"You, you..."
Madam Hong was speechless, unable to utter a word due to the pain.
Nan Shiying, however, seemed to understand what she wanted to say, nodding with a smile, "Yes, I was waiting for you, waiting for you to kill me!"
"I waited so many days, I thought you had become smarter, but you still came."
"Do you know what I'm going to do?"
Nan Shiying stroked Madam Hong's face. Although this woman was foolish and vicious, she was well-favored. It was said that if a person died with their body intact, they would be reincarnated more quickly in the underworld than those with grotesque forms. Nan Shiying did not want to leave her with an intact body.
Back then, she had peeled off the skin of the Jade-Faced Gentleman. She wondered if her skills had dulled after so long.
Nan Shiying smiled at Madam Hong. She didn't really care about Madam Hong's answer; she just wanted to see the fear on her face and hear her desperate screams.
"I'm going to peel your skin off, inch by inch."
Nan Shiying said each word slowly, her voice smiling but filled with endless coldness.
A scream ripped through the night sky, reaching the main hall from the backyard. Luan Wencheng jolted, almost leaping from his seat.
What in the world was Feng Luan doing?
The scream, so distorted it was almost unreal, was like a cuckoo crying blood. Even in the darkest and most terrifying of prisons, Luan Wencheng had never heard such a scream.
He looked at everyone. Elder Du and Xuan Yi were as calm as ever, showing no emotional fluctuation. Jin Zhong merely raised an eyebrow, cast a quick glance at Xuan Yi, and then acted as if he hadn't heard anything, paying no further attention. Only the people from the Dali Temple looked at each other, a flicker of fear in their eyes.
"Don't be nervous, it's a minor matter!"
Elder Du soothed Luan Wencheng.
Compared to live dissection, this scream was nothing.
Luan Wencheng swallowed hard. The screams from the backyard lasted for half an incense stick's time. A tall, elegant young man with an noble aura lifted the curtain of the backyard, walking as he wiped the blood from his hands with a handkerchief. He was meticulous, wiping each knuckle repeatedly, ensuring all traces of blood were gone. The handkerchief in his hand had changed from moon-white to a dark crimson. Luan Wencheng couldn't detect any trace of malevolence on her, only the overwhelming scent of blood.
Jin Zhong suddenly stood up, taking two steps at a time, and strode towards Nan Shiying.
"Mr. Feng."
He bowed and took out a letter from his怀 and handed it to Nan Shiying. "This is a letter from His Highness for you."
Nan Shiying grunted, took the letter, and tucked it into her embrace.
"Sir, what are the next arrangements?" Jin Zhong saw that she had received the letter but hadn't opened it, so he couldn't help but glance at her more. His Highness had ordered that everything was to be done according to Feng Luan's command. They had traveled from Huaicheng to Xiling Commandery without daring to delay, arriving three days ago and stationing themselves a hundred miles away.
Now that they had annihilated all the members of the Ghost Fiend Sect who came to assassinate them, what should be done next?
"Surround the Ghost Fiend Sect!"
"Set fire to the mountain!"
"Divine Physician Feng, this..."
Before Jin Zhong could speak, Luan Wencheng interjected.
"What is it?" Nan Shiying looked at Luan Wencheng. Perhaps because she had just been stained with blood, there was still a hint of ferocity in her eyes. Luan Wencheng braced himself and said, "Feng Quan might not be dead."
"And so?"
"So, so..."
Luan Wencheng stammered. He still didn't understand her. She could put herself in danger for the sake of the common people, yet she could be so indifferent to the life and death of a court official.
"I will not risk the safety of the Demon Hunter Army for someone whose life and death are uncertain."
As Nan Shiying finished speaking, she looked at Jin Zhong again and commanded sternly, "Didn't you understand? Set fire to the mountain!"
"Yes!"
Jin Zhong took the order.
Before dawn, the fires had already begun.
Thick smoke billowed from the mountains, intensifying with the wind.
"Fire? There's a fire on the mountain?"
The thick smoke drifted into Xiling Commandery, mixing with the morning mist that hadn't yet dispersed, enveloping the entire Xiling Commandery. Citizens opening their shops for the morning market were momentarily stunned by the hazy weather, akin to a rainy day. Mistaking it for heavy fog and an impending thunderstorm, someone shouted, and only then did the crowd realize there was a fire in the mountains.
That direction.
Was it the Ghost Fiend Sect?
The Ghost Fiend Sect was on fire?
Cao Zhiwei had not slept all night, his eyes as red as a rabbit's. Captain Zhang had rushed to the yamen in a hurry last night, his sparse hair on his head almost all gone overnight. Now, as dawn was just breaking, shouts were already echoing from outside.
Cao Zhiwei and Captain Zhang pushed open the door and could vaguely see the slowly rising dust and flames that were almost engulfing the entire sky in the distance.
Damn it!
Cao Zhiwei and Captain Zhang exchanged glances.
Cao Zhiwei was alright, but Captain Zhang's calves were trembling uncontrollably at this moment.
Was it the Demon Hunter Army that set the mountain ablaze? Does that mean after settling accounts with the Ghost Fiend Sect, they would settle accounts with those who colluded with them?
Xiling Commandery was a long way from the capital. The emperor's reach was far. Officials transferred here had to go with the flow. Could they expect them to resist the Ghost Fiend Sect alone? And as for Cao Zhiwei, if Feng Luan hadn't passed by and deterred the Ghost Fiend Sect, he might have already turned to dust by now.
But now, who knew why those fools from the Ghost Fiend Sect had provoked that madman Feng Luan? Now that they were labeled as rebels and bandits by the court, let alone setting the mountain ablaze, even slaughtering the entire Ghost Fiend Sect would be considered eliminating a scourge for the people.
"My lord, Divine Physician Feng requests an audience."
A yamen runner rushed in, still catching his breath. Panting, he didn't dare to delay, for fear that the person waiting would kick down the door of their yamen if he waited too long.
Hearing that Feng Luan requested an audience, Captain Zhang's legs went weak, and he almost fell to the ground. Cao Zhiwei supported him and then said to the yamen runner, "Quickly invite him in—"
"Oh, right, go buy some breakfast from outside, and be quick!"
"Yes!"
"Divine Physician Feng, please!"
The yamen runner respectfully invited the person in and then hurried towards the morning market.
"Divine Physician Feng!"
Cao Zhiwei came out to greet him and led him into the side hall behind the main hall. Nan Shiying looked at the man beside Cao Zhiwei. The man was in military uniform, his face pale, and his eyes revealed a hint of panic and unease. Although he tried his best to conceal it, it was still evident.
Seeing Nan Shiying look at Captain Zhang, Cao Zhiwei quickly introduced, "Divine Physician Feng, this is Captain Zhang Congshan of the Commandery Governor's Office."
Nan Shiying said "Oh" and cupped her fist. "So it's Captain Zhang. I've heard much about you."
Zhang Congshan tried hard to force a smile, but he didn't know that his smile at this moment was uglier than crying. Cao Zhiwei glanced at Zhang Congshan and had a rough idea, but since the specific situation was still unclear, his psychological fortitude was perhaps too poor.
It wasn't that his fortitude was poor; he was guilty.
As the Captain of the Commandery Governor's Office, he was responsible for the safety of the city. If the Commandery Governor's Office had not shown favoritism last night, how could the people of the Ghost Fiend Sect have infiltrated the city under the cover of night? The city gates were closed at the hour of Xu (9 PM), and Madam Hong and others had not been hiding in the city the entire time.
"Captain Zhang probably knows what happened last night."
Nan Shiying's voice was filled with a smile, but her words almost made Zhang Congshan's heart stop.