EXTREMELY GRAPHIC AND VIOLENT CHAPTER. IF YOUR IMAGINATION IS VIVID, YOU MAY ONLY CONTINUE IF YOU HAVE A STRONG CONSTITUTION.

By midday, all Hsien soldiers were gathered and tied together like bundles of twigs outside the Chao Village. They were drag like sacks of rice and were kicked to kneeling position facing their superior, Jiangjun Han Li, who was tied securely in a deplorable manner to a bamboo post awaiting his end.

Baron Chao Bo led a group of armed men to the direction of Jiangjun Han Li. The villagers along with the Imperial army were gathered to witness the impending death of the Jiangjun of Hsien army Hong Se unit.

"People, we are gathered to witness the execution of the deceitful Jiangjun Han Li." Baron Chao Bo started gravely. "We had helped them; feed them; given them shelter; and trusted them..."

The villagers began to talk to each other while eyeing the already beaten Jiangjun Han Li with a mixture of disgust and hatred. Some of the inhabitants threw small rocks to the Hsien soldiers.

"Unfortunately, they had abused our kindness and generosity by assaulting my daughter and plotting to destroy our village." Baron Chao Bo said loudly, curling his fist in front in indignation. "What have we done to deserve that kind of payment?"

"Nothing!" The villagers cried in unison.

"Yes, we have done nothing wrong," Baron Chao Bo nodded before squinting his livid gaze to Jiangjun Han Li. He returned his stare to his people and resumed his speech, "Jiangjun Han Li, their leader, had deceived us into thinking that he was in our side; offering protection for false enemies. He deceived us into attacking people who did not mean us harm. He had revealed his corrupted nature by doing something unforgivable to my daughter." His fists shook with wrath as he spoke - at this very moment, he would have joyfully decollated Jiangjun Han Li but such death was too simple for someone as vile as him. "If not for the Imperial army, our blood and flesh would have been feeding our land's soil!"

Baron Chao Bo glanced to the direction of the Imperial army and eyed Tang Lao Fang with supreme gratitude.

"One of his soldiers attacked my daughter!" A villagers voiced angrily, raising his hand in rage.

"Two of my daughters have gone missing up to this moment." A grief-stricken woman wailed in anguish. She was assisted by a young boy, probably her son, to prevent her from stumbling to the ground.

"My jewelries were gone!" An affluent-looking woman screamed apoplectically.

"Our food stores have greatly reduced because we have been feeding those ungrateful imbeciles!"

"One of the bastards had forced my wife to sleep with him!" A man shouted before throwing a small rock on the Hsien soldiers.

More villagers joined in, fulminating various and several transgressions that stemmed from the arrival of Hsien army in their village.

Baron Chao Bo clamped his jaw in an effort to control his temper and raised his hand to silence the angry villagers.

"I heard your woes, fellow villagers. I assure you, all of those will not fall on deaf ears. We shall start with their jiangjun," Baron Chao Bo tended his hard stare to the anxious Jiangjun Han Li and declared, "I, as the leader of this village, along with the council will impose upon him the maximum punishment by way of Lingchi!"

Jiangjun Han Li's eyes grew big with fear. His body shook in panic, beads of cold sweat came to form through the every pore of his body. His heart lurched painfully and, at this very moment, he wished that he was never been born. Even his subordinates were jerking with trepidation at his tragic fate.

The villagers cheered at Baron Chao Bo's imposed punishment upon Jiangjun Han Li.

"We could take a piece of his flesh too if you allow us!"

"Yes, I would gladly volunteer!" An awkward skinny boy chimed in.

"Don't give him opium, he deserves to feel the pain!"

"We can rub salt upon his wounds - it worsens the pain." A villager whispered to the person beside him. "The pain will make him feel miserable."

"Yes, that is a very good idea." The other one agreed and eyed the jiangjun murderously.

"Fellow men, I promise that you will get your opportunity to exact punishment upon the devious snake later." Baron Chao Bo announced to the clamorous villagers. He looked at the armed men beside him and motioned them to perform the gruesome Lingchi on Jiangjun Han Li.

The light coming from the executioners' eyes were fraught with dark wickedness that Jiangjun Han Li could not help but piss in his trousers.

One of the executioners talked to his companions and said, "Let us start down going up."

The men sniggered in agreement and roughly tore Jiangjun Han Li's trousers.

"Pathetic," another muttered as he scrutinized the Jiangjun's manhood. "Let me castrate the bastard."

"Noooo! I beggshh shyoo." Jiangjun Han Li tearfully cried. He tried to free himself from the ropes that bound him but his strength could barely break them. "Noooo!!!"

"The bastard's dumb, I can't understand him."

"Put a cloth in his mouth! His voice irritated me." another snapped in displeasure and struck Jiangjun Han Li hard in the face, splitting his lower lip open.

Another executioner ruthlessly put a cloth on the struggling Jiangjun Han Li's mouth before pulling out his manhood and sliced it off slowly with a blunt knife.

"Aggghh!!" Jiangjun Han Li screamed from the abominable pain as blood oozed from his castrated member. His legs wobbled in weakness. "Aggghhhh!!!"

"You deserve that bastard!" The executioner said with a hysterical laugh as he threw the dismembered part of Jiangjun Han Li for the dogs to feast.

The villagers hailed the executioners while the Hsien soldiers were weeping and, foaming in grief and anger at the atrocious treatment of their jiangjun.

