Execution Ground

Another few days slipped by in the blink of an eye.

Within the martial academy, some whispered in discussion: "The remnants of the Cloud-Striding Martial Hall are acting up again; I fear there will be no peace."

Huang Jiangyue had recovered from his failed breakthrough, and his mood had improved rapidly, especially after seeing several others fail as well.

He clicked his tongue and said, "Truly ruthless. An entire squad, including the martial artist, wiped out without a single survivor. The Cloud-Striding Martial Hall is clearly determined to fight to the bitter end."

"But those were men from the Shan Family; it has nothing to do with us," Lin Fan said.

"Such a coincidence?" Su Yuan had not expected the targets to be subordinates of the Shan Family, but since they had been trailing them all along, it could be considered a premeditated strike.

They truly had not given up yet.

Tie Niu walked to Su Yuan's side: "Brother Yuan, I will escort you during your travels lately. Fengxing Street is not safe."

He knew Su Yuan had been targeted by the Cloud-Striding Martial Hall and worried about an ambush.

Am I supposed to kill myself?

Su Yuan chuckled inwardly, yet he did not brush off Tie Niu's good intentions.

At this moment, Chai Nian walked out: "Tie Niu, Su Yuan, prepare the carriage for the Void Cloud Horse Ranch."

"Understood."

"How is your martial arts training coming along?" Chai Nian flicked his fan, offering a rare inquiry toward Su Yuan.

"Reporting to Young Master, thanks to the medicine you bestowed, my blood-qi has been growing steadily, and I am nearing a bottleneck," Su Yuan replied.

Chai Nian felt slightly surprised.

He knew Su Yuan had purchased quite a bit of medicine, and this kid always ran to Gao Mian for guidance during the day.

Such progress was among the fastest for those with inferior aptitude, yet while accumulating blood-qi was easy, breaking through a bottleneck was arduous.

If one could not pass the barrier, it could waste months or even years.

However, others were unaware of the inside story. Jiang Yu was secretly shocked upon hearing this: Su Yuan has reached a bottleneck? Is that for real?

He clearly hadn't been training much on a daily basis!

After the three of them left, some whispered: "I think he's just bragging. Besides, bottlenecks are hard to overcome; he'll likely be stuck for months. Is everyone supposed to be as gifted as Senior Brother Meng?"

The crowd also understood that breaking through a bottleneck was somewhat related to one's comprehension.

Meng Qi's comprehension was indeed top-tier.

Huang Jiangyue sighed in his heart: I never expected to be caught up to by the person universally recognized as the worst in the academy.

To save face, most people secretly hoped Su Yuan would fail his future breakthrough.

Only Lin Fan praised: "Truly, a tiger brother has no dog for a sibling."

The crowd: ...

Lin Fan had long since set aside his pride, following Tie Niu around daily like a top-tier lackey.

Su Yuan and the other drove the carriage toward the Void Cloud Horse Ranch.

Every street they passed, they saw soldiers patrolling.

The remaining Liang People in the West City huddled in their homes all day, not daring to step outside.

Except for the area around the horse ranch, businesses here had almost entirely ceased operations. The entire West City was nearly derelict, having become a prison for the captives held by the Liang People.

The Void Cloud Horse Ranch had expanded several times over compared to before, with rows of tents pitched inside, each housing different prisoners.

Liang soldiers wielded whips to drive them, their shouts mingling with suppressed wails. Most of the prisoners were in rags, covered in wounds, and walking with a stagger.

Behind the tents, several new black buildings had been erected. They had only a single iron door, no windows, and no gaps, guarded heavily. From time to time, shrill, miserable screams emanated from within, chilling to the bone.

Su Yuan drove the carriage inside, and the guards let them pass immediately upon seeing the Chai Family carriage.

Many prisoners cast resentful glares at the two, only to be whipped to the ground by the overseers.

Although Tie Niu had personally slain several assassins, those were all people who had intended to harm Su Yuan.

This was his first time witnessing such large-scale misery, and his face turned faintly pale.

"Tie Niu, are you alright?" Su Yuan asked in a low voice.

"I-I'm fine." Tie Niu's lips were pale, his voice trembling.

Seeing his own kin suffer such torment, his heart was shaken, and his convictions wavered.

He had defected to the Liang People only to secure a path of martial arts for Su Yuan.

But as his strength climbed and he saw more, that deeply buried resistance and sense of guilt grew increasingly intense.

So I have become a traitor despised by all, and I have even dragged Brother Yuan into sharing this infamy. Tie Niu suddenly felt a pang of regret; he shouldn't have brought Su Yuan into the Chai Family in the first place.

Su Yuan sensed his emotional fluctuation and said toward the carriage: "Young Master, Tie Niu is feeling unwell. Could you allow him to enter the carriage to rest?"

"Brother Yuan, I—"

"Come in." Chai Nian lifted the curtain, and Tie Niu had no choice but to comply and enter.

Su Yuan drove the two horses alone, enduring countless gazes along the way—some filled with hatred, others numb, and some brimming with contempt.

The Jing people crawled in the dust in humiliation, while the Liang people and the "traitors" sat high atop carriages and horses.

Su Yuan could not describe the taste of it.

Perhaps he had grown accustomed to it.

If this infamy must be borne, he would bear it alone.

Upon reaching the high platform in the center of the horse racing track, Chai Nian finally stepped down from the carriage.

