Nie Tong calmly drew his saber and met the attack head-on. In an instant, Zhu Xuefeng's saber snapped in two.
The next second, Nie Tong's saber was at his throat.
The moment Zhu Xuefeng gave the order, figures slid silently from the trees, ready to subdue Zhu Xuefeng's guards.
Unexpectedly, Da Chui's chains had already been unleashed with a hungry sweep, effortlessly flinging everyone aside. All they could do was silently retrieve ropes and tie people to the trees.
They had thought that with over thirty men, marching into the forest with high spirits, they would at least get to flex their muscles.
But this was all?
Da Chui felt he had controlled his strength well, yet to his surprise, several people still vomited blood and died on the spot?
Never mind, dead or alive, tie them all up.
Just tie them lower. Those wild boars, whenever they roamed by, would want to eat them but couldn't quite reach. It was almost a shame.
Zhu Xuefeng could hardly believe it. He looked at the gleaming saber edge at his throat, then at the half-broken saber still in his hand. What had just happened?
Nie Tong let out a scoff. Nothing had happened, and it was already over.
Zhu Xuefeng was tied to a large tree behind his brother, his neck veins bulging with rage.
"What do you want! Let me go..."
Before he could even comprehend the situation, he had become fish on a chopping block!
How could the Xie surname be so audacious and lawless! Weren't they afraid of being unable to move freely in the capital of Dayu in the future!
"As the prefect of Ninghe, how can Lord Xu stand by and do nothing while Xie Jiang sets up an illegal court to extort and blackmail?"
He never expected that the young man with the Xie surname would be so arrogant even in a foreign land! And he was clearly relying on Lord Xu's influence!
"Are Young Master Zhu and Third Young Master Zhu perhaps from Ninghe?" Xu Hengyan's cold, double-barreled question followed. "Wasn't Third Young Master Zhu also extorting and blackmailing earlier?" How dare the villain accuse first!
Xie Jiang walked over and kicked Zhu Xuefeng. "If I were you, Young Master Zhu, I would pretend not to see Lord Xu. Am I not already embarrassing enough?"
Zhu Xuefeng felt a piercing pain in his calf, his face instantly contorted and pale, unable to speak.
"Big brother! Big brother..."
Hearing no response from his elder brother, Zhu Xue'er grew even more terrified, crying with greater despair.
He had thought he had finally endured enough, but now even his elder brother was implicated.
What was he supposed to do?
"Wuwuwu... Help... Help..."
Initially, he had the courage to curse Xie Jiang to a miserable death, but after being repeatedly tormented to the point of wishing for death, Zhu Xue'er no longer dared to utter a single foul word.
These people were not unreasonable! These people were demons!
Zhu Xuefeng, sweating profusely from the pain, said, "Xie surname, how dare you..."
Xie Jiang, like a king surveying his territory, looked with satisfaction at the "zongzi" (rice dumplings) on the trees. "Since it's done, what's there to be afraid of? Villains always say useless things..."
She then turned to Xu Hengyan with a troubled expression. "I have to earn another fortune. They insist on stuffing it into my hands even when I don't want it."
Xu Hengyan shook his head. "Aren't you afraid of escalating things?"
On second thought, she truly never feared trouble.
Xie Jiang looked surprised. "They have the nerve to escalate things?"
Xu Hengyan was speechless.
To try and snatch money from her hands only to be robbed instead would only become a city-wide laughingstock if it got out.
Da Chui looked over. "All tied up."
Guang Bai gazed at the hundred or so people in the forest, gaining a new understanding of Xie Jiang's methods.
Wild beasts often appeared here, and the positions where these people were tied were just within reach if the beasts stretched a bit.
Looking around, several people had already had their legs gnawed off.
On a few trees, only bloody ropes remained, with no people in sight...
The rest, who were not yet gnawed, were psychologically on the verge of collapse.
Looking at how terrified they were, whether they still looked human.
Zhu Xuefeng finally panicked. "Xie surname, I'll give you one more chance! Let me go quickly... Aow..."
Nie Tong struck him with the scabbard, causing Zhu Xuefeng's nose to bleed profusely and knocking out two of his teeth. "Speak respectfully to my young master!"
Zhu Xuefeng stared at Nie Tong, his face covered in blood, filled with rage.
Nie Tong sneered dismissively.
Xie Jiang casually ordered, "Take a leg and send it to the Xing Shun Earl's mansion. If they still refuse to see reason, next time we'll take the legs of Elder Brother Zhu and Third Brother Zhu."
"I'll do it!"
Da Chui clenched his fists, making cracking sounds. He looked around, intending to pick a pleasing leg.
Wherever Da Chui's gaze fell, there were expressions of extreme terror.
Even Guang Bai found it chilling.
The attendants of Third Master Zhu, whose courage had long been shattered, were all so scared they wet their pants.
"Do the other families also have to pay to redeem their people?" Xu Hengyan glanced around casually. Including the more than thirty people Zhu Xuefeng brought today, there were nearly a hundred and eighty people in the forest.
Xie Jiang said matter-of-factly, "Those who try to snatch money from me, why shouldn't they bleed heavily?"
"Everyone who sees gets a share. Should I ask the Xing Shun Earl's mansion for an extra portion of silver? Tens of thousands of taels of silver shouldn't bankrupt the Xing Shun Earl's mansion, right?"
Absolutely not! Xu Hengyan decisively refused.
Guang Bai was also startled. The young lord was just here to watch, how could he get a cut of the spoils?
But calculating it, Young Master Xie would earn tens of thousands of taels of silver again this time, wouldn't he?
A little genius at accumulating wealth!
It would be a significant loss to the court if they didn't give Young Master Xie a position as Minister of Revenue.
"It's better to have it than not, save it for a dowry."
"Thanks, but no need."
Suddenly, someone cried out in extreme terror, "Don't come near! Don't—"
Guang Bai looked back and saw Da Chui had finally chosen a leg and was now reaching out directly.
A grab, a twist, a pull.
A living leg was thus detached.
Holy cow!
What kind of monstrous killing machine was this big傻大个 (big傻大个 - a term for a big, strong, but perhaps simple-minded person)?
Nie Tong volunteered, "Young master, I'll go to the Xing Shun Earl's mansion to deliver the leg."
Da Chui said, "I'll go too."
Seeing Da Chui covered in blood, Xie Jiang threw the rabbit leg she was holding onto the ground. "You two go together."
Noticing that people on two nearby trees had died, but without any apparent injuries, Nie Tong asked Luo Tie and the others, "Were you being lazy and forgot to feed them?"
Luo Tie glanced in the direction Nie Tong was looking. "See those few over there who were scared to death by the wild boars gnawing off their legs? We'll untie them all later and throw them on the ground for the wild boars to eat. We'll also move further away so the boars don't dare to come over."
Guang Bai was deeply shocked once again.
They could all say such things so casually and with a straight face!
It seemed they were all seasoned veterans!
With such ruthless tactics, wasn't Young Master Xie afraid of burning himself?
What gave her such unparalleled confidence?
He felt that the capital would not be peaceful in the future, or perhaps the entire Dayu would not be peaceful.
The once pleasant forest now looked increasingly eerie.
Seeing Xu Hengyan look at her, Xie Jiang instantly put on a look of unbearable pity. "Luo Tie and the others are too brutal. How could they do such a thing? If these people weren't so wicked, all wanting to force me to death, I would definitely stop them."