Chapter 308: Whipping to Death (Seeking Monthly Votes at the End of the Month!!)

"Mage Xia Duo?"

As soon as the person landed, he spoke Xia Duo's name, yet Xia Duo had no impression of him; even though the other party looked dashing and quite poised, he truly had no memory of him.

Is this person also from the Tower of Time?

Xia Duo was somewhat suspicious, merely lowering the tip of his sword slightly without putting it away, while simultaneously bracing himself and entering a state of Spellcasting Focus.

He had not been in the Tower of Time for a short time; anyone capable of flight was at least an Intermediate Mage, so he should not have absolutely no impression of him—this was somewhat abnormal.

"I am Xia Duo, you are—"

"I am the External Affairs Director of the Tower of Time, you may call me Mage Warren." Warren took out a Time Tower Badge and activated the mark in his palm; a three-dimensional phantom of the Tower of Time appeared above the badge.

While Xia Duo was checking the mark, Warren inconspicuously glanced at the distinctively styled Elf longsword in Xia Duo's hand, a trace of greed flashing in his eyes.

However, it quickly vanished into nothingness; once upon a time, the lowly Apprentice in his eyes had transformed into an Intermediate Mage and even become the husband of Tower Master Niya.

If he also had Xia Duo's talent, perhaps he would not be in his current situation!

"Mage Xia Duo, is there any problem with the badge?"

"No problem!" Xia Duo put away the Blade of Veto.

The badge was indeed fine and belonged to the Tower of Time, and this so-called External Affairs Director was actually the head of all the peripheral members of the Tower of Time.

It was just that since others didn't say it, it was hard for Xia Duo to distinguish who was a peripheral member and who was a core member.

"Mage Warren, what business do you have with me?" Xia Duo was very clear about this; this Mage Warren had flown straight toward him just now, so it couldn't possibly be on his way.

"It is like this, I just saw someone fly in from the outside, so I came to check the situation; since it is Mage Xia Duo, then there is no problem!" Warren explained.

"Does that mean it would be a problem if it were someone else?"

"Of course not, but if they were not a member of the Tower of Time, I would inquire about their identity and keep a record."

So that was it!

With the Tower of Time gone, there were indeed more troublesome matters!

Afterward, the two exchanged a few more pleasantries, which counted as formally meeting, and once Supervisor Yarman hurried over, Mage Warren also found an excuse to leave.

……

"Yarman, how are the commoners doing these past few days? Are the Slaves still behaving?"

Xia Duo asked Supervisor Yarman while walking toward the harbor warehouse area; with five or six days of holidays in total, he was still somewhat worried!

"Due to the influence of the Eagle Chamber of Commerce murder case, your commoners have stayed inside the warehouse these past two days and haven't gone anywhere, so their emotions are relatively stable, but as for the Slaves—"

Speaking of this, Supervisor Yarman paused.

Xia Duo immediately asked: "What about the Slaves? Did they want to run away or cause some trouble?"

"My Lord, one Slave took advantage of the weak defenses during the Midsummer Festival celebration and tried to jump into the river to escape, but he was quickly caught back by Lord Laidun!"

"Oh? How did Laidun deal with him?"

"The escapee was whipped to death on the spot, and the others in the same group were also whipped 20 times." Mentioning this, Yarman couldn't help but shiver.

He was present at the time, and although he was not the one being whipped, that scene was still very unsettling—not because of the whipping itself, but because Priest Laidun had condensed Holy Power onto the lash to prevent the Slave from dying too quickly.

The whip marks just inflicted had already faded significantly by the time the next strike landed; Yarman had even wondered if Priest Laidun could whip someone forever if he wanted to.

At the thought of this, Yarman shuddered again.

"Yarman, what is wrong with you?"

"No, nothing!"

Xia Duo had only asked casually, and seeing that the other party wouldn't say, he couldn't be bothered to pursue it. Soon, the two arrived outside the Liyadun Chamber of Commerce warehouse.

The three warehouses stood together with their doors wide open, and Qiaoqi and Jibu were patrolling the entrance fully armed with their respective squads.

Seeing Xia Duo and Yarman approach, the two immediately left their squads and came up to meet them.

"My Lord!" This was Qiaoqi.

"My Lord!" Jibu wanted to say something but hesitated.

But at this moment, Xia Duo had already been attracted by the noisy sounds coming from the warehouse; he also noticed Jibu's expression, but he didn't take it to heart, merely offering an encouraging word, "You've worked hard."

Then he followed the sound and walked toward the first warehouse.

Because it was summer, only simple straw mats were laid out inside, and his commoners were learning crafts from artisans in small groups.

Clang, clang—it was quite lively.

"The Lord is here!"

"My Lord!"

"My Lord!"

The crowd bowed one after another; Xia Duo waved his hand to let them continue. He recognized two of the artisans as his own Slaves: the stonemason named Sitong and the carpenter named Carpenter.

As for the other two young carpenters, he didn't know where they came from, but if nothing went wrong—

He looked at Yarman, and Yarman explained at the right moment: "Those two carpenter Apprentices were hired by the Liyadun Chamber of Commerce to teach your commoners how to process wood; it wouldn't be easy to hire seasoned carpenters."

"Mm." Xia Duo nodded; a craft was indeed not something that could be learned easily.

With Savile Town developing for so long, various demands had long since reached a balance; the situation where a master is starved to death after teaching his apprentice was not impossible.

Being able to hire two carpenter Apprentices was already quite good.

"Let's go, let's go see the Slaves!"

Just as he was preparing to go to the next warehouse, Priest Laidun hurried over, "My Lord, I have two matters that I need to report to you."

"Let's go, we can talk while we walk."

"Yes!"

Arriving outside the warehouse, Jibu was already waiting at the entrance; he seemed to have heard Laidun's words just now and also said to Xia Duo: "My Lord, I also have a matter that I wish to report to you."

"Come together!"

"Yes!"

As they walked, Laidun reported, "My lord, a Slave escaped the day before yesterday; he has already received Judgment, and the rest of the people in his Working Group have also been punished."

"Mm, I heard from Steward Yarman; it was whipping, right?"

"Yes, I have already restored them, so it will not affect subsequent labor."

"Very good!"

Xia Duo had already seen the Slaves in the second warehouse; everyone was lined up neatly, sitting on the ground chanting something, and upon listening carefully, wasn't it the "Lord's Quotations" he had compiled earlier?

Currently, with the number of territory residents and Slaves being too low, Xia Duo had not promulgated any complex decrees, only using the form of the "Lord's Quotations" to stipulate some daily codes of conduct.

As long as ordinary people pay a little attention, it is not difficult to do.

"Laidun, what is the second thing you mentioned?"

"This—" Laidun glanced at Jibu and did not speak.

Xia Duo immediately knew this matter was related to Jibu, so he asked Jibu instead, "Then what do you want to report?"

"My lord, Aiwa has agreed to serve as the instructor for the lord's Territory Guard, and he has already arrived; he is in the third warehouse!"

"Oh?"

Hearing that the person had already arrived, Xia Duo was instead in no rush to go over; he had previously wanted to hire Aiwa to teach the members of the Territory Guard how to use Magic Items.

It was just that when he brought it up with Jibu, he said he had to seek Aiwa's opinion first, and even if he agreed, they would still need to arrange a time to meet and talk.

Why did he suddenly deliver himself to the door now?