Chapter 197: Skinned Alive
Translator: Kelaude Editor: TomYummy
Clouds filled the sky overhead, as a chill wind blew.
‘SMACK!’ Pathetically battered, and on the verge of death—Yuan Zhengkun, Li Xin and Sun Jiaojiao were mercilessly thrown to the ground.
If it were the normal folks in their shoes, they would have already died much earlier. The trio were using their transcendence energy to keep their heart beat from stopping, barely keeping themselves alive.
Of course the main reason was that the men who captured them hadn’t done the deed, or else— how could they still be alive?
As their faces crashed into the icy snow, they began shivering; the fog in each of their minds slowly receded, and they gradually lifted their heads.
The three lay on their stomachs at the foot of the steps leading to the destroyed East Arrival Grand Hall. The moment they raised their heads, they caught sight of the twelve unsightly corpses—stiff from the cold as they hung from the destroyed beams of the East Arrival Grand Hall.
Why were these corpses still hanging here? Their pupils shrank, and their hearts were instantly racing.
This was their handiwork. How could they not know where they were?
There was no one in front of them apart from the hanging cadavers. The three desperately twisted their heads to look about, and found the nine masked men with disheveled hair behind them, encircling them in a half-fanned position. One by one, they began taking off their masks, revealing their true faces.
From afar, a grating sound pierced their ears.
Miao Yi was letting the Inversed-Scales Spear in his hand drag; as the tip scraped against the ground—it drew a line in the snow. The friction between the metal and flagstones gave birth to a terrible sound that raked at everyone’s ears.
Qian-Er and Xue’Er were following behind him on either sides. Similarly, the dishevelled Lai Yuhan, and Yan Xiu trailed after them; along with Yuan Fang and the rest in tow. The entire East Arrival Cave was walking toward the ruins of the East Arrival Grand Hall.
On a cedar tree by the mountains, Yao Ruoxian sat on a branch that jutted out, with one leg hung over the other; he was cradling one of his wide sleeves. He opened the mouth of the sleeve to peek at the eighty-five mantids crawling inside.
After he chucked a piece of Gold Crystal in, a frenzied crunching sound broke out that would make any person’s blood run cold.
Yao Ruoxian was attending to the mantids as though they were his ancestors. He tilted his head to cast a glance in the direction of the East Arrival Grand Hall, and chuckled to himself, muttering, "This brat is really persistent. He actually caught them."
As Miao Yi and his entourage stalked over, the nine men encircling Yuan Zhengkun and his group immediately parted in two, opening up a path.
The trio’s bloodied chests began heaving up and down urgently, their eyes widening in fear as they watched Miao Yi gradually inching closer towards them with his spear in tow.
After personally verifying the trio’s identities, Miao Yi’s lips curled into a knowing smile; he chuckled as he said, "I trust the three of you have been well since we last met!"
On seeing these three again, Qian’Er and Xue’Er ground their teeth in hatred. Gazing at the hanging corpses of their sisters, they recalled the scene where they watched on helplessly as their sisters were being defiled; their eyes reddening once more.
Yan Xiu was ready to shoot flames from his widened eyes, his fists tightened until cracking sounds rang out.
Their bodies were extremely weak; they struggled to clamber up to their feets, but they were already spent. As they faced Miao Yi slowly closing in on them with his spear, they could only push themselves back slightly. They could already imagine what would transpire, and were frightened out of their wits.
As the saying went, ‘Death isn’t terrifying. Only the moment before Death itself’.
All of a sudden, Miao Yi stopped dead in his tracks before them—‘BOOM!’—he abruptly stabbed the long spear into the ground.
The trio were startled by his actions. After groaning in pain the entire night, Yuan Zhengkun’s voice was coarse as he hissed, "Surrender! I surrender! Please don’t kill us! I surrender..."
Li Xin and Sun Jiaojiao also desperately pleaded for mercy, "Surrender! We surrender..."
"HAHAHA!" Miao Yi laughed long and hard, facing the sky as he stood and supported himself with his spear. Suddenly, he ceased and stared at the three, breaking into a cold sneer, "Do you take me for a fool? Should I accept your surrender after seizing you from Xiong Xiao’s grasp—would I be doing it because I fear that they can’t find enough evidence to use against me?"
