Chapter 177: I'll Escort You on Your Final Journey

As the sun set and the moon rose, another day passed.

In front of the magistrate, the chilling punishment continued.

For a full day, Master Chen endured 1,200 cuts. His hair had turned almost completely white overnight, and his face had become extremely shriveled.

But he still hung on, never succumbing to death. But people knew that it was Fang Chen who would not let him die, at least not this easily.

Among the crowd, Zhao Yan watched the scene expressionlessly. There was no hatred or pity left in his heart. The main culprit was undergoing the most severe of punishments. This was the cycle of heaven, the deserved retribution.

The commoners in the crowd came and went in waves. Some couldn't bear it and left, never to return, while others pushed forward to get a closer look.

However, King Xiang and the others dared not leave due to Fang Chen. Fang Chen had been torturing Master Chen for twelve hours, so they had also been there for twelve hours.

The visual and mental torture made many officials feel on the verge of collapse. It seemed as if they were the ones receiving the punishment, not Master Chen!

Silently, another day passed.

This was the third day of Master Chen's punishment. For a full twenty-four hours, he had endured 2,400 cuts, with only one more day's worth remaining until the total of 3,600.

Rumors began to circulate privately, claiming that Fang Chen was the living Yama, severing sunlight during the day and moonlight at night. Some even said they had seen countless ghost soldiers surrounding Fang Chen at night.

These rumors were spreading systematically, and even many academy students began discussing the matter.

What started as a punishment for Master Chen had now become a terrifying pressure felt by the majority of Southern Immortal Prefecture. Even Jue Panshi and his elite guards were growing pale, feeling an increasingly deep fear of Fang Chen that had almost been imprinted onto their souls.

The ones truly enjoying themselves were the growing number of stray dogs, who had themselves a feast to enjoy.

Another day passed.

Before the onlookers, Master Chen had already turned into a skeleton, with internal organs clearly visible and enveloped in blood, which, for some reason, never dripped down.

Fang Chen smiled, waved his sleeve, and pulled out the kidneys from Master Chen's abdomen. He threw them to the dogs, who flocked for a new meal. To the astonishment of everyone, Fang Chen's hands and sleeves remained pristine, untouched, free of any trace of blood.

With another shake of his sleeve, Fang Chen ripped his lungs out. The dogs scampered and devoured them!

Following were the spleen, liver, and finally the heart!

The people watched in horror as such a scene unfolded before their eyes.

"He’s, he’s, he’s harvesting his organs...."

But the one most terrified was Master Chen, whose mental defenses had long since collapsed. Witnessing his organs being devoured by dogs, and still not meeting death, this fear almost overcame everything he had upheld for so long.

Regret, now, was futile.

Now that the organs had been harvested, it was time to remove the intestines.

As this process unfolded, some officials began to faint, but King Xiang gritted his teeth, not only enduring but also instructing others to splash these officials with water and wake them up.

"You all must see what fate befalls the extremely wicked," mouthed the king coldly.

"...Yes."

The officials weakly nodded and forced themselves to continue watching.

"Next, he’ll pick his bones... and then shatter his marrow," murmured Zhao Yan.

The crowd watched in horror as Fang Chen used a small knife to cut off Master Chen's bones.

Now, Master Chen was finally allowed to speak once more. But he had nothing to say, only piercing screams to let out, the kind that would haunt people for years.

"

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhh!

"

The screams continued without end. Some officials, who had tried to endure, were scared unconscious again, only to be awakened by cold water once more.

At some point, there was only Master Chen's head on the stake. Below the head, the flesh, bones, blood, organs — everything had vanished without a trace! Yet, to the horror of the crowd, Master Chen was still alive somehow!

"Let... let me die...let me die... let me die."

Master Chen's voice was hoarse.

This bizarre scene sent shivers down everyone's spines, making them increasingly convinced of the rumors. Who else but the living Yama could possess such methods?

What they didn’t know was that Fang Chen had been using his spiritual energy to sustain Master Chen's life. Three days might not be long, but for a cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refining, it would’ve already consumed their reserves countless times over! If not for the fact that Fang Chen's spiritual energy could be fully restored and even increased each time it was depleted, even a Foundation Building Realm cultivator might not have been able to do what he had done.

Fang Chen remained silent, wearing only a faint smile while looking at Master Chen.

"It hurts so much, my heart hurts, my hands hurt!" muttered Master Chen. His raspy voice, akin to a night owl, was horrifying. The man was so broken, he could still feel the torturous pain coursing through his non-existing body.

At this moment, spiritual energy surged around, continuously pouring into Fang Chen's body, forging his seventh immortal vein!

"Zhao Yan, send him on his way," said Fang Chen, sitting back on his chair, and closing his eyes with his head held high.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Zhao Yan walked step by step out of the crowd and approached Master Chen.

All eyes closely followed him.

"Now, I'll escort you on your final journey," whispered Zhao Yan.

"Thank... thank you..."

Smack!

With a light palm, Master Chen's head turned into powder, completely dissipating from the world. Yet, for some unknown reason, some could faintly hear Master Chen's desperate cries.

Chilled to the bone, people shivered. Their arms pimpled with goosebumps. Cold sweat poured out their pale skins, and deep terror was seated in their eyes.

King Xiang weakly stood up and bowed to the surrounding crowd. "Everyone, disperse."

The commoners were quite understanding, not causing any disturbance. This included the relatives of the victims. They simply bowed deeply to Fang Chen, who was sitting with his eyes closed, before turning and leaving. Soon, the area in front of the government office became empty, devoid of the previous bustling crowds.

"Marquis Xiang, Duke Fang must be tired. Let's wait a bit longer," King Xiang said to Ouyang, the county governor, and others, smiling.

The others nodded with peculiar expressions. However, they ended up waiting for a full hour.

When Fang Chen finally opened his eyes, a gleam of brilliance flashed in them. The seventh immortal vein had completely formed, and the spiritual energy in his body had become much more abundant.

"Everyone, I'll take my leave now," said Fang Chen, then turned and left with Xu Ge and Zhao Yan.

King Xiang and the others watched until they couldn't see the trio's figures anymore. Then, one by one, they sat down, exhaling deeply.

"Everyone, don't look at me like that. I can barely endure it myself," said Jue Panshi, noticing that many people were stealing glances at him.

He couldn't help but smile wryly. He wiped away the rolling beads of cold sweat on his forehead and sat down directly on the ground to rest.