No sooner had Long Ye returned than one of his men came to report that an escaped prisoner had been captured. So, before even entering the East Garden, he turned around and hurriedly went to the prison to check.
Unexpectedly, the prison was already empty. Even the cold-faced man imprisoned in the most secret dungeon had disappeared without a trace. Enraged, he immediately ordered all the guards of the secret dungeon to be tied up and brought to the Hall of Valor to await their fate.
Right now, these prison guards, kneeling and begging for mercy, are still completely bewildered.
If it weren't for someone informing them of the two women's arrest when they were being tied up, everyone would have thought that the people in that dark, airtight, damp, and lifeless dungeon had long since died of thirst, starvation, or died from untreated injuries.
It's likely that the ants, cockroaches, and rats, who have been starving for who knows how long, have already begun to feast on it, gnawing away until not even bones are left!
On the high platform, Long Ye, who was all angry, felt the same strangeness as the leader in charge of guarding the secret prison, after hearing his doubts and pleas.
Since the secret prison was discovered, the only key he treasured had never left his body, not even when he slept, making it impossible for anyone else to approach and obtain it.
Moreover, the lock in the dungeon looks extremely ordinary.
When he received it from Long En, in order to verify the secrecy and sturdiness of the secret prison, he personally searched all the famous locksmiths on the entire Lingkong Continent and had each of them make a replica according to his specifications. However, upon returning, none of them could open it.
So, where exactly did they come from?
At this thought, Long Ye grew angrier and angrier. Suddenly, he slammed his hand on the armrest of his chair and roared, "Men, bring those three traitors here! I refuse to believe that there's no way to get them to talk!"
"Let go, let me go!" Soon, accompanied by a woman's sharp struggle, Lanxiang, Yan'er and the young guard were brought up together, bound.
Then, he was pushed hard by several burly men in red, and was forced to kneel down in front of Long Ye, in front of the guards of the secret prison.
Long Ye then narrowed his eyes and carefully examined each of the three people in front of him, finally fixing his gaze on the young guard's face.
He stared at him in silence for a while, then slowly stood up, shook the dust off his robe, put his hands behind his back, took a deep breath, and walked down the stone steps from the high platform that showed his inviolability. He approached him and took a deep look at the young guard who was bowing his head, then began to pace back and forth in front of him.
With a "snap".
Suddenly, without warning, Long Ye whirled around and slapped the young guard hard across the face. Then, with one hand behind his back and the other pointing at the guard's nose, he gritted his teeth and cursed angrily:
"What a traitor! How dare you plot to let outsiders into the secret prison of my Xiaolong Society and release all the serious criminals! Do you know what your crime is? Quickly confess how you infiltrated the prison and the whereabouts of the others. What are you waiting for?"
Upon seeing this, Yan'er's eyes blinked twice in shock, and she swayed, falling directly onto Lanxiang, who was kneeling between the two of them.
Lanxiang quickly braced herself and tilted her body to catch her steadily, whispering to her, "Don't be afraid, Yan'er, I'm here!"
Hearing these whispers, Long Ye turned and glared at Lan Xiang and Yan'er, who was leaning on his shoulder, and said, "And you two bitches, I'll settle this score with you properly later."
As soon as she finished speaking, she looked back at the young guard's face.
The young guard, with a resolute and unyielding spirit, spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground beside him, then slowly turned his head to stare into Long Ye's eyes, and said firmly, "Kill me or torture me, it's up to you. I have a clear conscience and have nothing to say!"
Upon seeing this, Long Ye's lips twitched, and he said with a forced smile, "Ha, I didn't expect that you, a mere greenhorn, would be such a tough nut to crack. Good, you have ambition, I like that."
As he spoke, he raised his head and glanced at the large, conspicuous red ranks of his men in the square before him. Then, he flicked his sleeves, swaggered forward, returned to the high platform, sat down, and, with his legs slightly apart, declared in a dignified manner:
"As the saying goes, 'A thousand-mile dike can be breached by an ant's hole; a hundred-foot house can be burned down by a wisp of smoke from a crack.' Since its establishment, the Xiaolong Society has never had a traitor. But recently, however, these black sheep have been frequently exposed. If we do not deal with them seriously today, I fear that before the upcoming great battle even arrives, the Xiaolong Society will have already collapsed and been completely destroyed."
