The chief judge's words lingered in his ears, like the seductive breath of a poisonous snake, constantly attacking Baixa's psychological defense line.

Baisa lowered his head, the muscles on his face were twitching, a large amount of cold sweat was dripping from his forehead, his eyes were wandering, and he seemed to be in a fierce psychological struggle.

Chief Judge: "No matter what you think in your heart, at least I can't bear to see a just man die miserably. So, I took the initiative to apply to come here just to help you. Whatever I ask, you answer truthfully. As long as you show a good attitude

, cooperate with the investigation, and I will specifically indicate your assistance in the document."

"In this way, even if you are found guilty in the future, you can get a substantial reduction in sentence based on your contribution to assisting the investigation. If someone lobbying the superiors again, it is not impossible for you to be pardoned directly. I will do it for you.

You try your best to achieve this, provided you cooperate with me."

This may be the most difficult moment in Baisa's life.

In the past, he has faced many difficult choices.

For example, when he was 16 years old and had just come of age, he was drafted into the army at the recruitment office. He won the best score among recruits with his stunning archery skills, and even broke the local army's target shooting record. He then got the opportunity to go to the royal city and enter the "Cardinal" position.

"Guard Corps" opportunity.

The Cardinal Guard Corps is a city defense force under the direct control of the royal family. Its status is superior to all legions including the Guards Corps. It is usually responsible for guarding the outer wall of the royal city and the inner "big wall of the royal city". It has a rich salary and many responsibilities.

The scope is limited to the royal city, and the schedule of various tasks is very regular.

Unless there is an earth-shaking event such as a "coup" or "the whole country falls and the enemy troops approach the royal city", the cardinal's garrison will be firmly located in the royal city and will not have any tasks to fight against the enemy at all. It will be very easy.

It can be said that the Cardinal Guard Corps is the dream of most of the Kingdom's soldiers. How many people practice martial arts hard and work hard just to serve in this legion, and even becoming the lowest-level soldier is their dream.

Some people even say that they would rather be a soldier of the cardinal than a local general. They would rather be a silent soldier in the cardinal's garrison than a powerful general in the local army.

For the budding marksman, the Cardinal Guards naturally extended an olive branch, but when faced with this opportunity, Baixa chose to give up, and gave up without hesitation.

Not only did he give up the opportunity to join the Cardinal Guards, he also took the initiative to write on his wish form that he hoped to serve in the Border Guards.

Finally, as you can see now, a top marksman was assigned to the town of Xilin, which is closest to the desert.

reason?

What's the reason? For soldiers, the stronger their martial arts skills, the greater their responsibilities. Since they have the ability to pierce the Yangtze with a hundred steps, they should be on the front line to defend against the enemy. How can they prefer a happy place?

In this way, Baisa gave a firm answer to the first major decision in his life.

Do you regret it?

I regret it at all. I was young and energetic, and I didn’t know how deep the water in this army was. I didn’t go to a good and blessed place, but I chose to go to the poorest and most miserable borderland to suffer.

The key point is that the border guards are not as imagined. They fight with the enemy all day long and are full of pride. They are just a place where they just eat and wait to die.

Especially the poor area of ​​Xilin Town. Although it is close to the desert, in the eyes of the horse bandits, the barren Xilin Town is not worth looting at all. They just use it as a testing ground for adult tribal boys.

The daily life of the border guards is also very simple. They spend most of their time eating, drinking, sleeping and gambling. When the trial team of horse bandits comes, the soldiers hide behind the earthen wall. Both sides exchange symbolic rounds of fire to express greetings, and then retreat.

That’s it.

The chief of the border guard even issued an order not to hit the target, but to miss it, because injuring the horse bandits may lead to retaliation. It is best to be as gentle as now.

Therefore, the border guards in Xilin Town often staged a funny scene. The horse bandits are coming. The border guards shoot wildly into the air. Anyone who shoots an arrow too close and scares the horse bandits will be shot by the officer.

A scolding.

When the horse bandits saw that the border guards were giving face to them, they thought they were good brothers, so they also shot their arrows away. They asked the adult boys who were undergoing the test to only shoot poles and not people. If they accidentally hurt anyone, they would also be separated.

Throw some desert specialties on the city wall as compensation.

This is the harmonious daily life between the border guards and the horse bandits.

