Chapter 606 : Seventh Slap (13)
Yin Yan's earlier betrayal when he had revealed everything with his accusations, had already sealed her fate of damnation.....
Just before she had realized Jun Wu Xie's identity, Ning Xin had still held a sliver of hope. But now, she had fallen into the deepest pits of of despair!
Jun Wu Xie would never allow her to live..... Never.....
Ning Xin at that moment was filled with utmost regret, if she had known of Jun Wu Xie's identity earlier, she wouldn't have dared to offend someone like Jun Wu Xie for anything in the world.
However, her regret had come much too late.
Nobody had thought that Ning Xin would survive till now. Ning Rui who had decided to give up on Ning Xin earlier suddenly thought of the same thing his daughter had considered earlier. He wanted to speak, but hesitated repeatedly. Finally, he could not hold himself back and he stepped forward to ask: "Miss Jun."
Jun Wu Xie shot Ning Rui a scathing glance.
"Although Ning Xin had committed an unpardonable crime, but blood is nevertheless still thicker than water. I might have said I'll disown this daughter of mine, but may I ask Miss Jun that if Ning Xin manages to live through the Rui Lin Army's punishment under martial law, would that mean that she is absolved thereafter?" Ning Rui was feeling rather edgy being under Jun Wu Xie's gaze.
Jun Wu Xie averted her gaze and said emotionlessly: "Yes."
Ning Rui secretly sighed in relief. Everyone present would all feel the same. After having survived the most brutal one hundred paddles, she just might be able to make it through the next thirty lashes of the whip.
Ning Xin saw Ning Rui putting up his last struggles, and her eyes filled further with despair.
How she wished she could tell her father that she had no chance to live. She wanted to tell Ning Rui that the coldly arrogant Young Miss of the Jun Family before them was the very same person that Gu Li Sheng had personally invited to return back to the Spirit Healer faculty, the very same Jun Xie.
The reason that Jun Xie had suddenly left the Zephyr Academy was no coincidence, but a situation that had been carefully planned out by Jun Wu Xie, in order for her to appear here today using her real identity, to execute the punishment due on those that had stirred up the murder within her!
Ning Xin tried to open her mouth despite the pain it brought her, but she found that her dry and parched throat would not even make a single sound.
"Long Qi, begin." Jun Wu Xie was not in the mood to hear anymore of Ning Xin's nonsense and gave her order curtly.
The other end of the long whip gripped in Long Qi's hand ripped through the air with a loud whistling crack, as it shot straight towards Ning Xin!
The first strike of the whip cracked upon the face that Ning Xin had always thought was irresistibly beautiful. The wicked sting from the single lash added a deep red gash on Ning Xin's face suddenly. The bloody gash opened up from above the bridge of her nose and tore all the way through her cheek, ending at her shoulder blade.
Ning Xin gave out a terribly anguished wail, her voice sounded hoarse and broken as the scream tore out of her throat.
Nothing else would have caused her more suffering than destroying her beautiful face that she was so proud of.
The burning pain on her face stung endlessly, reminding her of the fact that her looks had been completely destroyed with that single strike from the whip. Her beautiful features had been taken from her mercilessly!
The whip in Long Qi's hand continued to fly. No one knew whether it was done intentionally, but with every crack of the whip, the tip would always find itself over a part of Ning Xin's tiny face. Although it hurt less than it would have if the whip had struck the body, but a lady's flesh was most tender on the face and would not stand up to the lash of a whip.
In mere moments, Ning Xin's face that had been considered beautiful and alluring was already crisscrossed with red gashes left by the whip. The torn flesh left gaping wounds and blood flowed freely down. The number of wounds grew and began to fill on her face. The once pretty looks had completely disappeared under the glaring blood red mess!
Witnessing such a young, alluring and delicate beauty turning into a hideous monster that now looked a nightmare, made all the disciples of the Zephyr Academy cover their mouths, hiding the screams that threatened to burst out of their throats!
It's just too wicked!
Women lived by their looks.....
