Heir to the Kingdom of 1.4 billion people

Chapter 132 The Fox Gate's Destruction of Opium (Part Two)

Twilight City, City Square.

"My people, I apologize to you."

After Rosa said those words, not only were the citizens in the square stunned, but even the guards standing at the edge of the square with their shields showed expressions of disbelief.

Since ancient times, lords have had absolute control over the people in their territories, and there has never been a case of a lord apologizing to his people, let alone a lord like Rosa, who is extremely noble even among nobles.

Although they were shocked, the dense crowd in the square obeyed the lord's previous orders and did not utter a word, but simply waited quietly for Rosa to say something next.

"The twilight tea you drank earlier is actually a strange, slow-acting poison. Once you drink it, you are very likely to become addicted, and if you stop drinking it halfway, you will fall into increasing pain every day until you go completely insane."

“I think you’ve already sensed that,” Rosa said solemnly.

Upon hearing this, the citizens, who were already suffering from the itch caused by the ban on evening tea, looked at each other, a hint of fear flashing across their haggard faces.

Before anyone reminded them, they hadn't for some reason connected their pain with the Twilight Tea. But now, after hearing their usually benevolent lord say this, they realized the strangeness of the situation.

“I believe what the lord says. After all, she has always been like the sun shining on the entire Southern Territory,” someone murmured.

"I also believe that without Lady Rosa, my family would have starved to death long ago."

"Hey, doesn't that mean we're about to be driven crazy by the pain?"

"Oh my god, if that's the case, I'd rather die of exhaustion in bed."

Panic spread rapidly among the crowd, as few people could remain calm knowing they were about to find themselves in such a terrible situation.

"Fortunately, thanks to the tireless efforts of the three wise men, they have successfully found the right way to cure the poisoning of evening tea."

Just as a large-scale panic was about to break out among the dense crowd in the square, Rosa changed the subject.

"--call!"

Upon hearing this, countless people breathed a long sigh of relief, their expressions quickly returning to calm. Some even deliberately mocked those who had previously looked terrified for being cowardly.

"My people, it was my oversight that led me to be misled by that greedy merchant and release such a treacherous and poisonous substance into Twilight City. I am sorry."

Rosa placed her right hand on her left shoulder and bowed slightly to the crowd below.

"As an apology, I promise, in Rosa Martha's name, that all expenses incurred by you in purchasing the Twilight Tea will be reimbursed by the Martha family," she added.

What?! I paid for the tea, and now it not only helps detoxify me, but I also want a full refund!
"Lady Rosa, we love and respect you!"

"Lady Rosa, you are absolutely right. It's all that damned Clay merchant Ekus's fault for being too cunning!"

"We were also deceived by him, actually calling him a conscientious businessman. I think he's the most greedy businessman in all of Sosia. Other businessmen only care about money, but he cares about life!"

The dense crowd erupted in cheers, some praising Lady Rosa's generosity, others vehemently condemning the merchant Ekus's greed and madness.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the reputation of the Clay merchants will likely suffer another major downturn after today.

"My people, let us now meet the three sages who have found a way to cure the Twilight Tea poison and save the entire Twilight City," Rosa said.

She wouldn't allow His Highness and his attendants to be sidelined, after all, this great feat of saving the entire city would undoubtedly greatly help His Highness's path to promotion.

Even if it cannot directly elevate His Highness to the New Moon, it will certainly allow His Highness to take a big step on his path to the Morning Star.

Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, Seris, the old steward of Red Fox Castle, led three figures onto the high platform.

The first person to ascend the platform was a tall, dark-haired young man.

He had a pair of beautiful obsidian eyes, a handsome face, and a faint smile on his well-defined features in the sunlight, making people want to get close to him.

With his black hair and black eyes, and his handsome appearance, the citizens immediately guessed his identity the moment they saw him.

He must be Xia Mingyu, the wise sage of the Southern Territory who recently persuaded all the viscounts and lords in the entire Southern Territory to carry out a massive purge of the villains in their territories, and who is rumored to be kind, righteous, and treat everyone equally, regardless of whether they are nobles or commoners!
"Sage, we are so grateful to you!" countless people shouted in unison.

The second one was a silver-haired, snow-white-eyed, and incomparably beautiful bard.

His beautiful face, as captivating as a poem or painting, and the beauty mark at the corner of his eye, made countless men's hearts flutter. However, he was soon told by his companions who knew him that he was the most beautiful man in the entire Twilight City—"Silver Snow" Damien.

