Absolutely not to be burned at the stake

He didn't know how much time had passed when Li Wei was awakened again by a burning pain. This time the pain seemed to have lessened somewhat, but it was still clear and sharp, like countless fine needles pricking him.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Father Hansen, whose cloudy and cold eyes were very close, almost touching his face.

"Oh...you're awake? Good...enjoy your last few prayers in this world."

Father Hansen slowly straightened up, picked up a rag from the stone table beside him, and leisurely wiped the medicine stains off his hands. "When dawn breaks and the sun rises, I will have your parents and your sister brought here. Then, together with you, we will be tied to the stake in the square to experience the punishment of the gods."

"Oh, and that little bitch Alice, don't worry... I'll enjoy her for one night, then allow her to marry... After she has her child, I'll burn her, her husband, and her child at the stake!"

Father Hansen's aged and ferocious face gleamed with a crazed and triumphant light as he looked at Li Wei and said smugly, "How's this idea? It's a way of getting revenge for you, isn't it?"

As he spoke, Father Hansen suddenly hesitated, a lewd glint in his eyes, as if he had discovered a new toy. He stretched out his withered fingers, pinched Levi's chin, and forced him to raise his head.

"Tsk tsk... Looking closely, you're actually quite good-looking. Your skin is a bit rough, but your features are well-proportioned, and your eyes are bright..."

He leaned closer, his heavy breath hitting Levi's face. "You like Alice, sigh... If you had just told me directly, I wouldn't have minded letting that little bitch Alice enjoy herself with me. We could have taught her a lot of... 'knowledge' together."

"What a pity... You asked for it!" He abruptly shoved Li Wei's chin away, and Li Wei's head slammed heavily against the stone slab with a dull thud.

"However, I can grant you one request: a whip, steel needles, or candles... you can choose one. That way, you'll have some sense of participation. What do you think? Haha..."

As he spoke, Father Hansen turned around, walked to the stone table to the side, put down the earthenware bowl, and began picking through the bottles and jars on the stone table.

He scooped some red powder from a brown earthenware jar and poured a few drops of viscous black liquid from a glass bottle, mixed them in a small copper mortar, and slowly ground them with a stone pestle.

The grinding sound, "gurgling," was exceptionally clear in the silence.

"I also need to prepare another 'Vulcan's Mercy' for you..."

Father Hansen continued grinding the medicine without turning his head, his voice regaining its slow, deliberate quality, "Would you like to know how this medicine works?"

"Hehe...it gives you a slight increase in fire resistance. That'll allow you to survive longer on the pyre!"

"Think about it, others die after being burned in fire for half a minute or so, but you can burn for half an hour, or even longer. You can enjoy the aroma of your own flesh burning and hear the sound of your bones cracking... Li Wei, aren't I good to you? Hahaha..."

Hearing Father Hansen's chillingly cruel laughter, and imagining his own struggle on the stake, Levi felt a chill run down his spine...

How about... we try selling a ditch?

spit!

This idea only briefly crossed his mind before Li Wei decisively rejected it.

I was filled with resentment. If I had my bow, I would have stabbed that old bastard to death with an arrow.

Just as he was thinking this, Li Wei felt a weight in his hand, and a cold object appeared in his palm.

Li Wei looked down and saw that the mini composite bow that used to hang on his wall was now lying quietly in his bloodstained hand, and the carbon fiber arrow was also quietly hanging on the string.

"Well?!!!"

Looking at the bow in his hand, Levi's mouth dropped open. Just then, he heard Father Hansen's voice again: "The Mercy of the Vulcan, even though it's a flawed version, still requires five crowns worth of materials. Don't you think I'm being good to you...?"

Father Hansen stirred the medicine while muttering to himself, "Five silver crowns! That's enough to buy fifty hens, or three lambs... I wouldn't even spend that much money on medicine myself, yet I'm using it on you. When you're burned at the stake, you'd better behave yourself and not let my medicine down..."

He picked up the bowl of medicine he had prepared. Inside was a dark red, viscous liquid with tiny bubbles, emitting a strange smell of sulfur and caramel. Then he carefully turned around, as if afraid of spilling the medicine.

In the instant he turned around, Li Wei used the little strength he had just recovered to laboriously lift the miniature compound bow in his hand.

The bow was very light, and he usually drew it with ease, but now his arm felt like it was filled with lead, trembling violently. He gritted his teeth, aimed the arrow at the priest, pressed his thumb against the nock of the arrow, and then laboriously pulled back the bowstring.

Fortunately, the hot ointment, which cost the equivalent of twenty old hens, seemed to be quite effective.

At least during the period when he was unconscious, the bleeding from his wounds seemed to have stopped, and he regained a little strength, allowing him to barely lift his arm and draw the bowstring.

But this miniature bow, which used to be so easy to play with, now feels as heavy as a hardwood longbow.

The bowstring was exceptionally strong. He gritted his teeth, his arm muscles bulged, and the veins stood out beneath his pale skin. He could only manage to pull it about two-thirds of the way open, and the bow made a slight creaking sound.