The same goes for the anti-smuggling operation in Xilin Town. It is extremely harmonious. The caravan has already greeted the civil affairs officer. They will give a gift first and then agree in advance which car and bag of goods will be randomly checked. They will go through the formalities, sign and release.

.

Caught? Sorry, it may be because you didn’t give enough gift money, or you offended someone.

Don’t the border guards know about these things in the shadows? Of course they do, they have eyes, ears and brains, and they are not stupid.

But this kind of place is like a whirlpool. No matter how upright you are, it will suck you in and drag you down.

At the beginning, the sense of depravity may not be obvious, but if you don't advance, you will retreat. If you accumulate a little, you will slowly be sucked into the vortex, completely assimilated, and it will be difficult to escape.

Therefore, during the time when he was serving in Xilin Town, Baisa had no hope.

He was full of passion at first, vowing to kill the enemy to serve the kingdom and guard the country for the royal family.

When the horse bandits came, he killed them with arrows and shot them so hard that they fell over on their backs.

When Dadan, the horse bandit, learned about this, he became very angry and launched an army to investigate. Later, Xilin Town secretly paid a lot of monthly coins, and then the matter was settled.

Baisa himself was severely punished for this incident, and was beaten to pieces with whips. When he was lying on the bed recovering from his injuries, his comrades from the border guards passed by. No one would give him a thumbs up and praise him. They all laughed at him as a newcomer.

So what if you are a sharpshooter? So what if you were once favored by the Cardinal Guards? Xilin Town is a world of smart people, and what matters is brains, not martial arts.

In this way, cracks appeared in Baixa's persistence, and gradually expanded in the following days. He took a nap while standing guard for the first time, drank in the military camp for the first time, bet money with his comrades for the first time, and broke the law for the first time. Finally, he slowly

Slowly his edges were smoothed away, he lost his energy in the depraved environment, and started to hang out with everyone.

Now that I think about it, I really regret it. Why did I go to a ghost place like Xilin Town? If I had directly joined the Cardinal Guards at that time, not to mention my career, now I would definitely be fat and live a cool life, and good girls would line up to get it.

Date him.

But if I say I don’t regret it, I really don’t regret it.

If you didn't go to Shirin Town, how could you get to know Paladin?

A thousand pieces of gold are easy to come by, but a confidant is hard to find. Solid brotherhood cannot be exchanged for many monthly coins.

After being guided by Kino and leaving Shirin Town, Baisa also faced many choices. For example, during the banquet bombing last year, when the provincial investigation team came to Twilight City, he faced a very important decision whether to tell the investigation what he knew about the inside story.

group.

I'm suing the commander who betrayed my support.

Not to complain is to betray your righteous self.

Finally, he chose to tell and sent the message to Resakhar with arrows.

Perhaps in his heart, justice has always been more important than kindness.

Just like his decision when he joined the army, he also had regrets about this matter.

I regretted provoking the devil. Although I managed to escape with the help of my brother, I was afraid for several months and had nightmares every night.

What I don’t regret is that I have no guilt in my heart.

Even if I feel scared when I think about it, I will never regret it.

Later, at the shooting range, he discovered Kino's identity as an extraterrestrial visitor based on the traces of bullets. Baixa's first reaction at that time was to report it to the police, but he was persuaded by Paladin's obstruction.

Brother is right, justice represents passion, but you must not be carried away by passion, otherwise you will just be a fool with no passion.

Therefore, Baisa endured it and had been at peace with Kino for this period of time. He also tried his best to forget all this and try to live a carefree life.

But now, perhaps he was destined to escape this disaster. The question that had troubled him for a long time was again presented to him after thousands of times, whether to report Kino or not.

Baisa is now very confused, and his defenses have been shattered by the previous interrogation, but he is still very clear about one thing. The royal family does not have a grasp of the specific situation.

Even if the royal family knew part of Kino's past, and even knew about his drastic change in personality, there should still be no substantial evidence to prove that he was an extraterrestrial visitor, otherwise there would be no need to interrogate him here.

And based on the two pieces of information he held in his hand, the truth about the Twilight City banquet bombing, and his ultimate proficiency with firearms, he could deduce Kino's identity as an extraterrestrial visitor. As long as he reported this to the chief inquisitor, it would be equivalent to turning it into a deadly blade.

It can be stabbed directly into Kino's heart and declare his death.

Is Baixa grateful or resentful towards Kino, which one is more or less? It’s not clear, maybe it’s the same.

If Kino is executed, Baisa will feel sad, sad, and remorseful but will never regret it.

