“I should not have been disrespectful to the Great Warden. I was wrong.”
“I apologise to the Great Warden. I was wrong.”
Upon learning he was to be released, Qingya loudly apologised repeatedly, not daring to hesitate in the slightest.
The situation was plain to see. Xi Qingyue was looking for an excuse to deal with him. If he did not quickly accept the offer and apologise, that hammer blow just now would serve as a warning.
Qi Duolai kept a stern face, staring at Xi Qingyue, yet he could not say much either. The man’s words were reasonable. Was it wrong to ask someone to apologise? He secretly blamed that fellow Qingya for asking for it. The man had arrived here and still dared to speak disrespectfully to Xi Qingyue. What was that if not courting punishment?
Xi Qingyue threw down the hammer in his hand, then grabbed Qingya by the hair. “I heard that previously at Jinghong Hall, you publicly threatened an officer of the Coastal Defence Bureau, declaring you would make sure he never saw the sun rise again. Say it once more for me to hear?”
Qingya shook his head. “I dare not. This lowly one dares not anymore.”
Qi Duolai chimed in at the right moment, “Brother Xi Qing, that is quite enough.”
Xi Qingyue released Qingya’s hair and patted his face. “If I ever hear similar words again, it will not be as simple as pulling out a few teeth and breaking a leg.”
With that, he threw a punch. A heavy blow slammed into Qingya’s abdomen.
“Pfft!” Qingya sprayed a mouthful of blood.
Qi Duolai flew into a rage and was about to shout something, but Xi Qingyue got in first with a loud command, “Release him!”
This shout forced Qi Duolai to swallow the words that had reached his lips.
Qingya, freed from his chains, no longer had the carefree air of clacking wooden clogs from before. Standing on one foot, dragging the other leg, he was already swaying unsteadily.
“Carry him out.”
Qi Duolai called out, and immediately someone brought a plank to carry Qingya away.
Outside the prison, Pang Chengqiu was already waiting. He had been brought out earlier and had not yet been interrogated, so he was still entirely intact. Seeing Qingya carried out, he was instead greatly shocked. This bloody appearance clearly showed he had suffered severe torture.
This was not the place for him to express concern. Qi Duolai waved his hand, signalling to get the man out of there first.
Qingya had entered standing upright and left lying horizontally.
Outside the Coastal Defence Bureau, a carriage was waiting. Gu Qingzhao sat quietly inside the carriage. When the bloody Qingya was delivered, she too was startled.
After several people hastily got Qingya into the carriage, Gu Qingzhao spoke in a deep voice, “How are your injuries?”
Qingya gasped for breath. “First remove the restrictions on my body.”
Gu Qingzhao immediately reached out and felt around his body. After locating the restriction, she removed it.
The carriage then turned around and headed back urgently to Jinghong Hall.
Inside the Coastal Defence Bureau was an atrium-style space. On all four sides, zigzag staircases led upward, and the prison entrance was at the bottom of the atrium.
Liu Piaopiao was hiding behind the window of a room. Through the gap in the window, she saw Qingya enter standing upright and then leave bloody and horizontal. She also saw Yu Qing and his three martial brothers being brought into the prison.
Even a local snake like Qingya had gone in and come out lying down after only a short while. Liu Piaopiao was extremely worried about Yu Qing and his three martial brothers.
Yet she dared not go to watch inside the prison. The matter of Wen Hou’s poisoning had happened only a few days ago, and the affair was not yet over. She could not say she was completely cleared of suspicion. At this moment, she simply could not show concern for Yu Qing’s trio.
She did not know whether Qingya, in that state, had confessed to anything, such as giving Yu Qing the “White Gauze.” Everything made her secretly anxious and fearful.
She now roughly knew what had happened at Langhuan Residence, that Wang Xueting had been poisoned. She estimated that Yu Qing and his group had done it. She neither knew how they had managed it nor what Yu Qing was thinking, daring to go to Langhuan Residence to act. It was truly too bold and reckless.
She was very clear that if Wang Xueting had not died at Langhuan Residence, it would not have caused such a huge commotion, and Xi Qingyue would not have made such a grand display.
Brought into the great prison together, as the three martial brothers walked along the corridor, Nanzhu could not help but chuckle, “How long have we been in Haishi? And we’ve already come in twice.”
But before long, he could not laugh anymore. At the fork in the dungeon path, the three were separated and taken away in different directions.
The three martial brothers were each brought to an interrogation room. The moment they saw the torture instruments in their respective rooms, the three quickly tensed their nerves. What did it mean to bring them to such places right away?
Mu Aotie received the highest treatment. Xi Qingyue personally interrogated him first.
Before Mu Aotie could even react, people rushed up and pinned him down, dragging him directly to the torture rack and binding him with chains.
At this moment, a shop assistant from Langhuan Residence was brought in. Xi Qingyue gestured toward Mu Aotie for the assistant. “Take a look. Is it him?”
The assistant glanced briefly and recognised him, nodding. “Yes, it’s him. Yesterday it was him who told me to go clean Wang Xueting’s room.”
Xi Qingyue coldly fixed his gaze on Mu Aotie. “You should not be deaf. You should have heard everything he said. He said you told him to go clean Wang Xueting’s room. Do you admit it?”
Despite falling into such a state, Mu Aotie still maintained a slightly proud and unyielding manner. “Yes, I did indeed give him such instructions.”
Seeing him admit it, Xi Qingyue’s expression eased slightly. He turned back and asked the assistant, “And then?”
