Instantly, Jing Wubian felt as though he was struck by lightning as he looked at the beggar-like Yun Zhonghe in complete disbelief.
I… I… I…
Were beggars nowadays all so ambitious? Look at your weed-like hair, your entire set of beggar clothes that are full of holes, and also, your dirty, unruly face.
Going down the street to find some courtesan who was worth a few copper coins should be your greatest pursuit. Yet you actually have your sights set on my sister? You even want to devour her?
My sister, Jing Zhongyue, is the most beautiful woman in the Land of No King. And she is also the only female governor. It is the dream of the sons of barons in the entire Land of No King to marry Jing Zhongyue.
Especially at that particular moment in time. As long as the City of Torn Gust was willing to reach out for help and protection, both the Southern Zhou Kingdom and the Great Ying Empire would be willing to send a man from their royal families to marry Jing Zhongyue.
And the queue of those who wanted to marry Jing Zhongyue, from royalty to baronage, would start in the City of Torn Gust and not end until it reached the edge of the world.
Therefore, the lunatic Jing Wubian's world outlook, values, and outlook on life were overturned.
It took a full moment before he asked in a hoarse voice, "AoTian, what's your family background like? What do your parents do?"
Yun Zhonghe said, "I have no parents, I am an orphan. My origins are those of beggars and thugs."
Jing Wubian said, "Then what scholarly honors and merits do you have?"
Yun Zhonghe said, "Didn't I tell you before? I dropped out of school after my first year of initiation."
Jing Wubian asked, "Then, then what talents do you have?"
Yun Zhonghe said, "Cheating and swindling, kidnapping and abducting, a gold-digger and love swindler."
Jing Wubian said, "And with these, you still… still think you can have Jing Zhongyue?"
In an intense and enthusiastic tone, Yun Zhonghe said, "Brother, you are wrong in saying this. I'm penniless, but your sister is rich, easily the richest in the world; I have no scholarly merits and did not receive an education, but your sister is a woman of great scholarship and wealthy in knowledge. Physically, I am feeble and weak, but your sister's martial arts ability is remarkable. Once the two of us get together, won't we have everything we need? We are clearly a match made in heaven."
Jing Wubian said, "If my sister provides everything, then what are you going to contribute?"
Yun Zhonghe said, "I have an incomparably handsome face, isn't that enough?"
Jing Wubian thought for a moment and drew his dagger.
Yun Zhonghe said, "What's the meaning of this? Could it be that you are going to kill me? Clearly, you forced me to speak what's on my mind, and I've taken into account that we are brothers sworn by an oath, which is why I am willing to empty the secrets in my heart without reservations."
D*mn, this secret in your heart is really hair-raising.
Jing Wubian passed the dagger to Yun Zhonghe and said, "No, it's better if you just kill me. Even though I've sworn to take you as my brother, and even though you're my benefactor who pulled me back from the jaws of death; even though Jing Zhongyue and I may be irreconcilable with each other, always at the point where we have daggers drawn, I still can't help you ruin her. Would that not be like throwing a white swan into a cesspit?"
Yun Zhonghe said, "Jing Wubian, you're really too much. That's right, I am a toad. But who sets such a rule that forbids a toad from lusting after a white swan? I want to have this white swan, your sister. Is this goal a mistake? Is it wrong? Don't worry, even if there comes a day where your sister is so blind that she marries me, we'll still keep the records straight. You will call me brother-in-law, while I will call you brother."
"Brother, your sister is the Number One beauty in the Land of No King. She is just like a big chunk of fat meat that countless flies in the world are coveting. Instead of giving her to outsiders, isn't it better to just let me have her? After all, we are sworn to each other by oath, and we are brothers. We should keep the goodies within the family!"
"I, Yun AoTian, have been honest and aboveboard all my life. And I am a man of my words, so I strictly adhere to what I say. If I say I want to sleep with your sister, then I really mean that I want to sleep with her. If I say I want to cheat her of body and money, then I really intend to cheat her both of body and money. What's wrong with me being a beggar? Is there any rule that states a beggar can't marry a goddess? My big brother, Duan Yanqing, is a crippled beggar, but still, he slept with the princess consort, Dao Baifeng."
Then, Yun Zhonghe toned down and whispered, "Of course, it will be good if you, my brother, are the only one who knows of this obscene and daring goal of mine. Never, ever let another person know about it. Whether it's your mother or Lady Cold Jade, so long as anyone finds out about it, I'm nothing more than a goner. If your sister finds out, I'll probably be shredded into pieces and fed to the hounds."
