Chapter 169 196. Potency of Fern

In Gallura, the proudest young man is a robber who has never been caught by the police.One night, after a party, when the whole country seemed to be asleep, the robber was walking across a field with a gun slung over his shoulder.There, there is a lonely church.Suddenly, a wild boar ran out of the bushes, and ran towards the church.The young man took aim at the wild boar, shot it, and killed it. The road in front of him was leading to the church.The robber approached the church gate and heard singing and laughing inside.He stopped, listened, and thought, "With this wild boar, and so many happy people, we can have a nice little party. I can be on my way again early tomorrow morning." So he He dragged the wild boar into the church. "I've got a wild boar for this merry party," he cried.All the men and women in the church laughed, and then they joined hands and danced in a circle.When the robber was about to join hands with them, he suddenly noticed that these people had no eyes. It turned out that this was not a ball for the living, but for the dead.

The dead had been dancing vigorously, and they wanted the young man to jump into the center of the circle.A female ghost walked by him and said to him: "If you come with me, I will tell you where the three flowers of fern grow!" The young man wanted to go with her, because he had heard about it a long time ago. , find the three flowers of fern, and people will not die when they are shot.At this time, a male ghost left the crowd and came towards him.The robber recognized him as his dead godfather. "Listen, godson," said the dead godfather, "whoever gets into this circle of the dead can never get out again. If you don't try to escape now, you will be dead here tomorrow. I was you in my life." My protector, now I will save you from the dead. Come, dance with us, but in the middle of the dance you will sing this song:

"Sing and dance, This is your time of joy! When it's time for us to be happy, We'll sing and dance. " The robber immediately caught up with the female ghost who had promised to tell him where ferns grew, and she told him: "Whoever wants to get these three flowers must go to the bend of the river on the first day of August, where The rooster never crows. Three flowers will bloom in the middle of the night. Whatever happens, don't be afraid, but pick the flowers." "I will surely get flowers," said the robber. "With these three flowers, no one will be shot to death."

The female ghost smiled: "You won't pick it! You have already entered the pile of dead people, and you will be with us forever." After saying that, the female ghost took his hand and danced. Then the robber thought it time to sing the song his godfather had taught him, and he sang: "Sing and dance, This is your time of joy! When it's time for us to be happy, We'll sing and dance. " As soon as those dead people heard this song, they all fell on the ground and cried.The robber rushed out of the church quickly, jumped on his horse and fled.Those dead people were chasing after him closely, but they couldn't catch up any more.

On August 1st, the robbers came to the river.That night, the weather was fine, but in the middle of the night, there was a sudden heavy rain, hail fell from the sky, lightning and thunder thundered in the sky, and there were tongues of fire.The robber stood there calmly, waiting for the fern to bloom.In the lightning, the first fern bloomed, and he picked it. Then, he heard the sound of countless wild animals running.Groups of wild boars, wild deer, bison and other wild animals rushed towards the young man like crazy in the storm.But he stood there without fear, waiting for the ferns to open.At this time, a poisonous snake crawled from behind him, wrapped around his ankle, then slowly climbed up his legs, finally climbed to his neck, and wrapped around him.The lad felt he was going to be suffocated, but he didn't move.The poisonous snake looked into his eyes, hissed harshly, and disappeared in a blink of an eye.Then the robber saw the second flower open and picked it off.

The robber was very satisfied. He thought he was going to make human beings no longer be killed by bullets, so he was full of confidence and waited for the third flower to open.Suddenly there was the clatter of horseshoes and the whistle of bullets in the silence.The young man was calm at first.However, a detachment of gendarmes appeared on the hillside and pointed their guns at him.The robber thought: "The gendarmes have found me, but the third flower hasn't bloomed yet, and I will still be killed by bullets." So he ran away, aiming at the gendarmes while running, and opened fire. one shot.

In an instant, the gendarme and the horses disappeared, and the ferns disappeared.The third flower never bloomed again.Woe to those who can't follow through, bullets can still kill people for that reason. (Galura region)