The three of them ultimately parted on bad terms. They were already at each other's throats, each keeping their own group scattered in distant corners, wary of one another.
The next evening, the harassment suddenly stopped. The bandits were greatly surprised. Dark circles under their eyes and their faces pale, they gathered on the wooden wall to watch.
They saw a group of people appear below Offshore Cliff. They weren't soldiers, but civilians.
There were women carrying babies, elderly people leaning on wooden canes, and children who hadn't yet come of age.
Hek stood behind them, driving them forward. His face still showed his shock as he turned to look at Lord Suleiman, who stood motionless and expressionless at the edge of the cliff.
He had just carried out an order that made him question his own sanity: find the relatives of some of the bandits on the cliff, people living within the domain. It was practically impossible. He'd even suspected that Lord Suleiman had only pretended to forgive him, and still intended to kill him.
But when he met with the Military Fort's administrative, military, and tax officers and announced Lord Suleiman's order, he was stunned.
The officials had combed through every household under their jurisdiction with the speed of a comb through hair, accurately identifying the relatives of some of the bandits on the cliff.
He couldn't understand how these officials knew who their relatives were.
He turned back to the people being driven forward and decided to stop thinking about it. He even felt a touch of fear. Lord Suleiman's rule over the domain was like an invisible net: in just half a day, it had reached into the rivers flowing through every Military Fort and precisely scooped up the fish related by blood to some of