"We love you, wise and beautiful bard!" many people shouted with love in their eyes, most of them women, but also quite a few men.

This terrifying scene frightened Damien so much that he hid behind Xia Mingyu, too scared to show his face.

When people's attention shifted to the third person who climbed the platform, their brows furrowed, and some even covered their mouths in fear.

Because that person was so ugly that it was hard to even call him a human being!
The man was short, but his hands were so long they almost dragged on the ground. His narrow face was sunken, but his cheekbones were unusually high. Beneath his sparse eyebrows, a pair of amber-colored eyes darted around restlessly.

It's less like a human and more like an ugly monkey.

Moreover, standing next to two exceptionally handsome young men, seemingly masterpieces of divine creation, only accentuated his ugliness, making him appear like one of two completely different portraits painted by an artist—one realistic and the other abstract.

"He seems to be the monkey pharmacist from Morning Breeze Street. I heard he likes to eat children."

"Oh no, how scary! Could there be a mistake?"

Unlike the previous two cheers, the crowd fell into a long silence.

Yud noticed his unpopularity from the surprised looks on the faces of the crowd below. He nervously backed away, intending to follow Damien's example and hide behind the Sage.

However, as soon as he did this, Xia Mingyu, who had discovered his intention, grabbed his shoulder.

Good grief, they're all hiding behind me. Do they think I'm their senior brother?

"Youde, why don't you explain to these people how to neutralize the poison of the Twilight Tea?" Xia Mingyu said calmly.

This is a good opportunity for the people of Twilight City to get to know and accept Yod.

"Eh, oh, oh, Sage, shouldn't such an important matter be entrusted to you?" Yud exclaimed in surprise, as if he had heard something extremely terrifying.

“Now, I’m handing it over to you.” Xia Mingyu gave him a push, making him stand at the front, and had Seris bring over a magical prop that looked like a small megaphone and place it in front of Yud.

That was a device that could amplify sound—the Magic Ear. After all, Yud wasn't a Morning Star level expert. Without awakening true magic power, even if he worked himself to death, he couldn't make everyone in the square hear his voice.

On a high platform in the city square.

Yud stood in front of the demon ear, looking down at the countless people silently watching him, and his legs trembled with nervousness.

He had never been watched by so many people at once, and he couldn't even imagine such an extravagant scene in his dreams.

"Calm down, calm down, we can't let the Sage down."

He took several deep breaths, forcibly suppressing his inner panic by thinking that this was also repaying the Sage's kindness. Then, he slowly spoke to the demon ear:

"I am Yude, the pharmacist from Morning Breeze Street. Under the wise guidance and advice of the Sage, I successfully discovered a way to cure Twilight Tea poisoning with the Sage. The poisoned person needs to experience a high fever that lasts for about ten minutes. After the fever subsides and the person recovers, the poisoning can be cured."

"To achieve this, all you need to do is take two bottles of medicine that I developed, one for fever and one for cooling down."

As he spoke, Yud took out two bottles of different colored medicine from the medicine bag he was carrying to give an example.

"Regarding the medicine, the Sage and the Lord have arranged for all the pharmacists in the city to prepare it at full speed. Soon, enough medicine for everyone will be delivered to the square. You will take the medicine here to remove the tea poison from your bodies before you can leave the square."

Yud continued to add.

After he finished speaking, he looked at the still silent crowd below and, thinking he had messed up, Yud was so embarrassed that he wished he could disappear into the ground.

However, it wasn't long before the entire square was engulfed in a deafening roar of cheers.

"Lord Yud, thank you for saving my family's lives. If it weren't for you and the Sage, we would probably have really been in hell!"

"Lord Yude, I'm sorry I shouldn't have believed the rumors. You are undoubtedly a kind and good person. From now on, if anyone swears that you eat children, I will punch them awake!"

"Lord Yud, I will spread the word about your apothecary to everyone. My home is also on Morningwind Street. If you are interested, you are welcome to visit my home. I will have my wife prepare the most sumptuous meal for you!"

People rushed to express their gratitude.

Although the pharmacist in front of them looked a little strange, he was undoubtedly their savior, and they naturally wanted to show him their sincerest gratitude.

On the high platform, Yud stared blankly at this scene, his eyes gradually welling up with tears.

Mom, I think I've managed to get their approval.
“You did a great job. I think that in the future, there will be no one in the entire Dusk City and even the Southern Territory who will not know that there is an excellent apothecary named Yud in Morningwind Street.”

Xia Mingyu walked over, patted Youde on the shoulder, and said softly.

".Um."

