Chapter Thirteen: Massacre

  The huge psychological blow almost crushed Liu Ziguang's nerves, he pulled the knife out from behind his back, but the blade was trembling uncontrollably. He ran desperately for a long time, not knowing how many tens of miles, exhausted, thirsty, hungry, and cold, as if his will to fight had been deeply shattered by fear.

  The other hiding guards also stood up, sitting on the war horses and looking at the toyed prey with a triumphant smile. The horse team that had deliberately run far away came back, surrounding Liu Ziguang in the middle. Under the blazing flames of the torches, the hunting dogs ferociously tried to pounce over and bite Liu Ziguang, pulling the leather straps held by the guards into a straight line.

  Liu Ziguang, with a messy hair and a face covered in mud, held his knife and kept changing positions, fearing being ambushed from behind. The guards were laughing and yielding to each other the opportunity to slaughter their prey.

  "Yang Meng, now you can avenge your arrow." Song Qingfeng said.

  Originally, it was just to ruin Liu Ziguang's reputation, but unexpectedly, Dongxiang lost her life. In order to win over Yang Meng, Song Qingfeng agreed to marry the eldest sister and take control of the iron factory. After that, he would arrange for Dongxiang to be married off to Yang Meng, who had long been eyeing her. However, Dongxiang overheard this conversation and became hysterical, insisting on reporting it to the eldest sister. Having no other choice, they killed her and conspired with Yang Meng to frame Liu Ziguang.

  "Dongxiang, for the sake of my great cause, I can only wrong you." Song Qingfeng thought of Dongxiang's kindness to him and muttered to himself.

  Yang Meng had once been defeated by Liu Ziguang, and he knew the principle of a desperate beast fighting back, so he didn't dismount to duel one-on-one. Instead, he grasped the long spear in his hand, spurred on his horse, and charged forward.

  Yang Meng's warhorse was a Mongolian horse, not very large in stature. He held the reins in his left hand and gripped an iron spear tightly in his right hand, its tip pointing directly at the chest of the mud-covered fugitive several yards away. Yang Meng was a man who remembered grudges, and after being defeated by Liu Ziguang last time, he had been searching for an opportunity to take revenge. However, as his enemy rose through the ranks, such opportunities became increasingly scarce, and he didn't even have the chance to bully Chen Feng. Therefore, he felt very frustrated. When Song Qingfeng promised to provide him with a chance for revenge and agreed to facilitate his marriage to Dong Xiang, he accepted without hesitation, especially since Song Qingfeng's conditions included other proposals that were hard to refuse.

  As the war horse approached rapidly, Yang Meng seemed to have already seen Liu Ziguang being pierced by the iron spear, and a smile floated at the corner of his mouth. Closer, even closer, the iron spear was thrust out with full force!

  Suddenly, Liu Ziguo, who had been standing still, disappeared in front of the horse. Next, the Mongolian horse let out a painful whinny and its front hoof bent violently, throwing Yang Meng off the horse. Yang Meng was quick-witted and rolled on the ground, abandoning his long spear and drawing his waist knife. He turned around to see that one of the Mongolian horse's front legs had been severed, with blood flowing freely, and the warhorse was struggling on the ground. Liu Ziguo, who had been listless just before, was now kneeling on the ground, holding a bloody knife and staring coldly at him.

  This was a trick that the veteran warriors who had been fighting against nomadic cavalry for years had taught him, and now it finally came in handy. Although he was already exhausted, Liu Ziguang still refused to be killed easily.

  The knights around were in an uproar, the war horses became restless, Song Qingfeng stopped some guards who wanted to use bows and arrows to support Yang Meng, he had promised Yang Meng that he would give him a chance to defeat Liu Ziguang and regain his face.

  Yang Meng, with the support of his own people around him, greatly increased his courage, let out a shout, and charged forward with his knife. The two steel knives clashed together, and in the dark wilderness, there was only the sound of the wind and the ringing of metal clashing.

  Yang Meng was still no match for Liu Ziguang, who, with a determination to die, used all his desperate moves, and seeing Yang Meng flailing about, Song Qingfeng let out a soft sigh and gave the guard beside him holding the bow and arrow a signal.