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Chapter 607 : Seventh Slap (14)
* This chapter contains rather gory descriptions. Reading discretion is advised for those a little squirmy or those with rich vivid imaginations. You have been warned! *
In an era where a woman's worth was judged largely based on beauty and poise, which girl, especially one who was just budding in her youth, would not treasure her looks? However, Long Qi's mercilessly cruel whip seemed wholly intent on completely destroying that beautiful but hypocritical face!
Ning Xin was crying blood in her heart, pleading and begging, for all the countless pairs of judgemental eyes directed at her were seemingly telling her how hideous and repulsive she was looking now.
[Do not look......]
[Do not look please! ! !]
Ning Xin was screaming in her mind, her looks, her pride, were being crushed into dust at that moment. Everything she held dearest to her heart, was being torn away from her.
And in this moment where she was at her most wretched, and with all of the humiliation done upon her exposed before all the disciples of the Zephyr Academy, she had nowhere to hide. Her hypocrisy was opened up for all to see, her beautiful looks were being destroyed, and there was almost not a single portion of the flesh on her body that was still whole. The way Ning Xin looked at that moment, was even more hideous and more disgusting than the filthy wart covered beggars in the streets!
Thirty lashes..... Long Qi was already at twenty nine. Although Ning Xin was undeniably weak, but none of the individual wounds inflicted on her was singularly mortal. Ning Rui had his fists tightly clenched, and the rage and hatred he harboured in his heart made him feel like he would like nothing more than to shred and tear Jun Wu Xie and the others into pieces where they were standing.
[One more lash, just one more.....]
[It will be fine, things will turn out fine!]
As long as Ning Xin retains her life, he would have many ways to let her regain everything. Even though they would not be able to remain in the Zephyr Academy, there were many other better places he could place her in!
As long as she pulls through this last lash, he can still turn everything around!
Ning Rui's fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles had turned white. He stared at the long whip in Long Qi's hand, he was preparing himself. The moment that last lash of the whip landed, he would rush in to rescue Ning Xin.
As Long Qi was throwing out the final swing of his arm for the last lash of the whip, he suddenly pulled back. After a moment's hesitation, he suddenly raised his arm once more!
That last lash, did not fly towards Ning Xin's face or her torso, but was aimed right around the hip region!
Most of the flesh on the lower body had already been pummeled into a gory mess by the hundred paddles from before, and when the portion of flesh that was still joined was struck by Long Qi's powerful lash of the whip, Ning Xin's body split open and burst with the impact!
Ning Xin's body split into two halves, snapped in two at the hip with Long Qi's unnaturally powerful lash of the whip thrown out with all his strength. All the internal organs and intestines spilled out from the split and heaped on the ground!
That was the moment that Ning Xin breathed her last.
Even till the last moment of death, her eyes had been filled with despair and grudge.
Ning Rui's mind exploded!
He staggered and fell back a few steps, unable to believe what he was seeing!
He had needed to wait for just one final lash of the whip, but that one lash had taken Ning Xin's life. With Ning Xin's body broken in two, even if the gods descended, they would not be able to put her back together!
When he had sunk deep in despair, a tiny glimmer of hope had been given to him. At right at the final moment, that hope had been snatched from him and he was pushed over the edge into the abyss.
Ning Rui felt all his strength completely drained from him, and only with the disciples' support, was he able to stand. He stared blankly at Ning Xin's body, unable to accept the fact that his daughter had died.
"The punishment has been executed and the matter is hereby resolved." After having quietly witnessed Ning Xin slowly approach and finally meet her death, and having enjoyed Ning Rui's current look of utter despair on his face, Jun Wu Xie lightly stated in a condescending tone to bring the issue to a close.
Fan Qi's face was white as a ghost. Although he had just come to realize Ning Xin's duplicity and vicious nature, but seeing with his own eyes how Ning Xin was slowly tormented till death had still been extremely horrifying and traumatic for him.
Throughout the whole time the sentence was being carried out, Jun Wu Xie had not even batted an eyelid. Fan Qi was suddenly frightened by the cold callousness of the Young Miss of the Jun Family.
"Yes..... Yes....." Leaning against Fan Jin's support, Fan Qi replied weakly, his voice almost a whisper.
