Return of the Pearl

Xiao Yun's gaze seemed frozen as she stared intently at Li Ergou's lifeless body. With her mouth slightly open, she slowly spoke to Qianlong, "Hongli, he saved me. Did you know that he was originally one of those bandits?"

When saying this, Xiao Yun's face was full of complicated expressions, showing gratitude to Li Ergou and emotion about his identity. Her voice trembled slightly, with a barely perceptible sob, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from the bottom of her heart with difficulty.

Upon hearing this, Qianlong frowned slightly. A hint of understanding flashed across his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by heartache. He reached out his hand and gently wiped away the tears that were about to fall from the corners of Xiao Yun's eyes. He hugged her tightly in his arms and said gently, "I know everything, Yun'er, don't be sad." His voice was low and magnetic, as if it had a soothing power.

When Qianlong hugged Xiao Yun, his eyes were always on Li Ergou's body. His brows were slightly furrowed, and his expression looked a little solemn, as if he was thinking about something.

After a moment, Qianlong opened his lips slightly and said slowly: "After this battle is over, he must be buried. After all, he saved both of us, so his merits and demerits offset each other." Qianlong's words were full of emotion and relief, as if he was drawing a full stop to Li Ergou's life. His eyes looked into the distance, as if lost in thought, his eyes full of respect and compassion for life, deep and distant.

Xiao Yun responded, and they watched those people fighting quietly together. Qianlong's heart was full of determination. He firmly believed that the war would soon be over and everything would return to peace. At this time, Qianlong held Xiao Yun in his arms, as if he had held up a peaceful sky for her.

An Yi's eyes flashed with cold light, as if a devil had descended, and he began a horrifying torture on Altai. His methods were extremely cruel, like a demon crawling out of hell, wantonly inflicting all kinds of horrible tortures on Altai.

He scratched Altai's skin with his sharp nails, leaving deep blood marks. The blood marks crawled all over Altai's body like twisted centipedes, and blood gushed out like a spring.

He twisted Altai's limbs like twisted ropes, the sound of broken bones was crisp and harsh, Altai's face became distorted and hideous due to extreme pain, as if he was a devil from hell. An Yi also continued to stimulate Altai with all kinds of vicious words, causing him to suffer mentally.

During the entire torture process, An Yi was like a crazy artist, unleashing his cruelty and brutality on Altai's broken body until he was satisfied. He then stopped and dragged Altai away like garbage, leaving behind a mess and Altai's extremely painful state.

Fu Heng and other soldiers quickly ended the battle after a fierce battle. Each of them had more or less traces of battle on their bodies. Some wounds were deep enough to see the bone, while others were just shallow abrasions. But no matter how serious the wounds were, they seemed to be unaware of them. Blood continued to seep out of the wounds, staining their clothes red, but they did not care about the severe pain coming from the wounds. Instead, their faces were filled with a kind of joy and relief that they had finally avenged themselves after going through hardships.

Almost without exception, these people were Altai's confidants. They fought on the field until the last moment, but were eventually ruthlessly killed. In an instant, the entire field was filled with a strong and pungent smell of blood, which seemed to drown people.

Looking around, there was a tragic scene of blood everywhere, broken limbs and arms scattered everywhere, broken weapons reflected a cold light in the pool of blood, and the blood on the ground gathered into a river, gurgling and flowing, dyeing the earth a dark red.

The air was filled with the smell of gunpowder and blood, making people feel as if they were in hell. The shouts and painful groans echoed in their ears, making people feel the cruelty and tragedy of this battle.

Fu Heng and many other soldiers marched with determined steps to report before Emperor Qianlong. Their faces still showed the fatigue and determination after the battle. Fu Heng said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, we have successfully killed thousands of enemies. Now there are almost no survivors on the battlefield. We have killed them all!"

At this moment, everyone suddenly discovered that Altai had disappeared. Fu Heng's face immediately showed an annoyed look. He frowned and was about to take people to track down Altai's whereabouts.

However, before Fu Heng could make any move, An Yi appeared as fast as a gust of wind. He dragged Altai back in an extremely rough manner, as if dragging a dead dog. An Yi was very strong, and Altai had no power to resist in his hands and was thrown to the ground.

Altai looked miserable at this moment, his body covered in dust and blood. If he had not been wearing the familiar clothes, it would have been difficult for everyone present to recognize him. His originally proud face had become distorted, and his eyes were filled with fear and despair.

However, surprisingly, no one present blamed An Yi for her behavior, and no one thought her actions were cruel. After all, she had made too many sacrifices during this trip to Shandong.

When Altai saw Qianlong at this time, it was like seeing the last straw of life. He cried out, "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. Please give me a quick death! I really can't stand it anymore. He is a devil!"

Qianlong was naturally well aware of An Yi's methods. This was the first time that he tortured the person he wanted to capture without his order. However, Qianlong did not blame him for this, because he understood that from the moment the secret guards became secret guards, they no longer had families, only code names and missions. Too many secret guards were sacrificed this time, so it was okay to let An Yi vent his emotions.

Qianlong remained calm and composed. He slowly said, "It's not difficult to seek a quick death. Now, tell me, who among those officials in Shandong is your accomplice?"

But Altai was still not honest at this time. He shouted back in a hoarse voice: "Your Majesty, the officials in Shandong are all my confidants!"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Qianlong laughed coldly, "So, according to what you said, should I execute all the officials in Shandong?"

At this moment, everyone present was angered by Altai's attitude. They clenched their fists, and veins bulged on the back of their hands. However, they had no idea who Altai's confidants were. If these officials were not all replaced, in case there were still hidden confidants, these people would probably continue to oppress the people in the future. For a moment, everyone was caught in a dilemma, and the atmosphere around them became increasingly depressing and solemn.