Ying Yi sealed the man's meridians, grabbed his hair, and dragged him along. A long drag mark was left on the muddy ground. The man's shoes were long gone in the dragging. Mud and gravel gnawed at his heels, and blood seeped into the soil, a faint smell of blood wafting in the wind.
A fierce tiger leaped out from the forest, blocking their path, its eyes revealing the greed and brutality of a predator staring at its prey.
Ji Jinmo and the others stopped.
Nan Shiying measured the tiger's size, it was several times larger than Xiao Hua.
She smiled at it, "Little tiger, are you hungry? Do you want some fresh and delicious food?"
Her smile was brilliant, radiating friendliness. The tiger's large paws retreated. As she advanced, it retreated. Nan Shiying appeared very slender in front of the tiger, making the scene somewhat surreal and humorous.
Nan Shiying's eyes curved slightly, her long, thick eyelashes obscuring the smile in her eyes. The fleeting glimpses revealed a gaze that made the tiger feel an indescribable malice.
The animal's sixth sense was screaming danger. The tiger opened its massive maw and roared at her.
The rush of bloody, foul-smelling air made Nan Shiying frown slightly. She leaped up, jumping onto the tiger's back. With a forceful stomp, the tiger let out a mournful cry and was directly pinned to the ground.
Standing on the tiger, Nan Shiying looked at the man in Ying Yi's hand, "You fed it quite a bit before, didn't you!"
Ying Yi tugged, bringing the man forward.
"No, no..."
The man denied it.
"Is that so?"
Nan Shiying smirked, glanced at Ying Yi, who, understanding her intent, walked over with the man.
The man's entire body radiated resistance, but with his meridians sealed, he was completely powerless to fight back.
As the man approached, the bloody scent around them intensified. The smell of blood incited the tiger's ferocity. It struggled to lift its head, and the ferocity in its tiger eyes sent an unprecedented chill through the man. His blood instantly froze, and a coldness shot up his spine, making his limbs numb and his teeth chatter uncontrollably.
Ying Yi grabbed one of the man's hands and put it into the tiger's mouth.
Nan Shiying squatted down and stroked the tiger's head. The touch wasn't very pleasant; its fur wasn't as soft as Xiao Hua's and was somewhat matted. However, Nan Shiying didn't overly blame the poor creature that had to fend for itself in the wild. She merely withdrew her hand with a hint of disgust and whispered into the tiger's ear, "Eat!"
It felt as if a mountain was pressing down on it, rendering the tiger immobile. But with food delivered to its mouth, it would be rude not to eat. Amidst the man's ear-splitting screams, the tiger bit off his palm. The severed wound was adorned with bone fragments and shreds of flesh. The tiger crunched on the palm, as if eating crispy chicken feet.
Ying Yi held the man and took a step back.
Nan Shiying pressed down on the tiger's head, forcing its head flat against the ground.
The tiger couldn't chew anymore; it would likely bite off its own tongue. It directly swallowed the unchewed palm.
The man was still screaming. Nan Shiying chuckled, "If you keep screaming, your other hand will be swallowed too."
Her smile appeared more evil than a demon from hell in the man's eyes. He bit his teeth together tightly, daring not to make another sound.
"Very good!"
Nan Shiying nodded with satisfaction, then looked at the man expectantly.
After a moment of silence, seeing the man still wouldn't speak, she sighed languidly, "Ying Yi!"
Ying Yi grabbed the man's leg.
"No, spare me, spare me!"
The man begged for mercy, his face etched with terror. The pain of being torn apart by the tiger was far less than the fear of becoming food.
Nan Shiying ignored him, slowly raising her hand. The tiger could open its mouth again.
"Don't, kill me, kill me!"
As his leg drew closer to the tiger's maw, his fear grew. The man's pleas for mercy were met with no compassion. The tiger once again savored the joy of food delivered to its mouth.
The tiger ate the man's foot and wanted to further its appetite by eating his leg. Nan Shiying slapped its head, its skull hitting the ground with a thud and kicking up a cloud of dust. The tiger, dazed and choked by the dust, tried to sneeze but had its face pressed firmly into the dirt, and it started to cry out of sheer indignity.
Seeing that the man was still uncooperative, Nan Shiying prompted him, "Tell me everything you know, and I'll give you a quick end!"
Tears mixed with snot smeared across the man's face. He desperately wanted to tell her, "Why didn't you say so earlier, I would have confessed long ago!!!!"
The man was the son of the Hengyuan Chamber of Commerce's hall master, responsible for winning over and bribing officials. The Hengyuan Chamber of Commerce colluded with Yu Dabou solely for profit. The man confessed that he possessed ledgers detailing the officials bribed over the years, as well as evidence of their crimes. These items were stored in a secret room of a courtyard on the outskirts.
Nan Shiying ordered Ying Yi to go to the courtyard to verify the truth of the man's words. Ying Yi found the ledgers and evidence mentioned by the man in the secret room.
Nan Shiying kept her word and gave the man a quick end.
She jumped down from the tiger. The tiger, now free, looked at the food before it, but it dared not eat. With a "whoosh," it turned and fled.
"Let's go!"
Nan Shiying waved to Ji Jinmo. Ji Jinmo's gaze fell on the man's corpse, his eyes flickering as he smiled and nodded.
...
Ji Jinmo's act of surrounding the private residence with the Demon Hunting Army and arresting the people within caused an uproar in the court.
Among those Ji Jinmo had taken to the celestial prison were three court officials.
The officials again collectively impeached him, demanding an explanation for the incident.
On the Golden Luan Hall, Ji Jinmo looked at them, "You wish to hear an explanation?"
"Very well, come to my residence, and I will explain it to you all. How about that?"
Faced with Ji Jinmo's invitation, everyone fell silent.
Ji Jinmo's gaze swept over these people who held aloft the banner of justice yet were deeply corrupt. He pulled out a stack of papers from his懷, throwing them into the air. The papers scattered, landing in every corner of the hall. The officials bent down, picking up the papers that fell at their feet and in front of them.
"Slander, this is blatant slander!"
"Your Majesty, this minister is wronged!"
The ministers who had seen the content of the papers fell to their knees, crying out their innocence. Liu Wanjun, twirling the paper in his hand, furrowed his brows.
The paper read: Zhongshu Ling Liu Wanjun, is a remnant of the Miaojiang tribe.
Liu Wanjun: "..."
A huge pot fell from the sky.
After the Zhongshu Province was besieged by the Imperial Guards, he had been feigning illness and had not attended court. Now, it was out of desperation, to prevent the gates of the Liu Mansion from being crushed by the angry officials, that he had returned to court. However, before he could say anything, he was almost stunned by this accusation.
He was a remnant of the Miaojiang tribe?
Your Highness, even if you were to fabricate charges, you shouldn't do so in such an outrageous manner!