The time has finally come!
A large group of over a hundred burly soldiers came from a distance, with their swords drawn. They looked cold and murderous, and drove away the pedestrians who were blocking their way.
At the front of the officers and soldiers was Qin Shiqing, the prison warden on horseback.
As one of the spiritual warriors in charge of the Heavenly Prison, this time he was the executioner, sitting in charge of the execution ground to avoid accidents such as robbery.
“Here it comes!”
"Oh, it was indeed a big scene. Although only one person lost his head today, judging by the scene, it was no less of a scene than the beheading of a hundred people before."
The people in Caishikou hurriedly moved to the sides to make way for the officers and soldiers, and then stretched their necks to look at the center of the team.
It was a prisoner cart pulled by horses, with only one person in it.
In the prison van was an old man with graying temples, who looked to be over sixty years old and not young anymore.
Although the old man was old, he was strong. He was wearing prison clothes and was dirty. He had long gray hair on his shoulders and his lips were cracked. He just stood in the standing cage of the prison van.
The standing cage is very small, an iron cage weighing several hundred kilograms, which can only accommodate prisoners standing. They cannot sit down to rest or bend and stretch their bodies. Only a head is stuck outside the iron cage, and the public can see its appearance clearly.
Chapter 125 The Day When People’s Heads Fell Off (3k
Ding ding ding.
The soldiers led the way by beating gongs to clear the way for the prisoner car in the middle.
The loud sound of the gong startled a large group of people nearby, causing them to disperse a little. At the same time, more people gathered from afar to watch the old man standing in the cage.
"Another beheading at Caishikou!"
"Wife, come out and watch the beheading. I heard that only one person will lose his head this time. If you come out too late, you will miss it!"
"As expected, this is the famous Caishikou in the imperial capital. I heard that countless dignitaries died here. We just arrived in the imperial capital and we ran into this incident... Let's go and take a look."
"This old man's name is Qiao Zhong? He was widely rumored a while ago. I heard from storytellers that he dared to challenge the gods. I think he is just two eyes and a nose. He doesn't look that great."
"I heard that he personally witnessed the death of the Martial Saint under the thunderbolt. He is the only assassin who has not yet died. But it seems that this is the end of it today."
"This person has no respect for gods or emperors. He has no emperor or gods in his heart. How can he live in this world?"
"I had an appointment to go to the East City Theater to watch a play today. Why did the government choose to execute my beheading at this time?"
"What theater? When can't we go to the theater? Beheadings don't happen every day."
At the entrance of the teahouse facing the street, Jiang Chen looked at the many people who had gathered around to watch the fun, and a bitter feeling welled up in his heart.
"I thought that since this imperial capital is the capital of the Great Yan Dynasty after all, the residents here might be different. It seems that I thought too much. Whether it is Nanzhou or Zhongzhou, there are immortal gates above them after all." Jiang Chen sighed in his heart.
Since Emperor Yonghe worshipped the gods, Qiao Mu has been in the Heavenly Prison for about a month.
During this month, Qiao Mu and Hai Wuya discussed martial arts and the unfinished "The Book of Humanity" all day long, and they didn't realize that time flew by.
During a month's time, the intelligence about the Qiao family obtained through interrogation by the world-famous detective Wayne was not as good as expected.
Both Emperor Yonghe and the Immortal Sect gradually lost their patience, and Emperor Yonghe finally ordered Qiao Mu to be beheaded.
During this month, Jiang Chen traveled all the way from Heyang Prefecture in Nanzhou, over mountains and across rivers, and came to Zhongzhou with Shunfenger.
Wherever there are tide-riders, there is the Tingchao Tower.
There were already many storytellers chasing the trend in Tingchao Tower, especially Jiang Chen who was interested in the story of the Qiao family.
"How about it? Did you see it clearly? This is Qiao Zhong's face." asked Shunfenger beside him.
"I can see clearly that they do have some similarities with the Qiao Sen and his two sons in Yancheng, but they are obviously much older." Jiang Chen judged;
"Since Qiao Zhong has already been imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, it is impossible for him to use any disguise technique to disguise his appearance. This face is his true appearance now."
"So, this Qiao Zhong is indeed a relative of Qiao Sen and his two sons, and also a member of the Qiao family."
