The dim lamplight cast eerie shadows, making everything around seem like a ghostly realm.

The punishment room behind Tongshan County’s yamen wasn’t large. In the dim light of the oil lamp, the clerk’s desk was tucked away in a small corner. In the center of the room were a bench for flogging, a rack for the tiger bench, and two pillories. Lu Wenke occupied one of them. The wood of the other pillory and the surrounding ground were stained with black, congealed blood, speckled and frightening to behold.

Various implements of torture hung on the surrounding walls: finger clamps, all sorts of iron skewers, and strangely shaped knives. They gleamed eerily in the greenish-damp walls, making one wonder why such a small county town needed so many instruments of torment. Some more instruments were piled on the floor on one side of the room, although the room was cold, the charcoal brazier was not lit. In it rested a branding iron for torturing prisoners.

Perhaps because it was close to the yamen’s toilet, the stifling musty odor, the smell of previous prisoners’ vomit, the scent of urine, and the stench of blood were all mixed together.

Lu Wenke had seen these things and smelled these odors in the yamen of Hongzhou. Back then, he had felt that these things existed for a reason. But at this moment, the fear, along with the pain in his body, surged out from the depths of his marrow like a tide.

He had shouted until his voice was hoarse.

This was the last glimmer of hope he held in his heart.

When the county magistrate arrived, he was tied to the pillory, already dizzy. His pants had been removed when he was flogged, so he wore nothing under his robe. He didn’t know how much blood had flowed from his buttocks and thighs. It was the most humiliating moment of his life.

The magistrate of Tongshan County was named Huang Wendao, around thirty years old, and thin. He frowned when he came in and covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief. He seemed quite annoyed and unaware that someone was screaming in the backyard of the yamen. After entering, he cursed a couple of times and moved a stool to sit down. Two yamen runners, who had finished their dinner, rushed in and explained to Huang Wendao how vicious the person on the pillory was. Lu Wenke immediately shouted that he was being wronged and began to state his name and family background.

“Shut up!”

In the midst of the noise, Magistrate Huang shouted, pointed at the two yamen runners, and then said to Lu Wenke, "You speak." Seeing that the two yamen runners dared not speak again, the flame in Lu Wenke’s heart grew a little stronger, and he quickly began to recount the series of events after arriving in Tongshan County.

For more than ten years since the Jurchen’s southward invasion, although the Central Plains had fallen and the world was in turmoil, he still read the books of sages and received a good education. His father and elders often spoke to him about the decline of the world, but also constantly told him that everything in the world had its male and female, its yin and yang, its black and white. Even in the best of times, there would inevitably be filth in people’s hearts, and even in the worst of times, there would always be those who were unwilling to go with the flow and would come out to guard a ray of light.

He had traveled far, going to the most dangerous southwestern lands and then all the way out, yet everything he had seen was mostly good people. Now, having arrived in Tongshan and experiencing all this filth, seeing everything that had happened to Wang Xiuniang, he was once so ashamed that he couldn’t even look her in the eyes. The only thing he could believe in, the only thing that could save him, was this faint glimmer of hope.

He recounted everything in detail, and the sobbing in his voice was gone. He saw Magistrate Huang sitting quietly, listening, his serious gaze making the two yamen runners want to move but dare not. When he finished speaking, Magistrate Huang asked a few simple questions, and he answered them one by one. The punishment room became quiet, and Huang Wendao pondered everything in this oppressive atmosphere for a long time.

…

“Is there still… law!?”

Lu Wenke, tied and hanging on the pillory, heard the magistrate say these words slowly and deeply. His gaze turned to the two yamen runners.

“The mere Li family, do they really think they can rule Tongshan with one hand!?”

“Whose people are you? Do you think this official’s magistrate position was given by the Li family!?”

Magistrate Huang pointed at the two yamen runners, his scolding resounding like thunder. Tears almost fell from Lu Wenke’s eyes.

The two yamen runners quickly defended themselves, saying that these were the words of a prisoner. Magistrate Huang waved his hand. “He can explain himself! You – untie him for me!”

The two yamen runners hesitated for a moment, but finally came over and untied the ropes binding Lu Wenke. Lu Wenke’s feet touched the ground, and the pain from his legs to his buttocks made it feel as if it wasn’t even his own body. But at this moment, having escaped a great disaster, his heart surged with excitement, and he finally stood up shakily, pulling at the bottom of his robe. “My… my pants…”

Magistrate Huang glanced at him. “Go out first, and I’ll have someone bring them to you later.”