The trio were taken aback. That was true—if they had fallen into another’s hands, they could still perhaps surrender. However, Miao Yi and Xiong Xiao were of the same mold. If Miao Yi were to accept their surrender, wouldn’t that prove that Miao Yi was the one who had launched a night raid on Changfeng Cave?
In other words, the fate of the trio could only be death… They immediately panicked!
Miao Yi was already pointing his finger at the twelve corpses hanging from the ruined beams, "They have always been waiting for all of you!"
"NO!" Sun Jiaojiao instantly screamed. She desperately tried to crawl forward, making her way to Qian’Er’s feet. She hugged Qian’Er’s thigh and pleaded to Miao Yi, "Don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me! She can be a witness. Their death was not my doing! I never did anything to them! It’s all on those two!" She pointed towards Yuan Zhengkun and Li Xin.
This testimonial made Yuang Zhengkun and Li Xing pale further into deathly shade. Unfortunately, they had nothing to say in their defense.
"Is that true?" asked Miao Yi, shifting his gaze towards Qian’Er and Xue’Er.
The two girls were caught between a rock and a hard place. When the handmaidens were being raped, Sun Jiaojiao was a woman so she wasn’t able to do such things. As for whether Sun Jiaojiao had done anything else after that, they had already been taken by Chen Fei at that time, so they hadn’t see anything. For a moment, they weren’t sure of how to answer him.
Miao Yi got the troubled hint from the two girls’ expressions. He nodded, and said, "Since that’s the case, I will end you quickly!"
‘SWOOSH!’ Without another word, the spear quickly struck out from the ground—the sharp spear point impaled Sun Jiaojiao’s heart from behind. Three streams of blood instantly spurted out from the grooves of the three-pointed spear tip. Qian’Er was shocked, and swiftly backed away.
"You…" Sun Jiaojiao lowered her head to stare at one of the keen tips of the spear faintly protruding from her body.. A mouthful of blood flowed profusely from her mouth; she used the last of her strength to glance at Miao Yi.
Miao Yi’s face was devoid of all emotions. He once again thrust the spear in his hand forward— the sharp three-pointed spear tips abruptly burst out from her chest—shining bright silver, and dripping with blood.
‘PLOP!’ The Inversed-Scales Spear was pulled back along with a mess of flesh, and bones, torn out by the barbed tip of the spear point. It was truly a fearsome killing weapon.
A bloodied hole appeared in Sun Jiaojiao’s chest in that single abrupt movement. She collapsed to the ground; her body twitching for a few seconds until eventually, there were no more signs of life from her.
"Yan Xiu, I will leave both of them to you!" said Miao Yi, turning to Yan Xiu. He invoked his art to clean the last traces of blood from the spear point.
He knew Yan Xiu always desired to avenge Luo Zhen, but he simply suffered silently since he didn’t have the ability to do so. Hence, he never brought it up.
When Yan Xiu heard that, he instantly bared his fangs—a sinister look warped over his entire face. He flashed a blade out of his storage ring, and with the blade in hand; he charged straight towards them!
"NO! NOOO…" Yuan Zhengkun and Li Xin screamed as they scrabbled back.
Yan Xiu stomped on Li Xin, and stabbed Yuan Zhengkun with his blade. He then proceeded to methodically strike out—severing the tendons on the two men’s hands and legs, before proceeding to skin Yuan Zhengkun alive before everyone’s eyes. It was truly an act without a shred of mercy. As he lifted the skin from his back, the entire scene was reminiscent of a horror film.
"AHHHHHHH…" Writhing in excruciating pain and sheer terror, Yuan Zhengkun instantly erupted into a blood curling scream
Eyes bulging in shock, Li Xin immediately fainted from the scene unveiling before him.
The majority of them were startled as they stared at Yan Xiu. This was completely out of their expectations. They never imagined that the caretaker had such a vicious and sadistic nature—going so far as to cruelly skin people alive. Needless to say, each and every one of their blood ran cold at the sight of Yan Xiu’s ruthlessness.
The majority of the men were in the dark regarding the grudge Yan Xiu had with Yuan Zhengkun’s group. They were unaware that Yan Xiu’s wife had been killed by them.
Although Qian’Er and Xue’Er badly wanted to avenge their sisters, seeing such a bloody and horrifying scene before them made them feel nauseous. They simply couldn’t take it anymore and quickly turned away.
