Chapter 28 Father and Son (Part 2)
After the banquet was over, in the dark basement water cell in the backyard of Ofilenu Manor, several sturdy armed gladiators were being shaved off their body hair by female slaves with small hooks, smeared with olive oil, and then weighing various items in their hands. A terrifying instrument of torture, his eyes were staring at Syfax, who was tied to the rack and only had half of his life left.
"Hey, I'm just sitting here. The look in my eyes indicates that if I blink once, it means to continue the torture. If I blink twice, it means to stop the torture and change the torture instrument." The big man who took the lead said with a tight mouth. Squeezing his eyes, with a fierce expression, he covered his hood with only two eyes exposed, and after shaking his muscles a few times, he sat in the corner opposite Syfax.
As a result, the gladiator holding a whip next to him tapped his shoulder armor with his hand, "What are you doing!" the leader of the torturers asked impatiently.
"With your mask on like this, we can't see clearly whether you blinked or not." The gladiator said, and then the others nodded in agreement.
"Really?" The leading man blinked a few times, then pointed at himself and asked others if they could see it. As a result, everyone shook their heads in denial - the big man could only sigh and grunted. The hood was taken off, "Okay, let's start now and let this brat fly with blood and flesh!"
The gladiator holding the whip tapped his shoulder armor again, "What are you doing!" the leader of the torturers asked impatiently.
"I just have a little question. If you blink once, and then blink again soon, should we continue fighting according to the first plan, or should we stop following the second plan?"
"If it's two blinks, I will try to extend the time between the two blinks." The leader continued to explain carefully and sincerely.
"I still have a question. Is the number of blinks calculated based on your single eye? If you blink both eyes, is it counted once or twice?"
Just as Lepidus, Leo, and Julia, led by the house slaves, bypassed the path in the back garden and walked to the entrance of the basement, there were several shrill screams - a man with blood on his head and a The horribly scarred guy was dragged out of the threshold by other slaves.
"Is this Sifax?" the high priest stopped. asked.
Leo stepped forward, held back his emotions and took a look, then shook his head at his father. At this moment, the famous slave next to him said, "This guy is just a chattering gladiator. He was beaten up and thrown out just now for making random noises."
"That means the punishment inside has not started yet?" the high priest murmured, and then the leader immediately stepped out of the door and saluted him. With a flattering tone and smile, he asked the High Priest to safely entrust this task to him. "In less than a night, that guy will have to confess. Even if his mother comes back from the underworld, she can't change his mind."
As a result, Lepidus refused, and then he slowly walked to his son and "asked Leo to be responsible for the interrogation and torture."
Julia immediately burst out with dissatisfaction. She turned to her husband, "I wanted to choke you a long time ago during the banquet. How could you treat your child like this? He is a member of the Aemilius family and a member of Lepidus' career. Heir, but you didn't care about his reason and hard work. First you asked him to find torture instruments, and then you asked him to be responsible for this kind of thing. Is this what a young Roman noble should do? Is this what an executioner and a sword-fighting slave should do! "
"Shut up, Yulia. You are not an idiot. I don't need to speak so bluntly. I can only say that now is the moment of life and death for the Aemilius family, and it is also the moment that determines Leo's future, so he You can only face it by yourself." After saying that, Julia wanted to argue, but Lepidus stopped her with her hand. This gesture was unique to the male master in Roman families and meant that there was no doubt.
"Mama, I can do it." Finally, Leo said slowly with beads of sweat on his forehead.
"But, Leo, I trained you as a philosopher and moralist. You should be a kind and gentle young man. Now your father asks you to do such a terrible thing." Yulia said with dissatisfaction and regret. , shouted.
"Mama, philosophers without swords and wrists cannot survive in this world. In other words, I am responsible for creating a world where philosophers can survive safely." Leo gritted his teeth and finally stepped into Inside the threshold, a dark, musty smell came to him. He stepped back slightly, but his father came from behind and put his hand on his shoulder. This made him unable to retreat at all.
The uncomfortable breath continued to come out, just before and after this dark threshold, as if there was hell inside, which reminded Lepidus of his previous dream, so he pressed his hands tighter, "My son Leo, what worries did you have when you were born? Although your mother's status was lower, I even treated the little pigeon as my own. You have been a citizen and knight since you were a child, and enjoyed a good and superior college education, but you should understand now that it is useless to talk about ideals for some things, just like this dungeon today, it is dark, terrifying and damp, and it is full of torture instruments that the nobles don't want to see, whipping, wailing, false promises, all of which are like a plague, making young people who are so-called Greek philosophy education avoid it. They would rather pick up the sword and kill anyone who has nothing to do with him than to witness or even do these things - but your father, I have experienced everything, brutal military camps, bloody battlefields, crowded island apartments, conspiracies, assassinations, do I still remember what I was like before? Do I still remember? "
When talking about "the original appearance", Li Bi Da squeezed his hands tighter, Leo's shoulders even made a creaking sound, and the sweat on his forehead flowed more violently. Combined with the strong and unpleasant smell, Leo felt like vomiting, but he still held back. He had heard his biological mother Boti say more than once what kind of life she and his father had lived before. In addition, Boti often said "your father is not an ordinary person".
"Go over there, Leo, and see and experience it." His father's voice sounded behind him, "Look at the torture instruments, and change them so that the other party can reveal something that is beneficial to our family." Then, his father's hand patted his shoulder twice in a rhythmic manner, and then patted his back again. Then Leo heard the creaking sound of the iron gate closing outside, accompanied by the vague quarrels of Yulia Mama. Following the low hum of the wind, he staggered down the steps where the firelight flickered. It was a reciprocating step, and after slowly sinking, the smell of the residue became more stuffy.
In front of him, several naked sword fighting slaves wearing only loincloths walked around with several slaves. Even if he was at home before, he had never come to such a place. On the wooden rack opposite, a bloody man was tied there, like an animal to be slaughtered. (To be continued...)