Body search in front of the hall
The sound of horse hooves rang out dully, and finally stopped in front of the main gate of the Holy Fire Hall.
As soon as Su Baiwei dismounted and stepped into the square in front of the gate, two fierce-looking guards stood in front of her: "Stop, search!"
Su Baiwei glared at Ding Kui, only to see the undisguised lust and smugness in his eyes. Such blatant and deliberate humiliation, and he had to do it in front of everyone!
Torches lined the square, their flickering light casting countless distorted figures on the ground. Dozens of malicious gazes, mingled with whispers, woven into an invisible net, tightly enveloping the lone figure in the center. The air was stagnant, filled with a suffocating malice.
Su Baiwei raised her chin, her clear voice piercing the hall and reaching the main hall: "I, Su Baiwei, am, after all, the daughter of the previous hall master, Su Yuanshan. When did the rules of the Holy Fire Hall degenerate to the point of searching the master's bloodline at the main gate?" Her gaze pierced the shadows deep within the hall, "Chi Lian! My father is away, and you've let us mess up this way? You're such a coward, you dare not even show your face?"
Deep in the hall, the thick shadows fluctuated ever so slightly, and an invisible pressure swept across the edge of the square, dimming the flickering torches.
despair!
There was a tapping sound on the cup lid, like an instruction.
"Save your spit," Ding Kui sneered, his voice rising. "The hall master sits high in the hall, how could he listen to your barking? Besides," he took a step closer, his bad breath mixed with saliva, "it was the hall master's personal order. He said he hates your arrogant character the most!" Twisted jealousy and the pleasure of revenge swirled in his eyes, and his severed ears seemed to burn with pain again. "Search you, from head to toe, inside and out! Let the brothers see what kind of person you are!"
Two guards on the left grabbed fiercely. In a flash, Su Baiwei's sleeve flashed with a cold light, and with two "pops," the hibiscus silver hairpin pierced the Quchi acupoints behind the elbows of the two men. The scarred guard groaned in agony, his right arm limp. The shorter guard's eyes swelled with anger, drool dripping, his wrist shaking uncontrollably, and he drew his sword and slashed at his side.
"Ah!" Scar Guard's shoulder was instantly cut open, blood spurting out. "Damn it! Bitch!" He covered the wound and took his anger out on her.
"Who dares to act rashly!" Su Baiwei shouted, her back straight. A guard, intimidated by the aura, a flicker of pity flashed across his eyes. He hesitated, then looked away, only to be met with three more fiercely attacking. With a flick of his sleeve, he stabbed one in the Hegu acupoint, forcing him to drop his blade. He spun to avoid the blow, then fiercely kicked another in the knee with his toe, forcing him to stumble and fall to his knees. However, just as his technique had become stale, Ding Kui's eyes gleamed with a fierce glint, and he delivered a powerful slap to her cheek.
Bang!
The crisp sound of flesh colliding resonated across the square, and the whispers around them instantly fell silent. Su Baiwei's eyes flashed with stars, her ears buzzed, and the immense force of the impact threw her to the ground, her hair scattered and her white jade hairpin flying off the stone, breaking in two. Her elbow slammed into the ground, the pain piercing her. As the world spun, her arms were clamped behind her back.
Ding Kui grinned grimly, his muddy boot soles crushing her scattered black hair. She groaned in pain as her scalp ripped apart. His rough fingers dug into her wrists, and his knees dug into her lower back, pinning her upper body to the ground, her cheek pressed against the cold stone.
At the main entrance to the hall, two rows of high-ranking guards in silver armor stood like cold stone sculptures. One of the silver-armored guards felt his breath suddenly catch beneath his visor.
He vaguely recalled the quiet, picturesque figure of her pounding medicine in the moonlit, lashes lowered, in the cold courtyard; the flickering candlelight in the clinic, her fingertips steady as a mountain as she held the needle. That calmness, that cold, untainted focus, had been a source of light in the darkness.
At this moment, the light source was roughly slammed into the mire, his calm profile pressed against the filthy stone floor, his focused fingertips trembling under the rough groping. The stark contrast of worlds brought a soul-tearing pain. His teeth clattered beneath his visor, his hand gripping the hilt trembled uncontrollably within his iron gauntlet, and the muscles beneath his arm armor were tense like a fully drawn bow. But he must become a lifeless stone. Any slight wavering would spell doom for all three of them!