“Yes, yes…”

Lu Wenke nodded. He tried to move forward with difficulty, and finally took a step at a time, and when he passed Magistrate Huang, he hesitated and didn’t dare to move, but Magistrate Huang stared at the two yamen runners and gestured outwards. “Go.”

Lu Wenke gritted his teeth and walked out of the punishment room.

After taking a few more steps, he grabbed the doorframe, and his foot crossed the threshold of the punishment room. Outside the punishment room was a small courtyard behind the yamen, with a square

sky overhead. The sky was dim, with only faint stars, but the slightly fresh air of the night had already wafted over, which was completely different from the musty and gloomy atmosphere inside the punishment room.

He thought of Wang Xiuniang. After this incident, he would finally not be ashamed of her…

Bang—

What came from behind was sudden, intense pain…

…

Lu Wenke didn’t have time to react.

Almost his entire body didn’t react at all. His body fell forward. Because his hands were still clutching the hem of his robe, his face slammed straight into the ground. What followed was not pain, but an indescribable physical impact. His head rang with a buzzing sound, the world before his eyes went black, then white, then dark again, repeating several times…

Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz…

The sound spread, lasting for quite a while.

There was a rustling sound in his mouth, a horrifying, sweet taste. His mouth had been cut open, and half of his teeth seemed to be falling out, mixed with blood and flesh in his mouth.

“You…”

Someone seemed to be speaking behind him, sounding like the honorable magistrate from just now.

Lu Wenke shook his body, trying to turn his head to see what was happening behind him, but all he saw was a blur, countless butterflies like his shattered soul, flying in all directions.

“You… haven’t… answered… this official’s question…”

After an unknown amount of time, he managed to understand the full meaning of these words.

What question…

Who asked me a question…

His mind couldn’t comprehend it, and he opened his mouth, unable to speak for a moment, only blood and foam swirling in his mouth.

“This official… was just asking you, you think… the emperor is almost gone, who gave this official his magistrate position…”

“This official just asked you… the mere Li family, in Tongshan… can they really rule with one hand…”

“This official is asking you…”

“…is there still law—”

The magistrate Huang, holding a stick, finished speaking and struck Lu Wenke’s leg hard again.

“This official has treated you so well, and you want to leave without even answering the question. Are you looking down on this official? Huh!?”

His stick fell, and his gaze fell as well. Lu Wenke turned around with difficulty on the ground. At this moment, he finally saw Magistrate Huang’s face up close. His mouth was curled in a mocking sneer, and the dark circles under his eyes, sunken due to excessive indulgence, flickered with a devouring fire, a flame as black as the night in the square sky above.

The magistrate was laughing, and the two yamen runners were also laughing loudly. The sky behind was also laughing.

“…After leaving, you still dare to come back and complain… still state your name and family background… traveling the world, what are you traveling for? Do you think you can still walk out of Tongshan alive… Disgraceful! Tie him up for me and when Head Constable Xu arrives, treat him well…”

The two yamen runners dragged him back to the torture room, tied him up on the rack, and then slapped him a few times, shamelessly humiliating him for not wearing pants. Lu Wenke was tied and hanging there, his eyes filled with tears. After crying for a while, he wanted to beg for mercy, but he couldn’t get the words out, and another slap came up, “It’s useless to shout! You still don’t understand! If you shout again, I’ll beat you to death!”

Another yamen runner said, “You won’t live past tonight. When the head constable comes, hey, you’re in for a good time.”

He added, “If we had known this would happen, you would have obediently sent that girl up, and none of this would have happened…”

Fear and regret mixed together in Lu Wenke’s heart. He grinned with his mouth missing half of his teeth, crying uncontrollably. He wanted to kneel down to these two men, to kowtow to them, begging them to spare him, but because he was tied up, he couldn’t move at all.

He didn’t know how long passed. Something seemed to have happened outside, and there was a small commotion. The two yamen runners went out for a while. When they came back, they took Lu Wenke down from the rack again. Lu Wenke tried to struggle, but it was pointless. After being beaten a few more times, he was tied up and stuffed into a sack.

They carried the sack onto a cart, and then there was a bumpy ride all the way, not knowing where they were taking him. Lu Wenke spent some time in great fear, and when he was taken out of the sack, he was in a brightly lit hall with torches and lights all around, with many people looking at him.

