Chapter 6: Lu Junyi: If I Strangle You, It Will Be Like Crushing an Ant!
How terrifying!
Disguised as a prisoner, Li Gu cautiously followed Cai Qing through the pitch-black prison. The flickering, dim yellow lights on the walls cast eerie shadows, making the cries of the wronged inmates sound like wails of vengeful ghosts.
Though chilled to the bone, Li Gu secretly rejoiced—Lu Junyi was trapped in this living hell.
Reaching the deepest part of the prison, Cai Qing stopped and opened a cell door, motioning Li Gu inside.
Inside, Li Junyi lay bloodied and disheveled on a bed of straw, looking utterly defeated.
Cai Fu was already there, standing with his hands resting on a ghost-headed blade, his figure menacing under the dim light.
“Your Excellency, please!”
Li Gu sensed victory and eagerly clasped his fists toward Cai Fu.
Cai Fu was a man who could be negotiated with; with enough money, he could be relied upon.
At that moment, Lu Junyi forced himself to lift his head, glaring fiercely at Li Gu through gritted teeth:
“Li Gu, you beast…”
Li Gu sneered maliciously, threatening, “Traitor, even when death is upon you, you still dare to talk back. Be careful, or I’ll pull out every one of your teeth!”
“Take your time to say your farewells.”
Cai Fu, understanding the situation, patted Li Gu on the shoulder:
“We’ll wait outside. Call me when you’re done.”
“Thank you, Your Excellency!”
Li Gu beamed, bowing deeply.
A servant’s revenge on his master—wouldn’t it be a shame not to mock this defeated dog, Lu Junyi, to his face?
After Cai Fu and Cai Qing left, only Li Gu and Lu Junyi remained in the cell.
Li Gu smugly began to taunt Lu Junyi:
“You brought this on yourself by conspiring with the traitors. Don’t blame me!
“But rest assured, when you die, I’ll take good care of your wife!
“She won’t be left alone in an empty house, unable to sleep!”
“Beast!”
Lu Junyi’s eyes were bloodshot. “When did I ever conspire with traitors?
“Wasn’t the rebellious poem on the wall written by you?”
Li Gu hastily denied, “Nonsense!
“That acrostic poem is your crime scene; how could I have written it?”
Lu Junyi repeated what Cai Fu had taught him: “If it wasn’t you, how would you know the poem was an acrostic?”
“That’s…”
Li Gu’s words faltered as realization dawned on him. Quickly, he changed his tune:
“I’m just clever!”
Lu Junyi wiped blood from his battered face:
“I’m about to die, only asking to die with a clear conscience!
“If you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll become a vengeful spirit and haunt you every night, making your life worse than death!”
Frightened by Lu Junyi’s threat, Li Gu hesitated, then resolved to keep silent.
“Fine, be a fool then.”
Though he didn’t understand the saying that villains die because they talk too much, Li Gu felt he had overspoken.
Turning to call Cai Fu, Li Gu was caught completely off guard when, though seemingly on his last breath, Lu Junyi suddenly grabbed his ankle with lightning speed!
Thud!
Li Gu was thrown forward, his face hitting the ground hard, blood pouring from his nose!
“Ah—”
Before he could scream, Lu Junyi dragged him back.
Clamping his hand around Li Gu’s neck like choking a duck, Lu Junyi silenced his cries.
“Help…”
Li Gu tried desperately to call out to Cai Fu, but his throat was crushed, no sound escaping.
Lu Junyi pressed his mouth to Li Gu’s ear, voice cold as a blade:
“If you don’t talk, I’ll strangle you to death!”
“Say, say…”
Li Gu felt as if plunged into an ice cellar, trembling with fear. He frantically begged Lu Junyi for mercy.
Only then did Lu Junyi slightly loosen his grip:
“Don’t try to trick me!
“To me, killing you is like crushing an ant!”
“Y-yes, yes…”
Li Gu’s face flushed crimson. Threatened with death, he immediately betrayed Wu Yong:
“Master, do you remember the fortune teller…
“The day you were left behind at Liangshan Marsh, the fortune teller said, as he left, that you had agreed to become the second-in-command…
“The fortune teller also said that before going up the mountain, you had secretly written four lines of rebellious poetry on your home’s wall…
“‘A lone boat in the reed marsh,’ hiding the character ‘Lu’;
“‘How can a hero wander here,’ hiding the character ‘Jun’;
“‘A righteous man wields a three-foot sword,’ hiding the character ‘Yi’;
“‘Traitors must have their heads severed,’ hiding the character ‘Fan’.
“These four lines conceal the words ‘Lu Junyi rebels’…”
“Was it him?”
Lu Junyi’s eyes widened in disbelief. The fortune teller had actually been Wu Yong in disguise, the military strategist of Liangshan Marsh!
He had thought he was betrayed by Li Gu and Jia Shi, the treacherous couple, but the true mastermind was—
Liangshan Marsh itself!
Seeing Lu Junyi stunned by the revelation, Li Gu’s eyes darted swiftly as he seized the moment to shout:
“Your Excellency, save me—”
Snapping back to reality, Lu Junyi immediately tightened his grip, silencing Li Gu’s screams once more.
But this time, Li Gu felt reassured—he was certain Cai Fu had heard and would soon come to his rescue.
Sure enough, Cai Fu appeared promptly.
Save me—
Li Gu couldn’t utter a sound, only pleading silently with his eyes, hoping Cai Fu would save him for the sake of gold.
Unexpectedly, Cai Fu smiled and asked Lu Junyi:
“Brother, have you learned the truth?”
“Yes, I have!”
Lu Junyi ground his steel teeth in hatred:
“Brother, so the true mastermind was Liangshan Marsh all along!”
Brother? Brother?
Li Gu was baffled, glancing between Cai Fu and Lu Junyi:
“When did you two get involved?
“Why didn’t I know?”
Wait a minute!
Suddenly, Li Gu realized:
I’ve been set up!
“Good that you’ve understood.”
Cai Fu glanced at Li Gu:
“See him off. We should be leaving now.”
No—
At that moment, Li Gu’s heart sank with regret:
If only I hadn’t come!
No, if only I had fled overnight with Jia Shi and the money!
He tried to beg Lu Junyi, but Lu Junyi wouldn’t listen and choked him to death outright.
Though Lu Junyi had endured hundreds of lashes that day, he still had the strength to strangle Li Gu.
After killing Li Gu, Lu Junyi removed his bloodstained clothes and dressed Li Gu’s corpse in them.
Once the blood congealed, the clothes stuck to the wounds; removing them would tear the healing flesh open again.
But Lu Junyi seemed numb to pain—his heart had gone numb.
He laid Li Gu’s body on the straw, tousled its hair, mimicking his own appearance.
Cai Fu applied the prepared salve to Lu Junyi’s torn wounds and bandaged them carefully.
He then unpacked a uniform and helped Lu Junyi change, blackening his face with charcoal.
“All set.”
Cai Fu appraised Lu Junyi from head to toe and nodded with satisfaction:
“Later, follow right behind me, keep your head down, don’t speak. Just get out of the prison, and everything will be fine.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Lu Junyi suddenly knelt at Cai Fu’s feet, trembling.
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