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When the first ray of dawn's light spilled across the square, the "old man" hanging from the cross was utterly unaware.
It took more than half an hour later, as more and more spectators entered, and the noise grew increasingly loud, for him to finally lift his head....
"So... hot..."
The sunlight shone right into his crystallized pupils, causing an unbearable stabbing pain that seared into his brain.
The growing "noise" around his ears, which in the past would have provoked his proud and highly sensitive nature into murderous rage at the slightest whisper, now failed to capture his attention at all.
He was still alive, but he might as well have been a dried-up corpse strung up for display.
His will was still living in yesterday, in the moment when that person had come to see him alone....
"Yo, isn't this Rule-level comrade Zhao Yan? How come you're in such a sorry state after just a few days."