Xiao Yunting turned back and gave Liang Jianping a bland glance. “Where does your brother-in-law hide his things? Your sister should know, shouldn’t she?”
He asked it lightly, as if he’d just casually slaughtered a chicken.
Liang Jianping had thought he was already twisted enough.
Back in Jiangxi, he was considered a big shot.
But after seeing Xiao Yunting and Qi Yuan in action, he finally understood what truly ruthless looked like.
Those two were really a pair, like Black and White Impermanence from the underworld. Both of them were experts in clean, efficient killing.
Hearing Xiao Yunting’s words, Liang Jianping swallowed hard and nodded quickly. “Yes, yes! I, I can convince my sister!”
Xiao Yunting lowered his eyes and smiled faintly. “All the better, then.”
Liang Jianping forced a smile uglier than crying and headed to the back hall to find his sister.
Xiao Yunting turned and walked out. When he opened the door and saw Han Ding outside, he asked directly, “How’s Gaojia Town?”
Han Ding lowered his voice. “Miss Qi directly took Fang Yuanping hostage. Fang Yuanping had no way to fight back.”
Just thinking about the scene made Han Ding click his tongue inwardly.
Killers? No one could compare to Miss Qi.
She led her people and carved a bloody path through hundreds of others, breaking into Fang Yuanping’s residence. Then she tied him to a pile of explosives, and even raised the fire striker.
At first, Fang Yuanping didn’t seem afraid at all. He even sneered at Qi Yuan and shouted, “Go on then! Do it! If you kill me, you’ll only make my name more glorious. And help me fulfill my duty. I should be thanking you, miss.”
Meanwhile, the townsfolk of Gaojia Town had already heard the rumors of roadblocks and villages being burned. Those who could still move had come to the road entrance together, supporting one another, kneeling to beg the soldiers to spare them a path to live.
A child, barely four or five, was being held in his mother’s arms, drooping and leaning weakly against her chest, looking at the soldiers with wide, frightened, confused eyes.
The soldiers, however, didn’t care at all. They kept waving their whips, driving the crowd back relentlessly.
Fang Yuanping had been waiting for the earlier batch of people sent into Gaojia Town to return. After all, he couldn’t ignite the explosives until they came out.
They were Eunuch Xu’s men.
Nothing could go wrong.
But he never expected that instead of seeing Xu Gonggong’s men, he’d end up facing a woman.
He heard the wails and screams of the townsfolk and smiled at Qi Yuan. “You’d better move quickly, miss. Can’t let those people get away now, can we?”
He acted completely unafraid of death.
Qi Yuan, though, didn’t get angry in the slightest. She simply kicked the back of Fang Yuanping’s knee, snapping one of his legs and forcing him into a half-kneel.
Then, with a faint, mocking tone, she asked, “Since Lord Fang is so unafraid of death, your family must be the same way, right?”
Fang Yuanping’s expression shifted. “What do you mean by that?”
Qi Yuan glanced at Chunsheng. “Tell Lord Fang who you are.”
Chunsheng stepped forward proudly, pulled back his cloak, revealing his flying fish uniform and embroidered spring blade at his waist. He smiled coldly at Fang Yuanping. “Chunsheng, a Baihu of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Fang Yuanping, you’re from Anyuan, right? Your household has sixteen people. Your clan? Seven hundred eighty-six. The ancestral hall is in that village at the foot of Wugong Mountain. That sound about right?”
The moment he saw the flying fish uniform, Fang Yuanping’s expression completely changed.
And as Chunsheng spoke, his heart sank like a stone. “What do you want?! What the h*ll do you want?!”
“Nothing much.” Qi Yuan stepped on his other leg, drawing a satisfying scream. She said slowly, “Whatever treatment Lord Fang receives, your family will get the same.”
She smiled down at him. “Lord Fang, you watched hundreds of citizens begging for their lives without so much as a twitch. I’m sure you’ll be just as calm when your entire clan dies with you.”
Mass extermination.
She was threatening clan extermination!
Even the vassal kings didn’t dare touch such a thing.
Only the emperor had the right to issue such punishment, and even then, he would be careful.
Yet this woman said it as easily as chatting about the weather!
And she was accompanied by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Just who was she?!
Fang Yuanping’s face twisted in horror and suspicion. “You think whatever you say goes?!”
“In Jiangxi now, isn’t it exactly that? Whoever has the bigger fist gets to decide what’s what.” Qi Yuan gave a light smile. “When even local officials can deceive their superiors and burn down entire towns and villages, what’s so wrong with me burning your entire clan?”
She stared at him coldly. “At most, I’ll say your clan’s firecracker workshop accidentally exploded. Seems like the guy who made them was from Wanzai County, wasn’t he?”
With every word she said, Fang Yuanping found it harder to breathe.
By the time she finished, all of his earlier composure had vanished.
He instinctively tried to lunge forward, and fell flat on the ground. But even there, he glared at Qi Yuan with bloodshot eyes. “You dare do this, you’ll die a terrible death! I swear, you won’t die well!”
“What’s there to be afraid of?” Qi Yuan laughed out loud. “You people burned so many innocent civilians and never once feared punishment or retribution. I burn the likes of you, and I won’t even lose sleep over it.”
She grabbed Fang Yuanping by the throat. “Hand over the seal. Tell them to stand down. Otherwise, you’ll be reunited with your family in the afterlife by the end of today.”
Fang Yuanping’s gut spasmed in rage, twisting his expression in pain. “Who are you?!”
“Who I am doesn’t matter. What matters now is your choice.” Qi Yuan’s face turned blank. “Choose quickly, Lord Fang. My patience is running low.”
When it came down to choosing between a whole clan and a single mission, it really wasn’t that hard a decision.
Fang Yuanping closed his eyes. “I’ll tell them to retreat. I’ll tell them all to fall back!”
Qi Yuan curled her lips slightly and let go of his throat. She gave Liujin a glance.
Liujin and Beize immediately dragged Fang Yuanping forward.
Fang Yuanping’s voice rang through the air: “Fall back! Retreat! Fall back!”
Though the soldiers didn’t understand why the Commander was suddenly shouting to withdraw while being dragged around, military orders were absolute. Once he gave the word, they followed.
And the townsfolk of Gaojia Town, who had been trapped at the entrance, finally surged forward in a desperate attempt to flee.
Until Qi Yuan stepped out, voice calm and powerful: “Is the village head here?”
Standing next to Fang Yuanping, her presence alone showed she wasn’t ordinary. The people, who’d been about to stampede, halted at once and stared at her in hesitation.
Even Fang Yuanping, wincing from pain, asked through gritted teeth, “Where’s the village head?!”
After a long moment, the village head finally squeezed through the crowd in a hurry.
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