Chapter 272: They are just wild dogs

Chen Wuji thought he had long been immune to killing; now he felt no psychological pressure or discomfort when he killed, but seeing Chen Luozi torture Ji Qinghuan, he still couldn't help feeling uneasy all over, his stomach churning as if its contents wanted to surge out.

He instinctively wanted to throw away the fish in his hand, avert his gaze, and stop looking.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Wuji forced himself to stare fixedly at Ji Qinghuan, then forcibly shoved the fish meat into his mouth, chewed slowly, and swallowed hard.

In this world about to descend into total chaos, the law of the jungle is the only rule.

He could be kind-hearted, but he had to harden his heart.

One fish, as Chen Wuji gritted his teeth and chewed, gradually left nothing but bones.

But Ji Qinghuan still didn't speak.

She was far tougher than that somewhat handsome dark-skinned boy.

She was a ruthless character.

Moreover, judging by her demeanor when mentioning Yeniao Shan Zhuang, she was also a fervent believer.

Such people are the hardest to deal with.

Chen Luozi also lost his temper because of this woman, and his strikes grew increasingly brutal.

Ji Qinghuan writhed in pain; after several bouts of unconsciousness, she finally managed to speak: "I, I am a member of Yeniao Shan Zhuang!"

"Where is your Yegou Shan Zhuang?" Chen Wuji asked from a distance.

"Yeniao!" Ji Qinghuan, her face covered in blood, shouted angrily.

"You may torture me, but please do not defile our faith. Yeniao Shan Zhuang is the home of our flock of wild birds, and moreover the nest of all wild birds under heaven."

Chen Wuji's stern, unangered gaze calmly fixed on Ji Qinghuan as he slowly said, "Wild, dog!"

"A bunch that disregards the lives and deaths of common folk to achieve its goals—does that even deserve to be called faith? Don't sully those two words; speak properly, or I'll break your bones inch by inch."

Such people are far more hateful than invaders like the Qiang people!

Yet they constantly proclaim their benevolence and righteousness for the country and the people.

"Where is Yegou Shan Zhuang, and how many people are there?" Chen Wuji demanded.

Ji Qinghuan angrily turned her head, refusing to answer Chen Wuji's question.

Only when Chen Luozi smashed the hilt of his knife into one of her toes did she finally speak with a trembling voice: "It's, it's in Hezhou Jiaowai, a mountain villa with over six hundred retainers… I… I am one of them… we… we are all… all refugees, beggars, and also abandoned children."

"You may, slander our faith, but our master… will never do anything wrong to the people; don't use your baseless speculation to, to slander."

Even at this point, she was still arguing for the reputation of Yeniao Shan Zhuang.

This loyalty surpasses even that of a death soldier.

Chen Wuji scoffed, "Baseless speculation? That's sheer nonsense. Fine, then I'll ask you: after you lure the Qiang people into Yunan, what do you plan to do?"

"Help the Qiang people capture Yunan City, then trap them in a jar and kill them." Ji Qinghuan this time spoke readily, without hesitation.

"Bringing foreign enemies to attack our own city—is that your faith?" Chen Wuji shouted.

Ji Qinghuan immediately glared with bloodshot eyes and retorted, "Officials drink human blood and eat human bones; they should have been overthrown long ago. How many commoners have died over the years because of the court's excessive taxes and official corruption?"

"Fine, I'll tentatively agree with you." Chen Wuji nodded.

"Then I ask you: how many people do you have? How many troops do the Qiang possess? How can you be so confident that you can trap the Qiang in a jar inside Yunan City? After occupying the city, would the Qiang really be foolish enough not to seize control of it?"

Ji Qinghuan's tone weakened a bit: "We have our own ways."

"Your own ways? I think you never intended to do that at all." Chen Wuji sneered.

"Don't you know that when the Qiang people wage war they ravage the land, leaving a thousand miles without smoke and fields white with bones? Have your dog's eyes ever seen such things?"

"On what basis do you think your mere six hundred can stop the Qiang's great army, keep them from plundering the people and seizing the city, and still give these six hundred stupid pigs a chance to be slaughtered to the last?"

"If you're going to be a guide for the enemy, don't feed me these lofty excuses—it'll only make your death more miserable."

Ji Qinghuan's expression suddenly turned dazed; her blood‑stained, swollen lips trembled, and she couldn't utter a word. After a while she managed to squeeze out, "Our master would never deceive us; he surely has a way—he just… just hasn't told us."

"What is your master's name?" Chen Wuji shouted.

Talking nonsense with a woman so brainwashed she doesn't even know who she is is completely a waste of my emotions and saliva.

"I only know his surname is Liang…" Ji Qinghuan said.

"What does he do?"

Ji Qinghuan shook her head.

"What is his status?"

Ji Qinghuan still shook her head.

Seeing this, Chen Luozi raised the knife hilt again.

Ji Qinghuan's body jerked violently as she cried out, "I really don't know this; our master is very mysterious—he doesn't live on the manor, only coming occasionally."

"All affairs on the manor are handled by people we select; every two years we choose a few new stewards. Only after attaining the steward's position can one see the master, and these matters are merely the stewards conveying the master's orders, telling us what to do."

Chen Wuji asked, "Then tell me what you were just doing by this fire?"

"That's our way of courting." Ji Qinghuan pondered a moment before realizing what Chen Wuji was asking, then said, "Our master says we are all born free; those Confucian scholars, to help the court keep the people ignorant, devised all those rites, forcing us to live honestly within those frames and become their dogs."

"The master says that while living in the world one should be unrestrained and uninhibited, and marriage ought to be the freest, most simple way—just as we did earlier."

Chen Wuji pointed to another woman nearby and said, "If you cherish freedom so much, why do you have a maid?"

"This is our disguise when we're out; she's actually my very close sister." Ji Qinghuan said.

Chen Wuji asked the other woman, "Do you have anything you want to say?"

"They really are a bunch that distinguishes neither good nor evil, shameless wild dogs." The woman, her face full of disgust, began to tell Chen Wuji her story.

"My family has a tradition of farming and scholarship; my father taught me to read and write and how to be a person since I was little. Later my family was killed by bandits, and I was brought into Yegou Shan Zhuang."

"The mountain villa has many people, adults and children alike. These folks don't just steal and rob; they go out each day to earn money or scrounge food, relying entirely on theft, robbery, and begging, and news of massacres spreads constantly from the vicinity of Yeniao Shan Zhuang."