Chapter 491: Alright then, I

Nei Wen shouted as he approached the group ahead, but in the darkness he couldn't make out who they were; however, he could vaguely see that none of them were armed—a good sign, indicating their resistance was weak.

In recent weeks, Nei Wen had been running all over the place, maintaining order, suppressing rebellions, and wiping out bandits—so busy he had no time to breathe—but he'd accumulated plenty of experience, especially in discerning right from wrong.

Some noble landlords were disgusting: they'd go steal others' belongings, seize their land and homes, rape their wives and daughters, yet somehow produce piles of "evidence" proving those things were theirs, then demand Nei Wen deliver justice for them.

In the past, Nei Wen had agonized over such situations, but now he didn't. Lord Anthony had taught him: the principle of limited order giving rise to high autonomy @￥@……||#*￥#%#

The rest of the characters were because Nei Wen hadn't understood; finally, Anthony had to summarize one thing for him—no one dies.

Whoever is right doesn't matter—no one dies. No fighting either. Just argue your case, and after you're done, I'll handle it.

This approach was perfect for the Spirit Dragon Knights, a violent gang; few of them could reason, but upholding this principle was ideal—no one dies.

From this, they derived: don't strike first; whoever strikes first bears responsibility; whoever uses a weapon adds guilt. With minimal effort, they maintained limited order across vast territories.

Since then, Nei Wen had begun to truly understand what "limited order" meant: no one dies. As long as no one dies, no one fights, and no one uses weapons, no matter how loud the arguments, order won't collapse and society won't fall apart—except if food runs out.

As long as food didn't run out and limited order was maintained, all conflicts would be resolved—or shelved—through arguing, conceding, and compromising.

Anthony had once spoken to him earnestly: "This can never achieve fairness or justice, because determining what is fair or just requires specialized knowledge. Some things everyone assumes are obvious, or have always been customary, aren't necessarily right."

"As long as things don't descend into chaos, everything can be fixed. You can maintain the most territory with the fewest people. Once every region stabilizes, people are fed, clothed, and safe, they'll seek higher goals—then you can train more professional judges and adjudicating knights to pursue fairness and justice."

After Anthony's explanation, Nei Wen finally understood the meaning of "limited order." Were the cemeteries built by the Emperor in every city meant for this "limited order"?

After his recent "internship," Nei Wen had grown into a competent adjudicator—he no longer listened selectively or arbitrarily labeled people good or bad. He only wanted to know: had anyone died?

But seeing that the group across from him had no weapons, he relaxed considerably—at least it hadn't escalated beyond repair.

A fat little landlord rushed up, urgently saying: "My lord, what injustice? No one would frame a bunch of filthy farmers. Even if they're innocent, they killed three of my servants and cut off my guard's hand. It's them—arrest them! You said killing demands beheading—cut their heads off."

"Shut up!" Nei Wen exploded. Under these circumstances, provoking conflict was outright sabotage—he wanted to cut the man down right then.

At that moment, one among the group stood up and turned to face them.

Nei Wen tensely gripped his sword hilt and called out: "Don't be alarmed—put down your weapons…"

Then a ball of white light flared from the other side, illuminating their group. Nei Wen's legs went weak—he nearly collapsed to his knees—because he saw a horde of terrifying figures.

The fat little landlord blinked in confusion: "My lord, why are you kneeling?"

Nei Wen had no time to care about this dead landlord—he bent over and hurried forward, exclaiming in delight: "Lord Ang? Lord Anthony? Lord Du Luo? What are you doing here?"

Anthony smiled and nodded, patting his shoulder warmly: "To take a stroll after dinner and digest. What about you? Why are you here?"

Digest? Nei Wen nearly choked. Luckily, Anthony asked back—otherwise he wouldn't have known what to say. He hurried to reply:

"A minor landlord reported to us that his tenant farmers rebelled, killing his servants and guards. So I came to investigate. My lord, have you seen those tenant farmers?"

