The night was long and quiet.

At this moment, the streets of the capital of Da Yi were horrifyingly quiet with the whirlwind occasionally whistling. The low hissing was more like hidden unknown monsters opening their bloodbaths, making a poignant whimper.

It was in the Royal Prison of the Eastern Depot―

The bleak moonlight illuminated the courtyard ridges, leaving a few cold white touches of frost.

Two cowhide lanterns at the gate were blown by the wind as if two ghosts had been silently watching all the evils of this human purgatory.

The bitter wails continued to come out of one side of the cell, which was sometimes high and sometimes faint, forcing people to chill.

As another round of torture ended, the guard in the purple eighth-ranked official suit stepped back a dozen steps. Without an expression, he looked directly at the front strong-built man with a steel-toothed iron comb in his hand.

The crumbs of clothing and human flesh were blurred in the dark comb. The red blood continued to seep down from the iron comb. As the guard stepped back, it stretched on the ground into a bloodline.

The smelly, pungent blood was still warm, all flowing from the man who was chained to the iron of the shelf.

His two companions were in the same situation as him, and their arms raised apart. They were tied to the iron on both sides and injured all over the body.

The three people were Cheng Wanli, Chiliarch of the Eastern Depot, Zhao Wuji, the third captain, and Bai Qiying, the fourth captain. They were captured by the secret guards of the Eastern Depot and were taken to the Eastern Depot one by one. One day ago, they started to be tortured.

Just getting the cruelest combed punishment, Cheng Wanli stopped the pain of grief and lowered his head.

Sweat mixed with blood fell down from his dark face, dripping into a pool of blood under his feet.

The so-called combed punishment meant to tear off the prisoner's upper outer garment, and use a specially-made iron brush with many steel needles over boiling water to brush on his body.

With a brush, even for a healthy living person, he would suddenly rupture a muscle and be drenched with blood.

"How about that? You used to be the Second-in-Command of the Eastern Depot. Do you remember how many people you've conducted combed punishment? Now, this penalty falls on you. How do you like it?"

The gentle question fluttered in the cell, like the clouds without a sense of weight in the sunny sky. He was unhurried and calm.

For a moment, the pleasant voice rose again, which was sharper and cooler than before,

"The bones in your arms can be seen, and your arm is disabled. Well, anyway we're fellow officials. Don't say I don't take care of you. If you want to live, you must tell me the whereabouts of Her Grace."

"Ho ho..."

The bloody gourd-like man struggled to move his neck.

He wanted to raise his head and take a good look at the pompous man in front of him.

However, every time he exerted himself, the meridians of his whole body would be eroded by severe pain, making him unable to move.

"Humph!"

Cheng Wanli sneered at the stove and constantly took a deep breath. He withstood the pain and said,

"Why can't you understand me? I've told you many times. I don't know. I don't know where she is!"

"Oh, you don't know that? Well, then I can just ask your men." He said in a gentle voice.

Then he paused for a while and ordered those on both sides,

"Come. Bring Zhao Wuji's wife and daughter here. Detain them outside the cell."

The guards nodded and stepped out of the cell door. After a while, they turned back with three women.

The three women were Zhao Wuji's wife and two daughters, who were only 15.

The three women were maliciously knocked down. Through the wooden fence, they saw Zhao Wuji was tied, covered in blood. They suddenly beat the fence in front of the prison door and cried to the inside.

At this point, the graceful voice by the fire rose again,

"I find that Zhao Wuji's wife and daughter are also pretty. His two daughters are still young. I will award them to you. Stay here. Let her husband, their father, understand the consequence of betraying the imperial court."

Hardly had his voice faded away, more than a dozen guards outside the prison door surrounded three weak women. With green light flashing in their eyes, they were like hungry wolves in the dark Royal Prison.

The three weak women had no resistance ability. They were frightened and turned pale. Before they started to struggle, they were pressed on the ground by many guards.

Those strong men huddled together and said bestial words. They were exuberant to the limit and looked like beasts.

The whole Royal Prison was filled with poignant cries for help, the sharp sound of torn clothes, and the wild laughter of men.

Hearing his wife and daughter helplessly shouting, Zhao Wuji gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. His heart, like being pierced, was broken into pieces.

He was trembling, and at last, he broke into a rage. He raised his head beyond endurance and cursed to the relaxed man in the rose chair beside the stove. The tears came out of his angry red eyes.

