Chapter 56 - 1#

Jingzhe was forced to hold the dagger, the force the man applied to the back of his hand making it impossible for him to break free.

Rong Jiu was crazy.

Jingzhe realized this with extreme clarity.

He subconsciously looked outside the house. Shi Li’s figure was long gone. If it weren’t for the rows of torches illuminating the path, he would have thought this place was so quiet that only the few living beings in this house remained.

But the brighter it was outside, the more Jingzhe’s head ached.

“A life for a life. Is his life worth it?” He heard his own voice. “Rong Jiu, you want me to pay for his life?”

“The ‘a life for a life’ thing is just to deceive yourself. Jingzhe, you know very well that in this world, there is no such thing as karma or reincarnation, and naturally no so-called heavenly justice.” Rong Jiu said indifferently, “All great vengeances are achieved by oneself.”

Jingzhe struggled. Rong Jiu’s strength was much greater than his, and it was impossible for him to resist him. But Jingzhe disregarded everything and struggled desperately, soon rubbing red marks on his palm.

He frowned slightly, suppressing the stinging sensation.

The restraining force loosened for some unknown reason. Before Jingzhe could react, his hand had already thrown the dagger away.

This thing was like a hot potato to him.

Bang—

The meatball on the ground flinched, but Jingzhe and Rong Jiu didn’t pay him any attention at all.

Jingzhe stood up abruptly and glared at Rong Jiu beside him.

“The principles you speak of are all correct. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. All of this can only be relied on oneself. There is no reason to wait for heaven to collect.” His voice was restrained, otherwise, the hidden anger would have already erupted. “But do you know what you are doing?”

Jingzhe had never thought that Rong Jiu’s thoughts would be so violent.

Killing?

He knew that Rong Jiu’s duty was to lick blood from the edge of a knife, a life-threatening job.

He was used to it.

Used to killing, used to cruelty, used to cutting the weeds and digging up the roots.

But Rong Jiu was Rong Jiu, and Jingzhe was Jingzhe. No matter how good the relationship between Rong Jiu and Jingzhe was, Jingzhe could never become Rong Jiu.

Jingzhe and Kangman had a grudge, but this grudge would only make him look for Kangman’s criminal evidence and try every means to send him to the Prudent Punishment Department. He had never been so arrogant as to think that he could arbitrarily decide the life and death of others.

“I am very clear.” Rong Jiu said coldly, “Far clearer than you.”

“Rong Jiu!” Jingzhe called his name angrily. “I am not a judge, I cannot decide the fate of others so wantonly.”

“Why not?” Rong Jiu walked towards Jingzhe, passed him, and stopped beside Kangman. “If you don’t kill him, what about him?”

The tip of his boot kicked Kangman’s waist. He whimpered, as if in great pain.

Rong Jiu squatted down and casually pulled out the cloth stuffed in Kangman’s mouth.

He opened his mouth wide, so sore that he could hardly close it, “…”

Gasp, gasp, all were gasping sounds.

Rong Jiu slapped Kangman’s face with the back of his hand and said unhurriedly: “Kangman, tell me, if you found him, what would you do?”

“…This servant, this servant wouldn’t dare, how could I…” Before Kangman could finish his intermittent words, Rong Jiu punched him in the abdomen. “Hah—”

Kangman screamed, almost throwing up.

Rong Jiu stood up, a sinister look flashing in his dark eyes, and a fierce and cruel voice sounded, “I don’t need nonsense, lies. Say another word, and I will cut your flesh piece by piece and feed it to the dogs.”

This sounded like a terrible curse.

Just like the harsh words one would say when scolding someone.

But Jingzhe knew that Rong Jiu was not just saying harsh words, he would really do it.

Obviously, Kangman lying on the ground was even clearer about this than he was.

How cruel a person Emperor Jingyuan was.

In the Qianming Palace, the countless people who had died had already practiced this iron law.

The emperor would not be soft-hearted.

He didn’t even give face to the Shoukang Palace, let alone his own worthless life.

Kangman said with difficulty: “This servant, if this servant found this little brother… I might first, ask him his purpose that day, then, then beat him up and send him back…”

“Send him back?”

Rong Jiu’s voice rose strangely.

Kangman: “…People can’t die at hand, so I can only send him back first, make him unable to speak for a while, and then, find a way to kill him. Hanging, drowning, falling to his death… there are always many possibilities for accidents…” His voice became smaller and smaller, and in the end, he almost forced himself to finish it all.

He didn’t want to say it, but with Emperor Jingyuan present, he had to.

Kangman did want Jingzhe to die.

Although at that time, he still didn’t know who this person was, but as long as he found him, he would definitely kill this person.

For so many years, Kangman had not suffered physical pain for a long time.

But he just happened to fall into the hands of a stinky boy. How could he be willing?

He wanted to torture him far more than now.

But how would Kangman dare to say it out loud?

His Majesty clearly wanted to use him as a whetstone.

In order to save his own life, Kangman just tried his best to hide his thoughts… on the premise of not disobeying the emperor’s orders.

After hearing Kangman’s words, Jingzhe was not surprised.