"It was me." Anthony replied.

"Huh?" Nei Wen froze.

"I killed his three servants and cut off his guard's hand." Anthony said openly.

"Oh! So it was Lord Anthony who passed judgment—then they must have committed something unforgivable." Nei Wen affirmed.

Anthony hesitated: "Actually… they didn't. They had promissory notes—they really did borrow grain and rent."

Nei Wen gave Anthony a mournful look, then suddenly shouted: "Oh no! My hypoglycemia's flaring up! I can't—I'm going to faint!"

He rolled his eyes back and collapsed stiffly onto the ground.

This sight stunned Negrilis and the landlord. Negrilis exclaimed in shock: "This is Nei Wen? The upright, brave Nei Wen? How did he become so slick like you?"

Nei Wen, lying "unconscious," blushed—but in the pitch darkness, no one saw.

The little landlord stared blankly for a moment, then finally understood what had happened. He trembled violently, screamed, and turned to flee. The "adjudicator" he'd summoned had fainted from fear of the other side.

But suddenly, something appeared on the ground, tripping the landlord forward. A stone inexplicably shifted to his forehead, cracking his skull. Moments later, he suffocated to death, his face buried in the dirt after fainting.

Anthony shouted loudly: "Oh no! The man you brought fell and died! He hit his head on a rock and suffocated!"

Nei Wen groggily got up: "What? Died from a fall? Oh no! I failed to protect him—I'm negligent! Quick, someone! Take his body back and return it to his family!"

Internally, he fumed: Damn it, suffocating after hitting your head on a rock? How am I supposed to explain this?! Teacher, you're making this hard for me…

A bone dragon descended from the sky. The dragon and its rider bowed toward them, then lifted the landlord's corpse and flew away.

After playing this self-deceiving scene, Nei Wen whispered: "Lord Anthony… what really happened?"

Anthony clearly wanted to test him—he smiled and asked: "Guess what happened."

Nei Wen thought a moment, then guessed: "The landlord lent money at exorbitant rates and seized their land. You saw it and acted righteously?"

Anthony nodded with a smile: "I'm not that idle. The ones who got robbed were our people."

"Oh…" Nei Wen understood. He'd guessed right. He hadn't really believed his own "righteous act" theory—nobles didn't have time for that. The dead landlord must've provoked them.

"Then I know. How should we handle this?" Nei Wen asked.

Anthony countered: "What do you plan to do?"

Nei Wen thought carefully. Anthony had taught him much. Though he had no official title, Nei Wen had long regarded Anthony as his teacher. A teacher's question demanded a thoughtful, detailed, serious answer.

After thinking, Nei Wen said: "Three options. First, ignore it. The landlord's son will inherit the estate, and these people will remain tenants. But knowing their father died here, after we leave, they'll likely double the exploitation."

"Second, relocate the village. Third, relocate the landlord."

Anthony gave Nei Wen a deep, approving look and nodded: "Good. You've considered everything thoroughly. Do as you suggest."

"Yes, my lord." Nei Wen replied respectfully.

Negrilis, utterly confused, blurted: "Wait, wait—what are you two hinting at? Nei Wen, what are you planning?"

Nei Wen scratched his head awkwardly and grinned sheepishly: "Relocate the landlord. His family's small—easy to move. This village has so many people—moving them's too troublesome."

"Wrong," Negrilis said. "Anthony said before: if productivity is insufficient, maintaining the status quo is best. If you move the landlord's family, won't nearby nobles come to seize the land?"

"No, no. A distant relative without inheritance rights will stay behind and inherit the estate, preserving stability." Nei Wen replied.

"Ssshh—what exactly did Anthony teach you? How are you going to move the landlord? Will they just comply?" Negrilis asked, sounding slightly nauseated.

"They'll comply. One night, a band of thieves break into their home, tie them up, steal all their money, and leave a ransom note." Nei Wen said.

