Heyun's words made Tang Jie's heart sink. No wonder Tang Tianhao was often away from home every month—it was because he was a member of a gang, and even its vice leader. He had to manage the affairs of the Six Peaks Gang. What Tang Jie did not know, however, was that the leader of the Six Peaks Gang was a demon!
The demon had slipped away the moment it sensed something was wrong. As its right-hand man, Tang Tianhao had naturally been captured on the spot. He had been convicted of colluding with a demon and sentenced to beheading in public as a warning to others!
"All right. This is all I can do. You're still young. Don't take the wrong path."
Seeing Tang Jie's expression, Heyun sighed, patted him on the shoulder, and left.
Tang Jie stood where he was for a long time. He looked up at the sky. From Heyun, Tang Jie had learned that it was basically impossible to clear Tang Tianhao's name. Though he had done so unintentionally, he really had worked under a demon.
"But... I'm going to save him!" Tang Jie's eyes were filled with determination. He did not care whether Tang Tianhao had truly colluded with a demon. He absolutely could not stand by and watch Tang Tianhao be beheaded in public.
At noon the next day, the execution ground in Lingyue City was packed. It was a broad square paved with dark-red bricks, as though a layer of dark-red blood had stained the ground. Since Lingyue City had been established, at least a thousand condemned criminals had been beheaded here.
"Someone else is getting their head chopped off?"
"I heard it's a man named Tang Tianhao. He colluded with a demon!"
"Colluded with a demon? Then he deserves to die!"
Outside the execution ground, the crowd had already packed in so tightly that not even water could pass through. The passersby whispered among themselves.
Tang Jie stood silently among the crowd, waiting. Behind him stood two towering Corpse Puppets, motionless.
At the center of the execution ground, a large number of soldiers stood guard. They were all clad in black armor and radiated a murderous air. Every one of them was an elite soldier of Lingyue City. The person to be beheaded today was the vice leader of the Six Peaks Gang, a man convicted of colluding with a demon. To prevent any mishaps—such as his accomplices or even the demon coming to rescue him—the yamen had dispatched a large force of elite soldiers to guard the grounds.
On a high platform stood a middle-aged man in official robes and a magistrate's hat. He was Li Changshou, the prefect of Lingyue City. Two people sat on either side of him.
One was a sturdy Daoist who looked to be around forty, with an immortal air about him. Seated on the other side was a graceful young woman with skin as fair as jade. However, she wore a white veil that obscured her features.
"Your Excellency, the time has come."
A soldier walked over and spoke respectfully.
Li Changshou, the prefect of Lingyue City, nodded slightly, then called out loudly, "Bring out the prisoner!"
The crowd stirred. A middle-aged man with disheveled hair and bound hands and feet was escorted into the center of the execution ground by a group of soldiers.
Tang Jie immediately clenched his fists. That middle-aged man, who looked like a prisoner beneath the execution platform, was none other than Tang Tianhao. His expression was calm, as though he did not see the countless piercing gazes fixed upon him.
"Vice Leader!"
Several people in the crowd saw this scene and gritted their teeth. They were members of the Six Peaks Gang.
"The vice leader has always treated us well. Are we really going to sit by and watch him get beheaded?" one man said through clenched teeth. As the vice leader of the Six Peaks Gang, Tang Tianhao had always been loyal and righteous, and all the gang members respected him deeply.
"Don't act rashly. The vice leader took all the blame upon himself so that we wouldn't be implicated! If we act recklessly, all his painstaking efforts will be wasted!" someone else hurriedly said.
The fact that the leader of the Six Peaks Gang was a demon was unknown to everyone. After the incident, Tang Tianhao had surrendered without resistance and voluntarily shouldered the blame, all so that the other members of the Six Peaks Gang would not be implicated.
"Will someone really come to rescue him?"
"Haha, don't be ridiculous. Demons aren't idiots. They wouldn't dare come here to seek death. There are hundreds of elite soldiers stationed here, not to mention the Immortal Masters. If a demon dares to come, it'll only be courting death!"
The soldiers maintaining order at the scene began whispering among themselves.
Many elite soldiers had been dispatched for Tang Tianhao's execution precisely to guard against the possibility that the demon disguised as the leader of the Six Peaks Gang might appear. Though everyone thought that possibility unlikely, they still had to be prepared.
"Throughout my life... I've had many regrets. I'll never get to see Meng'er again, nor say goodbye to Jie'er... The one I'm most sorry toward is Jie'er. But he's already grown up. Even without me, he can live well... Forgive your father..." As Tang Tianhao was escorted toward the execution block at the center of the grounds, many thoughts filled his mind.
When Tang Tianhao was young, he had been an abandoned orphan. An old monk had found him and raised him. Later, after the old monk passed away, Tang Tianhao encountered the leader of the Six Peaks Gang. Impressed by his martial skills, the man invited him to join the Six Peaks Gang.
Tang Tianhao had still been young then and yearned deeply for the dazzling world beyond. Naturally, he agreed to join the Six Peaks Gang.
Tang Tianhao earned the leader's deep trust, and through his own martial prowess, became the vice leader of the Six Peaks Gang.
Later, Tang Tianhao met a woman who changed his entire life. Unfortunately, she had not the slightest love for him. The only thing she left him was a son, Tang Jie, before departing without a trace of attachment.
After Tang Tianhao had Tang Jie, he taught him to become a man who could hold up the heavens and stand upon the earth. Yet he had never dared tell him what he did for a living, because it was nothing honorable.
Now that the end of his life was drawing near, Tang Tianhao thought of many things. He felt that the person he had wronged most was his son, Tang Jie.
"So this is Aunt Meng's man? He's nothing special... She actually chose a man like this out of spite back then?" The ethereal young woman seated to the prefect's right silently watched Tang Tianhao, his hair disheveled.
"I heard Aunt Meng even had a son with him, a good-for-nothing without a spiritual root. They're people from a completely different world than us. Now that he's dead, it can be considered washing away one stain from Aunt Meng's life." As the girl thought this, a trace of a smile touched her peerlessly beautiful face beneath the veil.
By blood, Tang Tianhao was still the young woman's elder. However, she had not the slightest respect for him. A mortal had no right to claim kinship with the Yun family!
"Hm?" The sturdy Daoist seated on the other side of the prefect suddenly showed a look of surprise.
"Master Feng Mo, what is it?" Li Changshou hurriedly asked when he saw this.
The sturdy Daoist known as Feng Mo did not answer. His gaze was fixed on the crowd.
"Tie Yi, Tie Er, go!" Seeing Tang Tianhao appear, Tang Jie no longer hesitated. He gave a low shout and issued the order!
"Clang! Clang!"
The two towering Corpse Puppets, each nearly two meters tall, suddenly moved. Their heavy armor collided with metallic clangs as they charged out of the crowd like two giant beasts!
"Come... let's make a scene!" Crimson light spewed from Tang Jie's eyes, and his blood boiled like lava!
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