The assistant said, “After I called people to clean, the cleaners returned before long and instead scolded me, saying I was talking nonsense and had caused them a wasted trip, saying Wang Xueting’s room had not been asked to be cleaned.”
Xi Qingyue asked Mu Aotie again, “Was he lying, or were you lying?”
Mu Aotie, “I was the one lying.”
“That is to say, Wang Xueting’s room indeed had not been asked to be cleaned. You overstepped your bounds and deceived the Langhuan Residence assistant into going to clean.”
“Yes, I deceived him.”
Xi Qingyue immediately asked, “Why did you do this? What was your intention?”
Seeing the other admit so readily, he thought he was already close to the truth.
“Surely the大人 also knows of the grievance between Wang Xueting’s son, Wang Wentian, and us at Jinghong Hall.”
“Yes, I have indeed heard of this matter. Is it related to this?”
“Wang Xueting suddenly returned to Haishi. We were worried he wanted to settle accounts with us. We truly could not afford to provoke Zheluo Mountain, so we wanted to find Wang Xueting to explain and try to resolve that grievance. After finding Wang Xueting, at the time I did not know what my two brothers did after entering his room, nor why they stayed inside for so long without coming out. I was worried Wang Xueting might harm them, so I wanted someone from Langhuan Residence to show up, to prevent Wang Xueting from acting recklessly. That is why I deceived the cleaner into going over.”
This sounded entirely reasonable, but it was not the result Xi Qingyue wanted. “It seems you have long since prepared your answer.”
He first waved for the inn assistant to be taken away, then gestured for someone to present a tray.
On the tray were two metal sleeves slightly thicker than a thumb, and a metal cap, all clearly blackened by smoke. Mu Aotie knew at a glance what they were. They were parts from the fire starter Yu Qing had specially made. The wooden parts had burned away, leaving the fire-resistant metal components.
Xi Qingyue said, “Explain what these things are.”
Mu Aotie glanced at them briefly, then said with a disdainful look, “I don’t recognise them. I don’t know.”
Xi Qingyue, “That attitude of yours will not do. For other matters, perhaps things could be handled easily, and I would still have to follow some rules with you. But some people do not know the immensity of heaven and earth. They absolutely should not, must not, provoke places they should not provoke. Those above demand an explanation. If I do not give an explanation, how can that be? So the rules will have to be set aside for now.
For someone of your sort, I will tell you the truth. At this stage, there is simply no intention of letting you leave alive. Killing you would be no more than that. Of course, if you can provide something useful, as long as you are not the mastermind, and from your appearance you do not look like the mastermind, I will allow you to redeem yourself through merit. I guarantee your safe departure. Before my subordinates, I will not go back on my word. I will certainly keep my promise.”
Mu Aotie glanced at the tray. “I truly do not recognise what they are.”
Xi Qingyue, “You don’t recognise them? Then let me put it another way. Tell me, who is the person who has repeatedly secretly met with the Top Scholar?”
Mu Aotie, “I don’t understand what you are saying. When has he ever secretly met with anyone?”
Xi Qingyue, “That is not right of you. As a close attendant of the Top Scholar, you are not a fool. How could you possibly know nothing? You must choose something you know to tell me. I have neither the time nor the energy to waste on you alone. Speak quickly. Tell me something you know.”
Mu Aotie, “I am just an errand runner and follower. If there truly were any secrets, he would not tell me. I truly know nothing.”
“Very well, you have backbone. To still be able to keep a calm face after arriving here, you are a tough one. Let me see just how tough you are. Come, give him a proper welcome. Help trim the tough bits off him. Come call me when he is willing to talk.”
Xi Qingyue dropped these words and turned to leave.
Five torture room personnel approached Mu Aotie with cold smiles. After looking him up and down, they suddenly put one hand behind their backs. One called out, “Odds or evens.”
The five revealed their hands together. The result was three backs and two palms.
“Good, backs win. Then we start trimming from below.”
Two people squatted down and quickly removed Mu Aotie’s shoes and socks, leaving his bare feet on the ground.
Someone came over with a flat steel chisel, pressing the edge against one of Mu Aotie’s toes.
Another person held a hammer over the top of the chisel, preparing to strike, while also warning, “One strike of this hammer, and one of your toes will be chiselled off. That feeling is not pleasant. Will you talk or not?”
To say he was not nervous at all would be a lie, but Mu Aotie still angrily shouted, “Do you intend to force a confession through torture?”
“How strange. People tied to the torture rack all seem to like saying this.”
The person holding the hammer said cheerfully, then suddenly swung the hammer down.
Clang! The chisel rang out.
Blood burst from Mu Aotie’s foot. A toe flew off. He only let out a muffled groan from his mouth, forcibly holding back a scream.
But his entire body instantly trembled from the pain. Fine cold sweat instantly appeared on his forehead, and his face instantly lost all colour, turning deathly pale. As the saying goes, the fingers are connected to the heart, and the toes are no different. The agony can well be imagined.
The chisel was repositioned on his next toe.
“Do you know the consequences of not talking? Do you know what trimming the tough bits means? It is exactly this. One toe after another chiselled off, then one finger after another, then hands and feet chopped off one by one, then you will be castrated…”
At this moment, Nanzhu was faring no better. He looked even more miserable.
Stripped bare like a plucked pig, iron chains pulled from both sides hoisted him up and dragged him back, pressing his back alive against a copper pillar heated red-hot.
Sss! Smoke rose from the copper pillar, and the scent of cooked flesh instantly drifted out.
“Aaaah…” Nanzhu let out a piercing scream. His eyes rolled back, and he fainted dead away on the spot.