It doesn't matter what the lord is.

However, Xiang Geling would not express his thoughts explicitly. He knew very well that commodities needed to be hyped, and the more people hyped them, the more valuable they were.

So he did not directly reject those who came to propose marriage, but let Xiang Zhehua constantly show her talents in front of them. Unfortunately, after showing her talents too many times, even the most dull-witted people would slowly realize the family's true purpose. Xiang Zhehua gradually realized that she was just a vase... But what's the point of realizing this?

Her life was not something she could decide on her own.

The greatest resistance she could make was to laugh at the young men who came to propose marriage with a stern face and expressionless face, refutate them from all aspects, and then gain a reputation of being arrogant. This reputation could help her buy some time, but it also pushed her completely into the abyss of loneliness.

Xiang Zhehua had never had a friend since she was a child. There wasn't even a person she could talk to, confide in, or complain to.

I didn’t have that ability when I was studying hard, and it’s even less likely to happen after I was labeled as arrogant.

Xiang Geling was still tirelessly arranging a marriage for her, hoping to marry her to a high-ranking lord and win some potential external allies for the peace faction. Some of those lords were over 40, some over 50, and some were not much younger than Xiang Geling himself, but Xiang Geling didn't care. He valued the other party's strength, not age, appearance, or conversation.

Portraits of Xiang Zhehua and letters written by Xiang Zhehua herself were sent out again and again.

The paper with a faint floral scent is covered with gentle words. If you look carefully, you may be able to see traces of tears between the lines.

Xiang Zhehua has been thinking, where is her future? What will her future be like? The bird in the cage keeps fantasizing about the blue sky, but the reality still imprisons her in this cage. There may be no shortage of food and water here, but without freedom, no matter how beautiful the bird is, it is just a plaything in the hands of others.

On the night when she threw herself into Lid's arms, Xiang Zhehua felt that her brain was probably burnt out. But she was clear about one thing, that is, she might not do this entirely for her family, but also because she was really tired.

She thought this was fine.

At least Reed was her age, and at least he didn't look that boring. They weren't a perfect match, they weren't in love at first sight, they weren't a perfect match, nothing. She was just a shortcut to his goal, and he was probably just an excuse to escape.

What's funny is that when the bamboo stick was nailed into the gap between her nails and her scream of pain was blocked by the rag in her mouth, the first person Xiang Zhehua thought of was Reed.

Because, in her barren life, there was no one else she could think about.

Her finger bones were broken, her cheeks were cut, and she was whipped by a steel whip. The pain gradually became numb, and she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave, with the heat in her body being taken away bit by bit. Xiang Zhehua felt mixed emotions, always thinking that she had not done well enough and had not completely deceived Xiang Tiange. She did not feel particularly sorry for herself, but she felt sorry for the skirt that Li De had made for her. What a good material and craftsmanship. She watched it being sewn bit by bit, and now it was probably too old to wear.

Really sorry.

Just like her life, it had a starting point that everyone envied, and an end point that everyone ridiculed.

He opened his mouth and watched the steel whip fall and hit his eyes. His vision instantly became blurred. The rag in his mouth was soaked with blood, and the blood kept flowing when he bit it hard.

The man who was interrogating her lifted up Zhehua's chin with a knife and asked in a frivolous tone:

"You and Lid have colluded to deceive the city lord, right?"

He shook his head at Zhehua, and the bones in his cervical vertebrae crackled.

The man used the knife to cut shallow scars on her snow-white neck, and finally the tip of the knife stopped at the aorta:

"You betrayed Xiang Geling, secretly passed information to Lid, and ran here as an undercover agent for him... What is your real purpose?"

Xiang Zhehua did not answer.

The man laughed, his smile was as cold as a poisonous snake, and he lowered his voice and said:

"There are 720 acupuncture points in the human body, 108 of which are vital. Among these 108 vital acupuncture points, 72 of them can make you feel pain without dying. Just now, it was just physical pain, but now you will understand what it means to be worse off than dead."

The man threw away the whip in his hand, took out a silver needle, gently rubbed Zhehua's temples, and then pierced it little by little.

Xiang Zhehua's tears instantly fell like broken strings, a gurgling sound came from her throat, and her bound body twisted hard.