Miao Yi had been butchered pigs since a young age. He had lost count of the amount of blood and gore he had seen before. It was not like he had never killed people before, yet even he didn’t have the desire to stay there longer and listen to the abysmal cries and blood-curdling screams.
Putting away the Inversed-Scales Spear, he glanced over at the twelve hanging corpses swaying gently in the chill wind, and let out a heavy breath—his oath had finally been honored.
He then turned to speak to Yuan Fang, "There’s a chance that scum Xiong Xiao will come for revenge. From today onwards, dispatch more men to stand guard in the surroundings."
Yuan Fang replied with cupped fists. "Understood!"
After quickly briefing him, Miao Yi strode off with the two girls in tow.
The others also didn’t have any interest in watching such a disgusting act any further. They too turned to leave, leaving Yan Xiu alone to wield his blade.
The stench of blood completely pervaded the air, after Yan Xiu was done skinning the two of them alive by himself. He sat on the remains of the staircase, both his hands drenched in blood; long-suppressed tears flowed down his cheeks. He was sobbing, and choking with emotion, as he said, "Little Zhen…"
He was finally letting out the grief; the pain and remorse, that he had been holding back in his heart for longest of times. He regretted with a passion that—because of his cowardice and incompetence—his wife had lived a pathetic life. While he had finally managed to summon up the courage to begin anew, the woman who had accompanied him in misery for a lifetime would never have the chance to enjoy the same—the remorse he felt was beyond indescribable.
"Master looks like he’s crying?"
Xue’Er asked in a strange tone, as she stood next to Miao Yi by the window.
Miao Yi’s fixed his gaze onto Yan Xiu weeping at the foot of the mountain. Without saying another word, he returned to his couch, and sat cross-legged to continue cultivating...
In South Edict Manor, Xiong Xiao still used Mount Shaotai as his main base of operations despite governing two mountains.
Mount Shaotai was where Manor Head Yang Qing had risen to power. It wasn’t appropriate for Xiong Xiao to abandon it, and take charge of another mountain as a replacement.
The Changfeng Cave Master had already arrived at Mount Shaotai, and was currently briefing Xiong Xiao on the circumstances surrounding Changfeng Cave’s ambush.
Xiong Xiao’s expression already began distorting when the Cave Master reported that the invaders had only seized Yuan Zhengkun’s group. Xiong Xiao didn’t even need the Changfeng Cave Master to explain any further to guess who the perpetrator was. Other people wouldn’t have the leisure to go about bringing trouble to themselves.
The more he thought about it, the more furious he became. A measly Cave Master dared to attack his territory! He was insolent beyond measure!
Unable to control his anger, he slammed the table and stood up—bellowing in fury, "THIS DECEITFUL MIAO YI! YOU’VE GONE TOO FAR!"
With a ‘BANG!’, the long table before him instantly exploded from the force of his palm; falling to pieces, and scattering sawdust as it fell to the floor.
Shaking with rage, Xiong Xiao was akin to an enraged lion. He paced about the hall with a ferocious look on his face.
Standing at either side of the chair, Chun Xue and Dong Xue were speechless. Chun Xue silently bit her lips. She never expected that the butcher brat from Changfeng City, who had to obediently follow Huang Clan’s commands, was actually so defiant. He didn’t hold his own master in any regard at all.
The resentment from the death of her own father and brother still gripped her heart, but she couldn’t speak anymore of it. Now, Miao Yi had already grown in influence, and wasn’t someone who Xiong Xiao could carelessly send his subordinates over to deal with unless he launched a large force to do battle.
However, Chun Xue also knew that without a proper reason, mustering a large force was out of the question. She couldn’t possibly allow her master to be humiliated for the sake of her family feud, unless her master was asking for trouble himself. Although she was the personal handmaiden of the Mountain Chieftain, it wasn’t likely that he would be reckless for her sake.
This time, Chun Xue had glimpsed another opportunity.
However, she was disappointed when Xiong Xiao slowly began to calm down after pacing back and forth for a moment. He stopped pacing, and uttered in a low voice, "We should report this incident to the Manor Head, and let him decide."
The Changfeng Cave Master was stunned. "Mountain Chieftain, are we going to let him go just like that?"
Xiong Xiao turned an icy glare on him, "Do you have any proof that he’s the perpetrator? If you can show me proof, I will immediately lead my army to wipe out East Arrival Cave!"