-   >->At that time, it is not only rats and cockroaches that are qualified to participate in the meat feast, but more small insects can share the meal. Dirty is their best condiment, stench is their favorite taste, and the bones of the dead cannot be spared. This strong substance can be preserved for a long time, enough to make the ugly and disgusting biome lie on it for a long time and chew on it and suck the marrow.

Four guards held torches and illuminated the dark and dull cell.

Niu Weibang's feet were spread apart. In his calmness, his eyes were low. His side face illuminated by the fire was as smooth as a classical sculpture, but there was no emotion in his eyes. Indifference occupied the vast majority and was changing to the brink of ferocity and anger.

The interior space of the cell is not large, so you can only place a bed.

A woman was lying on the ground curled up.

She looks over fifties, and her thin body may be due to hunger or illness. Her clothes are thin and ragged. Whether it is worn or physically, it shows that she is not a rich person.

The woman lying on the ground was no longer breathing. She opened her eyes, her tongue stretched out from the middle of her slightly opened lips, and there was obvious swelling. The blood remaining at the corners of her mouth had turned black, indicating that the death time was at least several hours ago. Her bare thighs and arms were covered with scars, dark purple, black, bruises left by blunt beats, and fresh marks that had not yet been scarred.

Anger and helplessness were like two wild dogs biting wildly in Niu Weibang's body, barking fiercely, without any sign of stopping.

About two months ago, after the first batch of reinforcements were sent to Panshi City, rumors about Tianhao began to circulate in Leijiao City.

"The Lord of Panshi is actually the younger brother of the King of Thunder Point. At that time, Lao Wang had several sons. The current king used many methods to get the position of the first heir, and many royal families were killed by him. The Lord of Panshi was very lucky. He was quietly adopted and helped by the leaders of other tribes. He was promoted from the leader of the village to the lord. Now the position of Panshi City has been stable, and the king was forced to have no choice but to publicly recognize the identity of Panshi City."

"I have been to Panshi Village before, which is a small village with only a few hundred people. Look at how long it has passed, and it suddenly became a city. I heard that the population last year was more than 100,000. If there was nothing tricky here, I wouldn't believe it. If I had to say, the city lord of Panshi City must have received support from other tribes and fought against our king."

"The city of Rock mainly rebelled, and I guaranteed it was true with my head. He practiced troops and made weapons every day. The man was a madman, and he killed all the opponents in the city, including the priests. They no longer believed in the gods and never held sacrificial rituals, especially the city lord, who was a blasphemer and an enemy of the gods."

Niu Weibang has been searching for the source of these rumors.

Leijiao City is not big. As long as you have the determination, it is actually very simple to screen the target from just tens of thousands of people. The guards arrested more than 100 people in front and back, and tortured them severely, and never let them go. One is like the backward push from the bottom of the pyramid scheme group in the civilized era, and the top of the triangle was finally frozen on a woman named "Afen".

Afen was old and could not withstand the torture. She tamped the bamboo stick several times, burned the soldering iron several times, and was whipped hard. After begging for forgiveness, she admitted that everything was her commander behind her back and signed the confession letter on the clay template.

Niu Weibang didn't believe her confession at all.

Afen is indeed the source of rumors, but she is not the real mastermind behind the scenes. How could a poor and poor old woman do such a thing? If she does not have enough benefits, how could she run around at the risk of beheading?

Niu Weibang is a serious ruler. He personally listened to the interrogation of Afen, saw the bamboo stick piercing her fingers deeply, and watched her scream that was not as loud as a human voice. He also watched her wake up by cold water after being beaten again and again, and to death.

"Let her rest for a few days and give her some time to think about it." This was an order issued by Niu Weibang at that time.

It’s not because of pity, but because she really can’t stand it. There is no difference between dead people and garbage. The King of Thunder Point needs a real confession and seize the real mastermind behind the scenes.

But now, Afen is dead.

All signs indicate that she was poisoned.

Niu Weibang's face was covered with cold frost.

