Chapter 179 The Torture Ends: I'd rather be imprisoned forever, never to be released. ...
"Killing me with a single sword strike, isn't that too easy for me? Lu Bing, you're still too kind-hearted. After being tortured by me for so long, you haven't learned a single trick." I won't even mention repaying you tenfold, I'll at least give you a taste of your own medicine, an eye for an eye.
Having spent so much time with venomous snakes, Lu Bing knew better than anyone how dangerous she was, so he couldn't give Chen Ying any breathing room. Otherwise, the treacherous snake would surely turn on him. Besides, there were several young men from Taihang Road who had come to rescue him, and they had experienced that fatal lesson outside Shanzhou City.
Even if Chen Ying, such a scourge, were to live a little longer, she could still unexpectedly bite someone to death. Moreover, Lu Bing simply couldn't wait; he couldn't tolerate Chen Ying living even a moment longer.
Chen Ying used all her strength to finally pry open Lu Bing's hand that was holding the sword and placed the blood-soaked Yin Sui in his palm.
If they want to get out, they need Yin Sui to clear the way; otherwise, they may be trapped in the mirage forever, just like those ships carrying Fuxi's hand, which drifted in the undisturbed mirage for thousands of years.
Even under the thunder and the whip cracking through the clouds and splitting the ice, the sea remained unmoved and undisturbed.
As A-Cong approached the entrance to the secret realm, he seemed to sense something and turned around. Amidst the chaos, he saw Chen Ying covered in blood, her abdomen pierced through by a long sword.
It should have realized this sooner; once they left, how could Ah Ying survive alone?
Ah Cong suddenly turned around and ran wildly, rushing towards Chen Ying without regard for anything. It struggled to pull out the long sword that had been frozen, and threw it at Lu Bing's back!
"Watch out!" Master Fang shouted in alarm, and tried to pull Officer Lu away, but it was too late; his movements were no match for the flying long knife.
Chen Ying looked up and suddenly pushed Lu Bing away, using herself as a shield to block A Cong's overwhelming sword attack.
She knew Ah Cong's swordsmanship well; anyone who took such a blow would surely die.
The long knife pierced through Chen Ying's chest with unstoppable force, cutting straight open her heart.
The elephant staggered and slid down to its knees, nearly going mad. It caught the fallen Chen Ying helplessly, panicked and unsure of what to do.
Chen Ying clutched at a corner of its collar, blood gurgling in her throat and choking her. She struggled to speak, her words incoherent: "No... him..."
Even her pronunciation became extremely difficult: "...Go...back...answer..."
Nevertheless, Acong understood everything. It kept nodding and nodding. It promised not to kill Lu Bing and that it would go back.
Acong always did whatever she said; she trusted him. So, with her eyes half-open, Chen Ying peacefully breathed her last in his arms.
Ah Cong held the motionless Chen Ying, trembling with grief. Just as the whip came crashing down, he leaped into the sea to protect Chen Ying's body.
The blood seeped into the salty sea, like gauze spreading on the water, thinner than wisps of smoke.
Many times, Chen Ying said, "I will not have a good ending."
She had expected this long ago.
Later she added that if I died at Lu Bing's hands, it would be his skill.
She had anticipated this.
But Ah Ying, why do you want to die at his hands?
Why were you able to kill Shen Yuanwen without hesitation, but choose to take this blow for Lu Bing?
Ah Ying, if it weren't for us, you wouldn't have gone down this path of no return.
You know perfectly well that it's the wrong path; you understand everything.
Chen Ying was fully aware of her evil nature and was prepared for a terrible death, but she never expected that she could die so quickly and cleanly, as Lu Bing, who hated her to the bone, did not let her suffer.
Ah Cong looked up and saw dozens of sharp, dazzling bolts of lightning flash across the sky above the blue sea.
Fleeting shadows flickered in the thick, low-hanging clouds of tribulation, while dangling chains of punishment tightly bound Azhaosu, constructing a thunder execution platform in a corner of the sea.
Those are the tribulation clouds that the secret realm uses to punish the most heinous criminals, summoning divine punishment to bring down their sins.
Azhaosu deserved his punishment.
The shackles binding his limbs were made of sharp, cold iron, which pierced through Zhou Yaren's wrist bones. Even the slightest struggle caused a dull pain, like having his bones crushed.