However, at that moment, Yun Zhonghe suddenly felt a chill coming from behind him.
Jing Wubian's expression also became strange. His body began to tremble, and he was having trouble breathing properly.
A trembling Yun Zhonghe said, "Jing Wubian, cut the pretense. I know there's no one behind me. Don't you dare to try and scare me."
For some reason, every single hair on Yun Zhonghe's back stood on end. His long, weed-like hair that had not been washed for days also seemed ready to do the same.
And there was the vague urge to pee in his pants.
A full moment later, Jing Wubian said, "AoTian, why don't you turn around to take a look?"
Yun Zhonghe turned around with exceptional difficulty. It was as if his neck had turned rusty.
Then, he saw a pair of eyes that were exceptionally gorgeous and a face so beautiful that it was heart-stopping.
It was none other than the She-Devil who had taken countless lives, the queen of 13,000 square kilometers of land and hundreds of thousands of people, Jing Zhongyue.
It was the Jing Zhongyue who could kill Yun Zhonghe as if she were crushing an ant.
Yun Zhonghe felt as though he could not breathe, and with great difficulty, he turned around and said in a hoarse voice, "I… Is it too late for me to kneel now?"
Jing Wubian shook his head.
Yun Zhonghe said, "How much do you think the wise and great, benevolent and munificent Queen Castellan has heard?"
Jing Wubian said, "Should be all of it."
Yun Zhonghe asked, "Then do you think I will die?"
Jing Wubian replied, "Yes, I think you will."
Yun Zhonghe said, "Then what do you think would be the better thing for me to do?"
Jing Wubian said, "Commit suicide."
Yun Zhonghe said, "And you are not going to save me at all?"
Jing Wubian said, "I will burn some incense paper for you."
D*mn you, so heartless!
He did not know how much time had passed, but the next time Yun Zhonghe turned around with great difficulty, he found that the She-Devil, Jing Zhongyue, had already left.
Jing Wubian went up to him, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "My condolences to you."
D*mn, do you know how to use your vocabulary well?
Then, Jing Wubian immediately left.
Only Yun Zhonghe was left alone in this little courtyard that reeked beyond compare.
His head full of long, withered, grass-like hair was swaying in the wind.
***
Half an hour later!
A few elite warriors kicked the door open and entered Yun Zhonghe's little courtyard.
Without saying a word, they put the shackles on Yun Zhonghe.
"Yun AoTian, come with us."
"Where to?" Yun Zhonghe asked.
"A place where you belong," said the leader of the warriors.
Then, several warriors immediately escorted Yun Zhonghe out of his little courtyard and headed outside.
Along the way, Blue Immortal and his disciple, Lan Yu, saw the scene unfolding and were instantly startled.
This, what was going on?
Yun Zhonghe had just made a meritorious achievement by saving Jing Wubian's life. And, he had offered such a valuable divine medicine. He was just about to make it big and achieve a successful life.
This was why, for the past few days, Blue Immortal had been racking his brains and gone to great lengths to find ways to kill Yun Zhonghe.
It could be said that he had conjured countless murderous plots to kill Yun Zhonghe.
But it was beyond his expectation that Yun Zhonghe would be finished even before he could start executing his deadly plots.
You… you're such a suicidal one, you lunatic.
Even before I can bring harm to you, you have already sent yourself right to the jaws of death, haven't you?
This, this is probably the same as you dying before I can shoot my arrow, right? My arrows are really just too accurate.
Lan Yu asked, "Centurion Lin, what crime has this Yun AoTian committed?"
"My apologies, your humble subject doesn't know," the leader of these warriors said respectfully. He really had no idea.
Lan Yu's handsome face revealed a dark coldness as he said, "Yun AoTian, you're really so good at getting yourself into trouble, so good at courting your own doom. It's such a pity that I can't kill you with my own hands."
***
Half an hour later!
Yun Zhonghe eventually knew where this troop of warriors was escorting him. It was an underground death row that was not far from the residence of the castellan.
It was definitely a real death row, for all who were imprisoned there were convicts awaiting death sentences.
The struggle for hegemony between the Southern Zhou Empire and the Great Ying Empire had brought about unrest and turbulence in the Land of No King. There was a need to mete out heavy punishment in such chaotic and rough times.
Initially, Jing E was considered to be a decisive character when it came to killing, but Jing Zhongyue was even more ruthless.
At its most peaceful times, the Great Ying Empire had executed no more than one thousand death-row convicts in a year.
Yet in just the City of Torn Gust alone, in the mere one year or so following her ascension to the throne, Jing Zhongyue had already killed over a thousand people.
