Then he turned sideways and pressed the mechanism, closing the artificial hill after Lu Huai came in.
Lu Huai: "Mm."
The entrance to the artificial hill was pitch black, but it became brighter as you went further in. Candlelight reflected on the wall, casting the shadows of the two people.
Go down the passageway, and you can see the view below at a glance.
Several moderately sized rooms were surrounded by iron bars. They did not appear dirty or messy at all, but various instruments of torture hung on the walls, including but not limited to branding irons, beds of nails, and splints—it was clearly a dungeon.
Each cell door was guarded by men in black, even those cells were empty. Upon his arrival, the men in black, swords at their sides, greeted him in unison, "Master."
Lu Huai gave a faint "hmm" and continued walking.
Reaching the door of a cell, the person inside lay unconscious on the ground, his hands clasped behind his back in a strange position. Dried bloodstains stained his head, and his clothes were tattered, yet there was no smell of blood, suggesting that the area had been cleaned beforehand.
He glanced at Ayu, who immediately understood and stepped forward to open the door.
Lu Huai nudged the man lying on the ground with his toe, but he didn't react. He glanced at the wound running across the man's body with an ambiguous expression and said, "Pour hot salt water on him."
Ayu was taken aback for a moment, then quickly came to her senses: "Yes."
He waved to the person standing at the door, and the man in black immediately fetched a bucket of water and placed it in front of Lu Huai.
Lu Huai's expression remained unchanged as he ordered the man in black, "Splash."
Upon receiving the order, the man in black immediately picked up a water ladle and began splashing water onto the man on the ground, ladle by ladle.
"Ah!" A shrill scream rang out, and the man rolled on the ground in pain.
He was already awake, but the men in black did not stop what they were doing. As shadow guards, they could not act on their own without orders.
The man rolled around on the ground, begging for mercy: "Please, please don't splash me! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"
If you look closely at that dirty face, it's not hard to see that this is the same burly man who was in the bamboo forest today.
Lu Huai sneered, his eyes not even blinking: "Continue."
The shadow guard continued his work, and the bucket of water gradually emptied. He bowed respectfully, "Master, shall we continue?"
Upon hearing this, the burly man rolling on the ground immediately opened his small eyes: "Stop, stop! I'll talk, I'll tell you everything!"
"Step back." Lu Huai curled the corners of his lips, but his eyes were cold.
"Yes." The shadow guard, having received the order, clasped his hands in a fist salute and returned to the doorway, standing as still as a mountain.
Lu Huai glanced at the burly man covered in fat, then went to the stove beside him and took out a branding iron. He then returned to the man's side, squatted down, and pressed close to his chest: "Speak."
The burly man felt the heat from the chest and stared in terror at the man before him, who resembled a demon from hell. He dared not hide anything: "It was...it was a palace maid! She was the one who ordered me to do this!"
Lu Huai's brows furrowed with impatience as he coldly replied, "Name."
The burly man swallowed hard, his voice trembling, "What...what are you calling Cui..."
Seeing the man in front of him narrow his eyes, the burly man, realizing the danger, immediately betrayed the palace maid: "Her name is Chi Cui! Her name is Chi Cui! She's the one who took me to the guest courtyard!"
Chi Cui?
Isn't that Princess Zhaoyang's personal maid? The one who came to deliver the invitation before?
Lu Huai's brows furrowed even deeper, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes, causing even A Yu behind him to shiver.
Having gotten what he wanted to know, Lu Huai smiled and pressed down hard, imprinting the square branding iron completely onto the burly man's chest.
"Ah!!!" The man on the ground let out a miserable scream, sharp and piercing.
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