The man continued to smile and said:

"Now, you still have a chance to speak. What is your relationship with Lid?"

When his voice fell, a calm reply suddenly rang out in the room:

"I've already slept, what do you think?"

The man was stunned for a moment, and when he turned around, he felt that the joint of his wrist was instantly dislocated, and a handful of silver needles fell into someone else's hands. Then a powerful force took him flying directly and hit the wall.

Before he could see where the other person was, silver needles instantly filled all 72 acupuncture points on his body.

A heart-wrenching roar echoed in the City Lord's Mansion!

55. Blood Splatter Five Steps

Xiang Zhehua tried hard to open her eyes, but she was already too weak.

In addition, Xiang Zhehua's vision had become very blurry as he had just been whipped in the left eye not long ago.

She couldn't see clearly who was standing there, but she already had an answer in her heart. At that moment, tears welled up in her eyes. Reason told her that Li De shouldn't come to save her. As long as Jiang Yuesheng was alive, the conspiracy would not end. But emotions could not be suppressed. Xiang Zhehua knew very well that she was happy now, so happy that she could temporarily forget the pain all over her body.

Lid glanced at the man wailing by the wall and did not end his life, leaving him to continue crying. When the man was torturing Xiang Zhehua, he probably didn't expect that one day he would become like this. At this moment, his eyes were bloodshot and he was digging at the silver needles on his body like crazy, but every second was a torture worse than death for him.

Reed untied the ropes on Zhehua and caught her when she fell from the restraints.

Xiang Zhehua leaned in Lid's arms and could feel that her blood had also dyed Lid's clothes red.

Lid took the blood-soaked rag out of her mouth, hugged her gently, and whispered:

"When flowers are in bloom, pick them. Don't wait until there are no more flowers to pluck. You said that you are called this name, you should be enjoying yourself. Why is it that you were born into a noble family, but your life is so miserable instead?"

Xiang Zhehua's head rested on Lid's shoulder. She didn't have the strength to cough out the blood in her throat, so she could only answer softly:

"Don't they always say... it's a pity to be born in an imperial family..."

Lid hugged her tighter and said with a smile:

"You are not an emperor. You do not have that power, so you naturally do not have to bear that obligation."

She exhaled towards Zhehua, her eyelashes trembling slightly, and her voice was as thin as a mosquito:

"If I could survive, I really want to go outside and take a look. But that's probably impossible... Lide, please, go and give the old general a quick death. If the old general knew that he had become a pawn of others to harm Nanchu, he would definitely be very sad... This incident was caused by my family, so I will... pay off their debts..."

Reed sighed softly.

He checked the injuries on Xiang Zhehua's body. There was basically no permanent damage, except for the left eye being whipped. Not only was the eye swollen, but the lens was obviously damaged. Even if he tried hard to treat it later, it would be difficult to restore his vision to its previous state. Lid's hand stroked the wound on Xiang Zhehua's face. He looked calm, but there was a bit of coldness in his eyes.

He patted Zhehua on the back and said to her:

"Don't worry, I will take you back to Yunyang. You don't have to worry about anything. Have a good sleep, and everything will be fine when you wake up from your dream."

She stretched out her hand tremblingly to Zhehua, fumbled around for a while, hugged Lid's neck, and said in his ear:

"That night, you shouldn't have done nothing..."

There seemed to be some regret in her tone.

Perhaps in Xiang Zhehua's eyes, this was already a dead end. Her words were filled with regret and reluctance, which was also what she wanted to say the most in her heart, and she wanted to say it before she died.

Lid smiled and said to her:

"Don't worry. From now on, I will finish everything you need to do. After we return to Yunyang..."

A smile appeared on Zhehua's face, and as he smiled, he slowly lost consciousness.

The door was slammed open, and countless masters filed in, with candlelight flickering continuously.

Xiang Tiange, who was surrounded by various masters, said loudly:

"Go back to Yunyang? Humph...you can't go anywhere!"

He stared at Lid, unable to hide the anger in his heart, and tried to look calm and said in a cold voice:

"Kill Jiang Yuesheng. You win this move, but we haven't lost yet! As long as the news doesn't get out, it doesn't matter whether Jiang Yuesheng is dead or alive. Lide, don't think about getting out of here alive today, no matter if you are the Lord of Yunyang or any other lord!"

