Chapter 4: Severed Fingers

  This young master's methods, Liu Ze had just experienced them. This time, he fell into his hands, and if he wasn't careful with his words, he might lose his head. What's worse, they seemed to think he was a Xianbei spy, which was an even more dangerous signal. He didn't bat an eye when executing the fleeing civilians, let alone a spy. Liu Ze quickly thought about how to escape this disaster and replied to the inquiry: "Sir, I am not a spy."

  "Old man?" The young master in brocade clothes was slightly startled, then burst out laughing and said, "Haha, this kid must have been scared silly! I'm not your dad, no need to be so familiar!"

  The surrounding servants and soldiers also burst out laughing, the servant smiled and said: "Young master is mighty, just standing here for a moment, this kid doesn't even know who his own father is."

  "Alright, just for your sake of calling me 'sir', I'm in a good mood today. As long as you answer honestly, I'll spare your life, you little brat! Haha!" The young master in brocade clothes laughed with great satisfaction, his smile tinged with arrogance and recklessness.

  Liu Ze was actually quite indignant in his heart. The term "dà ren" (adult) is commonly used in historical dramas, from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Whenever officials are addressed, they are always called "dà ren", as if it's a convention. However, this was not actually the case in history. In the Han dynasty, the term "dà ren" specifically referred to one's parents. Those melodramatic historical dramas really are misleading! Even now that he's imprisoned, Liu Ze's proud nature still doesn't allow others to humiliate him so lightly.

  "Please, young master, have mercy. I am not a spy for the Xianbei people." Although his body was extremely weak, Liu Ze still spoke with dignity and without shame.

  The young master in brocade clothes withdrew his smile and coldly snorted, "You say it's not, then it's not? Then be honest and tell me, where did you come from, where are you going to go? What is your intention for coming to this place, and what is your purpose?"

  Liu Ze was speechless, what could he say? That he was a time-traveler from the year 2000, originally walking on the road, but somehow got sucked into a black hole and transported here. Even if someone believed his story, which was unlikely, they would probably just label him as an evil spirit. Did he know how the Han Dynasty dealt with evil spirits? Liu Ze knew very well what happened to Zuo Ci and Yu Ji. So this secret of crossing over from another time and space, even if he died trying, he couldn't say it out loud, or else he would die an even more miserable death.

  "In the following... I am a person from Youzhou, who got lost with my family when I was young and strayed into the deep mountains. Fortunately, an old man in the mountains rescued me, and I was able to preserve my life. Today, I came down the mountain to find my relatives in Youzhou, and passed through this place, asking Master to take pity on me and give me a way to survive." Liu Ze confirmed that he is now in the Han Dynasty, so his previous home should be in Youzhou according to the geographical division of the Han Dynasty. As for being rescued by an old man, it was just something he made up.

  "The young master in brocade clothes sneered twice and said, 'Do you think I'm easy to fool? It seems that you've eaten iron and steeled your heart. Come on, loosen his muscles and tendons for me. I still don't believe it, this living person's mouth has no confession that can't be asked by me.'"

  Two bare-chested, robust men stood up in response, each holding a whip. The whips were not ordinary horsewhips, but rather black and shiny, thick and long, with the tips stained with fresh blood, presenting a frightening dark purple color.

  The servant sneered and said, "Young man, you're so young and tender-skinned. This kind of flogging isn't something ordinary people can endure. Be honest and confess, or else... Hehe..."

  Liu Ze slowly shook his head and said, "What I have said is true, without a single false word."

  "It seems you won't shed tears until you see a coffin. Take him away!"

  The bare-armed man didn't say a word, raised his whip and "cracked" it loudly, striking Liu Ze's back. The clothes on his back were instantly torn to shreds, and a bloody mark appeared on his pale skin. Liu Ze trembled slightly, biting his teeth tightly, not making a sound. Immediately after, the bare-armed man's second and third whips landed swiftly on Liu Ze's back.

