdom of the Lord after death!
All the knights present, as well as most of the soldiers in the camp, have experienced the test of the Black Death. Logically speaking, it should not happen again. But according to Marino...
"The Lord witnesses! Marino, are you sure this is a new kind of Black Death?!"
At this moment, the expression of old knight Lorenzo was as serious as ever. He stared hard into Marino's eyes, waiting for a clear answer.
"I...I haven't seen it with my own eyes, and I don't know what it is!"
Marino pulled his hair in pain. Afterwards, he looked extremely uneasy, but said it with certainty.
"The Lord witnesses! But I am sure that a plague has broken out! The two Castilian camps of thousands of people in the back camp have been completely sealed off. The priests accompanying the army have all left, and I don’t know where they went... .And in the camp behind, black smoke from burning corpses also appeared. I could smell the smell. It was the same as the witch trials, it was definitely burning people!"
"I quickly asked my familiar servants to inquire, only to find out that the English knights participating in the Holy War had already fled as soon as they heard the news! They said that just four years ago, when Henry VII was crowned King of England, There is a mysterious 'sweating fever' sweeping across England! Everyone, regardless of high or low, will suddenly have a fever, vomit, then experience severe pain in the neck, back and abdomen, sweat all over the body, and finally die within a day! In just two months, hundreds of nobles, thousands of knights, and hundreds of thousands of civilians died...It is said that a witch opposed the king and summoned the evil devil..."
At this point, Marino's face was filled with fear and sweat broke out from his back. The followers behind him also had frightened expressions. Over the past few days, they had heard so many horrific stories that they could no longer stay in the camp.
"Later, a few months later, the 'sweating fever' in England suddenly disappeared. The church burned more than two hundred witches, and it was said that they burned to death the mastermind who summoned the devil... But this time, As soon as the plague appeared in the camp, the English Holy War knights were like frightened sparrows. They abandoned their baggage overnight and evacuated to the hinterland of the northeast. I heard that King Fernando personally pursued them, but they did not come back. ..When we left, the German knights and Swiss mercenaries in the camp were also clamoring to evacuate..."
Old knight Laurent frowned and listened carefully to Marino's every word. The expression on his face became more solemn, and the same thought also arose in his heart.
"God bless you! Marino, are the symptoms of the plague outbreak in the camp the same as the 'sweating fever' that appeared in England?"
After hearing the question, Marino was stunned and fell into memories. Then, inner fear appeared on his weather-beaten face, and even his voice trembled.
"No...it's not! This new plague seems to have never happened before! It is, it is..."
