Han Yunxi thought that the guard would toss the female prisoner into the iron cage and let the carnivorous rat gnaw on her, but the reality was beyond her expectations. Even the prisoner herself didn’t foresee this!
The guard held her tight and pressed her against the side of the iron cage while his quick hands unlatched the opening that was roughly the size of a human head. Before the rat inside could escape, he used the prisoner’s head to block the opening!
Heavens!
Han Yunxi sucked in a cold breath. She suddenly realized that the consequences for offending Long Feiye were this terrible!
The female prisoner’s head blocked the opening as the starving rat threw itself over, claws scrabbling at the iron cage to steady itself as it hooked past her hair onto the skin. Sharp teeth protruded from its mouth as it bit at the prisoner’s head!
“Sob…sobsob…”
Of course the prisoner knew what was going on. Her complexion had turned ashen, her eyes as wide as copper bells as they filled with fear. She struggled with all her strength to move her body as whimpers came from her gagged mouth. It sounded like she was trying to beg for mercy. Long Feiye didn’t pay her any attention, but the woman kept whimpering as she looked towards Long Feiye, her fearful eyes filled with obvious entreaty.
Anyone could tell that she was pleading for mercy.
At this, Long Feiye lightly raised a hand. The guard tossed a piece of meat into the cage, distracting the rat enough for it to release her head and chase after the food. Immediately, the guard used the chance to pull the prisoner aside and close the door. The woman shut her eyes, her legs turning weak as she sank to sit on the ground. All her strength seemed to have disappeared, her fear leaving her trembling and badly shaken. Han Yunxi wrinkled her eyebrows as she looked towards the back of her head, where there was nothing but a mess of mangled flesh and blood.
She glanced at the rat in the cage with a sense of disgust, not wanting to look at it anymore.
“Will you decide whether to give up the list of names now?” Long Feiye asked coldly. What he wanted was a register of the enemy spy names. With this in hand, he could completely end Northern Li’s little game!
The woman kept her head lowered, not moving. It wasn’t clear whether she’d been scared witless, but it seemed that way to Han Yunxi. As it turned out, she’d underestimated this female spy. After awhile, the woman slowly raised her head. Though she’d been entreating Long Feiye beforehand, now she gave him a fierce glare and turned her head aside without answering his question.
Since she’s so strong-willed, why bother asking for mercy in the first place? Han Yunxi knitted her brows, unable to admire such a person.
Long Feiye didn’t have such patience as he narrowed his eyes. “Continue!”
The guard immediately dragged the woman upright again. Dread flitted past her eyes, but in the end she didn’t plead for mercy. As she saw it, Long Feiye only had two prisoners left. He wouldn’t allow her to die so easily, so as long as she endured this, it’d be all right.
But who knew that instead of her head, the guard shoved her face into the opening of the cage!
“No…” the captive immediately understood what he was about to do. Her heart howled with rage as her eyes opened wide. “Don’t…!”
This was to let the carnivorous rat gnaw on her face!
She regretted it, she was so frightened that she started to thrash and sob, tears streaming down her face. This time Long Feiye didn’t tell them to stop, but was thoroughly prepared to have her die!
Bang!
The guard shoved her head-on into the opening, her face directly facing the giant rat! Currently, it was still nibbling on the piece of meat that the guard had tossed in before, greedily ripping into the morsel as it shot a glance over.
“Sobsob…sobsob…”
The woman tried to shake her head and back away, but to no avail. The guard held her firmly in place. Finally, the rat finished eating its meat and slowly turned around, facing her head-on!
“Sob…”
The woman was so terrified that her eyes seemed to split open, horror filling the pupils. Very quickly, the giant rat attacked! Han Yunxi turned aside, too afraid to look. Soon enough, she heard the ruthless sound of teeth tearing at flesh. Long Feiye’s icy pupils were completely emotionless as he turned to survey the other prisoner in the room.
“And you?” he asked coldly.
Only then did Han Yunxi remember that there was still another captive present. She suddenly realized that Long Feiye intended to kill this woman from the start. This was killing the chicken to warn the monkey[1]! The true subject of interrogation was the woman tied on one side!
Seeing his grave, stern face, Han Yunxi suddenly felt like she was looking at a wolf. Against his enemies, he was always calm, decisive, and cruel!
Currently, the other woman was looking in terror at her companion. She never expected Long Feiye to kill her. After all, there were only two of them left. Once they died, Long Feiye wouldn’t have any more clues! Hadn’t he been worried about their deaths in the past? He even sent poison specialists to examine the ones who’d died from poison, but why was he so ruthless now? Seeing that she had no reaction, Long Feiye signaled with his eyes for the guard to remove her gag.
Immediately, the woman cried out, “Long Feiye, you might as well kill me too! I won’t surrender!”
A cold smile curved on Long Feiye’s features as he stood up lazily and strolled towards the metal cage. Worry filled the female prisoner’s face as her expression turned tight. She saw Long Feiye drag aside the woman whose face had been pressed against the opening and throw her to the ground. The giant rat seemed to fear Long Feiye and immediately dashed away to hide, too afraid to chase its meal through the opening.
