Chapter 377: 90 Noon Has Arrived, Daylight Pours Over the City (Part 1)

Chapter 377: Chapter 90 Noon Has Arrived, Daylight Pours Over the City (Part 1)

At 11:36 a.m., a caravan entered the Rongguang Square.

Soon, one martial artist after another disembarked to take defensive positions, followed by one official after another getting off and walking into the square under the escort of guards, heading toward the high platform directly in front.

In the crowd, Xu Jing, dressed in white, wore a smile.

He had not been taken away by the people of the Inspection General Office after all.

Instructors and professors from Wuda had corresponding “honorary titles” in Datong Prefecture, and while they enjoyed welfare benefits, they also had to be under the jurisdiction of the Datong Prefecture government.

That was why Bian Jingru had used Xu Jing’s status as a Wuda professor to make a case previously.

But Xu Jing said he had already submitted a notice of resignation.

It was a notice, not an application.

Because instructors and professors from all twelve universities were subject to mutual selection: the school chooses you, and you also have the right to choose the school.

The school can fire you, and you can resign from the school at any time.

Such a provision also served as a means of restraint by the court on the twelve universities.

This meant that once Xu Jing submitted his notice of resignation to Wuda and voluntarily gave up his position as a professor, Datong Prefecture’s government’s hold on him no longer existed.

Adding to that, his current status as an Honorary Tributor of the Zhi Ge Department in Feng Province meant that only the provincial capital had jurisdiction to enforce the law against him.

This left Bian Jingru completely out of options.

Perhaps he could squabble slowly with the provincial capital afterwards, but at least now, Bian Jingru could not get the Inspection General Office to take Xu Jing away.

Unless he decided to completely break ties on the spot and order the Imperial Camp Army to make a move against Xu Jing!

But that would be too decisive, and no matter who won or lost, the losses would be severe. Bian Jingru was not yet ready to go to such lengths for Li Fei.

So Xu Jing still followed the caravan to the execution scene in the end.

He went up to the viewing platform with a group of officials and sat down beside Yan Shijin.

On the outskirts of the square, a stocky man, somewhat short and with dark skin, looking fierce and formidable, was making his way through the crowd:

“Excuse me, please let me through.”

His strength was great, and he used it wisely, easily pushing through the people.

Those he pushed past turned to look at him, and seeing his ferocious face, were too scared to say much.

A moment later, this man reached the front row and scanned the people on the platform. When he saw Xu Jing, he was taken aback and subconsciously clenched his fists.

This man was Li Fei!

If he was Li Fei, then naturally, the person being protected in the ‘Qilin’ vehicle by the Wu’an guards was a fake.

Last night, after he left the dormitory, he went to find Li Tianyu:

“Sis, I need your help with something.”

Li Fei said directly.

“No problem, just tell me.”

Li Tianyu agreed without hesitation.

“I need you to pretend to be me tomorrow.”

“That, how is that going to work?”

“You don’t need to worry about that; I’ve got everything prepared.”

Then Li Fei found a secluded place and began to ‘makeup’ Li Tianyu.

A long time ago, he had pondered a question: would it arouse suspicion if the real person and the Green-faced Ghost never appeared at the same time?

So he had been preparing to address this issue for some time.

The simplest method was to find someone to impersonate the Green-faced Ghost, which had been done by one of Shangguan Xiao’s confidants.

A more complicated method was for someone to impersonate Li Fei, which Li Fei had also prepared in advance:

Ointments to change skin color, muscle patches to fake muscles, height-increasing pads, wigs, and most importantly two things:

A specially made human skin mask and a medicine to change the voice.

Li Fei had Shangguan Xiao prepare the former for him.

As for the voice-changing medicine, Li Fei managed to concoct it himself after studying with Mo Yizhou for some time.

After drinking this medicine, Li Tianyu’s voice would become very close to Li Fei’s for several hours.

Then all she had to do was deliberately lower and hoarsen her voice when speaking, pretending to be hoarse and undergoing some voice changes.

Once the ‘makeup’ was finished, Li Tianyu looked hardly any different from Li Fei.

Her Implant, the Golden Spear, also had the Gold Attribute and after stepping into the Qi Change Stage, cultivated the Geng Metal Gang Qi as the Innate Qi.

As long as she did not engage in combat, her aura wouldn’t be much different from Li Fei’s.

To make it more realistic and leave no loopholes, Li Fei also left the Ghost Slash Blade and Shi Caiming’s Token with Li Tianyu.

As long as she avoided combat and did not encounter any intimate acquaintances, Li Tianyu would not be exposed.

Now, Li Tianyu, posing as Li Fei, was heading to Rongguang Square under the protection of the Wu’an guards.

On the other hand, one of Shangguan Xiao’s confidants also disguised as the Green-faced Ghost, openly made an appearance.

As for Li Fei himself, he came to Rongguang Square dressed as an unrecognizable persona.

He made all these preparations because he planned to rescue the execution today!

Such an act was even more reprehensible than killing the Sitting Official Zhang Zongyang, and once committed, the consequences would be extremely severe!

Thus, Li Fei had to make thorough preparations in advance.

There were many martial arts that could ‘Bone Shrinking and Muscle Contracting’ to drastically change one’s body shape, but doing so could affect the body’s Implant, thus impacting combat power.

Fortunately, Li Fei had now achieved ‘Unity,’ gathering all branches of the Steel Armor Implant at the Dantian, making it an opportune time to practice such martial arts.

