Chen Hao’s jaw clenched in anger.

“Yuheng City has painstakingly developed twelve different tortures. If you can endure even three of them, I’ll acknowledge you as a real man.” He Lingchuan clapped his hands. “Alright, take him back!”

After witnessing such a vicious slaughter, the nearby merchants and travelers had only just recovered from their fright. They came forward one after another to offer their thanks.

He Lingchuan and his men then departed amid the crowd’s grateful farewells, escorting their prisoner and carrying the severed heads northward back to the city.

Only after they had gone did a white bird crawl out from the branches of a large tree beside the lotus pond. It poked its head out and watched the retreating backs of Yuheng City’s patrol guards before spreading its wings and taking flight.

It flew east toward Longchuan, and with it, trouble followed.

* * *

Yuheng City.

After returning to the government...