After the feast was dispersed, in the backyard of the Ophelenu Manor, in the dimly lit basement water dungeon, several armed gladiators were shaved off their body hair with small hooks by slave girls, smeared with olive oil, and then tried all kinds of horrific torture instruments in their hands, staring at Sifax, who was tied to the shelf, with only half of his life left.

"Hey, I'm just sitting here, looking at my eyes, if I blink my eyes, it means that the torture will continue, if I blink twice, it means stop the torture and change the torture instrument." The big man who took the lead, with his mouth tight, his eyes squeezed, with a fierce expression, put on his hood, showed only two eyes, made his muscles tremble a few times, and sat in the corner opposite Sifax.

As a result, the gladiator, who was next to him with a whip in his hand, knocked his shoulder armor with his hand, "What are you doing!" The leader of the torturers asked impatiently.

"You're wearing a mask like this, we can't tell if you're blinking or not." The gladiator said, and the rest of the men nodded in agreement.

"Really?" The big man in the lead blinked a few times, then pointed at himself and asked if the others could see it, but everyone shook their heads in the negative-the big man could only sigh and take off the hood with a grunt, "Okay, now let's start, let this cub flesh fly!" ”

The gladiator, who had a whip in his hand, struck his shoulder armor with his hand, "What are you doing!" The leader of the torturers asked impatiently.

"There's just a small question, if you blink your eyes and blink again very quickly, are we going to continue playing according to the first plan, or do we stop with the second plan?"

"If it's two blinks, I'll try to extend the interval between the two." The leader continued to explain very carefully and sincerely.

"There is one more question. The number of times this blink. Is it based on your single eye? If you blink both eyes, is it one or two? ”

Just as Lybida, Leo, and Yulia, led by the slaves, walked around the path in the back garden and reached the entrance to the basement, there were several terrible screams - a fellow covered in blood and with terrible scars was dragged out of the threshold by the other slaves.

"This is Sephax?" The high priest stopped. Asked.

Leo stepped forward, couldn't help but look at it, and then shook his head at his father, and then the famous slave next to him said, "This guy is just a chattering gladiator, and he was beaten and thrown out just now because of his indiscriminate noise." ”

"That means the punishment inside hasn't started yet?" The high priest muttered, and the leader stepped out of the door and saluted him. With a flattering tone and a smile, he asked His Excellency the High Priestess to rest assured that he would be given this task completely. "In less than a night, that guy will have to confess, and even if his mother returns from Hades, he won't be able to turn his mind around."

As a result, Li Bida refused, and then he slowly walked to his son's side, "Ask Leo to be in charge of the interrogation and torture." ”

Yulia immediately erupted in dissatisfaction, and she turned to her husband, "I wanted to choke on you at the banquet, how can you treat your children like this?" He is a member of the family of Aemilius, and the heir to your business, but you have no regard for his reason and fatigue, and you first told him to look for the instruments of torture, and then put him in charge of this kind of thing, which is what a Roman aristocratic youth should do? This is what an executioner and a sword slave should do! ”

"Shut up, Yulia. You're not a fool, I don't need to be so straightforward, I can only say that this is the moment of life and death for the Aemilius family, and the moment that will determine Leo's future, so he has to face it himself. After saying that, Yulia wanted to argue something, but was restrained by Li Bida with her hand, this gesture is unique to the male owner in a Roman family, and represents an undoubted meaning.

"Mama, I can." Eventually, beads of sweat ran down Leo's forehead and he said slowly.

"But Leo I have brought you up as a philosopher and a moralist, and you should be a good and gentle young man, and now your father has told you to do such a terrible thing." Yulia cried out with resentment and regret.

"Mama, a philosopher without a sword and a skill, cannot survive in this world, or a world where philosophers can survive safely, and I will bear the responsibility of creating a zào." Leo gritted his teeth, and finally stepped into the threshold, and a dark, musty smell greeted him, and he stepped back slightly, only to be left with his father coming from behind and putting his hand on his shoulder, which made him unable to retreat.

That uncomfortable aura still kept coming out, just around this dark threshold, as if there was hell inside, which couldn't help but remind Li Bida of his previous dream, so his hand pressed tighter, "Leo, my son, when you were born, what worries did you have?" Although the status of your biological mother is low, I even regard the little pigeon as my own, you have had the status of a citizen and a knight since you were a child, and you have enjoyed a good and superior college education, but you should also understand by now that some things are useless to talk about ideals, just like this dungeon today, it is dark and terrifying and damp, and it is full of torture instruments that the nobles do not want to see, whipping, wailing, false promises, this qiē is like a plague, so that the so-called young people who have received an education in Greek philosophy avoid it, They would rather take up the sword and kill anyone who has nothing to do with him, than witness or even do it - but your father, I've been through everything, brutal barracks, bloody battlefields, congested isolated apartments, conspiracies, assassinations, I remember what I used to be? Do I remember? ”

When talking about "the original appearance", Li Bida squeezed his hand tighter, Leo's shoulders even made a creaking sound, the sweat on his forehead flowed even more, and with this rich and unpleasant smell, Leo had a feeling of wanting to vomit, but he still held back, he heard his biological mother Potty say more than once what kind of life she lived with her father before, and Potty often put words like "Your father is not a mortal" on his lips.

"Walk over, Leo, see what you see, go through the experience." Father's voice sounded behind him, "Look at the torture instrument, preside over it, let it change its tricks, and ask the other party to confide in something that is beneficial to our family." Then his father's hand patted twice on his shoulder, and then on his back, and then Leo heard the creak of the iron fence closing outside, accompanied by the faint sound of Yulia mama's quarrel, and the whisper of the wind, and he staggered down the steps where the fire flickered and flickered, and it was a reciprocating one, and the smell of the residue became even more muffled as it sank slowly.

In front of his eyes, a few bare-chested, sword-fighting slaves in their crotch cloths walked around with a few slaves, the kind of place he had never been to even if he had been at home before, and on the wooden frame opposite, a bloody man was tied there, like an animal waiting to be slaughtered. (To be continued......)