"Is there a need to be so hasty?" Du Huoguan felt compelled to remind him: "Jailer, while the Qi family's own strength is limited, their backing in the Heavenly Court cannot be underestimated. Killing someone's daughter without a reason truly isn't justifiable, and it will be difficult to explain to the Heavenly Court."
Nie turned and sat on the brocade couch, asking: “What was the reason Shi Chun was arrested?”
Du Huoguan: “Theft.”
Nie: “Then let it be theft.”
“…” Du Huoguan choked, speechless.
Qi Yueru comes to visit someone in prison and casually steals something, and then the city guards are all just decorations, and you even personally kill her? Does that reason make sense? Someone would have to believe it, too.
However, he quickly understood the intention.
It was precisely because the reason didn’t make sense that it could protect someone.
Anyway, he would still have to personally handle the fabrication of charges later.
After figuring it out, he reminded again: “Qi Yueru should know who the internal spy is.”
“Investigating the internal spy is your business.” Nie dismissed it with a single sentence, clearly feeling that he had talked too much. He lifted his feet, turned on his side, and lay down on the couch again, adding: “Shi Chun can be released, but the theft case will not be closed.
Tell them that if new clues are found, they will be interrogated at any time.”
“Ah?” Even Du Huoguan, with his imposing demeanor, was somewhat dumbfounded at this moment.
Releasing someone to freedom, letting them leave the Land of Exile, but still being able to apprehend them at any time—how could that be done? There was no such precedent in the Land of Exile. Fearing he had misunderstood, he couldn’t help but confirm: “Is it release from the city, or release from the Living Prison?”
After asking this, he immediately felt his question was a bit redundant.
Indeed, the Jailer already looked too lazy to answer.
But he still braved it and asked the doubt in his heart, “Jailer, why protect such a small figure as Shi Chun?”
“If you can ask it, there’s no need for an explanation,” Nie responded indifferently, slowly closing his eyes.
With his intention to no longer engage clear, Du Huoguan, helpless, left with his doubts.
Shi Chun, who was in the dueling arena, had been looking around, bored and lonely, unsure what was going on.
It seemed no one was paying attention to him. He looked at the city guard beating the drum; the latter stood motionless by the drum stand, occasionally glancing at him.
In truth, Shi Chun had already noticed two other people on the rooftop of the pavilion, having seen them just before the strange phenomenon in his right eye disappeared, but he pretended as if he had seen nothing.
For him, the biggest discovery wasn’t what his right eye saw, but confirming how to activate its ability.
Nervousness! Yes, it was nervousness. As long as his emotions entered a state of tension, the strange ability of his right eye would be activated.
The question he had been pondering had dimly dawned on him while he was being tortured in prison.
Upon first entering the Zhixu City prison and facing interrogation, he truly couldn’t help but be nervous.
The result was that once he got nervous, his right eye’s ability activated, allowing him to vaguely grasp the commonality among several instances of special ability activation, though he wasn’t sure.
He hadn’t expected the opportunity to confirm it to come so quickly.
The sudden appearance of the Azure Fox Great Demon instantly brought his nervousness to the perfect level.
Ultimately, this also confirmed his conjecture: nervousness could trigger the anomalous ability of his right eye.
Downstairs by the entrance, Du Huoguan walked out. Shi Chun didn’t know who he was, but he had seen him in prison before.
Du Huoguan raised a hand and beckoned the drumming city guard over, instructing him to take Shi Chun away for record-keeping.
There was no other way; the Jailer had said the case wouldn't be closed, so there needed to be some basis here for apprehending them at any time.
Otherwise, on what grounds could they be brought back from the outside? The Living Prison had no jurisdiction over the outside world, nor would others' jurisdictions allow the Living Prison to intervene arbitrarily. Conversely, would the Living Prison allow the outside world to intervene at will?
In the guest courtyard wing, several city guards arrived and knocked on the door.
A restless Qi Yueru opened the door. Seeing the people outside, she was slightly wary and asked, “What is it?”
The leader said: “You’ve stayed here too long.
