Chapter 556 The Young Master Revealed (First Update)
The gray-robed man, whose head had been pierced by a bullet, fell sideways into the snow, his brains and blood splattering everywhere!
This scene was truly terrifying. Being shot through the head by an arrow is enough to send chills down one's spine, let alone a long and heavy red-tasseled spear!
All the gray-robed experts felt as if their heads had been pierced by a bullet; a chill ran down their spines, and their entire bodies stiffened.
They had killed countless people, but they had never seen such a method of killing before. It was too cruel and too horrifying!
How much murderous intent must one have to fire that shot!
Who is it?!
Who did this?!
Everyone sensed that something was wrong. A tense and fearful atmosphere suddenly filled the snow-covered official road. Another man in a gray robe took over from the previous one and began to give orders.
"Draw your swords! Everyone, draw your swords!"
He shouted!
His voice snapped everyone back to reality, and they all drew their scimitars from their waists.
At the same time, the sound of horses' hooves, which seemed to be able to shatter mountains and rivers, came from afar and approached. The snow seemed to tremble. When everyone looked in the direction of the sound, they saw a young man in green riding a swift horse. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of them. With a leap, the horse flew over their heads!
The moment the horse's hooves touched the ground, the boy reached out with his hand, which was covered by a gauntlet, and pulled out the red-tasseled spear that had pierced a man's skull.
He then flicked his fingertips, took off his cloak, and with a flick of his hand, draped it over Mo Qianxue, whose clothes were disheveled!
Mo Qianxue lay on the cold snow, watching the young man arrive in fine clothes and riding a spirited horse. He was not wearing a mask, and his features were cold and stern. The conspicuous birthmark on his left cheek was not ugly at all, but rather added a touch of cold and evil beauty.
The young man exuded a murderous aura, yet he draped a garment over her body to cover her.
Gu Jiao's horse did not stop. She drew her red-tasseled spear and immediately attacked the remaining five people.
This group of people are quite powerful, their combined strength is comparable to that of Tianlang. However, Gu Jiao is not the same Gu Jiao she was two months ago. Her strength has recovered somewhat, so even if she were to fight Tianlang again, she wouldn't be as badly injured as she was last time.
Gu Jiao dismounted, and the two engaged in fierce combat.
One of the men in the gray robes suddenly realized something and pointed at Gu Jiao, saying, "Her! She's the hostage we're looking for!"
Gu Jiao gripped her red-tasseled spear tightly and said coldly, "Come and catch me if you dare."
The five of them charged at Gu Jiao with all their might.
Surprisingly, Gu Jiao's skill level was not as described in the letter. Logically, the five of them should have been strong enough to control him, so they added an extra expert just to be on the safe side.
However, they couldn't gain any advantage over her at all.
Gu Jiao hates trouble and also dislikes flashy attack methods.
Shadow, bloodthirsty.
Her most powerful move is her killing move.
The gray-robed masters fell one after another, and with Gu Jiao's final thrust, the last gray-robed master also fell into a pool of blood.
But she didn't kill this one; she left him alive.
Gu Jiao planted the red-tasseled spear in the snow, bent down and wrapped Mo Qianxue tightly in her cloak, then wrapped her arms around Mo Qianxue's back and knees, lifting her cold and stiff body.
Just then, the Ministry of Justice's carriage arrived. Xiao Heng lifted the curtain, glanced at Gu Jiao and Mo Qianxue, and then surveyed the scene, roughly understanding what had happened.
He quickly got off the carriage to avoid suspicion and called the coachman aside as well.
Gu Jiao helped Mo Qianxue onto the carriage.
Xiao Heng asked through the curtain, "Are you alright?"
Gu Jiao looked at Mo Qianxue.
Mo Qianxue shook her head, her face pale, to indicate to Gu Jiao that she was alright.
Gu Jiao replied, "It's nothing."
"Your face is covered in blood."
"It's not my blood."
Xiao Heng's expression relaxed slightly.
Mo Qianxue was shivering; a cloak was clearly not enough to keep her warm.
Gu Jiao took off her winter clothes and gave them to Mo Qianxue.
There was no charcoal brazier inside the carriage, and it was as cold as an ice cellar.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and a slender, jade-like hand handed in an official robe and winter clothes.
It belongs to Xiao Heng.
The Ministry of Justice only sent one carriage, and given Mo Qianxue's current condition, Xiao Heng naturally couldn't get in the carriage, which meant he would have to ride back on horseback.
In the freezing cold, how could a civil official like him withstand it?
Besides, once we enter the city, would a high-ranking official like the Minister of Justice really have to parade around in his undergarments?
