Feng ShuMing nonchalantly answered, “Brother Shang misunderstands, of course that is not my intention. Why don’t we change it like so. Let this young man go through the Lashing Penalty, and ten days later, if he is still alive, then we shall regard it as his good fortune. What does Brother Shang think of this?”
Without a doubt, this so-called Lashing Penalty was not as simple as it sounded on the surface. It utilized a whip made from, at minimum, a level-3 magical beast’s hide, and the condemned disciple was to be flogged ten times each day, ten days in a row. On top of that, one had to suffer through all ten days under the scorching sun, not allowed to eat or drink.
Generally speaking, most people weren’t able to last until the end, and not even three days would pass before one forfeited their life under the sun’s burning rays.
On one hand, Feng ShuMing proposed this for the purpose of giving face to YunXiao City, and on the other hand, it could be considered as offering that youngster a chance to live. If that young man persevered through this, it’d also prove his formidable willpower as a distinguished individual who possessed superb strength.
Shang Kai studied the kneeling boy’s frail body. Likewise, he knew he couldn’t afford not to give Feng ShuMing some face, and after all, his son was in the wrong first. Hence, he coldly snorted, “Fine! Then I’ll have to trouble Sect Master Feng to execute this as quickly as possible!”
Even if this youngster survived the Lashing Penalty, sooner or later, he would take revenge for his Yan’er via other means!
Shui Yue frowned, not expecting to still wind up with this kind of result. He was extremely dissatisfied inside, but when all was said and done, he was a guest, and could not say too much.
Although Ling Xia did not know the specific details of this punishment, but hearing the words “ten days” and “Lashing Penalty” was enough for him to approximately guess what it entailed. Even though he appeared undisturbed, his heart had already started to break down into tears.
Fuck! Don’t be like this! It would have been better to just get the chop! I want to go home!
Not long after, two disciples wearing black robes walked in, and with one on each side, secured and escorted Ling Xia towards the Disciplinary Hall.
Without the slightest delay, Shang Kai carried Shang Yan and followed, wanting to witness Ling Xia’s torture with his own eyes.
Shui Yue gave the two sect masters an insipid salute and said, “Since there are no more matters, this disciple will take his leave. My sister is still underage, and not fit to see such a savage spectacle.” Right now, any favorable opinions he had of these two distinguished sect masters had completely disintegrated into oblivion, and he faintly regretted using a forbidden art to help them.
Cui TianCheng acquiesced, “Many thanks to Esteemed nephew for this time’s aid, and please convey my gratitude to Brother Shui.”
Inside the courtyard of the Disciplinary Hall, both of Ling Xia’s arms were already firmly bound at his sides, and the dread in his heart was many times more intense than when he got walloped by wooden clubs previously. He gritted his teeth and lowered his head, not wanting to leak the terror in his eyes to those observing, but the violent heaves of his chest still betrayed his distress.
Shang Kai held his son’s corpse and sat nearby to watch, his heart immensely at peace. If it wasn’t for maintaining his Shang family’s reputation, he absolutely would have stepped up to carry out this sentence personally!
The Disciplinary Hall's disciple briefly soaked a thick as a baby's wrist, enchanted snakeskin whip in a clear liquid, and then without a single warning, snapped it through the air with a sharp and crisp crack.
Ling Xia felt a burst of head across his back, followed by the onslaught of an indescribable pain. His vision turned black, and he couldn't hold back a blood curdling scream as sweat and tears both began pouring out in waves, impossible to stop.
His castigator obviously wouldn't wait for him to adapt, already proceeding with the next set of rhythmic and steadfast lashes.
Every train of thought inside Ling Xia's mind instantly vanished, and only one word remained pain!
He couldn't even remain resolute as his body instinctively fought to escape, but no matter how he shifted, the whip would continually and relentlessly give chase like a poisonous ulcer that had infested to the bone.
Under the severe pain, he gnawed his lips until they became badly mangled, and each acute torment stemming from the abrasions on his body all stampeded over one other to drill into his mind.
Furthermore, the liquid on the whip had the effect of forcing a person to stay conscious. Even when he could no longer persist and wished to black out, his brain would still keenly process the suffering that came with every strike.
“Ple…ase…” Ling Xia inadvertently let out a feeble plea, his voice buried under the cacophony of the whip’s biting slaps.
His body involuntarily started to shake, and Ling Xia numbly prayed for these ten lashes to hurry up and end.
It was as if time had slowed, and in his scattered and broken vision, he vaguely thought he saw Shang Kai’s satisfied and sickening grin.
