Chapter 77: The Crime of Disrespect

  Remember in one second

  Bare-headed, Gruke and others were trapped in the angry gaze of the crowd. They had a full body of Dou Qi, but they couldn't use it because of the strong adhesive, and even if they could use their Dou Qi, it was impossible to block thousands of mouths from spreading the news today.

  The gaze of the raven lord swept over them with a stern and icy tone, asking: "What kind of people are you? How dare you bathe in such a solemn great hall?"

  "My father was framed!"

  Scarface Norse didn't wait for Simon to speak, and instead said: "I'm a slave mercenary of the Brotherhood of Blood, I came to pay the toll, but first your guards disarmed me..."

  "I am the Crow Lord, the supreme ruler of this entire region. How dare you address me as 'old man'?"

  The Crow Lord furrowed his brow, his jet-black eyes intimidating. "If I don't punish you, where is the dignity of the people of Crow Ridge? Black Armor Guards—"

  "Agreed!"

  The two black-armored guards with high noses and goatees stepped forward proudly.

  "Shut his mouth."

  The tone of the Crow Master was like ordering food in a tavern, "Keep drawing until you two can't draw anymore."

  "Yes sir! My lord!"

  A man with a high nose bridge and a goatee walked up to Norse, wiggling his fingers.

  "Don't use your Chi shield, or else the powerful adhesive will rip all your flesh off!" Simon whispered.

  Nuo Si's face turned white with fear, and he stuttered: "I-I'm a sixth-rank member of the Yi Xue Tuan..."

  "Bang!"

  A loud slap covered his voice, followed by a second one.

  Nuo Si Dun's face was covered in blood, and even that long, narrow scar could no longer be seen.

  Grukk beside him listened as the slaps changed from sharp and crisp to dull and muffled, his terrified breaths barely daring to escape.

  If it were a matter of strength, he would only need one hand to take down those two Black Armor Guards, but now he was stuck in the powerful adhesive himself, unable to save himself, let alone worry about Nors.

  Besides, this is also a case of Nuo Si's unbridled mouth, daring to call himself "Lao Zi" in front of the Crow Lord, and it would be strange if he didn't get slapped!

  Simon's face was also pale, on the one hand because of the cold attitude of the Crow Lord who didn't even ask questions before starting to fight, and on the other hand because of the reaction of the people below. Those unarmed civilians were cheering along with the sound of the slap, which showed that the Crow Lord's rule had penetrated deep into their hearts.

  Crow Lord sat quietly in his seat, watching with the crowd as Nors was defeated.

  A few minutes later, Nors' face was completely smashed.

  "My Lord—"

  Dulan stepped out with a worried look on his face, "They are indeed slaves and mercenaries who have come to collect taxes, let's just punish them and be done with it."

  Although she also hoped that the Black Armor Guards could directly kill Nuo Si, if someone really died in the end, it would still be Wu Ya Ling who suffered.

  The Crow Lord beckoned her with his finger, "It's too noisy, I can't hear you, come closer and speak."

  Duran's eyes glared at him for a moment, then subsided in obedience. He walked to the side of the Crow Lord and lowered his voice: "That's enough, Rega. You know who they are. I don't care what you're up to, just don't let them die on Raven Ridge!"

  "I still can't hear what you're saying—"

  Crow Lord's eyebrows slightly raised, "Guard, stop! Miss Dulan has something to say."

  High cheekbones and a goatee stood at attention, Nors' fresh blood dripping from their fingertips onto the floor.

  Duran cast a disgusted glance at the bloodied and battered Norse, saw that he still had breath in him, and noted that Rega seemed to be holding his own, before speaking calmly: "Those few are indeed slave mercenaries."

  The conference room was filled with another burst of uncontrollable clamor.

  Crow Ridge is a gathering place for bandit mercenaries, but compared to slave mercenaries, they are still somewhat conscientious. The reputation of slave mercenaries is notorious everywhere, burning, killing and looting, doing all sorts of evil, completely eradicating humanity. For money, they not only capture and kill barbarians, but also stretch out their evil hands to their own compatriots, turning villagers who cannot pay taxes into slaves for cruel lords.

  "Chop off their hands! Drive them out of Crow Ridge!"

  Someone below shouted loudly, and this voice immediately received a large echo of responses.

  "Silence! Silence! Sil—"

  Dulan stamped her foot several times, but no one paid attention to her. She furrowed her brow and sighed quietly. The crowd's excitement was understandable, but if they openly challenged the slave mercenary group, Wuya Ridge would likely face endless harassment in the future.

  The raven lord slightly raised his hand, and the black armored guards immediately struck the floor with their spear handles, after three dull and powerful sounds, the large conference hall became quiet as if no one was there.

  "Chopping off hands is only a punishment for petty thieves, the slave mercenaries did not do evil at Crow Ridge, I cannot punish them just because of their identity, however—"

  The Crow Lord said faintly: "They are bathing in such a solemn hall, this punishment is inevitable."

