The Torture Chamber

When the youths went to pay their respects to the young lady, there was no indication that Han Shiqi's death was known. The young lady noticed nothing about the two missing servants. Only Xue Niang frowned and asked a question. The six youths exchanged glances, unable to reply. She shook her head in dissatisfaction but did not press further.

Returning to Kindling Courtyard, Han Jinu still hadn't noticed the absence of two people. It wasn't until near noon, when he wanted to find Qi Nu and Xie Nu to ask for clarification, that he finally discovered only six youths remained in the courtyard.

"Where are the people?"

Han Jinu appeared extremely surprised. The disappearance of someone within Golden Peng Fortress was utterly impossible in his mind, hence unimaginable.

The youths continued to exchange glances, unable to reply.

Han Jinu's expression shifted from surprise to rage. He swung his rosewood stick, striking the youths indiscriminately. "How dare you scheme behind my back! How dare you scheme behind my back! Are you all in this together? Did those two little brats leave with Third Brother?"

As they dodged, the youths replied that they didn't know.

While the courtyard was in an uproar, the east gate was pushed open. The ones entering were not servants delivering the dying, but a group of men in black. Their attire differed slightly from the assassins; their belts were not red, but green or yellow, and they carried no sabers.

Upon seeing these men, Han Jinu's expression turned more panicked than if he had seen assassins. The rosewood stick slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground. His mouth hung open, his knees involuntarily buckled, and he couldn't utter a word. It was unclear whether he was trying to bow or about to collapse.

The men in black moved silently, without introducing themselves. They swarmed forward, grabbed the now limp Han Jinu, and quickly departed. Someone locked the west gate, which had never been locked, from the inside, and then locked the east gate from the outside as they left.

No one offered any explanation to the uneasy youths. They were now effectively imprisoned in Kindling Courtyard. Except for Gu Shenwei, none of them knew what crime they were accused of.

There were still two injured individuals in the courtyard, brought in two days prior. Normally, everyone avoided their rooms as much as possible, but now they all rushed inside, hoping to prove their usefulness to Golden Peng Fortress.

No food was delivered at noon, an ominous sign.

Those two injured individuals didn't last much longer either. They died before nightfall. With the west gate leading to Ghost Cry Cliff locked, their bodies could only remain on the kang, slowly stiffening.

"I didn't do anything, we didn't do anything, right? Han Jinu's trouble won't implicate us, right?"

The youth named Zhao Nu suddenly spoke. It had been a long time since anyone had spoken. They only felt uneasy, not knowing what exactly had happened. Only Gu Shenwei could guess, but he wouldn't reveal a word.

"Xue Niang will save us. We are all the young lady's people. We took an oath," another youth, Lei Nu, said, looking at his companions with hopeful eyes, seeking some confidence from them.

The youths nodded in agreement, and suddenly, a wave of relief washed over them.

Gu Shenwei also nodded, but thought to himself: The young lady and Xue Niang won't save them. If they had the intention or ability, they wouldn't have let them stay in Kindling Courtyard to serve the dying in the first place. The Eighth Young Master's courtyard also needed servants, yet he didn't request them.

The days of the Great Head God's daughter commanding respect in the bandit camp ended the moment she stepped into the bridal sedan chair.

In the evening, the men in black with yellow belts returned. This time, there were only two of them. One of them issued a brief command to the terrified six youths:

"Follow us."

The youths felt apprehensive but dared not ask questions. They obediently followed them out of Kindling Courtyard, a place they had once desperately wanted to leave, but now felt a reluctant attachment to, like home.

Gu Shenwei maintained his composure, even a hint of optimism. The yellow belts weren't binding anyone. They probably just wanted to ask some questions. The situation was clear: one assassin missing, two servants suddenly gone. Anyone would connect these two events and wouldn't suspect those who remained.

Gu Shenwei's thoughts were not entirely correct.

The yellow belts were the enforcers of Heart Washing Courtyard. The youths were brought here, and a formal interrogation awaited them.

Heart Washing Courtyard was not far from Kindling Courtyard, separated only by a small courtyard of unknown purpose. This place was also called Ghost Courtyard, the place where Golden Peng Fortress administered punishments.

Gu Shenwei had once wanted to search this courtyard for his sister's whereabouts. Now, he realized it was futile. The prison cells for inmates in Heart Washing Courtyard were all underground, heavily guarded, and impossible for outsiders to penetrate.

There were "inmates" within the assassin organization too, Gu Shenwei thought wryly.

The youths were led into an underground torture chamber. Its usage seemed high. The ground was covered in greasy mud. The youths had escorted several dying individuals sent from Heart Washing Courtyard, and they were all stained with this mud. Yao Nu, when he was still alive, had said the mud was mixed with human flesh. Judging by the dismembered limbs of the dying, his assessment was likely accurate.

Strange torture instruments were placed around the room, and chains were everywhere. In a corner, a prisoner hung powerlessly from a wooden frame, his skin and flesh torn, unrecognizable. When he moaned, the youths cried out in unison.