If Zhou Yaren offered even the slightest resistance, the chains would coil around him like living snakes, and the talismanic light circling the chains would instantly transform into sharp cones, forcefully piercing his ribs and collarbone, imprisoning him until he was powerless to resist.
Blood dripped down, perhaps piercing his lungs, causing Zhou Yaren excruciating pain even to breathe. He wanted to scream, but Bai Yuan shielded him, taking the whipping that should have been his.
The power of Heavenly Punishment was unstoppable; the innocent victim's back was soaked in blood after being struck.
He didn't want her to be implicated because of him: "Innocent..."
Lightning twisted into whips of punishment within the clouds of calamity, striking down indiscriminately.
Zhou Yaren suddenly struggled to get out of the way: "Get out of the way..."
The sharp cone pierced his chest and back without warning.
"Don't move." Bai Yuan grabbed a chain binding Zhou Yaren, her disheveled black hair flying in the violent and chaotic wind, making her frosty face appear even paler.
She didn't step aside, determined to take some of his burdens. Bai Yuan looked at Zhou Yaren with unprecedented tenderness and pity: "I have handled A Zhaosu's case in the underworld and know about A Zhaosu's injustice. The secret realm is unaware of the truth and abuses punishments. You shouldn't have suffered this in vain."
I don't know which page of the penal code the secret realm turned to, but they built such a torture platform for Azhaosu.
As Bai Yuan spoke, his long black hair slowly turned to frost, making him look just like a woman whose hair had turned white overnight.
Zhou Yaren's eyes were red and pleading: "But I'm innocent, I can't bear you taking the blame for me, please move aside."
The thunderbolt struck down with a deafening roar, its lightning tearing through the frosty snow. Just as it was about to strike Bai Yuan's back, a fierce and violent gale was unleashed like a thousand crossbows firing simultaneously.
Zhou Yaren was like a thousand crossbow bolts piercing the wind, his internal organs felt as if they were about to be shattered, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
The third lash followed immediately...
With unstoppable force, it exploded on the frail back of Bai Yuan.
The strong smell of blood was mixed with the aroma of burning.
Then came the fourth, the fifth, the sixth... as if the polar day had illuminated the entire sea, turning the world a ghastly white.
Despite Bai Yuan's best efforts to protect her, Zhou Yaren could not escape the repeated lashes. Both of them were covered in lashes and were already covered in wounds.
The lightning strikes in the tribulation clouds multiplied, stretching across the sky. At that moment, the white shadows in the void seemed to intertwine with dozens of bolts of lightning.
When such divine might descends, all living beings will be crushed to dust, and no one will survive.
Terrified, Master Fang, perhaps out of immense fear of death, suddenly leaped up from the ice and clung tightly to Lu Bing's waist.
When fear reaches its extreme, one can't help but want to grab onto something as a last straw in life.
A blinding flash of white lightning illuminated the horizon, nearly blinding everyone.
Although it was not clearly visible, thunder shook the land for thousands of miles, rumbling across the vast and boundless sea, as if the sky were about to collapse and the earth were about to crack.
Just as dozens of devastating lightning bolts descended upon them, and everyone thought they were doomed, a black umbrella suddenly unfolded, transforming into a massive barrier that blotted out the sky and covered almost the entire surrounding sea area.
The innocent man offered up the "umbrella of retribution."
That is the root of the injustice.
Her actions were tantamount to her using her own body to withstand all the divine punishment.
Because the moment the whip cuts open the umbrella of death, a new, bleeding wound will appear on Bai Yuan's body.
Overwhelmed with grief, Zhou Yaren cried out in a hoarse voice, tears streaming down her face, "Stop! I've been wrongly accused!"
The injustice was ignored.
"Stop your supernatural powers, I don't need them, I don't need you to do this, please, I beg you, you innocent person."
Bai Yuan raised her hand without changing her expression and wiped away the blood that had overflowed from the corner of her mouth. She did not show the slightest pain and spoke in her usual casual tone: "They have wronged you for so long, and then they executed you without asking any questions. What kind of logic is this?"
Zhou Yaren shook her head repeatedly, her eyes filled with blood and tears.
Bai Yuan refused to back down, saying, "Now that I've brought you back, I'll make sure the secret realm gives you justice."
How do I pay it back?