"Alright, come on...drink your medicine..." Father Hansen, holding the bowl of freshly prepared medicine, looked at Li Wei with a sinister smile. He took a step forward, but froze halfway through his sentence.

His gaze fell on the strangely shaped black shortbow in Li Wei's hand, and the sinister smile on his face suddenly froze, his pupils widening instantly.

Li Wei dared not hesitate; he knew this was his only chance, and he abruptly released his index finger.

"Boom!"

The bowstring snapped back with a crisp clang. The carbon fiber arrow, less than three meters away, transformed into a blurry black shadow and flew out with a "whoosh," striking Father Hansen squarely in the chest.

Hopefully... that should be enough, but at this close range, if it hits a vital spot...

After firing the arrow, Li Wei's arm suddenly went limp, completely losing strength.

The miniature bow fell to the ground with a "thud," hitting the stone slab with a soft sound. He lay slumped on the stone slab like a fish out of water, mouth agape, chest heaving violently, his vision blurring, and his ears ringing.

He was somewhat confident in his archery skills. At a distance of less than three meters, such a large target was bound to hit...

However, with only two-thirds of the bow drawn, the force wasn't enough, and he wasn't sure if he could kill an old man. After all... he'd only ever shot targets before, never people, so he had little experience.

"puff!"

A dull sound, like the piercing of wet leather, rang out.

Just like Li Wei's confidence in himself, although the arrow missed his heart due to his trembling arm, it still pierced Father Hansen's right chest.

The arrow shaft was nearly half-buried, with the orange fletching protruding and trembling violently.

Father Hansen shuddered, staggered back two steps, and crashed into the stone table behind him. The earthenware bowl flew out of his hand, smashed to the ground with a loud thud, and shattered into pieces.

The dark red liquid spilled out and spread across the stone floor, resembling a pool of filthy blood.

"Uh..." He let out a short, muffled groan, as if it had been cut off. He looked down in disbelief at the bloody arrow protruding from his right chest.

The arrow was still trembling slightly, each tremor bringing a sharp pain. Dark red blood quickly seeped from around the wound, soaking through the tattered priest's robe and staining the dark fabric even deeper.

He raised his head and looked at Li Wei on the stone slab, his eyes filled with astonishment, confusion, and then overwhelming resentment. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but only a mouthful of foamy blood gushed out, overflowing from the corner of his mouth and dripping down his chin.

"Cough...cough..." He coughed violently, and with each cough, more blood gushed from his chest. He tried to stand, but his legs were weak, and he slowly slid down the edge of the stone table, collapsing to the ground with his back against the cold stone table legs.

"You...you..." he uttered hoarsely, his gray-blue eyes fixed on Li Wei, as if he wanted to torture Li Wei to death with his gaze.

Then, he raised his right hand tremblingly, his withered fingers moving laboriously in mid-air, tracing some complex gesture. A faint, golden-red light began to gather at his fingertips, flickering like a candle in the wind. He seemed to be trying to cast some kind of spell, making a final, desperate attempt.

Li Wei's heart was in his throat. He wanted to get up and finish the job, but his body was as limp as mud and he couldn't move. He could only watch helplessly.

Father Hansen was halfway through gesturing when he suddenly convulsed violently. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, which contained dark red clots.

The golden-red light gathered at the fingertips flickered a few times, then, like a light bulb that had lost power, it quietly dissipated with a "poof," turning into a few sparks that drifted down.

His raised hand fell limply to the ground, slamming heavily onto the stone floor with a dull thud.

"Uh...you're going to kill me...you're dead...your whole family is dead..." Father Hansen stared intently at Levi, his pupils beginning to dilate, but a strange mockery and resentment flashed deep in his eyes.

Then, he tilted his head to the side, leaned against the stone table leg, and stopped moving.

The stone chamber was deathly silent.

The only sounds were the faint crackling of the burning oil lamp wick and Li Wei's own heavy, bellows-like breathing.

a long time.

Li Wei took a few more breaths, gathered some strength, and laboriously raised his head to look in that direction.

Father Hansen slumped to the ground, his head lolling to one side, the arrow still lodged in his chest, a pool of blood slowly spreading beneath him. He was completely still.

died?

really dead?

Li Wei was still somewhat incredulous. That cruel, powerful old priest, who possessed extraordinary abilities, had been killed by his own arrow?

He stared at it for more than ten seconds, but the priest's chest did not rise and fall, and his eyes did not blink.

really dead.

"Ha...haha..." Lying on the stone slab, Li Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled softly. He never expected to achieve the most unlikely goal, C! A comeback from the brink of defeat!

"Haha...cough cough cough..." He had only laughed twice when it aggravated the wound in his chest, causing him to cough violently, his lungs aching and his vision blurring.

But he kept laughing, coughing as he laughed, laughing until tears streamed down his face. It was hard to tell if it was from pain or joy.