Chapter 28 (The subordinate's body was dirty)
"Splash!"
A bucket of cold water was suddenly splashed on the leader's face.
"Which bastard..." he cursed instinctively, but the next moment, a sharp pain shot through his thigh.
"ah!!"
Lin Xiao released his foot from Lin Xiao's leg bone. "Awake?"
"You..." Upon seeing him, the leader recalled the scene of being punched and beaten, and his body trembled involuntarily.
"What... what do you want to do?"
"Tell me everything you know." Lin Xiao bent down, one foot firmly planted on his thigh, the other hand holding a dagger and slapping his face. "Establishing a bandit stronghold here, kidnapping the princess, Li Chongshan, who ordered you to do these things?"
The leader's pupils suddenly contracted. "You... how do you know my name?"
You should know that in order to evade the pursuit and wanted by the authorities, he changed his appearance many times, and even changed his name countless times, which he himself could not remember. Only Li Chongshan, which is his real name, he has never forgotten and has never told anyone else. How did he know it?
"Who exactly are you?" Li Chongshan swallowed hard.
"Who I am is not important. What's important is that you tell me everything you know, and I can give you a quick death. Otherwise..."
Having said that, Lin Xiao plunged a knife into his shoulder.
"ah!!!"
Lin Xiao drew his dagger, casually wiping the blood off it. His gaze fell on him, cold as frost. "I'll cut off your fingers one by one until you say it."
"If you still don't talk, then I'll start with your hands, stabbing you one cut at a time..."
Li Chongshan's pupils trembled.
Where the hell did this King of Hell come from?
He cursed inwardly, but outwardly remained submissive.
"I...I'll tell you everything, please stop torturing me..."
While submitting, Li Chongshan's eyes darted around, trying to make a scene to get someone to rescue him, but Lin Xiao saw through his intentions at a glance.
He scoffed, "Don't waste your energy. You're the only one left alive in this village, the chief."
Li Chongshan: "?!"
Only then did he notice the strong stench of blood in the air, and his voice trembled with terror, "You slaughtered the entire mountain stronghold?"
Even the imperial court usually tries to appease and incorporate bandits, and would never easily order the massacre of a bandit stronghold unless there is some deep-seated hatred that cannot be erased.
His mountain stronghold had more than two hundred people...more than two hundred people, and he killed them all!
That guy is a complete lunatic. If I had known I would mess with a lunatic, I would never have done this.
Those who understand the times are wise, and Li Chongshan has now completely settled down.
"Two years ago, when I was a bandit in Lianzhou, someone suddenly approached me and asked me to bring my brothers to the vicinity of the capital to establish a stronghold. He also promised me that the imperial court would grant us amnesty, and that not only would the wanted posters on my body be removed, but I would also be given an official position."
"But at the time, I was doing just fine as a bandit in Lianzhou. How could I possibly agree to move, especially to the very capital? I must have been out of my mind to agree to that. So, I didn't agree."
“But who knew…” At this point, Li Chongshan glanced at him discreetly, “that man led fifty highly skilled men in black to massacre my mountain stronghold, forcing me to become a bandit on the outskirts of the capital.”
Thinking of this, Li Chongshan wished he could go back in time and slap his arrogant self twice.
He had only encountered a ruthless person who slaughtered a village once in his life, but he never expected to encounter him twice.
That's a damn knife slapping my ass, it's an eye-opener.
The people living in this capital city are all evil spirits in human skin; none of them are kind.
"Who is that person?" Lin Xiao asked in a deep voice.
"I don't know either...."
In an instant, the blade flashed and fell, and Li Chongshan let out a pig-like scream, "No...no...I really didn't know."
Li Chongshan was sweating profusely. "I really didn't know!! That person was wearing a mask when they contacted me, and the mask was similar to yours, all black!! How could a rough guy like me tell the difference?!"
A mask similar to his?!
They are secret guards.
Lin Xiao's face darkened.
He was the emperor's secret guard. In this capital city, only the imperial family was allowed to keep secret guards. No civil or military official would dare to do such a thing; keeping secret guards was tantamount to treason. Unless they wanted to be executed along with their entire family, no one would dare to do it.
The secret guards monitored civil and military officials year-round, and most of them were honest, except for those from powerful and influential families.
However, even aristocratic families dared not openly maintain too many secret guards, and Lin Xiao had a rough idea of how many secret guards they possessed.
In the capital, anyone who possesses and can mobilize fifty secret guards must be a high-ranking and powerful member of the royal family.
Lin Xiao frowned; he already knew who it was.
"Go on!"
Seeing his eyes suddenly turn icy cold, as if he wanted to kill him, Li Chongshan swallowed hard, trembling, "I... I told you, please don't kill me, I'm willing to risk my life for you..."
He's always been a man of flexibility and adaptability; otherwise, he wouldn't have lived this long.
Lin Xiao: "Stop talking nonsense!"
Li Chongshan trembled, "Yes, yes..."
"After that person asked me to build a bandit stronghold near the capital, he only asked me to pay a monthly tribute and build the stronghold. After that, he never bothered me again."
