Chapter 492 Beheading and Public Display
Li Mingxiu tied Wang Qianhu tightly to a pillar and lashed him repeatedly across the chest with a horsewhip. Before long, Wang Qianhu, who was already like a dead dog, was covered in blood.
The Right Guard behind Li Mingxiu, Old Ma, Old Zhou, Wei Shao and the others all had bloodshot eyes. After searching for so many days, there was still no trace of their commander and assistant commander. It seemed that a fire was burning in their hearts.
Today's execution of these people was carried out by the Right Guard. Old Ma swiftly beheaded a surrendered ferryman, his eyes bloodshot, and walked toward the next person.
The Right Guards have been fighting like they've been injected with adrenaline for the past two days, charging forward almost recklessly. Today, Li Mingxiu led a group of men to take direct control of the surrendered soldiers.
Right at the mouth of the Yellow River, one by one, they were beheaded. Wei Shao and Wan Jin, their eyes red, swiftly severed the heads of these men, watching the spurting blood slowly drift into the Yellow River along the damp land on both banks, only to be quickly carried away by the surging river water, forming a bright red line below.
Li Mingxiu gritted his teeth, pulled out a dagger from his pocket, and took a few steps back while looking at Wang Qianhu, who had already fainted and was unconscious.
Throwing the dagger to Old Zhou beside her, she coldly ordered, "Cut him to pieces!"
Old Zhou took the dagger, then the bowl from another soldier, and deftly sliced off a piece of flesh from the unconscious Commander Wang.
The intense pain instantly woke Wang Qianhu. After sobbing a few times, he looked up at the hateful Li Mingxiu with his hair disheveled.
After the second and third slices of meat were cut off, he suddenly laughed, looking at Li Mingxiu with a weak and slightly mocking tone in his voice.
"Even if you skin me alive, your two good brothers won't come back. The river was raging that day. Putting aside the raging undercurrents, the force of the giant waves alone could crush a person who fell in, hahaha!!!"
It would have been better if Commander Wang hadn't mentioned it. But as soon as he did, Li Mingxiu, like an enraged tiger, clenched his fist and punched Commander Wang hard in the face, knocking out two of his teeth.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
Li Mingxiu roared and beat Wang Qianhu wildly, his chest heaving violently, his fists stained with Wang Qianhu's blood, and no one around dared to stop him.
They fought for an unknown amount of time, until Wang Qianhu's face was almost unrecognizable. Only then did Li Mingxiu slowly withdraw his fist and release his grip.
His chest heaved, and after a long while, he finally squatted down on the ground, feeling utterly exhausted.
Commander Zhou stepped forward to check Commander Wang's breath, only to find that the man had already been beaten to death by the young master.
With red eyes, she turned to look at Li Mingxiu: "Your Highness, the person is already dead."
Li Mingxiu turned around and got up from the ground. He glanced at the surging Yellow River and ordered Commander Zhou, "Behead this man and hang his head at the mouth of the Zhang River for eighty-one days."
Commander Zhou clasped his hands in a fist salute and watched quietly as Li Mingxiu staggered towards the camp.
With bloodshot eyes, Wan Jin chopped off head after head, and many soldiers' swords became dull from the blows that day.
After the last soldier's head fell to the ground, Old Ma turned around and went back to his tent in the camp, covering his head and letting out muffled sobs.
Changning is a child he has watched grow from Daxing to where he is today. Everything has gone smoothly for him. How could he suddenly fall at the Yellow River ferry?
Old Ma's hands were trembling slightly from all the chopping he had just done.
Watching heads roll and half the Yellow River stained red with blood, Old Ma felt a deep unease.
Such a lovely little baby, how could she just disappear like that?
Wan Jin heard muffled sobbing coming from inside the tent and exchanged a glance with Wei Shao, who had just returned.
"Lushan is injured. Go and check on him for me. I'm going to see Lao Ma for a bit, and I'll come back to find you later."
Wei Shao responded and turned to walk towards Lu Shan's tent. A few days ago, after learning that his subordinate had fallen into the water, Lu Shan almost went mad when attacking the Yellow River crossing.
He was hit by two arrows and slashed twice by the enemy. If it weren't for his timely support that day, Lu Shan would probably have lost his life here.
Wei Shao rubbed his aching arm, gave a wry smile, shook his head, and walked towards Lu Shan's tent.
Wan Jin lifted the curtain and saw a man sitting at the table, his head in his hands and trembling. The man's shoulders were shaking incessantly, and broken, hoarse sounds were coming from his throat.
Wan Jin stepped forward and patted Old Ma on the back, his voice somewhat hoarse: "Commander Ma, please accept my condolences."
Old Ma suddenly looked up, his face, still stained with blood, was a mess of snot and tears. After hearing Wan Jin comforting him, he couldn't help but hiccup twice.
After wiping away the tears and snot from his face with his sleeve, he calmed himself down and asked in a puzzled and confused voice, "That kid Changning is clearly so strong, how could he have been defeated at a small ferry crossing?"
After Old Ma finished speaking, he wiped his eyes again, tears welling up in his eyes. He covered his face and said in a muffled voice, "My daughter and her younger brother just got married not long ago. I don't know how I'm going to face my old sister when I go back. When I came, her mother repeatedly told me to keep an eye on Changning and not to rush too recklessly. Now she fell into the water and we haven't even been able to find her body. How can I face going back?"
Wan Jin sat down as well, and couldn't help but shed a few tears: "Yes, how come we can't find such good people as our commander and clerk? How come we can't find them?"
After saying that, Wan Jin suddenly changed his tone: "But does not finding them mean that the two of them might not be dead yet? What do you think, Lao Ma? Our commander and his deputy have always been lucky. Last time in Daxing, we were in such dire straits, but we still managed to break through, didn't we? Who knows, the two of them might be recuperating somewhere right now, don't you think!"
Old Ma gave a muffled reply, but both of them knew in their hearts that the river was swift that day, and the hope of survival was extremely slim.
"I hope so."
After Old Ma finished speaking, he stopped talking. Wan Jin also remained silent. The two sat side by side, staring blankly at an unknown place outside the tent.
Wei Shao had just returned to his tent when he saw Lu Shan sobbing under the covers.
"Lu Zi, have you taken your medicine today?"
Lu Shan, who was sobbing in bed, suddenly stopped, rubbed his face haphazardly with the blanket, sat up, and replied to Wei Shao who had come in.
"I drank it, I drank it, I drank it."
After saying that, he looked at Wei Shao and asked in a hoarse voice, "Have all those who surrendered been killed?"
Wei Shao sat down at the table below, poured himself a cup of tea, drank it all in one gulp, and nodded.
"They were all killed, not a single one was spared..."
Lu Shan lowered his eyes and muttered, "Killed him, killed him, now the Vice Commissioner can rest in peace."
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