Chapter 346: Chapter 346 : The Special Arrangement (1)

For seven agonizing days, the wails and cries of tormented prisoners echoed from the depths of the dungeon, relentlessly piercing the silence of the night.

Even the seasoned guards, accustomed to the grim sounds of suffering, couldn’t suppress their flinches as they stood vigil at the palace gates.

The air crackled with an aura of dread, a palpable testament to the horrors unfolding within the dungeon’s depths.

Xie Jianshen’s instructions were clear -- make the prisoners taste the fires of hell on their bodies, but ensure their survival. Death, he declared, was a merciful escape, an indulgence these traitors did not deserve. He reveled in the power he held, the authority to inflict pain and suffering upon those who had dared to defy him.

As the seventh day drew to a close, the dungeon’s symphony of screams had been replaced by an eerie silence. The prisoners, their bodies battered and spirits broken, were no longer able to muster the strength to cry out in agony. Their senses, dulled from the relentless torture, were barely able to register the world around them. Their existence, once a vibrant thread in the tapestry of life, had frayed and withered, leaving behind mere shells of their former selves.

One by one, the prisoners were forced to crawl on their hands and feet onto the platform, their bodies too weak to stand. Their eyes, vacant and devoid of hope, stared blankly into the distance, as if seeking solace in a world that had abandoned them.

Perched atop a watchtower, Xie Jianshen watched the execution process unfold below, his figure silhouetted against the darkening sky.

His hand rested casually against the sturdy railing, his gaze sweeping across the scene with an impassive detachment. His eyes, devoid of any hint of compassion, coldly observed the prisoners as they met their demise one by one, starting from the lowest rank.

Once the traitorous Wuyang Palace staff succumbed to death by means of decapitation, the more prominent prisoners were ushered toward the execution platform.

The next one to be decapitated was an eunuch.

A flicker of recognition passed across Xie Jianshen’s eyes when he saw the eunuch.

"Head Eunuch Gao*," he called out from above the watchtower, addressing the eunuch by the last position he held within the Golden Dragon Palace. "Long time no see."

The former head eunuch widened his eyes in terror when he saw Xie Jianshen. Swift like the wind, he threw himself in front of the watchtower to beg for mercy. He feared Xie Jianshen greatly, but he feared death even more.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, mercy! I have been deceived! It was never my intention to help Palace Master Liu with his evil machinations!"

Liu Yichen, who had surrendered to the inevitability of his demise, was startled back to consciousness by Eunuch Gao’s unexpected proclamation.

"You traitorous dog!" Liu Yichen cried out. "It was me who took you in after you were dismissed from your position at Golden Dragon Palace! If not for my kindness, you would rot on the streets of the Golden Dragon City!"

Xie Jianshen sneered at the former Wuyang Palace Master.

"Your kindness is boundless, Liu Yichen. For some reason, you extend a lot of kindness toward crooked personages. I often wonder whether or not you are one of them yourself. I guess I was right."

A burly guard seized Eunuch Gao by the shoulders and roughly hauled him toward the execution platform. The terrified eunuch shrieked in desperation, his feeble attempts to resist the guard’s relentless grip proving futile.

"Your Majesty! Please help! Your Majesty! Please spare this servant!"

Alas, Eunuch Gao’s desperate pleas fell on deaf ears. Xie Jianshen remained unmoved, his expression cold and impassive. With a swift, practiced motion, the executioner’s blade descended, severing Eunuch Gao’s head from his body. It was thrown unceremoniously into a blood-soaked basket, atop the heads of the other prisoners that preceded the eunuch.

After Eunuch Gao, only two people remained -- Liu Yichen and Xie Jianzhi.

Liu Yichen held his chin high, while behind him, Xie Jianzhi looked like he already died a week ago.

"For the both of you, I have made a special arrangement," Xie Jianshen said, his voice laced with poison.

With his final words echoing in the air, the executioner descended from the platform, his crimson-stained blade dripping with the residue of life extinguished. In his place, a new figure emerged from the shadows, ascending the steps with an air of unwavering determination. It was Zhang Fengxi, his eyes ablaze with a determination as fierce as the executioner’s blade.

Liu Yichen swallowed hard.

"Heh," he said in a mocking tone. "Being killed by Three Realm Spear is an honor. I should thank Your Majesty for this special arrangement."

Xie Jianshen shot Liu Yichen a smirk.

"Say it to him, not to me."

Liu Yichen’s brow furrowed in confusion, struggling to grasp the meaning behind Xie Jianshen’s cryptic words.

Following a gesture from their liege lord, the guards swiftly approached the two remaining prisoners and bound both of them to two towering wooden blocks that emerged from the cold, unforgiving stone floor.

Upon the execution platform, Zhang Fengxi stood poised, his grip tightening around his formidable Three Realm Spear. With a voice barely above a whisper, he invoked the spirit of the Heavenly Realm’s inhabitant who had recently pledged their strength to him.

"Holy Ice Dragon, come forth."

A frigid chill swept through the air, causing the temperature to plummet abruptly. The moisture in the atmosphere crystallized into miniature ice shards, which swirled and converged, coalescing into a magnificent ice dragon that loomed ominously behind Zhang Fengxi.

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Author’s note :

*Do my readers still remember Head Eunuch Gao? (⁠´⁠∩⁠｡⁠•⁠ ⁠ᵕ⁠ ⁠•⁠｡⁠∩⁠`⁠)

If not, let me spare you the hassle of reading through the earlier Chapters.

This is the evil eunuch who fed Liu Yichen information about the baby in the first life, eventually resulting in the baby’s death.

He used to be a head eunuch in the Golden Dragon Palace, serving alongside his rival, Head Eunuch Wang.

Head Eunuch Gao was eventually removed from the palace because he had been taking bribes and abusing young maids and servants to do his bidding.

You should notice that I stopped mentioning him past a certain arc in the novel.

After that, Liu Yichen recruited him to dig out all the palace secrets, which at that time remained obscure to him.

This part of the history remains the same for both lives.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay