Chapter 40 Conspiracy

Seeing that Luther didn't speak, Goat Beard repeated his explanation to Zhou Jing, trembling as he spoke:

"...I didn't tell that Exotic Beast Hunter the truth. I made him believe that this was just a matter of reselling potion inventory, and that it was just about the money. I took all the blame on myself. I used this reason to bet that he would bring me to you for disposal, so I could come back alive and report the situation to you."

"Your reaction is quite quick."

Luther remained noncommittal.

Goat Beard quickly said, "It was all pre-planned, thought-out excuses... I have already stabilized that hunter."

Hearing this, Luther snorted coldly, "You still want to claim credit for being caught? Being caught already means you've made a mistake."

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare." Goat Beard quickly lowered his head.

Luther said in a deep voice, "Not only were you caught red-handed, but you also interfered in the hunter potion business behind my back... I told you not to touch the hunter potions. It seems you've grown bold, and you actually dared to profit behind my back. Have the other tribal relatives you placed elsewhere done the same?"

"I... I don't know." Goat Beard trembled.

Luther slapped him in the face and shouted:

"Don't forget what the tribe and I sent you to do such things for. You actually had the idea of making money. Are you out of your mind? Have you also deducted the materials secretly transported back to the tribe every year?"

"No! I didn't! I wouldn't dare!" Goat Beard explained in horror, "I didn't reduce any of the materials that should be handed over to the tribe. I only privately replaced some of the hunter potion inventory in the potion shop. I didn't dare to touch anything else!"

"It better be."

Luther squinted at Goat Beard.

He stood up, paced in the dungeon, and slowly said:

"Speaking of that hunter named Jason, I've checked his background. He suddenly appeared around Frostwood Village half a year ago. There are no previous records. He's very mysterious and suspicious... And coincidentally, he discovered your actions."

"You mean?" Goat Beard was shocked.

Luther frowned, "This person's origins are unknown. He's very much like an Empire Secret Sentry. If the Empire has noticed something and sent someone to investigate, that wouldn't be good."

The Empire has personnel in every city to supervise and check accounts. Even if they can be bribed, it is still a handle.

Letting a "glove" like Goat Beard do things, even if it is found out, can be disguised as personal behavior, unrelated to the lord and White Plains City itself.

With a layer in between, it is not so easy to trace back to him.

Luther closed his eyes slightly, various thoughts flowing in his mind.

Although the lord can monopolize many things and has a high degree of autonomy, the Terra Empire always wants to control it.

The Empire has more than one city. If it's played too blatantly, others can simply change cities, so many things can only be done in private.

For example, the cooperative apothecary of the apothecary shop, he, as a lord, only collects taxes. It’s not like once it enters the inventory, it becomes his thing. The cooperative apothecary's apparent income must be guaranteed, otherwise they won’t come. So he has to use internal operations to replace the inventory.

However, the Hunter Potion is not one of them. Hunters are an important force in protecting the town, and Luther does not want the Hunter Potion to have problems, and is counting on more hunters filled with honor being willing to self-sacrifice.

But discovered immediately.

The apothecary shop is just the tip of the iceberg, the blacksmith shop, the armory, the grain store and other facilities all have different situations internally.

As a lord, he controls the city's taxation rights, of course not for money, he doesn't lack money.

Being both the lord of White Plains City and the current tribal chief, the dual identity brings considerations of both overt and covert interests.

The goal of everything is to transport all kinds of materials to the tribe, hoard them, and accumulate the tribe's strength.

The price of inferior goods is borne by the town residents and passing merchants, anyway, it’s just a little worse in quality, it won’t kill anyone.

White Plains City used to be a tribal settlement, but was later rebuilt as a city to accept foreign residents, while tribal members quietly moved out and established secret settlements in new locations.

So town residents are just productivity that generates profits for him.

White Plains City is a business.

The tribe is the foundation.

Due to the historical reasons of White Plains City, the Terra Empire still allows the tribe to lead the city, and allows the tribe to serve as the lord... because of the existence of the tribe, the position of lord is his.

But this is still not safe. What if the Empire one day revokes the appointment, like some new cities, and appoints imperial officials to parachute in as lords? Should he listen or not then?

Using the town to feed the tribe is his plan.

