Although Gu Piaoran was furious, no one was willing to stand up and answer. The sailor's desperate pleas before his death were still ringing in his ears, and the tragic scene of him being torn apart by the fish was still vivid in his mind. The sailors on the boat were inevitably saddened by the death of the rabbit, and it was understandable that they were unwilling to answer.
Gu Piaoran was so angry that his voice was out of tune: "You...you all are loyal, right? Fine, fine...I tell you, this place has become a place of punishment. If any of you want to die, I won't stop you, but don't implicate others! All of you are silent? Well, you can speak when you want to, I don't care!"
Gu Piaoran flicked his sleeves and went back to the cabin, but I couldn't help but gasp.
The grave robber, Old Qiao, turned pale with fear: "I say, everyone... please listen to what Mr. Gu says! The Land of Sin is not a joke. If you are not careful, someone will die!"
The so-called place of punishment for crimes is actually a special forbidden place. In ancient times, the imperial court set up execution grounds in the downtown area and executed prisoners at 15:30. On the one hand, it was indeed to warn the world and deter crime; on the other hand, it was to use the Yang energy of the sky and the human energy of the earth to dispel the resentment of the prisoners. Even so, there is no execution ground that remains unchanged for a hundred years.
Once a place of execution has been used for more than 200 years, it will easily become a place of punishment. The remaining resentment in the place of execution and the righteousness left by the executioner will breed ghosts similar to the Yin soldiers. Such ghosts are usually called "Xingkui", which are neither ghosts nor gods.
The biggest characteristic of the criminal chief is that he will kill people according to the laws he is familiar with. To put it bluntly, he will execute people he considers guilty according to the laws he himself believes.
At the beginning, Xing Kui might just kill those who deserved death but didn't; as time went on, he would go to extremes and kill even those who didn't deserve the death penalty; after even more time, he might turn into an evil ghost, and anyone who made the slightest mistake would die under his knife.
The most terrifying thing about Xing Kui is that his magical power will continue to grow. Especially when he first kills people, many people who don't know the truth will regard Xing Kui as a god of retribution, build temples and worship him with incense. Once Xing Kui gets incense, he will feel more and more that he is innocent and kill "criminals" more unscrupulously. Over time, he will definitely cause trouble to the people.
There have been several criminal ringleaders in the art of magic, and each time they caused a bloody storm. The lightest one was the massacre of all the prisoners in the local prison camp, and thousands of prisoners including the jailers in the camp were not spared.
I don't know why this place has become a place of punishment, but I know that the reason why Lao Qiao stood up and spoke out is because he is afraid of death. In ancient times, tomb robbery was a serious crime punishable by immediate death. If he cannot leave the place of punishment within a short period of time, his head will be hung on a stone pillar.
Old Qiao shouted several times but no one answered. He was so anxious that he was about to cry. He clenched his fist and bowed to everyone: "My dear brothers and sisters, my dear brothers and sisters, this place of punishment is really not a joke. If something goes wrong, there will be no place to buy medicine for regret!"
Some of the sailors looked at each other blankly, while others frowned in deep thought. Those who remained silent should have heard of the Land of Sin, but judging from their appearance, they were probably still waiting and watching. After all, sailors are also a group of people who value loyalty and solidarity. For thousands of years, all sailors have been begging for life between heaven and sea, fighting for their lives with the sea. The more such a profession is between life and death, the more it is not allowed to betray their companions, so sailors also have their own rules, and they will not easily break this iron rule.
As the sailors were hesitating, there was a sound of chains moving under the boat. Before they could turn around, a sailor was entangled by the chain around his neck and was dragged into the air. His companion next to him wanted to reach out to save him, but after hugging the other's legs, he was also dragged up by the chain.
I could see that the man wanted to let go as soon as his feet left the ground, but he was a step too late. By the time he wanted to let go, he had already been lifted into the air. If he let go again, he would be thrown onto the rock and smashed to pieces. The man could only hold on to his companion tightly and desperately call for help: "Help, help! Shoot the iron lock, quickly! Help..."
No one on the boat dared to move until they saw the two of them being slowly dragged onto the reef and their skin and flesh were torn apart by the rocks. Then someone hesitated and raised his gun. At this time, Gu Piaoran, who was sitting far away, suddenly said, "If you want to die, shoot! No one can save him now."
The sailor who was aiming the gun was stunned for only a moment, and the two men were dragged to the top of the stone pillar. The entire sea area fell into silence again. The only evidence that the two sailors had been dragged away was the two bloodstains left on the stone pillar.
After a brief silence, a loud voice suddenly rang out from above the reef pillar: "Zhang Xiaofeng and Li Qianfang are guilty of harboring pirates and will be executed immediately!"
Everyone raised their heads in shock, but all we saw were two sailors kneeling on the top of the reef and a figure holding a ghost-headed sword behind him. I couldn't see the executioner's face, but I could see the ghost-headed sword that was as bright as a mirror and glittering in the sun.