By the time it finally concluded, Ling Xia powerlessly hung his head, heavily gasping for breath, and it wasn‘t until he gathered his wits again that he came to realize both the disciple who flogged him and Shang Kai had departed.
With his surroundings a dim and blurry haze, only the violent pain accompanied him in this empty courtyard.
Under the extended radiation from the sun, Ling Xia soon came to understand what was more excruciating, and more terrifying, than the whip could ever be.
In this sweltering heat, the large quantities of sweat that originated from his agony had evaporated into granules of salt, giving his unbearable, aching wounds an additional harrowing and uncomfortable layer of itch. His throat was also excessively parched and on the threshold of rupturing.
He clenched his teeth and used his psychical energy to shield his vital organs, slowly calming down, but every now and then, a weak moan would still escape. As for those flies and bugs that crawled over attracted by the smell of blood, he no longer had the energy to drive them away.
A pair of small and exquisitely embroidered shoes unexpectedly entered his line of sight, along with the hem of a familiar shade of pink. Ling Xia struggled to lift his head, his sluggish vision taking quite a while to focus before he could finally discern his visitor’s face. His lips feebly moved a bit, and croaked, “Cui Yu?“
Cui Yu was evidently intimidated by his injuries and how his entire body reeked of blood, her whole face full of revulsion. She took a step back and asked with swollen eyes, “Was it you who murdered Senior brother Shang? You evil person, why must you be so vicious?”
Although she previously disliked how Shang Yan constantly courted her, but hearing this news still kindled her feelings of camaraderie as a fellow disciple of the same sect.
Ling Xia gave her a bitter smile. Lil’ sis yo, yours truly is a damned scapegoat!
Cui Yu cautiously took in his appearance and exclaimed, somewhat astounded, “It’s you! You’re ZhiJue’s older brother, right?”
Seeing him listlessly nod, Cui Yu fell into a stupor. The first thought that flashed across her mind was, if Yu ZhiJue learned of this, wouldn’t he ignore her even more?
Using the last of his strength, Ling Xia finally forced out a single word, “Water…”
Cui Yu saw how his drenched-in-blood-and-sweat condition was indeed pitiful, and checking that no one was around, stuffed a fruit from her pouch between Ling Xia’s lips.
This fruit was tasty and refreshing, melting once it entered his mouth, and Ling Xia’s inflamed and stinging throat swiftly felt better. Heh heh, as expected, the fruits carried by a sect master’s most treasured daughter were all exceptional goods.
He looked at Cui Yu and squeezed out a difficult smile. Shit, looks like this mob fate of his still cursed him to become cannon fodder! He just didn’t expect that the last person he’d see ended up being neither Song XiaoHu nor Yu ZhiJue, but Cui Yu.
A total of ten days. He did not believe that he could last until then. Fuck, if it wasn’t because he wanted to leave some words for Yu ZhiJue no matter what, he definitely would have provoked Shang Kai into smiting him dead with a single whack earlier.
Fuck! This kind of persecution isn’t something a human could endure! I refuse to play with these psychos any more!
At present, the thing he couldn't let go of the most, was those two kids...
He hoarsely dragged out from his throat, ''Where's Ah'Jue, do you know?''
Cui Yu looked at her hand that was wrapped in gauze, pouted with a slightly guilty conscience, and sai, ''He did something wrong earlier, so Uncle Feng locked him in the rear mountains to reflect for a month. You evil person, you still haven't answered my question yet.''
Hearing this, Ling Xia felt relieved, because now they could avoid the situation of that child stirring up trouble. He stared intently at Cui Yu and his bloodied, chapped lips faintly curved upwards. ''Do you like Ah'Jue?''
Cui Yu's cheeks immediately flushed with red. The young man in front of her was smiling incredibly gently, and miraculously, she didn't feel repilsed and even shyly replied, ''What like? There's only the case od other people liking me, hmph! However... however, Ah'Jue never pays any attention to me...''
Speaking up to here, her voice unwittingly diminished. In the past, whenever she wanted something, there was always someone who would take the initiative to give it to her. Everyone competed to fawn over her, but she also knew that sometimes, those people didn’t sincerely like her, but rather, what came with her identity. And Yu ZhiJue would probably keep avoiding her all the more due to what happened with Ling Xia this time. Thinking of such a future, her mood instantly plummeted.
Ling Xia nodded, closed his eyes to compose himself, then opened them again. ''In that case, please listen carefully to what i'm about say. Please help me pass these words on to Ah'Jue, and with this, he won't blame you.''
His voice was very tranquil, as if he wasn't in pain at all.
Cui Yu blanked out for a bet, reflexively softened her tone, and whisperes, ''I'm listening.''
