Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 457 The Death of Song Jing (12,000 words)

The nights in Ningping are indeed more tranquil than those in Pingyang.

In the dark house, a few lonely lanterns cast a dim light on the nearby flowers, plants, and trees. The occasional chirping of insects from the grass made the quiet night seem even more desolate.

Song Jing's body was hidden in the darkness, with only his pair of scarlet eyes fixed on the small house in front of him. He knew that his father, Song Hongtao, lived in the house.

Song Hongtao's body was completely paralyzed and he could not move.

Lin Xiangwan, a concubine in the Duke's mansion, was fed medicine three times a day without fail. She rarely even stepped outside the mansion's gates, and when she did leave, it was usually to visit temples to burn incense and pray for divine protection. Therefore, in Ningping County, and even throughout the entire Songzhou Prefecture's elite circles, Lin Xiangwan was widely praised for her virtue and kindness; despite her humble origins, she was a good person.

Song Jing naturally knew about these things, but he instinctively felt that things weren't so simple. He wanted to see his father; perhaps only by seeing his father could he learn the truth... Most importantly, he also wanted to know from his father what the secret manual of the "Vajra Arhat Technique" was all about.

He couldn't understand how the secret manual, which he had been practicing for so many years without any problems, could suddenly malfunction and cause him to suffer a qi deviation.

These days, he can feel that his conscious time is decreasing.

Whenever the restlessness in his chest was about to ignite, he would find a secluded mountain forest beforehand. When he regained his senses, the surroundings would often be a scene of devastation, with corpses torn to shreds and his body covered in blood.

The worst time was when he accidentally ran into a village inhabited by bandits. When he came to his senses, the bandits had been reduced to mangled pieces, their white bones covered with the marks of teeth gnawing on them.

He didn't want to become a madman; he believed that once he found the real secret, he would definitely be able to return to normal.

Unfortunately, despite hiding in the Duke's mansion for nearly a month, they still haven't been able to find an opportunity.

Dozens of black-armored soldiers surrounded the small house, making it impossible for anyone to get close except for Lin Xiangwan... He had considered targeting Lin Xiangwan, but she was usually very cautious and always had a group of guards with her, so even Song Jing couldn't find an opportunity.

Tonight, it would most likely be a wasted effort. Thinking this, Song Jing couldn't help but feel a little tormented; he didn't have much time left to waste here. Just then, with a creak, the door of the small house was suddenly pushed open, and Lin Xiangwan came out carrying a small bowl. As she went down the steps, whether by accident or not, Lin Xiangwan twisted her ankle and fell forward, crashing heavily to the ground.

The guards watching over the courtyard were all startled by what they saw. They immediately carried Lin Xiangwan to the backyard, probably to find the family physician for treatment.

Normally, in the inner quarters of wealthy families, whether it's a young lady or a concubine, if she falls or even gets into the water, male servants are not allowed to rush to her rescue. In the minds of some conservative people, this is somewhat against etiquette, let alone having a group of guards carry her away in such a hurry.

If there were other concubines or maids in the house, who knows what kind of trouble would ensue.

But clearly, Song Jing wasn't capable of considering all that. He simply noticed that all the guards around the hut had left, his face lit up with joy, and before he could even form a thought, he had already dashed out, pushed open the door, and slipped into the hut.

Turning around, I saw Song Hongtao lying stiffly on a tattered bed. Song Hongtao looked extremely disheveled, even pitiful, probably worse off than a beggar on the street.

The first thing you notice is that nauseating stench.

It felt as if excrement was fermenting on the bed; the filth was visible to the naked eye, and Song Jing even had the urge to run away from the small house.

For a moment, he even thought he had wandered into the outhouse.

Looking at the bed sheet again, patches of dark brown grime made one feel rationally uncomfortable.

Song Hongtao lay there quietly, motionless, with some sticky fluid under his body, likely due to prolonged lying down causing skin ulceration on his back. In just a few months, his face had become deeply sunken, like a human skin covering a skeleton.

His eyes were dull and lifeless, and there was some black medicine juice on the side of his lips.