"Su Baiwei!" Ding Kui leaned over, spitting on her deformed face as his voice echoed through the square: "Are you still dreaming? Open your eyes and see clearly. In the Holy Fire Hall, you are nothing but a tail-wagging dog. Why are you pretending to be so noble? Search! Let the brothers see what kind of filth is hidden in the cracks between the bones of your 'Blood Cauldron'!"
The words "Blood Cauldron" pierced her eardrums like needles, echoing in her mind. The guards pounced, ignoring her futile kicks, their rough hands digging into her sleeve pockets and waistband. A sickening touch slithered across her skin, and countless cold gazes pierced her back like thorns. Su Baiwei bit her lower lip, tasting the strong smell of blood. She squeezed her eyes shut, suppressing the nausea and fear that surged, her body tense like a bowstring about to snap. The shorter guard, the most resentful, grinned fiercely, his five fingers yanking at the fabric of her shoulders.
Sizzle——
The sound of tearing silk was like thunder, and dead silence instantly engulfed the entire square.
Ding Kui's grim smile froze on his face. The guard's hand froze in mid-air, and the echo of tearing silk echoed hollowly off the stone walls. The chill of the stone ground pierced into his bones, but it couldn't be colder than the countless deadly gazes around him.
From a corner, a suppressed gasp was heard, then quickly extinguished. In the shadows, several eyes flickered, perhaps in a moment of impatience, or in a state of bewilderment after shock. Several greedy eyes had already quietly clung to the radiant skin on her shoulder.
Su Baiwei's body stiffened as the cold air invaded her, a suffocating feeling gripping her throat. Her vision blurred and distorted, and the countless ferocious faces around her seemed to waver and stretch. Ding Kui's smirk, the guards' heavy breathing, even her own heartbeat, were all pulled away and distorted in this moment, leaving only the roar of blood rushing against her eardrums.
The scarred guard roared furiously, "Bitch, it's all your fault!" Heedless of the blood dripping from the hastily bandaged area, he deliberately swung his arm, flinging scalding blood at Su Baiwei. A few drops even splashed onto the silver-threaded hibiscus on her sleeve. The white petals, symbolizing "every day without severance," were stained a glaring dark crimson, and the cold humiliation instantly froze his blood!
His vision beneath the silver armor shuddered, as if burned, the edges of his vision instantly turning crimson. He closed his eyes and then opened them again, the depths of his pupils like a frozen abyss, his knuckles pressing on the hilt of the knife stretched pale beneath the silver armor.
"Chi Lian! Ding Kui!" Su Baiwei rubbed her cheek against the stone surface, her voice hoarse and unclear, "You beasts! After today's humiliation... one day... I will throw you into a pool of leeches... and let you suffer... and let the insects devour your hearts... and turn your flesh and bones into mud!"
From the depths of the shadows, a sharp sound like fingernails scraping against a hard object seeped out, but was instantly swallowed up by the noise.
Ding Kui's eyelids twitched violently at the sight of the "blood leech pool" and "heart-eating insects." A chill ran up his spine. He shook his head violently to suppress the trembling, his fierce look growing even more intense. He instinctively reached for his severed earlobes, his boot soles grinding against the strands of hair with even deeper hatred. His voice grew shrill, "Alright! Grandpa, wait and see what you, a broken-backed creature, can do to me! The Holy Fire Hall is full of beasts!"
Needle bags, Qingxin pills, Mafei powder...all kinds of medicine bottles and needles were roughly searched out and thrown onto the ground, making a clanging sound.
Ding Kui violently grabbed Su Baiwei's messy black hair, lifted her upper body, and stepped hard on her calves, forcing her to kneel in a humiliating position. The two guards pounced on her again, groping her wantonly with their obscene hands.
"Bastard! Ding Kui, you shall die a horrible death!" Su Baiwei trembled violently.
"You're not going to die well?" Ding Kui sneered, looking down at his prey. "Let's see who turns to mud first!"
A guard searched her underwear and pulled out a medicine bottle. The delicate honeysuckle pattern on the bottle showed the owner's special attention. "Master Ding, what is this?"
