GHLCS Chapter72

Xu Hang yanked it out cleanly and, without hesitation, drove it into the other ankle. This time, Yuan Sen didn’t even have the strength to flinch.

 

Xu Hang’s voice was so cold that it made people tremble. “Wang Ronghuo, director of the Quartermaster Bureau, lied to both his superiors and subordinates, concealing the news about the city’s destruction. The military commander—who had once been helped by Mr. Heming—led his troops to set the city ablaze. And the very first place they torched… was Mr. Heming’s home! Before the fire, Yuan Sen, director of the Health Department, stormed in with a hundred men—still in uniform—pillaging, killing, and setting everything alight. They looted the family’s century-old fortune and wiped out everyone—family, slaves, and servants alike! It was a senseless, brutal slaughter—worse than anything the Japanese ever did!”

 

He twisted the hairpin forcefully, shattering Yuan Sen’s meridians, then yanked it out with a brutal motion. Yuan Sen gave one last groan from deep in his throat—his breath fading fast. Blood soaked the entire bed and even spilled onto the floor.

 

This blood looks so familiar.

 

That night eleven years ago, the blood was even thicker and brighter than this.

 

The golden hairpin in Xu Hang’s hand had been deformed a little. He tore off the restraints on Yuan Sen’s mouth, but Yuan Sen could only open his mouth and spit out some chaff, he didn’t have the strength to call for help anymore.

 

He squeezed Yuan Sen’s face and said coldly, “It was you who bribed Mr. Heming’s housekeeper, Lao Yang, promising to clear his son’s gambling debts. That’s why he helped you seal off every exit in the mansion, turning it into a death trap.”

 

“To this day, I still remember how those greedy warlords smiled as they pierced the bodies of defenseless civilians with their swords and guns, as excited as wild animals! Everyone’s pockets were stuffed with looted gold, silver, and jewelry. Just to seize the jade hairpin from a woman’s head, they ripped off her scalp; to steal the gold ring from someone’s hand, they hacked off fingers while the person was still alive; even the gold-foiled incense burner wasn’t spared—it was sliced off with a blade!”

 

Xu Hang’s expression was unusually ferocious, and there was a hint of a roar in his words.

 

“The one who died the most tragically was Mr. Heming. His head was cut off and rolled on the ground! Those who passed by even stepped on it! Even the two gold teeth in his tooth sockets were pulled out and finally thrown into the pond, but his body was buried in the sea of fire; his wife, fearing humiliation after witnessing Mr. Heming’s end, stabbed her chest with the golden hairpin they had used for their wedding and then jumped into the pond to commit s*icide; as for other clan members, some were shot in the head, some had their throats cut by knives, and some were bullied to death…”

 

“The most absurd part is that these monsters actually profited from this and were promoted, becoming wealthy. They are so full of themselves! That heartless military commander, after all these years, has transformed and even made himself the chief of staff. Incredible… truly incredible!”

 

Xu Hang squeezed out these words with great pressure, and every word was filled with deep hatred.

 

He had seen hell, carnage, as well as fire.

 

He witnessed his uncle’s hands and feet being hacked off like an animal, his aunt being dragged into a room while screaming in pain, the lifeless bodies of his cousins scattered in the courtyard, his great-grandmother’s remains reduced to a pile of bones, his father’s head severed from his body, and his mother’s body sinking into the water.

 

The carnival of hideous beasts and the sacrifice of demons.

 

And these demons were all the people who had been favored by them. Repaying kindness with grievances, repaying kindness with hatred—what a Zhongshan wolf[mfn]It refers to a person who repays good with evil.[/mfn]!

 

How shameless does a person have to be to be able to do something so cruel?

 

The memories that came to his mind filled him with murderous intent. He inserted the golden hairpin into Yuan Sen’s mouth and pressed it against his tongue.