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Chapter 608 : Seventh Slap (15)
Fan Qi had been painfully aware that Jun Wu Xie had wanted Ning Xin dead right from the start. But Jun Wu Xie did not grant Ning Xin a quick and easy death. She had crushed Ning Xin's arrogance and loftiness bit by bit. Jun Wu Xie had allowed Ning Xin to harbour a glimmer of hope for survival while Ning Xin was hovering on the verge of death, and just when that hope was clearly so close to fulfilment, Jun Wu Xie finally extinguished it, bring her life to an irrecoverable end.
Fan Qi could not understand how such a young girl could possibly be so vicious and capable of such cruelty.
But the one thing he knew, was that after this day, not a single disciple in the Zephyr Academy would dare go against the Rui Lin Army again.
Not because they possessed the famed reputation of being the most ferocious strike force, but because all of them were now all aware, that the Jun Family had an incredibly vicious and merciless Young Miss!
Gathered around the humongous gates of the Zephyr Academy, there wasn't a single peep heard from the big crowd of disciples. All of them had been overwhelmed by the shocking scene they had just witnessed and were all frozen stiff from fright.
Offend the Heavens, offend the Earth..... Never think of offending the Rui Lin Army!
That became the unspoken consensus among the all the disciples of the Zephyr Academy that day.
And everything that happened today became an indelible memory, forever burned into the minds of the disciples. Even when many of them gained fame and success in the far future, they were still haunted by an unexplainable deep seated fear whenever the Rui Lin Army and the Lin Palace were mentioned.
In the deathly silence, several lively figures suddenly walked in through the Zephyr Academy's main gates.
"What is going on here?" Qiao Chu had detected the pungent smell of blood from far away, and when they arrived at the Zephyr Academy's gates, they were met with a whole company of silver armoured soldiers sitting atop tall warhorses, blocking up the entrance.
The Rui Lin Army soldiers turned uniformly to stare at Qiao Chu and his gang, their steely gazes giving out an oppressive aura. They were sure about to ask the soldiers to make way when one man among the soldiers suddenly jumped off his tall horse.
"Young masters, it's been a long time." The soldier grinned as he said in greeting.
Qiao Chu blinked blankly, as he stared at the heroic looking soldier, racking his brains to think where he could have met someone like this before!
"Rui Lin Army! Ah ha! We met in the Battle Spirits Forest!" Qiao Chu said, roaring with laughter.
The teacher who had been tasked with bringing Qiao Chu and his gang here stared, his eyes wide with surprise when he saw Qiao Chu speaking so familiarly with the soldier from the famously ferocious Rui Lin Army, and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets when Qiao Chu roared out with laughter before the soldier.
The soldier smiled amicably and when he spotted the shocked teacher eyeing him, he turned and the friendly smile immediately disappeared. Under the soldier's terrifying glare, the teacher immediately shrank back and retreated to one side, not daring to say a single word.
Only when the soldier's gaze moved on to survey the rest and he saw Hua Yao, Rong Ruo and Fei Yan, did the smile come back onto the Rui Lin Army soldier's face.
"General Long and the Young Miss are inside, hurry up and go in."
Qiao Chu and the others nodded smilingly and the troops blocking the entrance into the Zephyr Academy immediately shifted to open up a path to allow them passage. After they entered the premises, the soldiers quickly moved back, blocking up the entrance once again.
The teacher who was left outside alone, had no choice but to remain in a corner, not daring to even approach one step closer.
Qiao Chu and the others walked quickly into the Zephyr Academy, but they quickly found that a big mass of disciples had congregated around the gates. What they found stranger though, was that all the disciples were not making a single noise, they just stood in their spots stiffly, their complexion all ashen.
"What is wrong with all of them? They all seem like they had seen a ghost!" Qiao Chu whispered to the others.
They had received a message from one of the teachers earlier, that they were to come to the main division quickly. And the moment they had stepped in here, they had immediately felt that something was amiss.
