webnovelfull Chapter 473 The person behind the scenes is the Prefect.
Chapter 473 The person behind the scenes is the Prefect.
The vendor dared not disobey. The moment he looked up, he saw a plate of bloody slices of meat. His stomach churned, a sour taste rushed up, his throat tightened, and he couldn't help but kneel on the ground and dry heave.
A sour taste suddenly surged up in my stomach, and I couldn't stop vomiting.
Qin Miaoxi circled him several times and said coldly, "You smell like a dead person."
"No, no, I've never killed anyone, I have nothing to do with this, please let me go!" The vendor knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, the thuds echoing loudly, each kowtow landing solidly.
Qin Miaoxi pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him, hooking his chin with her toes, and said sincerely, "Letting you go is impossible, but if you honestly tell me who's behind you, I might consider sparing your life."
The vendor refused in fear, saying, "No, I can't tell. If I do, I'll only have one way out: death."
Swish swish swish~
The boning knife danced in front of him, its sharp tip leaping between Qin Miaoxi's fingertips without harming her in the slightest. He casually reminded her, "Then you'd better think it through. If you don't speak now, you can go down and be buried with those innocent people, just like him."
After speaking, Qin Miaoxi raised her knife and brought it down, a piece of flesh the size of a palm fell to the ground right at his feet.
Warm blood splattered, splashing all over his face and instantly staining half of his cheek red. His consciousness went blank for a moment, leaving only the lingering sweet smell of blood on his nose.
"See? You're a smart person, you should know what to do next."
"You can't kill me, I'm innocent."
Even now, he still stubbornly refuses to admit it, trying to gain sympathy with his pitiful appearance.
Unfortunately, since Qin Miaoxi had taken action, it meant she had solid evidence. She looked up at the top of the stone chamber, as if asking him, and also as if asking herself.
"Selling human flesh as pork, and you call that innocent?"
The vendor's eyes darted around quickly, and then he changed the subject, saying, "I'll tell you everything as long as you don't kill me."
"Then tell us who the real culprit is."
"You have to let me go first before I can talk."
Qin Miaoxi scoffed coldly, and with a slight flick of her wrist, the long whip coiled around the vendor's neck like a serpent, suddenly tightening and pulling back.
The cold whip pierced deep into his flesh, pressing against his throat and causing it to creak. The vendor's face instantly turned bluish-purple, and a deadly feeling of suffocation surged over him like a tidal wave.
"I...I...I said..."
Qin Miaoxi ignored his words, and with her other hand she lightly flicked the hilt of her knife. The boning knife grazed his eye and shot into the stone wall behind him, embedding itself three-tenths of an inch into the stone.
A thin, long bloodstain appeared on the skin at the corner of his eye. If things had been slightly off, his eye would have been ruined. The other party was definitely not bluffing.
Fear surged through him in an instant, and when he faced Qin Miaoxi's icy face again, his body trembled uncontrollably.
"You really dare to kill me."
Qin Miaoxi remained silent; her attitude spoke volumes.
The vendor swallowed hard. "Kill me, and you'll never know anything else."
His drooping fist clenched involuntarily; did he really think he wouldn't dare...?
"Honey, I told you your method wouldn't work. Why don't I try it instead?"
Lu Qingchen suddenly appeared outside the door, tilting his head to ask, "What is Madam's opinion?"
Qin Miaoxi shrugged and said indifferently, "Whatever."
"Thank you for your kindness, Madam." As soon as Lu Qingchen finished speaking, he twirled the longsword in his hand with a sharp sword flower, and as the cold light flashed, the sound of wind being cut suddenly arose!
The next instant, a sharp sound tore through the air, accompanied by the dull "thud" of a sharp object piercing flesh. The sword tip had precisely pierced the vendor's shoulder blade, pinning him firmly to the stone wall.
A series of piercing screams echoed throughout the stone house.
Lu Qingchen was practically pressed against the vendor's face, laughing in a voice only the two of them could hear, "You said it, you were just saving us some trouble. If you hadn't said anything, do you think you could have hidden your little tricks so well?"
The longsword twisted in his hand, the blade scraping through flesh, and soon a bloody hole appeared on the vendor's shoulder.
"It's just a matter of following the clues. We're not afraid of taking a little time. We'll see if you're afraid of losing your life."
"No, you're lying to me. You wouldn't dare kill me."
His confident expression was laughable, and Lu Qingchen sighed helplessly, "The sword is inside you, what makes you think we'll spare you?"
"A person without value is just wasting food by living."
The pain made the vendor unable to think. He opened his mouth as if muttering something, but his voice was so soft that even Lu Qingchen, who was standing right in front of him, could only hear a few words.
The vendor firmly believed that if they were to investigate the mastermind behind the scenes, they wouldn't actually be harmed; at most, it would just be a scare tactic. As long as he could withstand this, his master would surely look at him differently and promote him to an important position in the future.
Witnessing his renewed fighting spirit, Lu Qingchen scoffed coldly, leaving behind only two words, "noisy," before delivering a fatal blow to his throat.
The vendor stared wide-eyed in disbelief until his death, his conviction appearing utterly ridiculous in the face of overwhelming force.
Qin Miaoxi frowned slightly, hesitated for half a step, and was then forced back.
Lu Qingchen took out a silk handkerchief and carefully wiped the bloodstains off the sword. He then slowly walked towards the stunned burly man. "Did you see clearly?"
The burly man nodded blankly, his eyes filled with barely concealed fear.
"So, are you going to say it?"
With a sword at your neck, if you don't speak up, you'll end up like a street vendor.
Lu Qingchen kindly reassured her, "Don't worry, I'm quick and precise, it won't hurt."
The burly man shuddered instantly and said repeatedly, "I'll talk! I'll tell you everything."
Lu Qingchen didn't believe him completely; instead, she raised an eyebrow and stared at him, "Who is it?"
"It was the Prefect who ordered us to imprison them after he learned that some people were infected, in order to prevent the plague from spreading."
"Is this true?"
"Not a single word of this is false."
Lu Qingchen suddenly shouted, "Nonsense! The imperial court has already developed a medicine to treat the plague. You can isolate the infected individuals and administer the medicine. Why resort to killing people and selling their flesh?"
The burly man's muscles twitched with terror as he craned his neck to explain urgently, "I'm not lying, everything I said is true."
"Then why did you dismember them and sell their flesh as pork? Didn't you know that plague-infected meat would spread the infection?"
“Know, know…”
"Say!"
"The adults said that people are going to die anyway, so we can't waste food. So many people in the city can't even afford meat, and they died at just the right time." As he spoke, his voice became so soft that it was almost inaudible.
The breath was warm, but the words were icy cold.
How could they say such a thing so matter-of-factly, and treat such precious lives as mere dishes on a dinner table?
Qin Miaoxi couldn't help but punch him in the face. "You just do what he says?"
"I was just following orders. You should be looking for the Prefect!"
Lu Qingchen stopped the enraged Qin Miaoxi, "What are you going to do?"
"They want to die, so grant them that wish."
After he finished speaking, the vendor on the ground, who should have been killed with a single sword stroke, opened his eyes. He was panting heavily, looking like he had escaped death.
The burly man was stunned. "You've lied to me!"