Lin Taichu dragged his injured leg toward the gate, each step like treading on knife points.
The wound on his back burned from being soaked in sweat. Blood from his arm dripped from his fingertips onto the ground, forming a crooked red trail.
Gao Yang clutched his stomach and straightened up, his gaze as venomous as a poisoned blade.
He had not expected Lin Taichu to fight back even in such a state. Forgetting all decorum, he took off after him. The guards at the courtyard gate tried to stop him, but he kicked them aside. "Get out of my way!"
Lin Taichu had just touched the doorframe when someone seized the back of his collar. Gao Yang yanked hard, and he stumbled back into the courtyard. His face struck the flagstones, and blood immediately appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Run, then! Let's see where you can run!" Gao Yang planted a foot on his back and held the Iron Ruler against his neck. "Weren't you quite the fighter just now? Move again and see what happens!"
Lin Taichu lay prone on the ground, his chest so constricted that he could barely breathe. He could only brace himself on his elbows and slowly force himself upward.
He knew he could not stop now. As long as Sun Yong could deliver the evidence before the emperor, it would all be worth it.
"Still moving?" Gao Yang pressed down harder, the Iron Ruler sinking further into his flesh. "Do you believe I'll cut your head off right now?"
Lin Taichu said nothing. He merely stared fixedly beyond the courtyard wall.
Faint cries of battle came from that direction. He did not know whether his personal soldiers were still resisting or whether the prime minister's men had chased after them.
Just