The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 514 Beheading

Chapter 514 Beheading
The following morning, in Laizhou city.

"Senior brother, snap out of it."

The young man from the Huanhua Sword Sect refocused his gaze, his body trembled, and he saw the worried look on his junior sister's face. However, he had no intention of comforting her, and only raised his hand to cover his face and sighed deeply.

"Ugh……"

"Junior sister, how many people are still alive?"

The woman bit her lip.

"The five of them were all solitary wanderers in the martial world. The others with families or sects had already left, preparing to sell their possessions and flee for their lives."

The young man nodded.

"Alright, what about the remaining five?"

The woman replied softly.

“We are waiting for your decision, senior brother… If you decide to leave, they will leave; if you want to do something else, they will do it together… That’s why I came to ask you.”

The young man gave a bitter laugh.

"What can I do? What else can I do?"

"My act of bravado has implicated Brother Li and my sect. I've been disloyal, unfilial, unjust, and unwise all rolled into one. I'm stuck, unable to advance or retreat. I don't even know whether to give my life to Brother Li first or to the Anzhenfu Envoy... What can I do?"

"Junior sister, what do you want to do?"

The woman was silent for a moment, then pulled out a package from behind her and placed it on the table, unfolding it to reveal a variety of bottles and jars inside.

"These are disguise items; I secretly bought them this morning."

"I want to go and see, to see the result."

"The execution ground for General Qi has been set up outside Laizhou City. The people have received the news and are heading there. He will be executed at noon... I want to go and see."

The young man also fell silent.

After a while, he got up, picked up a bottle, took out some brown paint, smeared it on his face, and said softly.

"Alright."

"We should at least see the results."

The two men silently disguised themselves, took their weapons, and came out of the room to tell the remaining five martial arts practitioners their plans, which they silently agreed to.

Half an hour later, the seven joined the crowd and headed out of the city.

The execution ground is not far away.

It is not far from Laizhou City, nor is it far from the sea.

As the sound of the surging waves gradually became clearer, the group finally arrived at their destination.

This is an open space.

To the east are towering cliffs, below which the sound of crashing waves echoes. To the west is a dense forest, with an official road running north to south.

On the open ground stood a wooden platform, half a zhang high and ten zhang in diameter, surrounded by cloth to conceal the hole beneath it. On the platform sat a tree stump, and beside it stood a ghost-headed saber, its blade thick and its edge gleaming coldly.

The young man was pushed off the stage by the crowd and looked up at the back of the stage.

A shed was erected there.

On both sides of the tent stood several Imperial Guards.

Inside the shed, two people were sitting facing each other, drinking tea.

The wind lifted the curtain, allowing him to see the face of one of them clearly—An Ziyang.

His face was still as pale as last night, but there wasn't a single wound on him, and he was chatting and laughing.

The young man felt a chill in his heart.

"Brother Li, did you ultimately lose last night...?"

Regret, pain, and confusion instantly overwhelmed him, preventing him from seeing who was sitting opposite An Ziyang.

The woman next to him tugged at his sleeve.

"Senior brother, over there."

He looked up and followed the direction the woman indicated, and almost burst into tears.

There is a cage on one side of the shed.

A ragged, battered man was huddled in a corner, motionless.

The people nearby began to weep softly.

"General Qi..."

The young man clenched his fists so tightly that his lips bled from being bitten.

He almost couldn't resist rushing over.

The woman forcibly pulled him back.

"Senior brother, don't be impulsive."

"To see General Qi off on his final journey."

The young man nodded reluctantly, forcibly turning his gaze away.

Turning his head, he discovered that not far away, there was another young man with bloodshot eyes, who had almost rushed out but was pulled back by his female companion.

The young man had a youthful face and a Japanese sword hanging at his waist.

His female companion was pretty, a little older, with a cold and hard expression. She was holding an infant in her arms and speaking to him in a low voice.

"Wu Mingxiao, don't move."

"Things aren't as you think. Just wait and see; things will definitely change."

The young man turned his head and looked at his female companion with red eyes.

"Miss Zhao, the Vice Commissioner will be beheaded in half an hour. How can you convince me not to move? What changes, who will make those changes, what do you know!"

The female companion shook her head.

“I don’t know anything, but I know that if that person makes a promise to you, he will definitely keep it… You just need to wait.”

The young man struggled a few times, but eventually gave up.

The young man from the Huanhua Sword Sect gave a wry smile.

"Variety?"

"Who can change the mind of the Imperial Guard Commander? Who can save the person An Ziyang is about to kill?"

"It's nothing but... wishful thinking."

He was already disheartened and was just waiting to see the result before he could give up completely.

The sun shifted.

More and more people gathered, surrounding the execution platform, leaving only the area in the direction of the eastern shed empty.

As more and more people gathered, some emotions gradually accumulated and slowly pushed aside the lid of reason, spilling out in their wake.

"General Qi... shouldn't have died..."

"My wife and my children were both saved by General Qi. My life belongs to General Qi... Let me die instead..."

"Damn you, Heaven! You piece of shit, this government! You're blind!"