Su Baiwei's eyes flashed with despair and panic: "Give me back my life-saving medicine!"
"Life-saving medicine?" Ding Kui caught the panic in her eyes and grinned smugly, "The Hall Master is wise. I knew you wouldn't obey me. You're hiding something! Search again, and not a single piece of paper will be left!"
After the body search was complete, Ding Kui threw her to the ground like a worn-out shoe: "Get in! The hall master is waiting!"
Su Baiwei struggled to get up, her messy hair mixed with blood and sweat stuck to her cheeks, and her eyes quickly scanned the stone ground.
"What are you dawdling for? Do you want another slap?" Ding Kui shouted.
She stumbled three steps to the broken white jade hairpin, where the hibiscus silver hairpin lay quietly. Just as his fingertips were about to touch it, Ding Kui stomped down hard, crushing the back of her hand, his toes twirling cruelly. "You've been in such a state, and you still care about your face? You still want to stab people with this broken hairpin?"
Su Baiwei groaned in pain as she felt a sharp pain in her heart, cold sweat rolling down her face.
"Kowtow three times and call me Grandpa," Ding Kui grinned, grinding his toes against her palm. "The hairpin... is yours as a reward!"
Before she finished speaking, Su Baiwei formed claws with the five fingers of her other hand and reached for Ding Kui's crotch as fast as lightning.
"ah--!"
Ding Kui was struck so hard that a scream escaped his throat, his eyes bulged, and his body curled up. Su Baiwei transformed her claws into palms, the edges of her palms into blades, and struck him at the knees with a gust of wind. Ding Kui's legs gave way, and he fell to his knees with a thud, the dark color rapidly spreading from his groin.
Su Baiwei grabbed the silver hairpin with lightning speed, her eyes filled with murderous intent that instantly plunged into the abyss. Her hands flew, her palms swiftly breaking Ding Kui's joints.
The shrill wails echoed throughout the square!
The hand holding the hairpin had already tied up her messy black hair, and the silver hibiscus hairpin was firmly inserted. Although her clothes were torn and her shoulders were exposed, and her face was still marked by palm prints, her raised chin and the bun with the hairpin had once again supported a shattered dignity.
She kicked the tumbling Ding Kui several times, and the anger in her chest dissipated a little. She closed her eyes for a moment, suppressing the turbulent blood.
Turning around, he glared at the five guards standing before the door. They were already pale as a thud, falling to their knees and slapping themselves in the face. "Auntie, spare me! I was blinded by greed! I was wrong!"
Su Baiwei's voice was as cold as ice: "It's too light."
Pain flashed in the guard's eyes, and he attacked even harder. The "slap" sound was deafening, and his cheeks instantly became red and swollen.
Su Baiwei, as if disturbed by Ding Kui's noisy shouting, turned around and sealed his acupoints. Ding Kui let out a desperate "ho ho" sound from his throat, slumped like mud, with a resentful look mixed with fear.
"You," she pointed at the only guard who hadn't taken any action and was trembling like a sieve, "lead the way."
"Yes... yes!" The guard hurriedly got up and staggered towards the entrance of the deep hall.
Su Baiwei took a step forward, her cold eyes sweeping over the five people who were slapping themselves: "You are not allowed to stop until I tell you to. Whoever comes out with a swollen face—" She glanced at Ding Kui, who was lying on the ground like a pile of mud.
The five people caught a glimpse of Ding Kui's miserable state, their souls shattered, and the slaps became even more violent. She no longer looked at them, as if it were just irrelevant wind noises.
Amidst the deafening slaps and countless complicated gazes, Su Baiwei straightened her back, ignored the embarrassment, and walked step by step towards the solemn palace gate.
As she walked towards the line of silver-armored guards that looked like ice sculptures, one of the gazes, through the cold visor, was engraved on her upright figure and the hibiscus silver hairpin that gleamed slightly in her bun.
Beneath the visor, in the frozen abyss, something extremely tiny was pried open.
The corner of his mouth twitched upwards ever so slightly.
That's not a smile.
It is the profound echo that strikes from the depths of the soul when witnessing the glimmer of light being repeatedly trampled on in the depths of the mire, but still stubbornly burning again, a complex torrent of pain and silent awe.
This slight hook is as brief as a shooting star and disappears in a flash.
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