That person was Han Jinu.

In the morning, he was the supervisor of Kindling Courtyard. Now, he was qualified to return to the courtyard and await death.

One youth fainted on the spot. Two others stood frozen, unable to move, with liquid dripping from their trouser legs.

More than ten people stood in the torture chamber, not just the yellow-belted enforcers, but others as well. Some weren't even wearing black. They paid no mind to the youths' fear; it would be surprising if anyone entering Heart Washing Courtyard remained composed.

Gu Shenwei felt his legs trembling, a sudden urge to turn and flee.

He was a descendant of the Gu clan of the Central Plains, from an official family. His childhood playmates in the Central Plains were the sons of generals and ministers. Torture was like a legend of ghosts and gods to them.

How had he fallen to this point? Was it not enough that his family was destroyed? Did he have to personally experience the most humiliating way to die?

No one realized there was a young master of the Gu family among the youths, nor did they sympathize with his feelings. The enforcers skillfully bound the six youths to different wooden frames. Without asking a single question, they began the whipping. The first lash sent Lei Nu, who had fainted, into a pig-like scream, followed by a chorus of screams.

No one dared to resist.

This was the rule of Heart Washing Courtyard. Regardless of what you did or didn't do, whether you confessed or not, you had to endure some punishment first. The whipping was already the lightest warning.

After the whipping, the enforcers ordered the youths to speak, but didn't say what they wanted to know.

The youths scrambled to confess, saying everything, even that they had once poured tea for Han Jinu. They still thought the person in trouble was the courtyard supervisor.

Next, the enforcers asked the youths to talk about the missing Qi Nu and Xie Nu, which led to another barrage of details.

Although it was all nonsense, the enforcers remained impassive. They were looking for loopholes in this nonsense, trying to see who the real informant was.

His legs had been trembling before the torture, but after the whips fell, Gu Shenwei's fear vanished. The pain of his flesh was merely pain, insignificant compared to the hidden suffering in his heart.

Yet, he also screamed and confessed incoherently. This was his first time in a torture chamber, his first time facing enforcers, but his mind was surprisingly clear. All the tricks were obvious to him. He had to pretend to be no different from the ordinary youths while secretly observing.

The interrogators were all low-level thugs. The real figures of authority were only two people, both standing far away, appearing detached.

One was a tall, thin man in black with a yellow belt, his face grim; he was clearly the manager of Heart Washing Courtyard. The other was very short and thin, wearing a gray robe, with a pensive expression on his face, like a scholar.

Neither of them carried the distinctive narrow sabers of the assassins.

The interrogation ended, and the torturers retreated to the side. As expected, the two men spoke to make the judgment.

"They won't be able to say anything. Those two house servants acted alone." The tall, thin man with the yellow sash spoke first, and the youths' hearts relaxed.

"Mhm, it seems so. But don't let your guard down. Some children can be very insidious, especially when adults are guiding them," the short, stout man in the grey robe said casually, a smile of deference still on his face, as if he weren't discussing the matter at hand but pointing out a general truth.

"It's also possible. These children haven't been in the fortress long and haven't interacted with many adults. Finding the person behind it should be easy. What do you think, Mr. Guo?"

The grey-robed man called "Mr. Guo" showed a very obvious expression of surprise. "Commander Shen, you've misunderstood me. I just don't think we can trust these young ones so easily. Han Shiqi is an assassin. For a few youths to try and ambush him seems unlikely."

Han Shiqi was his real name. Most assassins from Golden Peng Fortress were not well-known, so there was no need to use a false name when carrying out missions.

Commander Shen and Mr. Guo had a disagreement. The former seemed to want to downplay the situation, while the latter wanted to dig deeper.

Gu Shenwei reminded himself that if he could survive leaving the Ghost Courtyard, he would inquire thoroughly. Every internal conflict within Golden Peng Fortress could be helpful to his great cause of revenge.

The interrogation continued intermittently but never focused on any particular point. The torturers seemed to be beating around the bush. Gu Shenwei had a feeling this was intentional. Every time the youths mentioned Xue Niang and the Eighth Young Madam, the torturers wouldn't press further. The intelligent youths had already understood and no longer brought up matters concerning the Eighth Young Master's courtyard.

After an unknown amount of time, Commander Shen and Mr. Guo left and returned several times. After that, neither of them spoke much, and their differences and conflicts no longer surfaced, yet they refused to look at each other.

The Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu, also came once. This was the second time Gu Shenwei had seen the enemy who had destroyed his family. The distance was even greater, and the chance for revenge seemed even more remote.

Shangguan Nu only glanced around and left without saying anything. During this time, he nodded to Commander Shen but ignored Mr. Guo. Mr. Guo, however, bowed respectfully to the Young Master.

It was probably around midnight when several men in black rushed in without a word. They threw something on the ground, bowed to Commander Shen and Mr. Guo, and then immediately withdrew.

The thing on the ground was a living person. He raised his head, and the first person he looked at was Gu Shenwei.

Qi Nu had been captured and brought back.