Chapter 355

Thick snowflakes fluttered down, and in an instant heaven and earth were clad in white.

Perhaps because the temperature in the mountains and wilderness was low, even though spring was clearly near, a gust of wind blew and brought a heavy snowfall like goose feathers.

"Damn, it's this dark, like we're back in Sunshine City..."

Ji Ming glanced out the window at the overcast sky, then, roused by the temperature shift, he shrank back under the covers.

Though he pretended to sleep with closed eyes for a while, he found he had no drowsiness left, so he could only pull up the system, thinking to first browse the Player Forum to mull things over.

He glanced at the miscellaneous board and saw that the hottest post right now was……

"Whoa, is the lord that ruthless? Was Winston really dragged back and publicly hanged?"

Seven days had passed since they left Jueqiao Pass to the north, yet though they had gone, they still occasionally learned of the pass's situation from church spies and passing caravans, each report more shocking than the last.

Recently a big merchant mysteriously disappeared, leaving his widow and orphans inexplicably escorted home by the garrison troops.

Lately a legion commander voluntarily resigned, taking several of his direct subordinates with him, all stripped of their posts, and their whereabouts are unknown.

By the day after tomorrow, word spread that the third young master of the Jueqiao family had offended someone he shouldn't have, now confined by the duke, possibly never to appear again.

The guards in the convoy would curiously chat with those who told them these matters, then voice shocked or sentimental remarks.

The three who witnessed this, however, kept their mouths shut, merely shaking their heads with an expression that said, "Foolish humans."

Indeed, that night, the long-silent Hetman, after downing a bottle of brandy, brought up a deal with them.

Hetman guaranteed he would settle each person on the list with the utmost seriousness and harsh means, while paying them a large sum as hush money, and swearing as duke that he would certainly lend a hand whenever they needed help.

The three of them, however, needed to keep everything that happened at Jueqiao Pass secret, not leaking any news related to the assassination, giving him ample time and space to handle the aftermath.

... though spoken of as three, it really depended on whether the party involved, Eleonore, would nod; Ji Ming and Tenniss were just along for the ride.

Given the gravity of the matter, Eleonore paced back and forth in the secret room several times, repeatedly pulling the two of them to ask for plans, before finally making up her mind.

—Since the assassination has already occurred and the viper has become our spy, rather than dwell on it, we might as well extort more benefits.

Thus the deal was struck; Hetman instantly became the West King of Jueqiao, using the participants' list attached to the assassination plan as a ledger of life and death, and carried out a massive purge within the city.

But killing is killing; this was done on his own turf and involved several important high‑rankers, including his own son, so he could not blindly trust the information with his eyes closed.

After investigating in secret, he found the list indeed had problems—mainly that it was incomplete.

Since they could participate in the crazy act of assassinating the princess, this lot that loves to court danger surely must have done other bad deeds!

And once they followed those misdeeds upstream, they would drag in a large swath of people like hauling a fishing net, with ever higher status and ever wider scope.

Seeing this, Hetman was shocked and horrified—turns out, under his very nose, his vast Jueqiao Pass had rotted to this state!

If it were an ordinary person, he might have gone soft, but the duke knew: not to mention these veteran ministers, even his own third son could not compare to the family's century‑long legacy.

Thus, after investigation, he instead firmed his resolve; the final purge even exceeded the list's scope, essentially rounding up seven‑eighths of the city's vermin in one sweep.

Tenniss and Eleonore knew Hetman was weeding out internal traitors, but since he wasn't at Jueqiao, relying solely on others' gathered intel could not possibly give them such detailed knowledge.

But nowadays the player base numbers nearly five hundred thousand, so it's inevitable that various small groups will have differing aims or even conflicting interests; thus they had already split internally, so even if a few are exposed for messing up, that disgust won't be piled onto the Pioneers' overall image.

Therefore, leveraging many players as eyes and ears, Ji Ming boldly posted via the system numerous seemingly mundane tasks that, when combined, yielded crucial intelligence as a 'puzzle mission,' ultimately learning the fate of the third young master.

……

"Tsk tsk, these ill‑fated lovebirds are now flying side by side."