The air was filled with murderous intent. When the masters from all walks of life began to fight seriously, the small house could not contain such a majestic momentum. The roof was blown off, the walls collapsed one after another, and the heavy rain outside poured down on everyone's heads in an instant.

The entire Jinxiu City was shrouded in a cold murderous intent.

After all, the masters of Nanchu were the elite among the elite. At this moment, they took a siege, basically blocking all of Lid's potential escape routes. In the heavy rain, even ordinary people who stayed at home to eat could feel some discomfort in their bodies. Too many masters' repeated auras instantly suppressed the atmosphere of the entire Jinxiu City to the freezing point.

Lid looked around at the people present and said to Xiang Tiange:

"It is said that Nanchu has a rich heritage, and it does not seem to be fake. It is a pity that such a rich heritage is used for internal fighting among its own people."

Xiang Tiange sneered and replied:

"It's not your turn to comment on Nanchu. What's more, we are acting for the future of Nanchu. For a guy like you who only knows the basics, no matter how strong you are, you are just a knife in someone else's hand!"

Lid smiled, and his aura exploded instantly. Tentacles that seemed real and unreal appeared behind him, and little ghosts holding notice boards surrounded him. Lid looked at Xiang Tiange calmly, as if he was looking at a dead person:

"If this future requires torturing a general who has made great contributions to Nan Chu, and beating an unarmed girl to pieces, then this future is better off not having it. You all seem to be smart people, calculating this and that all day long, and finding a lot of excuses for yourself, saying that it's for the future of Nan Chu. In my opinion, you are all the same kind of people, fighting for power and profit, and you are all equally despicable and vulgar."

Xiang Tiange gritted his teeth and looked at Lid, whose aura was surging. For some reason, he felt an indescribable fear in his mind. The tentacles were clearly extending from Lid's body, but they seemed to come from the abyss of hell, constantly tearing at his soul.

Xiang Tiange shouted at the other masters:

“Kill him! Kill the woman in his arms too! Anyone who dares to retreat will be like that woman and betray the family!”

The masters rushed forward.

The surging air waves rushed into the sky, flattened the ground, and tore the dense rain curtain into pieces.

The forces from all directions seemed to crush Lid into a pulp, but Lid relied on the tentacles behind him to hold out a space. However, his body was like a rivet, being hammered into the ground inch by inch under the impact of such a huge force, and blood burst out from every joint, but Lid didn't seem to care, and his eyes were cold from beginning to end.

There was no time to treat Xiang Zhehua's injuries, and her delicate body covered with shocking scars fell into Reed's arms.

Lid raised his head and said to Xiang Tiange:

"I don't care about Nanchu's future, but I will get back what you owe this girl with interest."

56. May you be king and subject again in the next life

The tentacles flipped over and swept away all the masters around Reed.

Being besieged doesn't feel good. Lid is best at two types of fighting. One is explosive attack, concentrating all the strength of the body on one point and punching out. This punch will include all kinds of martial arts, from simple to strong; the other is to fight a tug-of-war or ambush. He can use his elegant and agile fighting style to constantly counter the opponent's moves. He used this technique when he traveled 3,000 miles in the giants' territory.

But as the saying goes, two fists cannot beat four hands. Every martial art has its own strengths and weaknesses. Even though Lid can skillfully switch between various martial arts, once the pressure from all sides increases at the same time, even he will feel a little tired. However, this problem was well solved after obtaining the soul control technique of Clenus.

Since two fists are no match for four hands, then there should be no problem in increasing the number of your own hands.

Although Lid held his hands horizontally to Zhehua, the tentacles around him were constantly killing the masters around him. Those who were close to him were either slashed in the chest or pierced in the throat. The flashes of swords and sabers kept exploding in this small world, and the air was surging, impacting the entire Jinxiu City like a tide. Of course, just as the leader of the giants, Kronos, had said to Lid, the human body has its limits after all. If Lid forcibly used the soul-controlling technique of the upper three tribes, his body would need to bear a great burden.

His soul is indeed much stronger than that of ordinary people, but his body cannot withstand such torture.