Along the way, he had either heard about or witnessed some of the Qiao family's deeds.
Now that he has come to Zhongzhou, he has to witness the death of a member of the Qiao family.
When he thought of this, he couldn't help feeling sad.
But what made him emotional was not actually Qiao Zhong’s death.
After all, this was not the first time he had witnessed the death of a member of the Qiao family.
Before Jiang Chen became a storyteller, he was at least a wanderer in the martial arts world, and he was used to seeing people being killed and beheaded.
What made his mind fluctuate were the people watching the excitement in the surrounding Caishikou.
Among these people, there were warriors with sturdy build and fierce eyes, Confucian scholars in long robes, wealthy people with extraordinary clothes, and the skinny and pale hardworking people and young children.
The crowds were diverse, but they were all there to watch the beheading at Caishikou. It was a bustling scene, even more lively than a bustling crowd.
...
The prison van passing through the downtown area naturally attracted many people's attention and following.
When the prison van arrived at the execution ground at Caishikou, there were already circles of people surrounding it. It was even more lively than the previous vegetable market.
The people behind pushed the people in front forward. A tall warrior with a strong build in front of the crowd frowned and said angrily:
"Why are you crowding here? Are you in a hurry to be reborn? If you want to be reborn, get to the front!"
The tall man looked back and saw that the person who was pushing him was actually a short, hunchbacked old man.
"Excuse me, please move aside. Someone in my family is sick." The hunchbacked old man was holding two or three slightly yellowed steamed buns in his hand and gave the big man an apologetic smile.
The tall man seemed to understand something. His slightly frowned brows relaxed and he felt compassion. He moved aside a little to let the old man step forward.
"What do you want him to do? You don't know who this hunchbacked old Zhang is." At this time, a voice sounded from the crowd nearby.
"There are no patients in his family. Once the buns are dipped in blood, the price will increase tenfold. He can sell them to poor people who are desperate for medical treatment. Do you think you are helping people out of kindness?"
As the voice sounded, the hunchbacked old man's face changed color, obviously he was exposed on the spot.
"I dip some blood for others, earn some hard-earned money, and make them feel at ease. What's wrong with that?" the old man said with a stiff neck.
"That's right. How much blood do you want? Are three steamed buns enough? If not, I will hold on a little longer and spray more blood." At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded from the front.
The old man looked up and saw that it was Qiao Mu, the death row prisoner who had just walked out of the standing cage. He seemed to have heard their conversation and took a small step with difficulty. The heavy special shackles under his feet made a clanking sound and he was smiling at them.
"Uh..." The hunchbacked old man who was eager to dip his finger in blood was also stunned and subconsciously took two steps back.
It was not the first time he had seen a beheading, but it was the first time he had seen someone as calm and composed as the old man in front of him. It was as if he was not the one being beheaded.
"Shut up! Did I tell you to speak?" an officer shouted immediately.
Qiao Mu was a disabled man because his meridians were broken, and Wayne had given him instructions, so even though he stayed in the prison for some time, he did not suffer any severe punishment.
It was just that when the execution day was approaching, he was dragged into the prison cage.
Qiao Mu was not anxious or annoyed when the soldiers shouted at him. Instead, he cleared his throat and prepared to start his work:
"It is often said that when a man is about to die, his words are good."
"I, Qiao Zhong, am about to die, but I still have a few words to say..."
Qiumu was in a good mood because he was going to die soon.
He was even deep in thought over a few lines in the prison, just for this moment.
What? Jailbreak
Since Qiao Mu was thrown into the prison, he never thought of coming out alive. Even Jesus could not save his life. He said it himself!
Qiao Mu faced these many people and said proudly:
"Want to know where the Martial Saint's treasure is? Go find it if you want."
"Although the Martial Saint is dead, his arsenal of martial arts from all over the world is still there. The Martial Saint hid it deep in the mountains -"
"Shut up!" Suddenly there was a loud shout like thunder, which seemed to drown out Qiao Mu's voice and made everyone's ears buzz. They could not hear Qiao Mu's words at all.
The executioner sitting in the execution ground is Qin Shiqing, a master of spiritual cultivation.