Gu Jiao neither refused everything nor accepted everything. She only took the winter clothes and let Xiao Heng put his official robe back on.
Gu Jiao got out of the carriage, took the red-tasseled spear back into the carriage, and said to Xiao Heng, "By the way, I left one person alive. See if you can get anything out of him."
"That one?" Xiao Heng pointed to a gray-robed expert lying alone on the far side. The expert was pretending to be dead, but unfortunately, he couldn't hide it from Xiao Heng's eyes. "Alright, you guys go back first. Leave the rest to me."
"Okay." Gu Jiao got into the carriage.
Following Xiao Heng's instructions, the coachman sat in the outer seat, turned the carriage around, and headed towards the capital.
Inside the carriage, Mo Qianxue leaned against the wall, gradually regaining her body temperature and sensation. She glanced at Gu Jiao sitting opposite her, who seemed to be resting with her eyes closed, and whispered, "Are you asleep?"
"No." Gu Jiao opened her eyes, her calm expression reflecting her gaze. "How are you feeling?"
Mo Qianxue lowered her eyes and whispered, "It's like a nightmare."
Gu Jiao reached out her hand to her.
Mo Qianxue understood her meaning, slowly raised her hand, and handed her wrist to Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao took her pulse and found that she had suffered some internal injuries and her vital energy was greatly depleted.
"Are you injured?" Gu Jiao asked.
"No," Mo Qianxue said.
The man failed to make the final move.
"Why did you come here?" Mo Qianxue asked.
"Xiao Jiu brought me here." Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to find her way.
Mo Qianxue opened her mouth: "I mean... weren't you drugged by me? How come you're still awake? Is your alcohol tolerance better than Hua Xiyao's?"
Hua Xiyao is the biggest drinker at Xianleju; no one has ever been seen who can outdrink her.
Seven-Day Intoxication is her unique drug, capable of incapacitating even her.
Mo Qianxue realized something and glared at him with her almond-shaped eyes: "You didn't actually drink it, did you?"
“…Yes.” Gu Jiao readily admitted.
That night, Xiao Heng told her about Xianleju, mentioning Mo Qianxue's purpose and the young master's orders.
She appeared to drink the glass of water that Mo Qianxue handed her, but she didn't actually swallow it.
She wanted to see what Mo Qianxue would do next.
Mo Qianxue first placed her on the bed, then pulled someone out from under the bed—it was Hua Xiyao.
Mo Qianxue dressed Hua Xiyao in her clothes and put a veil on her.
At this point, Gu Jiao had a pretty good idea of what Mo Qianxue was going to do.
The reason she didn't stop her immediately was because Mo Qianxue's medicine was indeed too strong. Even though she didn't swallow it, she absorbed some of it after holding it in her mouth for a long time.
She slept for half an hour.
Fortunately, Mo Qianxue didn't travel too fast; otherwise, the tragedy would have already occurred by the time she arrived, and killing the man would have been futile.
Mo Qianxue didn't ask Gu Jiao when she started to suspect her; she was too embarrassed to ask, and there was no need to.
She approached her with ulterior motives, and now that her scheme has been exposed, she still rushes to save her...
“Next time this happens, take me with you,” Gu Jiao said. “Don’t do anything foolish by yourself.”
Mo Qianxue stared at her intently.
After a long pause, she lowered her head and responded softly, "Mm."
Gu Jiao took Mo Qianxue back to the clinic. Meanwhile, Xiao Heng and the yamen runners from the Ministry of Justice brought the "survivor" back to the Ministry of Justice, along with Hua Xiyao, who had fainted nearby.
Hua Xiyao was poisoned by the Seven-Day Intoxication and wouldn't wake up for seven days and seven nights, so Xiao Heng temporarily locked her in a separate cell.
The man in the gray robe was taken to the torture chamber.
He had a poison sac in his mouth, which Xiao Heng discovered and had removed. Afterwards, he tried to bite his tongue to commit suicide several times, so Xiao Heng simply gave him some bone-softening powder.
Xiao Heng was the Minister of Justice, and interrogating prisoners was not within his authority. However, when he personally applied to Minister Xing to have him interrogate the prisoners, Minister Xing readily agreed.
The gray-robed man slumped helplessly in the iron chair in the center of the torture chamber. Behind him was a torture platform for holding prisoners, and various instruments of torture were hung on the walls on both sides.
The torture chamber was dimly lit, without candles, except for a half-person-high stove on the right side of the entrance, with a red-hot branding iron on it.
Xiao Heng sat opposite the gray-robed man, the stove just a few steps away. The firelight reflected on his handsome face on the right side, making his face appear half dark and half bright, giving him an inexplicably sinister and cold feeling.