Yude looked up at the gentle smile on the young man's face. This time, he did not thank him as usual, but silently vowed in his heart that he would become the best apothecary under Lord Xia Mingyu and make all the potions he needed.

This is not only his way of repaying a debt of gratitude, but also a dream he will pursue for the rest of his life!

“Bring Ekus up.”

Seeing that His Highness and his attendants had successfully accomplished their great task, Rosa gave the order.

A moment later, two extraordinary knights clad in heavy armor escorted Ekus, whose hands were bound with thick ropes, to the high platform.

The Clay merchant was in very bad shape; his dark blue silk robe was now covered in mud, blood, and other unidentified filth.

His left eye socket was so swollen and bruised that he could barely open it, and blood was still seeping from the ruptured corner of his eye. Even his signature hooked nose was noticeably crooked to the right.

Clearly, during his time imprisoned in the Duskwood dungeons, Erkus suffered a little bit of lynching.

This is quite normal, since even the extraordinary knights who guarded him had family and friends who were poisoned by the Twilight Tea.

After learning the truth, they naturally wanted to stand up for them.

Upon seeing the disheveled Ekus on the platform, the crowd below remained silent for a moment, then...
"Erkus, I ****"

"You Clay man raised by a whore, I told everyone I was the most honest merchant in the entire Southern Territory, and now they wish they could sew my mouth shut!"

"Ekus, I swear to the gods, I will beat you every time I see you!"

The crowd, who had been cheering and full of gratitude, instantly changed their expressions, cursing and swearing with ferocious grimace.

The viciousness of his words surprised Xia Mingyu, who couldn't help but marvel that such foul language existed in the world.

If it weren't for maintaining his sage-like demeanor, he would have liked to join in and utter a few of the swear words he had honed in countless battles in the canyons on Earth.

Ekus, who was being cursed like this, was so angry that his whole body turned red and even the muscles in his face were twitching.

These damned commoners dare to curse him like that! Once he ascends to the New Moon and unleashes his bewitching calamity, he will make them wish they were dead!
“Ekus Clay, you maliciously sold Twilight Tea, such a bizarre and slow-acting poison, causing countless people in the entire Twilight City to be poisoned by the tea and almost fall into an abyss of no return. Fortunately, the wise sage Lord Xia Mingyu and his servants saved Twilight City in time.”

Rosa said coldly.

“I, Rosa Martha, as the Queen of Twilight, sentence you to death.”

Rosa announced loudly, her voice echoing throughout the entire square thanks to the magic.

"My lord is wise! Die, Ekus!"

"I'll collect your corpse and feed it to the dogs!"

"You won't be able to pick them all up, because I'll shove his head into my **."

Ekus watched this scene with a gloomy expression. Last time, he thought these commoners were stupid for cheering for him, but now he felt annoyed at being slapped in the face.

“Erkus, before your head is severed by the guillotine and your soul falls into hell, watch as these tea leaves you brought are completely destroyed,” Rosa said calmly.

These words, however, brought a surge of joy to Ekus's heart.

The reason he was willing to endure the lynching in prison and be led to the guillotine was precisely to wait for this.

Because Raphael and his group had already discovered that Rosa and her companions planned to destroy all the Dusk Tea collected from across the city in the square.

It should be understood that these tea leaves are essentially transformations of the power of suffering. Ordinary methods such as burning, submerging, or dissolving cannot destroy them. Instead, they will turn into countless evening tea fragrances that drift away with the wind.

The aroma produced by the destruction of such a massive amount of tea leaves could likely give everyone in this square a severe tea addiction, including the thousands of guards and heavily armored knights stationed here.

At that time, he will directly launch the calamity of bewitchment, and let these people kill Rosa Martha with their own hands!
Faced with so many people defecting, Rosa, a magician who was not good at fighting alone, was doomed to die.

Hua Hua Hua.

Boxes of evening tea collected from all over the city were poured onto the high platform, quickly piling up into a small mountain several people high.

Under Ekus's expectant gaze, Xia Mingyu slowly walked to the front of the tea mountain and raised his palm.

"Black fire," Xia Mingyu said softly.

The next moment, pitch-black flames ignited the tea mountain.

"Hahaha, this so-called sage is nothing special. He actually tried to destroy the Twilight Tea with fire magic. Now the entire Twilight City is going to perish!"

Upon witnessing this scene, Ekus was overjoyed, feeling that he was very close to becoming a bishop, and that it wouldn't be impossible for him to be on equal footing with Lord Simon.

(End of this chapter)