"Damn it, you're not the Nei Wen I knew! What the hell did Anthony teach you?!" Negrilis was losing his mind.

The Nei Wen he'd first met had been so upright, brave, righteous, even a little shy. Now he'd become so cunning—like a perfect copy of Anthony.

Since everything was out in the open, Nei Wen didn't care anymore. He said seriously: "What my teacher taught me is incredibly practical. With it, I've quelled chaos in over sixty city-states. My old self was too naive—I didn't stop chaos; I made it worse. Ideals can be abstract, but governance must be pragmatic."

"You're right," Negrilis conceded. This guy didn't just learn Anthony's cunning—he absorbed his entire theory. And it made sense. Negrilis felt he couldn't argue.

Anthony smiled warmly. Nei Wen was a man of strong justice, kind and upright—but sometimes too innocent and idealistic, rigid in action, often doing good with bad results.

If no one guided him, his integrity and kindness would erode through repeated failures, turning into self-doubt, then vanish entirely.

But if he kept his upright, kind heart while mastering flexible, adaptable methods, he'd become a competent administrator.

Seeing him, Anthony saw his younger self.

"By the way, what's Lord Ang doing?" Nei Wen asked curiously.

"Bloodline awakening. This little one's a dragon spawn—Lord Ang's preparing to awaken him into a dragon descendant." Anthony said casually.

Nei Wen's legs buckled and he collapsed to his knees. Seeing everyone stare, he scrambled up shakily, trembling: "D-dragon spawn… awakened into a dragon descendant?"

"Yeah. What's the problem?" Anthony asked, puzzled, then turned to Negrilis: "What's the issue? Is it hard?"

Negrilis was equally baffled: "I don't know. I'm not familiar with dragon spawns. Is it hard?"

To the dragon race, dragon descendants were the illegitimate children of reckless dragons; dragon spawns were mere filth. Who cared about filth?

"Hehe." Nei Wen rubbed his hands, grinning: "If it's not too hard, could Lord Anthony help me awaken a few dragon spawns too? Our Spirit Dragon Knights have a whole bunch of stupid dragon spawns—always eating and sleeping, useless for any work."

"No," Negrilis said flatly. "You know what awakening requires? It's priceless. Don't even ask."

Ridiculous. Awakening required dragon god blood. Ang would have to go back and prick his fingers—how much would that hurt his body? Don't even think about it.

"Uh… alright." Nei Wen immediately clamped his mouth shut.

He'd seen how lavish these people were—flinging out world-tree branches and spirit beans. If even they thought it precious, Nei Wen figured he couldn't afford it even if he sold himself. He dropped the idea immediately.

But Negrilis suddenly remembered something else: "By the way, your Spirit Dragon Knights must have deep ties to dragons or undead beings, right? Do you know any powerful souls? Ones capable of driving fifty- to sixty-meter dragons?"

Nei Wen paused, blinked, and glanced at Anthony.

Anthony seemed distracted, his gaze fixed on the little dragon spawn—as if he hadn't heard Negrilis.

Nei Wen instantly understood. He straightened his clothes, his expression turning formal: "A soul like that? I think I know one. But may I ask, Lord Negrilis, what do you need such a soul for?"

Negrilis noticed the subtle exchange between Nei Wen and Anthony and blurted: "Nei Wen, you're not pure anymore! You two can communicate with just a glance? What secret are you hiding? No, no—I'll get Silver Coin to talk to you, so I don't get cheated. Damn it."

Anthony hurried to say: "No, no, no—I'm just signaling this isn't my business. Let him handle it officially. But if he wants official procedure, I'll handle him."

Nei Wen's face twisted in distress: Teacher, you didn't mean that just now… I'm doomed…

Anthony grimaced: What can I do? Negrilis brings in a merchant—he'll strip you down to your underwear.

Nei Wen grimaced: Alright then… I'll take off my pants first…

"The powerful soul I know is the founder of our Spirit Dragon Knights—Spirit Dragon Griffeney."