nThe 179th chapter “reasonable lies”

nThat evening, Rolynn brought all of the purchased slaves back to the warehouse behind the shop. In addition, after Du Wei’s identity was learned, the slavers also threw in several beautiful young slave girls to please the young Duke.

nThese indigenous slaves from Southeastern Sea seem to be very honest, but something in her mind is telling her something is wrong. Just what is wrong is something Rolynn couldn’t pinpoint still.

nThese slaves … … Seems to be too obedient.

nContrary to Du Wei’s hermit style of living, Rolynn has traveled the continent since she was little and seen many slaves in her time. These types of savage and untamed barbarians will only become obedient under the force of the whip. Otherwise, they are the type that is already tamed to the point where their eyes become hollow as their scrawny thin bodies shouldered the burden of heavy labor.

nBut this group of slaves … … From the time she received them from the hand of the slave dealers, the introduction she got was that these people are “raw slaves”. Yet, they are acting way too obedient.

nRather than calling the expression on these 20 bustling young man ‘numb’, it is better to say they are mechanical.

nThat’s right, it is mechanical!

nThey seem to be complying with every order given to them, but there was no joy or anger on their faces, much less the sorrow and agony of being ripped from their home.

nBut what’s even more funny, Rolynn seems have sensed the air of a soldier from these 20 male slaves!

nYes, soldiers! Their action is very neat, quick, and efficient. Even after they’ve been arranged into the workshop, the servant that was supposed to be there with the whip has become a decoration. That’s not all! When it was dinner time, these people even knew how to stand in line!

nThe only exception to this was the young and old duo. Sitting at the end of the table, the two acted like it was the most natural thing when the young men’s brought them their food. When Rolynn secretly observed the group, she found the other slaves didn’t even dare to eat until the two finished their food.

nAfter a whole night of spying, she finally made up her mind and decided to immediately report this to the young master.

nBy the time Du Wei caught wind of the news, he was already wearing his sleeping gown and ready for bed. If not for his previous order to the people down below to always pass on Rolynn’s report, Marde would never have interrupted his rest.

nAt this moment, Du Wei was in his study room having an audience with Rolynn: “You mean the young and old duo is the head of this group of slaves?”

n“It’s not that simple.” Rolynn slowly explained herself: “I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s mainly towards the senior there. His air and temperament seems to indicate he’s already used to such treatment. If I had to make a comparison, I could vaguely sense the same type of attitude only found in those great noble families of the imperial capital. Aside from this, there are also the other slaves in the group. Those men are young, strong, and well trained in their actions. In fact, I’m suspecting they were even put through a training course similar to that of soldiers. Though their abilities are still a notch below the imperial army, but it’s already not that far behind…. Remember, these indigenous tribes are originally a group of savages, so where in the world did they learn to behave like this?”

nDu Wei eyes lit up. Returning to his bedroom to change his clothing, he and Rolynn immediately headed back towards the shop in the middle of the night.

nThen inside an empty room that they prepared, Du Wei had someone bring over the young and old duo because he wanted to personally meet the two.

nLike this, he observed the two as he sat quietly on a chair inside the room.

nVery soon, he made the decision that this senior won’t be easy to deal with due to the lack of panic in the elder’s eyes. As for the kid, he also showed a bit of calmness in his appearance. Though the kid’s façade was good, but Du Wei was able to catch hold of the timidity in the kid’s roaming eyes when he first enter.

n“State your name.” Du Wei spoke lightly as he sat in the chair: “I know you’re capable of speaking our language. The people that sold you to me explained your situation and that you are the most intelligent among your peers.”

n“Ben Carson.” The old slave briefly spit out these words: “Ben Carson is my name.”

nHis ability to speak the language is not bad, but his pronunciation is still not very accurate.

n“Your original identity.” Du Wei smiles.

nOld senior went silent without answering.

n“You have to understand one thing.” Du Wei speaks in a slow deep tone: “I don’t care what your previous identity was back in your old place, but you are a slave here. Your life from now on is mine! Do you get it?”

nOld senior’s face leaked out a hint of struggle, then as if feeling helpless, he whispered: “I used to be a tribal prophet.”

nDu Wei nods.

nHis old man relied on the merits of the southeastern sea’s conquest to climb the ranks, so Du Wei naturally had some insight into these indigenous tribes. When it came to these tribal prophets, their status is even more distinguished than those tribal chiefs.

n“Well then, what about him?” Du Wei took one look at the child next to him: “What is his status?”

nOld Ben Carson hesitated in his words: “He is our tribal chief’s son… … Our tribe was destroyed by your army and most of our people have already died in the process. The remaining survivors have been caught and brought back here.”