Public discontent was boiling over.

But faced with the gleaming white blades of the Imperial Guards, no one dared to move. Finally, the appointed time arrived.

"Execution."

Inside the shed, An Ziyang said something indifferently.

Then someone opened the cage, dragged out the man covered in wounds, and forced him onto the execution platform. That familiar, youthful face seemed to finally come to its senses, and he uttered a few hoarse words.

"I'm not... Qi..."

"I...spare my life..."

But it was drowned out by the noise.

The executioner raised his executioner's blade, sprayed some wine on it, and held the blade high in the sunlight.

Some covered their eyes, some cried out loud, some had eyes wide open in horror, and some couldn't help but rush toward the stage.

But the next instant, the blade fell.

puff-

The head fell to the ground, tumbling off the platform and landing in front of the crowd, at the feet of the young man from the Huanhua Sword Sect.

He stared intently at the head, trembling uncontrollably.

"General Qi..."

"You...rest in peace...uh?"

His eyes suddenly widened.

Right before his eyes, the flesh on that human head suddenly twisted, as if a piece of cloth that had been tied up had suddenly unfolded, and in a few breaths it became unrecognizable—it turned into the appearance of another person.

At the same time, several shouts suddenly rang out from the crowd.

"Qi Jiguang is dead! He's dead (Qi Jiguang is dead, do it)!"

From the foot of the cliff to the east came a cacophony of responses.

"Kill!"

"Sudden attack!"

Dozens...no, hundreds of Japanese soldiers scaled the cliff face, grinning maliciously as they raised their swords and charged towards the crowd!

The young man instinctively drew his weapon and rushed to the front of the crowd, only to collide with the young man he had just seen.

"Ming Wanhai of the Huanhua Sword Sect!"

"Qi Family Army, Wu Mingxiao!"

The two exchanged a glance, then turned to face the approaching group of Japanese soldiers.

That's not all.

Below the cliff, the faint sounds of dense climbing could be heard.

There were probably several thousand Japanese who came.

Moreover... the two of them looked at an elderly Japanese man walking slowly in the crowd, and just one glance made their eyes hurt.

That was a powerful figure from Japan, no less than a celestial being, and probably no less than An Ziyang.

Besides the dozen or so Imperial Guards who were overseeing the execution, there were also thousands of ordinary people who had gathered there to bid farewell to Qi Jiguang.

How can we protect them with just these few people on our side!
The two men were furious, but they had no choice but to gather all their strength and charge directly at the Japanese. Even if it was just a drop in the ocean, they wanted to kill a few Japanese to buy the people a few more breaths to escape!
"kill!"

"kill!"

The two shouted in unison and suddenly darted forward.

Snap, snap.

Before they could take a step, two hands forcibly pressed them back to their original positions.

They both turned their heads.

"Brother Li!"

Wu Mingxiao exclaimed in surprise.

The young man from the Huanhua Sword Sect named Ming Wanhai frowned, took a closer look, and was stunned. This person's appearance bore no resemblance to "Brother Li," yet his demeanor was so familiar.

"Brother Li?"

He spoke hesitantly.

Meanwhile, in the shed behind the execution platform, An Ziyang leisurely poured a cup of tea for the person sitting opposite him.

"General Qi, the stage is ready for you, and the people you're supposed to kill have been brought here. Your commander has also died in your place. If you do a good job this time, you'll be the commander of Dengzhou Guard tomorrow."

Are you confident?

The young man in full armor suddenly stood up, drew his sword, cupped his hands, and smiled.

"They're just a few beasts. Now that they're trapped, if even one escapes, you can just behead me!"

"Send the tea and water to me first, I'll be right back."

Before he finished speaking, he strode forward a few steps, then suddenly stopped and turned to ask.

"Speaking of which, sir."

"Why would someone of your stature suddenly come to my Dengzhou Guard, and why would you cooperate with me in doing such a thing... I've always been puzzled by this. Could you perhaps enlighten me?"

An Ziyang stood up and walked to his side.

"It's just a coincidence."

“It just so happens that I’m waiting for someone here. Since I’m here, I can’t let the person I’m waiting for see this mess. And you’re a good official, and your grandfather has some connection with the person I’m waiting for… so I’ll help you out, both for the public and for the private good.”

The young man asked, puzzled.

"Who is the person you are waiting for, sir?"

An Ziyang curled the corners of his lips, his gaze fixed on a figure in front of the crowd, and said with a mixture of joy and sigh.

“Benefactor, superior, teacher, relative”.

"The only person I truly admire."

"He is also the person that all the Embroidered Uniform Guards have been longing for and diligently waiting for for two years."

He took one step forward.

"General Qi, go about your business. I'm going to find him."

The next instant, his figure flashed and disappeared.

The young man paused for a moment, shook his head, then slammed the scabbard onto the execution platform and shouted abruptly.

"Where is Dengzhou Garrison? Where is Qi Jiguang's army?!"

The cloth covering the execution platform was suddenly lifted, and the crowd hidden below surged out, revealing a forest of Japanese swords.