Chapter 47
In the courtyard.
In the center stood a three-foot-high stone platform, engraved with twisted blood symbols. Seven copper lamps were placed on the edge, and the oil inside was sizzling. The flames were a strange green, casting flickering shadows on the faces of the disciples standing around.
In the middle of the yard stood a dark iron chair, the raised spikes on the back of the chair emitting a cold glow.
On the high platform, the head of the sect, Xiu Moba, was wearing a dark purple robe with gold trim. His bony hands clutched a dragon-headed cane. His thin face was pale. He coughed slowly twice before speaking in the Western dialect. His voice was hoarse as if it had been ground on sand and stone: "I'll ask you again, do you really want to leave the Yaochen Sect?"
Ashina Yu stood below, her long eyelashes casting a faint shadow in the green firelight: "Yes."
Na Luozhen, standing next to Xiu Moba, stepped forward, his words filled with admonition: "Think again! The sect has raised you for twenty years, nurturing your extraordinary physique and teaching you martial arts. Why would you give up everything for a woman from the Central Plains? Once the execution is carried out, you will have to return all your cultivation and blood to the sect. It's doubtful whether you can save your life!"
He changed the subject, his tone tinged with temptation: "If you take the position of Sect Leader, not only will you be with her forever, but thanks to the relationship between the sect and His Majesty, your future power will be boundless. Think carefully about it, do you really have to choose this path of death?"
Ashina Yu didn't say anything else, just quietly lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes hiding the emotions in his eyes, and even the light on both sides seemed to circle around him.
Xiu Moba stared at him for a long moment, his bony fingers clenched on the crutch until they turned pale. Finally, he closed his eyes tightly and ordered in a deep voice in the Western dialect, "Execute."
As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding copper lamps suddenly crackled and the strange tune from before sounded again.
This time it was not a vague whimper, but the disciples in the sect were blowing bone whistles, the sound was as sharp as a needle that could beckon someone.
Two disciples in black robes stepped forward and wrapped a copper chain that shone with a cold light around Ashina Yu's wrist. The chain made a slight sound that was particularly clear in the silent courtyard.
As soon as the copper chain wrapped around Ashina Yu's wrist, two black-robed disciples pulled it forward violently. The barbs on the chain instantly cut through the skin, and bright red blood flowed down the chain and landed on the rune patterns on the bricks below. Before it seeped into the soil, it was instantly sucked in, leaving no trace.
The two black-robed men dragged Ashina Yu towards the black iron chair.
"stop!"
At this moment, a clear shout suddenly came from the gate of the courtyard. Everyone stopped and turned their heads in unison.
Shen Aheng stumbled in, his eyes fixed on Ashina Yu's bleeding wrist, his chest heaving violently.
Ashina Yu's originally numb expression changed slightly, and he was only in a panic: "Why are you here? Who asked you to come here?"
"If I don't come, am I going to watch you risk your life here?"
Shen Ah Heng ran to his side, stretched out his hands and pushed away the black-robed disciples on both sides, his voice trembling: "Let him go! What are you doing!"
Ashina Yu reached out and grabbed her wrist, trying to push her out of the courtyard. He pretended to be calm and said, "It's just a sect ceremony, nothing serious. You go back first..."
He didn't want her to see his dirty side.
"Don't lie to me!"
Shen Ah Heng struggled to break free from his hand, but his tone was extremely firm: "How can there be such a ritual that wants to kill people? And it's carried out secretly in the middle of the night! Don't think that I can be fooled just because I don't understand the Western dialect. I will never let anything happen to you today!"
Hearing this, Ashina Yu was slightly stunned, and the hands hanging by his side clenched unconsciously, and his knuckles turned white.
At this moment, a familiar voice suddenly sounded on the stone platform, and the voice fell lightly: “Long time no see, Miss Shen.”
Shen Aheng turned his head suddenly, his eyes full of coldness, and sneered with the corners of his mouth: "You are not dead yet."
Na Luozhen didn't take her ridicule seriously. He kept a smile on his face and said slowly in his broken Central Plains dialect, "Thank you for your concern, young lady. I'm still in good health."
He changed the subject, his eyes sweeping over Ashina Yu, his tone tinged with sarcasm, "It's such a pity. This child has been raised in the sect since childhood. Our leader has spent half his life shaping his bones. The sect has given him a second life, yet he's so ungrateful that he betrayed the sect for you, even abandoning his own country. It's truly touching."
