Ink Blade

Bitter Meat (part 1)

After the two discussed a few more words, they finally decided to hurry up sooner rather than later, and set off in two days.

Mo Ren naturally went to the Punishment Hall to deal with Bai Hua. Chu Yan watched his back leave, and went to the main hall to give orders with peace of mind.

Chu Yan first called Qiu Jin out, and then summoned the shadow guardian “electricity” together with Fang Jing from the Dark Hall, and Lin Yun from the Medicine Hall to discuss matters. Chu Yan concealed the fact that Bai Hua was a spy, and only said that the elder of Shuijing Tower was killed and the Jiuyun Jade Plaque was lost.

Qiu Jin and the others were both astonished and angry at such a shocking change, and also surprised by the sudden departure of the palace master himself. Chu Yan's attitude was generally resolute, and naturally no one dared to stop him

More than an hour passed, proper instructions for all matters were done, and it was almost noon. After thinking about it, Chu Yan was sure he didn't miss anything, and then looked at the empty space beside him. Without the steady figure in black, he felt a little anxious for no reason.

“What's wrong with this Master?" Chu Yan muttered to himself, and he couldn't help laughing. He actually became uneasy when he couldn’t see Mo Ren for a moment. Being preoccupied with personal gains and losses, he really didn't look like the majestic palace master at all.

Chu Yan shook his head, laughing at himself in his mind, but his body was very honest—he raised his foot and walked towards the Punishment Hall.

****

The depths of the Punishment Hall in the Jiuzhong Palace was still as oppressive as ever, the dark corridor was cold and damp, and the torches embedded on both sides of the passage danced quietly, illuminating the dark red slate floor.

And behind the iron doors, the intermittent groans and howls of the prisoners accompanied by the smell of blood lingered, which made people feel chills all over the body.

Inside the deepest iron door, a unique punishment was taking place. Yang Yifang, the head of the Punishment Hall, sat in front of a temporary table, his face was dark and his brows were furrowed. In front of the table was a bronze incense burner that was slowly burning incense, and there were medicine bottles lined up. There were roughly a dozen kinds of those bottles, most of which were already empty.

Finally, all the incense in the incense burner was burned to ashes, and the executioner standing around poured out a pill from the almost empty bottle, and walked straight to the gallows.

Mo Ren's face was already bloodless, he was dripping with cold sweat and his head was half hanging, the breath leaking from between the green and pale lips was also intermittent. The executioner pinched his chin, and a punishment specific pill was forced into his mouth to swallow.

The effect of the medicine took place quickly, and another round of pain fell on the tortured person.

The limbs that had been weakened and turned limp suddenly tightened, Mo Ren gritted his teeth and endured, the blue veins on his white neck were exposed, but the painful panting and hoarse screams that leaked out unconsciously still filled the small punishment room.

He opened his somewhat slackened eyes, and the blackness in his eyes burst. 

It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt very much…..He has already died once, how could he not survive this punishment......

Besides, this is all his own decision, isn't it?

Mo Ren couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart. If the Master knew about it, that he took the Jiuyun Jade Plaque to instead issue a punishment order for himself, using a bitter meat trick to deceive Bai Hua...I don't know how angry Master will be. (TL: to make oneself suffer in order to deceive the other party.)

Young Master Bai Hua was sitting on a seat covered with brocade cushions on Yang Yifang's right hand side. His soft and flawless appearance resembled snow and jade, and was incompatible with this gloomy and bloody Punishment Hall.

At this moment, his face was full of agitation and anxiousness, his hands were tightly clutching the corners of his clothes, "Don't...don't continue..."

Bai Hua flicked his snow sleeves suddenly, and abruptly stood up. He frowned slightly, and his peach-blossom eyes faintly watered, "Please be merciful, Master Yang, if this punishment continues, the person will not be able to bear it! Although Guard Mo is wrong, nevertheless, he is still a person who has followed the Palace Master since childhood..."

He was released an hour ago. The soft young man was haggard and weak, leaning on the bars of the dungeon, and without considering the need to tidy up his appearance, he repeatedly asked if Brother Chu was safe.

And the black-clothed guard who came to deliver the order to release him quickly gave him the answer with actions——

Not only was Chu Yan safe and sound, but he also cherished his lover who suffered the "unexpected disaster". Therefore, the chief culprit who caused Young Master Bai Hua to suffer would naturally be punished.

If punished, it’d be a punishment of suffering from pills.

This was the same punishment Mo Ren carefully selected for himself. The only advantage of this punishment was that it was only painful but did not harm the body; the disadvantage was that although it did not harm the body, it could drive people crazy.

Mo Ren felt that it was good. He still had to accompany his master to Shangqing City, thus he must not suffer too much damage, otherwise he would not be able to serve his master or kill the enemy on his behalf, which would be terrible.

As for the pain...he was not afraid of it, just go all out and endure it.

Bai Hua was still begging for mercy, and the noisy voice filled his buzzing ears. Mo Ren on the gallows raised his head with his eyebrows pressed down. Against the background of the fire in the Punishment Hall, the line from the side face to the neck appeared extremely pale and thin.

His whole body was as if he had been pulled out from the water. He started to convulse from the pain, but his consciousness was still clear. His voice was cold and hoarse, "Since it was Mo Ren that made a mistake, it caused displeasure to the Palace Master. It is natural to receive punishment, so there is no need for anyone else to say more.”

Bai Hua slapped the armrest of the seat vigorously, "Guard Mo, why are you determined to be insensitive and embarrass me! Embarrass your Palace Master!"

He choked with grief and said, "Brother Chu, he doesn't want to get into a stalemate with you at all...As the personal guard of the Palace Master, how can you always go against his wishes like this!"

Mo Ren closed his eyes and said nothing, just pretending that this person did not exist. But he couldn't help being cold in his heart, it's not like he couldn't guess what Bai Hua's plan was.

This beauty in white clothes always had a pitiful, soft and kind appearance, but with many insidious schemes buried in secret. Now, Mo Ren had borrowed the supreme token, the Jiuyun Jade Plaque, to carry out this bitter meat trick, which was equivalent to an order from the Palace Master…

Bai Hua as such gently pretended to be affectionate. If Yang Yifang was coaxed into softening by him, gained a watertight excuse and even stopped the punishment, since he had committed a major crime of disobedience, maybe he’d be labeled as a rebellious person by his master and in the future, he might inevitably suffer the wrath of the Palace Master's thunder.

Fortunately, Yang Yifang was not a person that’s easy to deal with either, otherwise he wouldn't be the head of the Punishment Hall until Mo Ren died. As soon as he heard Bai Hua's words, his expression did not change, and only said with a smile, "Young Master Bai must be joking. Yang is only in charge of the Punishment Hall, so he must not intercede for personal gain."

"It's all my fault......" Bai Hua muttered to himself with the corners of his eyes turning red, "If it wasn't for the Jiuyun Jade Plaque that Big Brother Chu gave me to be stolen by a traitor, I.....I could have offset and stopped the punishment."