"The last time they contacted me was three months ago. They asked me to kidnap someone, bring her back to the bandit stronghold, and then, once the imperial court issues the order to suppress the bandits, I would naturally surrender and hand the woman over to them..."
"Ah!! I already told you, why did you still do it?!"
"You deserve to die."
"You...you're being unreasonable! You were the one who told me to say it..."
Lin Xiao chuckled as if he'd heard something amusing, "When did I ever say I was going to be reasonable?"
Li Chongshan was a womanizer, indiscriminate in his lust for both men and women. Years ago, he kidnapped a couple from a prominent family, which led to the family requesting troops to attack him. However, he was cunning and managed to escape, changing his appearance and becoming a mountain bandit again.
His Majesty knew about this matter, but since he didn't jump too high or cause any major trouble, His Majesty didn't take action to forcibly eliminate him.
"What else do you know?"
Lin Xiao had lost patience to interrogate him any longer. Li Chongshan trembled under his gaze, "You...you mustn't kill me. I'll tell you a secret..."
Lin Xiao: "Speak."
Li Chongshan: "If you promise not to kill me, I'll tell you..."
"ah!!"
Lin Xiao said coldly, "You have no bargaining power with me now."
With that, he stomped on his leg bone, crushing it, his voice calm yet cruel, "If you don't obey, you'll never know what I can do."
Li Chongshan screamed, "Speak... I'll speak..."
“That person…that person seems to be raising a private army. Every time, he asks me to transport the silver to a mountain valley. I have secretly observed the person who comes to meet me. Although he pretends to be a bandit, he walks steadily and has a clear and honest look in his eyes. He is completely different from us real bandits in the mountains. Instead, he looks more like a government soldier.”
Keeping a private army?!
Lin Xiao's gaze darkened instantly, and he looked at him. "Where is that mountain hollow?"
"I don't know either, we deliver to different locations every time..."
Next, Lin Xiao asked a few more questions, but when he couldn't get any answers, he completely lost the will to interrogate further.
He crippled his manhood with a single kick, and with a scream of agony, he swiftly and decisively ended his life.
Sheathing his sword, Lin Xiao turned and walked towards where the princess was.
He hadn't forgotten the princess's treacherous maid, but he'd been gone for a while and needed to go back first, lest the princess be frightened by being alone.
However, as soon as he took a step, his body suddenly froze, his movements stiff, as if he had been nailed to the ground.
Not far away, a slender figure stood there, wide-eyed, with tears still clinging to her long eyelashes, her face filled with terror and disbelief.
“Princess…”
Shen Panyan stood still, her voice low, "Lin Xiao."
Lin Xiao's voice seemed to be squeezed out of his throat, "You...you just saw everything..."
"......Um."
"Your subordinate... Your subordinate..." Lin Xiao stood there blankly, stammering for a long time before finally managing to utter four words, "Your subordinate knows his mistake..."
"If you wish to punish me, I will absolutely not..."
Shen Panyan looked at him, shook her head, and even more tears fell.
She didn't say anything.
"Princess, your subordinate..."
Lin Xiao didn't know how to explain. He took a step closer to her, and even though he had tried his best to suppress the murderous aura on his body, Shen Panyan still subconsciously took a step back.
"Lin, Lin Xiao, you... don't come any closer."
Chen Panyan's thoughts were in turmoil. "I... I need to calm down..."
Lin Xiao: "...Yes."
He knelt down with a thud, "Please punish me, Your Highness."
Lin Xiao bowed his head, his body kneeling ramrod straight.
He wanted to explain, but the strong smell of blood in the air and the unseeing corpses not far away were all telling him what he had done.
The princess is not His Majesty... She is kind; it is he who has become too reckless, taking advantage of the princess's indulgence... All words of explanation seem pale at this moment.
No one spoke again.
The night was cool and still, the moonlight casting long shadows of the two people. The air was so quiet it seemed to freeze, with only the sound of the cool breeze and the burning torches.
After an unknown amount of time, long enough that Lin Xiao couldn't help but want to look up at her, Shen Panyan suddenly moved.
Her steps were hesitant at first, then became firm and faster, until she almost ran to him, squatted down and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you, Lin Xiao, thank you..." Her body trembled, and tears soaked his shoulder.
Lin Xiao froze on the spot, completely unprepared for the princess's reaction. "Princess, aren't you afraid...?"
"No, there's nothing to be afraid of..."
She's just not used to it yet.
She wasn't ungrateful; Lin Xiao did all this for her sake... These people were bandits, committing arson, murder, and robbery, their crimes were heinous, and they deserved to die.
She...she's just never seen anything like this before. Just wait for her, wait until she gets used to it.
She felt that it was good for someone as ruthless and decisive as Lin Xiao; if everyone were as weak as her, that would truly be a dead end.
Lin Xiao's clenched fists had somehow come undone, and his hands hung helplessly in mid-air.
He stammered for the first time, "Princess...please don't touch me, I'm dirty right now..."
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