nOh … … The son of an destroyed tribe?

nDu Wei smiled: “If you say it like this, then those young slaves with you two are also from the same tribe?”

n“Yes.” Ben Carson nods: “All them are. They are very respectful to me and to our chief’s son, this is our tradition.”

nHmm, this explanation seems very reasonable.

nDu Wei smiles as he stood up to say his next words: “Your answer is very good, but I need you to know one thing, no matter what your prior identity is, you are now my slave.”

n“I understand that.” Old Ben Carson’s face looked obedient without any bit of resistance.

nDu Wei nods: “I’m a kind person so I will not abuse you, nor will I treat you like cattle. I’ll also feed you well and clothe you to keep you warm. If you listen to me, I can even allow you guys to have some free time at night to perform your rituals towards your God!”

n“……” Old Ben Carson looked up at Du Wei in surprise.

nThis teenager is actually familiar with our tribal practices?

nThe Southeastern Sea is vast and filled with numerous islands. Among these lands are many different cultures and beliefs that had sprung up depending on the tribe’s location. Completely different from the main continent’s religion, Du Wei only learned of this because he studied this out of curiosity when he was young.

nHis father is after all from the Navy, so it’s no surprise his home would be in possession of some knowledge regarding the southeastern sea. In addition, there are those old veteran soldiers that had retired from the navy after serving with his father, so these people didn’t find it strange when Du Wei asked about this. A kid is a kid; their curiosity can lead them anywhere.

nDifferent from the Roland Continent’s single belief towards the Goddess of light, the system of worship for these tribes in the southeastern seems to be far more prosperous and developed.

n(For anyone confused about the god stuff, there is only one Goddess of light for the temple. Due to cultural difference in wording, previous translations didn’t catch on to this until the author made it clear later on.)

nAccording to the tribal legends of the southeastern sea, an ancient god created the world before giving birth to many sons and daughters. Later on, these beings are then charged with the management of the world and the elements that dwells within it. Compared to the Temple’s teaching, their version is far better.

nFor example: the goddess of harvest, the goddess of the rain season, the Sun God … … (The tribes lives in the tropical ocean, so they would naturally never see snow in their lands. Therefore, an ice god or snow god wouldn’t exist.)

nAnd every tribe in the southeastern sea would choose of these gods as their guardian spirit to worship.

nThey all comply with the same common legend of how God created the world and recognizes all other tribal gods.

nOn this point, Du Wei found it very interesting because unlike the Temple, the continent only has one faith and that is the Goddess of Light. Aside from this, any other cult or belief is considered evil and will be excluded with everything the Temple can throw at it.

nOf course, the only relatively enlightened point of the Temple is that you can choose to believe in them or not.

nHowever, even if you don’t believe in the faith, you still can’t insult the Goddess or believe in another religion.

nEither you believe in God or you don’t, otherwise, the temple will treat you as a heretic and burn you to death.

nAnd the southeastern tribes never seem to be in conflict over such matters. Respecting each other’s belief, they admit the world is ruled by many gods.

nMost of the tribes in Southeastern Sea will perform a praying ceremony in the evening, and this ritual is headed by the tribal prophet.

n“You know a lot about our customs.” Ben Carson tightens his mouth after saying this much.

n“Yes, I know a bit.” Du Wei smiled: “I can give you this freedom, of course, only if you are obedient.”

n“Thank you, you are a kind master.” Old Ben Carson bends slightly: “I will have them be good.”

nAs if casually walking to Ben Carson’s side, Du Wei’s eye inadvertently floated to the tattoo’s showing on the senior’s body.

n“What is this?” Du Wei said this with smile: “This is your tribe’s Totem?”

n“…… Yes, that’s right.” Ben Carson nods: “Our belief is the Sun God and this symbol is the sun’s wheel. Our former tribe is called the Sun tribe.”

nDu Wei nods in understand before ordering Rolynn to take the young and odl duo away.

nJust when Old Ben Carson and the young kid was about to go out, Du Wei suddenly asked from behind: “Why does kid not have a tattoo? I heard every important figure must be tattooed, right?”

nOld Ben Carson turned around, his expression was very calm: “Yes, what you said is not wrong my lord. But from where we were from, only those of 14 years of age or older can be considered an adult. Only after going through the rite of passage can he be qualified for a tattoo. Right now, he is only 12 years old.”

n“Oh, well then, just one more question.” Du Wei was still smiling as he walked up to the kid: “What’s your name?” He said this in a very gentle voice.

nThe kid’s eye started to show some fear: “Lufei……”

nDu Wei lets out a small laugh. Glancing over at the old senior, his smile that he had kept up till now was gradually becoming cold.

