Chapter 1520: Chapter 676: Stray Dog by the Roadside (Part 2)
In fact, if no conflict had broken out, Song Zhenrong would have been much more inclined to settle this peacefully.
But since people had died, there was nothing left to talk about.
In such a large group, with so many people, they hadn’t lost this many even when facing demons, yet after running into some Humans in the wild, the casualties were even heavier.
To say there was no anger in Song Zhenrong’s heart would obviously be a lie.
And the one who started all this was naturally this woman they had seized and brought before Fang Yu—Lin Liang.
Song Zhenrong wished he could behead Lin Liang on the spot, to vent the hatred in his heart!
But he still forcibly suppressed that impulse.
Because reason told him that this woman could not be killed.
Hadn’t Mr. Diao only severed one of her arms without killing her outright, even without having met her?
"Mr. Diao, how should we deal with this woman?"
At this moment Lin Liang was as obedient as could be.
She had just witnessed Fang Yu cutting down the Jin Mei Assassin.
Such a powerhouse, such a powerhouse! If only he could be used by her...
Hope flared in Lin Liang’s heart, and then she heard...
"Just kill her."
What?!
Lin Liang almost suspected that her ears had misheard.
She stared in shock, directly lifting her head to look straight at that young man.
That old bastard actually wanted to mercilessly destroy the flower??
"My lord!"
Lin Liang hurriedly spoke; the pain from her severed arm and her hatred were meaningless in this moment.
Because she wanted to live.
"This lord, I am truly a daughter of the Lin Family of Da Liang Country, I truly am a daughter of the Lin Family! Those Jin Mei Assassins were chasing me because of my identity, otherwise, how could a weak woman like me alarm so many people..."
Lin Liang was still talking, but Fang Yu had already bent down slightly, looking directly into her eyes, and said calmly: "I believe you’re not lying."
What?
With just that one sentence, everything else Lin Liang had wanted to say was completely choked back down.
She was a bit dumbfounded, or rather, her mind couldn’t quite keep up.
After a good while, she finally recovered, her face full of confusion, blankness, and utter incomprehension.
"W-why?"
"I am a daughter of the Lin Family of Da Liang City! If you save me now, my lord, whatever you want in the future, my Lin Family will offer it up with both hands, we will never go back on our word! Why would you..."
Lin Liang was still speaking, but Fang Yu had already lost interest.
"Captain Song, you do it."
With that, he was about to turn around and leave.
Watching Fang Yu turn to leave, Lin Liang felt as if her heart had turned to ashes, a chill starting at her head and running all the way down to her feet; the world seemed to lose all color.
And just at this moment...
"Wait!"
"Spare her from the Sword!"
"Mr. Diao, Captain Song, you can’t kill her, you can’t kill her!"
A... turnaround?
Was this a turnaround?
The suffocating feeling from just now was gradually fading; Lin Liang looked toward the source of the voices with all her hope.
She saw several big-bellied merchant types, leading a group of guards, running toward them as fast as they could, gasping for breath.
"Mr. Diao, the Lin Family of Da Liang City is the overlord of Da Liang City—if you kill a daughter of the Lin Family, we’ll all be finished!"
"Mr. Diao, your Martial Arts are formidable and your strength extraordinary; for you, killing her today is just killing her. But what about us common folk? When the Lin Family seeks revenge, if they can’t find you, they can definitely find us ordinary people! If you kill a daughter of the Lin Family today, it’s the same as killing everyone present!"
"Mr. Diao, she must not be killed! Must not be killed! The Lin Family’s might is not something we can afford to provoke. Killing a daughter of the Lin Family may feel satisfying, but what are we supposed to do afterward? Are we to live day and night steeped in fear and anxiety? Even if we hide far away, with how domineering the Lin Family is, they’ll inevitably send Assassins after us—we’ll never have peaceful days again!"
Before they’d even reached them, the men were already shouting themselves hoarse.
When they were fighting over campsite spots earlier, they hadn’t been this worked up.
What else is there to say—truly merchants: cut off their source of profit and it’s like taking their lives; of course they’d be jumping up and down.
"Mr. Diao, Captain Song, I also think this woman shouldn’t be killed. Even exiling her into the wilderness would be better than killing her. Better to have no merit and no fault than to incur a grudge."
Someone from Song Zhenrong’s team spoke up as well.
But this fellow was originally one of the merchants’ guards, only temporarily borrowed and stuffed into the Guard Team.
Aside from him, the expressions of the others also showed some hesitation and confusion, as if they too had been swayed by those arguments, and were wavering about killing Lin Liang.