He is a tribal king with a deep understanding of power. He must firmly grasp the army at any time, which is the basis for being a king. From this, prisons, supervisory institutions, and various forms of violent organs are important components that constitute and consolidate his own power. Niu Weibang never takes action on others, and all relevant power institutions are commanded by his confidants.

The importance of Lei Point City Prison is second only to that of the army, but something goes wrong here.

If she had something like poison with her, Afen would have swallowed it in one bite before the torture. She was a weak-willed person, not a tough guy who could endure it to the end.

Have those guys hiding in dark corners like bed bugs already reached into my penalty area?

Thinking of this, Niu Weibang felt chilling, his anger burned more and more, and his eyes were filled with murderous intent.

Rumors themselves do not matter.

He has not been so stupid that he listens to others and believes in others.

If Tianhao intends to rebel, he will not confess his entire attack plan against the Pig tribe to himself, nor will he actively provide cotton coats and gloves to the Leijiao City army, including large amounts of supplies, including food, and will not allow Liao Qiu to bring back a brand new armor manufacturing process.

Who is behind my back disturbing my sight?

What is his purpose?

"Check it for me!" After a long time, Niu Weibang gritted his teeth and made a cold voice without any emotion: "The entire prison, from top to bottom, investigated one by one. I want to see who gave her the poison and who was against me?"

The execution efficiency of the personal guards was extremely high. More than an hour later, Niu Weibang, who left the prison and returned to the city lord's mansion, received the news that the two prisoners on duty were killed last night. The personal guards found bodies in their homes, and the family of the deceased were all killed, with no one left.

A terrible feeling rushed into my brain instantly. Niu Weibang felt cold in his hands and feet, so he opened his mouth but failed to make a sound.

The opponents lurking in the dark obviously control the situation and have more power than they imagined. It is no longer as simple as rumors, they should seek more than they seem on the surface.

Maybe it is the entire City of Rock, or Leijiao City, or even the king of his own tribe.

Countless thoughts spread under the control of fear, just like the nerve endings that were sharply bifurcated along the main nerve veins, and all the ends had black fruits of suspicion. Niu Weibang suddenly felt a little regretful, feeling that he shouldn't have sent the main force of the clan early, and maybe he shouldn't have fought this battle at all.

"We must first settle the internal situation when fighting foreign countries." This is an old saying passed down by our ancestors. If the peace and stability of Lianleijiao City cannot be maintained, what is the use of winning more battles? What do I want so many pig captives to do?

For the whole afternoon, Niu Weibang locked himself in the room and pondered until evening.

He didn't think about any results, and his eyes were confused, as if he was shrouded in heavy fog, and the chaos could not tell the direction.

...

Wu Yuan’s private house is located west of Leijiao City, which is a wealthy area in the city. The surrounding neighbors are either priests or commanders.

The room with a temperature of more than 30 square meters is very spacious, with six burning charcoal basins placed on the corners of the house and on the walls. The building is exquisitely designed and has a special hollow heating layer. Although it is cold outside, the interior of the room is as warm as spring.

Wu Yuan was wearing a thin single dress, picked up the wine pot placed on the table, and poured it on his own.

During this period, he stayed in Leijiao City and did not regard Chitou City as his home as before.

The identity of the clan witch is very important. Although Niu Weibang does not like Wu Yuan, and can even be said to be disgusted, every year when the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter come, the King of Thunder Horn has to give in and order Wu Yuan to recall him and preside over various sacrificial rituals.

Wizards and priests are the spokespersons of gods on earth, and their identities are irrefutable.

What happened recently made Wu Yuan feel happy. Both the rhythm and the result made him feel indescribable. The adrenaline rush effect has caused the brain to run a lot faster and his thinking has become clearer. Even alcohol cannot have an hindrance effect. It is just a synergist for excitement.

Rumors were released very successfully.

Wu Yuan knew that Niu Weibang was a smart man and a clan king with extraordinary wisdom. People like him would not change their inner thoughts by a few rumors, nor would they easily doubt and change the status of important officials under him. Rulers who reach a certain level need assistants, or even a huge auxiliary group. Occasionally, individuals make mistakes, and various factors must be considered when punished, rather than simply beheading, scouting their homes, and destroying the family.