I just closed my eyes slightly in the light reflected by the blade, and I heard a sharp knife whistling from above the pillar of heaven. Then, a bloody head rolled down the stone pillar and fell into the water with a "plop".
Before the blood from the first head had dispersed in the sea, the second head rolled down.
When I subconsciously looked up at the top of the stone pillar, I saw that two headless corpses had been pushed to the edge of the stone pillar. The bright red blood was flowing down the stone pillar. The seabirds in the sky that were preparing to hunt also began to slowly and tentatively circle over the corpses. It wouldn't be long before we could see the seabirds pecking at the corpses.
The sailors were so frightened that their faces turned pale, but Gu Piaoran said quietly, "According to ancient laws, harboring pirates is as bad as being a pirate. Although you won't be hung on a stone pillar to feed the fish and birds, no one can escape the knife on your neck. You can be loyal, but don't implicate everyone on the ship."
As soon as Gu Piaoran finished speaking, someone pointed at one of the sailors and shouted, "It's him, it's him, he introduced Wang Qing!"
The man knelt on the deck with a pale face, and said, "Mr. Gu, I didn't know Wang Qing was a pirate before! I swear to God..."
Gu Piaoran shook his head and said, "Your conscience can't save you, and no one will listen even if you swear to the heavens. Just accept your fate!"
The man wanted to say something else, but was forcibly pressed to the ground by Gu Piaoran's men and blocked his mouth with a rag. Gu Piaoran took a knife from someone else, strode to the sailor, and shouted loudly: "The criminal Lin Xiaofeng, who sheltered the pirates, should be executed. This ship will clean up the mess!"
After Gu Piaoran finished speaking, he raised his knife and chopped the man's head into the sea: "Drag the body to the stern of the boat and chop it up to feed the fish."
Several sailors hesitated for a moment before dragging the body away. Soon, the sound of knives and axes chopping bones could be heard from the stern. Gu Piaoran looked at the top of the stone pillar nervously, not daring to relax for a moment. Soon after, I heard someone throwing the body into the sea piece by piece. Only when the body was completely thrown away did a deep voice come from the sky: "Very good, you are pardoned!"
Gu Piaoran finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you, Immortal!"
Old Joe, who was standing on the side, waved his hand and said, "Start the boat! Start the boat quickly!"
The sailor got Gu Piaoran's consent and immediately started the boat and quickly sailed towards the depths of the stone forest along the route designated by Gu Piaoran. When the Qianlong was a hundred meters away, Lao Qiao was still looking at the blood-stained execution pillar with lingering fear, mumbling something in his mouth, and it seemed that he was very scared.
After the Qianlong finally reached shore, Old Joe was the first to jump onto the shore, staying far away from the sea.
Gu Piaoran asked the sailors to move the things to the shore. Just as he was about to speak, Tong Xiaoyao stepped forward and said, "Mr. Gu, shouldn't you give us an explanation now?"
Gu Piaoran said in a deep voice: "What explanation do you want?"
Su Youran realized that things were not going well, so she quickly pulled Tong Xiaoyao aside and said, “Xiaoyao, stop talking nonsense.”
Tong Xiaoyao said stubbornly: "I didn't say anything nonsense. I just suspected that the man surnamed Gu had bad intentions."
Su Youran’s face flushed with anxiety. “Xiaoyao, why are you being stupid again? Stop talking!”
Tong Xiaoyao forcefully shook off Su Youran's hand and said sternly, "Youran, why won't you let me speak? It's obvious that we were deceived by Gu, how can't you see that?"
Just as Su Youran was about to burst into tears, Gu Piaoran said slowly, “Miss Su, there’s no need to stop her. Some things are better said clearly, so that everyone won’t feel unhappy if they keep it in their hearts, which will affect future cooperation.”
“No…” Su Youran was about to speak when Gu Piaoran made a gesture to stop her: “Even if you don’t let Tong Xiaoyao speak now, I have to make her speak clearly.”
Tong Xiaoyao said loudly: "You told us at the beginning that we were looking for the secret treasure left by Shen Weijing, right?"
Gu Piaoran nodded and said, "That's right."
Tong Xiaoyao immediately pressed the issue, "You also said that Shen Weijing left a large amount of gold in the secret stash, right?"
"That's right." Gu Piaoran nodded again.
Tong Xiaoyao immediately perked up: "Then let me ask you, our mechanical ship was barely able to fly in here due to the tide, how did Shen Weijing let the ship loaded with a large amount of gold fly in back then?"
Tong Xiaoyao said before Gu Piaoran could answer, "There is no secret treasure of Shen Weijing here, right?"
"You deliberately tricked us into coming here to die, didn't you?"
"You want to come in, actually you have an ulterior motive, right?"
Tong Xiaoyao didn't even give Gu Piaoran a chance to speak. She asked three "right or wrong" questions in rapid succession, and then she looked at Gu Piaoran triumphantly, like a great detective who had solved a strange case. (To be continued)