Book 13: Chapter 9
Thanks to the silver rays s.h.i.+ning through the window, Yan Jiangnan could see the white hair, wounds and ghastly face. It was Yan Jiangnan’s first time seeing Ming Feizhen’s appearance properly, and he definitely resembled a corpse. If he wasn’t in such horrible shape, Yan Jiangnan would’ve laughed.
The enraged captive pulled the iron object out of Wu Ping’s jaw, plunged it into Wu Ping’s corpse and then twisted it while it was still inside. Wu Ping was but only a corpse, yet Ming Feizhen tripped several times and scurried to his feet as though he was running out of time. Presumably still mad, he took up Wu Ping’s sword to pierce Wu ping’s face.
Digging up someone’s grave to desecrate their corpse ten years after their death wasn’t anything new to avengers, so it was understandable for the “weirdo” to mutilate the corpse of the person who ruined his plans. That said, developing such an intense grudge for somebody you’d barely just met was… quite rare.
Only when he watched with a more a.n.a.lytical mindset did Yan Jiangnan realise Ming Feizhen wasn’t actually venting. Every bit of damage inflicted was measured to the point that he a.s.sumed Ming Feizhen had ch.o.r.eographed the sequence beforehand. When Wu Ping wielded his sword, it was comparable to a grown man wielding a sewing needle – nimble and full of variety. In Ming Feizhen’s hands, it was wielded as a… yes, a knife, not just any knife, though. It was akin to watching a doctor working a scalpel.
Yan Jiangnan couldn’t understand why Ming Feizhen cut off Wu Ping’s fringe, shaved the strands of hair over the blade and then started drawing circles. After a while, he saw Wu Ping’s face in Ming Feizhen’s hands. Ming Feizhen stood up, dragged Wu Ping over to where he was originally restrained, albeit with quite a struggle, then cuffed Wu Ping’s corpse the way he was cuffed. He unrobed Wu Ping and put him in a lying position similar to what he was in before.
Next, Ming Feizhen fetched Yan Jiangnan’s sword, sliced Yan Jibei’s corpse mindlessly, then crouched down to do something. Subsequently, he moved Yan Jibei over to the table and set Yan Jibei’s head down to resemble someone who pa.s.sed out after some drinks.
Just as Yan Jiangnan was freaking out due to bafflement, someone, from outside, asked, “Did something happen in there?!”
Ming Feizhen straightened up and inhaled deeply. He then suddenly charged at the door so hard that he knocked over the people on the other side. He immediately hurried to his feet and shouted, “Stop right there!”
The guards were totally baffled. Ming Feizhen looked as though he just took a bath in blood; even his face was mangled. Judging from the way he burst through the door and fell, his combat abilities must’ve been compromised, as well. One of the guards who saw Ming Feizhen’s slashed-up face stuttered, “M-Mr. W-”
Ming Feizhen slapped the guard viciously. “What the h.e.l.l are you looking at me for?! Huh?! What are you doing here when the a.s.sa.s.sin has escaped?!”
Yan Jiangnan was startled to hear Ming Feizhen sound identical to Wu Ping.
“Who?” The dizzy guard queried. “We have always been right outside, but we did not see anyone.”
“Are you blind?! The a.s.sa.s.sin infiltrated, hurt my brother and I, and then he just escaped in front of your eyes! Don’t just stand here! Come chase him down with me, or I’ll tell Mr. Zero about your dereliction of duty! I promise he’ll amputate your arms and legs to turn you into ‘human swine’!”
Aware that the punishment of being turned into a “human swine” – limbs chopped off, eyes gouged out, tongue, nose and ears cut off, forced to drink a muting drug, made dumb with toxins and locked in the pigsty – the guards juddered. It was actually against policy for them to peek inside the prison. Due to the urgency of the situation, and the open door being opened, a few brave souls stole a quick gander.
The guards saw exactly what Ming Feizhen wanted them to see – blood for flooring, Yan Jibei barely breathing at the table, Yan Jiangnan glaring whilst gasping for air from the ground and, fortunately, the prisoner still there. If the prisoner escaped, the whole group of them would be turned into “human swine”.
“L-let’s go!” As the twenty-plus guards went to give chase as instructed, their leader turned back when he noticed “Wu Ping” not joining them. “Are you not coming with us?”
Breathing laboriously, Wu Ping replied, “I’m hurt quite bad, and the Yan brothers are also in bad condition. We’ll likely forfeit our lives if we push ourselves. I’ll nurse my wounds and help the brothers. Remember to lock the eight iron doors on your way out. We don’t need any outsiders coming in. Hurry now.”
Once the eight heavy iron doors to the dungeon were lowered, it would take two hours to open one door even if someone knew how to open them. Hence, the guard opined, “But if we lower the eight of them, n.o.body would be able to enter or exit for sixteen hours. Lowering them without notifying Mr. Zero first is a l-”
Wu Ping slapped the guard captain across the face as though the latter owed him money. “It would take Mr. Zero an hour to arrive here at the earliest, you imbecile. The intruder must be one of the imperial court’s lapdogs. He made quick work of us. If he has backup, there’s n.o.body who can stop them from rescuing the captive. Are you so eager to become a ‘human swine’?! Once we lower the doors, our enemies will be cornered rats. If Mr. Zero can defeat them, he can capture them and then come to our aid. If he can’t defeat them, we, at least, can stop them from escaping.”
The guard captain couldn’t abate his racing mind. n.o.body had managed to infiltrate the new base since its inception, yet this intruder was able to easily hurt three adepts. He alone would be an ordeal to take down, let alone if he had reinforcements.
“You have a better idea?” Despite his condition, Wu Ping’s gaze remained firm.
“I… I shall go lower the doors right away!” With that, the guard sped off.
Wu Ping hobbled back into the prison, using his sword as a crutch, once the guard was out of view. He chuckled to himself and then pa.s.sed out on the ground.
Glossary
Human swine –I inserted the nature of the punishment into the chapter so that you could understand what it entailed without having to break immersion to scroll or something. I’m just going to give you some quick history on it now.
During the Han dynasty, Empress Lv/Empress Lyu used the execution method to kill Concubine Qi. Emperor Hui was then taken to see the “human swine” and became so shocked that he fell ill for a long time. When he saw his mother (Empress Lv), he said,”This is something done not by a human. As the empress dowager’s son, I’ll never be able to rule the empire.” From then onward Emperor Hui indulged himself in carnal pleasures and ignored state affairs, leaving all them to his mother, and this caused the power to fall completely into her hands.