  Liu Ziguang, who was fighting with all his might, suddenly heard the sound of a feathered arrow piercing the air behind him. As soon as he heard the sound, his right shoulder had already been hit by an arrow. The sharp three-edged arrowhead, due to the proximity of the shooting distance and the great force, instantly penetrated his right scapula. The steel knife in his hand was no longer able to be tightly grasped, and was heavily knocked away by Yang Meng, flying out several feet away.

  Yang Meng took the opportunity to kick Liu Ziguang in the chest with a penetrating leg, kicking him onto his back. When he tried to get up again, his throat was already pressed against the steel knife.

  Liu Ziguang was bound with his hands behind his back, kneeling on the ground, with two knives placed around his neck. According to Song Qingfeng's intention, it was impossible to bring a live prisoner back, and according to Dajie's cleverness, it might be possible to interrogate him and find out something wrong, so he had to be settled on the spot. However, Yang Meng and other guards insisted on having some fun before executing Liu Ziguang, Song Qingfeng did not want to oppose everyone on such a small issue, so he agreed.

  To be on the safe side, Song Qingfeng drew his sword and walked to Liu Ziguang's back, gesturing to the two guards to press down on Liu Ziguang, then with a swift and skilled Wudang sword move, he severed the two tendons in Liu Ziguang's legs.

  Liu Ziguang didn't make a sound, and instead turned his head to stare at Song Qingfeng who was still wiping the sword with a white cloth, asking: "Why do you want to harm me?"

  "It's because you killed Dong Xiang." Song Qingfeng said lightly, there was no need to waste words on someone who was about to die.

  There are too many reasons to want to harm someone, and this question shouldn't be asked of Song Qingfeng. In the end, he still can't escape the fate of being beheaded and buried in a desolate wilderness. Having come into this world, he has already suffered so much, and just when things were finally starting to look up, he hasn't even had time to savor the taste of success that he never experienced in his original timeline, and now he's going to die. It's really miserable, will his head be presented to the young mistress? What will she think? Will she feel a little sad? On the verge of death, he's still thinking about the young mistress, alas, now he doesn't even have the chance to think anymore.

  "Give me a good one!" Liu Ziguang said.

  "This kid is really arrogant, unfortunately Grandpa can't meet your expectations." Yang Meng was very angry, this time he still couldn't truly defeat Liu Ziguang, in the future, in front of everyone, how could he have any face? He wanted to use cruel means to prove himself ruthless and make others fear him.

  "Brother Luo, lend me your BMW for a spin." Yang Meng borrowed Lu Gaozhi's Xixia Sanhe horse, which was tall and majestic in stature, exceptionally handsome, with strong legs, and was considered top-notch among horses.

  Yang Meng found a long leather strap, tied Liu Ziguang's two hands, and the other end was tied to the harness of Sanhe Horse. Liu Ziguang's leg tendons were severed, unable to stand, and was dragged down behind the horse.

  Yang Meng flipped over onto the horse, urging the Sanhe horse to move forward, gradually increasing its speed, and galloping across the wilderness. Liu Ziguang was dragged behind, bumping and scraping against the rough ground, with blood flowing from his wounds forming a long trail of blood.

  Many knights also followed on horseback, the hunting dogs were abnormally excited by the bloody smell, and they ran wildly with Sanhe horses, from time to time trying to bite Liu Ziguang.

  Liu Ziguang's blue silk shirt was already tattered and worn out, the part that touched the ground had been rubbed smooth, his body was scratched and bruised by the jagged rocks and frozen hard ground, his flesh was blurred with blood. He had lost consciousness.

  Running a distance, Lu Gaizhi feared that his beloved horse would be tired and stopped Yang Meng, who was in high spirits.

  "Brother, seeing you having so much fun, let everyone else have a taste of it too." Lu Gaozhi said.

  Yang Meng made a casual gesture with his hand. He halted his warhorse and looked at Gao Zhi to see if he had any better ideas.

  "Brothers, how about a horse trample formation?" Lu Gaozhi said, pulling the horse back several steps, then fiercely urging on the horse whip, and galloping over Liu Ziguang's body.