This person was originally a scumbag. It seemed natural that he would do such a thing.

“He wants to kill me, that doesn’t mean I have to kill him.” Jingzhe pursed his lips tightly. “If a dog bites you, do you have to bite it back?”

“Wrong, Jingzhe.” Rong Jiu raised his eyebrows. “If a dog bites you, you should kill the dog. He wants to kill you, you not only have to kill him, but also make him die a very painful death. What you need to learn is not ordinary counter-attack, but to retaliate for all injuries a hundred times over.”

Jingzhe could hear that Rong Jiu was very calm.

His voice was flat and cold, with not much emotional fluctuation, not even as excited as in the afternoon. He seemed to be simply describing a fact.

…But this was wrong.

Jingzhe couldn’t guarantee that he would persist like this in the future, but at least for now, he couldn’t kill Kangman for no reason, just because Rong Jiu wanted to.

No, he was still saying too little. What Rong Jiu wanted him to learn was also this cruel atrocity.

“Why… from this afternoon to tonight, what kind of madness are you having?” Jingzhe closed his eyes and exhaled, then opened them again. “After killing Kangman, then what? What else do you want me to do?”

What’s the use of hiding and tucking things away? It’s better to say it all at once.

“You have too many worries, which makes you weak and easily injured.” The man’s voice was calm, but his black eyes stared at Jingzhe, like the most patient hunter. “You should learn to be hard-hearted… All obstacles must be killed without question.”

…What obstacles? The people around him? Or the people he would meet in the future who might cause him trouble? As long as he sensed danger, he would kill all those people regardless of the consequences?

Then what would he become? A ruthless, cruel, and cold-blooded monster?

Jingzhe’s face was tense, “I won’t do that.”

“You think this is too cold-blooded, too cruel?” Rong Jiu casually drew the knife placed on the table. The snow-white blade flashed and pointed at the meatball on the ground. “But this is not enough. What’s the big deal about killing just one Kangman?”

Jingzhe couldn’t bear it anymore and said irritably: “What do you want me to become? A monster who kills without batting an eye? Killing gods when meeting gods, killing Buddhas when meeting Buddhas, without any mercy… a heartless madman?”

“Isn’t that good?” Rong Jiu’s lips were very red, as if what was吐露 from those thin lips was not venom, but a beautiful melody.

His beautiful eyebrows were dyed with a grotesque joy, as if just thinking about it was so pleasant, that almost gentle sigh, “You, go with me.”

Jingzhe paused slightly, only then did he realize that his words just now sounded like they had a double meaning, as if he were being sarcastic to Rong Jiu.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed tiredly.

Jingzhe was very angry, very, very angry.

In addition to being angry, there was also an inexplicable sense of powerlessness. He didn’t know where things had gone wrong to make Rong Jiu have such a perverted and crazy idea.

But no matter how angry he was, Jingzhe would never use this kind of thing to hurt Rong Jiu.

“I didn’t mean you just now.”

“But I am indeed such a person.” Rong Jiu slowly curved his lips, a cold smile. “It is you who think too highly of me.”

Rong Jiu was never a good person.

It’s just that all of Jingzhe’s guesses about him, no matter how ruthless, could not match his true existence, which would only be more terrifying than Jingzhe imagined.

Jingzhe shook his head: “I don’t want to argue with you anymore, but as long as I am still sober, I will not do this.”

He looked at Rong Jiu and continued seriously.

“Rong Jiu, when two people are together, they compromise and tolerate each other. But not everything has to be like this. You are very good, I don’t want to change you; but I am also very good, you can’t use such means to forcibly change me.”

He could no longer care so much, nor did he care how much the people outside would hear. He just wanted Rong Jiu to understand that he couldn’t do such a crazy thing just because Rong Jiu liked it.

After he finished speaking, he turned and left.

Before he had taken two steps, he heard the sound of cloth tearing behind him. A terrible guess flashed through Jingzhe’s mind. He turned around abruptly and saw the knife in Rong Jiu’s hand lightly pick open Kangman’s clothes.

“Rong Jiu!”

Jingzhe thought that Rong Jiu was going to kill Kangman in a fit of rage, and subconsciously rushed over.

Even if the person had to die, at least don’t die here, ahhh!

As soon as he blocked Rong Jiu, his fingers were stuffed with a familiar touch. The cold and hard thing made Jingzhe look at Rong Jiu angrily: “…How many of these things are you hiding!”

This was, again, a dagger.

Was he selling things wholesale?

How come he hadn’t discovered before that Rong Jiu was so good at hiding things? In the blink of an eye, he had pulled out another dagger?

Rong Jiu’s fingers lightly drew the dagger’s sheath and threw it aside. Along with the crisp sound of the saber falling, the man’s cold, large hand grabbed Jingzhe’s wrist.

Jingzhe felt something was wrong: “What are you doing?” He wanted to pull his hand back.

But Rong Jiu held Jingzhe’s fingers firmly. This time, he didn’t even leave him any room to struggle.