n“Lufei, that’s a good name.” Du Wei laughed coldly: “Rolynn, bring Lufei to the next room and have him have a taste of something interesting!”

nWith that said, Du Wei turned around and went back to his chair.

nRolynn is already up and two ferocious looking thugs were coming up to drag the poor kid away. Like this, the group of three went over to the room next door.

nThe two subordinate under Rolynn are all pirates from the fleet, so their faces are totally sinister from top to bottom. Seeing this outcome, Ben Carson’s face immediately darkened. Turning around to face Du Wei, he anxiously exclaimed: “Noble master, this is…..”

n“This is punishment for lying.” Du Wei sat in the chair and coldly looked at the old man.

nOld Ben Carson splashed down to his knees and cried out: “I … … I’m not lying! Everything I said was true……”

n“Humph!” Du Wei sneered: “Sun tribe? Prophet? The son of the chief? Lufei? Do you really think I’m so easily fooled like those dumb nobles?!”

nIt was in this moment, the screaming cries of panic and fear came from the room next door. After the initial outcry, the sound of whips lashes came next!

nPA!!!

nThat is the sound of the whip hitting flesh, Loud and crisp, mixed with the screaming cries of the kid, Old Ben Carson immediately jumped and tried to run over to the room. Unfortunately for him, Rolynn immediately pushed him back down with one hand.

n“Rolynn, first have the kid take 20 lashes.” Du Wei expression was cold, very cold…… “Ben Carson, humph, I don’t even care now if that is your real name. However, you must know a child’s body may not be able take such punishment. If you are not going to tell me the truth after 20 lashes, I’m going to increase it to 40. Then if you still won’t tell me by then, I’m going to increase it to 60, 80, and so on! Until you tell me the truth, I won’t stop!”

nBen Carson began to sweat uncontrollably on his forehead: “… … All I said is the truth! The Truth!!”

n“The truth?” Du Wei sneered: “All you did was made up a plausible lie to deceive me!”

nSuddenly standing up, Du Wei threw the cup in his right hand and smashed it into Old Ben Carson’s feet. With a loud thud, the cup shattered and the water splashed all over the senior’s face in the process.

n“You think I don’t know?” Du Wei sneered: “Sun tribe? What a joke! It’s not wrong, the southeastern sea does have a Sun’s tribe, but that was 14 years ago! On the ninth expedition of the empire, this tribe was sixth group to be exterminated. You say this kid’s name is Lufei? I’ll tell you now. I also know some of your people’s words and Lufei mean’s ‘wind’! Do you expect me to believe a Sun’s god’s believer would name their child ‘wind’? Do you think I’m stupid? Or do you think I like those other nobles knows nothing about the Southeast?”

nDu Wei icy gaze finally fell upon the tattoo on Ben Carson’s arm: “Lastly, your tattoo! Dear Mr. Prophet! Indeed, from legend, the prophets do have tattoos, but is your tattoo of the Sun tribe? Is it the Sun God? What a joke! You are taking advantage of my lack of knowledge regarding your culture!”

nDu Wei suddenly lifted his hand and dipped a finger into the spilled tea on the floor. Then quickly moving his finger, he drew a pattern on the floor.

n“This is the real Sun Totem! Sun God’s totem!”

nSeeing how Du Wei casually drew the pattern in front of him, old Ben Carson sensed a chill rise straight from his heel up to his brain!

nHis reaction now is like someone seeing a ghost when facing this young aristocrat.

nHe … … How does he know! How can he have such clear understanding of us?!

nBen Carson would of course recognize the pattern Du Wei created! Without missing a single stroke, the symbol is exactly the real sun god’s totem! The knowledge of this young aristocrat is beyond what Ben Carson expected!

n“Do I need to keep going?” Du Wei coldly laughs at the Ben Carson: “You still won’t give up? Then I’ll tell you, your tattoo is not even a totem, but a fire symbol! What a joke! Do you think I can’t even distinguish the difference between a regular flame symbol from a totem symbol? In your culture, a fire symbol only carries an auspicious meaning and not a representation of a god!”

nOld Ben Cason’s whole body is already sweating profusely.

n“What now?” After saying all of this in a single breath, Du Wei’s tone gradually calmed down: “Are you surprised? Then tell me your true identity! Humph, you can be considered clever and cunning already. Making a entire lie to fool me. If not for the fact that I studied your culture, then I might have really been cheated by you!”

nBen Carson was still in a daze when Du Wei reminded him: “The poor little Lufei is still enduring the whip lashes, so are you still going to waste more time thinking it over?”

nAt this point, Ben Carson suddenly cried out in freight from the chilling reminder: “No! Don’t! Don’t hit him! I’ll speak! I’ll say everything!!”

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