I put out his fire

When the deck was opened, a metallic, dull dampness permeated the air.

Bronze statues that look like gods are placed in rows below the deck, and the tops of the bronze statues have a patina like pimples due to damp.

A small layer of sea water accumulated in the hull of the boat, swims under the feet of the bronze statue, flowing back and forth with the shaking of the boat, like a dark octopus stretching its tentacles.

"In order to save space, we can only put part of the cargo into the hull. You know, the supply of bronze idols in Rome has always been in short supply, and no matter how big the ship is, there is not enough to fit it..." the captain said weakly.

Rhodes squatted down, his eyes slowly swept across the bronze statues like soldiers and horses, and reached out to grab one, bringing out a fishy and salty smell.

The captain held his breath, his trembling eyeballs moved under the swollen eyeballs, and his lips turned as blue and white as the belly of a dead fish.

Rhodes weighed the weight of the bronze statue, and his white fingers stroked along the skirt of the statue, and suddenly touched a piece of soft grain.His movements suddenly stopped.

The captain's facial features trembled in horror, fleeing from his face as if struggling.

"This statue is extraordinarily heavy," Rhodes said with a playful smile, looking at the struggling captain, "it's a god with a fat head."

He wiped off the grains and displayed them in the firelight.His palms were shiny because of the crystal grains, and his fingertips were red from the cold.

Nero looked at Rhode's pointed fingers motionlessly, his silver bangs were fluttered by the sea breeze and brushed against his sensitive eyelashes, and he did not blink.Just the corners and corners of Rhodes can keep his eyes on him.

Rhodes didn't speak, and stood up slowly, his still pupils looked a little strange.Behind him is the dark red sunset growing in the gap between the sky and the sea, like a trail of dried blood.

The captain's complexion grew paler.Under this kind of silent questioning, he finally couldn't bear it anymore. He knelt down on the deck with soft legs and said, "Oh... I swear I was just following orders..."

Rhodes sullenly turned the bronze statue over to open the base.

The hollow bronze statue is filled with salt.Because of the damp, the salt grains formed hard lumps of different sizes, with rusty copper mixed in, showing a strange blue-green color.

This is the military salary he once received in the military camp.

"You actually smuggled salt into the city in a hollow statue..." Rhodes threw the heavy bronze statue into Nero's arms, "Your Rome has rotted from the army to religion."

All the crew members knelt on the boat, and the leading captain knelt on his stomach, his body shaking violently, as if his whole body's skeleton had been loosened and began to move freely.

Nero held the bronze statue in his hands, grabbed a hard block of salt, and rubbed the blue-green crystals in his hands.

He sniffed lightly, and the pungent smell pierced his nostrils.He smelled this smell that seemed to be full of poison, his golden brown eyes narrowed slightly, and then widened suddenly as if to hunt.

"It turns out that this is the source of the strange disease..." Nero said slowly, his face looking dark and unclear under the setting sun that was about to pass away.

While he was thinking, his lips and teeth moved slowly like grinding: "The filth spit out by those patients is this color..."

"Traders who resell private salt will be sentenced to death." Rhodes said in an emotionless tone.

A sissy face appeared in his mind—the smeared Anthony was smiling, and this smile was the product of the mutual extrusion of flesh and fat, floating insubstantially, like vegetable oil floating on vegetable soup , both fake and greasy.

This is the enemy throughout the past and present, and perhaps also the person who made Nero lose everything in the prophecy.

"Anthony is finally going to be unlucky, and no one can protect him this time." Rhodes said with a dazed expression.

"Not only Anthony, but also his elder brother Menci, and even Otto." Nero said firmly, "This family has always been against me."

Rhodes stood upright, the sea breeze was soft, hitting his ears like water drops.He had an ominous premonition about this sudden good news; however, the tension inherited from the previous life gradually relaxed, like the end of a crossbow, and a feeling that could be called a fluke gradually smeared.At this moment, he was relieved, and the good news was so sudden that he felt illusory, and all the scenes in front of him were like stripped murals, which were real but invalid.

Rhodes stared at the sunset that was about to disappear in the sky, his eyes were a little empty, "I didn't expect..."

His words fell like a bird of arrows.

Nero turned his face to the side and asked, "Didn't expect anything?"

Rhodes paused for a moment, and said in a calm tone: "I didn't expect our enemy to be destroyed so quickly. Don't you think it's strange that fate let us go so easily?"

"It's not surprising, Rhodes." Nero said lightly.He was so relaxed about fate that even smiling seemed a little arrogant. "I can even have you, so no matter how much I am favored by the god of fate, I will not be flattered."

At this moment, there was a commotion at the foot.The two followed the sound and looked to the side.

The captain vomited from the stress.He was crawling, his back throbbing like a cramp.

The corners of Nero's mouth were slightly curved, his head was slightly lowered, a shadow was formed in the eye sockets, and he looked like a smile but not a smile.The evil temperament he was born with overlaps surprisingly with his current evil smile; his brows, eyes and bones are most suitable for this expression, it seems that only when he is evil smile is he the most Nero himself, other expressions are nothing more than It's just a cover-up.

Nero walked to the side of the captain and said with a sneer, "All criminals who traffic in illegal salt will have their faces peeled off, and then hung in front of their eyes bloody. They will repent to their own faces until they die."

