Author's Closing Remarks and List of References

First of all, thank you to all the readers who have made it this far. Your reading makes me feel truly honored.

I've said far too many discouraging things during the two years of writing, so in this closing statement, I've decided to share my thoughts in the most positive and optimistic way possible.

This is my first novel, my first original work, and it holds a great weight in my heart. I wrote it to maintain a certain inner need to live. While writing it, I often felt like I was emptying myself out, and I often thought that I might die the moment I finished it. But in reality, after typing the last word and revising it one last time, I felt unusually calm, as if nothing had happened in my life. It ended so simply and smoothly.

Regardless of readers' opinions, at least in my heart, it has adequately fulfilled some of my long-held wishes. By my standards, and considering my initial intentions in writing it, it undoubtedly fulfilled its obligations and demonstrated its value well. I think I wrote it quite well. Perhaps at any time in the future, it won't be a work that brings me shame. At least, I did finish it. Accompanying the characters to the end and completing a full work has already meant a great deal to me; it can be crossed off my list of life's aspirations.

Of course, the novel's completion is just the beginning. I chose novel form to tell this story because it's the quickest and most convenient way. Afterwards, I'll probably try to publish it, turn it into a game, or make it into an animation. It might take me a long time, maybe ten or twenty years, but eventually I'll have my own unique work, and I can focus on these things without distractions. This is also why I won't sign a contract with any platform. However, considering some of its controversial content and practical factors, perhaps it's impossible to sign a contract with any platform in the first place!

I did consider creating a fictional world for reasons such as easier censorship. But the reason I set the background in the real world is because I desperately need a connection to it while writing. If these places have appeared in my writing, places Yubi and Yakov visited, it plants a seed in my heart: "Maybe one day I can go and see them too." Although the hope is slim, and war is raging, I still don't want to give up this wish. These wishes might sustain me for a long time.

Because of this stubbornness, the amount of research I needed to do while writing was exceptionally vast and complex. But this vastness and complexity also gave me great motivation, allowing me to unleash my energy to study history, religion, and culture. That's how I found my connection with the real world. I think this is a good thing. People always find something they love.

Finally, I hope that if you like my work, you will leave me messages and communicate with me! If convenient, please recommend and support it! I think this is the original meaning of literary works. This is a free novel; I never expect it to bring me any financial gain. I only hope that my work can be seen by more people, inspire more people, and let me know that I am not alone. If any reader faces difficulties and hardships, and my work can offer them even a little support or a little insight, then what I have written and thought will have achieved its most glorious mission.

Thank you all. The road ahead is long, and I must continue on my journey.

The following is a list of references, in no particular order.

I will mark the works I specially recommend with an asterisk (※), indicating that these are works I recommend readers to check out as well.

Some particularly well-known works or simple reference books will not be marked with an asterisk (*).

If you're interested, you can find my review/reflection on Weibo.

1. *The Crusades: An Epic of War for the Holy Land* by Dan Jones

2. *Byzantine Civilization* by Xu Jialing

3. ※ *The Pillars of the Earth* by Ken Follett

4. ※ Ridley Scott, director of Kingdom of Heaven

5. Robin Hood, directed by Ridley Scott

6. Timur Alpatov, director of the Russian TV series "The Golden Horde".

7. David Michalod, director of The King of Lancaster

8. *The Taste of Byzantium: The Culinary Delights of a Legendary Empire* by Andrew Darby

9. *A Handbook for Life in the Medieval World*

10. *The Spice Republic* by John O'Connell

11. Documentary: Wild Romania

12. Tribal director Proshkin

13. ※ *Jerusalem Mistress* by Katherine Pangonis

14. *The Knights Templar: Rise, Peak, and Fall* by James Wasserman

15. *Ivanhoe* by Walter Scott & Ivanhoe, directed by Stuart Omar

16. Documentary: The Falconer

17. *The Story of Igor's Expedition* & *Igor the Great* (Opera) by Borodin & the Soviet animated poem recitation of the same name.

18. Andrei Kravchuk, director of The War of the Vikings

19. Many Danube documentaries, such as: Wild Danube, From the Black Forest to the Black Sea, Danube - Europe's Amazon, and the NHK World Heritage series on the Danube Delta.

20. *The Complete Book of Medieval European Martial Arts* by Ryuta Nagata

21. *The Red and the Black* by Stendhal & Jean-Daniel Vihage, director of the 1997 film adaptation.

22. *The Brothers Karamazov* by Fyodor Dostoevsky & 1969 film director Kirill Lavrov, Ivan Peyev, and Mikhail Yurianov

23. ※ Roman Polanski, director of the 1971 version of Macbeth.