His mouth was open but weak; he seemed unable to speak normally.

Upon hearing the door open, his eyes finally slowly rolled around in their sockets. When he saw that the person who came in was not Lin Xiangwan but Song Jing, Song Hongtao's body seemed to be suddenly injected with vitality, and his eyes burst forth with an unprecedentedly bright light.

His body involuntarily struggled and wriggled.

One of his hands, in particular, was trembling violently, and even seemed to be lifting up slightly.

In front of Lin Xiangwan, Song Hongtao was like a living dead man. Apart from his eyes, he could hardly move any part of his body. Even when Lin Xiangwan forcibly fed him all sorts of random drugs, he couldn't put up any resistance.

But the current situation is clearly not quite right.

Although Song Hongtao's paralysis was not cured, he was not a helpless, living dead man. With all his might, he seemed to be able to control his body within a very small range! Looking at the filthy and slovenly state of the bed, Song Hongtao, a dignified Duke, had actually been lying on such a filthy bed for a whole month without revealing the slightest flaw to Lin Xiangwan... and the guards at the door hadn't even heard a sound.

It seems that after a series of setbacks, Song Hongtao has become more shrewd and patient than before.

He can even manage to say a few words now; it's a medical miracle.

Those thin, pale lips trembled violently as if electrocuted, and their eyes held hope and light.
“Jing…Jing’er…”

"help me……"

Whether it was because his body was paralyzed and his tongue was not obeying him, or because he had not spoken for too long, the sounds he made were intermittent. He even tried desperately to lift his head, but after trying for a long time, he still could not lift his head.

Song Jing, this is his son, though not his biological son, but Song Jing doesn't know that.

This son is capable and has considerable strength; perhaps he can lead him to escape from the Duke's mansion.

Lin Xiangwan is a devil.

If he continues to fall into that woman's hands, he will die.

At this moment, Song Hongtao placed all his hopes on Song Jing.

However, although he saw his father again, Song Jing's eyes did not show much joy. Instead, his face was unusually gloomy. He simply walked quietly to Song Hongtao, looked down at his father, took out a letter from his pocket, and spread it out in front of Song Hongtao: "What's going on here?"

Upon seeing the letter, Song Hongtao's pupils suddenly contracted, and his already lifeless face became even more gloomy. Upon closer inspection, one could even see some dark brown patches on Song Hongtao's face, making him appear to have aged twenty or thirty years compared to the previously ruddy-faced Duke.

"them……"

"Bastard."

Song Hongtao's lips moved as he desperately tried to utter syllables.

Although it was intermittent, Song Jing could still understand most of it.

“Mongrel…Song Jincheng.”

"Yang Miaoqing... you slut..."

"Your...own son."

Even though Song Jing wasn't very bright, he still understood the meaning of these words. They were saying that his mother and brother-in-law were having an affair, and that all eight sons except for himself were bastards? Even though he had already read the contents of the letter, hearing Song Hongtao say this with his own ears still shocked Song Jing.

He knew that wealthy and powerful families were often chaotic.

But this is too chaotic!
Looking at Song Hongtao again, there was a hint of pity in his eyes.

No man could stand being cuckolded seven times in a row, right?

Thinking this way, even seeing the unfathomable resentment in Song Hongtao's eyes, one could understand... It was normal to feel hatred in one's heart after being treated so badly by one's wife and younger brother.

However, Song Jing was unaware that Song Hongtao's hatred had extended to Song Jing as well.

After all, only Song Lu was his true biological son.

"Bastard, you're a bastard too..." Song Hongtao roared in his heart, his eyes filled with even more hatred. But when he thought of his only son, whom he had killed with his own hands, he couldn't help but feel grief welling up inside him.

Two streams of hot tears rolled down from those deeply sunken eye sockets.

Looking at his father's appearance, perhaps thinking of the doting love his father had given him when he was a child, Song Jing's originally sharp gaze softened a little... Such a thing was a great humiliation for his father, and it was normal for him to be unable to bear such stimulation and have his personality change drastically.

"help me……"

"Lin Xiangwan...a poisonous woman."

