Xiaoxiao.

Chapter 197 Scapegoat

"Since weeds have grown in people's hearts, they need to be trimmed in time. Otherwise, if one day these weeds spread unchecked and even overshadow the people, it will be too late to trim them!"

That is why I have decided to amplify this incident and let it develop to its extreme. Only in this way can I know who remains truly loyal to me, and who has become estranged from me, or even turned against me.

Upon hearing this, Ling Sheng felt a chill rise from his spine and instantly spread throughout his body, and a fine layer of cold sweat involuntarily broke out on his back.

He simply couldn't imagine that anyone in the world would disregard the lives and deaths of so many of their fellow citizens for the sake of their own rights.

You have to understand that it's not just one or two, or even ten or twenty, but ten or twenty thousand, or even two or three hundred thousand.

Those were all vibrant lives, and they all deeply admired their lord.

They never imagined, until their deaths, that their god had never even considered them.

Based solely on a baseless conjecture, Zhu Xian was able to throw out hundreds of thousands of innocent compatriots as bait without hesitation, in order to lure out the mastermind lurking among them, who might exist or might not even be a figment of their imagination.

In Zhu Xian's eyes, they may never have been regarded as his compatriots, or even his subjects.

Their existence was solely to consolidate Zhu Xian's authority, a result that left Ling Sheng utterly despondent.

Because isn't he just an ordinary person among the masses?

How ridiculous that I had placed my last hope on him...

According to Zhu Xian, the reason he allowed his compatriots to be torn apart from their families and to suffer rivers of blood was because of this.

It was because he suspected that some of these people's hearts had long been occupied by weeds, and that the loyalty that represented conscience and courage had disappeared.

As a result, they began to become timid and cowardly, preferring to hide and conceal themselves.

They dare not openly raise questions, but prefer to scheme behind the scenes. Faced with such a situation, the only way is to completely disrupt the entire situation and plunge it into chaos. Only then will he have the opportunity to capture those with ulterior motives in this chaos and wipe them out in one fell swoop!

Only in this way can the sky over Noguchi Pass be clear again.

Unfortunately, things did not develop as Zhu Xian had hoped.

Although the whole incident was indeed as he had predicted, its scale far exceeded anything he had ever seen before.

Unfortunately, not only did they fail to catch the hidden mastermind, but they also failed to catch even a single fish or shrimp of any significant weight.

This will be difficult to explain!

The massive casualties have already aroused public outrage!

If a convincing reason cannot be given, even Zhu Xian, the lord of a territory, will not be able to get away with it.

In Noguchi Pass, the lord's authority is beyond question.

However, even the greatest power needs a foundation.

These ordinary people, who usually revered Zhu Xian as a god and feared him like a tiger, were the foundation upon which his supreme authority was built.

Without these hundreds of millions of ordinary wild beasts, even if Zhu Xian were a level stronger, he would still be nothing more than a fearsome and powerful wild beast in the wilderness.

His prestige, appeal, and even deterrent power are incomparable to those of a local lord.

Normally, even if these ordinary people, who are as insignificant as ants in Zhu Xian's eyes, suffer a large number of casualties, it would not affect his prestige in the slightest.

But this time is different; this incident is closely related to him.

In this way, it is no longer just about how many innocent beasts have lost their lives.

Instead, it directly concerns the glorious image of their lord, whom they regard as a god.

Therefore, a sufficiently significant "scapegoat" is needed to quell the public's anger.

Without a doubt, Ling Sheng, who has just been promoted to Grand Commander, is both influential and convincing.

Because "newcomers" are always unreliable. (Experience can be deadly! Who says newcomers can't be experienced?)

Thinking of this, Ling Sheng already had a premonition of his fate.

Sure enough, Zhu Xian abruptly changed the subject, continuing, "...Unexpectedly, the person behind this had far greater ambitions. Not only did they cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of my people in that night's conspiracy, but what's even more infuriating is that they pinned all the blame on our Ancestor. Now, our Ancestor is utterly unable to defend himself! Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Zhu Xian's deep, pool-like eyes were fixed on Ling Sheng, and the words she spoke were as calm as a still lake in winter, yet filled with a chill that penetrated to the bone.

Ling Sheng could easily understand the hidden meaning in Zhu Xian's words.

But he was unwilling to give up, so he pretended to be stupid and said, "Ancestor, do you mean that 'water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it'?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xian's lips subtly curled upwards.

How could he not see the changes in the spirit?

But what's the point of all this struggle?

Having finally found a scapegoat of sufficient weight, how could they possibly let it get away with just a few words?

He nodded slightly, as if to indicate his approval: "Hehe... While not entirely accurate, it's pretty close!"

"The power of a single ant may be so small as to be negligible, but when all the ants unite closely in anger, even the strongest dike stretching for thousands of miles can be completely destroyed in an instant!"

Aren't the common people in this city just like those ants that have been provoked and have begun to unite?

You've grown up beside me since you were a child. In your opinion, at this critical juncture, what should I, your ancestor, do?

After speaking, Zhu Xian continued to gaze calmly at Ling Sheng, waiting to see how he would try to evade the issue this time.

Right!

Everything is right!

Ling Sheng's eyes widened, and his heart was filled with turmoil.

No wonder Zhu Xian spoke to him calmly and patiently for so long today, contrary to her usual behavior. It turns out she had set a trap for him to fall into!

Ling Sheng felt increasingly terrified as he thought about it, and cold sweat poured down his forehead.

No wonder even his comrades-in-arms, with whom he had shared life and death, avoided him; Zhu Xian must have been behind this.

Only now did Ling Sheng truly see Zhu Xian's true colors—this seemingly righteous and impartial person was actually treacherous, cunning, and ruthless!

The so-called summons was nothing more than a carefully orchestrated scheme.

On the surface, they were very open and honest with him, showing great concern, but in reality, weren't they just trying to make him a scapegoat and take the blame?

Thinking of this, Ling Sheng couldn't help but feel a wave of sorrow wash over him.