HLnovel Chapter 455 I'll Watch You Get Your Retribution
Chapter 455 I'll Watch You Get Your Retribution
Prefect Ling personally led more than a dozen yamen runners down.
These were all old men who had followed him for many years, brought from Qingzhou to Yuzhou. They had also followed him through many cases and were used to big scenes. However, before they even got close to the secret room, they couldn't help but want to vomit. They hurriedly covered their mouths, their faces turning red from holding it in.
Prefect Ling frowned, but walked toward the door without changing his expression.
Lu Yangyang had already reached the door with the girl in her arms. The girl seemed to sense someone's presence and subconsciously lowered her head. Lu Yangyang paused and softly apologized.
Then he bent down and put her down, took off his coat and covered her head with it before picking her up again. He then called out to Magistrate Ling, who was about to walk in through the door, "Lord Ling, Uncle Luo, please take off your coats and cover them up."
Just as Magistrate Ling and Luo Jing were about to step inside, they heard Lu Yangyang's words and hurriedly took off their outer garments. They then called on the yamen runners behind them to take off their outer garments as well, and threw them all inside.
The clothes were thrown in, but at first no one moved, and Lu Yangyang didn't urge them either.
After a while, the girl, who was chained and had just begged Lu Yangyang to help her abort her child, asked Lu Yangyang with tears in her eyes, "After we get out, can you help me get rid of this bastard? I don't want him. I'm so scared. I'm afraid whenever I see that person. I have nightmares every night and haven't slept a wink. When I struggle, they lock me up. I'm so scared. I want to live, but I don't want this bastard. I can become a nun, I can become a slave, you can sell me anywhere, I don't want it, I beg you..."
"Okay." Lu Yangyang answered her immediately without hesitation.
The girl seemed to come alive instantly. Not every girl here was chained up, but she was. The chain wasn't that long, and she struggled to grab a piece of clothing while lying on the ground. Like a child who had finally gotten candy, she very cooperatively covered herself with the clothes.
After she started, the other girls also went up and took the clothes, and even helped the girls who didn't get theirs to take the clothes over.
Once they were all ready, Lu Yangyang called Prefect Ling and the others in.
Prefect Ling led his men into the secret chamber. They carried torches, which illuminated the originally dim chamber considerably, finally allowing them to see clearly what kind of place it was: a simple cave-like cave, not very large, covered in filthy bloodstains and excrement. Only a small opening above the doorway provided a meager means of ventilation. The scene was beyond description, not even comparable to the caves inhabited by wild animals.
And yet, so many living people are imprisoned here.
It's completely unimaginable how they survived.
Those who just moments ago felt nauseous at the sight of this place now felt a stinging pain in their eyes and a soreness in their noses.
Prefect Ling's voice trembled as he said, "Let's go."
As soon as the command was given, the constables stepped forward in silence and carried the girls on their backs. Only when they carried them did they realize that they weighed almost nothing.
No one spoke again, and they walked out one after another, climbing up the ladder in the well wall.
Emerging from the not-so-wide well opening, the warm sunlight streamed down, making it pleasantly cozy. However, the girls instinctively shivered, their bodies already chilled by the biting dampness from the cracks in the rocks, finding it difficult to adapt to the warmth.
Seeing the girls, Magistrate Ling could no longer contain his anger and stepped forward to kick the old Taoist priest who had been pinned down several times: "You beast, you old beast! I won't be able to swallow this insult if I don't torture you to death!"
The old Taoist priest was kicked so badly that he begged for mercy repeatedly.
The girl being held by Lu Yangyang suddenly flinched upon hearing the voice, and then, unexpectedly, she gently patted Lu Yangyang and pointed towards the old Taoist priest.
Lu Yangyang picked her up, and the girl stirred, indicating that Lu Yangyang should put her down.
Lu Yangyang placed her in front of the old Taoist priest, but put one foot on the side of the old Taoist priest in case of any accident.
The girl had just narrowly escaped death. Even though Lu Yangyang had given her acupuncture and life-saving pills, she hadn't recovered at all. Just sitting up was exhausting. She forced herself to lift the tiny swaddled baby and laboriously placed it in the old Taoist priest's arms. The old Taoist priest was trembling and didn't dare to take it.
The girl leaned closer to him, then suddenly ripped off the clothes covering her, revealing a face that was almost unrecognizable. She then gave the old Taoist a slight twitch of her lips.
"Ahhh—" The old Taoist priest was so frightened by this scene that he wet himself. He was already too weak to move because he had been beaten several times, but now he dragged his crippled body away as if he had seen a ghost.
Lu Yangyang stepped on his shoulder and pressed him down in front of the girl.
The girl opened her mouth, her eyes barely open in the light. She tried several times before finally managing to utter a hoarse voice, "I'm watching you suffer retribution."
The old Taoist priest was so frightened that his eyes rolled back and he fainted.
But just as she fainted, Lu Yangyang slapped her awake.
He was suffering terribly, tears and snot streaming down his face, and half of his body was numb.
The women who had come to the backyard with Lu Yangyang earlier, upon seeing the girl's appearance and thinking of their own children, burst into heart-wrenching cries, "My children—"
The villagers who had been angrily smashing the statues earlier had also come to the backyard after hearing the commotion. When they saw the girls, their expressions were complicated. Some of them felt guilty and couldn't help but cover their faces and cry, kneeling on the ground.
There were about a dozen girls, and it was unclear whether any of them were the daughters or wives of these villagers. But at this moment, amidst the mournful cries filling the courtyard, only the girls remained remarkably calm. No one lifted the clothes covering their faces, and no one uttered a sound. Even if they were family before, it would be difficult for them to recognize each other now.
From the moment they were offered as sacrifices, whether or not they had accepted their fate, they had already accepted one thing: whether they were dead or alive, they were now separated from their former selves.
Lu Yangyang said to Prefect Ling, "Sir, please have someone come and find a place to settle them first. These girls are just hidden in this Immortal Temple. On the way to the Immortal Palace of Yuming Mountain, we don't know how many girls have suffered. We need to trouble you to rescue those who can be rescued and settle them first. I will find a way to settle them after this matter is settled."
Prefect Ling nodded. "Leave it to me."
"Then I'll go to Yuming Mountain first to find out about the situation of the Shangqing Immortal, and wait to meet up with you, sir."