Perhaps with Ling Xiao’s own strength alone, it would not be enough to turn the entire Shenhuang Empire upside down, but if Yue Nü and Xie Li were added, that would be completely different.
He would not feel any embarrassment about it.
Because his enemies were not just one person, but a group.
If the other side could find helpers, why could he not?
He was not stupid!
The army entered the city, moving away from the gate.
Yet that shocking bloody scene remained deeply etched in everyone’s mind.
Who could have imagined that the youth with clear and handsome features could single-handedly reverse the universe, using just over thirty thousand people to defeat more than a hundred Black Crow troops.
Even more, he had brought back the corpse of Temur Mutu.
When they saw Fengming Junzhong killed.
Jia Yun killed.
Even the moment Jia Lin was killed, the original doubts completely vanished.
If Ling Xiao said he had killed Temur Mutu, then it must be true, there was no doubt about it.
If Ling Xiao were merely a teenage genius at the level of the Ten Phoenix Sons, that might cause many to be wary, but it would never make them afraid.
After all, geniuses and prodigies were too numerous in the Profound World, yet those who truly lived long enough to become a regional titan were exceedingly rare.
Especially those sharply outstanding young geniuses died very quickly.
So for Ling Xiao, people were wary of his potential, but they might not treat him as a mortal threat.
But the problem was the three women by Ling Xiao’s side!
Yue Nü, Xie Li, Leng Mei!
They were simply too powerful, this trio of women was already enough to contend with the True Demon Empire and the Shenhuang Empire.
This was Ling Xiao’s most terrifying aspect.
To have three such women fully assist him, Ling Xiao’s dreadfulness absolutely surpassed any Yin-Yang Realm expert.
…
It was still that same square.
The place where Ling Xiao had publicly killed Blood Skeleton in the past.
It was still bustling with voices and surging crowds.
But today was not some martial contest, nor any arena.
It was a grand execution ceremony.
Ji Ning, Lü Chenglong, Li Ruguang, Zhang Yufei, and Zhuge Ming, five people wearing heavy handcuffs and ankle chains, were locked in prison carts, with only their heads exposed.
“Traitors!”
“Detestable!”
“Shameless!”
“Have you no face!”
“Die!”
All kinds of curses rose and fell.
If it were just curses, that would be one thing, but on the way here, countless imperial city citizens had greeted them with eggs, rotten vegetable leaves, even stones.
The five people, whose inner strength had been sealed, were completely unable to resist.
Every face was smashed extremely dirty, and these stains were mixed with blood.
These five had guarded the northern border for decades, fighting on the battlefield day after day without ever complaining.
But today, they suddenly doubted what exactly they had done it all for.
Look at these citizens they had protected, not one was willing to believe them, these people treated them as enemies, as the most hateful scoundrels.
Treating them with the most vicious and shameless methods.
Their hearts turned cold!
Completely cold!
Perhaps the only thing that could comfort them was that the citizens of Beimo City had not betrayed them, this at least made their hearts feel a little better.
The five were roughly dragged out of the cages and then brought onto the high platform.
They refused to kneel, so their kneecaps were broken.
Unable to stand.
All five had their upper clothes stripped off, and there were no executioners.
Because this was not an ordinary execution.
This was death by a thousand cuts!
The so-called citizens standing in the square each held a gleaming small knife, looking angrily at these five, wishing they could go up right now and slice the flesh from their bodies piece by piece.
Public executions in the imperial city were generally held here.
However, the torture of lingchi had never occurred since the founding of the Shenhuang Empire, this was Sikong Zun’s suggestion.
He said that for such heinous criminals, an extremely cruel method must be used to punish them.
In this way, no one would dare betray the empire again.
“Humph, I knew it, how could a small place like Beimo City hold out for so long without falling, it turns out Ji Ning, this utterly evil man, colluded with the Black Crow Empire, this kind of trash deserves such torture!”
“Exactly, today I brought the sharpest knife from home, I must cut a piece of flesh from that Ji Ning’s face, I want to ask him to his face who gave him such audacity to sell out the interests of the Shenhuang Empire.”
“Don’t be angry, when all is said and done, that Ji Ning is just a martial artist from the Tianlong Continent, just like that Ling Xiao, not one of us from the Shenhuang Empire, no wonder they collude together.”
In the crowd, most were accusations against Ji Ning.
Even if some felt something was wrong, some felt the charges were problematic, they dared not speak out.
In the past few days, several people had already been killed for speaking up for Ji Ning and the others.
Some were ordinary commoners, some were court officials.
Now, at least in the imperial city, no one dared stand up and say a word of justice.
In the crowd, the soldiers of Dark Sting gritted their teeth, even biting their lips until they bled.
Hearing such discussions, they truly wished they could kill all these people.
These people were even more detestable than Sikong Zun.
Ji Ning had spent more than ten years protecting them, if not for Ji Ning, the northern border would have fallen, then the imperial city would be exposed under the iron hooves of the Black Crow Empire, who knew how many of these people would die.
Yet they believed those people’s nonsense without any evidence.
They even deliberately fabricated rumours, portraying Ji Ning as an unforgivably evil demon.
“Hold it in, wait until the boss arrives!”
Even if they could not hold it, they had to.
They were soldiers, they had to wait until the last moment.
“What if the boss does not make it in time?”
“If he makes it, we act! Kill one to break even, kill two to profit, as long as we can delay time and prevent the great general from being killed!”
“Yes!”
On the other side, Feng Yinshan sat there with a gloomy face.
He had not expected that his opponents were not only Fengming Qishan, but also that unfathomable Emperor.
And this Emperor, just to consolidate imperial power, would even kill someone like Ji Ning.
He admitted he was not a good person, but as a heir apparent, he knew very well how important Ji Ning was to the Shenhuang Empire.
He very much wanted to step forward and rescue Ji Ning.
But in the Fire Phoenix Clan, except for Feng Yanran and a very few others who agreed, the rest unanimously opposed it.
The reason was simple: no need to conflict with the Emperor over Ji Ning, it was not worth it.
But he really felt very unhappy.
As a heir apparent, he did not even have the ability to save one person, sometimes he felt he might as well be a wandering vagabond like Ling Xiao, perhaps that would be better, and freer too.