"Yue Xilou, f*ck you―"

"If you want to preserve their reputation and integrity, tell me about Her Grace's whereabouts."

Hearing the curse, he seemed not to get angry. He said in a gentle and soft voice.

"I, I tell you..."

Bai Qiying was tied to an iron shelf on the north side of his cell, covered in blood.

He just said half a sentence and was interrupted by Zhao Wuji's angry rebuke.

"Dude!"

"Elder Brother, she..."

"Shut up!"

"How dare you―"

Cheng Wanli and Zhao Wuji roared to Bai Qiying at the same time.

Zhao Wuji was extremely angry, and a wildfire went straight to his throat. He struggled hard and couldn't wait to immediately break free of the iron rope to run to Bai Qiying and slap him in his face.

"Ah―"

A desperate cry from a woman outside the prison door was heard, followed by a dull sound that shook the wooden fence.

Following the sound, they saw that Zhao Wuji's wife was lying in the blood.

Her clothes were torn, revealing swaths of white skin with bite marks and scratches.

Unable to be humiliated, the fierce woman struggled to escape from the wolves and banged her head against the wall.

Her face was wet with tears. The moment she died, she opened her eyes wide and gazed straight at Zhao Wuji in the cell. She died with a grievance or everlasting regret.

Zhao Wuji bowed his head and whimpered.

"...It is the Master who abandons us first!"

Bai Qiying also burst into tears and sobbed,

"He takes Madam Yun to live a sequestered life and throws all the suffering to us."

Suddenly, he looked up at the high-top figure in the fire, and prayed in sorrow,

"Lord Yue, please let go of the third captain's daughters. I tell you. I tell you the whereabouts of Madam Yun. They are in western tribes..."

"Shut up―"

A roar of Zhao Wuji went straight into the sky as if he used all his strength. Like rolling thunder blowing, it shocked the ears of the crowd.

In an instant, Zhao Wuji seemed to be possessed by the devil. He frantically struggled and pulled the iron as thick as a bowl mouth out of the ground.

He howled like beasts. With a hundred pounds of iron, he rushed in front of Bai Qiying. Before Bai Qiying blurted out, he turned about and hit Bai Qiying hard.

His entrails were squeezed to the explosion, and blood oozed from Bai Qiying's eyes, nose, and mouth. He died on the spot.

The man in the rose chair slightly frowned. The guards on both sides drew out the swords and stepped forward. As Zhao Wuji turned around, they lifted up their swords in their hands and killed Zhao Wuji.

Blood flew like rain.

Outside the cell, the violence stopped.

Two young girls were brutally abused to death on the spot. They lay on their backs and didn't breathe.

The Royal Prison fell into an unprecedented silence.

'Hehe...Hehe..."

Cheng Wanli lowered his head and a stream of blood with tears flowed down his cheeks.

He grinned sadly and sneered, looking wired,

"Yue Xilou, you'll die in someone's boots..."

Cheng Wanli said simply and shouted to the sky suddenly,

"Master Leng―"

Puff―

A splash of blood spilled far away.

The man in the rose chair on the opposite saw this and frowned. He leaned back and took out a handkerchief to cover his mouth and nose.

A guard walked close to the autopsy for examination, and immediately turned back to raise his fists and salute,

"Lord, Cheng Wanli, ex-Chiliarch of the Eastern Depot explodes inner power by himself. He's dead."

"All right. Anyway, they used to serve the Eastern Depot. Select some good coffins and send them away."

In the light of a jumping fire, the man stood up slowly from the rose chair.

The finless hat with a dark gauze net pattern was towering. On the blue Kirin embroidered robe, those fine golden threads of flowers shone brightly.

This person was twenty-four years old. He was slim and handsome with some make-up.

There was light in his long, dark eyes, which were deep and quiet like mist.

His long eyebrows were thin and light. Between the eyebrows, there was a cinnabar mole, which was eye-catching.

With a smile, he stood there coldly and mysteriously. He was aloof and proud but not domineering.

The only thing that didn't match that temperament was his complexion, which was delicate and immaculate but showed a grayish white color of illness.

Even near the fire, his haze-covered skin was also dark and cold without a luster.

He was Yue Xilou, Huanan Xin's flunky, the new Commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot.

Yue Xilou was playing Zhao Wuji's two steel cast handballs in his hands. He smiled gently and told his men,

"Let the messenger bring words to the Palace. Her Grace is in western tribes now."