Chapter 48: Crow Leader

  As soon as Lei Ga stepped onto the stage, the crowded conference hall suddenly erupted like a boiling pot.

  The villagers below were discussing and speculating, exchanging suspicious glances with each other.

  It was truly unthinkable to let a fifteen-year-old boy preside over the village council, but no one dared to stand up and refute it, after all, Village Chief Du Lan personally acknowledged that Leika was a noble from the Maple Snow Kingdom.

  Lei sat calmly in the middle seat, his eyes slowly scanning the crowd. Some people didn't dare to meet his gaze, some looked dissatisfied, and others were pointing and whispering.

  It's impossible to intimidate these people who are much older than him with the tricks of cutting down big trees at the village entrance, Leiga feels that now he can only take things one step at a time.

  He nodded at Du Lan in the morning, "Let's start."

  "Quiet!"

  Doolan's heel clicked on the floorboards once more as he loudly declared: "The village council is now in session!"

  The first person the villagers pushed in front of Lega was a young man dressed in tattered clothes, his hands tied behind his back, with bruises on his face from being punched and kicked, but with a triumphant smile at the corner of his mouth.

  "What crime have you committed?" Rega asked.

  "He stole our things! And this is already the third time!" The villager next to him accused angrily.

  Lei gave a cold glance at the villager and said sternly: "I'm asking him, not you."

  The villager pouted and turned his head to one side with a somewhat disgruntled expression.

  The young man accused of theft smiled slyly, "Little adult, I didn't steal, I just took it, that's all. At most, it can be considered borrowing. When I become rich and successful, I will return it to you in full."

  A murmur arose from below at once, and Duran had to use his heel to knock on the floor again, reminding everyone to be quiet.

  Lei Ga shifted his gaze to the villager, "You said he stole from you three times, what evidence do you have?"

  "What more evidence is needed?"

  The villager's eyes widened, his expression looked like he was about to spit out a mouthful of thick phlegm. "When we caught him, the village chief Du Lan was right there on the scene. As for saying it three times, this is already his third time being tried for this, isn't that enough?"

  "Is that so?" asked Regaard Dural. "A third trial? How did the first two turn out?"

  Dulan's enemy smoothed out his collar unnaturally, "I'll lock him up in the dungeon, first time for a month, second time for three months. He's not a villager of this village, has no property and can't compensate, so it's settled."

  "Has Dusty Village been supporting you for three months?" Lei Ga asked.

  Dulan furrowed his brow, "But we restricted his freedom, and he couldn't steal anything for these three months..."

  "Mercy will only attract more thieves. My verdict is final—"

  Leiga's face showed no hint of a smile, he reached out to grab the hilt of his sword behind him, but immediately realized that he shouldn't let the thief's blood defile his own weapon, so he put his hand down again. He glanced at the villager below who had a fish-gutting knife tucked into his waistband and said to him: "Give me your knife."

  The villager looked at Lega with suspicion and reluctantly handed over the fish knife.

  Lei Ga beckoned to the thief with his finger, "Come over here and turn your back."

  The thief swaggered up to the stage and held out his bound hands.

  "Steal one finger, steal three times and get three fingers. The sentence is effective immediately."

  After finishing speaking, Lei Ga grasped the thief's wrist and ruthlessly cut off one of his fingers.

  The thief suddenly let out a pig-like scream, struggling to break free from Leiga's control, but Leiga had already condensed his fourth-stage Dou Qi, firmly controlling the thief.

  Lei Ga calmly cut off the thief's second finger, followed by the third, ignoring the thief's pleas for mercy. The severed fingers and fresh blood fell to the ground, stunning all the villagers present.

  "Alright, take back your fingers, you're free."

  After cutting off his fingers, Lei Ga cut off the rope that bound the thief, without saying a word of threat or warning.

  The thief's face turned pale, his body couldn't stop trembling, he didn't even dare to look at Leiga's eyes, he picked up the finger and rushed out of the meeting hall like a puff of smoke, and never dared to come to Dusty Village again.

  Lui said lightly: "Next one."

  The conference room was silent as a tomb, with no one daring to respond to Lega.

  Lei Ga's strange voice echoed as he said to Du Lan enemy: "Isn't there a next one?"

  Duran's enemy finally came back to his senses, "There... but you just now, although very effective, were too cruel."

  "Uh-huh."

  Lei Ga nodded in agreement, suddenly remembering that he hadn't returned the fish knife to the villager from earlier. He turned his head towards the villager who was staring at him with a dumbfounded expression and said: "If you don't mind, may I borrow this knife for now?"

  "It doesn't matter, sir!"

  The villager's attitude changed completely and immediately, "You're welcome to use it!"

  "Great, let's move on to the next one."

  This time, no need for Durant's thunderous dunks, the meeting hall was so quiet that even a needle dropping to the ground could be heard.

  The second pair to come up were a pair of feuding neighbors. With the first verdict as a reference, they showed much more respect for Rega's attitude.

  "Sir!"

  The tall and thin neighbor spoke first, "It's like this, I was playing dice with this mongrel, he lost but refused to admit it, and even accused me of cheating with the dice!"