24. *Venice: Markets on the Islands at Dusk* by Peter Ackroyd

25. ※The 2004 version of The Merchant of Venice, directed by Michael Radford

26. *The Life of Alexius* by Anna Komnena

27. The Knights of the Cross by Henryk Sienkiewicz

28. Saladin, the Conqueror of Jerusalem (Turkish TV series)

29. Ridley Scott, director of The Last Duel

30. Theodora, the Slave Queen (directed by Rardo Freda)

31. byzantium1200 modeling and reconstruction website

32. "Silence" by Shusaku Endo

33. Netflix series "Ten Days in Florence" directed by Michael Upendal, Anya Adams, and Andrew Dejan.

34. The 1959 version of Ben-Hur, directed by William Wyler.

35. Bilibili up-master Lao Miao Mao Miao's related history video.

36. Reinventing music producer and YouTuber Farya Faraji

37. Translation of Melissa Corvinus's papers on the Komnenian dynasty.

38. *The Golden Legend* (Zhejiang University Translation Edition)

39. "Byzantine Fashions" by Tom Tierney

40. *Byzantine Architecture* by Cyril Mango

41. A series of videos by YouTuber Magister Craft introducing Minecraft in Latin and Roman languages.

42. Esther (directed by Raffaele Mertes) & One Night with the King (directed by Mike O. Schabel)

43. *The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Roman Armor, Weapons, and Tactics: A Comprehensive Guide to the Equipment of the Roman Army and Its Enemies* by Kevin F. Keeley

44. "Armies and Enemies of the Crusades 1096-1291" by Ian Heath

45. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History by Peter Heather

46. ​​The Song of El Cid (directed by Anthony Mann)

47. "By the Emperor's Hand: Military Dress and Court Regalia in the Later Romano-Byzantine Empire" by Timothy Dawson

48. "Knight Templar 1120-1312" by Wayne Reynolds

49. Ophelia, directed by Claire McCarthy

50. Gladiator director Ridley Scott

51. "THE TRAVELS OF IBN FADLAN——A NEW TRANSLATION" by MARIO MARTIN-MERINO

52. Saladin's director, Yusuf Shayn

53.※ "Wonderland Adventures: The Travels of Ibn Battuta (Complete Translation)" Translated by Li Guangbin.

54. *Interrupted Destiny: A World History from a Different Perspective* by Tammy Ansari

55. *Illustrated Guide to Medieval Costumes* by Tian Tanaka

56. "Medival Military Costume" by Garry Embleton

57. Season of the Witch, directed by Dominic Cena

58. Dominic Osening-Garde, director of The Crusades.

59. The Crusades Through the Eyes of the Arabs by Amin Malouf

60. *The Book of Kings* by Ferdowsi & *Ancient Iranian Mythology* by Wei Qingzheng

61. ※The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman

62. *The Knights of the Ages* by Smond Seward

63. "Jerusalem in the time of the Crusades" by Adrian J.Boas

64. Knights Templar by Peter Fritsch

65.Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber

66. "The Leper King and His Heirs" by Bernard Hamilton

67. *Haff's Fairy Tales* by William Haff

68. The End of the Pig by Leslie Megahey

69. The Republic by Plato

70. *Lay and Magellan* by Nezami, translated by Lu Yong

71. The Message (directed by Mustafa Arkad)

72. Soraya M, who was stoned to death, directed by Cyrus Norat.

73. PK (pvp) Director Lakuma Hirani

74. Ronald Broadhurst, translator of *The Travels of Ibn Jubayr*

75. The Knight of the Holy War, directed by Brian Helgeland

76. Cries and Whispers (directed by Ingmar Bergman)

77. The King of Kings, directed by Nicholas Ray

78. The Prince by Machiavelli (Napoleon's Annotated Edition)

79. ※ *The Master and Margaret* by Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov

80. Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche

81. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (directed by Terry Gilliam)

82. Directed by Alexander Nevsky, starring Sergei Eisenstein and Dmitry Vasilyev

83. Mel Gibson, director of The Passion of the Christ.

84. The Symposium by Plato

85. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

86. *Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom* by Sade & directed by Pierre-Paul Pasolini

87. Salome with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, 1974 edition

88. Braveheart, directed by Mel Gibson

89. Directed by William Diattel, The Blood of the Bride

90. The Evil Spirit (1967 Soviet film adaptation of "Wei" by Gogol)

91. "Barba Yaga Laid an Egg" by Dubravka Ugresich

92. The Stranger by Albert Camus

93. ※Black Book Russian Game

94. Irati, director Paul Urquijo Alijo