Chapter 111 The Puppet Became a Human Stick
The tall figure casually tossed the two people to the ground, and they twitched a few times before dying.
The dark courtyard returned to silence.
The servant, regaining his senses, hurriedly crawled to the maid's side, took off his own coat to cover her body, and then kowtowed repeatedly to the figure while crying, "Thank you, benefactor! Thank you, benefactor!"
"Sister! Quickly...quickly kowtow to your benefactor!"
With trembling hands, he helped the little maid to her feet.
“No need,” the man said, half-squatting down. “I’ve already dealt with the guards outside the back gate. You two should leave immediately.”
At this moment, the servant and the maidservant were surprised to see each other's faces clearly.
I was too panicked just now, and my mind went blank. Although the person looked familiar, I didn't think much of it.
At that moment, a face that terrified the two men to the core came into view, causing the servant to go limp with fear.
The little maid opened her mouth in terror, about to scream!
"Don't shout." Suddenly, another figure appeared behind the two and quickly covered the siblings' mouths. "Don't be afraid, he's not the person you know."
Only after the brother and sister calmed down did the hand covering their mouths slowly loosen.
The ones who took down those burly men were none other than Xiao Qidi and Li Yao.
"Does that person really look just like me?" Xiao Qidi asked in a low voice.
The brother and sister, still shaken, mustered their courage and looked at Xiao Qidi's face.
If it weren't for Xiao Qidi's distinctly different demeanor and gaze, the brother and sister would have been terrified.
The servant stammered, "They look so alike... no... they're practically identical! My benefactor... who are you? Are you... are you twins of the owner of this house?"
Xiao Qidi took the water bottle from his waist and handed it to him, saying, "Have some water first."
"Thank you, benefactor..." The servant fed his sister a few sips first, and then drank some himself.
After drinking the water, the brother and sister calmed down.
Xiao Qidi then inquired a little about the two and quickly learned about the situation they had just encountered.
"You're worse than a beast!" Li Yao was so angry that veins bulged on his forehead.
Xiao Qidi's eyes grew increasingly murderous. After a moment's thought, he said, "Take these two siblings out and find an inn to settle them in before you come back to me. I'll leave a mark for you."
Li Yao accepted the order, picked up the little maid, and quickly left with his servant.
Xiao Qidi dragged the corpse in the yard into the bushes to cover it, and then disappeared back into the darkness.
Night deepened.
After the men in the hall indulged in pleasure, they left behind a mess.
Completely drunk, he was taken to his bedroom by the servants.
The servants cleaned his body, changed his clothes, and left the room. A short while later, Xiao Qidi climbed in through the window.
"There really is someone in the world who looks so much like me." Xiao Qidi was greatly surprised when he saw the man's appearance.
The feeling was almost like an out-of-body experience, with the soul standing aside and looking at one's own physical body.
Suddenly, the man opened his eyes a crack. "You...get me...water, I'm so thirsty..."
Xiao Qidi was even more surprised, because their voices were even comparable.
The man was so drunk that his vision was blurred, and he mistook the person standing by the bed for a frightening figure. When he saw that the servant was not obeying his orders, he immediately shouted angrily, "I told you... to get me... to get me some water! Are you deaf?"
As he spoke, he even tried to kick someone.
Instead of kicking the person, he rolled off the bed himself.
"Quick...come help me up!" the man said weakly, lying on the ground.
Xiao Qidi kicked him directly in the stomach.
"Ugh!" The man immediately clutched his stomach and vomited all over the ground.
Xiao Qidi frowned, feeling a wave of nausea.
It wasn't because the scene before me was nauseating.
Instead, she thought of how, in Ning Jinli's parallel universe, another version of herself had been replaced by such scum.
Furthermore, if it weren't for the existence of a time-space portal between the two worlds, and the help he received from Ning Jinli, he would have been replaced by this beast in the future.
This is an absolute disgrace!
"You...you..." the man cursed as he vomited, "Are you fucking tired of living? I...I'm going to skin you alive and tear you apart!"
Xiao Qidi stepped on the man's chest and said with disgust, "If you weren't still useful, I would have torn you to pieces."
"How dare you!" the man shouted, barely managing to stay drunk. "Do you know...do you know who I am...who?"
Xiao Qidi sneered, "Who are you?"
The man, his eyes glazed with drunkenness and his expression one of unparalleled smugness, declared, "I...I am the most important person to the current...the current Prime Minister! I will...I will replace the current Emperor, I will become...I will become Xiao Qidi!"
"With your character, besides looking just like him, what makes you comparable to him?" Xiao Qidi's eyes flashed with cold light.
