Chapter 113: Lives Treated as Mere Straw

Yun Hao had visited the underworld, but never the Asura hell. Yet, he felt as though he were standing in the midst of it now. The ground beneath his feet was carpeted with corpses, and blood had congealed into pools of black muck with eerie, purplish edges.

As far as the eye could see, there were body parts—some still attached, others scattered. Countless crows circled in the sky, while rodents of all sizes scurried across the earth. Lone wolves prowled the periphery, cautiously snatching away chunks of human flesh to swallow greedily whenever no one was looking.

In the distance, Huozhou City hunkered down like a primordial beast. Squads of armored soldiers were herding captured peasant rebels into a staging area. Their fate remained unknown, but Yun Hao sensed it would be grim. Regarding rebellion, neither Li Yuan nor the current Emperor would hesitate to wield the butcher’s knife. If they would not spare their own kin, they certainly wouldn't spare these wretched souls.

Passing the city gate, Yun Hao caught sight of those so-called rebels. There were octogenarians and three-year-old toddlers. In a season that demanded sheepskin coats, these children had no trousers to wear. The biting wind whipped through rags so patched their original color was unrecognizable, exposing small, frost-bitten, purple-blue buttocks. Their terrified eyes were embedded in tiny, sallow faces, marked by streaks of mucus. These little ones hadn't even grown up before death came for them.

This was a group of destitute peasants. Yun Hao refused to believe that such people could ever topple the Great Sui regime.

The people of the Han race were the best in the world; as long as they could survive, they would never revolt. Looking at the gaunt children, whose thighs were thinner than Yun Hao’s arms, he understood how desperate their uprising must have been.

Official oppression drives the people to revolt—that was the primary cause of Wu Duan'er’s rebellion. Not far away stood Li Xiaogong, and beneath his feet lay the corpse of Wu Duan'er. Yun Hao dared not look; he had already seen enough bodies today. Qi Biao had returned saying the man was bristling with arrows, looking much like a hedgehog.

A fat, wretched-looking official was fawning over Li Xiaogong, chattering incessantly. He personally served the general hot tea with an attitude of extreme subservience. Upon catching sight of Li Yuan, the fat man hurriedly bowed to Li Xiaogong and scurried toward the Duke.

He ran with such urgency that his chubby face turned beet red. Even then, he managed to bow and pant out his greetings.

"This humble official, Liu Wenjing, pays his respects to the Pacification Commissioner."

"Magistrate Liu, your supply of provisions for this campaign was timely and ample. When I return to Jinyang, I will submit a report to the Emperor; your merits shall not go unacknowledged." Li Yuan seemed to appreciate the fat man. Gaining the patronage of a Duke suggested this man’s future was limitless.

To the rebels, this Magistrate Liu was like a flood or a beast. But to Li Yuan, he was a capable and efficient official. His extortion of the local villages in Huozhou was merely carrying out the court’s mandates. As for the poverty of the "stubborn" populace or the deaths caused by his harsh collections, those were not considerations for Li Yuan. After all, as beneficiaries of the status quo, they were on the same side. The "ice gifts" and "charcoal gifts" sent from the Huozhou government office to the Duke’s mansion were always among the most generous of any prefecture or county.

"Many thanks, Your Grace. This humble official has no way to repay you. Even if I cannot finish repaying such kindness in this life, I would gladly serve as a beast of burden in the next to repay even a fraction of your grace." The ball-like Liu Wenjing knelt instantly, ignoring the blood-stained earth, and kowtowed deeply. By the time he raised his blood-smeared head, Li Yuan had already left, supported by Li Xiaogong. A seven or eight-year-old child in a sheepskin coat watched him with interest, his eyes remarkably bright.

Yun Hao was curious. If he hadn't heard the account from Lai Shun'er, he could never have reconciled this man—who smiled with such humility and bowed even to a child—with the one who, for the sake of fifty copper coins, had forced a virtuous woman into a brothel to sell her body just to pay the imperial taxes. Fawning over the powerful while sucking the marrow from the bones of the poor like a man-eating beast—this man’s personality was deeply fractured.

A man with a thin mustache, looking like a private secretary, whispered something in Liu Wenjing’s ear. Liu’s eyes lit up instantly. He bowed even lower toward Yun Hao, his smile becoming increasingly ingratiating.

"So, it is Physician Yun. The safety of the Jinzhong region rests entirely on the Duke’s shoulders. By saving the Duke, you have saved the people of the two Jins. Please, accept my respects. A small token of my appreciation, I hope you will accept it!" He held out a piece of mutton-fat jade with both hands; it was snow-white and warm-toned—a fine piece of jade indeed.

Yun Hao dared not take it. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed as if countless wronged souls were crying out from that stone. The endless corpses he had seen were the handiwork of this fat man. Matters that could have been handled with discretion were instead pushed to such extremes just to please a superior. Yun Hao recalled a famous line: his smile concealed a dagger.

This jade pendant was stained with blood.

"My lord, please give the child some hot soup!" An old man nearby knelt on the ground, pleading with the soldiers. Beside him, a woman held a child who was slumped in her arms, eyes half-closed.

Liu Wenjing glanced at them with disgust; they were ruining the mood while he was trying to flatter the Duke’s most favored physician.

The secretary-like man understood immediately. He lunged over and kicked the old man to the ground. "You pauper, you want hot soup? Eat filth! If you keep yapping, I’ll drain your blood!"

"My lord, the child is only four. He’s dying, I beg you. Every family has children..." The old man couldn't finish; the secretary had already drawn his blade and slashed through the better part of his neck.

His strength was insufficient, and the blow failed to sever the head completely. The secretary grabbed the blade with both hands and gave a violent yank. The gray-haired head rolled onto the ground.

When the fountain of blood erupted, Yun Hao’s mouth hung open, unable to close. Any words he might have spoken were now meaningless.

"Father-in-law!" The woman beside him let out a wail and lunged, biting into the secretary’s leg. Without a second thought, the secretary plunged his bloody blade into her chest.

Killing was a different experience when seen up close compared to watching from afar. At such proximity, the visual impact was magnified to the extreme. Two lives had returned to the underworld right before Yun Hao’s eyes. Only now did he understand what it meant to treat human life as nothing. Perhaps, in the eyes of this secretary, these lives were worth less than a dog’s.

As the blade was withdrawn from her chest, the secretary prepared to finish the woman off. Her screaming was too loud; it would be bad if it disturbed his master’s efforts to curry favor with the superior.

A strange sound came from behind him. Just as the secretary turned, he felt a sharp pain in his thigh. Without thinking, he kicked the intruder away. He was just about to lunge with his blade when he realized the surrounding soldiers were all drawing their weapons. He looked at the person he had just kicked away, and his soul fled in terror.