"It's my turn," another executioner smirked in devious anticipation. He bunched a flesh from the jiangjun's legs and slivered it. He deliberately paused and peered his victim with each slice to torment the latter further.

Dark red thick liquid bled through the gaping flesh, making the Jiangjun shuddered in extreme horror. The puckered inner muscles were exposed and even a minuscule part of the leg bone. Just as what his comrade did with the jiangjun's manhood, he threw it carelessly to the hungry dogs.

"Can we opt to cut from the middle part too?" One of the executioners asked his companion.

"Whatever pleases you, Huiliang Huang."

"I think I want a slab of his chest," Huiliang Huang exclaimed in savage excitement. He gave Jiangjun Han Li a nefariously demented look before brutishly ripping the latter's shirt.

"Do not stab him in the heart, the villagers still want to salt him." Huiliang Huang's companion reminded him while throwing their victim a taunting leer.

"You don't need to remind me, Bojing Peng," Huiliang Huang cackled sinisterly before carving a slab off from Jiangjun Han Li's lower chest, showing off a part of the ribcage still covered with fresh tissues and muscles. Blood trickled swiftly from the punctured flesh like a crimson waterfall.

Jiangjun Han Li closed his eyes tightly in humiliation and excruciating pain. Tears, sweat, urine and blood mingled in his body. His stuffed mouth was now filled with spew and spit; suffocating him, adding to his unbearable torment, magnifying his agony. His body was faltering, the deep wounds the animals inflicted upon him felt like hell's fire. He squeezed his eye shut and fervently wished that his tormentors would just stab him directly in the heart or, hopefully, behead him.

While most of Yan Mei Ling's fellow soldiers were either apathetic or fascinated by the vicious process of executing Jiangjun Han Li, her stomach could barely hold the repulsive scene presented before her. She felt her legs buckled down under her weight when the executioners amputated the lower leg of the jiangjun like a log being sawed.

She began to run away when Lu Jinhai held her hand to stop her.

"Where are you going, Tang Lao Fang?"

Yan Mei Ling breathed deeply to calm herself and stammered, "I can't stand the horrific violence; I need some fresh air, Lu Jinhai."

Lu Jinhai nodded in understanding as he stared at Tang Lao Fang's green face and said, "I understand - don't worry I will tell Jinzhou Lu Wang Wei that you are out for some fresh air and will be back shortly should he look for you."

"Thank you very much, Lu Jinhai." Yan Mei Ling smiled weakly at him before striding away.

When she arrived in an isolated part, she fell down on her knees and began to throw up the contents of her stomach to the ground.

She could not believe what she just saw. She might have witnessed several grim deaths during the war but never as brutal as the method of Lingchi. Having that performed on a person was like degrading the entire facets of his existence - physical, mental and emotional.

Even if Jiangjun Han Li deserved to be punished, stabbing or beheading him would have just sufficed not the barbaric Lingchi. Unfortunately, she had no say on how the villagers mete out punishment to their transgressors; their village, their rules. They wanted a piece of Jiangjun Han Li's flesh - literally - and they had their wish.

"Kaahhh!" she continued sputtering even if her throat felt scraped from all the vomit that she released. "Kaaaaahhh!!"

"Tang Lao Fang!" A gentle and concerned feminine voice called out to Yan Mei Ling.

Yan Mei Ling turned her head feebly and saw Lady Chao Biming approaching her. She resumed sputtering and even thought that her innards might come out from her mouth.

Lady Chao Biming assisted the pale-looking Tang Lao Fang and, caressed his back up and down to make him feel better. "You look ill. Come with me, I will make something to ease what you are feeling right now."

"I am fine, Chao Biming," Yan Mei Ling struggled as she speak, her voice hoarse from vomiting. "I just feel a bit nauseous not from any physical affliction but rather from what I witness... Jiangjun Han Li's execution."

"I know," Lady Chao Biming whispered softly. "I can't bear to watch it either even if that..." She still could not mention the name of the man who almost violated her without cringing with anxiety. "..Even if... that man deserves his death, I can't stand the violence."

Yan Mei Ling viewed Lady Chao Biming with bewilderment. In her midst, a cloud of memory came over her but the things it manifested was too good - almost painful - she couldn't bear to reminisce it. She sighed wearily and timidly lowered her eyes. "Why did you let your father imposed such terrible punishment to him?"

Lady Chao Biming briefly closed her eyes in sadness before responding, "It is the villagers' choice to have that man executed that way not mine."

Yan Mei Ling wordlessly stared at Lady Chao Biming when a group of maidens arrived.

"Lady Chao Biming!" They all called in chorus and rushed to their direction.

"We have been looking for you everywhere, where have you been?" One of the maids asked.

"I am helping out a friend," Lady Chao Biming answered.

"Ohh!!" Another maid exclaimed in shock upon seeing vomit on the ground. "Is he poisoned?"

"No, nausea," Lady Chao Biming replied and tenderly looked at Tang Lao Fang. "Lao Fang, please go with us. We will fix you something to drink."

Yan Mei Ling simply nodded, losing the ability to refuse Lady Chao Biming the moment she said, 'I can't stand the violence.'

It might seemed unbelievable but she swore that she heard Li Lei Shuang's precious voice in Chao Biming's.

Oh, Li Lei Shuang, can't you see? Thoughts of you consume my mind; when will I see you?

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Author's Note:

-Midnight_Carousel