Ji Ming also didn't expect Hetman to be this ruthless; in private chats with the other two he had mentioned it, and they all felt Jueqiao would hardly bear to kill its own third son.

Who knew he not only killed him, but did so in front of his children, just to show them what the end result of betraying family and kingdom looks like.

Such decisiveness, such willingness to sacrifice, such ruthlessness also made Ji Ming inwardly raise his estimation of him a notch; as a neighbor, this is indeed an ally worth cultivating.

But if that were all, it wouldn't make Ji Ming place him in the 'friend' slot; there is another reason that could drive him to such a decision……

The monotonous wind, snow, and carriage sounds were suddenly shattered by chaos and shouting; Ji Ming sat up and looked out the window again, spotting a small village on a distant hill.

The village was very poor; even its largest dwelling was a cracked stone roof covered with thin thatch, worthless to loot even in an RPG.

At that moment several soldiers in worn leather jackets were moving about inside, trying to snatch food from the weeping village women, their demeanor brutish like bandits.

Seeing the Chosen One push open the window, the accompanying Holy Guard knight slowed his horse.

That's the crest of Baron Frostwing, the local lord; he must be sending troops to collect taxes now.

Ji Ming nodded and closed the window.

This is Hetman's 'good' side: although Jueqiao Pass's taxes are certainly not light, he at least knows the poor have no money, that whoever earns money gets it, and the tax structure is simple—he won't arbitrarily add items on a whim.

By contrast, this bunch of idiot southern nobles—lacking the backbone of the west, the wealth of the east, the power of the north—excel instead at devising one scheme after another of miscellaneous taxes to oppress the populace.

As for why Ji Ming, who should have acted decisively—mowing down grunts, noble knights, mercenary bands, then forcing the baronet to kneel and apologize, awaiting the rescued frail country girl to throw herself into his arms while rustic sweet nothings played, and sleeping till dawn after blowing up all the pleasure points—did not lift a finger……

The answer is it's useless.

According to kingdom law, all commoners in a fief are the noble's private property; as long as no serious consequences arise, the lords may handle them however they wish.

Although as the state religion the Holy Light Church can offer a free clinic day each week and even fund soup kitchens from its own purse, if you interfere with a noble lord's 'lawful tax collection'...

Sorry, that's you overstepping your bounds; taking the matter to the Royal Capital leaves the church with no grounds.

And even if the local nobles were willing to sell the three some face, chuckling that this is negotiable and they'd waive this tax, after all I'm no demon.

Ha, of course—what demon could compare to these nobles? Once the three leave, the spared villages will likely suffer double retaliation!

Thus Ji Ming is not the first good person to witness this scene, nor the first strong one wanting to intervene, but past experience has told him such action won't work.

Rather than jump again into this mire, he should cherish his own feathers, lest he toil half a day only to end up with nothing meaningful, or even bring trouble upon himself.

So what they can do is camp in the wilderness all along the way, avoid sharing the nobles' castles' riches, turn a blind eye, stay unperturbed, and be like a blind man.

—But really, must we pretend not to have seen it?

Is there truly no way to solve the problem?

Yes! Of course there is!

【Looking for good brothers to jointly explore Maple Forest Territory, currently five short two, mainly anti‑nobility, with girls, come be a T】

【Spear Blade Eighth Expeditionary Regiment begins recruitment, target Mudbog Town in Little Lake Territory, expected to station two weeks, means mild】

【I'm preparing to shift direction to rescue the common folk; I've already made contact with Viscount Soss, anyone have ideas or inspiration】

In a reality where one has money and time to play Double Moon Struggle, even if not fabulously wealthy, one should have few memories of hunger, and one's education level would not be low.

Now seeing these things, which are distant to them but could be within reach for others, the dirty stuff leaps before the eyes, and after a brief bewilderment comes anger.

——What era is this, still messing with these corrupt and backward things!

Thus, on the day Ji Ming left Jueqiao Pass, brave players could no longer tolerate it and, in the newly opened map's Lake Territory, drove back the arrogant noble lackeys.