''Please inform him that, first of all, i won't died.'' i'm merely goinf back to another world.
''Second, tell him that the must properly get along with XiaoHu, and forever remain as brothers.'' Otherwise, i'll die with regrets!
''And lastly, let him know that i didn't feel any pain, and didn't suffer.'' Fuck, who in the world would believe this kind of linethat sounded like some cliche a Holy Mother would spout? i'm in so much pain that i want to die! i want to wail and cry and bawl my eyes out!
Ling Xia exhausted all his power in arduously saying these things, and sweat dropped like rain from his forehead.
Cui Yu only felt her nose tingle and burn, and a strange idea starting to grow in her heart. A young man this kind, how could he possibly kill someone? She took out all the spiritual fruits in her storage bag and prepared to feed them to him.
Ling Xia shook his head and declined. He still had to suffer through nine more days of torment; if he ate these and healed, today’s anguish would simply repeat, so why bother?
He closed his eyes and disjointedly pushed out with his tattered vocal chords, “Also, from a young age, Ah‘Jue didn’t have a father or a mother. If you like him, then please treat him well. Don’t always try to attract his attention by picking a fight. This is all I wanted to say.”
Song XiaoHu was a child with a strong heart and mind, so even without Ling Xia accompanied by his side, he’ll still grow up to be very outstanding, make a lot of friends, establish an enormous harem, find his relatives… Thus, Ling Xia wasn’t worried about him.
The only one he couldn’t put down his concerns for was Yu ZhiJue, that extremely tunnel-minded, yet terribly adorable child.
Cui Yu’s eyes widened in astonishment, ruminating over these new findings, and for the first time ever, began to think about what the word ‘like’ really meant. She ponderously walked away, but couldn’t resist looking back. The tied up, thin, and frail young man was hanging his head, and with sweat-soaked, ink black hair covering his face, appeared as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.
On the second day of the Lashing Penalty, Shang Kai arrived carrying Shang Yan as before. Seeing him, Ling Xia let out a sigh of relief; he had been afraid that the other wouldn’t come.
The castigating disciple raised the whip, and just as he was ready to swing it down, Ling Xia suddenly stared at Shang Kai and weakly chuckled, “Senior Shang, I will absolutely survive to the end of these ten days.”
Like fucking hell anyone’d be able to endure ten days of this level of torture! I’m begging you, get over here and end me already!
Shang Kai froze upon hearing this, then flew into a rage on the spot. The hand that had grabbed his chair reflexively tightened. Yesterday, this youngster looked like he had given up, accepting this punishment with resignation, and watching that hadn’t appeased much of his anger.
So he sneered, “Is that so? What are you trying to say?” He waved his hand, signaling the disciple holding the whip to temporarily halt.
“I only wanted to apologize,” Ling Xia feebly responded. “That day, if I didn’t accidentally hit him, perhaps Senior brother Shang and I could have become good friends.”
Every single word seemed like a stab that gouged out another piece of Shang Kai’s heart. He carefully placed Shang Kai on the ground, and one step at a time, stomped over with purpose.
As if completely oblivious, Ling Xia continued in a light tone, “Senior Shang, after you bury Senior brother Shang, rest assured, I will properly atone in front of his grave…”
He never finished this sentence because at the same time that Shang Kai’s eyes turned frigid, the man had thrown out countless of flying blades compressed from the elemental energy he gathered in his palms!
A streak of dense and mighty flame shot over from the side, canceling out most of Shang Kai’s blades, but a small portion still stabbed into Ling Xia’s body. With almost imperceptibly parted lips, Ling Xia uttered a single name, “Ah‘Li…”
The corner of his mouth tugged upwards, and from that point on, he collapsed and moved no more.
The huge, snow white magical beast fretfully looked at Ling Xia, then glared towards Shang Kai with bloodshot eyes that nearly spat flames, baring two rows of sharp, alabaster teeth.
Thunderstruck, Shang Kai muttered, “A Snow Flamma beast?” Magical beasts above level-6 were already a rare find, and this Snow Flamma had, to his surprise, almost reached level-8!
In the brief moment he was stupefied, the Snow Flamma had bitten off the ropes restricting that youngster, picked him up with its teeth, and leapt away, its speed as fast as lightning.
Why did this Snow Flamma show up here to save that young boy? Although Shang Kai was perplexed, he was positive that one of his flying blades had pierced Ling Xia’s heart. That boy should no longer have any hope of living.
Shag Kai lowered his gaze, looked at his son’s corpse, and murmured, “Yan’er, father got revenge for you!”
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