The Terra Empire has been building new cities and migrating people. The new cities have no historical reasons, so they can parachute in lords without hindrance. Thus, batches of "new nobles" who created new surnames are created to compete with their tribal relatives.

So Luther can see that the Terra Empire wants to consolidate royal power and gradually disintegrate the deeply rooted power of the tribes... In fact, this process has been promoted since the establishment of the Empire.

The survival environment maintained by the tribe allows groups of people to live together, constantly merging, annexing, and accepting outsiders, so that the world regards themselves as tribal members. And the survival environment maintained by the Empire can also make people regard themselves as imperial citizens.

The transformation of the living environment and identity brings about the shaking of the tribal foundation.

In the foreseeable future, as the trend develops, the situation will become more and more unfavorable for the tribe.

The times are changing, so how should we deal with ourselves then?

Someone once said these words to him, gave him a prospect, and invited him to participate in a far-reaching plan...

Luther agreed.

Everything he is doing now is largely moving according to this plan.

Accumulate strength and wait for the day when that person shouts.

Various thoughts flashed through Luther's mind, but he didn't show it on his face, and slowly said:

"Besides this hunter named Jason, only that Barron knows?"

"Yes, I only told them two... But I don't know if they have told others."

"Although your reasons have fooled them, they have already noticed the situation in the potion shop, and we will be constrained in the future... Especially Jason, this person who is suspected of being an Empire Secret Sentinel."

Luther paused and said in a deep voice:

"I will deal with you later for interfering with the hunter potion. I'll think about how to deal with the current problem first."

After speaking, he turned his head and glanced at Gamma.

Gamma leaned against the corner, trembling, his face full of despair.

From the beginning, he wanted to shout "Stop talking, I don't want to hear it!"

Now that he knows so much, will he still have his life?

However, the two of them did not avoid him at all, obviously they were prepared to kill him.

"Don't, don't kill me, I didn't hear anything, I..."

Before Gamma could finish speaking, Luther made a gesture behind him.

Whoosh!

A stone shot out through the air, piercing Gamma's forehead.

A bloody hole appeared, Gamma's eyes widened, he fell to the ground and died.

From the shadows of the dungeon, the buzz-cut man walked out slowly, rubbed his fingers, and wiped off the lime debris on them.

It was he who had just flicked the stone with his finger and killed Gamma with one blow.

Luther glanced at him and couldn't help but said, "How exactly do you do this? I asked other guards to flick stones like you, but the stones shattered immediately."

"Skill." The buzz-cut man was expressionless and didn't want to say more.

Luther shook his head, didn't dwell on it, and quickly found the jailer who had been asked to avoid, to deal with things here. He left the dungeon and returned to the longhouse.

As soon as he entered the door, a servant came to report.

"Lord, Captain Maggi is looking for you. He seems to be a little injured."

"Oh, I'll go see."

Luther came all the way to the reception room. Maggi was already waiting here, with bandages wrapped around his neck.

"What happened to you?" Luther asked in surprise.

Maggi stood up suddenly and said indignantly, "Lord, you hired me before and said that I also have the qualifications to use the Hunter Workshop, but an Exotic Beast Hunter just robbed me of my things and cut me..."

He gave a long explanation, and Luther finally understood.

It turned out that this person came to complain, and had a conflict with Jason.

Luther's eyes narrowed suddenly. After thinking for a while, he looked at the indignant Maggi and said:

"This matter is indeed a bit overbearing. My promise to you is still valid... How about this, you take my other guards, and after Jason leaves the city, you find a deserted place to stop him and take back the potions you want."

Maggi was stunned for a moment, and then overjoyed.

He just came to vent his grievances, and originally didn't dare to expect the lord to do anything to those rampant Exotic Beast Hunters, but he didn't expect Luther to support him.

Good luck, the lord's mind is messed up today!

Or does the lord feel that his authority has been offended?

Maggi had a series of fantasies.

At this time, Luther touched his chin and said again: "By the way, please invite him back as well. I want to talk to him in person."

"How to invite him back?" Maggi asked.

"You figure it out yourself. Don't kill anyone. Just give him a lesson. By the way, remember to avoid the eyes and ears of other hunters and bring Jason to me."

