Chapter 308

Qiu Wuying felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar; his hands and feet were stiff at his sides, and he dared not move.

Eunuch He had come from within the palace; whether in terms of heritage, natural talent, or the resources consumed, he was far superior to him, and his ruthless, resilient nature was many times stronger than his own.

The head was kicked into the water.

The middle-aged man did not hold a high official rank, merely a seventh-rank Water Transport Commander, but it was one of the few positions in Nanjing with real power and lucrative perks, overseeing hundreds of transport ships and thousands of transport soldiers! In terms of actual power, he was by no means inferior to any Battalion Commander in the Great Ming!

Like a dead dog, he was pinned to the stone, losing his life on the spot before he could even leave a final word.

Where on earth did such a fierce person come from!

"Look up."

The voice said mockingly.

"No, I dare not... My lord, great hero, grandfather, ancestor, I know the rules. If I see your face, I won't live. You can kill these people if you like, I only beg you to spare my dog's life!"

"As long as you spare my life, I will say whatever you want to know. Once I've finished, I will leave the Great Ming and will never leave you with the slightest bit of trouble!"

"All my wealth is in my water stronghold, if you—"

Qiu Wuying begged for mercy repeatedly, not daring to even catch his breath.

Yet he heard that person say with a laugh.

"Who said you could live just by not looking up?"

"Oh, you don't need to reach for the Tang Men poison in your bosom; that thing is useless against me."

A chill ran through the bottom of Qiu Wuying's heart again.

This was his means of saving his life, a small packet of Tang Men poison he had sought out after pulling many strings, yet the other party had discovered it before he could even use it!

What to do, what to do... The poison had been discovered, and in terms of Wu Gong, he was definitely no match; hearing the other party's tone, it was clear that a murderous intent had already arisen!

He made a final struggle.

"Grandfather, ancestor! Please don't do it!"

"Do you know who is behind me? It is precisely—"

Halfway through his words, a hand clamped onto the top of his head, slowly tightening like a steel hoop.

"Arghhhhh!!!"

The surging pain turned his pleas for mercy into inhuman screams.

His skull emitted a mournful sound, compressing inward, cutting off the boiling thoughts in his brain.

"I don't want to know right now."

"I won't believe a single word spoken while you are still whole."

As the perspective shifted upward, he was slowly lifted, gradually becoming level with a face wearing a mocking smile.

By the moonlight, Qiu Wuying saw that face clearly.

Extreme fear temporarily dispelled the pain, allowing him to squeeze out a despair-filled murmur from his mouth.

"Li, Li—"

Li Miao turned his head to glance at the noisy crowd on the opposite bank, then turned back to look at Qiu Wuying.

"I was afraid you would run away earlier, so I came over to do some killing first. The trash over there hasn't been cleaned up yet, so you'll have to accompany me on one more trip, and I'll trim you down while I'm at it."

Li Miao lowered his voice and smiled cruelly.

"In order for you to live until I start interrogating you, I'll give you a piece of advice—raise your hands, hold your own neck, and don't let go."

A trace of confusion appeared in Qiu Wuying's eyes.

But the next instant, he understood Li Miao's meaning.

Before his eyes blurred, Li Miao clamped onto his head and leaped several zhang high! The overly rapid acceleration almost tore his head from his body!

Qiu Wuying let out a wail in mid-air, raising his hands to hold his own neck.

"That's right."

Li Miao's mocking voice came from above his head.

Qiu Wuying watched helplessly as he was held in Li Miao's hand, crossing the wide river like a meteorite—smashing toward the opposite bank!

Boom!

The landing point was not soil, but human bodies.

Amidst the splashing blood, Qiu Wuying's vision blurred again.

After Li Miao landed, he actually grabbed his head and swept it violently!

Bang bang bang bang—

The human bodies that hadn't had time to scatter were swept away by Qiu Wuying's legs! It was as if a scarlet firework had exploded in the crowd!

Intense pain came from his lower body.

Before Qiu Wuying could scream, Li Miao had already grabbed his head and charged into the crowd, sweeping up another rain of blood!

After repeating this several times, dozens of corpses already lay on the ground, and Qiu Wuying's lower body had become a limp mess, where not even a slightly larger bone fragment could be found.

Qiu Wuying had already taken his hands off his neck.

He had already recognized Li Miao, and he was clear about Li Miao's reputation. Falling into Li Miao's hands, even leaving behind a whole corpse was a luxury. Compared to being used as a weapon by Li Miao and beaten to death alive, he would rather have his neck snapped; at least that would be a quick end.

But the moment he took his hands away, Qiu Wuying felt a warm current pour into his body along his Baihui acupoint, instantly traversing his extraordinary meridians.

His injuries slowly healed, and a strand of true Qi appeared at his neck, knitting his muscles together and beginning to operate a hard-body cultivation technique he had never practiced before.

A trace of despair appeared in Qiu Wuying's eyes.

Falling into the hands of this demon, indeed, even death was a luxury.

After "maintaining" his "weapon," Li Miao scanned the surroundings.

The moment he first killed his way over here, he had already discovered that this group of "water bandits" was actually two groups of people mixed together.

Half of them were soldiers.

Regular troops, disguised as water bandits, working together to intercept and kill passing merchant ships.

The mastermind behind this didn't even need to be guessed—the Garrison Eunuch of Nanjing was, after all, the military official above the Nanjing Garrison, in charge of all military power in Nanjing.

But even though Li Miao had long been mentally prepared for a fight with the Nanjing army, he had never expected to see the army here.

A formed military unit, under the orders of their commanding officer, disguising themselves as bandits to intercept and kill commoners and plunder wealth along the water transport route—in any dynasty, this was the sign of a nation on the brink of collapse.

It could only be said that what the Emperor left for Li Miao and Zhu Zai was truly a mess, leaking from all sides and teetering on the edge of national ruin.

While Li Miao was lamenting, the real water bandits had already fled to their small boats, desperate to row away.

And the regular troops disguised as water bandits no longer hid their identities, forming military formations one after another and closing in on Li Miao.

Li Miao glanced at them and let out another cold laugh.

The Great Ming's military preparedness was lax, yet these people were able to form military formations on their own in a short time after their commanding officer died. This alone showed that these soldiers were far superior to the garrison elites Li Miao had seen elsewhere.

But these so-called "elites" were raised on the blood of innocent commoners.

Whether they were just going with the flow or were willing participants—Li Miao would never leave behind a single beast that had already tasted human flesh.

"Are you ready?"

Li Miao smiled and took a step forward.

Whoosh—

The military formation in front actually fell into a wave of chaos with his step. The people in front retreated involuntarily, only to back into the weapons of their comrades behind them, crying out in pain.

By the time they regained their senses and turned to look forward again, Li Miao's figure was already gone.

As they scanned the surroundings, suddenly, a comrade's exclamation came from the side.

"Above! Above!"

"He's coming! He's coming!"

The perspective shifted upward.

Li Miao, with a ferocious smile, carrying Qiu Wuying, fell from mid-air and smashed into the crowd with a boom!