He paused, his fingertips slowly stroking the corner of his sleeve. His tone turned sharp as he spoke word by word, "But our Yaochen Sect is not some inn where you can come and go as you please! The rules are here. If you want to leave the sect, you must give up all your skills and cultivation, and return every drop of blood in your body to the sect before you can leave."
Shen Ah Heng's heart sank, and he tightened his hanging hands. He couldn't help but ask, "What does the second half of the sentence mean?"
Hearing this, Na Luozhen let out a sinister smile. He glanced at the dark chair in the center of the courtyard and said slowly, "Literally, it means first sitting on the 'Gratitude Chair', letting the mechanism on the chair lock his limbs. Then, let the executioner disciples cut through his meridians one by one until all the blood in his body has drained and his power has been drained along with the blood. Only then can he repay the sect's kindness in raising him."
Shen Ah Heng followed his gaze and his eyes fell on the black iron chair in the middle of the yard.
The back of the chair was covered with dense spikes, like ferocious fangs, gleaming coldly under the green light. Shen Ahheng stared at the spikes, his whole body unconsciously chilled, and he couldn't help shivering.
"This...what's the difference between this and Lingchi?"
Shen Ah Heng's voice couldn't help but tremble a little: "Cut along the meridians one by one, and watch the blood slowly drain away... You are not asking him to repay the favor, you are clearly asking for his life!"
After hearing this, Na Luozhen still had a calm smile on his face and said, "Miss Shen is wrong. He is different from ordinary people."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Ashina Yu's pale, thin silhouette. His tone was deliberately nonchalant, "Ling Chi has been bathed in the sect's poisonous broth since childhood, and his physique has long been exceptional. Not only has his martial arts improved much faster than others, but he's also better able to withstand pain. In my opinion, this method of 'repaying a favor' will allow him to hold out for a while, until both his blood and his power are 'repaid'."
Shen Aheng didn't believe these nonsense at all. He walked in front of Ashina Yu, protected him behind him, looked up at Na Luozhen on the stage, and said coldly: "Stop talking nonsense! If you want to kill him, kill me first!"
Before Na Luozhen could speak, Ashina Yu behind him suddenly called out Shen Aheng's name in a low voice, her voice filled with anxiety: "Go away, this has nothing to do with you, I can handle it."
"Fuck!" Shen Ah Heng frowned slightly, turned around and glared at him, and said, "Do you think you are a god? How can you live without blood? I won't leave today. Either we go together or die together!"
Ashina Yu clenched his hands suddenly at his sides.
He stared quietly into Shen Aheng's beautiful eyes, which were bright as if quenched with light and full of determination. She stood in front of him, her back thin but straight.
It felt like something hit my heart hard, and even my breathing stopped for a moment.
Ashina Yu's Adam's apple rolled, and the words she wanted to say to persuade her to leave were stuck on the tip of her tongue. In the end, she just swallowed them back. The gloom in her eyes dissipated a little, and there was a bit more calm and gentleness in her eyes.
Seeing this scene, Na Luozhen's brows knitted together instantly, and he couldn't help but turn his head to look at Xiu Moba beside him: "Master, what's going on now..."
Xiu Moba covered his chest and coughed violently a few times. A sickly flush appeared on his originally pale face, but he no longer looked at the two people entangled in the field. He just raised his hand slowly, his action full of unquestionable determination.
Seeing this, Na Luozhen gritted his teeth, turned around, and shouted at the black-robed disciples, "Execute! Stop wasting time with them!"
As soon as the words fell, the two black-robed disciples who had previously tried to capture Ashina Yu rushed towards Shen Aheng, stretching out their hands to trap her.
But before their hands touched the corner of Shen Aheng's clothes, Ashina Yu suddenly moved. He exerted force on his wrist, and the copper chain wrapped with barbs was thrown out like a living thing, hitting the disciples' wrists with a "snap".
The force was so strong that the two disciples screamed and fell to the ground, motionless.
Seeing this, the other disciples rushed forward with their swords drawn.
Ashina Yu's hands were tied with iron chains. When he waved his arms, a pair of iron chains formed a cold and shining barrier in front of him and Shen Aheng. All the disciples who rushed up were either hit on the shoulders by the iron chains or had their clothes torn by the barbs. Soon they all fell to the ground.