 

“You, Wang Ronghuo, the Chief of Staff, were too careless in your work. You didn’t know how to root out the problem, and you let Mr. Heming’s only son escape death.”

 

The candle flame was swaying in the wind, and he smiled, his face half dark and half pale.

 

Yuan Sen swallowed unconsciously.

 

“You… are his… son?”

 

The moment Yuan Sen saw the golden hairpin, he knew that a troublemaker had remained.

 

He trembled in fear day and night and even dreamed of a golden hairpin inserted in his chest at midnight. However, he could never have imagined that this person would be Xu Hang.

 

The blood from the golden hairpin flowed onto Yuan Sen’s tongue, it tasted salty and had a strong fishy smell.

 

Xu Hang raised his eyebrows and said, “Do you remember when your family’s Old Madam was seriously ill? It was my father who stayed by her side for a month without rest and finally saved her life. She, at least, understood propriety and honor, severing the mother-son bond with you, often accompanying the ancient Buddha to atone for your sins. It’s a pity that you are truly a beast, and there is no redemption for you.”

 

“It’s really… it’s really you… you’re not dead…” Yuan Sen’s neck was full of bulging blood vessels.

 

“I crawled out of the pile of dead bodies, bathed in fire and blood, and lived in shame, just to see your retribution.” Xu Hang’s teeth were trembling, and his whole body was stiff. “You are the one who gave me loneliness and abandonment, seven years of humiliation in Qiyuan, and four years of imprisonment in Xiaotong Guan! How could I not repay such a profound gift?”

 

“You can’t blame me! It was Wang Ronghuo who instigated me. I… I was just bewildered for a moment…”

 

Xu Hang smiled softly after hearing this: “What a coincidence, Wang Ronghuo said the same thing before he died.”

 

Like a thorn in the back, surrounded by enemies.

 

Yuan Sen ignored the pain and said, “Even if you kill me… you can’t escape either…”

 

“Really? I left the Military Control Commissioner’s mansion in front of everyone. No one knew I was back. Who can prove that it was me?”

 

Yes, that grand gift-giving scene in the front hall was just a cover.

 

Yuan Sen was still thinking about something when Xu Hang pinched his wrist. His teeth twitched in pain.

 

“Does it hurt? Have you ever thought about how painful it must have been for Cong Lin, who was locked in the dungeon and nailed to the wall by you? But people like you only shed tears when they see a coffin.”

 

Yuan Sen was speechless.

 

“I only cut your tendons, not your veins. You won’t bleed to death so quickly.”

 

These words seemed to be expressed out of sympathy for him. Yuan Sen wanted to laugh but couldn’t. It was useless to plead for mercy now, so he might as well just fall out with him.

 

He used up his last bit of strength, glared at him, and cursed, “Yes! We are the ones who killed your whole family… what… cough, cough!… Are you dissatisfied? Looking at you like this… I remember your grandmother kneeling in front of me, begging me… to let them go… ha…”

 

He coughed as he spoke, his face grimy, yet his eyes burned with an intense venom. He wanted to poke Xu Hang where it hurt the most: “You can blame me for being cruel… in troubled times, this is called the way of survival… your father deserved to die… what’s the use of such a large family fortune for one person?… I am someone who fights the enemy, the Japanese invaders, for our country. I sacrificed him… to protect the country… this is called duty!”

 

After saying that, he was panting and laughing.

 

Xu Hang listened to him quietly, his deadly expression not changing at all, except that his fingertips poked into his palms, leaving many marks.

 

After a long while, he pinched Yuan Sen’s chin again and said, “I am ashamed for you, a person who colluded with the Japanese and intended to betray the country, to say such things. Why don’t you just be a real villain openly? At least I will think you are not so disgusting.”

 

“What? Are you angry… ha… kill, kill me!”

 

With a very contemptuous smile, Xu Hang seemed to be really happy: “You are smarter than Wang Ronghuo. Unlike him, he was still begging me until the last moment. However, provoking me has no effect on me. I don’t want you to die so easily.”