“You’re right, how can a mere Kangman be your first whetstone? He’s not worthy.” Rong Jiu’s voice was a bit thin and cool, but upon closer listening, that tone carried a suppressed fanaticism. His fingers were like a rock, impossible to break free from, grabbing Jingzhe’s wrist and pressing it against himself.

Jingzhe’s eyes widened abruptly: “Rong Jiu, you’re crazy!”

Rong Jiu laughed.

Recently, he often laughed. When he laughed, he was also very good-looking.

But Jingzhe would rather he didn’t laugh.

The corners of the man’s mouth curved up slightly, and thick malice and madness flowed from his black eyes. Even his voice was like a tempting venom. “Jingzhe, look up.” Even his other hand was struggling in a tug-of-war, making Jingzhe, who was sweating all over, look up angrily and glare at Rong Jiu fiercely.

Those eyes were very bright.

The man liked them very much.

Jingzhe rarely lost his temper with Rong Jiu. The few times he did were all forced by this man.

“You…”

Jingzhe had just said the first word when the dagger in his hand was grabbed by Rong Jiu and forcefully stabbed into himself.

All the blood in Jingzhe’s body seemed to be frozen, and even his breathing was trembling, “…Rong Jiu, you damn madman…” His voice became more and more shrill, “What on earth…”

It turned out that the first moment blood flowed from a human body, it was warm.

The sticky feeling was even more nauseating than usual.

The thick smell of blood and the strange touch finally made Jingzhe break down a little. He looked at his blood-stained hands, then at the man’s motionless body, closed his eyes tightly and opened them again, but he could hardly control his tone, “…Let go, are you really going to make me kill you!”

Rong Jiu’s already pale face became even more transparent. He acted as if he wasn’t the one who was injured. His dark eyes swept over Jingzhe’s body, and finally, seeing something satisfactory, he laughed lowly again.

There was a strange satisfaction and contentment in that voice.

He slowly released Jingzhe’s hand.

Jingzhe subconsciously pulled out the dagger. With a puchi sound, his face became even uglier.

Rong Jiu grunted, and the wound bled even faster.

“When killing someone, if the sword is left in the body, it can actually stop the bleeding. Pulling it out will make it flow faster.” Rong Jiu said patiently, as if he were teaching Jingzhe. “What you should do now is to stab again.”

Jingzhe said irritably: “What I should do most is to slash your face!” It would be best to slash his beautiful face, so that he wouldn’t sway in front of his eyes, making his heart ache.

He was rarely so angry that even his head was swelling.

“Shi Li, Shi Li—”

Jingzhe’s voice was shrill. Even a dead person should have heard his voice.

“You’d better go get an imperial physician.”

Shi Li, who had originally wanted to play dead, hesitated for a moment after hearing this, then lowered his head and said loudly: “This subordinate will go now.”

As for who to call, Shi Li decided to dig Imperial Physician Zong out of his sleep.

He believed that even if Imperial Physician Zong was angry, he would hold it in and vent it on His Majesty.

Shi Li left in a hurry.

Jingzhe still held the bloody dagger in his hand. Along with his blood-stained fingers, it made him particularly nauseous, not to mention that the blood was Rong Jiu’s.

That damn bastard Rong Jiu even had the face to speak: “The wound is not deep enough, Jingzhe. If you hadn’t struggled just now, it wouldn’t have…”

“Shut up!”

Jingzhe roared at Rong Jiu. The man raised his eyebrows and looked at him for a moment, then really closed his beautiful lips.

Jingzhe pushed Rong Jiu to sit down. The action was very rough, and the dagger in his hand was casually thrown on the table.

He squatted down and looked at the wound on Rong Jiu’s body. With their movements just now, the wound on his waist and abdomen bled even more.

Jingzhe took out a handkerchief from his bosom, balled it up, and pressed it hard on the bleeding hole.

No matter what Jingzhe did, the man’s body didn’t react at all, as if this wound, this blood, was not Rong Jiu’s own. That indifferent attitude only made Jingzhe’s anger even greater.

He endured.

And endured again.

Time passed bit by bit. Why hadn’t the imperial physician come yet? He couldn’t bear it anymore.

“I just don’t understand what you’re thinking. I stabbed you, and you’re happy about it. What are you happy about? Are you happy that you wasted a pool of blood?” Jingzhe scolded at a rapid pace, “Rong Jiu, you’re a madman! It’s fine if you go crazy in the middle of the night, you even brought Kangman here. Can’t you go crazy at him? Why do you have to drag me into your madness!”

Rong Jiu’s black eyes moved slightly. He lowered his eyebrows and looked at Jingzhe, listening without saying a word.

“What’s wrong with me having friends? Why can’t I like them? No matter how much I like those people, I don’t want to kiss them, and I don’t want to sleep with them. I just want to kiss you and sleep with you. Why do you always hate them?” Jingzhe was so angry he was going crazy, he almost didn’t know what he was saying. “Am I some kind of promiscuous person who pounces on everyone I see?”

Zong Yuanxin, who was rushing over from outside, stumbled. Before he could even step into the courtyard, he looked at Shi Li suspiciously.

He didn’t hear wrong, did he?