"You may leave now," Xiao Heng said to the two constables in the torture chamber.
"Yes, Lord Xiao."
The yamen runners, following Minister Xing's orders, obeyed all instructions from Minister Xiao.
Xiao Heng abandoned his usual courteous demeanor, his expression turning cold and even ruthless as he looked at the gray-robed man and asked, "Who ordered you to do this?"
The gray-robed man was a man who had seen his share of storms, and remained relatively calm. He slumped limply in the chair, his head tilted to the side, unable to move. Upon hearing Xiao Heng's words, he gave a cold laugh: "Don't you in your yamen always start by asking about the criminal's identity when you hear a case? Doesn't Your Excellency ask who I am?"
Xiao Heng looked at him calmly: "Your name is Bai Kun, a native of Fucheng, twenty-five years old this year. Your parents passed away three years ago. You have no siblings or family. When you were young, you studied at Mr. Liu's private school in Fucheng for two years, but were expelled due to your unruly nature. Afterwards, your parents sent you to work as an apprentice at a blacksmith's shop, but you were kicked out by the shop owner after less than two years for stealing. You wandered around many places, and were eventually spotted by a martial arts instructor. You had good talent, and in just a few years you mastered excellent martial arts skills. When you were twenty-two, your parents passed away one after another. After burying them, you left Fucheng and have been missing ever since."
The gray-robed man looked at Xiao Heng with a shocked expression.
Xiao Heng strode up to him step by step, his excessively handsome face revealing a pair of sinister eyes: "Well? Was I right?"
"No...no...I'm not Bai Kun!" The gray-robed man shook his head desperately, but the effects of the bone-softening powder made him unable to move at all.
Xiao Heng leaned down slightly, getting closer to look at him, and said calmly, "Does it matter that you are Bai Kun?"
The gray-robed man was startled again!
Xiao Heng took out a confession from the wide sleeves of his official robe, and then took out a box of cinnabar ink.
A sense of foreboding suddenly rose in the gray-robed man's heart: "W-what are you going to do?"
Xiao Heng dusted off the confession, his slender, jade-like fingers prying open the inkpad box, and then grabbed the gray-robed man's hand.
The gray-robed man tried to struggle, but having been given a muscle relaxant, he had no strength left.
His eyes widened like copper bells as he roared, "You are an official of the imperial court! You will be beheaded for doing this!"
Xiao Heng: "Oh, really?"
The gray-robed man shouted, "Are you insane! I want to see your superiors! I want to see the Minister of Justice! You cannot extract a confession through torture!"
Xiao Heng: "I didn't hit you."
"I don't plead guilty! I didn't plead guilty! It wasn't me...it wasn't me...you!you..." The gray-robed man was so flustered that he couldn't speak coherently.
Xiao Heng ignored his struggles and accusations. He was not the kind of person who was cold on the surface but soft on the inside; his heart was black.
However, in places where Gu Jiao couldn't see, he no longer needed to pretend.
Xiao Heng grabbed his hand expressionlessly, first pressing it into the inkpad, then pressing a bright red handprint onto the confession.
The torture chamber is where important criminals are subjected to severe torture. Ordinary criminals are not sent here, and those who are sent here are basically skinned alive.
To isolate the screams of prisoners, the doors to the torture chambers were made extremely soundproof.
The constables in the corridor did not hear any commotion inside.
About half an hour later, Xiao Heng emerged from the torture chamber looking exhausted.
His forehead and neck were covered in sticky sweat, his chest heaving slightly, and his breathing was short and rapid.
He appeared to be calm, but there seemed to be a hint of reluctance in his eyes.
Upon seeing this, the yamen runner hurriedly went to inform Minister Xing.
Minister Xing rushed over: "Sixth Prince, what's wrong?"
Xiao Heng looked at Minister Xing with a complicated expression: "I'm fine, but the prisoner... committed suicide out of fear of punishment."
Minister Xing was stunned, clearly surprised that the other party would commit suicide out of fear of punishment.
"Did he confess?" Minister Xing asked.
Xiao Heng, as if relieved, presented the document in his hand: "Fortunately, I have not failed in my mission. Bai Kun has confessed. This is Bai Kun's confession."
Minister Xing hurriedly took the confession and carefully read it from top to bottom and from right to left.
The more he looked, the more serious his expression became.
This person was indeed connected to Xianleju; the confession mentioned the young master of Xianleju at the end.
The words written in black and white on the paper read: "Young Master of Xianle Residence, Princess of Zhao Kingdom, addressed to the current Emperor."
Minister Xing was struck dumb!
(End of this chapter)
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