She would kill a batch of prisoners almost every three months.
And the current batch of death-row convicts would be facing execution a few days later.
After entering death row, Yun Zhonghe discovered that there were as many as a few hundred people in there. Every cell was packed with a few dozen people, and there was not even space for them to turn around.
Yun Zhonghe was thrown into an ordinary cell or something like that, where there were more than twenty people, and where the stench in the air was truly overwhelming.
Some of the prisoners were sick, some were injured, some had broken legs, and some were entirely covered in blood that also had pus mixed in.
Flies were flying around in a frenzied manner. The smell was practically nauseating. It was truly suffocating.
Once inside, finding a place to sit was a luxury, let alone attempting to lay down. Also, there was urine and feces everywhere, along with dead bodies and blood that had changed and turned putrid.
If hell really existed, then this was definitely it.
Although there were a few hundred people in the entire underground prison, it was not too noisy, other than the moans of pain. And there was no one crying out calls of injustice.
This was one death row with a truly deathly atmosphere.
Beside Yun Zhonghe was a warrior who was bleeding all over. He was strong and imposing, like a tiger. It seemed as though his entire body was inscribed with only four words: fugitive from the law.
"What crime have you committed?" he asked Yun Zhonghe.
Yun Zhonghe replied, "Flirting with and teasing the Lady Castellan."
All eyes looked his way. Instinctively, they all retreated half a foot back and left a space.
Brother, you're remarkable. You can have a seat here.
The extent to how keen you are in courting death is, with due honesty, unprecedented.
Castellan Jing Zhongyue, the She-Devil who killed people like others slaughtered chickens. You dared to flirt with her?
***
Yun Zhonghe stayed like that on death row for three days and three nights.
Other than the water sent to him, there was no food whatsoever.
Inside the cells, people were constantly dying, but no one cared. The dead bodies were not even taken away.
For three days and three nights, almost no one spoke at all. They were all just waiting quietly for death to come.
On the fourth day, all the cell doors opened.
A group of warriors walked in and linked all the convicts up with shackles and chains. Then they were escorted out of death row and brought to a schoolyard.
There was already a troop of new recruits lined up in a neat formation as they waited there.
All the death row convicts knelt.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
With this order, the new recruits raised their hands and then lowered their blades.
One by one, the death row convicts fell to the ground and died.
These were not professional executioners. They were just new recruits. Getting them to carry out the beheading was just a way of training their fortitude.
Because of this, some of the inmates did not die with a single blow. They had to endure several strikes or even put up with the knives being stuck in their necks with no one able to pull them out.
That was indeed a pain worse than death itself.
Yun Zhonghe was last in the line of all the death row convicts.
It was a full half an hour.
He watched the beheading process for a full half an hour.
A whole two hundred or more people were beheaded right before his eyes.
When it was his turn, a leading warrior from the residence of the castellan stepped forward, and with a sudden slash, he hacked Yun Zhonghe's shackles in two.
"You come with me."
Yun Zhonghe followed him and entered the residence of the castellan once more.
***
This was Yun Zhonghe's first time stepping into the central mansion of the residence of the castellan. This was the place where Jing Zhongyue lived.
This place was completely different from the west mansion. It was neither splendid nor magnificent. It appeared to be extremely solemn and dignified.
Outside the main gate, Yun Zhonghe saw Jing Wubian, who was kneeling on the ground without making a single movement.
He was bound up, and there were many wounds all over his body. It was very obvious that he had just finished a round of self-mutilation to convince Jing Zhongyue.
Seeing Yun Zhonghe enter, Jing Wubian shouted, "It's okay, AoTian. I've got you covered. I said that you're my brother. So, even if you are intent on courting death, as your brother, I will protect you with my life."
In his heart, Yun Zhonghe was touched. Are you a fool? Isn't it painful to inflict such injuries on yourself? It's really not necessary at all. I'm doing this on purpose.
"Go in!" the leader of warriors said.
Yun Zhonghe walked in.
The slender and proud figure of the charming Jing Zhongyue was quietly standing on the top of the stairs, motionless.
She was just so graceful, so exquisite.
As white as snow, an unrivaled beauty.
Such a quiet and beautiful woman. No one could tell that she was the She-Devil who had killed countless people.
Just a moment ago, she had killed a few hundred people.
"Yun AoTian, you saved Jing Wubian and even offered a divine medicine. You've made a worthy contribution. What reward do you want?"
"As I've said, I am someone far more generous than you can ever imagine."
"Name any reward you want. You can just name it, any reward!"