https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-759-A-Series-of-Fortunate-Events/13042234/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-761-The-Endless-Labyrinth-Reopens/13042236/
Chapter 760: Tian Yi
Chapter 760: Tian Yi
September 25, 2017
Outside the Liaodong Governor's Mansion in Youzhou.
A man from Bingzhou was tied to a pillar during the cold winter, his body trembling in the freezing wind.
This man was sent by Lu Hai Kong as an envoy, but it wasn't Li Xiong. Despite Li Xiong's hard work and accomplishments, Lu Hai Kong still couldn't bear to send him on such a mission, especially during the harsh winter. For a task like this, any random person could have been sent.
In this situation, a young scholar named Tian Yi stepped forward and took on this difficult task.
Tian Yi was a native NPC who had graduated from the Talent Establishment Academy. Although he had graduated from the Academy, he hadn't shown any talent in foreign affairs or politics. He knew that he was far inferior to his classmates in these areas, so without a special opportunity, he was destined to remain a low-level official for the rest of his life.
Tian Yi was a somewhat ambitious man, and he had realized early on that entering the Academy might have been a mistake. During his studies, he discovered that he was more suited for military strategy than governance.
By chance, Tian Yi learned about the Flame Legion under Lu Hai Kong's command, and he felt that was where he truly belonged.
However, as an ordinary graduate, it wasn't easy to transfer to the Flame Legion. So when the opportunity arose, Tian Yi seized it without hesitation. Among the many students willing to die for Lu Hai Kong, he caught the attention of Xi Zhi Cai, who selected him to serve as an envoy to Youzhou.
Before setting off, Tian Yi was filled with enthusiasm, imagining that he could easily complete this mission with his silver tongue and gain the notice of Lu Hai Kong, smoothly joining the Flame Legion and rising through the ranks. But reality turned out to be far crueler than he had imagined. When Tian Yi arrived in Liaodong, he hadn't even met Gongsun Zan and was directly ordered to be tied up outside the Governor's Mansion.
In the cold winter, Tian Yi's cotton clothes were roughly torn apart by Gongsun Zan's men, and he was violently bound outside the mansion. A soldier nearby carried a bucket of cold water, its surface covered in frost, and approached Tian Yi.
Gongsun Zan hated Lu Hai Kong with a vengeance, especially since Lu Hai Kong had killed his younger brother. He held no favor for anyone under Lu Hai Kong's command.
Previously in Jizhou, Gongsun Zan might have feared Lu Hai Kong's formidable strength, but now in Liaodong, with several counties separating them in Bingzhou, he truly believed Lu Hai Kong couldn't do anything to him. So, he boldly detained the minerals purchased by Lu Hai Kong.
However, Gongsun Zan hadn't planned to humiliate Tian Yi to this extent. But when he learned that Tian Yi, sent by Lu Hai Kong, was merely a scholar with no official title, he felt deeply insulted. In response, he ordered Tian Yi to be tied up.
Gongsun Zan didn't intend to kill Tian Yi outright. After binding him, he gave Tian Yi a choice: either curse Lu Hai Kong or freeze to death!
Facing this choice, Tian Yi, a graduate of the Talent Establishment Academy, trembled in the cold wind, his lips turning white, and his hair and eyebrows freezing. Yet, he clenched his teeth and remained silent.
In this situation, Gongsun Zan's soldiers began pouring water over Tian Yi's body.
The freezing water, covered in frost, stung Tian Yi's skin, turning his face even paler. The experience was like being in hell.
Despite the intense pain, Tian Yi clenched his teeth and remained silent, even if it meant biting his lips until they bled. He refused to utter a single word against Lu Hai Kong.
Tian Yi was tormented outside the Liaodong Governor's Mansion for over two hours, during which he displayed the unwavering spirit of a graduate from the Talent Establishment Academy.
This unyielding and indomitable spirit even moved Gongsun Zan slightly.
Finally, a voice from within the Governor's Mansion declared, 'Since he has such spirit, let's grant his wish!'
These words were almost like a death sentence for Tian Yi. Facing death, he struggled but never betrayed his loyalty, ultimately closing his eyes and bravely accepting his fate.
Just as Gongsun Zan's soldiers prepared to end the life of this admirable scholar, a woman in a white cloak, accompanied by several dozen men in black, emerged from the crowd.
The woman leading them had a pair of icy eyes, and upon seeing Tian Yi, she showed a hint of appreciation. She admired anyone who was unwaveringly loyal to Lu Hai Kong.
In fact, Tian Yi was unlucky. If he hadn't encountered Yue Ying, who personally oversaw this matter, he wouldn't have had to endure such suffering. Perhaps, if someone had rescued him when he was first tied up, his ordeal would have been much shorter.
