Chapter 80 p1: Indebted
Qingshan couldn’t dodge in time. Even though she closed her eyes, the mouthful of blood still landed on her face. Her expression instantly turned sinister. She grabbed Wen Zhao by the neck, her knuckles turning white.
Wen Zhao could only squeeze out a sentence from between her teeth.
“If you have the guts, then kill me… Little… Little Zao won’t like you either…”
“Want to die? It’s not that easy!” Qingshan slammed her head and stood up.
“Someone, to the pyre.”
Jiang Zao’s eyes instantly widened. She struggled to run forward but was held back by two strong men behind her. They pressed her shoulders and made her kneel on the ground to watch the execution.
Iron chains firmly bound her four limbs. Captain Liang stretched his muscles and walked up with a whip as thick as a wrist.
He thought viciously in his heart: It’s usually me who gets whipped at the church. Today, it’s finally my turn to vent my anger.
And so, the sound of the whip cutting through the air echoed in the square, one after another, lashing at Wen Zhao.
Her clothes were soon torn, her skin was broken, and she was covered in blood. Another whip was lashed hard on her chest.
Wen Zhao’s head was turned to the side from the blow. Blood trickled from the corner of her lips, and her hair was scattered. The panda hair tie that had been holding her hair also fell into the mud and was stepped on by Qingshan.
“Ugh…” Jiang Zao could only watch helplessly, a deep cry of sorrow coming from her throat. She bent down, picked up a stone from the ground, and held it in her palm.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the hymn sounded again.
One whip after another, without end.
Wen Zhao remained silent, not begging for mercy, nor showing any weakness. She just held her head high and silently accepted all the suffering from the world, just like thirteen years ago.
Time passed by minute by minute. Even Captain Liang was tired from hitting, panting heavily, while Wen Zhao was already on the verge of death. The blood that had flowed from under her had formed a small stream on the ground.
Qingshan held the Mountain Stream Snow, flicked its narrow and thin blade with her finger, and slowly walked to her side.
“According to the rules of the Utopia Camp, all who want to desert must leave an arm behind as a punishment for betraying the Lord.”
“This knife of yours is not bad. Why don’t we just use it to cut off one of your hands? The left hand, or…”
Qingshan slowly drew the tip of the knife across her face, from her left eye to her chin, and finally to her shoulder.
When the tip of the knife passed over her eyeball, Wen Zhao instantly clenched her fists, the veins on her neck bulging. She raised her head and resisted the excruciating pain with all her might. Blood slowly flowed down from her eyelids. Qingshan looked at her face, which was more than half disfigured, with satisfaction.
The winding tip of the knife seemed to have also cut her heart. Jiang Zao’s tears instantly burst out.
Qingshan thought of the ring on her right hand. She must have touched her Zao’er with this hand.
Qingshan raised the knife high.
“Why don’t we just go with the right hand?”
The moment the blade was about to fall on her, a figure had finally worn down the rope with a sharp stone, broken free from the restraints, and had beaten several guards in a row, rushing over from a distance.
The moment she stood up, Little Mi also knocked away the guard in front of her with her head, bit his thigh with her teeth, and used all her strength to cover Jiang Zao’s back. The soldier let out a mournful cry, and a slap sent her to the ground. He stepped on Little Mi’s head.
When the tip of the knife pierced her clothes, it was too late for Qingshan to stop. She could only watch as a large blood-red datura bloomed on her chest.
The dark red blood dripped down the blade, drop by drop, and disappeared into the small stream of rainwater at her feet.
“Little… Little Zao!”
The pain did not come as expected. Wen Zhao opened her eyes in a daze. Her eyes were already swollen, and her left eye could no longer see clearly. Only her right eye could barely see. But when she saw her standing in front of her, her eyes were about to split. A heart-wrenching shout came from her throat. She struggled frantically, and the iron chains rattled. Her wrists were soon raw.
“Little Zao… Little Zao… no! If you have something, come at me! You lunatic! Little Zao… Little Zao… don’t…”
Seeing the blood dripping from the tip of the knife, Wen Zhao’s voice couldn’t help but have a hint of a sob.
Jiang Zao looked back at her, a faint smile on her lips, and then turned her head back. From her angle, she could see that behind Qingshan, a guard had already stepped on Little Mi, and a loaded gun was pressed against her forehead. With just one order from Qingshan, her life would be completely ended.
The knife was still in her body. When Jiang Zao spoke, bloody foam was constantly coming out of the corner of her lips.
“I… I’ll stay… this time… this time it’s for real… you… you let her go… let her go… just take it as I’m begging you… I’ve never asked you for anything… Qingshan…”
Qingshan’s facial muscles twitched. She seemed to be trying her best to endure something. She gritted her teeth, and the arm that was holding the knife trembled slightly.
“What right do you have to beg me… don’t forget… you still owe me a life…”
“I’ll give it back to you!”
The moment she blurted it out, Qingshan suddenly realized that between her and Jiang Zao, there was no going back.
This heavy rain had washed away all the beautiful things of the past.
Qingshan’s pupils shrank. Jiang Zao was already roaring. With the last of her strength, she grabbed the blade and pushed it in hard.
She spat out a large mouthful of dark blood, her face instantly as pale as paper, and her body was on the verge of collapsing.
