Chapter 597: Name Your Price
The Salt Commissioner panicked, the kind of panic that left him utterly distraught.
Over six hundred fearless, ferocious men charged him, while the garrison troops scattered, fleeing wildly throughout the city. How could he possibly withstand this?
His fifty household guards were equally terrified, panicking uncontrollably as they retreated, protecting the Salt Commissioner, toward his official residence. They hoped to use the residence's walls for another stand.
However, the thin, low walls of the official residence were no match for the border troops.
The border soldiers rushed to the walls, forming human ladders. Others sprinted forward, stepped on their comrades' clasped hands, then boosted themselves off a teammate's shoulder, leaping over the wall in a swift breach.
The Salt Commissioner's retreat was continuous!
From the courtyard walls, he fell back to the main hall, sacrificing a few more household guards there. Then he retreated to the inner courtyard, where a few more guards died, before finally withdrawing to the back garden.
In the rock garden, the Salt Commissioner pulled open a hidden door, revealing a secret underground passage. He took only two trusted confidants, slipped into the passage, covered the hatch, and hurried along the tunnel until they reached a small basement.
Inside the basement, a man was imprisoned: Tie Niaofei.
A chilling sensation crept into the Salt Commissioner's heart. “It's not strange that you guessed there were rebels outside, but how did you know they breached the gates? And that the Jin merchants fled?”
Tie Niaofei grinned, his expression peculiar.
The Blood-Stained Heavenly Lord embroidered on his chest also grinned.
The grin was so bizarre that the Salt Commissioner's hairs stood on end, a cold dread seeping into his back.
Tie Niaofei's smile turned sinister. “You're dead. The people outside will find this tunnel soon enough.”
The Salt Commissioner forced a defiant tone. “Impossible! They'll just assume I fled through the back gate. They'll search for me all over the city and outside, but they'd never imagine I'm still in my own home. There's no way they'll find this basement.”
“No,” Tie Niaofei countered, “they know you're still in your house. They know your precise distance and direction. Finding this tunnel entrance will be incredibly easy.”
The Salt Commissioner's heart pounded. “How can you be so certain?”
Tie Niaofei laughed again, his peculiar expression making the Salt Commissioner's skin crawl incessantly.
Suddenly, the Salt Commissioner's demeanor turned vicious. “What are you laughing at, you bastard? Even if I'm going to die, I can kill you first! You think you can act all high and mighty in front of me?”
Tie Niaofei burst into roaring laughter. “You're scared! You're terrified!”
The Blood-Stained Heavenly Lord on his chest also bared its teeth, joining in the uproarious laughter.
When the Blood-Stained Heavenly Lord had laughed earlier, the Salt Commissioner hadn't noticed, thinking it was just the fabric moving, causing the cotton embroidery to shift. But this time, he saw it clearly: it wasn't the clothes moving, it was the embroidery itself.
It was truly laughing!
Its laughter and Tie Niaofei's laughter emanated simultaneously.
The Salt Commissioner stumbled back several steps, trembling with fear. His two trusted household guards were also terrified. “Boss, this... this Tie Niaofei is wrong, and that embroidery on his chest is wrong too...”
“Exactly!” the Blood-Stained Heavenly Lord declared, its voice chillingly sinister. Perhaps it was due to the bloodstains, but its tone had become profoundly deep and bloodthirsty, like a demon from Yama's Underworld, making anyone who heard it feel a shiver down their spine. “Do you wish to see the sights of Yama's Underworld?”
The Salt Commissioner gasped, “Who... who's talking?”
The two household guards' legs turned to jelly. “It's... it's the embroidery talking...”
The Salt Commissioner stammered, “Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”
The Blood-Stained Heavenly Lord chuckled darkly. “Heheheh... heheheheh... Come closer... it's been a long time since I tasted fresh human flesh. Come here, let me try a bite or two...”
The two household guards screamed, “Aaaah!”
They both turned and bolted out.
The Salt Commissioner was also driven mad with fear. He dared not stay in the basement any longer and dashed wildly outwards.
There were rebels outside, but even the fiercest rebel was preferable to a flesh-eating monster.
Dying by a rebel's blade would be a quick end, but falling into a monster's clutches meant being slowly devoured, piece by piece. Damnation, a swift blade was far better than that.
The three of them fled to the tunnel entrance. The moment they pushed open the hatch and poked their heads out, they saw a large crowd of people staring wide-eyed, watching them.
Just as Tie Niaofei had said, they had already found the tunnel entrance and were gathered in a circle around it, as if knowing they would emerge from within.
The Salt Commissioner began, “I—”
Before he could utter another word, blades flashed in a chaotic frenzy, and his two trusted household guards were cut down, leaving only the Salt Commissioner alive.
Chen Baihu reached out, grabbing the Salt Commissioner by the scruff of his neck, lifting him as if he were a quail.
The Salt Commissioner shrieked, “Good sir, spare my life! Let's talk this over!”
Noticing that they hadn't immediately cut him down, he sensed a sliver of hope. Perhaps he could use his silver tongue to persuade them to spare him.
But Chen Baihu merely chuckled. “Come, let me show you something.”
He reached into his robe, pulled out a handkerchief, and held it before the Salt Commissioner.
The Salt Commissioner's eyes widened. Embroidered on the handkerchief was a divine image, identical to the one on Tie Niaofei's chest.
And what's more...
This divine image... it was also laughing.
It bared its teeth and chuckled ominously at the Salt Commissioner, “Come, let me take a bite and see how tasty you are.”
“Aaaah!”
The Salt Commissioner let out a piercing scream that tore through the night, louder than the sounds of battle raging around them.
Chen Baihu, still clutching the Salt Commissioner, walked into the tunnel and descended into the basement. There, he unlocked Tie Niaofei's shackles and placed a dagger in his hand.
Tie Niaofei chuckled, standing before the Salt Commissioner. “Now you know not to mess with me, don't you?”
The Salt Commissioner, utterly distraught with terror, stammered, “Good sir...”
Tie Niaofei cut him off. “Name your price! Name it well, and I'll send you off with a single blade. Name it poorly, and I'll torture you for three days and three nights, cut you into a thousand pieces, making you wish for death but unable to find it.”
The Blood-Stained Heavenly Lord also bared its teeth and grinned. “I'll eat him for three days and three nights, gnawing every last shred of flesh from his bones.”
“Aaaah!” the Salt Commissioner shrieked. “My money! All my money is in the back garden, in the left wing-room, five steps east and four steps south from the window, dig down... all my money is there! Just please, monster... don't eat me... give me a quick end!”
Tie Niaofei nodded. “The price is right. I'll take that deal.”
He swung his waist-saber, and with a wet thud, sliced through the Salt Commissioner's neck.
Blood spurted far and wide!
After that final stroke, Tie Niaofei's strength gave out. Having been tortured for several days and denied a decent meal, his body was utterly weak, and he collapsed backward.
Chen Baihu caught him, steadying him before leading him outside.
The Blood-Stained Heavenly Lord grumbled, “He got off easy, that Salt Commissioner.”
Chen Baihu replied, “Your humble subordinate failed to capture the Jin merchants. I beg the Heavenly Lord to punish me.”
The Blood-Stained Heavenly Lord stated, “It is not your fault! We will deal with the Jin merchants later. First, as planned, appease the populace and prepare for battle with Xing Honglang.”
Chen Baihu responded, “Your humble subordinate obeys your command.”
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