The Lord of Panshi intends to rebel.

This is the core of the rumor, but it is not the core of Wu Yuan's attempt to attract Niu Weibang's attention and achieve his fundamental purpose.

He knew that Niu Weibang would not believe in this kind of slander.

The young man named Tianhao was so smart that his behavior was not compatible with his age. He seemed to have no idea what selfishness was, and he casually gave up his credit in several battles. The leaders of the villages near Panshi Village, who were friends with him, went to heaven one by one, either received a reward from his surname or a more population. Even Mishui City, which was far away, joined this network of relationships and formed a huge alliance.

Many nobles scoffed at the benefits Tianhao got. They thought that Tianhao's surname was very humble, because the surname "Niu" was not as simple as it seems. According to the degree of honor of each person, it was divided into simple and complex. It is mainly reflected in writing: a new city lord like Tianhao who climbed up from the bottom. His surname was simple in writing style, which was an ordinary character "Niu". If it was a high-ranking nobleman with a long history in his ancestors, his writing style would be very complicated, and it was a hieroglyphic character "Niu" with many strokes.

In fact, Tianhao had already known these things, and Zong Guang talked about everything with him. However, the aristocratic tricks were ridiculous. They racked their brains to raise themselves and divided the levels with the people around them, but they didn't know that this approach was really annoying, and even had a high chance of turning into hatred.

The benefit Tianhao got was the population. In the last few wars, the population of Panshi City rose sharply. It took him two years to go from ordinary villages to cities with 10,000 people. Now, as long as he defeats the Pig tribe, Bishhui City and Leijiao City can be divided into a large number of prisoners of war. The population of Panshi City has exceeded 100,000, making it a real city without any suspense.

It is best to falsely accuse him of rebellion.

The words were widely spread and many people listened to them, and they couldn't help but believe them.

Of course, Niu Weibang may be an exception, and his chances of believing and reacting are very low.

Therefore, Wu Yuan must give Niu Weibang greater trouble from other aspects, disturb his thinking, and then reveal a few "traces" at the right time to guide him in the direction he hoped.

Wu Yuan had no great hope for Afen from the beginning. The King of Thunder Horn is an iron-fisted ruler, and what he wanted to do must be executed without any discount. After tracing the source of rumors, he will soon find Afen, and she can't escape.

As long as she was stinging her sternly during the interrogation stage, it would be enough in Wu Yuan's opinion.

This is actually the truth, no one instructed Afen. She just found a pocket full of cured meat and cotton cloth at home. There was a mud template inside, and the text engraved on it told her: Just say the words below the message and tell more people, and you will get a richer reward.

Afen, half-believing and half-doubted, tried to do it.

The next day, she found a larger pocket in the yard, also filled with cured meat and cotton.

She received a lot of rewards.

But she had never seen anyone who left these things.

Afen really didn't lie, and every word she said during the interrogation was true.

But no one believed that even the King of Thunder Horn, who thought she was wise, thought she was lying and hiding something.

Because all this is not consistent with common sense.

Wu Yuan is familiar with many of Niu Weibang's living habits and knows his weaknesses. A wise king will always give the lower class more opportunities. Even if he is a murderer, as long as he has enough patience and opportunity, he can get pardoned by the great king.

The development of things was exactly the same as Wu Yuan expected: Afen was not dead, she was sent back to the cell on the verge of death, Niu Weibang gave her more time to consider, but he never expected that Wu Yuan's next action was to bribe the prison guard and poison Afen to death.

Immediately afterwards, the jailer died.

The whole thing was completely stopped here, and the thread was cut off.

This made Niu Weibang feel very bad, like a handful of sand firmly holding it in the palm of his hand, but it slowly flowed down from the gap between his fingers, narrowing the controllable range bit by bit.

Reality is the best weapon to defeat confidence.
Chapter completed!