Republic New Policy? Executing the Old Guard, Who Am I, Really? Illusion and Reality Overlap Until I Can't Tell Them Apart!

An execution ground had been set up in the marketplace.

The crowd was in an uproar.

The executioner was sharpening his beheading blade, occasionally touching it with a finger to test its sharpness.

Rows of people stood bound.

Burly soldiers pressed them to the ground.

Shi Wen was an inconspicuous member of the line, bound hand and foot.

The aching in his joints and the pain of the ropes biting into his flesh came through so clearly that a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"An illusion?"

"It has to be fake. I was just counting my spoils. That eyeball must have made me fall into an illusion."

"But the sensations are so real. If I didn't know I was in an illusion, I'd really think I was about to be executed on this platform."

Shi Wen was startled and curious.

He had no idea where he was.

And how had this eyeball drawn him into this illusion?

The surroundings were so real!

"Shu Heng, it's only death. What's there to fear?"

Beside him, a frail old man with graying temples said bitterly, "Those damn Reformists! They've thrown out our institutions for foreign ones and destroyed our rites and laws. Heaven will surely punish them!"

"All my life, I've upheld the way of the sages and defended Great Liang's foundations. This is nothing but the victor deciding the spoils."

"I only hate that the Way of Heaven is unjust, letting you bandits run rampant..."

The old man's voice was so familiar, as if he were family, someone he had spent countless days and nights with.

After hearing a few words, Shi Wen's expression turned dazed.

Memories that didn't belong to him surfaced one after another in his mind, and a tearing pain shot through his head!

"Shu Heng? Who's Shu Heng?"

"Am I Shu Heng? Is Shu Heng me?"

"Mm... I'm a direct descendant of the thirty-ninth generation of the Wen Family of Tiannan, an heir to one of Great Liang's sage lineages. Our whole family was caught up in the rebellion while resisting the uprising, and in the end we were sentenced to be beheaded in public..."

Shi Wen was dazed and on the verge of breaking down. Snot and tears splattered across his face. "Grandpa, I'm still young. I don't want to die!"

"Bullshit! The Wen Family has received Great Liang's favor for generations. We must prove our convictions with our deaths!"

Hearing his words, the old man beside him suddenly flew into a rage.

Desperately, he slammed his head against Shi Wen's and bared his teeth to bite him, roaring, "What did you learn from all those books? Can a man of letters who fears death still call himself a man of letters?"

Shi Wen wailed and sobbed.

The soldiers carrying rifles pulled the two apart and stomped them to the ground.

Rumble...

The ground trembled.

A group of soldiers riding Flood Dragon Horses approached, bristling with murderous intent.

The burly soldier at their head rode his Flood Dragon Horse up to the execution ground.

He fixed his gaze on one particular figure.

"Brother Muzhi, you hold the honored post of Tiannan Military Governor and are charged with shepherding the people in Heaven's name. How can you still fail to see the situation?"

The middle-aged man he was watching said nothing.

He continued, "Great Liang is rotten. If you join the Republic New Policy, you'll become a founding hero who helped establish the nation. By then, the Grand President will grant you an even higher office and status. If you and all your disciples in Tiannan join the republic, you'll all become fine, loyal ministers. You'll rise straight to the top. Why die for some so-called honor?"

"You've cut your hair and changed your clothes, altered the calendar and era name. That's an offense against your ancestors and a defiance of Heaven's principles! His Majesty has been misled by traitors and neglected state affairs. How can you shake the foundations of our eight-hundred-year-old Great Liang with your crooked heresies?"

"My death today is an offering to the laws of my ancestors, not punishment for any crime!"

The middle-aged man's gaze was cold, and he met the soldier's eyes without fear.

He shouted, "You've abolished redundant offices in a single stroke, leaving thousands of clerks destitute and driving countless families to ruin. Every trade has fallen into decline."

"You know only how to talk about reform. Do you understand the practical work of the nation—the grain transport, criminal justice, and taxes? Who can keep them running without people like us? How long has this Reform been in effect? And already, chaos is everywhere!"

