activa-t Chapter 189: Devil, the family was cooked!
Chapter 189: Devil, the family was cooked!
……
As he stepped out of the house and into the streets, the tempting aroma of meat seemed to come alive, becoming stronger and stronger, like an invisible rope, pulling him forward.
Hannibal involuntarily quickened his pace, letting the scent lead him through the familiar yet slightly empty streets.
The usually bustling town seems exceptionally quiet at this moment, as if the whole world is immersed in the embrace of this mysterious fragrance.
He followed the direction of the scent and passed through several winding alleys.
Finally, I was surprised to find that I had set foot on the familiar and long-missed path leading to the outskirts of town.
At the end of the path is the huge mill, standing beside a golden wheat field.
The huge windmill turns slowly, as if telling the story of the years.
Next to the mill was once his and his sister's secret base. Those pastry shops still exude a sweet scent. Although time has passed, the taste in his memory is so clear.
But now, this fragrance, intertwined with the sweetness in his memory, led him to a completely new scene.
After confirming the true source of the fragrance, Hannibal felt an indescribable excitement in his heart.
He quickened his pace and almost jogged towards the mill, each step filled with desire and curiosity about the unknown.
Finally, when he stood in front of the mill, panting, the scene before him stunned him for a moment.
There were crowds of people around the mill, and the dense crowd made it impossible to get through. Everyone's face was filled with smiles of anticipation and excitement.
It turned out that residents of the entire town had gathered here to witness this unusual moment together.
In the center of the crowd, next to the huge millstone, there was a huge iron pot. Steam was rising from the pot, and bubbling with food that he had never seen before.
The rich meaty aroma emanated from there, filling the entire air and making people salivate.
Suddenly he saw a boy with fiery red hair on the outskirts of the crowd.
He couldn't wait to take a few steps forward, with indescribable complex emotions surging in his heart, including the joy of meeting old friends again, but also deep confusion about the strange scene before him.
The sunlight shone through the sparse clouds, dappled onto the crowd, adding a touch of unreality to this unusual gathering.
"Will, I haven't seen you for many years. Are you okay?"
There was a barely perceptible tremor in Hannibal's voice, and he tried to break the sudden silence and weirdness with a greeting between old friends.
He gently tugged at Will's sleeve, just like he did when they were little, but now, their worlds were completely different.
Will's body shook slightly, as if he was pulled back to reality from some trance.
He turned his head slowly, and his fiery red eyes that once sparkled with liveliness now looked particularly dull, as if they had lost their former agility due to being weighed down by an invisible burden.
After staring for a long time, Will finally forced a strange smile on his face, which contained too many unspoken stories.
"Hannibal...it's really you. You're back."
Will's voice was low and hoarse, with a hint of disbelief.
These words were like a stone thrown into a calm lake, causing ripples and disturbing Hannibal's inner peace.
He noticed that Will's eyes were exactly the same as the strange look of the hotel owner last night, and he couldn't help feeling an inexplicable chill in his heart.
But the face in front of him was one of the warmest memories of his childhood. He forced himself to ignore the uneasiness and continued to ask: "Will, tell me, what happened here? Why are so many people gathered here?"
Will's expression suddenly became fanatical, and he raised his hands high, as if he wanted to pour all his passion and faith into this moment.
"Don't you know? The legendary plague doctor, the mysterious figure who can dispel darkness and save lives.
He has come to our town! He brings hope and healing!"
Will's voice trembled with excitement, and every word was full of power, infecting the air around them.
Hannibal was struck hard when he heard this. He never expected that the plague doctor he was looking for would appear in his hometown in this way.
Those legends about the plague doctor, those miracles about how he saved countless lives with his extraordinary medical skills.
At this moment, they all seem to have transformed into the big pot with boiling steam in front of them, and the people gathered here with full of expectations.
"The plague doctor... is he really here?"
Hannibal's voice was hoarse, and his eyes were filled with mixed emotions.
He was shocked and at the same time, felt an indescribable excitement.
Will nodded heavily, his eyes flashing with fanaticism. "Yes, he is there, using his wisdom and compassion to make a magical soup for us that can resist the Black Death.
Look, those lives that were about to be swallowed by despair have regained vitality because of him! "
Hannibal's eyes involuntarily followed Will's finger and fell on the huge iron pot in the center of the crowd.
The steaming air seemed to contain endless hope and strength. However, beneath this hope, he felt a little uneasy.
"So, what about my family?"
He asked eagerly, a tremor in his voice.
This is the issue that he cares most about and the biggest motivation for his trip.
Will's smile turned weird again, and he slowly pointed at the cauldron, his tone full of elusive meaning.
"If you're asking about your sister... then she is there, waiting for redemption along with everyone else."
Hannibal's heart sank, he couldn't believe his ears.
In that gloomy and depressing atmosphere, Hannibal's face seemed covered by a layer of frost.
His eyes gradually condensed from the initial trance into a bottomless vortex.
Will's words were like the biting cold wind in winter, piercing his heart and making him feel unprecedented coldness and despair.
The corners of his mouth trembled slightly, trying to find a trace of falsehood in those cruel words, but all he got in response was endless silence and the smell of blood in the air.
"Family...my family, how could it be possible..."
Hannibal's voice was hoarse and low, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from the depths of his throat with difficulty, carrying with it unspeakable pain.
Warm pictures flashed through his mind. The laughter and time they spent together now became the sharpest blades, cutting his soul piece by piece.
Will was knocked to the ground by a punch, but he still struggled to hold up his upper body, with a twisted and weird smile on his face, as if he was enjoying the pleasure of pushing others into the abyss.
"Do you think this is just a joke? My Lord, this is reality.
