"Li'er, stay away from us!" Jun Mohan instructed Leng Ruoli behind him.
However, Leng Ruoli did not obey and retreat. Instead, she took out a miniature handgun from her system space. Enduring the pressure of two internal forces, she aimed the gun at Zeng Yihong.
"Jun Mohan, retract your internal force, I'll shoot him," Leng Ruoli whispered to Jun Mohan.
Upon hearing this, Jun Mohan hesitated for a moment. He suddenly withdrew his internal force, and the red light produced by Zeng Yihong missed its target, striking the prison wall instead.
Leng Ruoli aimed at Zeng Yihong and fired. Zeng Yihong shifted his body slightly, and the bullet hit his arm.
Immediately, he screamed, "Ah—"
Knowing he couldn't defeat Jun Mohan, Zeng Yihong had a flash of inspiration. He pulled a dagger from his sleeve and swiftly moved to the corner where Li Kexin was crouching. He grabbed her and held the dagger to her neck.
"Neither of you come any closer, or I'll kill this slut," Zeng Yihong threatened Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan using Li Kexin.
At this moment, Li Kexin, held by Zeng Yihong, appeared lifeless, letting him drag her around.
"Zeng Yihong, let her go, and we'll let you leave," Jun Mohan said, glancing at the ferocious Zeng Yihong.
"Then you both back out first, and get me a horse ready," Zeng Yihong demanded of Jun Mohan and Leng Ruoli.
Jun Mohan glanced at a soldier behind him. The soldier understood Jun Mohan's intention and immediately ran out of the prison, heading towards the stables.
Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan slowly retreated towards the prison entrance, and Zeng Yihong also moved outwards with them.
Just then, Li Kexin's lifeless eyes suddenly brightened. She opened her mouth and bit down hard on Zeng Yihong's wrist.
"Ah—"
"You slut..."
Zeng Yihong cried out in pain. Before he could finish his words, Leng Ruoli fired another shot at him, hitting him directly in the forehead. Zeng Yihong died on the spot, falling to the ground with his eyes wide open, clearly not at peace.
Li Kexin also let out a broken scream. She crouched down, picked up the dagger from Zeng Yihong's hand, and repeatedly stabbed him until she was exhausted and collapsed.
Leng Ruoli approached her and crouched down, patting her shoulder. She said in a gentle tone, "He's dead!"
Li Kexin slowly raised her head, her eyes tearful. She looked at Leng Ruoli and pleaded, "Young Master, please save my husband!"
Leng Ruoli nodded, ordered the prison cell where Qiao Jianhua was held to be opened, and walked up to him. She checked his breathing and found that he was still alive. She then took out a few silver needles from her system space and inserted them into several of his vital acupoints. After a short while, he slowly woke up.
As soon as Qiao Jianhua opened his eyes, he got up and searched everywhere for Li Kexin.
"Xin'er, Xin'er, where are you?"
"Sob sob... Brother Jianhua, I'm here."
Hearing Qiao Jianhua call her, Li Kexin cried and crawled into his prison cell.
Upon seeing her, Qiao Jianhua immediately crouched down and hugged her tightly.
"Xin'er, it's all my fault for being useless, unable to protect you," Qiao Jianhua said, holding Li Kexin tightly and blaming himself.
"Brother Jianhua, sob sob... I'm so dirty!" Li Kexin cried.
"Xin'er is not dirty. In my heart, Qiao Jianhua, you are always the clean and beautiful girl I met back then," Qiao Jianhua comforted her tearfully.
The two embraced and wept aloud.
Leng Ruoli, standing by, could no longer watch. She walked out and saw Jun Mohan staring at Zeng Yihong's arm, as if he had discovered something.
"Li'er, this Zeng Yihong is also one of the top ten killers of the Dark Night Pavilion. Look at the mark on his arm," Jun Mohan said, pointing to Zeng Yihong's arm.
"Good heavens! The influence of this Dark Night Pavilion has spread too far. They've infiltrated the court officials!" Leng Ruoli exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yes, that's why Father Emperor hates the Dark Night Pavilion so much. He wants to eradicate this killer organization by any means necessary, lest it harm the common people," Jun Mohan replied.
As they were speaking...
A sound of chains rattling suddenly came from the depths of the prison.
Jun Mohan and Leng Ruoli quickly stood up and called over a guard who had been with Zeng Yihong. "Who is imprisoned at the very end of the prison?"
"I... I don't know," the guard replied truthfully.
"Is it a man or a woman? When was he imprisoned? Someone must know," Jun Mohan said coldly.
"It's a man. He was suddenly imprisoned by Lord Zeng three years ago. I've never seen his true face. Every time we delivered food, we left immediately, afraid of being punished by Lord Zeng. That person also cannot speak," the guard recounted everything.
Upon hearing this, Jun Mohan and Leng Ruoli frowned. They felt something was strange about this matter.
"Let's go, you lead us in!"
Jun Mohan spoke calmly to the guard.
"Yes!"
After the guard responded, he immediately led them into the depths of the dungeon, leaving behind a crowd of onlookers peeking from outside the prison corridor.
As Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan entered the depths of the prison, these people immediately swarmed into the prison. Two women, holding Zeng Yihong's body, began to cry loudly on the spot.
"My lord, you died so tragically!"
"My lord, now that you're dead, what will become of us!"
"..."
One by one, they wailed, their tears flowing incessantly...
But none of this affected Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan's search for the truth in the deepest part of the prison.
The leading soldier, holding a torch, led the two around a corner to the very end of the prison.
At this moment, the person imprisoned in that cell knew someone had entered and seemed very agitated, the sound of chains rattling becoming louder.
Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan arrived outside the man's cell. They saw a man wearing an iron mask making gestures with his hands, begging for their help. Later, thinking they didn't understand his gestures, he immediately knelt and kowtowed to them.
"Jun Mohan, he's asking us to save him," Leng Ruoli said.
After she spoke, Jun Mohan nodded.
Then, he asked the guard, "Do you have the key to the cell?"
The guard shook his head. "The key to this cell has always been managed by Lord Zeng."
"Jun Mohan, no key needed, I have a way."
With that, Leng Ruoli took out a universal key from her "sleeve pocket" and immediately opened the lock.
When Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan saw the man's condition clearly, they were filled with rage. Who had been so cruel as to disfigure him like this?
Not only was his face covered, but his hands and feet were bound with iron chains, and a sharp iron barbed wire was tied to his back.