Chapter 73: Inside the Heart
The rising sun has not yet dissipated the chill of the night, and the morning breeze is still a little cold.
Outside the open city gate, a group of rickety figures slowly walked in under the vigilant eyes of the guards.
Most of their faces have turned sallow and have deep wrinkles, their eyes are narrowed into a line, and the surrounding areas are swollen and red.
People who farm the land are exposed to wind and sun all day long. This is generally the case.
The leader was an old man with a broken felt hat on his head and only a very thin work clothes on his body. His whole body was tied up and he was holding a dirty white rag in his hand, propped up with branches.
The hands were not the red and round hands of the landowners, but thick, clumsy and cracked claws, like dead tree bark.
It is difficult to tell the age of this group of people just from their appearance. There are probably no young people.
After they entered the city, they were immediately surrounded by guards who came forward to search them.
“Let them come over.”
A metallic sound sounded from the square, and the guards dispersed around like a cloud, making way for a path.
Those people walked to the center of the square with fear and uneasiness.
I saw a giant as tall as an iron tower standing in front of them, flanked by another warrior with a sword, and ten similar giants surrounding him in an arc.
The giants were all wrapped in thick silver-gray armor. The robes and ribbons on their bodies fluttered gently in the morning breeze. A scrutinizing gaze came from the dark eyepiece on the helmet.
Invisible pressure came from them, and those people stopped when they were fifty meters away from them.
The leader of the old man had a look of joy and sadness on his face, and he moved his lips but said nothing.
After someone coughed violently, his attitude immediately became respectful, he knelt down unsteadily on the ground, his upper body crawled down, his forehead pressed against the ground, and he said clearly:
"Sinner Chris, it is a great honor to be able to look at the face of the God-Emperor Angel."
He spoke Gothic, although it was very poor, but he could barely understand it.
This surprised Soshyan.
While the old man knelt down, the people who came with him also paid homage to the angels in the same posture, and praised the name of the God Emperor with their mouths.
Soshiyang had a lot of things he wanted to say, but he felt like he was being blocked by something. He just kept them in his mind and couldn't say them out.
"You traitors! Rebels! Thieves! Murderers!"
At this time, West spoke first, and he cursed directly at the people kneeling on the ground.
"How courageous are you to have the nerve to come to see the noble angel! You should have your eyes gouged out and your tongue cut off! Hang on the city gate!"
As West's curses rang out, the nearby landowners who were watching also started shouting. The appearance of the angels gave them the greatest support. They were originally cowering in fear in the city, but now their hearts are full of courage. , I just want to catch those rebellious serfs as soon as possible and torture them severely so that they will never dare to rebel again in their lives.
“Oops!”
Suddenly, West flew backwards, then fell to the ground and rolled in pain.
Armin withdrew his chain sword and hung it back on his waist. Just now he "lightly" touched the opponent's chest with the hilt of the sword, and then he asked the person to shut his mouth.
Seeing the angel getting angry, everyone immediately shut their mouths.
Those people on the ground were still lying on the cold bricks and stones.
Then, a quiet voice floated out from the grille of Soshyan's helmet.
“Get up.”
In this place, his order was absolute, and those people stood up one by one.
The old man in the lead regained his balance with the help of another person.
"You guys, why are you causing trouble?"
Soshiyang's next sentence almost made them kneel down again. "Stand still!"
Armin's scolding made their bent knees straighten again.
"Sinners dare not hide it. We really have no food, no clothes, and can't survive... But we are still obedient subjects of the empire! We are not rebels who created the empire!"
The old man was choked up after talking.
"My lord! My lord! They are lying!"
West, who had been knocked out before, actually got up alive again, walked near the demigods, and scolded the old man. Said:
"You actually said such blasphemous words! What do you think of the angels? Fools!"
He turned around, faced Soshiyang, bent down, Pointing at the rebellious serfs.
"Supreme honorable angel, you may not know something. These unscrupulous people are the most cunning, and they often act pitiful! They are clearly cultivating the land of the God Emperor. Every time they collect taxes, they ask for grain or livestock. Livestock, in fact, they have everything! Once you lift the floor or open the wall, they are either underground or in secret storage rooms! They also have unregistered farmland hidden in valleys and deep streams!" br>
Soshiyang glanced out of the corner of his eye. The man was speaking hoarsely and with righteous indignation, just like a judge who was judging heretics.
"My lord! They seem to be loyal on the surface, but in fact they are the best at lying! No matter what they do, they will lie! If they are dissatisfied at all, they will besiege the city and tax agencies! The so-called obedient people are simply the stingiest and most stingy people. The most cunning, the most cowardly, the most unfaithful! They are always thinking about how to undermine the authority of the empire, destroy the faith of the God Emperor, and satisfy their anarchic desires!"
"You are talking nonsense!"
"You are the real liar! The murderer!"
West's words immediately aroused the opposition of the serfs. Their necks and faces were all red with anger. If they were not afraid of the presence of the angels, they would have rushed up to fight with the landlord.
"You use people like cattle! But the food is not even as good as cattle! The taxes are getting heavier every year!"
A relatively thick and stocky man pointed at Wei Ste shouted angrily:
"In the past few years, you were charging 70%. After a year, it became 80%, then 85%! Finally it was 90%! How can you live like this? ! How can you live!”
“Why didn’t you say you were delaying the tax payment? Shouldn’t I charge you some interest?”
"There were heavy rains and floods that year -"
"Shit! The tax collector doesn't care about this! It's us who are forced to pay taxes! Us! Not you! You're better off, you don't have any gratitude at all !”
“Quiet!”
With a loud shout, all the mortals lowered their heads and closed their mouths at the same time.
Soshiyang glanced at the rebellious farmers, and then said:
"Paying taxes is the eternal obligation of citizens of the empire. This is irrefutable."
"Yes..."
The farmers' heads hung lower.
“But it is also the responsibility of the empire to ensure the most basic survival rights of the people of the empire.”
Soshiyan turned to West.
"Why do you sit back and watch the people of the empire die of starvation."
"No, no, no...I..."
West wiped the sweat from his head and responded in a low voice. :
"We have always provided the most basic relief rations..."
"Sir, he lied!"
(End of this chapter)