  "It's still the old way of playing", everyone praised and followed suit, more than a dozen horses trampled over Liu Ziguang's body.

  Not satisfied with one trample, the crowd turned their horses around and launched another group charge to trample Liu Ziguang's already unrecognizable body. Probably every bone in his body was crushed, Lu Gaozhi thought contentedly.

  They were having a good time, when a horseman came galloping from afar. As he approached, it turned out to be a messenger sent by the eldest sister, ordering all teams searching outside to capture Liu Ziguang alive and bring him back for interrogation, those who disobeyed would be severely punished.

  The orderly didn't see or recognize that pile of rotten flesh in the distance was Liu Ziguang, he just delivered the order and turned his horse around to leave. The crowd was stunned, disobeying orders was a serious crime. This little bastard, even after death, still wanted to harm them, they blamed this on Liu Ziguang as well.

  The guards discussed it in a flurry of voices, some saying they should pretend not to have found Liu Ziguang, others suggesting they go back and explain that Liu Ziguang was arrested but had to be killed, while others proposed destroying the corpse.

  The dispute was unresolved, and everyone's eyes turned to the mainstay Song Qingfeng.

  Song Qingfeng hesitated for a moment, then said: "It's better to destroy the evidence and keep it under wraps. When we get back, everyone will keep their mouths shut, and even if Big Sister can't find any evidence, she won't be able to do anything to us."

  "Let the hounds eat his flesh and offer sacrifices to the temple of these beasts' entrails, wouldn't that be delightful?" someone said.

  "Stop talking nonsense. Our family's hunting dog only eats clean meat. Such dirty and rotten meat, even dogs won't eat." Another person said.

  "Hmm, I remember that about two miles west of here, there's a cave called the Heavenly Pit, which is incredibly deep and bottomless. It's said to connect to the ocean. The mining guards would secretly kill the slaves who were too weak to work, and then throw them into this pit to avoid being punished by their superiors. When you toss someone in, it takes half a day before you can even hear the sound of them hitting the bottom. It's definitely a great place to dispose of corpses." An older guard said.

  "So much the better, let's throw the corpse into the abyss." Song Qingfeng said.

  The crowd once again tied Liu Ziguang's wrist with a leather strap to the horse's back, and the group rode towards the Heavenly Pit.

  The Heaven's Pit was a huge hole with a diameter of about ten zhang, its dark mouth suddenly appearing on the barren plain like a monster's maw, giving off an otherworldly eerie and terrifying feeling. The pit wall was neat and tidy, and the entrance to the cave was shrouded in a chilling aura that made people tremble with fear.

  A guard found a large stone and pushed it down, the stone knocked against the wall of the cave and fell down, and indeed, no echo was heard for a long time. The guard spat out his tongue and subconsciously retreated several steps back.

  Song Qingfeng was very satisfied with the pit, and gestured to pull the body over. Lu Gaozhi and Yang Meng pulled Liu Ziguang to the edge of the pit using a rope, placing him in front of Song Qingfeng.

  "With a surname Liu, such a wonderful place to rest in peace, I'm afraid your soul will have a hard time reincarnating, who made you affect my plan? Blame yourself for being unlucky." Song Qingfeng muttered to himself, lifted his white bear fur-lined boot, and gently stepped on Liu Ziguang's body with the toe of his shoe. With a slight effort, a corpse that could no longer be distinguished as human fell into the sky pit.

  In an instant, the corpse disappeared into the endless darkness. The guards listened for a while and still didn't hear any sound of it hitting the ground. Instead, the whirlwind in the cave let out bursts of wailing like ghostly cries. Yang Meng suddenly shivered with cold and said in a low voice, "Let's get out of here."

  The crowd fell silent, and quietly turned their heads to leave. Even the loud hunting dogs tucked their tails in and didn't let out another fierce bark. The group of people quickly disappeared into the night.

  In the depths of the abyss, a hellish endless silence and darkness, a faint red glow suddenly flashed, gradually becoming a regular flicker. Under the flashing red light was a dark metal shell, with a faintly visible embossed badge pattern, an olive branch encircling a circular emblem.