The Prison Inspector has an order to expel you. Take your belongings and leave.”
Qi Yueru was eager to leave quickly, so she immediately complied, gathering her items and stepping out.
After being led to the barbican gate, the final measure was to be executed: a body search.
As she was a woman, a female city guard was naturally assigned to the task.
Qi Yueru obediently cooperated.
However, as soon as she turned around, she was met with a violent blow, spitting blood. Before she could even react to what was happening, she was pressed to the ground.
Someone immediately covered her mouth, and others grabbed her arms and legs, snapping them one by one, causing her to whimper in agony.
They were truly ruthless, not playing around at all.
Especially the act of covering her mouth, which immediately made her realize that she had been exposed, and Ba Yingshan wanted to silence her!
She was unwilling and immediately wanted to shout out and expose everything, but she forcibly held back the words at the tip of her tongue.
Exposing Ba Yingshan would mean her own death, and Ba Yingshan would then expose the Qi family, where her dearest family members resided.
Before she came, her family had secretly instructed her that if her mission was exposed, she alone was to bear all responsibility; it was all her individual action.
If she hadn’t firmly kept this in mind, she might have actually blurted out Ba Yingshan’s name just now.
“What are you doing? What are you doing…” Qi Yueru whimpered in muffled cries, struggling in agony.
Seeing that she was about to be silenced without revealing the other party, the person next to her who had signaled to act looked up towards the barbican wall.
Du Huoguan revealed his face from behind the wall, looking at the person pressed down below. He felt a bit of pity in his heart; she still wouldn’t speak even like this, knowing she wouldn’t open her mouth again.
The Jailer only made decisions, while he had to also manage other matters. Just as the Jailer said, investigating the internal spy was his business.
Seeing that they had not succeeded, he subtly nodded. The person who had looked up understood, immediately walked to the side of the pinned-down Qi Yueru, leaned down, and delivered a punch to Qi Yueru’s lower back, directly indenting her back.
Blood spurted from between the five fingers covering Qi Yueru’s mouth. Qi Yueru, bleeding from all seven orifices, had a face full of bitterness and despair.
She didn’t even have time for regret or remorse, twitching a few times before falling still.
Crack, fearing she wasn’t dead, someone else twisted her neck.
Then the body was directly dragged away, brazenly pulled all the way outside the inner city gate, and hung by a rope.
The entire execution process, from beginning to end, was swift, decisive, and merciless.
Soon, a crowd gathered to watch. The city guards deliberately spread the news, saying she was killed by the Jailer himself for theft.
What? The Jailer personally acted? Like a stone stirring a thousand ripples, everyone buzzed with discussion, and the news spread rapidly.
At Far-Gazing Tower, Lan Qiaoyan, upon hearing the news, was incredulous.
She personally rushed to the inner city gate to confirm that the deceased was indeed Qi Yueru.
Not to mention outsiders, even the city guards themselves were shocked upon hearing the news, suspecting it was a rumor.
Would Lord Jailer act for such a small matter? However, after learning it was told by their own colleagues, they had to believe it, as colleagues dared not speak falsely about the Jailer.
The news naturally reached Ba Yingshan’s ears, scaring him out of his wits.
He continued to hide in his room to avoid suspicion.
He didn’t believe the Jailer would personally kill Qi Yueru for such a small matter.
Was there even a need to say why? He could only hope that Qi Yueru didn’t expose him before her death…
Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang, in tattered clothes and covered in injuries, also walked out of the inner city gate, having been released. Their weapons and belongings were returned to them.
Seeing the crowd blocking the entrance, Wu Jinliang scoffed, “Are they here to welcome us, or are they waiting to see our misfortune?”
He soon realized he was overthinking; he saw everyone pointing towards the top of the city gate. The two men who had just walked out of the gate looked up and saw the hanging female corpse.
Neither recognized her.
Wu Jinliang gave another ‘eh’ and asked a bystander, “What’s going on?”
There was a lot he didn’t know, he didn’t even know that Shi Chun beside him had already fought a duel for their lives.