Unknown Knight

A few people came to the only well in the village, drew a bucket of water and smelled it, but found a faint sour smell.

When we asked the villagers who fell ill, we found that almost all of them had the experience of drinking well water to quench their thirst after work, so the cause of the illness was very clear.

Aix asked the village chief if there were any suspicious things happening recently, but the village chief covered his voice with his hands and said:

"I heard from villagers who went to the nearby forest to collect firewood that there were many strange marks in the forest, even poisonous mushrooms growing in sequence into the shape of a human face, and in the wheat fields that were about to ripen, many strange circular shapes inexplicably appeared.

I heard from the elders that this was a sign of evil witches causing trouble, and the group of religious people who came yesterday said the same thing.

Sir, is there really any evil spirit or witch causing trouble in our village? "

Aix wanted to say that there was no witch, it was clearly an evil person, but he was afraid that a few words would not convince the villagers and would alert the enemy. So he said to the village chief:

"Don't jump to conclusions yet. Let's see what happens tomorrow."

James and Veron discussed the use of medicine together, and finally decided to use the juice of locally produced Solanum nigrum to treat the villagers' poisoning symptoms.

Solanum nigrum is highly poisonous. Eating it can easily cause poisoning and stomachache. In mild cases, it can cause diarrhea, and in severe cases, it can cause death. Its poison is alkaline, which just neutralizes the acidic toxicity of Smilax glabra. As long as the dosage is adjusted according to the patient's constitution and the degree of poisoning, it can have a good therapeutic effect.

However, Solanum nigrum is highly toxic, and most local villagers are aware of this property. They find it difficult to accept the use of Solanum nigrum to make medicine, and it has been boycotted by all villagers.

James had no choice but to add licorice native to the Kugit Grassland and told everyone that the newly added medicine could neutralize the toxicity of Solanum nigrum and that everyone could drink it with confidence.

After hearing this, several family members whose relatives were already critically ill took the medicine made by James and gave it to their family members to drink with the mentality of giving it a try. Sure enough, the condition of their family members quickly improved, and other sick villagers then accepted the medicine made by James.

Then James told the villagers that Solanum nigrum is highly poisonous and that only the medicine he made could be safe. They were not allowed to use Solanum nigrum to make medicine privately, otherwise they would bear the consequences at their own risk.

Weilun told the villagers that the well water in the village was polluted and should not be drunk for the time being. If drinking water was needed, they could fetch water from the river and boil it to drink.

Aix also specifically emphasized to the villagers that the water in the creek must be boiled before drinking, otherwise it is easy to get sick.

After a busy day and after all the sick villagers had taken their medicine, it was already late at night.

Aix was worried, and told the village chief that he would organize villagers to patrol at night to prevent "evil spirits" from hurting people. Only when he saw the villagers lighting a bonfire for the night watch did Aix go to bed with peace of mind.

The next day, Aix was awakened by a loud noise. When he opened his eyes, it was almost noon.

When they got out of the courtyard, they saw James, Niza, Bestur, and the masked Velen arguing with five people wearing the same black and gray coarse linen robes.

These five people came with great momentum and confidence, calling James evil one after another, saying that they came here specifically to harm the villagers.

And they were very organized. They even used the "very six plus one" gesture in unison, pointed at James, and shouted at him in unison:

"Evil spirit! Evil spirit! Go away! Go away!..."

It was obvious that they had received professional training. Not only did they shout in unison, but their shouts were also very powerful. They overwhelmed James and others who had reasonable arguments, making James so angry that his face turned red and his neck became thick. He wanted to swing his wooden hammer and stick to hit people several times.

However, the actions of the five people seemed like clowns to Aix. They were funny and ridiculous. He pulled out a six-petal iron hammer and banged it hard on the steel shield. He suppressed the momentum of the five people and frightened them into silence. Then Aix said to them:

"Fellow experts of the Divine Religion, may I ask how you judged that this doctor is evil?"

One of the tall men in black robes stepped forward and said:

"How can it not be an evil spirit? The villagers were clearly persecuted by an evil spirit, but he insisted that they were poisoned. It's obvious that he wanted to use this evil spirit to sell medicine and make money from the hard-earned money of the poor villagers."

James couldn't help it, his face flushed red, and he wanted to go up and say that he didn't take a single copper coin from the villagers, but Aix stopped him with his hand, and then said to the five people:

"It's understandable that a doctor charges money for seeing patients, and you can't say he is evil!"

"How can it not be an evil spirit? The villagers in this village all say that there are traces of evil spirits around the village, but he insists on denying it. If it's not an evil spirit, then what is it?"

"Oh, there is such a thing? Where is the trace of the evil spirit? Take me to see it."

Axel pretended to be skeptical.

When the tall man in black robe heard this, he thought it was exactly what he wanted. He said confidently:

"You don't believe it, right? If you don't believe it, just follow me."

As he said this, he led the way with high morale. They passed through the wheat fields in the village and went straight to the forest near the village.

On a conspicuous slope, there was a huge human face made up of red umbrellas with eyes wide open, which was so scary that the villagers who followed it sighed, and some even lowered their heads and dared not look directly at it.

The tall man in black robe pointed and said:

"See? This evil face made of poisonous mushrooms. Is it evil or something else?"

Ickx ignored him and walked to the slope, pointed at the man's face and said:

“I heard that this kind of red umbrella likes to grow particularly on rotten pine wood. I guess there must be a human face made of pine wood underneath,” he said, winking at Niza who was prepared.

Niza and Bestur each held a shovel and started digging under the red mushroom. Soon they dug out the rotten wood one by one.

When the villagers stepped forward to take a look, they saw that it was indeed a human head shape made of rotten pine wood. They said it was not made intentionally. The children did not believe it and looked at the five people with questioning eyes.

However, Aix did not expose the five people on the spot, and continued with a smile:

"Since it's an evil spirit causing trouble, there must be more than one place, right? Where else?"

The five men hesitated for a while and had to lead the way. However, they were all nervous and had ulterior motives. They no longer had their previous arrogant demeanor. Instead, they gave people the feeling that they were criminals leading the way to identify the crime scene.

The group followed the ridges and turned a few times before arriving at a wheat field. They saw a patch of fallen wheat in a clockwise direction, forming a very regular circle. There were also several symmetrical small circles next to it, forming a very expressive geometric pattern.

Such regular circles and such expressive geometric patterns were something the illiterate people nearby had never seen before. They felt awe-inspiring and stood on the distant ridges, not daring to approach the circles.