Real men have to die a little

"His Majesty isn't infuriating..."

Hearing that, Daji hastily shook her head, wanting to say a few words in Di Xin's defense.

???

But before she could finish, Yu Linglong and Hu Ximei both widened their eyes and stared hard at her, their gazes full of accusation.

"His Majesty may be a little infuriating..." Their stares made Daji feel rather timid. After that feeble attempt, she saw Yu Linglong's and Hu Ximei's eyes widen even further and could only amend her words again. "His Majesty may be infuriating, but he's a good king, and a good person! Those people he's angering now were incited by that rotten Daoist and his companions to force his hand. But His Majesty didn't kill them. He just annoyed them a little..."

Had Di Xin heard that, he would surely have been speechless and sighed three times toward the heavens. He had been handed the good-guy card without doing a thing. He had disgraced the name of tyrant!

So that was it!

In that case, although Di Xin was a little infuriating, those people had brought it upon themselves. And he really did count as a kindhearted man.

At that moment, after hearing Daji's explanation, Yu Linglong's and Hu Ximei's gazes shifted.

What puzzled them, however, was this: if Di Xin was a kindhearted man, why had Empress Nuwa sent them to wreak havoc on his realm? And why had he written such an obscene poem on Empress Nuwa's wall?!

One thing was beyond doubt, though. From the way Daji defended Di Xin, they could tell that their elder sister had probably fallen for him in earnest.

[Negative emotion points from An San: +8... Accumulated negative emotion points: +30000.4]

Meanwhile, Di Xin noticed that the figures being collected in his system's backend were dwindling. Clearly, after being infuriated over and over, these soldiers had grown accustomed to it, then numb, and could no longer provide many negative emotion points.

"Enough. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll let you off! But although you may escape death, you cannot escape punishment. From today onward, you will eat, live, and work alongside the human sacrifices I pardoned. Once the Deer Terrace is completed, you will regain your freedom!"

Seeing this, Di Xin stopped tormenting the soldiers and addressed them in a stern voice.

"Thank you for sparing our lives, Your Majesty!"

At those words, the soldiers immediately let out long sighs of relief. Feeling as though they had survived a calamity, they repeatedly kowtowed to Di Xin.

As for their punishment, they knew perfectly well that, after what they had done, keeping their lives was already a stroke of luck. Having to work was nothing. Besides, they would regain their freedom once the work was finished, so they at least had something to look forward to.

"Of course, besides working, you must also read and study. Once the Deer Terrace is finished, I won't merely ask each of you to say five different words praising me. Instead, each of you will write ten different words extolling my mercy in sparing your lives! I will conduct spot checks without warning!"

Seeing their reactions, Di Xin looked at them and added this with a smile.

[Negative emotion points from An San: +199...]

[Negative emotion points from Zhang Dadan: +199...]

[Negative emotion points from Wang Buliu: +199...]

As soon as he spoke, the courtyard once again filled with the cries of suffering geese. Every soldier shed tears of remorse, wishing they could drag Fang Bi, Fang Xiang, and Yang Ren out from underground and rain punches on them, pounding them into pulp to vent their misery.

Force the king's hand? If anyone ever dared suggest that again, they'd beat the bastard to death!

"One more thing. Tell me, have you seen Huang Feihu and Bi Gan?"

At that moment, Di Xin looked at the soldiers with tears streaming down their cheeks and questioned them sternly.

He knew that Fang Xiang, Fang Bi, and Yang Ren alone would never have possessed such audacity. Someone had to be backing them, and Huang Feihu and Bi Gan were undoubtedly the prime suspects.

Bi Gan was especially suspicious. After all, he was the only person Di Xin had told about the Deer Terrace. How had Yang Ren and the Fang brothers found out?

"Your Majesty, we have come to rescue you! We deserve ten thousand deaths for allowing these treacherous rebels to disturb you!"

Just then, Bi Gan's and Huang Feihu's voices suddenly rang out from beyond the palace gate. Immediately afterward, the two hurried inside on horseback. Upon seeing Di Xin, they dismounted at once and repeatedly kowtowed to him, their faces full of panic.

