Even though the man thought it was his imagination, a part of him longed to see his beloved daughter one last time, but he understood that seeing her meant she would die too, so he lowered his head in defeat.
His branch of the Su family was annihilated right in front of him. His pregnant wife, his older daughter, and only son were killed.
Su Yulan swallowed the lump in his throat. A strong man like him couldn't shed tears even when he witnessed the most painful thing in his life - the killing of his family. But at the thought of the suffering his Xiao Yueyue would go through without him, her mother, and her older siblings to protect and shelter her, he felt a pang of pain in his chest.
Su Yulan hoped that the good he did for the country would favor his daughter.
General Zhu Muyi was dragged away and tied to the beasts. As they did, he roared curses at the officials.
"Heavens will not forgive you! The cries our family shall torment you! The blood of the soldiers of Hua Xia and the Generals who protected this kingdom with their lives shall drown you all!
"Heaven bear me witness, I and my comrades were loyal to the Emperor and the kingdom, but we were stabbed in the back by the same people we protected! May Hua Xia be destroyed!!"
Simultaneously, the four burly men standing being the beasts fiercely whipped the beats with the heavy chains they were holding.
"Roooaaarrr!"
The beasts roared and began to move in four directions, pulling General Zhu with every step they took. The crowd began to scream, fear, panic, and anger coursed through them, but they were helpless.
And by the sickening squelching of flesh, his limps were torn out of his body and a splatter of blood rained in the square.
"Ahhh!"
The crowd screamed in horror, some relching, some vomiting, faces paled in fright, and others stood in stunned silence. It was their first time witnessing an execution like this!
While the people hadn't gotten over their shock, General Bai Ting was dragged away and shredded to to pieces.
Finally, it was General Su Yulan's turn. He was dragged to the animals and his limbs, tied to the four beasts, waiting for them to start pulling.
The moment the beasts started to walk in four directions while roaring, Little Su Yue came back from searching for Bai Lu, whom she failed to find.
Seeing her father hanging in the air, the little girl stood there like she had been struck by lightning. She didn't understand what the animals were doing with her father in the air and his hands and legs tied to each of the beasts, but hearing her father screaming, she understood that whatever the beasts were doing to him was not a good thing.
"FATHER!.. Nooo! Father!'
She screamed with her raspy voice but the roar of the beasts prevented her almost inaudible voice from being heard, however, she never stopped screaming as she dashed towards the scene.
Her tears flowing ceaselessly as she sniffed back the mucus running down her nose. Seeing her father's white undergarment had started to turn red with blood stains, Su Yue's heart clenched. The felt the weight of something she couldn't carry pressing down on her, making her grow weak in the knees.
Suddenly, she halted after remembering her mother's words, "Yue'er, don't go to the square, follow your brother Bai Lu, to buy flowers, okay?"
Su Yue gripped her light blue dress with all her might, biting her lips to relieve her of the pain that was harassing her heavy heart, but no matter what she did, she couldn't dispel the suffocating feeling in her chest.
Su Yue's cry ceased as her father's limbs violently tore away from her father's body. Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief. She was horrified at the same time, in awe at how someone's limbs could be torn off from their bodies!
Lost in trance, the screams and curses tearing out of the onlookers' throats were blocked from her hearing. Time seemed to have stopped as she saw her father, without limbs staring back at her.
His undergarment had been dyed red as he lay on his stomach, on his pool of blood, still pumping out of his severed body parts.
The isolated world her mind created where only she and her father were staring at each other was broken when the beasts rushed towards him and took a bite off his injury!
Su Yulan no longer groan in pain. Seeing his daughter whom he had sent away that morning, surprised him so much that he forgot to feel pain even when having his flesh gnawed on.
A chill ran down his spine, seeing his daughter frozen in place without moving. He wanted to hold her, to comfort her. His Will to survive rekindled but he was helpless against the hungry beasts tearing him apart from his stomach, his neck…everywhere.
Every part of him hurts. But the most painful part of him was his heart. The stabbing pain he felt as he helplessly watching his daughter. Tears streamed down his dimmed eyes as he gazed at his heartbroken daughter. Su Yulan tried to called her name but only a muffled groan escaped his throat, mingled with blood.
He couldn't resist the pain and darkness surrounding him anymore as he felt his heart beat growing weaker and weaker, and his sight growing dimmer until he could no longer see his daughter but a total darkness.
His only regret until he took his last breath was, 'Would things have been different if I didn't love and trust Su Tian, my third brother?'
Su Yue watched lifelesly as her father was shredded by the beasts and as if she hasn't seen enough for her age, the beasts ate her father right in front of her!
Seeing how the greatest General Hua Xia has ever had, being eaten alive, many couldn't bear it anymore and started throwing up while a handful fainted.
The thick stench of blood had long filled the place but Su Yue was too frightened, devastated, and stunned to notice anything else. She stood there like a statue. Her eyes wouldn't move away from the sight even though she found it repulsive and gory. She watched as the beasts began to feast on her father's head.
'They are cruel,' a small voice sang in her mind. 'I won't forgive them,' it added. 'I'll kill them all.' She wasn't sure if she was referring to the beasts, the men who controlled the beasts, or the people who could have stopped her father from being killed but did nothing and just watched.
Everyone had moved away from the area, leaving only Su Yue standing there with her eyes still stuck on the gory scene.
Just then, a loud voice boomed. "Who owns that child?!" The voice sounded from the senior official sitting on a high seat.
Silence followed the Grand Tutor's roar. The man's fierce and wicked gaze swept through the disorganized crowd, scanning through as if searching for the child's parents.
"I ask again, whose child is that?!!" he thundered, rising from his seat with a momentum that sent shiver down the people's spine.
"Sh – she is my child." A frightened old peasant woman with bloodshot eyes stuttered and stumbled forwards to carry Su Yue away.
The woman had known the little girl because Su Yue used to stop by her shop with her family to buy flowers.
Su Yue, in the other hand, didn't react, even when she was being carried away, her eyes didn't blink away from her father's remains, which were only bones and blood.
After the peasant woman had gone out of sight, one of the officials that had been lost in thought ever since the woman claimed Su Yue, suddenly stood up. "Grand Tutor, that child looks like General Su Yulan's daughter!" he snapped. He knew this because he had visited the Su Manor a couple of times and had seen the little girl every time, hanging around her elders. He had even jested about marrying her to his grandson, but was ruthlessly turned down by Su Yulan, which fostered his hatred for the General.
The moment the man's words fell, the Grand Tutor bolted from his seat and barked, "Guards! Bring me that child's head!"