You were once high and mighty, treating us as ants and trampling on our dignity and lives at will.
Now, it is our turn to seek justice.”
Hannibal's fists were clenched, his knuckles turning white from the effort, and he approached Will step by step, his eyes filled with the flames of anger.
"Plague doctors? Those so-called immune to the Black Death? How can you be so cruel that you don't even spare your own kind!"
His voice trembled, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, filled with uncontrollable anger and sorrow.
The air around seemed to freeze, and time became unusually slow at this moment.
Hannibal's chest heaved violently, his breathing was heavy and rapid, he was like an enraged lion, ready to pounce on his prey at any time.
But soon he was restrained by a pair of hands.
That's the crowd around.
Hannibal's heart was filled with unprecedented anger and fear.
He struggled hard, trying to break free from the ropes that bound him.
But the people around him were like a solid wall, motionless. Their eyes were cold and heartless, as if they were watching a play that had nothing to do with them.
As Hannibal was pushed step by step towards the center of the crowd, the pungent smell of blood became stronger and stronger, almost suffocating.
His gaze passed through the crowd and finally stopped on that terrifying scene - the huge millstone was like the mouth of death, ruthlessly devouring all breath of life.
What slowly dripped from the leak was not just blood, but also the grief and despair of countless families.
The meat paste mixed with the crimson liquid fell into the boiling iron pot below in a disgusting manner, as if adding the last cruel spice to this sinful feast.
The man with the bird-beak mask, the legendary plague doctor, his figure looked particularly eerie and terrifying under the light of the fire.
He held a long-handled spoon and slowly stirred the iron pot. Every stir was accompanied by a heart-pounding sound, as if he was playing a melody for this ritual atrocity.
His movements were mechanical and cold. He would add strange potions into the pot from time to time, making the mixture emit an even more eerie smell, which made people wonder about the dark secrets hidden behind it.
At this moment, Hannibal finally realized that what Will said was true.
This group of people are not only cold-blooded executioners, but also demons who have lost their humanity.
In their own way, they trample on the dignity of life and fully display the darkest side of human nature.
"Master Plague Doctor, this is the last son of that family, and he actually came back on his own!"
The old woman Olika's voice was trembling and flattering, as if she was offering her last loyalty to an inviolable god.
However, hidden beneath this loyalty is the shadow of betrayal.
Hannibal's eyes were like they were on fire, burning with anger.
He couldn't believe that the old woman who had once lent a helping hand to his family when they were in trouble would now stand against him and become an accomplice in pushing him into the abyss.
"Olika, you actually betrayed us too. Have you forgotten who spared no expense to save you from the dire situation when you were on the verge of death?"
His voice was trembling with anger, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
When Orika heard this, her expression suddenly changed, and the flattering smile was instantly replaced by a ferocious one.
"Shut up, disgusting thing!" She shot back viciously, "Do you think I want to?
If I hadn't worked too hard for your family when I was young, how could I have contracted this incurable disease?
Now I am just looking for a ray of hope, and you are just another victim of this cruel world!"
Hannibal was stunned, feeling mixed emotions.
Those once warm words, those vows of gratitude and loyalty, have now turned into sharp blades, cutting his heart one by one.
He couldn't believe that human nature could change so quickly and completely.
At this moment, the plague doctor who had been standing silently beside the iron pot slowly turned around, his figure looking particularly eerie in the jumping flames.
Although the bird-beak mask covered his face, the eyes hidden in the shadows seemed to be able to see into people's hearts.
He did not respond directly to Hannibal or Orica's argument, but simply ordered in his sinister voice: "Let him go."
Olika didn't react for a moment and stared at the plague doctor in a daze.
However, the next second, a powerful force suddenly hit her and kicked her to the ground with a dull thud.
The plague doctor's movements were clean and quick, without the slightest hesitation, as if he was announcing his end to this farce.
Then he bent down and helped Hannibal up from the ground, and his seemingly weak hands easily blocked Hannibal's angry fist.
"Don't worry, my friend." The plague doctor's voice was filled with a barely perceptible tenderness. "You are different from other patients. You are the only healthy person I have ever seen."
When Hannibal heard this, he felt an inexplicable fear and uneasiness in his heart.
He looked up at the plague doctor, and the eyes hidden behind the mask seemed to be able to see through all his secrets.
"You...what do you mean by that?" he asked tremblingly, and the struggle in his hands unconsciously stopped.
The epidemic doctor pointed to the boiling iron pot. What was rolling inside was not only meat paste and blood, but also the tragedy and despair of countless families.
"At first, they were reluctant to drink the soup because they could not accept this 'good medicine' made from the corpses of their own kind.
But you are different, Hannibal, you are born healthy, and you have a different kind of blood flowing in your body."
"Admit it, kid." There was a hint of temptation in the plague doctor's tone, "Do you find the food in the pot tempting? That kind of primitive and pure attraction is your body sending you a signal, telling you that this is what you really need."
Hannibal's pupils suddenly shrank, and he was horrified to find that he could not completely deny the plague doctor's words.
The strange aroma emanating from the iron pot did inadvertently arouse a certain desire deep in his heart.
But is that a food craving?
Or... the pursuit of power?
"Even if... the person cooking inside is your sister?" The plague doctor's voice rang out again, like an icy blade piercing Hannibal's heart.
He shuddered violently, and his sister's innocent smile appeared in his mind. It was his only concern and warmth in this cruel world.
"No!" Hannibal roared and finally broke free from the plague doctor's restraints.
He staggered back a few steps, looking at the plague doctor with a determined gaze, "I will never become a monster like you! I will expose your crimes and let the truth come to light!"