Ashina Yu took the opportunity to grab Shen Aheng's hand, and his voice was full of urgency: "Let's go!" Shen Aheng nodded vigorously, and just as he was about to follow him to the gate of the courtyard, he suddenly heard a sound of breaking wind behind him.
Na Luozhen flew down from the stone platform with a sword in hand, and taking advantage of Ashina Yu's distraction, he raised his hand and stabbed him in the back.
Ashina Yu tilted his head slightly, his expression changed slightly, he pushed Shen Aheng away suddenly, dodged the attack sideways, and at the same time swung the iron chain to meet it.
If his hands were not normally locked, with Ashina Yu's progress in martial arts over the past few years, Na Luozhen would have been no match for him long ago. But now that his wrists were wrapped in heavy iron chains, with layers of restraints, he could only barely deal with Na Luozhen.
But even so, the iron chain in his hand was still dancing very fast, sweeping towards Na Luozhen's vital points as if it had eyes. Every move was extremely strange and killing, forcing Na Luozhen not to dare to get close.
As the two men fought, Na Luozhen was eager to win and took a rash step forward.
Ashina Yu seized the opportunity, turned his right wrist, and the iron chain flew towards his chest with a strong wind.
With a dull "puff" sound, Na Luozhen was hit hard in the chest. The sword in his hand flew out, and he spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot. His body fell backwards and fell heavily on the bluestone slab.
Ashina Yu immediately turned around, strode over and grabbed Shen Aheng’s hand again: “Let’s go!”
Just as the two of them ran a few steps, a strange fragrance suddenly wafted through the air. Shen Ah Heng, with his keen medical skills, instantly realized that something was wrong. He turned around abruptly and saw a ball of gray-purple powder floating in the air, rushing towards them like a gust of wind.
But before Shen Aheng could say anything, Ashina Yu had already caught the strange fragrance. He reached out and gently pulled her wrist, pulling her towards him. With his other hand, he lightly held her waist. His movements were gentle but irresistible, and he completely protected her in his arms.
Almost at the same time, the gray-purple poisonous powder fell on his back, even staining the ends of his drooping hair.
Ashina Yu's whole body suddenly stiffened, his elegant eyebrows frowned imperceptibly, and his originally straight back instantly softened.
He wanted to raise his hand to push Shen Aheng away, but his pale fingertips trembled before he could fall heavily.
Seeing this, Shen Ah Heng hurried to help him, but saw that the blood color on his face faded away instantly, and a trace of black blood slowly flowed out from between his thin lips. Even his eyes gradually lost focus, and like a leaf blown down by the wind, he gently fell into her arms and died without a sound.
“Ayu!!!” Shen Aheng’s face turned as white as paper in an instant, and he reached out to touch Ashina Yu’s face with a trembling hand, which was cold.
Watching him fall down in front of him, Shen Aheng's heart seemed to be grasped alive, and even his breathing stopped for a moment.
The few remaining black-robed disciples on the side first stared at Ashina Yu who was lying on the ground for a moment, and seeing that he still did not move, they could not wait to rush towards Shen Aheng with their knives.
Shen Aheng was completely unaware of this, and just held Ashina Yu's body in a daze, not even hearing the footsteps behind him.
Just as those scimitars with cold light were about to chop down from above her head, a figure suddenly rushed out from the side. With a casual wave of his hand, several strong winds swept past, and with a few "clang" sounds, all the knives were shaken away.
One of the knives was carried away by this huge force, flying straight towards the stone platform and hitting Xiu Moba's lower abdomen.
Xiu Moba groaned, the crutch in his hand fell to the ground, and he fell backwards, covering his wound.
Shen Ah Heng opened her eyes in shock, and was a little surprised when she saw who it was. It was the old servant she had saved that day.
“…It’s you?”
As soon as she finished speaking, the back of her neck suddenly tightened and the old servant grabbed her collar.
The old servant didn't say a word, but grabbed Ashina Yu's collar with his other hand, and with a force of his arms, he lifted both of them up.
Shen Ahheng only felt his feet empty, and the whole person instantly rose into the air, with the sound of wind whistling in his ears. After a few rises and falls, he was getting farther and farther away from the black stone platform.
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