  It's clear that this is a professional executioner, three lashes in a row, without any deviation, all falling on the same spot. These three lashes also have a name: the first lash is called "skin opening", the second lash is called "flesh bursting", and the third lash is called "blood flowing". Three lashes make up one set, after finishing each set of three lashes, they switch to another piece of skin to lash, never repeating, generally after thirty lashes, the entire back and buttocks are already unable to find a complete piece of unbroken skin.

  Although Liu Ze is considered to have a humble origin in modern times, how could someone born in peaceful years experience the kind of human purgatory like the White House gang's cave, and faint after being beaten dozens of times?

  Another basin of cold water was poured over his head, waking up Liu Ze who had been unconscious. His entire back felt like it had been doused with hot coals, and the pain made Liu Ze's tears fall uncontrollably, even breathing hurt so much that it tore his heart apart, the pain made him dizzy. Damn! Is this really the world of humans? It's not as good as staying in the wilderness with that wolf! Just escaped from the wolf's mouth, only to fall into the tiger's den, these ancient people are more brutal than wild beasts, without distinguishing between right and wrong, they directly tried to kill him! To be honest, there is no way out, if he doesn't speak the truth, it will still be a dead end! God, you're killing me!

  "How's the taste? Youngster, don't be stubborn anymore. No matter how hard your bones are, can they be harder than a whip?" The man in charge sneered with a gloomy smile.

  "Alright... I say... I say..." Liu Ze couldn't take it anymore. Anyway, he wasn't a member of any party, and even if he died, no one would declare him a martyr or anything. Rather than being beaten to death, he might as well surrender and get it over with.

  "Knowing the trend is a talent, early knowing why bother at first, haha... The manager's pride is extraordinary, it seems that under severe punishment, confessing to a crime is not fake."

  Liu Ze weakly gasped: "Alright... I'll tell the truth... but I'm afraid you won't believe me either... actually, I am not a person of this dynasty, but a person from two thousand years later..."

  "What?!" The manager's face turned green, Liu Ze's words were even more outrageous than before. What he said earlier could be considered a lie, but what he was saying now could only be considered nonsense. The manager was furious and shouted loudly, "You scoundrel, how dare you toy with your superior! Guards, take him away and give him severe punishment!"

  Those two shirtless men threw away the whip and brought over a pair of pliers. Once these pliers were used, Liu Ze's two legs would probably be crippled for good. At this moment, Liu Ze had a helpless look on his face, shaking his head with a bitter smile: "I knew you guys wouldn't believe me, saying it was useless."

  Two men were about to execute the punishment, but the young master in brocade clothes waved his hand to stop them and asked the person in charge, "Li, didn't you just say that a lot of things were found on this kid's body?"

  Li Guanshi nodded and bowed, hastily bringing over those things. The brocade-clad young master flipped open Liu Ze's laptop, looking left and right, although curious, but he ultimately couldn't figure out what this thing was. "Li Guanshi, take a look at this thing."

  He didn't understand, and how could Li the manager recognize this thing. Li's wife turned her head and looked at it for a long time, saying: "In my humble opinion, this looks like a mirror, but it's not made of copper, and the reflection is also blurry."

  The young master in brocade clothes also felt that this was a useless thing, and threw it aside. His interest shifted to the multi-functional tool knife, and after playing with it for a while, he put the tool knife into his own bosom. Finally, he took over the photo, and the clear portrait on the photo made him very surprised, exactly the same as the real person. It's worth noting that even in this era, even the best painters couldn't paint portraits so vividly.

  Liu Ze saw him holding the photo, and his heart skipped a beat. This was the only thing he had brought from his previous life that was related to his family, and it was now his only thought. It was no longer just a photo, but carried the love of his wife and child. In his most painful and helpless moments, this love would support him and never give up moving forward. Putting his wife and child's photo in front of his chest, accompanying him through the wind and rain of this life, was Liu Ze's greatest wish.

  The young master in brocade clothes seemed to have also noticed Liu Ze's abnormality, walked up to him and squatted down, shaking the photo with a playful tone: "It seems that this thing is very important to you..."

  Liu Ze nodded hastily, his eyes revealing an urgent and yearning expression.

  "Alright, here you go..." The young master in brocade handed over the photo.