All the other disciples, even upon seeing Qiao Chu and the others come in, had still not said a word. They had only glanced at them once, and quickly turned their heads back to where they had been looking. They were even some disciples who had not been able to stomach the gore, and had run out from among the crowd, and vomited along the wall.
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Chapter 609 : You're too "Hawt" and Beautiful (1)
"God darn! Do I really look that ugly? That guy that actually vomited!!" Qiao Chu stared vehemently at the disciples who had gone to the walls in groups to vomit, and this was the first time that Qiao Chu grew really doubtful of his own looks.
Fei Yan looked at Qiao Chu speechlessly and kindly patted him on the back and said: "You think too much of yourself, I think the reason they are all puking should be because of that....."
As he spoke, Fei Yan pointed with his finger. Qiao Chu turned in the direction the finger was pointing, and he saw a scene painted in a sea of blood red. In an area clear of disciples just by the gates, there was a badly mutilated corpse that had been broken in two at the hip, lying on the ground in a large pool of blood. Around the grisly corpse, lay many of its internal organs and intestines, a truly horrifying and gruesome sight.
Qiao Chu stiffened at the gory scene before his eyes. Why did they have to witnessed such a disgusting sight the moment they just arrived?
When Qiao Chu recovered enough to raise his head, he next saw Long Qi, who was standing near the corpse, and when he swung his gaze to look at the next person.....
Qiao Chu completely froze.
A flawless and mesmerizing young girl was standing in the distance, cold and frosty. Her pure white dress struck a stark contrast against the sea of red, but what really struck Qiao Chu most, was not that mesmerizing face, but it was the pair of all too familiar eyes.
Cold and distant!
"I..... I..... I..... I am..... am see..... seeing things....." Qiao Chu stammered violently as he tried to speak.
"I..... see a mesmerizing beauty..... that has eyes..... exactly..... like Little Xie....."
His eyes must be playing tricks on him!
Jun Xie might have delicate features, but she didn't possess looks that brought down cities like that. Even if she changed into female clothing, she would at most turn into a delicate beauty, and won't come close to becoming a flawless beauty like this.
But, even though their looks shared not a single bit of similarity, how were..... those eyes making him strongly feel they looked exactly the same?
Qiao Chu was not the only one dumbstruck. Hua Yao's, Fei Yan's and Rong Ruo's expressions were all showing bewilderment and utter disbelief.
Just when they were all doubting their own guesses, they suddenly noticed a furry black tail, sweep out from within Jun Wu Xie's sleeve.
That very brief glimpse, however made all of them gasp!
That was definitely the little black cat's tail!
"Is that really..... Little Xie?" Qiao Chu's tongue was getting tangled in his speech.
"I feel it might just be....." Fei Yan's eyes were rather dazed.
"This is really rather..... shocking." Rong Ruo struggled to maintain her composure and tried to maintain a calm expression on her face, but the slight twitch that tugged at the corner of her mouth betrayed the shock she was feeling inside.
Hua Yao's reaction was the calmest among them, but his slightly widened eyes showed that he did not feel too differently from his other three companions.
"Wait! Wait! Let me calm myself!" Qiao Chu stared at Jun Wu Xie for a very long while, and he suddenly felt his cheeks burn and his face flushed a bright scarlet. He hurriedly turned his head away and clutched at his chest to say in a low voice: "That's just outrageous! When Little Xie sports such a face like that, it's just..... I was almost cheated myself!"
With looks that was able to take down cities and ruin nations, it had been hidden under that mask of delicate features all this time. Having gotten so used to Jun Wu Xie's altered looks, and seeing her genuine unmasked face now, gave Qiao Chu and the others an unbelievable shock!
"That is Little Xie, that is an unimaginably cruel and vicious little demoness! I must calm myself! That is no ordinary little lass!!!" Qiao Chu was trying his very best to calm his furiously beating heart that was seemingly threatening to jump out of his chest.
He had almost fallen in love at first sight! But he had realized that it was actually Jun Wu Xie whom he was terrified of himself! That truth made him see that there was nothing for him to get overly excited about.
Before he was even able to savour the marvelous feeling of falling in love at first sight, Qiao Chu was already feeling like he had immediately fallen out of love.....