  "Sir, he's a wicked man, I'll report him first!"

  The short neighbor's face was red with rage, his fists clenched tightly together, as if he would have liked to punch the tall and thin one in the face.

  Lei Ga asked in a high-pitched voice: "Did you cheat?"

  The tall and thin man raised his right hand and swore: "Absolutely not."

  "Cheating at gambling, one finger, lying to me, cut off the head. Alright, let me see the dice."

  "Ah? Dice?"

  The tall and thin man stared at Lega with a hollow gaze, as if he had suddenly forgotten what dice were. He swallowed hard, "Maybe... I, I lost them."

  Lei Ga had heard enough. "Come over here on your own and let me cut off your fingers, otherwise you'll just stand there waiting for me to chop off your head."

  "Big, big person——"

  The tall and thin man's lower lip began to tremble, "Spare me, I am a villager from this village..."

  Lei Ga looked at Du Lan with a cold gaze and said, "Alright, I'll only cut off the first joint of your little finger, and you can choose which hand."

  This kindness was apparently insufficient for the tall and thin man, who fell to his knees with a thud. "I have money, I can use it to replace punishment—"

  Lei Ga's expressionless face rose from his seat, "Finger or head?"

  "Finger! Finger!"

  The tall and thin one understood that he couldn't escape, so he shakily stretched out his little finger in front of Lei Ga.

  Lei Ga ruthlessly chopped down with his fish-cleaving knife, the tall and thin man let out a miserable cry, and fainted from the pain.

  "Take him away and hand over his body to his family."

  As soon as he finished speaking, villagers immediately came up and carried the tall thin man away.

  "That short fellow exclaimed excitedly: 'Your Excellency, you are truly just, a true noble indeed!'"

  "Don't be in such a hurry to thank me, it's not over yet."

  Lei's face remained expressionless from start to finish, "What's your bet with him?"

  The short man's face showed a hint of embarrassment, "N-nothing, just a few silver coins."

  "Will a few silver coins be enough for the village council to resolve?"

  Lei Ga's voice was cold and unfeeling. "Lying to me? Cut off your head! Do you think this sentence only applies to him?"

  The short man suddenly broke out in a cold sweat and hastily explained: "Sir, I'm telling you! The bet between him and me was our respective houses and fish ponds. If it weren't for your discerning eye, I'm afraid I would have lost my house and fish pond."

  "If you weren't so greedy, why would you need to rely on my sharp eyes?"

  Lega's gaze was as hard as stone, "Your family almost paid the price for your greed, so I punish you by having you whip yourself twenty times - Miss Dulane, are there whips here?"

  Du Lan's enemy slightly hesitated and said with embarrassment: "No, no."

  "Then use rope instead, but increase the number of times."

  Lei Ga threw the rope that had previously bound the thief to the feet of the short man and said, "I punish you by having you whip yourself with the rope forty times. If no blood is seen, it doesn't count. Do you admit defeat?"

  "Give up."

  The dwarf nodded his head in satisfaction, picked up the rope and said, "Thank you, sir. You are the embodiment of justice."

  "You go first. Next one."

  After the dwarf villager led the rope away, the subsequent dispute suddenly became much simpler.

  A couple who constantly quarrel with each other claim they love and cherish each other till death do them part. Two villagers who often fight over trivial matters also claim they love and cherish each other till death do them part. A group of siblings fighting over inheritance also claim they love and cherish each other till death do them part.

  Lei Ga resented them for making trouble, so he had each of them take a rope and whip themselves ten times to settle the matter. The people who received the ropes all had an expression of joy on their faces, as if they had received a blessing rather than a punishment.

  Soon, all the disputes that had been suppressed in Chenyin Village were resolved. The fish knife was only used twice at the beginning and never again. Leiga's judgments were cruel, but every villager felt a sense of justice.

  Lei Ga turned his head towards Dulan Di's wooden face and asked: "Miss Dulan Di, don't you have anything else to say?"

  "Huh?"

  As soon as she thought of the sentence "It turns out that nobles are nothing more than this" that she had prepared, Duran's enemy suddenly shuddered violently, and her back involuntarily tensed up, as if an invisible whip was lashing at her. Her face turned bright red, and she stuttered: "I... I have nothing to say anymore."

  "Really?"

  Lei Ga stood up from his seat and revealed the first smile to enter the conference hall, "That's too bad, because I'm about to leave, and you won't have another chance."

  This is **naked provocation!**

  A crimson flush spread across Du Lan's face, extending all the way to her slender neck, feeling even more humiliated than being pinned against the wall by Lei, yet unable to do anything about it.

  Lei Ga took over the fish basket containing angry claw lobster from Zhāo Lái Shí Dōng and walked out of the door with a relaxed face.

  As he walked to the door, Lelouch suddenly heard someone in the crowd shout: "Lord! He is the lord we need! The Black Prince!"

  When he walked to the village entrance, all the villagers of Chénī Cūn came out to see him off, shouting in unison:

  "Raven King! Raven King! Raven King!"