He was a prisoner tried in the secret realm a thousand years ago, sentenced to exile and never to return. If he were to set foot in the secret realm of the sea again, without the right to plead his case, he would be executed on the execution platform.
“Injustice…” Streaks of light pierced through Zhou Yaren’s flesh and bones, like thorns growing wildly, cutting through his flesh like knives.
She finally managed to withstand the thunderous whipping, but this is what she got in return?
The ways in which the secret realm inflicts punishment are endless; there are countless ways to torment people.
Bai Yuan's eyes darkened.
Having suffered a great calamity, the Undead people would understandably change the locks and strengthen defenses for the safety of the secret realm. Therefore, if any outsider attempts to intrude—Fuxi's "one stroke" opened the heavens, reopening the secret realm—it would immediately trigger the dormant runes within the tribulation clouds. Not only Azhaosu, but everyone who arrived with him would perish without a trace.
It's understandable that someone was wronged, but what wrong did Zhou Yaren do to deserve such a brutal torture?
Bai Yuan was filled with malevolent energy. In an instant, the Death-Reporting Umbrella was filled with thick, ink-like resentment. As lightning struck, pale golden, ancient inscriptions faintly emerged from the umbrella's canopy.
Bai Yuan gazed at the dark and boundless sky. The thousand-mile-long cloud formation was obscured by the umbrella-like canopy, and inscriptions, crackling with lightning, emerged. These were the underworld petitions of the wronged who summoned the path of Bai Yuan.
It is said that punishment originated from Heaven...
At this moment, Bai Yuan proclaimed to heaven and earth, loudly proclaiming: "I am Bai Yuan, transformed from the punishment of A Zhaosu, born from the path of wrongful death. The punishment of the underworld has befallen me. I bear the burden of heaven and earth's yin and yang in the umbrella of death, wandering between life and death, to report the deaths of the wronged."
This was the first time Bai Yuan had revealed her identity. She looked directly at the world and at Zhou Yaren, whose face was filled with shock. She spoke of the deep-rooted bond of life and death between them, as well as her origins and the truth that she had never spoken of before.
"Heaven and earth bear witness, and I myself bear witness to this injustice, to be questioned by countless secret realms." She spoke each word with composure and determination, "I petition that A Zhaosu be exonerated."
Zhou Yaren was utterly shocked: "What did you say?"
Bai Yuan looked directly at Zhou Yaren, who was covered in physical injuries, and said in a soft voice, "I am the manifestation of your calamities."
Having endured the severe punishment of lightning, Zhou Yaren felt her bones trembling all over.
This time, Bai Yuan was more candid than ever before: "A Zhaosu died in a calamity, and so I was reborn in your calamity. It was your injustice that first summoned me."
The secret realm suffered a great calamity, and the Undying People incurred divine punishment, bringing down Azhaosu. He was subjected to the torment of lightning, and with his last breath, he tried to find his clansmen who had been captured by Fang Xiandao, but to no avail. In the end, his injuries could not be healed, and he died unjustly at Hangu Pass, his body left to rot in the wilderness.
Those years were not peaceful, and there were natural disasters and heavy rains. The gatekeeper who guarded Hangu Pass was leaving his post. When he passed by Azhaosu's corpse, he held up his black umbrella over the corpse to shield it from the wind and rain.
The innocent were able to take form and come into being.
She was transformed from the punishment of Azhaosu, born from the path of wrongful death, and born within the umbrella of retribution for death, thus being bound by punishment.
That's why Bai Yuan said to him the moment he saw him: "You are burdened with punishment."
No wonder he has experienced countless life and death cycles and been imprisoned time and time again. Even when Bai Yuan was imprisoned by the Taiyin/Dao Body and could not escape, he was still able to meet with Bai Yuan.
So that's how it is.
It was as if he could glimpse his own underworld grievance through Bai Yuan's icy skin and jade-like bones, as if that body and flesh were shaped by his underworld grievance.
He was not mistaken. Bai Yuansheng dissected his bones and blood, presenting A Zhaosu's grievances to Heaven and Earth, allowing the boundless secret realm to question him, thereby dispelling the tribulation cloud formation and clearing A Zhaosu's name.
She is innocent, and she will surely be able to clear A Zhao's name.
Bai Yuan looked up and saw the vast calamity clouds slowly subsiding amidst the unfolding strife of the underworld...
"Ya-ren," Bai Yuan finally felt relieved, his voice as soft as a whisper, "I'm not really sure if I'll still be around after bringing you back."