"If you truly impose it across the land, the clerks will all flee and bandits will rise everywhere. You'll end up as the chief culprits who brought down the nation!"

Though kneeling, the middle-aged man seemed taller than those standing.

Quite a few people there also cursed Hong Tianwu to his face.

"Hong Tianwu, you're the commander-in-chief of the Black Crow Army, and your family has guarded the frontier for generations, enjoying the emperor's favor. Now you've surrendered your entire army! Do you have no shame?"

"The Reformists' seizure of Tiannan is an act of treason, unheard of in history. We don't begrudge our deaths, but it's a shame you'll ruin this beautiful land."

"I governed to prevent the rebels from plotting against the nation's foundations. You've joined forces with traitors to carve up the land. You're truly hateful..."

Hong Tianwu replied calmly, "I'm the newly appointed commissioner of the Republic New Government and commander-in-chief of the Seventh Army of Tiannan. If you join us, you'll surely be promoted..."

"Promoted my ass! Get lost!"

"Traitors and bandits—you all deserve to die!"

"Hong Tianwu, I'll curse your ancestors for eighteen generations! We'll be waiting for you down below!"

The people on the execution ground were worked into a frenzy. Some even spat at Hong Tianwu!

Mounted on his Flood Dragon Horse, Hong Tianwu remained expressionless. He simply waved a finger, unhurried.

The officials around him understood what he meant. They quickly cast down their command arrows and shouted, "Behead them!"

The executioners on the platform obeyed.

With one swing, the first executioner cut off Chen Muzhi's head, the former Military Governor of Tiannan Prefecture.

Then...

Soldiers pushed the central figures from Tiannan onto the chopping blocks.

One by one, they were beheaded!

There were several hundred of them, and not one met death the same way.

Some knew they were doomed and showed no fear. They did nothing but lament the injustice of fate and curse the traitors.

Some old officials, pampered and all bluster, crumbled when confronted with the terror of death. Some broke down sobbing, some begged for mercy, some stared in a daze, and some babbled incoherently.

Others chose silence, preserving what little dignity they had left.

Heads fell, and blood sprayed into the sky.

The overpowering stench of blood filled Shi Wen's nose.

Only a few more people remained before his turn.

Shi Wen's will crumbled, and fear of death surfaced on his face. "Grandpa, I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

"Silly child, it's only death. Your grandpa will be waiting for you below."

The old man laughed heartily. Then they dragged him away. The executioner's blade fell, severing his head from his body. Scalding blood splashed across Shi Wen's face, and the head rolled right in front of him. Its face was contorted, its eyes met his, and its mouth moved as if it wanted to say something.

Shi Wen was petrified.

Sobbing, he was dragged off to be executed.

He struggled with all his might, but two soldiers grabbed his arms and pinned him down over the chopping block.

The burly executioner drew a line across his neck with a hand soaked in liquor, spat out a mouthful, and raised his blade to strike.

Just then...

Shi Wen suddenly heard a cat's frantic cries.

The cat's shrieks were completely out of place amid the scene, and they stirred his suspicion.

"A cat? How could there be a cat crying on the execution ground?"

"No! I'm not Wen Shuheng. I'm Shi Wen!"

"I'm Shi Wen!"

"It's an illusion! Everything here is an illusion!"

Shi Wen's eyes bulged as he bit down hard on his tongue.

The scene before him began to split apart. The image of a dilapidated wooden house rushed into view, bringing with it the musty smell of moldy floorboards and the stifling air.

A black cat was tearing at his flesh, shrieking with all its might!

And in another space...

Heads rolled like tumbleweeds, rivers of blood ran, and warlords stood tall!

"Damn it!"

"I can't tell them apart!"

Shi Wen's face twisted. A strange memory was warping his perception inside his mind.

The fractured scenes left him dazed with agony.

From the corner of his eye...

He caught sight of the fist-sized eyeball.

He forced what little awareness remained under his control...

And suddenly pressed his left hand against it!!!