"Take me... away."

Song Hongtao's voice was filled with shrillness and pleading.

Song Jing shook his head vigorously, trying to regain his composure. He hadn't forgotten why he had come all this way. His slightly softened expression instantly turned calm again as he stared at Song Hongtao and asked in a deep voice, "What is the Vajra Arhat Technique? Why did I suffer a qi deviation after practicing it?"

Upon hearing this, Song Hongtao's heart skipped a beat.

He discovered that the cheat codes had been modified.

Damn it, how come this bastard didn't die from going into qi deviation?

His resentment intensified, but he still needed Song Jing to escape this den of wolves, so he absolutely could not afford to offend Song Jing at this time.

“Song Yan…”

"He also cultivates!"

"Besides you...he, no one else has ever touched the manual..."

"It was all his doing!"

Song Hongtao spoke haltingly, since Song Yan wasn't here anyway, it was most appropriate to pin all the blame on Song Yan.

Song Jing's lips twitched. Seeing the resentment in Song Hongtao's eyes, he no longer doubted so much, and his hatred for Song Yan intensified.

Damn little bastard.

He should have been killed when he was a child.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have ended up in this situation. "The study, under the bookshelf... a box."

“There are transcribed copies.”

"organ."

"I can drive."

In order to get Song Jing to save his life, Song Hongtao had no choice but to try his best to please this bastard. Fortunately, after modifying a few words, he was worried that he wouldn't remember them. After all, this was a family martial art passed down from generation to generation. It would be troublesome if he made a mistake. So he copied a correct version from memory and kept it.

Unexpectedly, this tactic came in handy so quickly.

A look of joy suddenly appeared in Song Jing's eyes.

What his father said was probably true, but he didn't care too much. For Song Jing right now, finding the real secret manual was the most important thing.

“I will search for it. If that box really exists, I will take you away from here.”

After saying that, Song Jing turned around and walked outside.

The overwhelming excitement even caused Song Jing to lose his usual vigilance.

With a creak, the door opened.

Having taken only two steps, Song Jing suddenly froze on the spot, his pupils contracting, his face turning deathly pale in the moonlight. He then saw that countless people had appeared in front of the small house under the moonlight, densely packed together, numbering probably two or three hundred at a glance.

They were all guards of the Duke's mansion on ordinary days.

Now, they had all removed their armor, and were even barefoot, so it's no wonder they didn't make a sound.

Everyone present wore a somber expression, their gazes fixed on Song Jing as if he were a dead man. Each hand gripped a cocked military crossbow, its sharp bolts aimed at Song Jing. In the moonlight, the arrowheads gleamed with a chilling light, even causing Song Jing to feel a stinging pain in his eyes.

Right in the middle of the crowd were two figures: Lin Xiangwan and Wang Qingshan, the housekeeper.

Song Jing's expression changed drastically. He subconsciously looked around, trying to find a way to escape, and his mouth opened as if he wanted to say something.

However, Lin Xiangwan parted her cherry lips slightly: "Shoot!"

hum hum...

hiss hiss hiss hiss...

Without the slightest hesitation or doubt.

The moment Lin Xiangwan uttered her voice, more than two hundred guards simultaneously pressed the trigger.

A dense barrage of crossbow bolts rained down on Song Jing in an instant.

Although Song Jing is quite strong, even the most powerful martial artist should not expect to contend with a proper army. Hua Lianyue could not do it, Luo Tianxuan could not do it, Luo Tianyi could not do it, and Song Jing certainly could not do it.

The area covered by the rain of arrows was so vast that Song Jing had no chance to dodge. He only took a slight step to the side before hearing a series of soft, splattering sounds.

A sharp pain shot through my mind.

Song Jing's body froze on the spot, completely still.

With its head slightly lowered and its eyes wide open, one could clearly see sharp crossbow bolts stuck in its neck, chest, abdomen, legs, and even face.

They were densely packed together, just like a hedgehog.

Martial artists who practice the Vajra Arhat Technique possess physical strength far exceeding that of others.

However, even exceeding this limit has its limits.