  "Hang them!"

  The people below shouted again.

  Guluk cleared his throat and said in a quivering voice: "R-respected Crow Lord, we didn't mean to offend you. It's just that there was a woman who said you liked cleanliness, so she asked us to take a bath before meeting you, or else..."

  "Oh?"

  The raven lord cut him off with a cold laugh, "Are you accusing me of deliberately allowing you to desecrate my own council hall?"

  "Draw and quarter!"

  The people below all clenched their fists in indignation.

  Guruk's face turned pale, and he hastily explained: "No, no, no, Lord! I mean there must be some misunderstanding here! If we can find that woman, we can clear our names!"

  "A woman?"

  "Alright, I'll give you a chance," said the Crow Master after a moment of deliberation. "Go find that woman."

  A hall of over a thousand people, how can we find her? Grukk twitched the corner of his mouth and spoke cautiously: "Lord, we were so busy looking at that woman's **that we didn't remember her name..."

  His eyes suddenly lit up and he exclaimed excitedly: "The village chief's daughter beside you has seen that woman."

  Dural's enemy first gave the Crow Lord a meaningful look, then turned to Gruuk and said indifferently: "I've seen too many people today, I really can't remember them all."

  "She's got characteristics!"

  Gruuk hastily said: "She's not young, her butt is perky, very big, long and brown, when walking she's flirtatious and seductive, she deceived us saying she'd accompany us to bathe, but instead stole our clothes, using a strange potion to trap us here..."

  Dulan's enemy couldn't help but lower his voice and say to the Crow Leader, "This is all your idea, isn't it? Siwang's mother was a typical big-breasted but brainless woman, she wouldn't have thought of such an evil plan."

  The Crow Master replied in a low voice without changing his expression: "This trick of stealing clothes is something I learned from you."

  "You... we'll settle this later!"

  Although she said so, Dulan's heart was actually delighted. She didn't expect that after such a long time, Leiga still hadn't forgotten about that matter.

  The raven-haired lord cleared his throat and asked in a serious tone, "You just said that woman is going to bathe with you?"

  "A thousand truths and ten thousand certainties!"

  Guluoke was like grasping at a straw, saying hastily: "She said she would find several more sisters to accompany us, but after taking our clothes, she didn't come back!"

  The Crow Lord nodded, "If I didn't misunderstand, you mean to say that you were deceived by a very large, long and dark-skinned woman from Crow Ridge who walks with a provocative gait. Not only did she not bring other women to you, but she also took away your clothes, right?"

  "Long live your lordship!"

  Guruk felt that he had finally met a lord who could reason.

  The Crow Lord sneered and turned to the crowd in the council hall, asking: "Are there such women in our Raven's Peak? Women who are born to be promiscuous, deceitful and thieving?"

  Several women with impressive busts immediately covered their faces and cried, as if they had been insulted. Next, some women who were not particularly well-endowed also started wailing, seemingly trying to prove that their own breasts were just as large.

  In an instant, the grand hall where thousands of people were discussing matters was filled with wails and sobs.

  "The crow lord raised his voice and interrogated: 'Men, tell me, whose wife, whose daughter, whose mother is a born rogue, cheating and stealing?'"

  "No!"

  The men clenched their fists and shouted loudly: "This is a smear on our Crow Ridge! It's an insult to all the women of Crow Ridge! Use fire punishment! Burn them to death! Burn them to death! Burn them to death!"

  "I, I didn't mean it like that..."

  Guruk was so frightened that he didn't dare to breathe, his golden hair was wet with sweat and stuck to his pale face. He couldn't understand how things had turned into an irretrievable situation when they were supposed to be clear.

  To know, the death penalty by fire is the most cruel punishment on the Four Kingdoms Continent. Although it's not as painful as being torn apart by five horses or cut into a thousand pieces, at least those methods leave something to be buried in the grave. Being burned alive by fire not only kills you but also makes it impossible for your ashes to be separated from the wood ash, and they are directly scattered into the wind, leaving no remains for future generations to remember, completely erasing one's existence.

  "Burning is too harsh a punishment; that's what the Sisters of Radiant Light reserve for heretics beyond redemption."

  The raven leader shook his head and said in a flat tone: "Let's change it to boiling punishment, they're all in the wooden barrels anyway."

  As he finished speaking, a thread of cold, murderous light flashed through his black pupils.

  Gruuk shouted at once, "Mercy! Raven Lord! We are truly being framed ——"

  "No, we plead guilty!"

  Simon, who had been silent until now, suddenly interrupted Gruuk's plea, "My lord, we confess!"

  Guruk stared at Simon in shock, "Lord Simon, have you gone mad?"

  "Everything just now was fabricated, there wasn't any big deal about the woman, and our clothes were also lost by ourselves."

  Simone paid no heed to Gruuk's innocent expression and said resolutely, "We shouldn't be bathing in such a solemn council chamber. We admit our disrespect and ask the Raven Lord to punish us!"