Cang Lan Dao - Chapter 39.3

Chapter 39.3 

I swear to God, I’m not Zhang Jiuran 

The other party closed his eyes, and Luo Wanqing grabbed one of his fingers and calmly placed the steel needle under his fingernails. The flesh pressed under the needle was soft, and the nail against it was slightly stiff, carrying resistance. She had given acupuncture to countless people in her life, and in the past, she had never hesitated to pierce the needles, but at this moment, she held the wide steel needle with fear. The man she was pulling looked calm, but his body muscles were tense, and she knew that this was him being afraid. He was human. A thought crossed her mind, and it was at this moment that Xie Heng’s voice leisurely sounded, “Never tortured anyone before?” 

“No.” Luo Wanqing kept in mind her identity as the minor leader of the Salt Gang and said softly, “Only fought and never used these.” 

“Oh, then this response is quite real.” Xie Heng put down the scroll. He stood up, walked behind Luo Wanqing, raised his hand from behind her to hold her hand as if he embraced her into his arms, and said coldly, “Then I will teach you.” He held her hand and stuck the steel needle under the person’s finger inch by inch. The person on the torture rack struggled violently. Xie Heng grabbed her other hand and pressed the other person rigidly, calmly saying, “Hold him down.” 

Luo Wanqing didn’t dare to move. She pressed hard on the other person’s struggling arm, and for a moment, she felt that the tortured person wasn’t the person on the rack; it was her. The person on the torture rack bit his lip, like a fish lacking oxygen, using all his strength in trying to break free from the chains. The steel needle went deeper and deeper, and when it completely disappeared into a fingernail, Xie Heng brought Luo Wanqing to flick the steel needle gently. In an instant, the person on the torture rack couldn’t hold back any longer and violently howled out! 

Luo Wanqing couldn’t help but tremble. Xie Heng looked at her sideways, “What are you afraid of?” 

“It’s my first time torturing someone,” Luo Wanqing restrained her emotions and said softly, “I hope that Young Master will forgive me.” 

“Agent Liu still has compassion.” Xie Heng’s tone sounded emotionless as he took her hand, picked up the first steel needle, and, in the other party’s wailing, stabbed it in bit by bit while flatly saying, “After years of mixing with the Salt Gang, you are still pure. It feels like this person is familiar to you, and your heart can’t bear it.” 

When Luo Wanqing heard this, her heart sank, and she completely understood the significance of this torture. He wasn’t interrogating these prisoners; he was interrogating her. 

“I don’t understand what Young Master means.” He led Luo Wanqing to stick steel needles in one by one. 

“Xiniang, these people deserve what they get.” Xie Heng’s voice was in his ears, still apparent amidst the howls, “His name is Hei San. He’s been growing up in the Feng Yu Pavilion and killed countless people. Last year, he massacred a farming family.” 

Steel needles kept nailing into the youth’s fingers as Xie Heng described his crimes, “Only one woman survived in that family, and he tied that woman to a tree, slashed her children piece by piece, but leaving her alive. The reason was because, as he passed by, he saw the woman giving meat to her child. He told the woman that his mother had sold him for two pounds of pork, so why should she give meat to her child?” 

Luo Wanqing couldn’t help but feel nausea. ‘Slashed piece by piece,’ although Xie Heng was imprecise, she understood what kind of situation that would be. Her hands trembled, suddenly feeling no pity for the man before her. He deserved to die. It wasn’t enough for him to die ten thousand times. 

Xie Heng looked at her sideways and continued, “The people of the Feng Yu Pavilion are mostly like this. For example, that Zhang Jiuran. Qin Jue treated her with sincerity, but she tormented his entire family. Do you think they deserve to die?” 

Zhang Jiuran. Today, this was the first time that Xie Heng had mentioned Zhang Jiuran. Luo Wanqing turned back coldly, looking at Xie Heng, who seemed to be embracing behind her, “What did Third Highness and Young Master discuss?” 

Xie Heng looked at her wary with cold eyes and did not make a sound. A moment later, he spoke, “Don’t ask me questions. I’ll give you a chance to tell me who you are.” 

Luo Wanqing didn’t say anything. She wouldn’t surrender until the last fight. She looked puzzled, “What exactly do you want to say?” 

Seeing this, Xie Heng thought for a moment and then laughed softly. He stepped back to make way for Luo Wanqing, then raised his hand to hold her wrist and pulled her toward the chair. He was powerful and didn’t give Luo Wanqing any chance to refuse. He pulled Luo Wanqing and pressed him to sit on the chair. 

