Cao Yanmei walked along the dark corner towards the back of Beixing Sect, leading Yongzheng and Dong Lanying toward the prison cell entrance.
Yongzheng immediately stopped. "Is Horan and Rao-xiong locked together?"
"No," Cao Yanmei answered. Yongzheng remained rooted. Cao Yanmei turned around, impatient. "What are you doing? We must hurry up!"
Yongzheng ignored her urgency. "Where is Horan?"
Cao Yanmei explained the grim reality of their priorities. "He is fine, better than Rao Zhengsheng. If you don't save Rao Zhengsheng tonight, he will die. No one is really paying attention to Horan, so he is safe. Rao Zhengsheng is the one my da ge watches closely. It is much more difficult to rescue Rao Zhengsheng than Horan."
"We are wasting time," Dong Lanying stressed.
"Hurry up!" Cao Yanmei grabbed Yongzheng's left hand and forcibly dragged him down the prison cell stairwell.
Four guards stood posted in front of the cell entrance. Cao Yanmei walked confidently up to them. "Why are you four still here? The stable is on fire, and we need everyone's help before the fire reaches our main house. Go help put out the fire!"
One guard hesitated. "But the young master said, no matter what, we can't leave the post."
"Yes, that bastard is still down there," Cao Yanmei said, pointing toward the main building. "Look! The fire has already caught onto the roof of the main building!"
The four guards instinctively looked in the direction Cao Yanmei pointed. Sprinting quickly from his hiding place, Yongzheng used the momentary distraction to strike, knocking all four guards down instantly.
Cao Yanmei pointed toward the dark stairwell. "He is down there." Yongzheng started for the door, but Cao Yanmei's warning stopped him briefly. "Yongzheng, remember, you only have enough time to save one person, and that person is Rao Zhengsheng. Don't let your surroundings waste your time. We still have to go get Horan."
Yongzheng nodded, absorbing the instruction, and disappeared down the stairways.
Dong Lanying immediately addressed Cao Yanmei. "Help me hide these four guards."
The two women began to drag the unconscious guards to hide them behind a large stone lion statue. Dong Lanying quickly stripped one of the bodies, donned the guard's outfit, and took post, guarding the door.
When Yongzheng descended into the cell, he was immediately disgusted by the scene. His years as an assassin had not prepared him for this sight: the smell of blood, the sound of suffering, and the sixty-four figures hanging from the ceiling. He instinctively grabbed a sword, ready to free the other prisoners, but Cao Yanmei's urgent words—you only have time to save one person—flashed through his mind.
Yongzheng closed his eyes and murmured, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry... I still have to save Horan."
He walked swiftly, covering about forty feet until he found Rao Zhengsheng hanging from the ceiling. He quickly cut the chains and hoisted the heavy, broken body onto his back. The other prisoners began to open their eyes, their desperate voices filling the chamber.
"Help us…"
"Help me too."
"Help me…"
"Kill me."
"Please kill me."
Yongzheng rushed toward the stairs, but Rao Zhengsheng, weak as he was, spoke. "Yongzheng… Yongzheng… help them. Help them."
Yongzheng stopped, placing Rao Zhengsheng on the stairs. He made his choice. He rushed back and, in a furious frenzy of motion, cut off all sixty-four chains. The prisoners, freed, slowly started to stand and walk toward the stairwell.
Yongzheng rushed back and helped Rao Zhengsheng walk toward the door. Cao Yanmei saw the sixty-four prisoners streaming out behind Rao Zhengsheng and was left completely speechless.
Cao Yanmei regained her wits and shouted to the dazed prisoners, "Run to the main door! Don't stand here!"
The sixty-four survivors, spurred by the urgency, rushed toward the front of the sect.
Dong Lanying handed Rao Zhengsheng a set of the captured guard's clothes. "Da shixiong, change quickly."
Rao Zhengsheng walked behind the stone lion statue and quickly changed his bloody garments.
Yongzheng grabbed Cao Yanmei's arm, his focus still solely on his promise. "Where is Horan?"
"I will take you," Cao Yanmei offered.
"No, you take them out. Tell me where to go?"
Cao Yanmei quickly pointed to her left. "In this way, past the lotus pond, it should be a secluded house, and he is inside." She grabbed Yongzheng's hand, conveying a final, critical piece of strategy. "Yongzheng, there is a hill over there. There is no other way out except through the main entrance. Once I take them out the back door, you and Horan have to escape through the main entrance."
"Thank you," Yongzheng said, and ran into the darkness.
Rao Zhengsheng stepped out from behind the lion statue, partially dressed. "Horan?"
"Yongzheng is going to save him now," Dong Lanying assured him.
Cao Yanmei pulled their attention back to the escape route. "Let's go to the back door."
"Why?" Dong Lanying asked.
Cao Yanmei explained with grim logic. "When my ge hears the news of the escaped prisoners, guess where he will be?"
Dong Lanying understood instantly. "I understand." She put her arm around Rao Zhengsheng's waist and helped him follow Cao Yanmei out of the back door, leaving the main gate clear for Yongzheng and Horan.
Yongzheng raced toward the secluded house. Before reaching the door, he heard a guard loudly complaining. The guard grumbled, "What is the use of me staying here to guard the young master's whore. If the young mistress knew, she would kill me."