The Lake Baron, hearing the news, flew into a rage and immediately sent out his family's knights to suppress this mob that seemed to have come from nowhere.

But this bunch, which could be called a counterexample of knightly virtue, could barely get onto their horses—how could they possibly be opponents for players whose average level is 20?

Were it not for their core coming from the Justice Guild, which cautiously restrained the players from delivering a killing blow, they would surely have left a pile of corpses.

If the baron had any backbone, he should have personally led the charge—this is no ordinary mob, and he must strike hard!

But if he had any backbone, how could he have raised private troops that scatter at the first hit like a bunch of piglets? Thus, frightened out of his wits, he decisively chose to go cry to his father.

Who is Dad?

The lord is Dad!

Leaning on Jueqiao Pass, this barren territory survives only on what leaks from the cracks of Jueqiao's fingertips, allowing a life of luxury; he quickly had the old steward organize an envoy, loading several carts with gifts to seek aid.

Player: "What is this? I was thinking, why does nobody want this convoy?"

As a result, halfway along, the players ruthlessly intercepted it; that night, every nearby village reeked of meat, and the next day, nobody could walk from eating too much.

Seeing the old steward-baron blubbering, the baron flew into a rage again, thinking, "I can't beat the bandits, but I can't beat you?" He immediately sent out his hounds to those villages, looking to cause trouble for the villagers.

But the villagers also had something to say, sir: "It's not that we're colluding with bandits out of desperation; they're forcing us to eat. Look, if we can't eat anymore, they make us drink alcohol—it's agonizing! It's agonizing!"

Hearing this, the knight commander's mustache almost blew away; today he could actually listen to these peasants jabber? He drew his sidearm with a clang, ready to chop a few to establish authority.

But before he could raise the blade, the old steward, who had come along to vent, stopped him.

"Can't cut, sir! Can't cut!"

"You… you damn it, whose side are you on?"

The old steward's face was full of worry.

"Sir, please take a good look!"

The knight commander frowned, stared intently, and froze.

Yes, as the leader of the knight lord, usually these villagers wouldn't dare to utter a sound upon seeing him, let alone lift their heads to glance.

But today they not only dare to meet his gaze, they even dare to joke, clearly having tasted the sweetness of rebellion by following those bandits, and their spines have straightened.

Can they be suppressed?

Yes! Killing about three would do it.

But what about next time?

Five?

Seven?

Once hatred runs deep enough to see the bone, only extermination can resolve it.

Moreover, if the church intervenes, the baron going to the Royal Capital to file a complaint will naturally find a big lord who dislikes the church to speak up for him, and then just wait for the church to voluntarily compensate.

But if bandits incite the locals to revolt, by the rules the Royal Capital will only demand that nearby nobles form a coalition to help suppress them and recover the lost territory.

Never mind what happens if they fail; even if they succeed, one must understand that taking back and restoring are two different matters!

——Ah? Brothers, you sweated to help me reclaim the territory; shouldn't the little brother show some appreciation too?

By then they might even be "taken" by others, having lost less than what they themselves were robbed of—purely just finding themselves a bunch of wild fathers!

But this can't just be left alone—I'm a noble lord, I care about face, how can you……

But just as the baron was agonizing, he heard that the territories of neighboring nobles were also erupting in bandit troubles, and they had actually been struck down losing several soldiers, now raging helplessly at home.

Ah, thinking about it, it seems I haven't lost any people, so I'm not really at a loss.

Moreover, these bandits, though brutal, still know their limits—they haven't invaded his own town nor looted passing caravans, and they know the rule that a noble lord may not be killed, so they only target those few infantry who are essentially cannon fodder.

So never mind~

As long as we can still collect taxes to keep feasting, let those miserable few go their own way—frankly, I, the lord, don't care either!

The broad-minded Lake Baron decided to tolerate the bandits' offense, unaware that in the players' forum, just below the post about Wensite's death, another thread's topic is——

【I suggest we first endure, first expand our territory, boost our influence, multiply our friends, then turn against this bunch of noble vermin!】

【Exactly! Then, in one go, we'll send them all to the guillotine!】