"Okay! Then I'll go gather people."

Maggi left happily.

Seeing this, Luther's eyes flashed.

He was still considering how to deal with Zhou Jing, who knew the truth. If he let his guards take action, it would be difficult to find a reason. It's not easy to explain the lord attacking an Exotic Beast Hunter, as it would easily anger other hunters.

Just when he was thinking about creating a reason, Maggi came to his door... Well, the reason for personal revenge is now readily available.

Luther planned to bring "Jason" back for questioning about his origins to see if he was an Empire Secret Sentinel, and then think about killing him.

However, this group of people may not be able to hold back when they start fighting, and may fight to the death, killing "Jason" on the spot.

In short, he will make a final statement that this is Maggi's personal revenge, falsely transmitting orders and mobilizing the guards privately, not his intention, and execute this person to appease the anger of the hunters.

Although it is a pity to lose an Exotic Blood Guard, this kind of guy who hangs "I am the lord's guard" on his lips everywhere and causes trouble for himself should be killed.

Anyway, as long as there are Exotic Blood potions, new Exotic Blood warriors can always be born.

As for the other informant, Barron, Luther does not intend to let him go either.

Although Barron seemed to believe the reasons fabricated by his subordinates, since he knew about the potion shop, he might spread it everywhere. The more people pay attention, the greater the risk.

As for Frostwood Village, where the incident occurred, it needs to be discussed further. As long as Barron hasn't leaked it, there is no need to worry about it. Luther is reluctant to damage the villages under his rule, as they are all labor force... But this Gamma is the village's witch doctor, now he's gone, Barron should explain it, which is very troublesome.

If you want to take action, it is impossible to send troops. Soldiers are untrustworthy. It is best to find a way to let the Exotic Beasts do the work...

Luther had one plan after another running through his mind.

...

After Zhou Jing left the workshop, he went straight to the Hunter Tavern and found Weiss here as expected.

At this time, there were many hunters in the tavern. Seeing Zhou Jing push the door in, they all raised their glasses to say hello.

"Yo, Jason is here."

"Let's go hunting together someday."

"Why didn't I see Barron? Did you run out to have fun by yourself?"

Zhou Jing responded to everyone with a smile, and then came to sit opposite Weiss.

"You came so quickly?"

Weiss said with a smile, took a sip of wine, took out a money bag and put it on the table, pushing it towards Zhou Jing.

"This is the money from selling the last prey, your and Barron's share."

Zhou Jing opened the money bag and counted it. There were only one hundred and fifty silver coins inside.

"That's a little less."

"Only three low-risk Exotic Beasts, how expensive can the selling price be?" Weiss rolled his eyes.

Zhou Jing calculated that he now had a huge sum of one thousand and four hundred silver coins.

The bulging money bag was carried on Ross's back, looking like a thief who had successfully picked a lock.

Weiss also noticed it and gave a gasp of surprise: "You've made a fortune. Where did you get so much money?"

"Just a windfall."

Zhou Jing shook his head.

Seeing this, Weiss didn't ask any further questions.

After chatting with Weiss and other hunters in the tavern for a while, and looking at the recent Exotic Beast whereabouts reports, Zhou Jing left with Ross.

There wasn't much time left, so he planned to take the money back to Frostwood Village as soon as possible, and then see if he could use the Galehowl Tiger potion he just got to complete the secondary enhancement.

Although it has only been three months since the last enhancement, with the assistance of accelerated cultivation, his physical exercise results are like those of ordinary people who have cultivated for several years.

After saying goodbye to Weiss and other hunters, Zhou Jing did not delay and immediately left the city and embarked on the road back to Frostwood Village.

...

The road gradually narrowed from wide to narrow, and gradually became a dirt road.

Just as he was passing through a forest on the road, Zhou Jing suddenly stopped and noticed the hidden movements in the surrounding woods.

"Who's there?"

Zhou Jing scanned the surroundings.

As soon as he finished speaking, seven figures emerged from behind the trees in all directions.

He recognized them at a glance. Most of these seven people were familiar, and seemed to be Luther's personal guards.

And the first one was Maggi, with a malicious look on his face.

"Tsk."

Zhou Jing smacked his lips and gently pressed the hilt of his knife with both hands.