Bi Gan in particular was streaming tears, beating his chest and stamping his feet, as though his only regret was that his parents hadn't given him a few extra legs so he could have arrived sooner!

"If you know you deserve ten thousand deaths, why aren't you hurrying off to die?"

Hearing that, Di Xin looked at Bi Gan and Huang Feihu with a smile and spoke.

[Negative emotion points from Huang Feihu: +199...]

[Negative emotion points from Bi Gan: +199. Accumulated total: +32404.4...]

At his words, both men's faces immediately darkened.

They had only said that to put on a show, demonstrate their loyalty, and distance themselves from Yang Ren and the Fang brothers in the process. How could they actually go and die?

"Your Majesty is truly witty..."

Huang Feihu forced out a smile and spoke to Di Xin.

"I'm not joking."

Di Xin looked at Huang Feihu impassively and spoke flatly.

[Negative emotion points from Huang Feihu: +299...]

"..." Huang Feihu opened his mouth, his lips trembling. For a moment, he had no idea what to say and couldn't help casting a pleading look at Bi Gan.

With things put that way, it seemed he really could only go and die!

"Your Majesty, the King of Wucheng has always been utterly loyal. This was merely a momentary oversight. Please judge wisely and spare his life!"

Bi Gan could hardly stand by and watch Huang Feihu die, so he hurriedly pleaded on his behalf.

"Left Chancellor, you seem to have misunderstood something. I wasn't only telling Huang Feihu to die. I meant you too... One man who's about to die pleading for another who's about to die? I'm very curious-who gave you that courage? Liang Jingru?!"

Di Xin looked at Bi Gan with a smile, raised his eyebrows, and spoke with a face full of amusement.

[Negative emotion points from Bi Gan: +299...]

Bi Gan's mouth opened and closed, then closed and opened, yet he couldn't utter a complete sentence. Finally, he thumped his chest, stamped his foot, and wailed, "Since Your Majesty commands it, all I can do is die! I'll smash myself to death against this palace gate and go meet my ancestors!"

As he spoke, Bi Gan made to ram into the palace gate, intending to knock himself unconscious and end the matter that way.

"Chancellor, don't!"

Just then, Di Xin raised a hand and stopped Bi Gan.

"Your Majesty, thank you for sparing..."

Hearing that, Bi Gan immediately looked at Di Xin with tears welling in his eyes, about to thank him for sparing his life.

"No, no, no..." Di Xin grinned, casually picked up a spear from the ground, and pointed its tip at Bi Gan. Chuckling, he said, "Chancellor, smashing into the palace gate would hurt so much. You'd dirty the palace wall too, and I'd have to find someone to wash it. Besides, if you failed to die, not only would I have to find someone to treat you, but you'd also have to keep suffering! Here, ram into this. Aim your heart at it. A chill straight through the heart, your soul soaring free-all your troubles solved in one go! King of Wucheng, the same goes for you. Remember to ram into this later. I guarantee you'll be one hundred percent dead. You absolutely won't be left half-dead, thwarting your wish to die!"

???

At those words, three enormous question marks slowly appeared over Bi Gan's head.

He had thought Di Xin was telling him not to die. Who could have imagined that Di Xin actually thought he was dying too slowly!

[Negative emotion points from Bi Gan: +1999...]

[Negative emotion points from Huang Feihu: +1999. Accumulated total: ...]

In an instant, without a second thought, both men delivered a hefty load of negative emotion points to Di Xin.

Not only that, they stared at each other, one pair of wide eyes meeting the other, utterly bewildered for a moment and unsure what to do next!

Were they really supposed to hold hands, stand shoulder to shoulder, and take a trip to their deaths?!

"Come on! Real men keep their word. Hurry up and die a little. Don't make me look down on you!"

At that moment, Di Xin waved the spear in his hand, smiling as he urged them on.

[Negative emotion points from Bi Gan: +999...]

[Negative emotion points from Huang Feihu: +999. Accumulated total: +38998.4...]

For a moment, Bi Gan and Huang Feihu were drenched in sweat, frantic as ants on a hot wok, while their negative emotion points surged toward Di Xin like an ocean pouring forth!