As he spoke, he lowered his head and feigned a heavy sigh, appearing quite regretful and disappointed. After a brief silence, he rallied his spirits and continued, "Our army is not a rabble, a disorganized mess. The reason we train so diligently is so that one day we can unite as one, raise our swords, storm the Western Qin palace, take the life of that incompetent and foolish Emperor Jing, and rightfully dominate the world. Yet now, such a rotten apple has appeared; shouldn't everyone punish him?"
Having said this, Long Ye paused, and seeing that his subordinates were listening intently to what he had to say, he seized the opportunity to reveal his true intentions, tempting those who were not yet fully willing to follow him: "Today, whoever can personally kill the traitor and take his head, when I, Long Ye, ascend the throne, I will certainly appoint him as the founding general, bestow upon him ten thousand taels of gold, a hundred acres of fertile land, and countless beauties. I will never break my promise."
After hearing such a persuasive and inspiring speech, everyone in the audience looked at each other and began to whisper and discuss animatedly.
Just then, Lanxiang quickly glanced at the crowd behind her, then burst into a tirade: "Long Ye, stop spreading alarmist rumors and misleading people with your nonsense! Do you think a weasel-faced, depraved villain like you deserves to possess the beautiful land of Western Qin? Why don't you take a good look at yourself in the mirror? You'll never have a chance, not in this life, not in the next, not in the next, not in any other life! I've already divined your fate; it's destined that you'll be a dog, forever subservient, a worthless wretch, a vermin, a rat in the street..."
"You bitch, shut your mouth!" Upon hearing this, Long Ye jumped up from his chair, interrupting Lan Xiang's remaining words, and roared at her in a fit of rage.
Ran Lanxiang, however, seemed completely unafraid of him, continuing to provoke him: "The one who should shut up is probably you! In the first half of your life, you were wronged and forced to be an old woman's watchdog, suffering all sorts of grievances. Now, all you can do is vent it on these weak subordinates? If you have the guts, then come at me, your great-grandmother! What kind of hero bullies a child, or... or are you just a lapdog who wags its tail and begs for mercy? No wonder you're barking so loudly, you're almost deafening my ears!"
"You...you...you..." Compared to witty banter, how could Long Ye, a rough and uncultured man, compare to Lan Xiang, who had navigated the world of patrons with ease during her years at Wan Jiao Pavilion in the south of the city? At this moment, Long Ye was clearly so angry that he glared at her, but didn't know what to say in response, looking completely at a loss.
"Sister Lanxiang, are you out of your mind? Shut up and stop talking!" Yan'er quickly lowered her voice to stop Lanxiang when she saw Long Ye's anger.
The young guard on the other side was about to say something to persuade her when Lanxiang suddenly looked at Yan'er deeply and spoke first, saying, "If Yama really wanted to take me, I would have been dead years ago. Look at Long Ye's posture, he is obviously trying to win over everyone's hearts. If I don't distract this devil, this little fool will be torn to pieces by the group of people behind him who are about to lose their humanity."
Upon hearing this, the young guard immediately looked at Lanxiang, his face filled with astonishment and admiration.
Just then, people in the crowd behind them suddenly started pointing and whispering, and murmurs quickly spread everywhere:
"So the deputy gang leader used to be a watchdog for wealthy families, keeping an eye on them..."
"He must have suffered a lot, no wonder he's so irritable..."
“This young lady is right. He always loses his temper with us and is nothing like the kind Chief Long…”
"If we go with him, who knows what will happen to us? He talks a good game but doesn't deliver..."
"Haven't you heard the saying of the sage, 'True words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not true. The good do not argue; those who argue are not good...'"
"It's safest for us to just follow Chief Long's training and live our lives obediently. We absolutely mustn't kill each other..."
"Yes, yes, we must work together and not be misled. That young guard, isn't he one of the people in Chief Long's courtyard? I wonder what Long Ye is up to. Is he trying to harm us? He talks about becoming emperor all the time, but Chief Long has never said anything like that..."
"I'm afraid all of this is just his own selfish desire. We can't get involved in this mess and try to seize the throne... This is no joke..."
"That King of Western Qin, known as the God of War of the Sky, is no mere figurehead. I've heard he's young and promising, and bandits from all over the world tremble at his mere mention of his name. Just thinking about it makes me shudder..."
...
Seeing the sudden chaos and commotion below, with the scene seemingly spiraling out of control, Long Ye suddenly raised his hand and waved it.
With a "whoosh," a dart shot out from her sleeve at the speed of a beam of light, heading straight for Lanxiang...
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