Moreover, Song Jing did not have the "Hundred Flowers Treasure Mirror" to continuously provide him with internal energy so that he could constantly strengthen his physical body. Before he went into qi deviation, Song Jing's cultivation speed was always extremely slow. After he went into qi deviation, although his strength increased dramatically, it was not in the normal way of cultivation. What increased dramatically was his internal energy, but his physical strength not only did not improve, but even decreased.

These military crossbows were also modified by Song Yan.

The arrows, and even some of the mechanisms inside, are made of the finest steel, and their destructive and penetrating power is far superior to that of the previous crossbows.

Even Song Jing's body couldn't withstand such a condition.

To ensure that Song Jing could be killed, Lin Xiangwan even had the guards coat the arrowheads with poison beforehand. She didn't dare say it would be fatal, but as long as it grazed Song Jing's skin, he would definitely suffer.

For a time, Song Jing wasn't even dead yet.

He struggled to lift his head, blood gushing from his lips.

The excruciating pain jolted his consciousness, and his eyes were filled with disbelief and confusion.

He didn't understand what was wrong with this woman. Why did she not say a word to him and immediately order the arrows to be fired?

Shouldn't she first ask herself why she came back and what her purpose was?

Just then, the sound of a mechanism being pulled came from ahead.

"shoot."

"shoot!"

Lin Xiangwan coldly issued the order, firing three rounds of crossbow bolts in succession until there was no place left in Song Jing's body where an arrow could be inserted. Only then did Lin Xiangwan stop.

The Ninth Young Master has given instructions: when it's time to kill, do it cleanly and swiftly, and don't say a word... If you say too much, you might be in trouble.

She remembered it very well.

Song Jing died just like that.

He died in a rather abrupt way at the hands of a woman he had never even glanced at before.

Wang Qingshan smiled and stepped forward, a knife appearing in his hand. He slowly severed Song Jing's head, intending it as a gift for the Ninth Young Master, who would surely be very pleased.

On the other side, Lin Xiangwan entered the room.

Song Hongtao was still lying in bed, his wide eyes filled with resentment.

Lin Xiangwan's smile grew even wider: "Master, you're very disappointed, aren't you?"

"Do you really expect your other sons to come and save you?"

"You really aren't picky. They're all bastards born from your wife and brother's affair."

"What a pity. With your little schemes, you're no match for the Ninth Young Master. Aren't you curious why he let you live until now, when he could have just taken your life back then?"

Song Hongtao's pupils suddenly contracted.

He originally thought that Song Yan wanted him to suffer all kinds of pain and then die little by little, but now it seems that things are not so simple.

"You know fishing, right? You need to catch some earthworms to use as bait." Lin Xiangwan blinked, her tone gentle.

But such a sound made Song Hongtao's scalp tingle.

"You wrote to them all, right?"

"Everyone who received the letter thought he was your only biological son, right?"

"You promised them the title of Duke, didn't you? Do you think they would just stand by and watch the title that rightfully belongs to them fall into the hands of someone else?"

"Although there are wanted posters for them everywhere now, they may think about escaping to other countries, but... they will always be unwilling in their hearts. After some time, when the storm has passed, they will definitely return to Ningping to find out what really happened and to see if they can clear their names and inherit their titles again."

"Do you understand now?" Lin Xiangwan's lips suddenly curled into a smile. "You are the bait that Ninth Young Master used to lure Song Jing, Song Huai, Song Yi, and Song An!"

Boom... Rumble rumble rumble.

Song Hongtao's body trembled violently, and his pupils were filled with almost nothing but despair.

Lin Xiangwan smiled again, not expecting Song Jing to arrive so quickly.

"Young Master Ninth said that although Song Jing, Song Huai, and Song An are not your sons, they are all Yang Miaoqing's offspring."

"We simply cannot let them live."

"Don't worry, once they're all dead, sir... you'll be free."

Song Hongtao's eyes were dull and empty, as if they had lost all their light in that instant.

……

Meanwhile, in the capital city of Chu.

The moon and stars are rare.

A horse-drawn carriage slowly drove away!
(End of this chapter)