#1093 - Chapter 1093: The Greedy Honest Marquis
"You must eat your fill before taking any leftover food with you," Cheng Bang replied.
"Of course!" the man exclaimed, overjoyed.
What kind of condition was this?
It was practically a reward!
"Very well, then. Rest for a bit, and I'll arrange for your food," Cheng Bang said, then whispered a few words into Bai Yuhou's ear.
Bai Yuhou nodded in response and left.
Soon, he returned with dozens of tribesmen.
The tribesmen were carrying food, not a lot, but certainly enough for these dozens of bandits to eat.
The man's mouth watered at the sight of the food in their hands.
After digging pits all afternoon, he was already lightheaded from hunger. He couldn't wait to pounce on it and take a huge bite.
However, the Ladi tribesmen didn't hand the food to them; instead, they threw it into the pit.
"Thump!"
"Thump, thump!"
The food fell into the pit, soaked by the muddy water.
"What are you doing?" the man asked, a look of astonishment on his face.
"This food is yours now. Go ahead and eat," Cheng Bang said with a smile.
"Why did you throw the food down there?" the man asked.
"Before you got your hands on it, this food was mine. Shouldn't I be able to decide what to do with it?" Cheng Bang retorted.
"Of course," the man said, speechless.
"Hurry up and eat, it won't taste as good if it sits in the water too long," Cheng Bang reminded him.
"Eat!" the man shouted.
Dozens of bandits immediately jumped into the pit in a frenzy.
"Crunch, crunch, crunch!"
They didn't care that the food was covered in mud; they wiped it on their bellies and began to devour it.
"Do it," Cheng Bang said to Bai Yuhou.
"Do it!" Bai Yuhou ordered the tribesmen who had brought the food.
The tribesmen picked up spears from the ground, stood beside the pit, and thrust them at the bandits below.
"Ah!"
"Ah, ah!"
Dozens of bandits tried to climb out of the pit, but it was too deep and slippery, and the tribesmen above blocked them with spears. They couldn't get out.
In a few minutes, dozens of people lay dead in the pit.
"Bury them," Cheng Bang instructed.
The tribesmen used their spears to fill the pit with soil, burying all the bandits' corpses.
"Great Elder, aren't we being too cunning by doing this?" Bai Yuhou asked.
"Doesn't the Canon of the Righteous Path say that we must be cruel to our enemies? Otherwise, we will be harmed by our own kindness," Cheng Bang explained.
"But they are also members of the Nata tribe!" Bai Yuhou said.
"They ceased to be members of the Nata tribe the moment they tried to rob us," Cheng Bang replied.
"Alright!" Bai Yuhou nodded.
"Great Elder, can you tell us now? Why do they only have one ear?" Lie Yan asked.
"I can. Their ears were cut off by Marquis Chengxin," Cheng Bang explained.
"Cut off by Marquis Chengxin? Why would he do that?" Lie Yan asked, shocked by this answer.
Bai Yuhou was also shocked by this explanation.
"He was marking them," Cheng Bang explained.
"Marking them? What kind of mark?" Lie Yan asked.
"A mark to prove that they are his people, of course," Cheng Bang replied.
"Is a mark really necessary?" Lie Yan couldn't understand.
"Of course, it is. First, it easily distinguishes outsiders, and second, it prevents them from escaping from the tribe," Cheng Bang replied.
"Why does he need to distinguish outsiders? And why would his people want to escape?" Lie Yan continued to ask.
"Marquis Chengxin has treated the people of his tribe as his personal property. To prevent his property from being lost, he naturally needs to mark them."
"Marquis Chengxin plundered all the property of his people and seized it for himself. And when outsiders arrive, they are immediately robbed clean."
Cheng Bang's explanation completely shattered their worldview.
"This Marquis Chengxin is so greedy!" Bai Yuhou exclaimed.
"Actually, this has something to do with your Ladi," Cheng Bang said.
"What does it have to do with me?" Bai Yuhou didn't understand.
"You can offer salted fish to King Jin, and Marquis Chengxin can certainly offer other things. But the situation in Xindi is the same as in Ladi. Overhunting has left the area around Xindi without enough food. To survive, they must find other ways," Cheng Bang explained.
"I see," Bai Yuhou understood.
"It seems that there must be many tribes that harbor hatred for King Jin Ji. We should unite them all as soon as possible to jointly attack Jindi," Cheng Bang said.
"Great Elder is right!" Bai Yuhou was now completely convinced.
He had already invisibly linked the problems of various tribes to King Jin Ji.
