Chapter 1319: City Gate Crane

"Discussing our plans privately, the three of you have broken the rules. You should return to the islands."

Wanqiliang looked up in shock. "Brother Feng, I'm not going back!"

"Why?" Wanqifeng asked calmly. "Are others less capable than you in combat, or do they have worse discipline? If you can't do the job, why shouldn't someone else replace you?"

Wanqiliang's face flushed, but he couldn't utter a word.

Indeed, if he was allowed to come, why shouldn't other warriors from Yangshan be given the same chance?

Wanqifeng watched his anxious expression, finding it amusing.

This foolish boy. If the Lord truly wanted to send Wanqiliang back, he wouldn't have asked Wanqifeng to inform him privately; he would have been publicly dismissed during the recent address.

The Lord had publicly singled out individuals more than once.

A myriad of arguments flashed through Wanqiliang's mind, but none seemed appropriate to voice.

Wanqifeng watched him, sighed, shook his head, and turned to walk away.

At that moment, Wanqiliang finally understood. He stopped arguing and directly admitted his mistake. "Brother Feng, I was wrong. Ten merits can't make up for one fault. I shouldn't have broken the rules by discussing things privately! Could you intercede for me with the Island Master? I promise I'll never do it again!"

Wanqifeng maintained a stern expression. "The Lord transferred you from the islands to the Gilded Plain, and you were quite reluctant. Why do you suddenly want to stay now?"

"Here... there's fighting here, it's better!" Wanqiliang scratched the back of his head, randomly recalling the boy who had thrown stones in the dark alley of Stone Helm.

He couldn't remember the boy's face, but he remembered the look in his eyes.

That look made him feel that his injuries hadn't been endured in vain.

"Someone here calls you their benefactor, don't they?" Wanqifeng said, seeing through him.

"Brother Feng, please intercede for me!" Wanqiliang pleaded brazenly. "I don't want to go back!"

And it wasn't just him who didn't want to go back; no one did.

"Ha, you might avoid expulsion, but a good beating is inevitable!"

Wanqiliang was overjoyed. "Yes, yes, a beating is fine! Hit me as hard as you like!"

Eight days later, Feng County.

This was a county town within Pei, with a population exceeding 170,000.

A travel-worn merchant, dressed in a green robe and a gray hat, managed to enter the city just before the gates were locked.

As he passed through the gate, he looked back.

Many who had just entered the city were doing the same, looking up and pointing:

On the city gate tower, a row of dead bodies hung upside down, their eyes bulging, tongues lolling, and faces swollen!

Their ghastly appearance clearly indicated they had been hanged alive, and by a slow method.

The man in the gray hat counted seven bodies.

These seven unfortunates had hung on the ropes for at least a night before finally succumbing.

Passersby would glance up at them, then spit on the ground.

Some even cursed, "Good riddance."

A banner also stood on the city gate, emblazoned with several blood-red characters, written in a fierce, sprawling style:

"Heaven's justice is clear, retribution unfailing;By their own hand, it is returned upon them."

The banner also featured a design drawn in fresh blood:

The head of a flood dragon.

With just a few strokes, its essence was perfectly captured.

Most of the people nearby were illiterate and asked what was written on the banner.

People were also gathered around a nearby watering trough. The man in the gray hat squeezed in for a look and saw a relief carving of a flood dragon's head on the short, plain gray wall.

Only the head and a small part of the neck were carved, yet they perfectly conveyed the flood dragon's imposing majesty. No matter where onlookers stood, they felt the dragon's eyes, larger than lychees, staring coldly back at them.

Even though the man in the gray hat had no knowledge of carving, he found the flood dragon's head incredibly lifelike, as if its body would burst from the wall and ascend into the clouds at any moment.

He reached out and touched the carving; it was cold and hard, just like ordinary stone. But when he tried to press harder, an invisible, gentle force repelled his fingers.

A barrier?

An unusually gentle barrier was affixed to the carving, undetectable unless one attempted to damage it.

Beyond that, he sensed no other supernatural power around the carving.

It was just a carving, nothing more.

"Excuse me, who carved this image?"

The people nearby shrugged, none of them knowing. Only a stablehand from the nearby inn, coming to lead a horse, answered casually:

"Aside from the heavens themselves or an immortal, who would carve something like this on a dilapidated wall?"

The man in the gray hat looked back and saw that the inn was very close to the city gate.

He immediately took two steps forward, pointing at the bodies hanging from the city gate and the carving on the wall. "Excuse me, what happened here?" he asked the stablehand.

The stablehand had initially ignored him, but the few large coins the man offered instantly piqued his interest.

"Yesterday morning, before the city gates even opened, these bodies were already hanging there. Quite a few people were scared by it."

The man in the gray hat was surprised. "They've been hanging there for two days straight, and Feng County hasn't taken them down?"

What are the authorities doing?

The stablehand rolled his eyes. "Do you know what those words on the banner mean? 'By their own... and something their own body...'?"

"'By their own hand, it is returned upon them.'"

"Yes, those are the words," the stablehand continued. "You outsiders wouldn't know, but we feel nothing but relief seeing these hanged wretches! If it weren't for the smell, we'd wish they'd hang there forever!"

"Who are they?" the man in the gray hat asked, already knowing the answer.

"They're the bandits from the den on nearby Dai Mountain. From their chief down to the seventh leader, they were all caught and hanged here! The other low-level thugs died in the bandit den on Dai Mountain; it's said there were bodies everywhere, a truly dreadful sight!"

The man in the gray hat said, "Oh, you went to see them?"

"No, I'm too busy for that; when would I have time to look at dead bodies?" The stablehand pointed to the city guards. "The soldiers went up to see."

He couldn't help but sneer. "This den of bandits came down from the mountain every now and then to rape, rob, and plunder, harassing the surrounding villages for almost ten years, and the authorities were utterly useless! Last summer, the Dai Mountain bandits even besieged the city, capturing over a dozen people and hanging them outside the walls."

He pointed towards the city gate. "Just like this, hanging them and letting them slowly suffocate. Those bastards just did it for fun, and I still can't forget their wicked laughter. Sigh, they besieged us for three days and hanged people for three days, until the county made the common folk raise money just to get rid of those pests."

The man in the gray hat understood. "If they hadn't died, they would have continued to attack the city and extort money."

These bandits lived by extorting from the mountains and the city. They never intended to capture the city, only to collect money periodically. The common folk within the city were like dairy cows they kept, to be milked whenever the bandits pleased.

"Exactly!" The stablehand shook his head. "I don't know who was powerful enough to hang them on the city gate. The county magistrate said they must hang for three full days, meaning until tomorrow morning. Ha, they finally did something that truly pleased everyone."

Last year, the bandits hanged commoners for three days. This time, it was their turn, so they too would hang for three full days.

This was the meaning of "it is returned upon them."

"Seven living people were hanged on the city gate, and no one heard a sound?"

The two had moved away from the crowd, and the stablehand lowered his voice. "The gatekeepers are all big shots; they hide away at night to gamble and sleep. If they even remember to check the walls after an hour or so, that's already a bonus."