The man grinned, "Looking like him... just like him is enough. In the future, when I replace him, I can... help the Prime Minister firmly control Da Xuan. Otherwise, why would the Prime Minister... treat me so well..."
“I’m so sorry,” Xiao Qidi grabbed his collar and lifted him up, “you don’t have a chance.”
Only then did the man get a general idea of the person's face.
He froze for a moment, his eyes widening as if he'd seen a ghost. "You... how come you look exactly like me? Who are you?!"
Xiao Qidi picked up his fist, which was as big as a sandbag, and smashed it into the man's face.
One punch sent the man unconscious on the spot.
Afterwards, Xiao Qidi changed into the other person's clothes and then gave his own clothes to the other person to wear.
"Master, you're awake?" A servant's cautious voice sounded from outside the door. "Would you like us to come in and serve you?"
Xiao Qidi mimicked the feeling of being drunk, shouting in an arrogant tone, "I don't need it... Get out!"
"Master, please calm down, I'll leave right away!" The servant outside the door left immediately.
It was soon past midnight.
Following the marks left by Xiao Qidi, Li Yao found his way here, tiptoed through the window and entered the house, where he immediately saw the person lying on the ground.
"Your Majesty?" Li Yao quickly approached. "Why are you lying here?"
“I’m here.” Xiao Qidi’s deep voice rang out from the corner of the bedroom.
Li Yao quickly looked in the direction of the sound, paused for a moment, then immediately turned back to look at the person on the ground, before looking at Xiao Qidi in shock once again.
Xiao Qidi walked up to him and said, "It looks a lot like him, doesn't it? I was also startled when I first saw him."
Li Yao gasped, "This humble general couldn't even tell the difference!"
As he spoke, a hint of wariness flashed in Li Yao's eyes, and he unconsciously took a half step back.
“On your way here from Shuncheng today, you ate six cans of meat, ate eight loaves of bread, and drank fifteen bags of yogurt,” Xiao Qidi said quietly. “You also peed three times and pooped twice.”
Li Yao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, a hint of embarrassment appearing on his face.
The canned bread and yogurt were what Fairy Jinli gave them to eat on their journey.
Only His Majesty knows these things, and knows them in such detail.
They even mentioned the number of times he urinated and defecated along the way, so it must be true.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me!" Li Yao quickly lowered his head. "It's just that... this person looks too much like you."
Xiao Qidi waved his hand, "Being vigilant is a good thing, which is why I chose to take you with me when I left Xitun Pass."
Li Yao clasped his hands in thanks, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Xiao Qidi glanced at the man on the ground. "Take him away and proceed according to plan. Note that you must not only turn him into a human stick, but also pull out his tongue so that he cannot speak."
"Yes!" Li Yao also looked at the man on the ground, a sharp and cold glint in his eyes. "This subordinate will definitely teach this beast a lesson!"
——
Several days have passed in the blink of an eye.
During this time, Ning Jinli missed Xiao Qidi very much, and several times she almost couldn't resist opening a time portal to go find him.
She is now certain that no matter where Xiao Qidi is, she can sense it and move the entrance to the other end of the time-space tunnel to the area where he is.
However, Xiao Qidi's operation this time must be handled with extreme caution and secrecy.
She didn't want to cause any trouble by going there, so she could only wait patiently.
With Shangguan Ying's secret assistance, the production license for military-grade equipment has been obtained at the factory, and the corresponding factory buildings are under construction in full swing.
As for the personnel, equipment, and raw materials needed to produce military products, Ning Jinli doesn't need to worry about them. Everything will be available once the factory is built.
In addition, she discussed with Ye Zhi Qiu the idea of building a direct road between Xitun Pass, Yaowang Valley, and Yuqi Mountain.
These three locations form a triangle. Although we can't use modern large-scale excavation equipment at the moment, Ning Jinli can provide enough basic modern tools.
With tens of thousands of people in Linxian Village, and under the leadership of Ye Zhiqiu and thousands of disciples of the Tian Shu Sect, it wouldn't be a problem for them to work together to build three roads.
The saying "To get rich, build roads first" is true at any time.
Once the connection is successfully established, it will be much easier to distribute goods and jointly build facilities in the three locations.
Building a modern metropolis on the western border of Xuan Kingdom in the future is by no means a pipe dream.
In addition to these matters, the previous fatal accident at the factory has also been thoroughly investigated.
Just as Shangguan Ying and Ning Jinli suspected, it was indeed Ning Hai who was behind it all.
The local police officers involved, as well as the people Ninghai arranged, have all been subject to corresponding legal sanctions.
Except for Ninghai.