  "Give me... give me..." Liu Ze Xi was overjoyed and used all his strength to lift up his hand to receive it.

  The young master's hand drew a beautiful arc in mid-air, and then returned to his front, smiling: "But it seems like you haven't told the truth to me yet?"

  Liu Ze's heart sank, this result was completely within his expectations. How could this evil young master be so kind? Moreover, Liu Ze's anxious attention to the photo made it clear to Jin Fu Gongzi that this was his weakness, and how could he give up such a good leverage?

  "Master, I... I swear to heaven, every word I say is true! Please believe me!"

  The young master's face turned gloomy, and he sneered: "Interesting, this is the first time I've seen someone with such a hard mouth. It's actually quite impressive. Unfortunately, such a delicate painting..." As he spoke, he slowly tore the photo in half.

  "Don't!" Liu Ze's eyes were wide open as he watched him tear the photo to shreds, his heart bleeding like a knife cut, helplessly stretching out his arms, shouting hoarsely, "Don't! Please don't! Don't!"

  "It's actually quite simple, to be honest, I won't make things difficult for you again."

  "Master, what I'm saying is true, it's really true... Please believe me, believe me!"

  The young master's face changed greatly, and he quickly tore the photo into pieces. Then, with a flick of his hand, like a celestial maiden scattering flowers, the fragments drifted in the wind and slowly fell to the ground.

  Liu Ze wailed, hastily grasping at the scattered fragments in mid-air, but how could he possibly catch them all? Those fragments turned to dust and dispersed with the wind. Liu Ze's heart was like being tortured, his love, his dreams, shattered along with the torn photos. Liu Ze's teeth were almost crushed, his eye sockets filled with blood vessels, his eyes bulging out, his entire face twisted in agony, staring fixedly at Jin Fu Gong Zi.

  "Why? Why can't you even let go of a single photo?"

  The young master in brocade seemed to be startled by his crazy appearance and involuntarily took a step back. Shi was extremely annoyed, wasn't he just a prisoner who had been beaten half to death? How dare he speak so loudly to himself like that. Even the soldiers on the side couldn't help but burst out laughing. The young master in brocade glared at those soldiers, scaring the ones who were laughing earlier into pale faces and silence. The young master in brocade was also angry with himself for losing his composure just now, and this anger would naturally be vented on Liu Ze's body.

  "What kind of thing are you, a person no better than pigs and dogs, daring to interrogate me?" He pointed at Liu Ze's head with his index finger, saying hatefully, "If I don't give you a lesson, you really won't know how many eyes Duke Ma has!"

  At this time, Liu Ze had already been disappointed and frustrated. Looking at the arrogant expression of the brocade-clad young master, he felt a surge of anger rising from his heart, and with a burst of ferocity, he opened his mouth and bit down on the young master's index finger, using all his strength to bite down.

  It all happened so suddenly, no one expected that Liu Ze, who had been beaten to the brink of death, would suddenly launch a counterattack and bite down on the young master's finger. The young master let out a blood-curdling scream as the servants and soldiers rushed over, trying to pry the two apart. But Liu Ze bit down too hard, and it took them a good while to finally manage to separate the two.

  The young master in brocade clothes looked at his index finger, which had already been cut off a short distance, and fresh blood was gushing out. His ten fingers were connected to his heart, and the young master in brocade clothes was in unbearable pain, let out a mournful cry, and fainted. The officer in charge and the soldiers hurriedly found someone to bandage him, and the scene had already become chaotic.

  At this time, the most leisurely one was Liu Ze. He was pressed down by two soldiers and couldn't move at all. Even if he were allowed to move, he probably wouldn't have had half a bit of strength left. Just now, he had already put all his strength into biting off the bloody finger in his mouth. After spitting out the severed finger, Liu Ze smiled miserably.

  It was worth it to trade a life for half of the young master's finger. As for how the young master would crazily take revenge after waking up, Liu Ze didn't need to think about it anymore. Whether it was being skinned alive, or slowly and painfully hacked to death, he didn't care, anyway it was just a way of dying, and he really wasn't particular about that.

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