Wen Lingjiao's words made Qiu Yizi silent.
Yuchi Lianghong heard this and said, "Although the young lady is just a woman, she is able to keep her word, which is worthy of the style of a child of the Jianghu. However, for people in the Jianghu, the most important thing is to be free and easy. Those Jianghu knights joined the sect voluntarily. If they want to leave the sect, please don't stop them, let alone persecute their children. Even if these Jianghu knights stay in your sect, they are just distracted and unrestrained. How can they work hard for your sect? I came here today for this matter. Now that I have received the grace of the young lady who saved my life, I will no longer force her. I just hope that the young lady can listen to me, which will also be a blessing to the martial arts world."
Wen Lingjiao felt that what Yuchi Lianghong said made sense, but she refused to admit defeat and said, "The Yuchi family holds a high status in the martial arts world, but the so-called leader of the alliance has never been in an alliance or sworn an oath. It is just a title of respect in the martial arts world, and there is no authority to enforce orders. What Yuchi the hero just said is the affairs of our sect, and our holy sect has never had the rule of obeying the orders of others, so please don't mention it again. But I think what the hero said makes sense, so I will be more careful in the future for your sake."
As they were talking, they had already reached the end of the secret passage. After opening the secret door, they were already in a very ordinary courtyard.
Qiu Yizhi knew that the Tianzun Cult was treacherous, so he did not ask where he was, but only asked: "Excuse me, Miss Wen, is there a more secret house here? I have something to ask this eunuch."
Wen Lingjiao seemed unfamiliar with this place, and did not answer. She turned to look at the maid He'er beside her. He'er took the hint and said to Qiu Yizi, "There is no place here that is not secret. But if you want to torture a prisoner, then this is the right place. Please follow me..." He'er led everyone into the small room on the right.
There were only very simple tables, chairs and benches placed in the room, and a brick kang against the wall, which looked inconspicuous. However, He'er walked to the kang, rolled all the quilts and bedding on the kang to one side, and kicked one of the red bricks with her foot, and a secret door automatically slid open on the kang surface. Inside the door was a staircase leading down - it turned out to be another secret passage.
They walked down the stairs for about 30 or 40 steps and entered a basement. The basement was airtight, with only three palm-sized windows near the ceiling for ventilation. It smelled bloody and moldy. There were no other objects in the room except iron chains, whips, and basins for splashing water to wake up people who fainted. They knew at a glance that this was where the Tianzun Sect tortured and interrogated prisoners on a daily basis.
While Yuchi Lianghong tied the unconscious eunuch to the iron chain against the wall, he smiled helplessly at Qiu Yizi and said, "Although I left home unintentionally to do this, I have broken the two family rules of the Yuchi family: not to make friends with the government and not to make friends with evil cults. Now I have to torture this unarmed man... Alas, this is what they say when you are in the rivers and lakes, you have no choice."
Qiu Yizi hurriedly comforted him, "If you do good intentionally, you will not be rewarded, and if you do evil unintentionally, you will not be punished. Even saints believe in moderation and the principle of discretion. Besides, this eunuch is a heinous person. What you did today is to eliminate harm for the people. Even if the news spreads to the world, no one will dare to say a word of 'no'."
Yuchi Lianghong sighed and nodded, then casually tapped the eunuch's chest.
The eunuch's eyes suddenly opened, as if someone had called him out in his ear while he was soundly asleep. He was so frightened that he gasped and muttered to himself, "Where am I?"
Qiu Yizi stood in front of him, smiling, and said, "My dear eunuch, do you still recognize me?"
The eunuch narrowed his eyes, looked carefully, and then sighed: "I still messed up..."
"Hey! Eunuch, why do you have to be like this? We are not the big devils who kill people without blinking an eye. We just have a few things to ask you, so we keep you here temporarily. After you finish asking, we will let you go back." Qiu Yizi said.
The eunuch's eyes showed endless despair: "Sir, do you think I can escape death if I go back? Please just kill me here, at least I will die quickly and I can rest in peace in my grave."
Qiu Yizi only thought that the eunuch was either eager to survive and told everything he knew, or he would rather die than say anything. However, he did not expect that he was so afraid of the Persuasion Department, so he said, "The eunuch is a man of character. But our parents and relatives are still alive, and we still need the eunuch to take care of them all the time, otherwise the family will not have peace."
This was a threat, Qiu Yizi reminding the eunuch that if he did not answer the questions truthfully, he would send people to embarrass his parents and relatives.
Unexpectedly, the eunuch laughed out loud, "Hahaha! My parents died a long time ago. As for those heartless relatives in the village, you can go ahead and kill them. When you've killed them all, don't forget to burn some paper money to inform me! Hahaha!"
This laughter was extremely sad, and Qiu Yizhi's heart shrank. He almost asked for help and said to Yuchi Lianghong beside him: "This eunuch is difficult to deal with. I wonder if my brother has any means to pry open his mouth?"
Yuchi Lianghong frowned and said, "My method is just to break his bones and displace his internal organs. I see that he may not be able to bear this pain. And... and I see that he is unarmed and a disabled person, so I really can't do it!"
After hearing this, Qiu Yizi realized that what his brother said made sense and was speechless for a moment.
While everyone was silent, He'er, who was standing next to Wen Lingjiao, said, "I didn't expect that there are things that Master Qiu and Hero Yuchi can't do." As she spoke, she took out a small glass bottle from her body and pulled out the cap with force, "Under the Holy Church, I have never seen a person who doesn't speak!" As she said that, she was about to pour the liquid in the bottle onto the eunuch.
Wen Lingjiao behind him said, "He'er... use less..."
