Chapter 148: Punishment

  Yes, Mo Yan has been pretending to be a controlled idiot since he woke up from his dream. With his excellent acting skills, it's easy for him to play a role that doesn't require much dialogue, just keeping a stupid expression all the time. Even the devil who had been deceiving each other in hell for a long time couldn't see through it.

  What the demons discussed in front of him seemed to be a very laughable matter. However, Mo Yan did not do this for fun, nor did he have the leisure to think about playing such jokes with others. Moreover, he also knew the story of Feng Huo Xie Zhu Hou, and being frivolous on matters that should be serious would only lead to people's hearts becoming estranged and trust being reduced, which would be detrimental to everyone involved.

  So this is not a farce but a test, it's a test that Mo Yan wants to detect the integrity of the system he has established. Leiting Cliff is not something that can be run by one person alone, and Mo Yan, who has never been in power, does not know how to build a stable power institution, nor does he know what role his constructed system can play.

  The matter of the demon made him see his own mistakes, not everything in Thunder Cliff was under his eyes. Although a monitoring institution had been established, there were still great deficiencies. If one day Mo Yan needed to leave Thunder Cliff for a long time, would everything still operate as it did when he was there?

  With such doubts, he had already decided in his dream that after waking up, he would pretend to be controlled and see if the mechanism he set up would work. The test results made Mo Yan very satisfied, and on the day he behaved abnormally, the SS discovered the anomaly. Regal's investigation into what happened was all within his expectations.

  Lei Ting's countermeasures were quickly activated, and everyone made a concerted effort to rescue him, which led to the scene today. This made Mo Yan believe that even if he was really being controlled, the people in front of him would still save him. Regardless of their motives, they had truly taken Lei Ting as their own cause.

  "So, this is a test." Mo Yan said, sitting on the throne and looking at the several people below the high platform: "I just went with the flow, letting Lilith and others think they succeeded. And the achievements of all of you present today will be remembered in my heart, and afterwards, there will be honorary medals and bonuses awarded to everyone, to commend your loyalty and dedication."

  Mo Yan's explanation comforted the majority of people, and the honor and rewards promised by Niu Tou Ren smoothed out the last bit of discontent in everyone's hearts. After dealing with this "beacon fire play" plot, it's now up to Niu Tou Ren to handle the instigators of this attempted rebellion. If not for Niu Tou Ren's strength destroying the witchcraft, they could be considered to have successfully rebelled.

  The mighty power of the Minotaur may not have been accurately understood by others in Erland, but after staying on Thunder Cliff for some time and seeing many things, people can understand the power he represents. If a real fight with Mo Yan, who was controlled, were to occur, even if everything went according to plan, at least half of the people here would not survive, and they came with great risk.

  However, this is the Thunder Cliff, and everything here is decided by what the Minotaur says. As for how to deal with these two traitors, it will also be up to the ruler of Thunder Cliff to decide. But if the punishment is too light, although the people present may not have any obvious opinions, they will still feel disappointed in their hearts, after all, this is not an ordinary mistake or crime.

  "Lilith and Vivian." Mo Yan's gaze turned sharp as he looked at the two demonesses, a dangerous aura emanating from him. The Minotaur's low, rough voice was even more subdued as he said, "This should be your third attempt to kill me, shouldn't it?"

  "Yes." Lirien and Vivian stood tightly together, but in the gaze of the dangerous Minotaur on the throne, there was not a hint of fear. Although they knew this was their moment of life and death, such scenes were too common for them in hell.

  They are more dangerous than the Minotaur, and they know that all they have to do is stay calm and look for a way out of this precarious situation. The Minotaur had promised them that as long as he didn't feel any disgust towards them, he wouldn't harm their lives.

  And the two succubi also thought that they were performing exceptionally well in their daily work, and the large number of official documents on Thunder Cliff were all neatly organized by them. If Mo Yan decided to kill them, there would be no one more outstanding than them to take their place, whether it was the Sart people or the Grey Dwarves, neither of whom excelled at this.