Enraged, Yongzheng sprinted forward and instantly struck the guard's left and right acupuncture points. He shoved the door open and walked in.
The sight that greeted him caused his mind to go blank. Xue Horan was completely naked, sitting on the bed and trembling as he leaned against the wall. Yongzheng saw blood staining the bedding and smeared sickeningly across Xue Horan's inner thighs.
His gaze was fixed entirely on the violated body of Xue Horan, whose right wrist was still chained to the bed. Yongzheng burst into tears and walked slowly toward him, murmuring, "Horan…"
Xue Horan instantly buried his face into his knees upon hearing Yongzheng's voice, shaking violently. He pleaded, "Yongzheng... don't look at me... please... I don't want you to see me like this. Yongzheng... don't look at me..."
Yongzheng reached the bed, his voice thick with agony and self-reproach. "Horan… I'm sorry… I am late…."
Xue Horan was still sobbing, his plea raw and desperate. "Yongzheng, don't look at me..."
Knowing the depth of Xue Horan's shame, Yongzheng turned away and walked swiftly toward the door. He grabbed the back of the unconscious guard and dragged him into the room. He shut the door and stood behind the man, releasing the pressure on his acupuncture points.
Yongzheng's voice was stern and deadly. "Don't look back, or I will stab you to death."
The guard, terrified and still disoriented, mumbled, "Xiong-tai, you should know not to mess with the young master's man."
"Take off your clothes," Yongzheng ordered.
The guard hastily stripped, handing the clothes backward to Yongzheng. Yongzheng immediately knocked him to the ground again.
Knowing Xue Horan's extreme shyness, Yongzheng deliberately closed his own eyes. He walked back to the bedside. "Horan, put on these clothes and let's get out of here."
Xue Horan slowly raised his face, looking at Yongzheng, who stood there with his eyes deliberately closed.
With his eyes still closed, Yongzheng slowly put the pants on Xue Horan, then the robe. Finally, he gently slipped the boots onto Xue Horan's feet. He didn't open his eyes until he knew Xue Horan was completely covered. He wiped the tears from Xue Horan's face and said, his voice husky, "Let me carry you on my back."
Yongzheng sat down in front of him. Xue Horan reached out his arms, embracing Yongzheng's neck, and leaned his head onto his left shoulder. He murmured softly, a sound that broke Yongzheng's heart. "Yongzheng… you finally came out and help me... You must have heard me calling for you."
Xue Horan's words were like knives. If he had shown up earlier, this horror wouldn't have happened. Tears fell from Yongzheng's eyes, dripping onto the floor. He said in a broken voice, "I'm sorry I'm late…"
Xue Horan seemed comforted by his presence. "I knew you would come to rescue me as you always have." He hugged Yongzheng tightly. "Yongzheng... thank you..."
Yongzheng kicked the body of the unconscious guard hard. The guard's body flew across the room and shattered the door outward. Yongzheng carried Xue Horan on his back and walked purposefully toward the front gate.
When Yongzheng and Xue Horan reached the front gate, the scene was carnage. Cao Wenyan and twenty-five disciples stood over the bodies of the escaped prisoners Yongzheng had just freed.
Cao Wenyan spotted them instantly and pointed his bloody sword at Yongzheng. "Where is Rao Zhengsheng?"
Yongzheng ignored the question and softly addressed the trembling boy on his back. "Is it him?" Xue Horan did not answer, but his ragged breathing and frightened tremor against Yongzheng's back confirmed the terrible truth: Cao Wenyan was the one who had violated him.
Yongzheng dropped all pretense of sanity. He sprinted forward, grabbing a long sword from the ground using his internal force, inserting it into his right hand. He went straight for Cao Wenyan's neck. The four remaining guards stepped forward to intercept, but Yongzheng's sword moved faster, cutting them down in an instant. In the next moment, Yongzheng's blade rested flat against Cao Wenyan's throat.
Cao Yanmei, who had just returned from guiding the others out the back, screamed, "Yongzheng! Don't kill him!"
The Tao he had been cultivating for so many years felt worthless; the monster in his body, the unchecked rage, had finally awakened. He wanted to swing the sword across and kill everyone who stood in front of him. The anger had completely occupied his mind, and the tip of hell was about to break loose.
Cao Yanmei rushed forward. "Yongzheng, remember that I saved you! Please let him go. I only have one brother. You have successfully rescued Rao Zhengsheng…"
Yongzheng's voice was low and solemn, vibrating with fury. "He hurt Horan… he must die…"
"Kill me in his place," Cao Yanmei pleaded, stepping closer.
Xue Horan, witnessing the standoff, knew they owed their lives to Cao Yanmei's help. He whispered weakly into Yongzheng's ear, "Yongzheng, let's go. I don't want to stay here anymore."
The plea was enough. The rage did not abate, but the loyalty to the man on his back forced his hand. Yongzheng used the tip of his sword to sharply cut open a gash across Cao Wenyan's right face.
"If a fourth person knows what you did tonight," Yongzheng threatened, his voice deadly calm, "I will kill you and turn Beixing Sect to ashes."
Yongzheng threw the sword on the ground and slowly adjusted Xue Horan's weight on his back. The two slowly disappeared down the path, swallowed by the early morning fog.