Chapter 31: The Ultimate Tough Guy

Wang Chong had left, but Chu Ge knew that the second phase of the trial wasn't over yet. He had managed to hold onto his ideals in his confrontation with Wang Chong, but even harsher trials lay ahead.

In previous attempts, he had failed several times at this stage.

Chu Ge picked up the broken shard of the porcelain bowl from the ground again.

"Please bring me another lamp," he said.

The guard brought another oil lamp over. This time, however, he wore a serious expression, as if mentally preparing himself.

Last time, Yang Yan had also asked for light, which had initially puzzled the guard, as there were no books to read in the prison.

But what he witnessed shocked him to the core: Yang Yan had used the broken porcelain shard to pierce the abscesses on his legs, squeezing out the pus in the dim light!

After that, the guard couldn't eat properly for three days.

This time, he thought he was ready, convinced that even if he saw the same scene, he could handle it.

In the flickering light, Chu Ge looked down at his wounds again.

His legs looked different from the last time. The swelling had gone down, perhaps due to draining the pus before, but that didn't mean his condition had improved. On the contrary, the wounds had worsened.

The flesh around the wounds had begun to rot, exposing the bone underneath.

If he didn't take care of it, the infection and necrosis would eventually claim his life.

Piercing the abscesses and draining the pus wouldn't be enough this time.

Chu Ge paused, gripping the porcelain shard before making up his mind. Gritting his teeth, he used the shard to cut away the rotting flesh from his leg.

A wave of pain surged through him.

Even though the tissue was decayed, and some areas had lost sensation, the pain from scraping it off was excruciating.

While the pain of squeezing out pus was sharp but short-lived, this agony felt like a slow dismemberment.

The shard was blunt, and the flesh clung stubbornly. Chu Ge could only grit his teeth, chipping away bit by bit.

He was thankful for his "Steel Will" trait, which helped him ignore some of the pain; otherwise, he might have passed out quickly.

Even with this advantage, the ordeal was horrific.

At first, Chu Ge used little force, partly due to his weakened state and partly due to a lingering hesitation.

But as time passed, he began to cut with increasing ruthlessness.

He exerted all his strength, even scraping against the bone, creating a horrible, teeth-grinding sound.

To distract himself, Chu Ge mentally repeated a line from a historical text he had read before:

"At midnight, he awoke, broke the bowl, and cut away the rotten flesh with his own hands. When only the tendons remained, he cut those as well."

When Chu Ge first read this, he was shocked.

The text offered only a brief account, but imagining the scene was enough to chill one to the bone.

Initially, Chu Ge couldn't bring himself to follow through, attempting only a superficial scrape, hoping he could still pass.

But the game was merciless. His attempt failed.

Now, he had no illusions. He would grit his teeth and scrape away every bit of decayed flesh.

He even repeated the final line about severing tendons and membranes to the letter.

As he reenacted the scene, Chu Ge's admiration for Yang Yan grew.

The difficulty of this trial for a scholar rivaled that of the warrior's test.

It had two goals: to triumph in debate and to survive in prison.

While history had many instances of verbal confrontations in courts, those speakers often enjoyed the status of honored guests. Yang Yan, however, was a prisoner!

And here he was, injured, with no doctor or medicine, forced to perform an impromptu surgery with only a broken bowl shard.

If it weren't documented in historical records, Chu Ge might have doubted that such a feat was even possible.

Fortunately, Chu Ge was just a player, with the "Steel Will" trait aiding him.

With its help, his pain was dulled, and repeated attempts had acclimated him to the extreme scenario.

After finally clearing away the decayed flesh, Chu Ge wanted nothing more than to drop the shard and collapse, but he wasn't done yet.

The bone was still tethered by tendons, and those had to go too.

Taking a brief pause, he pressed the shard against the tendon once more.

The tendons clung more stubbornly than the decayed flesh, and the shard scraped noisily against the bone.

The guard outside, who had thought he was prepared, started trembling as he held the lamp.

He initially believed he could handle seeing the pus-draining scene again, but now he realized how wrong he was.

If the last scene had a shock factor of ten, this was a hundredfold.

Holding the lamp with trembling hands, the guard's light wavered.

Chu Ge looked over and calmly said, "Please keep it steady. I can't see."

The guard swallowed, "My apologies, Master Yang."

"No problem." Chu Ge continued with the shard.

Finally, he had cleared every last tendon.

Chu Ge released the shard, collapsing onto the rotting straw, utterly drained.

The guard, however, fled as if he had seen a ghost.

The room dimmed as Chu Ge's awareness began to fade, the pace of time accelerating.

This was a good sign, indicating he had passed the second phase.

But the third phase awaited.

In fact, Chu Ge was unsure of the exact requirements to clear this final stage, having failed twice before.

The third interrogation wasn't documented in historical records, making it an open-ended challenge.

He could only respond based on the questions, maintaining a delicate balance between firmness and restraint.

Chu Ge closed his eyes, mentally rehearsing his arguments as if preparing for a final exam.

He heard the guard's voice outside, "Bring the prisoner!"

Two guards hoisted Chu Ge, strapping him upright to a wooden rack in the dimly lit chamber.

In the shadows, a man in a black robe sat across the table.

When Chu Ge first saw him, he couldn't place the man's identity. But eventually, clues pieced together, revealing the truth.

This man wasn't just any official. He was the Emperor of Wei himself, Emperor Zhao!

In the final stage of this scholar's trial, Chu Ge would have to face not only a pragmatic middleman like He Xueyi or a scheming powerbroker like Wang Chong, but the supreme ruler of Wei, a cunning emperor with legendary wit.