Du Huoguan said, "That's right. That move truly rallied people's hearts, too. Everyone in the Eastern Nine Plains trusted him and obeyed his commands. United in purpose, they fought east and west, north and south, sweeping through the surrounding territories and repeatedly defeating invaders until the neighboring powers no longer dared provoke them lightly."
Nie showed no interest in that explanation and asked evenly, "He gave up dozens of chances to leave over several years. Think for me-is there anyone else like that?"
Du Huoguan actually lowered his head and thought very carefully for a while before slowly shaking it. "Someone might give up a few chances over a short period because circumstances forced them to, but dozens over so many years? I'm afraid there wouldn't be another. At least, I've never heard of a second one.
"As you know, finding a way out of here is the greatest wish of the natives. It's what they live for. Given a chance, almost none of them would willingly let it go.
"And as for all the so-called chiefs here, how many sincerely want to put down roots and build their power for the long term? Almost all of them take turns holding the reins and raising their banners. When one leaves, another takes over, each harboring their own schemes. Otherwise, the Eastern Nine Plains wouldn't have swept through its neighbors so easily."
Nie knew the people's minds and the situation here, too. After all, he had stayed here for a very, very long time. It was precisely because this anomaly surprised him that it had drawn his attention. He had asked Du Huoguan only because he rarely concerned himself with worldly affairs and feared there might be something he did not know; he merely wanted confirmation.
Having received it, he handed the stack of papers back.
Du Huoguan hurriedly accepted them with both hands. Seeing that the man on the couch had closed his eyes again and seemed to have lost interest, he immediately continued his explanation. "Taking everything into account, that enormous shipment of supplies the Eastern Nine Plains received is highly suspicious. Combined with the silencing of those several hundred people there, it looks as though someone used those supplies to clear out the Eastern Nine Plains, keeping the local strongmen from discovering anything.
"The framing of Shi Chun and his companion, who had delayed leaving, may be connected to this.
"Qi Yueru's son and younger brother were killed, and she is still in the city. If this is connected to the framing of Shi Chun and his companion, Qi Yueru may well suspect them of being the killers.
"And she does have grounds for suspicion. According to the autopsy reports from below, her son, younger brother, and the others were all killed by blades, and Shi Chun and his companion both use sabers. It happened in the Eastern Nine Plains, the killers used blades, and they had a grudge against her son. It would be hard not to suspect them. But one thing is rather strange. If it really was her, why didn't Qi Yueru wait until they left before making her move?"
Nie, who had closed his eyes to rest, suddenly spoke again in his mild tone. "Have the claimant who made the false accusation fight Shi Chun. Let them settle their grudges. Release whoever survives."
Had Shi Chun known that this man had spoken his name himself, he would probably have felt immensely honored.
Du Huoguan choked on his words, then said, "From the information we've gathered, Shi Chun is quite a fighter. I'm afraid there's little chance that claimant would be a match for him."
What he meant was that, when he had questioned the claimant earlier, he had already promised the man that a truthful confession would wipe the slate clean. He had even brazenly assured him that his guarantee carried weight.
Others had been present, too. To turn around and slap his own face now-how embarrassing. What would his subordinates think?
Nie paid no heed to his thoughts. The instructions that followed were harsher still. "Ten beats of the drum to decide the outcome. By the tenth beat, one must be dead. Only one may leave alive. If both are still alive, execute them together."
What was that supposed to mean? This sudden turn left Du Huoguan utterly bewildered. They had to settle life and death within a count of ten? But Shi Chun was the one who had been falsely accused.
Well, he did not care whether Shi Chun lived or died. As for his promise to the claimant, he was prepared to slap his own face.
There was no helping it. Who knew what was going on? The Prison Master barely seemed to care about the possibility of a traitor, yet he was actively meddling in this petty business involving nobodies, even giving specific instructions on how to handle it. What could Du Huoguan do?
There was no avoiding it; he could only comply. He could neither resist nor question it. The Prison Master might seem mild, but he was terrifying when his temper broke.
"It's been a long time since I watched a bare-handed fight like this," Nie added.
Though Du Huoguan did not understand why, he understood that the Prison Master wanted to watch the fight. That left him with even less room for excuses. He immediately acknowledged the order and left to make arrangements.
After he left, Nie, lying on his side, opened his eyes a sliver and seemed to murmur to himself, "No wonder I couldn't understand what that girl meant."
For some people, certain things were not beyond their knowledge or understanding, nor did their blindness stem from stupidity. Rather, they were too rational, too accustomed to confronting every problem with rational thought. Or perhaps they had stood so high above others for so long that they had grown indifferent to certain aspects of human nature.
"Affection and loyalty..." Seemingly no longer inclined to rest, Nie murmured those words of Lan Qiaoyan's as he rose from the couch and paced to a window. He gazed out at the desolate wilderness beyond the city. The sky was high and the land vast, yet there was little life. A haze seemed to cloud his eyes as he murmured dreamily, "A flower has bloomed in the desert. A strange bloom..."
Not long after leaving, Du Huoguan hurried back to inform the Prison Master that the fight would take place on an open patch of ground outside the building.
Inside the Prison, on the Prison Inspector's orders, a city guard had no choice but to try to persuade the claimant who had deliberately made the false accusation.
As for the Prison Inspector himself, however great his prestige, he could hardly bring himself to face the claimant.
Being looked down on by someone important was all right; that was normal, after all. But if even a nobody thought less of you, it became rather embarrassing.
"What?" As expected, the claimant was shocked when he heard this and demanded anxiously, "The Prison Inspector gave his solemn word that he wouldn't hold this against me. How-how can he..." He did not quite dare say the rest aloud, but the meaning was clear enough to anyone who wasn't a fool.
The city guard patted his shoulder and counseled him, "Naturally, the Prison Inspector keeps his word. But you've forgotten the other two. The men you wronged want justice from you. They refuse to let us simply release you.
"Those two have fierce tempers. They're the sort who would rather break than bend. They held out under severe torture before without confessing, and now they insist on fighting you to the death. We can't openly take your side.
"But don't worry. Since the Prison Inspector made you a promise, of course we're going to favor you. That tall fellow looks like trouble at a glance, so we picked the shorter one. He's weaker, and we were harder on him when we tortured them. He's badly wounded. He definitely won't be a match for you."
The Prison Inspector did not want to carry the blame, nor did he dare place it on the Prison Master, so Shi Chun and his companion would have to shoulder it.
Uncertain and alarmed, the claimant asked, "Then why does one of us have to die within a count of ten? Why execute us both if neither dies?"
The city guard could no longer quite make the story hold together. He was only following orders himself; how would he know why? His face darkened, and he turned hostile in an instant, snarling, "What are you babbling about? Do you have a choice?"
Meanwhile, Shi Chun had already been brought out of his cell first. There was nothing to discuss with him. They simply told him the rules of the death match: fight or die. He had no choice.
He had been taken to the open ground to wait, and he did indeed look badly wounded. His clothes hung in tatters, bloody marks crisscrossed his body, and his complexion looked poor.
He found these wielders of power utterly unreasonable. Rather than uncovering the truth of the case to resolve it, they actually let the winner of a fight have the final say. For the city guards to enforce the law like this was far too slapdash, far too much of a game. Was this what it meant to be an ant in someone else's eyes?