He was dizzy and nauseous, vomiting for a while. Someone cleaned the blood from his mouth, and then someone kicked him to the ground, sternly questioning him. This questioning lasted for a long time. Lu Wenke subconsciously said everything he knew. He spoke of the people he had traveled with along the way, of Wang Jiang and his daughter Wang Xiuniang, of the precious things he had seen on the road. In the end, when they stopped asking, he subconsciously knelt down, wanting to beg for mercy, begging them to let him go.

Someone had already dragged him up.

They dragged him forward, all the way underground. They passed through dark and damp corridors. Underground was a huge prison. He heard someone say, “Let me tell you, this is the Li family’s black prison,

once you go in, you can forget about coming out. There’s no one… human in here—”

Someone was holding a torch, leading him through the prison corridor. Lu Wenke looked around. In the cells next to him, there were grotesque figures with broken limbs and disheveled hair, some without hands, some without feet, some kowtowing on the ground, making "ho ho" sounds, some women, stark naked, in a state of madness.

“These are all people who have offended our Li family…”

The rumors of the Li family eliminating dissidents in Tongshan came to mind…

With a thud, he was thrown into a cell. The person holding the torch locked the cell door. He turned his head to look, and in the corner of the cell was a dark, strange figure—he didn’t even know if it could still be considered human.

“Ah…”

Lu Wenke grabbed the bars of the cell, trying to shake them.

“Help…”

No one paid attention to him. He shook faster and faster, and the words in his mouth gradually turned into wails, becoming louder and louder. The Li family members who brought him here, holding torches, turned and left.

“Ahhhhhhhhh…”

Lu Wenke cried out frantically, shaking the pillars of the black prison madly, but the light receded, and a wail gradually turned into more wails. Darkness swept in from every direction, blocking the way out.

Amidst the heartbreaking wails, he didn’t know how many people had fallen into the hell of despair…

…

Those desperate wails couldn’t penetrate the ground.

In the brightly lit hall of the Li family’s fortified manor, one layer of earth and stone above this black prison, people were finally gradually piecing together an outline of what had happened and learned the possible name of the murderous youth. At this moment, the Li family’s villagers had already organized on a large scale. They brought fishing nets, lime, bows, arrows, knives, and various other things, and began the first round of preparations to deal with the powerful enemy and capture the villain.

Passing through this layer of ground and walking upwards again, there were only faint starlight in the dark sky, and the starlight fell to the earth, only bringing insignificant, pitiful light.

Head Constable Xu Dong, who had been scolded by his wife all day, found an opportunity to rush out of his house after hearing the news of the incident at the Li family’s fortified manor. He went to the yamen to inquire about the situation, and then, with long and short weapons, he and four companions from the yamen mounted their steeds, ready to go to the Li family’s fortified manor to help.

Magistrate Huang Wendao chased after him: “I heard that the strongman is very fierce.”

“It’s good that he’s fierce. I’ve been holding in a bellyful of anger with nowhere to vent it! Damn it!”

He was tall and burly, riding on his warhorse, holding a long saber, truly a majestic and imposing figure. In reality, he was still thinking about the Li family manor’s hero gathering. As a Son-in-Law who was dependent on the Li family, Xu Dong had always considered himself to be skilled in martial arts and wanted to make a name for himself like Li Yanfeng. If the earlier incident hadn’t disrupted things, he would have originally been present as the main family’s prominent figure when the Li family met with the Yan family.

Now, all of this had been disrupted by those ungrateful scholars. And now, that one who had returned to turn himself in had been sent to the Li family. He couldn’t go home, and he couldn’t find a way to vent his pent-up anger.

Although "Miao Saber" Shi Shuifang’s martial arts were good, they weren’t necessarily that much better than his, and Shi Shuifang was ultimately a foreign retainer. He, Xu Dong, was a true local tyrant, very clear about the surrounding environment. As long as he went to the Li family’s fortified manor this time, organized a defense, and even captured that ferocious thug, and made a big show in front of the Yan family, his, Xu Dong’s, name would be made. As for the minor problems at home, they would naturally be solved easily.

The night was hazy. He and his companions, a group of five riders, armed to the teeth, rushed out of the city gates of Tongshan County—

At this moment, a sense of heroic determination filled the air.