  "In the beginning, when Thunder Bluff was not yet established, I didn't care what you would do." The Minotaur on the throne said: "And I don't care what you do to me, because I know that with my strength, no matter what you do, it's impossible to really harm me."

  But now I'm very angry, you've reached into places you shouldn't have. No matter what you do to me, you can't touch the results I've achieved. Everything here was built by me, and I don't like making wedding dresses for others."

  Minotaur's words sounded a bit contradictory, but they were his true thoughts. It was as if some people didn't mind being pushed around by others, but would get angry when something in their hands was taken away. Mo Yan wasn't worried about the demon wanting to kill him because he thought his own strength was enough to withstand the demon's tactics, not to mention that there was a boss supporting him from behind.

  Even if there is danger, he will be warned in advance, but he does not allow his power to be harmed. If he was really controlled, it would be fine, and at that time, he wouldn't know or care about these things, but the problem is that he wasn't really controlled, he saw the demon's intention to replace him as the master of Thunder Cliff, which made him very angry.

  "We were wrong." The demons looked at the Minotaur with a sweet smile, as if trying to appease him and said: "We promise that we will never do such things again. Even if we really succeeded in killing you, we would not touch what is dear to you. This is our promise, you should know that demons don't lie."

  Because they cannot come to the Prime Material Plane unless summoned through magic, demons from Hell often try to entice humans on the Prime Material Plane to do their bidding. The first lesson that any spellcaster who learns how to summon demons for combat must learn is to resist demonic temptation and not believe any promises or words of theirs.

  This is not to say that demons won't keep their word, they do, and they don't go back on what they promise. However, the fact of the matter is that every single one of their words has some kind of loophole in it. They promise mortals eternal life, but they never said in what form. Being exiled to a timeless demi-plane or having your soul ripped out and put into a magical vessel can also be considered a form of eternal life, can't it?

  "If it were an ordinary day, I might have let you off like this." Mo Yan closed his eyes and tapped his fingers on the chair as he thought aloud: "I've also heard about the evil demon's surname, I know you'll keep your promises. But today can't end like this, everyone is watching now. If I let you off so easily, it will definitely leave a bad impression on them, so... you must be punished."

  "Alright." Lirien muttered to herself, looking around at the crowd below the high platform, and said to those staring at her: "We didn't think Master's power had grown this strong. We originally thought the power of magic could harm you, but it ended up being another miscalculation like in the beginning... I'm starting to want to give up..."

  "You two will each receive a hundred lashes. And it will be in the Thunderhoof Execution Grounds, where all citizens have the right to watch. I think for demons' physical constitution, this won't take your lives, right? Of course... if you really get beaten to death, then I can only find someone else to help me with paperwork."

  The flogging, modeled after those in other cities of Iran, was not a trivial matter. The long leather whip made from the skin of a young calf, when dipped in salt water, could cause the skin to burst open with even a light lash, causing unbearable pain. Even if a person from Sault was lashed 70 or 80 times, their back would be reduced to a pulp and they would die.

  Even the devil from hell can't bear such a flogging, one hundred lashes is almost enough to kill them as punishment. Such punishment makes most people feel satisfied, their leader is not a soft-hearted person, anyone who offends him, even his favorite concubine, will not be spared.

  "I'm sorry you had to see that." After having the two imps withdraw, the Minotaur looked at Pashya who was standing by and watching, saying: "Now let's talk about this so-called secret pact. Actually... what Lilith and the others said just now wasn't wrong, our Thundercrag doesn't have any obligation to participate in the war."

  "Didn't anyone tell you that you won't be fighting for free?" Pasha walked back to the center of the hall, looking at the Minotaur and said: "The prosperous Carthage will not treat its allies unfairly. You will get wealth beyond your imagination, as long as you can achieve the merits you deserve."