The blood kept flowing, and Lid's clothes were almost completely dyed red, but his expression had not changed since the beginning. He stepped over the corpses of countless masters, and his boots were covered with sticky blood. In Xiang Tiange's eyes, that figure was like the god of death descending on the earth with a murderous aura.

Lid looked at Xiang Tiange softly, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, but his tone was calm:

"Look, if I want to kill you, I can't be stopped by this few people. You should know that it's not the masters who can stop me, but the army... But from beginning to end, I didn't see any army in Jinxiu City, a key place. It means that they were sent to perform more urgent tasks, right?"

Xiang Tiange felt a chill in his heart. The secret kept deep in his heart seemed to be exposed in Lid's eyes.

Lid smiled and said:

"Don't be nervous. I've said before that the future of Nanchu has nothing to do with me. Lord Nanchu has appointed me as the leader of the investigation team, so I will only do my job well."

The tentacles behind Lid were still strangling the master who rushed over. The rumbling sound made the ground beneath his feet tremble constantly. Cracks stretched in all directions. The whole city seemed to be in danger of collapsing. But the scene in front of Lid was like a calm water surface. The storm could not break through the tentacles and enter in front of him. Lid and Xiang Tiange were completely isolated from the noise outside.

A hint of fear finally appeared in Xiang Tiange's eyes.

Dozens of masters above the ninth level were killed like cutting melons and vegetables, killing chickens and dogs, and the broken pieces of flesh turned into a bloody rain. God knows how much effort their family has spent to train these people, countless panaceas as food, day and night training, countless masters died during this period, and only then was this group of unique seedlings forged. And now, this group of trustworthy masters was killed without a care, as if their decades of accumulation were not worth mentioning in front of the man in front of them.

Xiang Tiange took a deep breath and said to Lid:

"Since you have guessed the plan above, you should understand. Whether it is me or Xiang Linglong, we are just pawns in this plan. Whether we live or die is not important to this plan at all."

Lid smiled, stretched out a tentacle, patted Xiang Tiange on the shoulder, and said to him:

"I know."

He paused, glanced at Xiang Zhehua in his arms, and continued:

"I know you are not important, but it is very important to me without you. If you die, I will be very happy. Including those people standing behind you. If they die, I will be so happy that I will fly into outer space."

Xiang Tiange was stunned for a moment, and then he felt his shoulders, ribs, and hips all pierced by the tentacles, blood spurted out, splashing on Lid's face and Xiang Zhehua. Xiang Tiange let out a painful wail, staring at Lid with red eyes, sneering and saying:

"You will regret it...! That stubborn man will fall from the position of the lord of Nanchu, and your backer Xiang Hei will lose his power. It won't be long before the new Nanchu will turn its spearhead against Yunyang... I want to see if you have the ability to kill people in the street here, but have the ability to protect your baby Yunyang!"

Lid laughed and said to Xiang Tiange calmly:

"Don't worry. I have killed many people who are not as important as you. I have also killed many people who are more important than you. Until now, I am alive, Yunyang is alive too, and they will live better and better. But I don't mind you dying with the mentality of laughing at me. After all, a blind spot can make your death more comfortable."

Xiang Tiange's eyes were bloodshot.

The tentacles behind Lid continued to stab Xiang Tiange. Xiang Tiange initially thought that Lid just wanted to torture him, but soon realized that Lid didn't want him to die so quickly, so that the masters around him would definitely rush to save him.

Reed intends to turn this place into a living meat grinder, and no one present will be able to leave alive!

Xiang Tiange was horrified and tried his best to warn them, but a tentacle had already tightened his neck. Xiang Tiange could only watch the masters that the family had worked hard to train fall one after another. His heart was filled with resentment, but he was powerless. The pain in his body and the pain in his heart gathered in his brain, and Xiang Tiange bled from all seven orifices in an instant.

Lid said softly:

"You see, there is no such thing as a free gift in this world. You always have to pay a price. But you can rest assured. I will send all your people down to accompany you. I hope that you two will not let each other down, and will be king and minister again in the next life."

A tentacle pierced Xiang Tiange's throat. Xiang Tiange stared at Lid, with hatred in his eyes that would last until his death.