He not only significantly altered his physique but also applied medicine to change his skin color and wore more than one layer of human skin masks to completely change his appearance.

The newly developed Vajra Blood Demon Power was a skill he had never used in front of others, and the only witness to it, Feng Sanniang, was already dead.

Therefore, in terms of Force, Li Fei had also ‘changed beyond recognition.’

The master of the Tiger Saber Gang had once described him as a ‘cautious madman.’

The many precautions he had taken were Li Fei’s prudence.

Rescuing the execution site was his madness!

But when Li Fei saw Xu Jing on the platform, the madness in his heart was suddenly extinguished…

Last night, Xia Huan replied to him, stating that Bian Jingru had agreed that today, the people from the Inspection General Office would take Xu Jing away.

This was an important reason why Li Fei had the confidence to attempt the execution rescue today.

Whether there was a Martial Arts Master present would result in a completely different outcome!

“What should I do?”

Li Fei’s gaze lowered, lost in thought.

If it weren’t for Xu Jing, he was confident he could rescue Shangguan Xiao without revealing his identity and then safely retreat.

But if Xu Jing was present, not to mention whether he could save someone, hiding his identity would be nearly impossible.

To risk one’s life for a slim chance—that’s courage.

But it’s somewhat foolish to know it’s death and still insist on going through with it.

The most crucial point was, once Li Fei’s true self was exposed, Li Tianyu, Li Lei, and Zhang Yuqing would all be implicated!

Shangguan Xiao was important to Li Fei, but weren’t Li Lei and the others just as significant?

Amidst the crowd, Li Fei clenched his fists tightly, his eyes filled with pain.

In this era, noon was precisely at 12 o’clock, and as time swiftly approached, several prisoners to be executed were escorted onto the execution platform:

Three Western spies, Zhang Shiwei, Xiao Rui, and Shangguan Xiao.

Their bodies were plastered with talismans, rendering them completely powerless. Other than being able to move their eyeballs, they couldn’t even twitch a finger.

This was to prevent them from committing suicide and also to prevent them from struggling desperately during the upcoming dismemberment.

After these people were escorted onto the execution platform, Bian Jingru stood up and loudly declared their crimes.

After he finished announcing the crimes, he glanced at the pocket watch on the table and nodded to the official in charge of the execution on the platform.

The official from the Court of Judicial Review turned around and declared loudly:

“The time of noon has arrived…”

Buzz—

His voice was interrupted by a high-pitched, trembling sound.

This trembling sound came from a guard’s blade on the east side of the Glory Square!

Buzz!

Buzz!

Buzz…

Soon after, the second, third, and fourth… In the blink of an eye, the blades in the hands of all the guards around Glory Square began to tremble, emitting a piercing vibrating sound!

“At last, they’ve come!”

On the stands, Xu Jing abruptly stood up and looked towards the eastern side of the square, his expression one of excitement.

“Protect the lord—”

“Be wary of assassins!”

One by one, martial artists quickly surrounded the stands.

“Really, someone dares to rescue the execution?”

On the stands, aside from a few individuals, the rest were all astonished.

On the east side of the square, the crowd stirred.

Quickly, the crowd parted to both sides, clearing a path.

A middle-aged man dressed in a gray robe, wearing black leather gloves, with a stern face, started to walk towards this side of the square.

“Teacher…”

Hidden within the crowd, Li Fei was momentarily stunned when he saw the approaching figure.

He had considered the possibility of Hao Yi coming but found it somewhat unbelievable.

After all, Hao Yi had truly been law-abiding throughout his life.

Those large families and officials he had brought down years ago, not one died directly by his hand; he handed them all to the law for punishment.

He had never killed indiscriminately or misused his immense strength to act recklessly.

This was the ‘Dao,’ the belief he adhered to and upheld.

Could such a man really commit something so outrageous as to rescue the execution?

On the stands, Shangguan Xiao watched Hao Yi walking closer step by step, her face awash with tears.

She tried with all her might to activate the Implant inside her, hoping to muster a bit of strength so she could shout out.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t do it, and could only make low sobbing sounds.

“Hao Yi—”

A voice laden with madness and killing intent reverberated throughout the venue.

Xu Jing took a step from the stands onto the execution platform.

He looked at Hao Yi approaching with a wild gaze:

“Are you here to rescue the execution?”

By now, Hao Yi had reached the edge of the square, not far in front of him were the guards.

He didn’t even bother to look at Xu Jing but turned towards Shangguan Xiao on the execution platform, a rare tenderness appearing on his face as he softly said:

“Sorry, I’m late.”

Shangguan Xiao could only slightly shake her head and weep while gesturing no to Hao Yi.

“Ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha ha—”

Xu Jing suddenly burst into laughter.

He laughed so hard tears came out, his laughter filled with delight:

“Hao Yi, aren’t you the most law-abiding? How is it, after a lifetime of following the rules, today you want to break them all?”

Hao Yi shifted his gaze, calmly looking back at Xu Jing:

“And what if I am?”

“…”

Xu Jing fell silent at that response.

He had gone to great lengths to create today’s scene, all to force Hao Yi to personally break the confines he had upheld all his life, to shatter his own beliefs.

He wanted to witness Hao Yi’s Heart Realm shatter!

But Hao Yi’s reaction at this moment was different from what he had anticipated, and it made him uncomfortable.

However, it didn’t matter, today’s drama had only just begun.

“Good! Come, let me see what gives you the right to break these rules?”

Xu Jing spread his arms, signaling for Hao Yi to go ahead and attack.

…

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