Because when he realized something was wrong that night, he quickly ran away without even going home. He bought a plane ticket, went straight to the airport, and fled abroad overnight.
Because Ning Hai kept his actions a secret from his family, his wife, daughter, and all the heads of the Ning family's businesses were unaware of them and were therefore not implicated.
Several more days have passed—
In the Xuan Kingdom, an uninvited guest arrived at the Prime Minister's residence in the royal city.
As the prime minister, Situ Wei would not casually meet with a stranger.
However, upon hearing from his servants that the other party claimed to be a general from Xitun Pass and had important news that needed to be reported in person, he made an exception and summoned him.
"This humble general, Li Yao, pays his respects to the Prime Minister!" Li Yao gave a deep bow.
Situ Wei sized up the weathered, ragged young man and said casually, "You'd better have some really important news."
Li Yao glanced around.
Situ Wei waved his hand, signaling all the servants to leave.
“Prime Minister,” Li Yao lowered his voice, “His Majesty was captured by a group of enemy troops of unknown origin at Xitun Pass.”
Even the usually composed Situ Wei's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Is this really true?!"
Li Yao continued, "Absolutely true!"
"So what's the situation now?" Situ Wei stood up and walked up to Li Yao.
Li Yao lowered his head slightly, "This humble general led the soldiers of Xitun Pass to pursue and annihilate that enemy force, but alas... alas, it was too late..."
Situ Wei's face trembled. "He's dead?!"
“No…” Li Yao said in a grief-stricken tone, “His Majesty is still alive, but… he has been tortured beyond recognition by the enemy! His Majesty’s legs and arms have been cut off, leaving only his body! The enemy… also gouged out His Majesty’s eyes, and cut off his ears, nose and tongue!”
Situ Wei froze on the spot, his pupils contracting sharply.
Li Yao knelt heavily on the ground. "This humble general knows that this matter is of great importance. If it is leaked out, it will surely cause an uproar in the court and among the people, and the other six kingdoms will probably take the opportunity to cause trouble for our Great Xuan! Therefore, this humble general has dared to secretly bring the king, who is no longer human, back to the capital to report to the prime minister and ask the prime minister to make a decision!"
It took Situ Wei a while to recover from his shock.
He helped Li Yao up, stared into his eyes, and asked, "Where is the Emperor?!"
“It’s right inside my carriage,” Li Yao said, his eyes burning red with suppressed rage. “I beg the Prime Minister to send someone to help carry His Majesty in…”
Situ Wei immediately agreed, "Okay, you go first, I'll arrange for someone right away!"
Before long, a large, blood-stained rag, barely recognizable as a torso, was carefully carried into a secluded side room.
Situ Wei dismissed his attendants and stepped forward personally, slowly uncovering the blood-stained cloth.
A strong, pungent smell of medicine mixed with the stench of blood hit him, forcing him to cover his nose.
Li Yao quickly approached, "Prime Minister, let me do it..."
Situ Wei's face turned slightly pale, and he covered his mouth and nose, taking two steps back.
Li Yao peeled back the blood-stained cloth layer by layer in front of him, revealing a mangled body with only the torso inside, breathing weakly with its mouth open, and making inaudible hoarse sounds from its throat.
"Your Majesty...Your Majesty! It really is you! How...how could you have become like this!" Situ Wei knelt down by the bed with a thud.
"Ugh... ugh..." The mangled body on the bed writhed, seemingly struggling.
Situ Wei's hands trembled as he gently cradled the broken body, tears streaming down his face as he sobbed uncontrollably.
Li Yao, who was standing to the side, was quite surprised.
Judging from the old man's reaction, it didn't seem like he was faking it.
If it was an act, then his acting skills are simply too amazing.
"Someone come here...someone come here!" Situ Wei suddenly shouted, "Immediately summon the best doctor in the capital!"
The servant outside responded, "Yes, Prime Minister!"
When the doctor arrived, Situ Wei stayed by his side, watching the doctor clean and bandage the wounds on the injured body from beginning to end.
It took the doctor two hours to finish his work.
Situ Wei hurriedly asked, "How is he?"
The doctor sighed deeply, "His life has been saved for now, but... living like this is no different from being dead, it's even more painful than death."
Situ Wei forced back his tears as he saw the doctor off. After calming himself down, he turned his back to Li Yao, a cold glint in his eyes.
"General Li."
"Your subordinate is here."
"You... saved His Majesty, a feat of immense merit, but this matter must not be publicized. I can only reward you privately and cannot announce the commendation publicly. Please do not be offended..."
The voice was hoarse and aged, yet it sounded very calm.
But Li Yao had already sensed the surging killing intent beneath the surface.
This old bastard wants to silence me!
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