Unsurprisingly, the donation issue has become more and more serious. In just half a month, more than half of the families in the entire Western Region have made it clear that they will not contribute the money, or will only contribute a small part.
Seeing that the target was too far away, Leo, the special envoy, could no longer sit still. He could no longer hide in the Marquis Mansion and pretend to be dead, so he began to visit door to door to persuade everyone to pay.
Naturally, he was scolded a lot.
In Miss Rabbit's words, a certain person is now hated by people in the West. Many nobles will have their castle doors closed when they see Leo's carriage from a distance.
The folk customs here in the Western Region are inherently fierce, and most people generally feel that even if they don't pay, His Majesty the Emperor has no good way to deal with them, so it is impossible to really send troops here for such a thing.
As a result, Leo's work became more and more difficult. After running for more than ten days, he didn't get a penny more. Many people were already waiting to see him leave the Western Region with nothing in his hands and a disgraced face.
However, what happened next was beyond everyone's imagination.
The first place those furry, black little things arrived was the Castle of Flowers, which is the territory of the Soto family.
This castle is famous for its beauty. The towering inner walls are covered with green vines, and the hillside below the wall is a vast sea of flowers. Every spring, the Soto family holds a tea party and invites nearby neighbors to come to the castle to enjoy the flowers.
.
But this year, a group of uninvited guests arrived first and soon ruined the sea of flowers.
And the damage they bring goes far beyond that.
In her sleep, Mrs. Olenna felt something licking the soles of her feet and couldn't help laughing. But when she opened her eyes, the feeling did not disappear.
Until she saw the huge black mouse lying at her feet, she finally couldn't help but scream.
And her experience is not unique, nor is it the worst one. A male servant who was sleeping downstairs woke up in pain in the middle of the night, only to find that half of his ear was missing.
As for the kitchen and cellar, they were the hardest hit areas. When the guards arrived there, they only saw dense black shadows, thousands of them, running around in the room, chewing on everything they could chew.
In the end, the baron's family had to hide on the top floor of the castle, close the doors and windows, plug all the gaps with linen, and stay there until dawn in fear and uneasiness.
Strangely enough, when the first ray of sunshine in the morning shone on the stone wall of the Flower Castle, the mice quickly evacuated the castle and disappeared down the hillside, as if they had received some order.
The baron who had narrowly escaped death opened the door tremblingly. He felt like crying but had no tears left. Everywhere he looked was a mess. He walked around the castle and found almost nothing that was still intact.
Not only the food, but also the sheets, clothes and even the furniture were chewed to pieces.
About two days later, a serious rat plague broke out in Hongta City.
Also after dark, thousands of rats emerged from every corner of the city, forming a black torrent that swept through the streets.
The shops and houses facing the street were all affected, and even the city lord's mansion was also affected. The city lord Kamqi took the lead, put on armor, brandished the sword in his hand, and fought bravely with those hateful rats.
That night he killed more than twenty rats, but compared to the huge number of rats, the loss of this amount was nothing at all.
Moreover, a mouse took advantage of Kamzi's unpreparedness and got into his armor, scurrying around inside and biting Kamzi's lifeblood.
In the end, the residents of the city had to wait until dawn before the rats retreated on their own initiative.
The successive outbreaks of rat plagues have suddenly made the atmosphere in the Western Territory tense.
And I don’t know if it was a coincidence. The Soto family of Flower Castle and the Treles family of Hongta City were originally the most fierce nobles who opposed the donation, so there were rumors in private that they had offended the goddess of life.
This is the punishment given to them by the goddess of life.
However, not many people believe this statement.
In the Western Region, both nobles and common people are mostly followers of Pisiya. They don't really buy into the so-called goddess of life, nor do they believe that the latter has the ability to deliver divine punishment.
But not long after, Leo took the initiative to stand up and confirm this statement, and at the same time, he also issued an advance notice of where the rats would attack next.
——The Scaled City.
Unlike Flower Castle and Red Tower City, Scaled City has always had a very special meaning in the hearts of everyone in the Western Region. Even though it had just experienced a turmoil, this holy city was still regarded as having the blessing of the Silver Moon Goddess.
And now Leo openly declares that the Goddess of Life will impose divine punishment on this city. This is obviously a provocation to the Silver Moon Church and even all Pisiya's believers in the Western Territory.
So Leo, who was originally regarded as an uninvited guest by the nobles of the Western Territory, was simply upgraded to the most unpopular person in the entire Western Territory this time.
Now he has to take two groups of guards with him when he goes out, otherwise he will be knocked down by a fanatical believer of the Silver Moon Goddess wherever he goes.
And on the fourth day after he made his words, the Scaled City really encountered a rat plague.
Although the Raimondi family had received the news early and made preparations, tens of thousands of rats poured into the streets and alleys of the Scaled City, still causing unimaginable damage.
Moreover, the focus of their attack is clearly the two temples in the city.
The priests and students in the temple fought against them with torches and pine oil, and burned some of the rats to death, but the remaining rats showed a ferocity that went against biological instincts.
Risking his fur being scorched, he jumped over the flames and continued to pounce on the humans behind him.
The clergy of Silver Moon Church had no choice but to abandon the temple and temporarily evacuate outside.
Early the next morning, what happened in the city quickly spread throughout the entire Western Territory.
This time, people finally began to take Leo's warning seriously, and it wasn't long before a family secretly sent overdue donations to Yanxue City.
After witnessing the rat plagues that occurred in Flower Castle, Red Tower City and Scaled City, no nobles dared to look down upon these little things that could be seen everywhere in daily life.
The terrifying destructive power they unleash when they get together makes even lions and tigers shy away.
However, some nobles still refused to pay.
Among them is Miss Rabbit, and the Arias family is no longer transparent in the West. In addition, as a dragon-slaying hero proclaimed by His Majesty the Emperor, the female lord has become the most conspicuous presence among the opponents.
However, this is not a good thing. There is always a price for being the first.
Now many people are paying attention to the situation between her and Luye, wanting to see how long the Arias family can hold on.
My condition seems to have recovered a bit, I'll see if I can resume double updates tomorrow.
This chapter has been completed!