"That’s right, that’s right! She mustn’t be killed! Back in Thunder City I already heard of the Lin Family of Da Liang City—they wield immense power and dominate Da Liang City completely! If we kill a daughter of the Lin Family and they find out, not a single one of us will escape!"
"Mr. Diao, we beg you, please spare her! Sparing her is sparing us! It’s saving our lives!"
Besides those merchants, the commoners who had originally been fleeing for their lives had all returned to the scene at this point, crowding closer.
After understanding what had happened, they all started pleading for Lin Liang.
Even those who had lost family or friends because of Lin Liang, though their eyes were bloodshot and they glared at her with hatred, did not utter a single word asking Fang Yu to kill her.
The living must think about what lies ahead, must look further, because they are still alive, still have ties and longing.
Besides, the tide is set; amid the chorus of petitions, the chorus of pleas, there was no longer room for any voice calling for Lin Liang’s execution.
Daughter of the Lin Family, how noble she is!
Daughter of the Lin Family, how important she is!
How could she be killed?
How could she possibly be killed?
Listening to the desperate entreaties around her, watching people kneel for her sake to plead with Fang Yu,
only then did Lin Liang once more feel that she was the exalted daughter of the Lin Family, that with her status, no one could possibly kill her on a whim!
Her willfulness, her acts of cruelty, would all be buried beneath that noble identity, dissolved into nothing.
Yes.
Exactly!
Forgive me, just like you forgave the others. Forgive my recklessness and ignorance, forgive the disaster brought by my hasty call for help, forgive me!!
Lin Liang stared fixedly at Fang Yu.
Her confidence came back.
Her self-assurance came back.
"We beg Mr. Diao to spare the daughter of the Lin Family!"
"We beg Mr. Diao to spare the daughter of the Lin Family!"
"We beg Mr. Diao to spare the daughter of the Lin Family!"
Amid the neatly chanted slogans around her, she felt as if she had returned to Thunder City, as if she had once more become the Heavenly Pride Girl!
That’s right! Forgive me! Spare my life! Elder!
Lin Liang was utterly focused, watching every change in Fang Yu’s expression.
Then, she saw it.
Fang Yu’s lips moved.
They merely opened and closed once.
And Lin Liang’s heart plunged straight into the Abyss.
"I’ll Repeat it once more, Captain Song, kill her."
No...
Lin Liang moved.
She began to struggle wildly.
She scrambled up from the ground, broke free of her restraints, and lunged toward Fang Yu.
"No!!"
"Why!"
"Elder! Why! Why do you have to kill me! They’ve forgiven me, they’ve already forgiven me! Give me a chance, please! I’m willing to make amends, I’m willing to do anything!!"
She screamed herself hoarse, utterly lost all composure, disgracing herself before everyone, snot and tears running down her face.
But the only response to her was the cold edge of a Sword.
The sudden turn of events also left all those crowding around to force his hand staring, stunned.
"Mr. Diao..."
"Mr. Diao! Why!"
"Mr. Diao, spare her just this once!"
The merchants pleaded again, even willing to pay a high price to buy Lin Liang’s life.
Yet it was useless.
Fang Yu acted as if he hadn’t seen them at all; his eyes held no sorrow, no joy, not even the slightest ripple, as he simply looked calmly at Song Zhenrong.
In that moment, Song Zhenrong completely understood Fang Yu’s meaning.
Though he didn’t know the reason, Mr. Diao seemed unwilling to stain his own hands with blood again.
But without a doubt, his resolve to execute the daughter of the Lin Family was absolutely firm, leaving no room for change.
So Song Zhenrong stepped forward, one step at a time, until he stood before the daughter of the Lin Family.
"In all things, I obey Mr. Diao’s orders."
Song Zhenrong finished speaking and raised his Sword without hesitation.
He tried to keep his expression steady, but when the Sword edge came down,
when that stunned young woman’s neck was opened by a cut, when the blood from her throat sprayed across his face,
Song Zhenrong’s expression could not help but change a little—a faint trace of reluctance.
She toppled.
Under countless watching eyes, under the testimony of the crowd.
The daughter of the Lin Family, Lin Liang, fell into a pool of blood, one hand pressed to the wound on her neck. As her body convulsed, her eyes rolled white, and blood kept spilling through the fingers of the hand clamped over her throat.
In just a moment, she was utterly still.
No different from that pile of refugee corpses lying at the edge of the formation, like stray dogs by the roadside.
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