“We’re… even.”
“Little Zao!”
“Zao’er!”
Qingshan wanted to forcefully pull the knife out of her body, but Jiang Zao held the blade firmly and did not let go.
The dark red blood dripped down from her wrist, drop by drop, and formed a light pink river at her feet.
“Let… let her go… otherwise…”
She gritted her teeth, and large beads of sweat dripped from her forehead. Enduring the great pain, she pushed the tip of the knife in a little more.
“Little Zao… don’t… don’t beg her… ahhhhhhhhhhh I don’t want you to save me… I don’t want you to save me… Little Zao!”
The person behind her also bent down and knelt, looking at her back, which was so close, and was already on the verge of collapsing, as if she could fall at any moment.
Wen Zhao let out a heart-wrenching cry from her throat.
This knife had already entered her body by a third. Qingshan had no doubt that the next second, she would pierce herself through the chest.
Qingshan’s lips trembled, and she didn’t dare to move. The usually calm and composed Prophet also had red eyes at this moment.
“You… you love her that much?”
Jiang Zao slowly turned her head again, glanced at Wen Zhao, and said nothing, but a hint of a smile appeared on her lips.
She struggled to raise her other hand again and held the blade with both hands.
This time, Qingshan did not give her another chance to kill herself. With a fierce wave of her hand, she pulled the Mountain Stream Snow out of her body.
A line of blood spurted out.
The warm blood also splashed on Qingshan’s face.
She blinked and felt that some warm liquid was also sliding down her cheeks. Was it… tears?
She… hadn’t cried in a long time.
The knife in Qingshan’s hand fell to the ground with a clang.
Jiang Zao closed her eyes, a smile on her lips. Her body tilted, and she slowly fell into the rain. Qingshan took a step forward and caught her in her arms. Her arm also quietly fell.
“Zao’er!”
“Little Zao! Little Zao!”
“Big Sister Jiang!”
Wen Zhao roared. Under her frantic struggles, even the iron cross shook and collapsed with a boom.
Wen Zhao’s four limbs were all raw, and her skin was broken. She struggled to crawl towards her. Qingshan had already picked her up in her arms. The moment she stood up, a copper wire-wrapped ring also rolled out of Jiang Zao’s pocket and fell into the mud.
In that instant, the last glimmer of light that was flickering in Wen Zhao’s eyes also went out.
“Little Zao… Little Zao! Don’t… don’t leave me… Little Zao!!”
The entire world echoed with her desperate cries.
The soldiers came forward to tear her away, wanting to pull her up from the ground. The fists fell like rain.
She struggled again and again, punching at them, but was knocked to the ground again and again, until she rolled to the side of the ring, dug the ring out of the mud, and held it in her palm.
Wen Zhao was crying, but a smile appeared on her lips. She looked in the direction Jiang Zao had gone and stumbled to chase after her.
Captain Liang whipped her hard on the back of her head.
Wen Zhao’s vision went black, and she fell with a thud, never to get up again.
The crowd gradually dispersed. The soldiers dragged her down from the high platform, and a long trail of blood was left where they had dragged her.
“Captain, what should we do with her?”
The big man with a face full of muscles gritted his teeth, grabbed Wen Zhao’s hair, and looked at her. Tsk, he couldn’t bring himself to do it with her bruised face.
“The Prophet only said to let her go, not how to let her go. Take her to the drawbridge, and have the brothers set up their guns. Whether she can run out or not is her own ability.”
“Go, go quickly.”
Li Mi was also pulled up from the ground by the soldiers.
Qingshan carried her and ran all the way to the tent of the Red Cross. After putting her on the hospital bed, she grabbed the church attendant by the collar. “Where… where’s Yan Zhen?! Get her over here!”
The church attendant looked at her, her hands covered in blood, and even her eyes were scarlet. He was trembling.
“You… you forgot. Doctor… Doctor Yan is being punished at the church…”
“Get her over here! Get her over here! If you can’t save Zao’er’s life, you all have to die! All of you have to die!”
Faced with her hysterical roar, the church attendant ran out of the tent in a panic.
“Yes… yes, yes… I’ll go and get Doctor Yan right away.”
Qingshan turned around and, with red eyes, she pressed down hard on the wound on her chest, from which blood was constantly flowing.
When Yan Zhen stumbled into the tent, she saw this scene. Jiang Zao, who was covered in blood, was lying on the hospital bed, already lifeless. And Qingshan, who was beside her, was not much better off. Her large cloak was covered in blood, and with her red eyes, she looked as if she had just crawled out of hell.
“Prophet…”
She was subconsciously about to bow when Qingshan turned her face, pressed her to the side of the bed, and her voice was even trembling.
“Save… save her… if you can’t save her… you all have to die…”
“Yes, get the surgical instruments quickly!”
Seeing that Jiang Zao was breathing in more than out, Yan Zhen didn’t dare to delay any longer. The nurse handed her the surgical instruments. Before she could even change into her surgical gown, she began the rescue.
Only then did Qingshan step aside. The breath she had been holding was released, and her whole person was a little dazed.
The church attendant helped her up.
“Prophet, you can go back and wait.”
Qingshan looked at Jiang Zao.
“No, I’ll wait here.”
***