The captain twitched a few times in fright, and then he stuck his head on the deck and passed out.The crew members on the side didn't dare to move, and they were all silent.

Rhodes glanced at his uncontrollable smiling face: "Why do you scare him jokingly?"

Nero looked at Rhodes with an innocent look in his eyes.It's a pure and vicious innocence.

"I'm not kidding," he said sincerely, "that's how they die."

……

The private salt case that roiled the whole country was finally solved.

The court sent commissioners to India and found hundreds of private salt contracts, all of which were stamped with Anthony's seal.

Anthony has been in the private salt trade for a long time.When he was in the military before, he even embezzled official salt and paid military salary with private salt.At the beginning, this matter was suppressed by his elder brother Menxi with a huge sum of money, but now it has become known to the world due to the investigation of the court.

The circulation of illicit salt caused a wide range of diseases, and countless people died of pain because of eating salt mixed with copper rust.

Corruption, epidemics, and smuggling of smuggled salt were all blamed on Anthony for a while.He was soon arrested and imprisoned.

In autumn and winter, a fragile layer of thin ice forms in the patio.The Romans began digging cellars in preparation for expensive ice.They also slathered resin on the marble walls to protect them from wind.

Nero stepped on the slave's back and jumped out of the carriage.He had just returned from the court, wearing a dark red robe, his forehead and hair were stained with autumn dew, drooping damply on his eyebrows and eyes.He rubbed his hands that were red from the cold, and the hot breath escaped from his mouth and nose like white smoke.

The slave came out to meet him, knelt down and wiped the dry grass from the edges of his shoes.

Rhodes stood in the middle of the courtyard with a sword.He wore black finger gloves and wiped the icicles off the sword with a sackcloth.

As soon as the bright silver blade turned over, he saw Nero's figure on the blade.This figure is embedded in the center of the sword body, the color is too strong, it will almost cut off the blade.

He took a small handful of salt from the clay pot and poured it into the scabbard.His eyes didn't stay on the red shadow much.

Nero washed his hands in the warm water with mint leaves floating in it, and walked over quickly.

"What are you doing?" he asked.His cheeks were flushed, and his voice was hoarse after being overdrawn.

"Put some salt in the scabbard, so that the sword will not be frozen in the scabbard." Rhodes said, "Failure to draw the sword at a critical moment is fatal."

He moved his gaze over Nero's face, pausing for a moment as he passed the dark golden eyes, then glanced over them quickly; so the moment was but a handout to him.Such was his tenderness, like that of an indifferent cat, courting its master in a condescending manner.

"Your voice is hoarse," Rhodes said steadily, "as if speaking with a dry throat."

Nero hastily poured down the warm water brought by the slave, "I debated in court all morning..."

He folded the silk handkerchief squarely, and gracefully wiped the water stains from the corners of his mouth, "I tried my best to give Otto a punishment."

Rhode stared into his dark eyes and said, "Anthony's death sentence has been decided."

"He alone is not enough." Nero said, "I want to take this opportunity to get rid of his elder brother, and even their entire family."

He brushed Sipa's creases, "Compared to Anthony, a male prostitute who became a businessman, Munchy, who holds a military force, is really worthy of my fear..."

"How did the court deal with him?" Rhodes asked.

"Remove his military position and deprive him of his family property." Nero said, "He directly degenerated from a senator to a commoner, and his property was reduced to a hundred thousand sesterces. Even a humble knight can despise him."

"Is it just a commoner?" Rhodes frowned, wondering, "He acquiesced and covered up his brother's crimes, at least he should be reduced to a slave."

"According to the law, this should be the case." Nero said gloomily, "but he was born and died for Caligula in his early years, and he led troops to subdue two provinces in the north. He enjoys prestige in the army."

Rhodes thought for a while and said, "So, he still has some abilities."

Nero took off his robe, and the slave changed into soft casual clothes for him. He nodded and said, "Although I hate him, I have to admit that he is very good at marching and fighting. And..."

There was still a layer of worry on his childish eyebrows and eyes, "He can still work hard. It is said that when he was marching, he was crushed by a Germanic sword and halberd. Before the doctor arrived, he actually opened the wound. Remove the bone fragments by hand."

Rhodes' gesture of pressing the sword was a little stiff, and there was faint surprise in his eyes.

Nero glanced at him, raised his arm quietly, and wrapped it around his waist silently.

"Don't worry." He leaned closer and said, "Munch has lost his army and property, just like a tiger whose claws have been cut off. The surname Otto will disappear forever from the Roman nobility."

Rhodes half-opened his eyes, looked sideways at Nero, and said in a self-contained and vigilant tone: "A person who dares to tear his own blood and bones with his bare hands will never sit still."

In fact, his face was expressionless, showing a look of disdain.Nero stared straight at his side face, and in an instant he pulled away from reality and entered an absolutely emotional obsession.

The cold light of the sword shone on Rhodes' slightly bowed nose.The shape of the bridge of his nose is beautiful, delicate and three-dimensional, with a strong masculinity approaching.

At this moment, Nero's thoughts wandered.

Although he had always despised religion, he wanted to kneel down on one knee at this moment and perform pure pagan worship to Rhodes.

The author has something to say:

Happy New Year everyone, the return of the missing persons is so embarrassing, I am too ashamed to read the comments~~