"I'm telling you, Great Hero Ding, after all these years, you may not be numb yet, but even the men doing the beating have gone numb," Song Qingshu said deliberately as he looked at Ding Dian below. "You should talk."
"Pah!" Ding Dian shot Song Qingshu a vicious glare.
That look made Song Qingshu's heart skip a beat. Good lord, this acting could win him an Oscar.
"Beat him," Ling Tuis sneered. Years of brutal torture had accomplished nothing, and he had long since lost interest. He only had the yamen runners carry out the punishment out of habit.
Thud! Thud! Thud! The water-and-fire cudgels struck Ding Dian, each blow landing with a dull smack of flesh. Ding Dian did not make a sound, silently enduring it. He did not dare use his inner power to resist, lest Ling Tuis spot a flaw. These superficial wounds were nothing; once back in his cell, a few cycles of circulating his true qi would heal them naturally.
"Father, stop forcing Brother Ding!" A woman's voice came from behind him. Ding Dian trembled all over and turned around excitedly. It was indeed Ling Shuanghua, the woman he had longed for day and night.
Ling Tuis was both shocked and furious. Pointing at Ling Shuanghua, he snapped, "Why are you here? Have you forgotten the oath you swore that day?"
"Your daughter has not forgotten." Ling Shuanghua walked over and helped Ding Dian up, then turned back and said, "Fortunately, I received guidance from an expert and finally understood. Mother did good deeds all her life. By now, she has surely reached the Western Paradise and would naturally not be suffering underground."
Ling Tuis's expression changed drastically. He shot Song Qingshu a vicious glare, but at that moment, a tremendous boom rang out. The doors were smashed apart, and a soldier, vomiting blood, was hurled inside.
"Assassins!" The shrill cry outside made everyone in the room jump.
The clanging of weapons rang out in a flurry. Ling Tuis's guards were clearly unable to hold their ground and retreated step by step. Soon, several men dressed as swordsmen rushed in amid the chaos. Seeing Ling Tuis seated in the place of honor, their eyes lit up as they lunged at him.
The guards at Ling Tuis's side drew their blades and charged forward despite themselves. Song Qingshu saw that the swordsmen's techniques were intricate and ever-changing. Ling Tuis's guards were no match for them and fell one after another.
"Father!" Ling Shuanghua cried anxiously as one of the swordsmen seized his chance, leaped high into the air, and thrust his sword at Ling Tuis.
Ding Dian loved Ling Shuanghua beyond measure and could not bear to see her suffer the slightest grievance. His body shook, and the iron chains around him snapped apart link by link. With a kick off the ground, he moved after the swordsman yet arrived before him. He threw a punch, and before he even reached his target, the force had already arrived.
The swordsman was greatly startled and hurriedly withdrew his sword to save himself. Ding Dian ignored his elaborate swordplay and drove straight at his centerline. His fist changed into a claw, and in an instant, he seized the man by the chest. At that grab, the man's entire body went limp.
Song Qingshu peeked out from behind a pillar and saw that the man had already stopped breathing. He sucked in a cold breath and quickly drew his head back. Better a fellow cultivator die than me. Go on, fight. The messier it gets, the better. Just don't notice me. Your brother here hasn't mastered his martial arts yet—I don't want to die before I've achieved anything.
"Divine Illumination Skill, Shadowless Divine Fist? You are Ding Dian!" The remaining swordsmen had finished off the guards below. Turning back and seeing that scene, their leader cried out in alarm.
Before setting out, the Snow Mountain Sect had specifically investigated the experts of the Jing and Xiang regions. Naturally, they knew of the formidable Ding Dian as well.
With the arrow already on the string, they had no choice but to let it fly. Things had reached this point, and the Snow Mountain Sect could only end the fight quickly. Otherwise, once the troops guarding the prefect's residence reacted, their entire force would likely be wiped out. Their leader understood this as well. "Junior Brother Feng, Martial Uncle and the others can barely hold on outside. I'll keep him occupied. You hurry and kill Ling Tuis, then we withdraw." With that, he swung his sword at Ding Dian.
"Hm?" Ding Dian's grab unexpectedly caught nothing. Seeing a faint trace of cold qi seemingly clinging to the man's blade, he knew this man's martial arts were far superior to the previous one's. From the corner of his eye, he saw several other Snow Mountain Sect disciples closing in on Ling Tuis. Alarmed, he flicked his toe and kicked a chair at them, briefly blocking their path. Then he seized the chance to leap over and intercept them.
Ding Dian held off all four Snow Mountain Sect swordsmen alone. Seizing several openings, he killed two more of them. That left only the sect's two strongest fighters struggling to hold on.
Seeing that these two were far stronger than the other Snow Mountain Sect disciples and that he could not defeat them immediately, Ding Dian had an idea and asked, "Could you two be Bai Wanjian, known as 'Cold Qi of the Northwest,' and Feng Wanli, the 'Wind and Fire Divine Dragon'?"
Bai Wanjian and Feng Wanli grew more alarmed the longer they fought. Ding Dian's martial arts were likely even greater than their father's—master's. Hearing shouts and reprimands continually coming from afar, they knew the situation could not be salvaged. They exchanged a glance, rapidly launched several sword strikes to force Ding Dian back, then both leaped outside. "Ding Dian, the Snow Mountain Sect will remember today's enmity!"
Ding Dian had no intention of pursuing them and silently returned to Ling Shuanghua's side. Looking at the miserable sight of his subordinates groaning in pain throughout the room, Ling Tuis glared at the two of them below with an iron-blue face.
Before he could speak, the roof tiles shattered. A black shadow descended from above and instantly subdued Ling Tuis. Its left hand clamped around Ling Tuis's throat like an iron vise, while its right palm hovered over his back. At the slightest movement, a release of palm force would take Ling Tuis's life.
Song Qingshu, hiding behind the pillar, groaned inwardly. Wu Liuqi had to show up now? He'll probably ruin my grand plan.
Wu Liuqi cursed furiously, "Ding Dian, you inherited my senior brother's Divine Illumination Skill. Why are you instead aiding evil and protecting the enemy who murdered my senior brother? Could it be that his daughter's beauty has clouded your mind?"
Song Qingshu's expression immediately became rather strange. What beauty did Ling Shuanghua have left now? Wu Liuqi had probably seen her graceful figure and simply assumed she was a great beauty.
"You are?" Ding Dian was also greatly startled. He had spent little time with Mei Niansheng and had not known he had a martial granduncle.
"Mei Niansheng was my senior brother. Who do you think I am?" Wu Liuqi snapped angrily when he saw Ding Dian did not recognize him.
"Beggar of the Snow Wu Liuqi. It is perfectly normal that Great Hero Ding does not know you." As a pleasant female voice rang out, Huang Rong strolled in leisurely. When fighting had broken out at the prefect's residence, Huang Rong and her group had quickly realized something was wrong and hurried back, only to find Wu Liuqi holding Ling Tuis hostage.
"Sect Leader Huang..." Wu Liuqi's expression darkened when he saw Huang Rong.
"Elder Wu, it was understandable that you left the Beggar's Clan back then. But why are you now helping the Mongol Tartars assassinate an imperial official of Great Song?" Huang Rong asked calmly. For many years, she had followed her husband in defending Xiangyang and had neglected the management of the Beggar's Clan. Moreover, during the years of war between Song and Mongolia, the clan had suffered grievous casualties. Some members became dissatisfied, believing Huang Rong put her private interests first by involving the clan in conflicts between nations for so long. Many felt hopeless about the future, and because Huang Rong, a woman, served as sect leader, complaints among the members had steadily grown.
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