Who in the world would be able to tame that little demoness!!!
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Chapter 610 : You're too "Hawt" and Beautiful (2)
If she got to know that he had almost developed such impertinent thoughts about her, he would not live long!!!
"Can you just be a normal person?" Hua Yao said as he gave the overly agitated Qiao Chu a depreciating glance.
Qiao Chu took several deep breathes to calm himself before he turned back. But the moment he turned back, he found Jun Wu Xie looking right in their direction.
Qiao Chu felt his knees go weak.
The gaze from a flawless beauty was just impossible to defend against!
Qiao Chu and the others were still painfully oblivious to the strange atmosphere in the Zephyr Academy. They were too preoccupied with being shocked by Jun Wu Xie's sudden and astounding transformation!
Nangong Xu was the one who finally managed to recover adequately after the series of consecutive shocks to his old heart and noticed Qiao Chu and his companions. Remembering that they had been present at the Battle Spirits Forest that fateful day, he strode quickly up to them and said to them: "The few of you, come."
Qiao Chu rubbed his nose and all of them followed without a word.
Nangong Xu brought them to come stand right before Jun Wu Xie, and struggling to maintain his calm, he said to Jun Wu Xie: "Miss Jun, these disciples were also present at the scene that day. If there is anything you need to ask them, please ask."
The four of them in Qiao Chu and gang stood ramrod straight, stiff as wooden blocks before Jun Wu Xie.
In such close proximity, Qiao Chu was feeling rather woozy.
Jun Wu Xie narrowed her eyes and swept her chilling gaze lightly over Qiao Chu and the others.
Qiao Chu almost swooned.
"Long Qi." Jun Wu Xie said suddenly.
"Here, Young Miss."
"Bring these four, I want to interrogate them slowly."
When Nangong Xu decided to bring Qiao Chu and the others over, he had thought it might soften the tense atmosphere a little, seeing that Ning Xin's execution was so unnerving. He had not expected Jun Wu Xie to still want to pursue the matter so strongly and was capturing the four disciples for her for interrogation.
Water that has been thrown, milk that has been spilt, can be retrieved. As were his words.
He felt like slapping himself hard. The issue could have been resolved there and then, and who knew what his superfluous actions might lead Jun Wu Xie to stir up further?
Long Qi nodded, but he turned back when he spotted Yin Yan who was still kneeling near Fan Qi's feet and asked Jun Wu Xie: "Young Miss, what do we do with this one?"
Having been pointed out, Yin Yan suddenly shivered. Having witnessed how the Rui Lin Army had punished Ning Xin, he had completely lost his courage. When he found himself being singled out by Long Qi, he immediately fell over into a dead faint, foaming at the mouth from fright, his body in spasms, writhing on the ground.
Jun Wu Xie barely cast Yin Yan a glance and just said: "Bring him as well."
Long Qi picked Yin Yan up without a moment's hesitation, grabbing him easily by the collar, like he would a kitten.
Without another word, Jun Wu Xie turned and began to walk out. Long Qi dragged the unconscious Yin Yan and followed closely behind, while Qiao Chu and his companions trailed behind them.
Soon, only the overly startled people from the Zephyr Academy were left.
Jun Wu Xie had stepped out through the Zephyr Academy gates with all the others and immediately mounted their horses to ride off kicking up a cloud of dust. The Rui Lin Army soldiers who were blocking the gates quickly turned and kicked their war mounts into a gallop after them.
The dark clouds that loomed over the Zephyr Academy began to gradually disperse and the heavy hearts held by the Zephyr Academy's disciples slowly lost its weight.
"Everyone disperse." Fan Qi gave out a burdened sigh. Everything that had happened today had completely worn him out.
The disciples amassed by the gates of the Zephyr Academy started to disperse, many still dazed. It seemed like many of them would be haunted by nightmares that very night.
Compared to Ning Xin and Yin Yan's fate, those disciples who were expelled earlier might have been most fortunate.
The Rui Lin Army did not go far after leaving the Zephyr Academy. They had instead stopped within tiny woods and set up camp.