Su Yuan saw those young masters and misses from the martial arts assessment once more:

Young Master Shan, Shan Xiongqing.

The eldest miss of the Rong family, Rong Yulian.

The second young master of the Chai family, Chai Nian.

The Fierce Horse Army lieutenant, Wei Xian.

The young representatives of the four great Liang forces in Ji City were all gathered here.

Looking back at this moment, Su Yuan was surprised to see that Yun Xu had also been brought out.

Unlike her miserable state when suspended in the Shan Estate, this time she was inside a luxurious prison carriage:

The carriage was spacious and she wore no shackles.

Instead, the interior was lined with soft ermine cushions, and the four walls were hung with embroidered silks and bright pearls. She wore a water-blue cloud-brocade dress, her dark hair lightly coiled with a jade hairpin, pearl earrings dangling from her ears, gold bracelets on her wrists, and her entire person adorned with precious jewels.

This magnificence formed a cruel contrast with the wretched prisoners below.

Yun Xu sat quietly within, her gaze sweeping heavily over the crowd below.

The tightly pressed line of her lips revealed that her state of mind was anything but calm.

These people below were suffering and enduring brutal torture because of her, yet she was dressed so exquisitely and trapped in a golden cage.

Rong Yulian, whose appearance was merely average, saw Yun Xu's peerless beauty and spoke with sarcasm: "No wonder Young Master Shan hid her for so long, unwilling to bring her out. Such a beautiful canary—he must have wanted to lock her in the estate to admire her every day."

Shan Xiongqing snorted coldly: "Proceed according to the plan."

He had finally decided to use Yun Xu as the fragrant bait.

If she had remained hidden deep within the inner city, the Cloud-Striding Martial Hall would truly have had no chance to rescue her.

The young masters and misses went inside to discuss matters.

In broad daylight, Su Yuan dared not send any messages to Yun Xu.

With the Liang people's current arrangements, it was even harder for him to get close to her.

Chai Nian left after the discussion, not staying long.

Su Yuan drove the carriage on the return journey.

On the way, Chai Nian spoke up: "The horse track needs an execution ground artist to record the tortures. Your painting skills are passable, and Shan Xiongqing has specifically requested you. You are to go and paint every day; I have already agreed, and Gao Mian has no objections."

Su Yuan's brows furrowed slightly.

This task had both advantages and disadvantages: the advantage was the ability to go deep into the horse track to scout for more information, while the disadvantage was being thrust into a dangerous position, making it easy to be caught in the crossfire.

But the Liang people did not grant him the power to refuse.

From then on, Su Yuan's schedule changed: what was once grinding ink for Yun Xu became accompanying her to paint at the horse track.

And the horse track had become an execution ground.

Every day, brutal tortures continued, assaulting the minds of both of them.

Living people were torn apart by five horses.

Several people were pierced through by sharpened long bamboo poles, strung together like bloody human gourds.

There were also branding irons, ant bites... the horrors were endless, and the wailing never ceased.

The corpses were then thrown into the cages of demonic beasts to serve as their food.

Su Yuan held his brush, ink falling onto the rice paper as he meticulously outlined scene after scene of this earthly purgatory, enduring the dying curses of the tortured and the vitriol of the onlookers.

Yet he was not the only traitor on the field; every family had sent their own Jing loyal dogs to participate, and even those who drove the prisoners to their punishments were mostly Jing people.

The Cloud-Striding Martial Hall had not remained silent either; seeing the heavy defenses at the horse track, they began to target these traitors.

Su Yuan and the others once again became the bait for the Liang people.

Most ironically, many of the prisoners cursed Yun Xu the most fiercely, viewing her as the root cause of their misery.

Yun Xu, the one who started it all, was "worshipped" on the high platform, living in luxury.

Yet these innocent people who had been dragged into the fray were suffering cruel tortures.

Yun Xu wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, forcing herself to stay calm.

She looked at Su Yuan, who was painting with a brush without changing his expression, and felt a chill in her heart.

She already knew that this youth's temperament was extremely forbearing; to have developed him into an informant was truly a stroke of luck.

Cultivating spies and planting them among the Liang People was inherently difficult, as the Liang People placed great value on loyalty.

Those willing to bear the name of a traitor while working silently in the shadows were even rarer.

She pinned her hopes on Su Yuan; if he could continue to grow and embed himself within the upper echelons of Great Liang, he might become a major asset for the future restoration of Ji City.

She had to keep a close watch on Su Yuan, and this became the reason Yun Xu gritted her teeth and held on, a form of atonement in her heart.

[Painting: 1987/2000 (Consummation)]

"The painting is nearly complete. For this final piece, what should I draw?" Before leaving, Su Yuan cast a reassuring look at Yun Xu.

He then departed the horse farm, accompanied by Tie Niu, and headed toward Xiasheng Restaurant to deliver a message.

Su Yuan never approached the people from the martial arts school in his true form, as he could not fully trust them; if his identity were leaked and reported to the Liang People, it would spell total disaster.

By now, his finger techniques were well-practiced, allowing him to send messages via flying leaves from a distance.

The handover point remained that same window.

At a fixed time every day, someone would appear at the window, and he would send the leaf containing the message.

Su Yuan briefly sent Tie Niu away, then flicked the leaf in his hand, which contained information regarding a group of traitors and the horse farm.

He then vanished into the shadows.

Duan Hongyan caught the falling leaf, gazed in the direction from which it had drifted, pondered for a moment, and walked into the dark chamber.