Seeing her sit down, Xie Heng walked over to the torture rack, elegantly rolled up his sleeves, took the torture device, and said gently, “Since Xiniang won’t say anything, I’ll show you.” 

He poured boiling water, walked to the person in the middle, peeled off the other person’s clothes, and poured the boiling water over him.  Miserable screams resounded through the torture room. Luo Wanqing felt like she was back in the day when fire scalded her face; the pain made her entire body freeze in place. 

Xie Heng’s movements of torture were smooth and elegant, but Luo Wanqing felt that it was the most tragic sight on earth. She forced herself not to show emotion and watched as the man in the center finally couldn’t carry the last of it and let out a trill of pained sobs, “I’ll say. I have a clue.” 

Xie Heng paused, turned his eyes to look at the person who had gone completely soft, and picked him up from the ground by his hair, calmly saying, “Say what?” 

“I know, I know the news of the left envoy.” 

Luo Wanqing heard this and nervously gripped the armrests on her chair. 

Xie Heng listened sideways, “Hmm?” 

“I’m– I’m from the Dark Pavilion. I’ve seen the list of names,” He gasped, “I know about the Left Envoy’s identity in the Jianghu.” 

The people of the Feng Yu Pavilion had a separate identity in Jianghu, like Zhao Yuyan, who had Jiu Shuang’s identity. They usually used these identities to walk around Jianghu and the Feng Yu Pavilion identity to assassinate others. This identity, apart from the Pavilion Master and the assassins themselves, would only remain filed in the core of the Dark Pavilion’s archives; otherwise, no one would know about it. 

Luo Wanqing stared at the other party intensely. Xie Heng glanced at her complexion before looking at the person on the ground, “What identity?” 

“In Jianghu, she is the minor leader of the Yangzhou’s Salt Gang.” The other party gulped, completely oblivious, and clearly said, “Her name is Liu Xiniang.” 

Luo Wanqing’s pupils sharply shrunk. Xie Heng calmly looked at the other party and continued, “Is Liu Xiniang Zhang Jiuran?” 

The other party shook his head and said hoarsely, “I don’t know.” 

Xie Heng listened to him and nodded, seemingly accepting his answer. He half-squatted on the blood-covered ground. Xie Heng rested one hand on his knee while the other held a sharp blade. With his blood-stained face, he looked at Luo Wanqing, “Xiniang, do you know? Is Liu Xiniang Zhang Jiuran?” 

When he asked this, Luo Wanqing calmed down instead. She finally realized what Li Guiyu and Xie Heng had said. Just now, Zhu Que came to report that they had captured two people on the mountain, but there were three here, which meant that one was not from the capture. The odds were that it was from Li Guiyu. That was why Xie Heng suddenly asked her whom she trusted, suddenly mentioned Zhang Jiuran to her, suddenly wanted to confirm her information about the Feng Yu Pavilion’s ambush, and suddenly changed his attitude, promising to hand her over to Li Guiyu and cooperate with Li Guiyu. 

She froze and looked at Xie Heng. Xie Heng stood up and walked in front of her; his blood-stained hand brushed her cheeks and wrapped around her chair, calmly said: “You are very well disguised, very, very well, not at all like an assassin. I’ve seen countless people in my life, but there has never been a person who can be as good as you are, from the body, the details, the spoken words, completely and utterly disguised. You have even pretended to be like a Yangzhou’s noble girl. Even your reaction to torturing someone was so real. It was such a perfect disguise that made me suspect that you were an assassin many times, but I didn’t dare to be sure because I had never seen such a flawed assassin with a good heart. But if you are Zhang Jiuran-” 

Xie Heng stopped at her side and looked downcastly at her, “I understood.” 

Luo Wanqing raised her eyes and calmly said, “What?” 

“Because Junior Brother Qin also said the same thing to me back then.” 

Full of loopholes and kindness of heart. It’s how Zhang Jiuran and Qin Jue got acquainted. 

Luo Wanqing lowered her eyes and couldn’t help but laugh softly. Xie Heng lifted her jaw, forcing her to look at him. He bent down and gazed icily into her eyes, inexplicably annoyed, “Liu Xiniang, I suspected you were Zhang Jiuran, but I didn’t dare to believe it. I regret that someone else confirmed this information for me. Having fooled man after man,” Xie Heng moved closer and stared at her, “What number am I?” 

Luo Wanqing ignored the questioning and stared back at him squarely, “I am not Zhang Jiuran.” 

Xie Heng was incredulous, “You’re still lying to me?” 

“I can swear to God,” Luo Wanqing raised her hand and stared at Xie Heng, “I am not Zhang, Jiu, ran.”