"If you want to frame someone, you can always find a pretext!"
Yu Dabu clutched his chest. Lin Xie's kick had nearly shattered his ribs. He had slammed against the partition wall, leaving a gaping hole. Every breath sent a searing pain through his chest and back. Curled over in agony, Yu Dabu cried out, his face a mask of grief and his eyes burning with indignation, as if he had suffered a grave injustice.
"Sigh~"
Nan Shiying sighed. Ying stepped forward, grabbed Yu Dabu, and threw him at Nan Shiying's feet. The cleaver in the cook's hand had been split in two by a sword. Nan Shiying, holding the broken cleaver, thrust it forward. The jagged splinters at the break pressed against Yu Dabu's neck, forcing him to look up.
Nan Shiying looked down at him condescendingly. "It seems, Master Yu, you refuse to shed tears until you see the coffin!"
She turned and shouted towards the door, "General Cheng!"
The Langhuan Army soldiers surrounding the yamen parted, and Cheng Chongyu and Cheng Zimo entered the yamen and stepped into the public hall. The moment Yu Dabu saw Cheng Zimo, his pupils involuntarily trembled.
How was he still alive?
Then, he fixed his gaze intently on Cheng Chongyu.
Cheng Chongyu entered the public hall, stopped, and turned to face the assembled citizens and the unsuspecting yamen runners within. "I am Cheng Chongyu, Deputy General of the Langhuan Army. Many years ago, I was indebted to Yu Dabu. Later, he threatened me into participating in the human trafficking. Yu Dabu colluded with the head of the Hengyuan Chamber of Commerce, using their ships to transport people to Liaojiang, while I covered up their actions as they forced the people into the holds."
"I have correspondence between Yu Dabu and myself over the years!"
"Not only is Yu Dabu the mastermind behind the entire disappearance case, but after the imperial envoy discovered the case, he framed County Magistrate Wang Xun. County Magistrate Wang Xun's whereabouts are still unknown. It is uncertain if he has already met a violent end at Yu Dabu's hands."
"Everything I say today is the truth. If there is even half a lie, my entire clan will be annihilated!"
The citizens stared blankly at Cheng Chongyu, unable to speak for a long time. They had never imagined that the Langhuan Army, who guarded the borders and protected Wucheng, would one day become accomplices to murderers.
Relatives of the missing people, upon hearing the news, rushed to spread the word. Within moments, over a hundred people had gathered outside the yamen. The Langhuan Army cleared a path, and the crowd surged into the public hall.
A rough-looking man knelt before Nan Shiying with a thud, his hands flat on the ground as he kowtowed repeatedly. "My lord, my little girl was only five when she went missing. She is eight this year. I know the imperial court won't send troops to attack Liaojiang for us. But, could you possibly let us take a boat over? We'll find her ourselves, ourselves."
"My lord, my daughter is fifteen. You say she was sold to Liaojiang. Can she... can she still be alive? Her health has always been poor. How can she live, how can she live!"
"My lord, this commoner begs you, please, please save them."
"My lord, are they... are they still alive?"
"Yu Dabu, you beast, how could you? You are my father-official in Linyuan, how could you treat us like this? And Cheng... General Cheng, why? You've seen my daughter. You even held her. She admired you so much, she respected you so much."
The citizens' accusations and pleas, like mournful laments, were heartbreaking and desolate. Cheng Chongyu had always believed he had done nothing wrong. Even if he could relive it, he might make the same choice. But when... when the citizens tearfully asked him how he could bear it, a pain struck his heart as if hit by a hammer.
Sacrifice is only great when it is voluntary.
He had stripped others of their right to live, yet he could not treat everyone equally. He could not sacrifice his own family to fulfill the grand plan in his heart.
He was hypocritical and selfish.
Cheng Chongyu lowered his gaze, not daring to meet the eyes of the citizens.
Granny Bian had already dissolved into tears. Among all the citizens who had lost their loved ones, only she knew the cruel truth.
They were long dead!
"Hahahaha, hahahaha!"
Yu Dabu, like a mad dog, burst into uproarious laughter amidst the citizens' sorrowful wails. He gazed at the faces of each suffering individual, watching their grief and their anger, and felt an unparalleled sense of relief and exhilaration, like drinking a barrel of ice water in the scorching heat.
He seemed to have heard a hilarious joke, laughing until tears streamed down his face. "Hahaha, save them? They turned to dust long ago. Save what? Save those corpses?"
The final sacrifices had already been transported to Liaojiang. He had completed his mission. The Spider God would awaken and once again reign supreme. Even if he died, his soul would forever accompany the Spider God. The death of his body was not the end of his life; his death was eternal life!
Nan Shiying lifted her foot and stepped on the broken arrow. With a "flick," the arrow shaft sank completely into Yu Dabu's collarbone. Yu Dabu let out a piercing scream. The pain filled his eyes with blood. The throbbing veins were filled with sinister hatred. Nan Shiying pressed her toe against Yu Dabu's collarbone and lowered her head, her face shrouded in dim light. "Your Spider God deserves to stay in hell."
"And your family..."
A brilliant smile spread across Nan Shiying's lips. "I will send them to you."
Yu Dabu's facial muscles twitched slightly. He couldn't help but laugh aloud, mocking the foolishness and naivety of the person before him. "Family? What family do I have? Do you think those people in Wucheng are my family? Hahaha, you will never know where my family is, you..."
The Langhuan Army escorted a group of people dressed in Liaojiang attire into the public hall. Yu Dabu's eyes widened in rage as he saw his familiar yet unfamiliar family. His mocking laughter abruptly stopped. His wide, bulging eyes seemed about to pop out of their sockets. "How could this happen? How could this happen? How could they appear in Linyuan? Why, no, this is impossible!"
Yu Dabu became manic, losing all his previous arrogance and mockery.
"Surprised?"
Nan Shiying smiled. "I merely did the same thing you did."
"Bribery!"
"Extortion!"
"Do you know the young Khan has a steward?"
"I bribed him with thirty thousand taels of silver, only then did I learn your family was all in Liaojiang. So, I invited them to admire the winter scenery of my Linyuan."
As Nan Shiying spoke, she leaned down slightly, gazing into Yu Dabu's eyes. "Yu Dabu, I'll give you a chance. As long as you give me a list, I'll give them a swift end. How about it?"
"You, you..."
Yu Dabu's expression of grief and pain gradually turned into hysterical laughter. With every laugh, his wounds sent waves of intense pain, but he didn't care. Despite the pain on his face, he continued to laugh uncontrollably.
"Family, death?"
"Painful torment is the shortcut to my Lord. If you can make them suffer and die, giving them the chance to embrace my Lord, then I should thank you on their behalf."