 

Yuan Sen was terrified when he saw that Xu Hang had seen through his thoughts. Death is nothing more than a blow to the head, but living a life worse than death is too torturous.

 

Now he is a disabled person, and he can only live in bed. He has had a glorious life, and if he ends up like this, he might as well die.

 

“What do you want… to do?”

 

Xu Hang raised the hairpin again.

 

“Yuan Sen, for Yuan Ye’s sake, I won’t kill you. I’ll spare your life, but from now on, you can only lie in bed, unable to move, unable to speak, and even unable to commit s*icide. The only thing you can do is reflect on your sins like a piece of trash.”

 

After hearing these words, Yuan Sen’s originally powerless body twisted violently again: “No… let go… kill me, just kill me!”

 

The butcher admired the fearful beast.

 

Xu Hang clenched his teeth tightly and thrust the hairpin in: “Enjoy the rest of your life.”

 

With a swift, clean cut on the tongue, a sharp poke followed, and a fresh tongue was severed and fell out.

 

“Wu! Uh-huh!!!!”

 

A large amount of blood flowed out of Yuan Sen’s mouth, as if he wanted to vomit all the blood in his body. The severe pain made him unable to live or die.

 

The moment his tongue fell off, he almost passed out from the pain but was awakened by the stinging pain that followed.

 

He wants to die… let him die…

 

He could only think this silently in his heart, his vision growing blurry, consumed by a mist of blood.

 

Seeing that he was about to faint, Xu Hang took out a bottle of blood-clotting powder from his arms and poured it into his mouth to stop the bleeding.

 

Yuan Sen had been tortured to the point that he looked as if he had aged a dozen years and had completely passed out.

 

Pulling out the hairpin, Xu Hang threw it on Yuan Sen’s body. The hairpin had been completely deformed.

 

He blew out the candle and walked to the window. The fireworks had just ceased, leaving the scene eerily quiet and lifeless.

 

Suddenly he remembered a line from the song “Suolin Nang” that he just sang.

 

Outside the Chunqiu Pavilion, there is a storm of wind and rain. Where can the sad sound break the loneliness? Across the curtain, I saw a sedan chair, presumably a newlywed crossing the Magpie Bridge. On auspicious days and occasions, we should laugh and rejoice, but why do the mermaid pearls turn into tears and are thrown away?

 

It is only appropriate to hold weddings and funerals together.

 

————

 

When the fireworks were over, Yuan Ye suddenly shuddered and woke up from his dream.

 

His eyes widened, and sweat broke out on his forehead.

 

For some reason, he suddenly had a nightmare. When he woke up, he looked around and asked Madam Yuan, “Dad hasn’t come yet!!”

 

Madam Yuan was busy seeing off the guests and directing the servants to see off the performers. When she heard what Yuan Ye said, she said, “Why are you in such a hurry? We can just go and call him later.”

 

Yuan Ye felt his right eyelid twitching and said in a hurry, “Then I’ll go take a look.”

 

After saying that, he hurried inside, causing Madam Yuan to laugh at him for not being able to remain composed even after getting married.

 

When he turned around, he happened to pass by a theatre troupe. The performers were still wearing red and green clothes. Yuan Ye just glanced at them and ignored them.

 

Just as he stepped over the garden gate, he suddenly heard a gunshot from the door behind him, and everyone in the mansion trembled in surprise.

 

“According to the order given by the cabinet, the residence of Yuan Sen, the Military Control Commissioner, is being searched. We now suspect that Yuan Sen has embezzled and taken bribes and has seized public property handed over to the cabinet. Everyone must lay down their weapons and undergo inspection!”

 

Everyone turned around to see where the voice came from. A large number of soldiers surrounded the entire Military Control Commissioner’s mansion, and two tall figures in military uniforms walked in.

 

It was Duan Yelin and Duan Zhanzhou.