He knew that Qiao Mu's identity was extraordinary and that he was involved in the death of the Martial Saint, so how could he turn this execution into a farce.
"Do you have something to say?" The executioner Qin Shiqing just sneered, without any fluctuation in his eyes.
He was in charge of the Heavenly Prison and had long heard of the deeds of the serious criminal Qiao Zhong. Naturally, he would not create trouble at this time.
"Once you are on the execution ground, you will have no say over it." Qin Shiqing said coldly:
"You are guilty of assassinating the emperor and insulting the gods, and you are still allowed to slowly give your last words?"
"If you have anything to say, keep it to yourself. Wait until you enter the underworld and then tell the King of Hell!"
"What are you standing there for? Get started!" he ordered loudly.
The executioners were all big, strong men with extraordinary strength. They wore coarse linen and red clothes and wore red turbans on their heads.
After hearing Qin Shiqing's order, he dared not neglect it and immediately stepped forward.
"Kneel down!" the executioner shouted.
An executioner pressed Qiao Mu's shoulders hard, trying to force him to kneel on the ground and behead him on the spot.
But at this moment, Qiao Mu, who had been smiling calmly, suddenly lost his smile and began to struggle violently.
"I'm willing to die, but I can't kneel down!" Qiao Mu's eyes were full of solemnity.
He was already a useless man with all his meridians severed, and only had the remaining strength of a fourth-rank warrior left in his body. He was also wearing specially made heavy shackles and his hands were behind his back.
At this moment, he struggled and his whole body was clanging, which made it impossible for the burly executioners around him to get close to him.
"Killing is not enough, you can just take this life." Qiao Mu shouted loudly:
"But my knees are just stiff and I can't kneel down!"
The noise from the surrounding onlookers grew louder, and the people in the front row opened their eyes wide, afraid of missing any of the action.
"Fight, fight, I want to see rivers of blood."
"I heard that Qiao Zhong is also a very powerful internal force warrior. He shouldn't just sit there and wait for death!"
"That's what I said, there's nothing good about seeing one person being beheaded, it's better to make some noise."
The people wanted to watch the fun, but Qin Shiqing, who was in charge of the execution ground, would naturally not sit idly by.
He stood up and strode towards the back of the tree.
"You don't want to drink a toast, but you have to make such an undignified scene before you die? You have to endure some torture."
Qin Shiqing kicked out two consecutive kicks at lightning speed, hitting Qiao Mu's knees behind his legs.
The force used in these two kicks was quite strong.
There was a crisp sound, and Qiumu's legs were broken at the back of the knees by the kick, and his body was about to fall forward to his knees.
At this moment, Qiao Mu twisted his waist abruptly. He was about to kneel forward, but he fell sideways on the execution ground. His knees were unnaturally broken and twisted to one side. The broken bones pierced the flesh and were exposed. The onlookers gasped and felt horrified.
"What are you standing there for? Behead him!" Qin Shiqing stood aside and urged the executioner to come forward again.
The executioner gripped the machete tightly, gritted his teeth, and slashed with all his might.
A huge head flew up into the sky, blood splattering everywhere.
"Hey, dead!"
There was a commotion in front of the execution ground. The hunchbacked old man and several others lowered their heads and hurriedly took a few steamed buns to dip in the blood. In the chaos, they were pushed by others and the steamed buns fell to the ground. When he wanted to reach out to pick up the buns, someone stepped on them. He was so anxious that tears came out, and all his hard work was in vain.
There was a lot of noise and chaos all around.
Chapter 126 The Dream of Entering Taoism (3k
The executioner raised his knife and a large head flew up. A pool of blood gushed out, staining the yellow earth beneath his feet red.
The headless body fell to the ground but did not fall down.
Both of his knees were broken, and the bones were stained with blood. However, he relied on the broken knee joints to support himself and did not fall to the ground, but continued to stand there.
The death was so horrifying that even the people in the imperial capital who were used to seeing executions at Caishikou were shocked and amazed.
After the exclamation, there was a scramble and the crowd pressed forward, eager to dip their hands in the blood.
The storyteller Jiang Chen, who was standing behind the crowd, watched this scene in silence, feeling a little sad.
He was a person who had been rescued by the Qiao family, so his emotions were surging and he found it difficult to control himself.