Chapter 3069

This remark struck precisely at the condemned prisoner's heart. Yeah, anyway he can't escape death, so he might as well make a profitable trade with his life.

He asked the jailer: "Will the Celestial Venerable look after my family? Really?"

"Of course. The gods do not jest."

The condemned prisoner swallowed, then shoved the bead into his mouth.

"You know what to do next, right?" The jailer confirmed again, "Don't bite through and swallow too early."

With something in his mouth, the condemned prisoner couldn't speak conveniently, just nodded his head, then walked back and slumped down to sit.

I'm going to die, I'm going to die, sigh.

About a quarter of an hour later, the outer gate of the prison opened, light poured in, and someone shouted loudly:

"Execution time has arrived."

The prison instantly erupted in wailing.

The jailers and palace guards remained unmoved. To them, this scene was already commonplace.

They opened the prison door and dragged the condemned prisoners out one by one, shackling their hands and feet before escorting them outside.

Outside, the weather was fine, green trees provided shade. The condemned prisoners couldn't help but take a deep breath.

This was the last time in their lives they would enjoy the sunshine.

They were put onto a cart, and amidst the creaking of wheels, they passed through the briefest moment of life—just over an hour—before being brought down.

Before them stood a strange building.

It resembled a huge standalone courtyard, but was ring-shaped, with three tiers, each tier's diameter spanning a hundred zhang, and the building was engraved with peculiar runes.

Is this the execution ground? Some condemned prisoners were so frightened their legs trembled and they couldn't walk, being forcibly dragged by jailers into the ring-shaped building, where a plaque hung at the entrance bearing three large characters:

Heaven Fate Tower.

The interior of this building was very simple, with no side passages and no rooms. Guards were stationed every hundred zhang along the circular corridor.

In the central courtyard of Heaven Fate Tower lay lush grass, with only one large tree planted, its canopy about four zhang high, dense and verdant, very luxuriant.

Besides that, there was nothing unusual here.

No blood, no stains, no severed limbs—completely different from the horrifying execution ground the condemned prisoners had imagined.

Just as they harbored a sliver of hope, someone sharp-eyed spotted a pair of shackles in the corner of the central courtyard, identical to the ones they wore.

At this moment the jailer also noticed it, muttering under his breath, "Who did this rough work?" while pulling out a long hook and reaching toward the central courtyard to haul the shackles up.

This hook was tied to a long bamboo pole; pulling it up was quite strenuous, but even so, the jailer himself refused to go down.

Judging by the sky, the time had come.

"If there is a next life, remember to do more good deeds."

After saying this, the jailers suddenly moved, shoving the condemned prisoners from the second floor down. The latter struggled desperately, but their hands and feet were bound, and they were even chained together in a line—how could there be any room for resistance?

Soon, they all fell from the building.

The second floor wasn't high above the ground—less than one zhang—so most condemned prisoners who fell were injured but not dead, crying out in pain.

Before they could struggle to get up, something moved suddenly in the shade of the large tree.

Someone shouted, "There's a snake!"

Indeed, it seemed as if more than a dozen giant snakes, each as thick as a person's thigh, burst from the ground and lunged at them.

The condemned prisoners hastily dodged, but the giant snakes were more agile, seizing their hands and feet without hesitation and dragging them violently toward the large tree.

Very elastic, but their bodies were much harder than a python's.

Only then did they see clearly: this wasn't a python at all, but one thick, flexible root after another!

Soon, the first condemned prisoner was dragged close to the large tree.

The tree trunk silently split open a deep fissure, like a gaping mouth, still oozing slime. The condemned prisoner was dragged inside, and his cry cut off abruptly!

One, two, three...

Dragged one by one without a sound.

The condemned prisoner with the bead in his mouth tightly shut his lips, his body trembling like chaff in a sieve, and soon it would be his turn.

His upper teeth struck his lower teeth; he accidentally bit through the bead, filling his mouth with a salty-sweet fragrance.

Seeing blood at the corner of his mouth, the jailer above only thought he had bitten his tongue when he fell.

Then the root seized him.

Before being dragged into the tree trunk, he mumbled unclearly: "May the Celestial Venerable protect me."

Then he swallowed all the liquid inside the bead.

In total, twenty-one condemned prisoners were completely devoured by the large tree.

After the last prisoner vanished into the tree trunk, the wailing also ceased entirely.

The jailer couldn't help but pick at his ears; finally, it was quiet.

After another quarter of an hour or so, those roots crawled out again, flinging the prisoners' clothes and shackles to the edge of the central courtyard.

This was what the tree could not digest.

So the jailers picked up their long hooks, gathered all the miscellaneous items, then left Heaven Fate Tower.

Routine business.

￥￥￥￥￥

As noon approached, Liu Wenxing, the commander-in-chief of the southern border town of Guo State, had just returned to the government office when his subordinates delivered a document:

"Report, an urgent dispatch from the capital!"

This damned weather!

It's already deep autumn, yet it's unusually hot. The border town in the jungle is stuffy and damp, people feel like they're in a steamer. Liu Wenxing wiped the sweat from his forehead, took the document, opened it, and his expression changed instantly.

It read: Tonight, the demons will descend into the world; following the War Alliance's demand, Guo State must reinforce Xuyi State with troops, and the border town must allow passage, without obstruction or delay, otherwise military law will apply.

The wording was stern, showing how seriously the King of Qian took this matter.

Liu Wenxing's face, however, was clouded and uncertain.

Supporting the Xuan Yi Kingdom? The King of Qian sent troops out in the middle of the night—was he truly doing it to support the Xuan Yi Kingdom?

He recalled the refugees who had secretly crossed the border over the past month, as well as the legends about Yong Mountain.

Thinking it over carefully, his heart pounded with fear.

Only when his subordinate spoke up to remind him did he finally exhale a long breath, write a receipt, and have it sent back to Ducheng.

Can Qian State's actions possibly lead to a good outcome?

He did not know. He was merely a minor border commander, unable to influence the greater situation.

If the great hall collapses, he too can only follow it and be crushed to pieces.

Liu Wenxing stared blankly for a while, then went to wash his face, and just then the camp cooks had someone bring over a meal.

At noon today, there was his favorite dish of bamboo rat stewed with field frogs; Liu Wenxing had no appetite, but he still walked into the room:

"Put it in the inner room."

The soldier then carried the food box and followed him inside.

Naturally, there was no one in the room. As a minor border district commander, he had no need for any ceremony.

Liu Wenxing had just sat down when the soldier lifted the lid of the box and suddenly flung it at his face!

"You..." Liu Wenxing instinctively reached up to deflect the cover, but his nape suddenly went numb, his voice failed him, his spine stiffened, and he found himself unable to move.

Someone had seized the Fengchi point at the back of his neck, their force penetrating inward and sealing the meridians of his upper body.

He could not even lift his hand.

Immediately afterward, the attacker produced a black-gold rope, slipped it onto his wrist, and it automatically tightened, binding his hands tightly together.

This sequence of moves was executed smoothly and continuously, taking less than one and a half breaths in total.

Only then did Liu Wenxing see the true face of his assailant—a man in his thirties, with sharp features and angular bones.

The logistics personnel were frequently rotated, and he had never paid attention, never expecting someone to exploit this loophole.