But his misfortune was encountering Yue Ying, so he had to endure this prolonged torture to prove his loyalty.
Despite enduring two hours of agony, when Tian Yi saw a woman dressed in white, like a snow fairy, appear and effortlessly untie his bindings, then force a pill into his mouth, he suddenly felt that death would be a welcome relief.
With this thought, the poor scholar lost consciousness.
But while Tian Yi was unconscious, the soldiers under Gongsun Zan's command were not. When they saw Tian Yi being rescued by Yue Ying, they pounced on her like wolves.
"Who are you? How dare you kidnap someone right under our noses!"
"You're mistaken. It's not us who are bold, but Gongsun Zan!"
As they spoke, the white figure moved, and in an instant, the necks of the dozens of soldiers surrounding her were slit open.
As blood-red flowers bloomed on their necks, and as they fell, Yue Ying and her Shadow Guards had already disappeared from their sight.
Gongsun Zan naively thought that the distance of several thousand li between him and Lu Hai Kong would prevent Lu Hai Kong from taking action against him. But what he didn't know was that Lu Hai Kong didn't need to send an army to deal with him; a single Shadow Guard was enough.
With Yue Ying, who had broken through to Strength 90, taking action herself, Gongsun Zan, while humiliating Tian Yi, had completely severed the path to a peaceful resolution, and his nightmare had officially begun.
Gongsun Zan's Governor's Mansion had a defense system, making it inaccessible to ordinary assassins. But Yue Ying was no ordinary assassin.
Although she didn't have the ability to take over the Governor's Mansion, she did have the ability to move freely within it. Since Gongsun Zan was determined to die, Yue Ying, who had just broken through to Strength 90, didn't mind testing her skills.
From the moment Yue Ying rescued Tian Yi, Gongsun Zan lived in a nightmare.
Yue Ying didn't bother to destroy the assassins under Gongsun Zan's command; instead, she focused on killing those close to Gongsun Zan.
Within three days, starting with Gongsun Zan's bodyguards, then extending to his maids and concubines, Yue Ying killed those close to Gongsun Zan one by one, using various bizarre methods to kill them before his very eyes.
In the 16th chapter of the novel, there is no mistake!
When Yue Ying broke through to Strength 90, although she didn't receive Jing Ke's inheritance, she obtained a mythical-grade (pseudo-divine) weapon, the 'Remnant Rainbow' sword, and a set of assassination techniques.
So, Yue Ying decided to practice these newly acquired skills on Gongsun Zan.
One by one, these bizarre methods of death were displayed before Gongsun Zan, and it was then that he realized that being slit across the neck was actually a relatively gentle way to die.
In these three days, Gongsun Zan witnessed too many deaths.
Some died in front of him, coughing up blood, poisoned. Others had their throats slit by invisible threads, unseen to the eye. The most terrifying was when Gongsun Zan's favorite concubine, right before his eyes, slowly gnawed off her own hands, dying a painful death.
These bizarre assassinations, in just three days, nearly drove Gongsun Zan, a battle-hardened general, to the brink of madness.
It wasn't that Gongsun Zan was cowardly; it was that Yue Ying was simply too terrifying.
This trial seemed to unleash the demon within her, and with each strike, Yue Ying's methods became more extreme.
Before the trial, Yue Ying's task leaned more towards strength; after the trial, she seemed to favor mental torment, enjoying the feeling of slowly pushing Gongsun Zan to the brink more than simply killing him.
Now, Yue Ying, except for her appearance, and when facing Lu Hai Kong, she was becoming more and more like a demon.
Or perhaps, she had already become a demon, but this demon was different from ordinary demons; she had Lu Hai Kong, the reason for her existence.
In fact, Gongsun Zan should consider himself fortunate. If not for Lu Hai Kong asking Yue Ying to hold back and not kill Gongsun Zan, and if he was still hoping to gain some benefits from Gongsun Zan, he might have already been driven mad by Yue Ying.
Despite Yue Ying holding back, Gongsun Zan was still nearly driven mad. In just three days, Gongsun Zan couldn't take it anymore, and he had no choice but to surrender to Lu Hai Kong!
On the fourth day, Gongsun Zan came before Tian Yi, not only to apologize but also, in Tian Yi's disbelieving gaze, to sign a huge compensation agreement.
Although Gongsun Zan's side was resolved smoothly, the situation on Lu Hai Kong's territory, regarding the massive mine, was not so simple.
In fact, there was an implicit rule in this world: to gain something, one must undergo corresponding trials. This was the case with the iron mine.
When Lu Hai Kong eliminated Wu Yanba, he could only obtain a map. But if he wanted to gain the massive mine, he would have to face another trial.
And the trial for the iron mine was a BOSS, a Dragon BOSS with a strength above 10!
(End of Chapter)
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