But what will happen to Kino after he is executed?

The chief judge said that he would "fight for a reduced sentence or special relief" for him.

What is "fighting for"?

Try your best, but there is no guarantee.

If the chief judge had some conscience and really tried to plead or lobby for him, no matter whether it was successful or not, at least he had done it, then he wouldn't have said anything.

Life and death have destiny, wealth and honor are in heaven.

However, it is entirely possible that what the chief interrogator said was just an interrogation technique to lure you into telling the truth. Once you have revealed all the information and it has lost its use value, he will throw you aside like garbage and let you cry and curse.

, he went to receive the reward with great merit in interrogation.

What on earth is the chief judge thinking? I really don’t know about this Baisa

The worst-case scenario is that the cunning rabbit will die and the lackey will be cooked.

So, what we have to consider now is whether we can accept being abandoned after reporting on Kino.

The chief judge didn't know if he noticed something, so he sat a little forward, his deep eyes looming in the darkness, and his tone was very soft: "Baisa, I know you are very conflicted in your heart right now, and I won't force you.

Trust me, I just want you to consider one thing."

"Your answer is related to the death of thousands of people, and may even affect the future development of the kingdom. If you tell me the truth, the truth we are guessing now, I can provide a solid piece of evidence

chain, and crucify that man completely.”

"And you will also save the lives of thousands of people and become the hero of this kingdom."

Baisa's eyes became more and more dilated, and his pupils were extremely dilated under the impact of adrenaline, almost filling the entire iris.

After reporting, you will lose value and may be abandoned and crushed to death like an ant.

But if it's for justice

If it is for the people and future of the kingdom

Then!

Baisa's clenched teeth began to relax, he slowly opened his mouth and said

"Can't say" Without any warning, the scene of Paladin being captured appeared in front of Baisa's eyes again.

The three words "can't say" were obviously spoken by Paladin with his eyes wide open and through lip language, but at this time they turned into a concrete auditory hallucination, lingering in Baisa's ears.

In addition to the sound, Baisa also saw Paladin's eyes in that scene, his extremely frightened eyes.

That kind of panic was not due to his arrest, but came from the uncertainty of the unknown. It was like a big ship about to hit an iceberg. He had no way to affect the trajectory of the big ship. He could only pray in fear and pray to the captain.

Turn the wheel in time before catastrophe occurs.

Baisa also saw Paladin’s family

The woman who was deeply in love with Paladin, the woman whom he affectionately called "sister-in-law", often brought delicious fried dishes to him and Paladin when they were drinking and singing, and sang with them.

There is also Paladin's young daughter, who is well-behaved and obedient. Paladin made money to send her to school. She did better than those noble children in various examinations. Every time she came home, she would jump to Paladin with joy.

, the sound of the little girl sweetly calling him "uncle" seemed to be echoing in his ears.

"Baisa! Remember, you can't say it. Never say that Kino is a visitor from outside the world. Remember what I told you before! Once he falls, you and I will be implicated and liquidated! Never say it!"

Baisa pursed her lips. It seemed that her mouth was just a little dry when she opened her mouth just now.

Silence, soundlessness.

Seeing that Baisa kept his head down and said nothing, and his eyes did not seem to be in a trance as before, the referee knew that this was his answer.

"Ta, ta, ta." The chief judge didn't say anything. He didn't get angry or sarcastic. He just tapped his finger three times on the table, tapping Baisa's heart with the only sound in the darkness.

Get up and leave.

"Squeak!" Just as the chief interrogator and deputy interrogator were about to leave the interrogation room, the door was opened in advance, and a person walked in slowly.

This thing is very strange. Logically speaking, if the interrogator has not left the interrogation room, it means that the interrogation has not ended. No one can break in. Even if he must come in, he must give a notice in advance.

But now this backlit figure opened the interrogation room door without warning and slowly stepped in, with an oppressive aura hitting his face.

When the chief judge and deputy judge saw the person coming, they were startled for a moment, as if they were a little unexpected. Then, they raised their chins and their expressions became humble.

After being in the darkness for a long time, Baisa's eyes couldn't adapt for a while, and he subconsciously raised his hands to block the light in front of him.

"Bang." The door was closed, and the room became dark again, with only the candle on the table still burning.

The figure sat at the table, his body slowly leaned forward, his face emerged from the darkness and was illuminated by the candlelight.
Chapter completed!