It seems she's no longer here.
She regretted that she could only accompany him this far.
Bai Yuan's words were even more unbearable for Zhou Yaren than Xing Lei's; each word seemed to crush his bones inch by inch.
"What do you mean?" He seemed to not understand, yet he also seemed to understand everything.
Since Bai Yuan was transformed from his punishment, does that mean that once the deep grievances on his body are resolved, Bai Yuan will also disappear?
"If I'm gone..."
Zhou Yaren was so distressed he could hardly breathe: "No, I won't appeal anymore, it's a false injustice, I don't need to seek redress." He realized the consequences that were about to happen, so terrible that he couldn't bear them. Zhou Yaren kept shaking his head, almost incoherently, "I'm used to it, it's a false injustice, let's go, I don't need to, I'm fine as I am, I'm fine, let's go."
Bai Yuan smiled, a relieved smile. He couldn't leave anyway, and besides, "What's so good about dying unjustly?"
"I'm willing, I beg you, I'm innocent. Being a prisoner isn't so bad..."
Bai Yuan approached him like a wisp of smoke, and pulled out an exquisitely carved wooden hairpin from her sleeve, which she had hastily carved on her way to the fishing village.
Zhou Yaren's hairband snapped under the lightning tribulation. Bai Yuan raised his hand and gently combed his messy black hair with his five fingers.
“Ya Ren, I am the embodiment of your punishment, your injustice and your shackles. You suffer an unjust accusation... and in this world, countless wronged souls block the road, all seeking a way to clear their names. Thus, Heaven bestowed upon me the name ‘Bai Yuan’ (meaning ‘clearing the name’).
Bai Yuan inserted the hairpin he had personally carved into his hair: "But I failed in my duty, and so many innocent people were implicated by me and died unjustly."
His blind eyes were filled with a torrent of tears, making it almost impossible for Zhou Yaren to see Bai Yuan's face clearly. His throat felt like it was blocked by a hard stone, leaving him choked up and unable to utter a coherent sentence: "No..."
With his own body as witness, the inscription on the bone, a symbol of the underworld, erased the punishment, and the violent clouds of calamity overhead gradually subsided.
The chains binding Zhou Yaren began to loosen...
But Bai Yuan stood before him, his face already deathly pale, like a wisp of smoke, a wisp of frost that seemed ready to melt into the heavens and earth at any moment.
In the calmest tone, she bid farewell to Zhou Yaren: "You have suffered so much in this world, through many twists and turns, but today you are finally free. From now on, you will not suffer so much. I can say that I have successfully retired."
What does it mean to retire gracefully after achieving success?
Why retire after achieving success?
Zhou Yaren struggled with all his might, the iron lock clanging loudly. Unable to break free, he pleaded almost desperately, "No, I'm innocent, I beg you, I'm innocent, I beg you, I'll give up..."
Bai Yuan said, "From now on, you will no longer be burdened with injustice."
Zhou Yaren stared at Bai Yuan's thin, frost-like figure, her eyes bloodshot, desperately trying to hold him back: "Bai Yuan, I am willing to be imprisoned forever, never to be released!"
He struggled desperately like a trapped beast, lunging madly towards the white shadow in the void. But the lightning above his head had just subsided, and the chains of punishment in the tribulation clouds had not yet retracted, firmly binding him.
Until that frosty white figure vanished into thin air, he was unable to break free of his restraints, and could only stir up a whirlwind of unfulfilled desire, which suddenly rushed towards Bai Yuan.
At that moment, he wished he could turn into a wisp of wind, so that he could at least hug her one last time.
Zhou Yaren watched helplessly as the frosty aura dissipated in the wind. Then everything went black, and her blind eyes could see nothing. Only the words "May the justice system be fair and just, and may there be no more unjust grievances in the world" remained in the void.
Echoing between the vast sky and the sea.
This was Bai Yuan's greatest wish before his death.
The shackles that bound Zhou Yaren were finally completely broken at this moment, and he fell into the sea from the void like a withered leaf brushed off a branch.
He always thought that once his innocence was cleared, he would be free from this torment, and from then on, he could travel freely across the vast sky and the long rivers and mountains, accompanied by his grievances.
But why?
If clearing my name would cost you your life, I would rather remain imprisoned forever and never be released.
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