The carriage drove along the main road and passed through a bustling street.
Suddenly, Dudian lifted the carriage curtain and asked the coachman to stop by the roadside.
He adjusted his clothes, got off the carriage, and went into a flower shop by the roadside. He said to the beautiful shop owner with golden hair in the flower shop, "Wrap a bunch of the most fragrant and beautiful flowers for me."
The shop owner saw that he had fair skin and an extraordinary temperament. She smiled and agreed. She selected a bunch of fresh roses from the flower pots in the shop and handed them to Dudian, saying, "One silver coin. These are the most fragrant and beautiful flowers in our shop. But if you're giving them to your lover, roses are the best. Roses have thorns and can easily prick the fingers of your beloved."
Dudian smiled and said, "Flowers with thorns are the most charming."
He handed over the silver coin, held the wrapped roses, and returned to the carriage.
Barton, Kroen, and Joseph were surprised when they saw the flowers Dudian was holding and said, "Dian, what did you buy the flowers for?"
"To give to our guest," Dudian smiled.
The carriage continued to move forward.
A few hours later.
On the street near the boundary wall, Dudian led Barton and the other two out of the carriage. They rented a room in an inn by the roadside. After entering the room, Dudian asked Barton and the other two to go nearby and buy some first-aid gauze, antiseptic solution, thick thread fabric, and scissors.
First, he cut his hair to a normal short length in front of the mirror. He asked the other two to help trim the hair at the back of his head to make it look neat.
After his hair was trimmed, his facial features were clearly revealed. Compared with his delicate appearance three years ago, he was now thinner. His eyes were dark and deep, and his cheeks were as sharply contoured as if carved by an ice blade, with distinct lines. There was still a bit of resemblance to his past self in his features, but his expression and gaze were calmer, and his thin lips carried a hint of coldness.
Then, he sat on the ground, took off his newly bought upper garment and trousers, and placed the thick thread fabric he bought on the ground.
"Dian, what are you..."
"This..."
When Dudian took off his upper clothes, Barton and the other two widened their eyes and looked at their peer's body in disbelief. It was hardly like a human body. It was more like a parched field, full of scars and cracks. Countless whip marks and scratches, no matter how small, were coiled around Dudian's chest, back, arms, abdomen, and other parts like a spider web.
Except for a shallow scratch on the chin of his cheek, almost all the places covered by his clothes were scars.
The three of them were filled with shock. It was hard to imagine what kind of cruel torture had caused such injuries and what kind of willpower it took to endure so much pain!
"These, these are all the tortures you endured when you were in prison?" Kroen stared blankly and suddenly felt his eyes moisten. Thinking of his previous hesitant mood, he was filled with guilt and shame.
Dudian smiled slightly and said, "Not all of them. Now I need you to do me a favor and help me pull out these two steel nails."
The three of them then noticed the nail caps on Dudian's shoulders. They felt a layer of goosebumps all over their bodies. Barton said in a trembling voice, "How could they torture people like this? Don't they have the slightest bit of mercy?"
Dudian picked up the pliers he had asked them to buy and handed them to Barton, saying, "It's up to you. Pull them out quickly."
The three of them had an ugly expression and extremely complicated feelings. After holding the pliers, Barton's palm trembled slightly, and he said, "It will be very painful to pull them out like this. Can you bear it?"
"Yeah," Dudian gave the three of them an encouraging look.
The three of them exchanged a look, summoned up their courage, gritted their teeth, and clamped the nail caps with the pliers, constantly paying attention to Dudian's expression, for fear that they might accidentally cause more harm. When they saw that Dudian's expression was calm, they felt a bit more confident and grasped the pliers tightly to pull the steel nail.
A searing pain shot up from under his shoulder blade. Dudian clenched his fingers into a tight fist in pain, but he still tried his best to keep his expression calm. However, the pain still exceeded his expectations. His lips were tightly pursed, and he squeezed out a sound from his throat, "Hurry up!"
Barton gritted his teeth and gave a hard tug.
The steel nail was pulled out with a whoosh, and blood gushed out from the wound. The color of the blood was a bit dull.
Dudian's lips twitched in pain. He asked the three of them to spray the prepared gauze and antiseptic solution and bandage the wound.
The three of them were in a flurry, but they still managed to wrap the wound for Dudian.
"This, it's so long!" Joseph looked at the blood-covered steel nail in his hand and felt his heart tremble. The steel nail was thicker and longer than his finger. It was impossible to imagine how painful it was when it was nailed into the body.
Dudian took a few breaths, his lips turned a bit pale, but he still asked the three of them to pull out the second steel nail.
More than ten minutes later, both steel nails were taken out, and the three of them helped Dudian bandage the wounds on his shoulders.
After doing all this, the three of them were a bit exhausted and sat on the ground beside him, gasping for breath.
Dudian leaned against the bedside, relaxed his body, and let the wounds on his shoulders heal as quickly as possible.
"Dian, where should we throw these steel nails?" After taking a rest, Kroen, who was more cautious, asked Dudian.
Dudian's gaze fell on the two steel nails and he said softly, "No need to throw them away. Leave them for our guest."
After the wounds stopped bleeding, Dudian led the three of them out of the inn. However, they didn't go directly to the boundary wall. Instead, they came to a house in the middle of a nearby street. Dudian picked up a stone from a distance and threw it at the door.
Hearing the sound, the door was opened. A short and chubby woman looked around. Then she saw the stone on the ground, couldn't help but curse, and closed the door again.
Barton and the other two were confused and looked puzzled.
Dudian didn't say anything and beckoned the three of them to walk towards the boundary wall.
During the inspection with the flow of people, Dudian was stopped by a middle-aged guard.
"Please show your identity cards," the middle-aged guard said.
Dudian took out a gold coin from his pocket and handed it over. His eyes were fixed on the other person's face. He saw that the middle-aged guard's face changed slightly when he saw the gold coin, and soon anger welled up in his eyes.
Before he could speak, Dudian spoke first, his voice extremely low, "That short and chubby woman is your wife, right?"
Hearing Dudian's words, the middle-aged guard, who was about to get angry, was immediately stunned. Dudian quickly took out another gold coin and said loudly, "Sorry, sorry. I gave the wrong one just now. This is the right one." He stuffed it into the guard's hand.
The middle-aged guard was silent for a moment. Finally, his fingers slowly tightened, and he said indifferently, "Go ahead."
Dudian waved to the four people behind him and entered the passage.
After coming out of the long passage, Barton and the other two couldn't help but look at Dudian. Kroen said, "Dian, how did you know that woman was his wife? Do you know him?"
"It's the smell," Dudian said without explaining in detail. He hired a carriage by the roadside. After getting on the carriage, he said to the three of them, "Now we're going to our guest's place, and we're going to start doing the real thing. You guys cheer up and must not be the least bit careless!"