The cruel punishment of being cut in half at the waist existed as early as the Zhou Dynasty and was not abolished until the reign of Emperor Yongzheng.
Because the major organs of a person are located in the upper body, a prisoner who is cut in half at the waist will remain conscious and die after a long time.
The prisoners' families would often bribe the executioner to cut the prisoner from a higher position during the execution, so that the prisoner would die faster.
If someone wanted a prisoner to suffer more, they would bribe the executioner to cut from a lower part of the body.
They even moved the upper half of a person who had been cut in half at the waist to a tung oil board to prevent blood from flowing out, thus allowing the prisoner to live for two or three more hours. It was truly cruel.
The last person in Chinese history to suffer the cruel punishment of being cut in half at the waist was Yu Hongtu, who served as the educational commissioner of Henan Province during the Qing Dynasty.
Yu Hongtu served as the supervisor of education in Fujian (now Fuzhou City). He was very strict in preventing and controlling the imperial examinations, and his conduct was also considered rigorous.
Unexpectedly, his concubine colluded with the servants to accept bribes, and she pasted the examination materials on the back of Yu Hongtu's official robe.
Yu Hongtu went out, and the servant gently unveiled the document and handed it to the examinee, without him noticing at all.
After the incident, Emperor Yongzheng executed Yu Hongtu by cutting him in half at the waist.
The executioner, unable to extort a bribe, deliberately tortured the victim.
So much so that after Yu Hongtu was cut in half at the waist, he dipped his hand in his own blood and wrote seven “miserable” characters on the ground before taking his own life.
The "Seven Tragic Stones" mentioned by the old man who drove the corpses were the embodiment of the seven tragic characters in Yu Hongtu's name.
"So that's how it is..." Granny Mi nodded gently after hearing the old man's words.
"But as far as I know, isn't this strange stone in Lord Yu's tomb? Are you going to go down into the tomb too?!"
The reason I say "also" is because the first few sorcerers who were executed were captured after they robbed Yu Hongtu's ancient tomb.
As for the charges: illegal entry, tomb raiding, and trafficking of national first-class cultural relics.
Connecting these events, everyone suddenly understood.
Zhao Youliang, unusually quick-witted, said: "Brother, I don't think you need to break the law."
“The skinheads have been to the tomb, so they must have taken the Seven Tragedy Stones. It’s no use for you to go.”
"If the police catch us, we'll end up like the skinheads..."
Mentioning the group of sorcerers from the East, and thinking of Zhao Youliang being cursed, the old man's expression suddenly turned strange.
He then looked at Zhao Youliang with great admiration and said...
"Boss Zhao is highly skilled; I admire him!"
"Those 'Thirteen Gates of Gu Spells' from the East dared to harm you; they deserved to die such a miserable death!"
"What, what do you mean? The skinheads are dead? How did they die? It has nothing to do with me!" Zhao Youliang was a little confused and quickly clarified.
He didn't want to become a murderer for no reason... that would interfere with his sister's postgraduate entrance exam and job search!
Zhao Youliang wasn't the only one confused; even Manager Sun of the coffin shop was in the same boat.
"Brother, what exactly happened? Tell us in detail!"
The old man who drove the corpses thought Zhao Youliang was "hiding his merits and fame," so he spoke with a smile.
"Before I came here, I heard something: the police found several mutilated bodies in the wilderness outside the town, as if they had been eaten by wild animals."
"The corpses had one thing in common: they were bald and had tattoos of bats, scorpions, and other creatures on their necks."
"The most bizarre thing is that many candles made of human oil were also found near these corpses."
"Human oil candles, Gu worm tattoos, bald heads—all of these combined, I don't need to elaborate on their identities, right?"
"As for the cause of death... it must be because he overestimated himself and tried to use black magic to harm some master, but ended up being countered!"
At this point, the old man who drove the corpses looked at Zhao Youliang with a smile, as if to say, "I understand you."
As a result, the misunderstanding about Zhao Youliang being a master deepened...
Seeing that Zhao Youliang still refused to admit it, the old man who drove the corpses didn't bother to expose him.
"It is precisely because sorcerers keep coming this way that I believe they have not obtained the Seven Tragic Stones."
"If we had it, why would we come here to die?"
The old man who drove the corpses had a reasonable and well-founded argument, so Zhao Youliang and the others could not refute him.
After a moment, the coffin shopkeeper, Mr. Sun, sighed: "Brother, that evil Seven Tragedy Stone is very useful to you?"
The old man who drove the corpses nodded deeply: "Useful, extremely useful!"
Manager Sun picked up the tea in front of him and took a small sip.
"Alright then... I have no way to repay your life-saving grace. If I survive in two days, I'll go down into the tomb with you!"
Following what Manager Sun said, the old man who drove the corpses found out about the three evil ghosts that had come to the coffin shop.
After a moment's thought, the corpse driver made a decision that would affect his entire life.
“In that case, let’s do this: I’ll stay and help you deal with those three ancient ghosts. After it’s done, please have Mr. Zhao accompany me to the tomb.”
"Regardless of whether we find the Seven Tragic Stones or not, this is a service fee of 50,000 yuan that we corpse drivers are offering!"
Zhao Youliang wanted to refuse, explaining that he was just an ordinary person, an ordinary person who was about to die, and that there was no point in him going.
But unfortunately, they gave so much that the words of refusal were like an incandescent light bulb being stuffed into one's mouth, impossible to spit out.
After struggling for a long time, he managed to squeeze out a few words.
"Well, brother, let's make this clear beforehand: I'll go along, but it might not be useful."
"But if we encounter danger, I will risk my life to cover your retreat."
In Zhao Youliang's mind, since he was already nearing the end of his life due to the shop's actions, staying behind would only mean dying a few days sooner.
I can leave more money for my adoptive father and sister... even if it costs me my life...
Hearing that Zhao Youliang agreed so readily, the old man who drove the corpse was overjoyed.
"Alright, Mr. Zhao, it's a deal!"
"As for covering the rear... how could your older brother leave you alone? We'll go together then."
"Just make sure to protect the few young men who are traveling with me!"
And so the matter was settled in a rather muddled way, even though neither Granny Mi nor Shopkeeper Sun knew why the corpse driver thought so highly of Zhao Youliang.
Is there something magical about this child that we haven't discovered yet?
Just as the two old people were lost in thought, the big yellow dog waddled in, its withered rear end dangling from its mouth, a dirty rag in its mouth.
The big yellow dog raised its head high when it saw the group, as if it were the master of the house.
Zhao Youliang was clearly terrified of the big yellow dog, and he quickly got up to greet it.
"Hey Dog Bro, you're back? Did you eat your fill of shit?"
"If you're still hungry, I'll make you something right now!"
Although the big yellow dog has become spiritually aware, it is clearly not "enlightened" enough yet.
As a result, it still cannot understand many human languages and can only fill in the blanks by looking at the speaker's facial expressions.
Zhao Youliang grasped this point, which is why he used the most respectful expression to utter such a raunchy word as "eat shit".
Little did they know that the big yellow dog had long since "gone poop," and hadn't eaten it for at least a decade...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
