When Qiao Hongyi broke free from that unconscious, insensate state, he was like a drowning man dragged from the water, gulping down air in great heaving breaths.
A sound like an old bellows pushed beyond its limits came from his chest.
Only then did he realize that he had been hung upside down from a massive wooden stake. A dense crowd surrounded this high platform. Everyone was watching him.
Well-versed in the classics, he immediately recalled an ancient punishment—gibbeting.
If nothing unexpected happened, his head would eventually be cut off and hung from the pointed tip of that stake, as a warning to the world.
A chill ran through him.
There was no relying on the power within his body. He darted his eyes frantically, doing his utmost to find someone in the crowd who could make the decision. At last, on the distant General Platform, he saw that man reclining in the central chair, one hand propping his forehead as though resting his mind.
"Marquis of Wu'an!" Only after his voice emerged did he realize how terribly hoarse it was, but he still shouted in that rasp, "There's a misunderstanding here. Hear my explanation! Do not harm the friendship between Great Righteous Academy and Eastern Qi!"
Jiang Wang said nothing.
Chen Zhitao beside him spoke instead. "Then explain this: when Sea Beasts besieged the island, why did you flee with your junior sister?"
The cooperation between the Great Void Sect and the Sea Suppression Alliance did indeed exist. Qiao Hongyi's hunt for Sea Beasts in the Lost Realm had indeed received the Sea Suppression Alliance's support, and the Sea Suppression Alliance was in turn led by Sea Fishing Tower. Thus, Chen Zhitao had originally not intended to intervene in Qiao Hongyi's affairs; he also had ample reason to avoid