Meanwhile, the other woman lay sprawled on the ground, lying on her back. Her face was completely ruined, but she was still alive! Even if her entire face had been chewed through, she still wouldn’t die. Instead, she trembled uncontrollably, her face completely torn up, her lips chewed to a pulp that made her unable to speak.
Only then did Long Feiye turned towards the first woman and gave a cold smile. “Your lordship won’t kill you, but make you suffer a fate worse than death!” So speaking, he ordered, “Someone, take her away to a doctor for treatment. When she’s healed, we’ll continue with the execution! Next.”
“No…” the tied-up woman inadvertently blurted out. After witnessing her companion’s state with her own eyes, she was completely aware of the horrors of this rat. She could admit that she didn’t have to nerve to face it–just imagining it made her hair stand on end.
“You still have time to change your mind,” Long Feiye reminded her coldly.
The woman didn’t think twice before replying, “I agree!”
So fast?
Han Yunxi was puzzled, but then the woman spoke again. “Long Feiye, I’ll agree to your terms! But let me eat my fill of rice first to calm my mind down.”
After starving for so many days, she didn’t have any strength left. Since she was going to confess, it was very normal to ask for a meal first. If Han Yunxi hadn’t solved the mystery of the Rice Poison, perhaps Long Feiye might’ve even agreed. But the female captive didn’t know that Long Feiye had gone to war today and risked a prisoner’s life for interrogation just because he’d cracked the puzzle.
Once a prisoner wanted to die but had no way to do so, their only option was to confess!
“Rice?” Long Feiye wore an icy smile. “Do you think your lordship will help you take poison and commit suicide?”
At this, the woman’s face suddenly changed color. Did Long Feiye’s words just then mean that he found out the existence of Rice Poison?
No, this is impossible!
Their master’s poison skills were so secretive. Rice Poison was a poison from ancient times that few people were aware of. How could Long Feiye know? She gave him a disbelieving look, but Long Feiye didn’t have the patience to waste time with her.
“Someone, carry out the execution!”
If someone couldn’t die and was slowly tormented, they might refuse to confess one or two times, but not the third! The only way for her to die was to wait until she starved to death! But before she did, she would have to face unimaginable torture. Quickly, the guard took her into custody. Her face was completely colorless as her heart trembled with fear, legs turning so weak that she almost couldn’t walk right.
After passing by her companion and seeing her face close up, she was completely scared out of her senses. She shut her eyes tightly and cried out, “I agree! Long Feiye, I agree to your terms!”
If she didn’t confess, how many times would she have to endure this rat torture before she died?
No, she couldn’t take it, not even once. She couldn’t take poison, but she couldn’t hold out until she died, either!
“Give her brush and paper!” As Long Feiye spoke, he sat back down, his entire form emanating an overbearing aura.
The female prisoner trembled as she spoke, “I don’t know who the other members of the faction are…none of us know each other!”
Long Feiye chuckled, but only slightly. Still, the sound was frighteningly clear in the quiet dungeons.
“I only know the people we have to kill within the next three years. I really don’t know anything else,” the woman confessed hastily. She was so frightened that she didn’t seem to be telling lies. A guard quickly handed over brush and paper, and the woman wrote down a list with trembling strokes after a long, long time.
“I only know about these 20 people, I really don’t know the rest!” her voice was choked with sobs as tears poured down her face.
Long Feiye took it for a look and seemed to have caught something. His gaze turned complicated, but he didn’t reveal anything on his face. Coldly he asked, “What position does your leader hold in Northern Li Country? Are they hiding themselves in Tianning as well?”
Such a tightknit organization of spies had existed in Tianning Country for three to four years, perhaps even longer. Their leader had to be someone extraordinary.
“I don’t know!” the woman burst out, before hurrying to explain. “We only listen to the orders of our group leaders. I’ve only seen my group leader, but never anyone above them.”
This method did resemble a spy organization. In this way, if any of the subordinates were discovered and tortured, they still couldn’t reveal their head leader.
“Who is your group leader?” Long Feiye asked, full of amused interest.
“She’s called Sister Snake, the one who recently died by your hands,” the woman answered, hesitating before adding, “She can control poison mosquito swarms…”
At this, Long Feiye recalled the female spy who commanded mosquitoes. He didn’t expect her to be the group leader of these female agents. If not for the fact that he was in a mountain valley back then and wanted to prevent more surprises, he wouldn’t have killed her so quickly. He asked the female prisoner a few more questions before signaling the guard to take her away. Han Yunxi watched everything unfold, keeping silent all the while. She finally released a breath when it was all over, but then Long Feiye handed over the namelist with a pondering look in his eyes.
“Take a look…”
-o-
[1] killing the chicken to warn the monkey (杀鸡儆猴) – xia ji jing hou, to punish an individual as an example to others, based on this idiom story.
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