Although He'er was straightforward and hot-tempered, she listened to Wen Lingjiao's words very much and said quickly, "I understand, Miss. This elixir is hard to come by, and He'er will not waste it on this dead eunuch." After that, she bent down and picked up a straw from the ground, put the straw into the bottle and dipped it in the liquid, then stroked the eunuch's hand, and then threw the straw into the corner.
Qiu Yizi didn't know what kind of medicine He'er had taken from the bottle, but she saw that the part of the eunuch's arm that was stained with the liquid had already turned black and bubbling, and gradually a foul smell came out. The eunuch was screaming in pain, and although his hands were tied tightly and he couldn't move, his feet kept twitching on the ground.
But He'er said, "This is the magic elixir of my holy church to deal with traitors. Apply it on your body and your flesh will melt away, causing you to be in excruciating pain. If you apply the elixir all over your body, all the flesh will melt away. And that's not the most amazing thing. This elixir is so effective that the person who uses it will be melted until only a skeleton is left, but he will still be alive and can watch his heart beating wildly..." He'er seemed to be frightened by the horrific scene she described. Her red face twitched unnaturally, but she could no longer speak.
The muscles on the eunuch's face had already been twisted into a ball, and he shouted hoarsely, "You are so vicious, hurry up and give me a quick death!"
Qiu Yizhi only hoped that the eunuch would surrender quickly so that he could be spared such pain, so she asked He'er, "I wonder if there is a way to break the effect of this medicine?"
He Er heard this and quickly replied, "Yes, yes. Just wash it with clean water and it will stop hurting immediately. If you take good care of it for two or three months, the rotten area will grow back with skin and flesh. It will just leave a scar, which is a bit ugly..."
Without waiting for He'er to finish, Qiu Yizhi took a basin of water from the corner of the room, but she no longer had the courage to wash the medicine off the eunuch herself, so she just poured half of the water on his arm from a distance. The pain in the eunuch's arm seemed to be reduced by half instantly, and the muscles on his face finally relaxed.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi asked, "Now, can you answer a few questions for me, sir?" Seeing that the eunuch was silent, he continued to ask, "Who ordered you to arrest me? And what's your purpose?"
The eunuch raised his eyes and glanced at Qiu Yi, seemed a little hesitant, then finally clenched his teeth again and lowered his head.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizi shook her head helplessly and said, "This eunuch has extraordinary character. It seems that he will not be subdued by torture. Then please ask Miss He'er to use the magic medicine on this eunuch again!"
The eunuch was startled and hurriedly said, "Wait a minute!" After he shouted like that, he finally relaxed and said dejectedly, "Young Master, if you have anything to say, just ask."
Qiu Yizi may not really be determined to use the torture of Tianzun Sect again. Hearing what the eunuch said, he was also relieved and smiled, saying: "I have already asked just now. What I want to know is who ordered the eunuch to come and arrest me?"
The eunuch thought for a moment and said, "In the Ministry of Persuasion and Benevolence, I only follow the orders of Mr. Wang. The arrest of the young master was ordered by Mr. Wang himself."
"Oh? The 'Mr. Wang' that the eunuch is talking about is the chief eunuch Wang Zhonghai?"
The eunuch seemed to be in awe of Wang Zhonghai and did not dare to address him by name. He said, "It was Mr. Wang who personally ordered me to make sure this matter is done. But now that things have gone wrong, I just want to die quickly."
"Why do you have to do this, eunuch? I will keep my word. As long as you answer me again why Wang Zhonghai wants to arrest me, I will let you go back." Qiu Yizi asked again.
The eunuch laughed strangely and said, "My Lord Wang's far-sightedness is beyond my comprehension, and I dare not ask. But my Lord Wang told you that you came from Youyan Road, and followed Prime Minister Yang to visit the eldest prince. It can't be said that you are arresting him, but I just want to 'invite' you to come over to talk, and I need to ask you some advice."
Qiu Yizhi's hair stood on end when he heard this. He didn't expect that he had only been in Luoyang for two days, had not spoken a word to any stranger, and his work was confidential, but his every move was under the control of Wang Zhonghai and the Persuasion Department. It seemed that Wang Zhonghai didn't know his background, otherwise, if he knew that his mission had been completed, he might have stabbed him in the back and he would have died.
So Qiu Yizi smiled bitterly and said, "I have only been in Beijing for a short day, and all I did was to seek a job from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I didn't expect that the Persuasion Department was so well-informed. I have learned my lesson."
After that, Qiu Yizhi didn't want to trouble his brother Yuchi Lianghong any more, so he personally stepped forward and freed the eunuch from the shackles. After half a day of tossing and turning, the eunuch's legs were weak, and he fell to the ground as soon as he was put down. He saw a basin of water in front of him, and he put his head into the basin and drank most of it without caring what time it was.
Who knew that although he was drinking water, his eyes were observing the surroundings furtively. He saw that Yuchi Lianghong was highly skilled in martial arts, Qiu Yi was wearing a sword, and the maid He'er was also very fierce. Only the woman in the light green silk skirt looked a little weak, so he kicked his legs and pounced on Wen Lingjiao like a toad.
Wen Lingjiao was startled by him and quickly took two steps back to avoid the attack, but she tripped and barely stood up, almost sitting down in the straw behind her. The eunuch missed the attack and was about to attack again, but Qiu Yi was quick and drew the Western Region sword from her waist, rushed forward, and stabbed the eunuch's back with the blade, and then swung it diagonally, and in a flash, the eunuch's belly was ripped open.
The damn eunuch was foaming at the mouth with blood, and his eyes were fixed on Wen Lingjiao, staring as if the corners of his eyes were about to burst. His internal organs were already all over the floor, spread out on the ground like rotten meat, and blood was all over his body.
When Wen Lingjiao saw this tragic scene, her eyes went dark, she staggered, and almost fainted. (To be continued)