Killing In The Autumn Wind And Rain (III)

The yard was crowded with prisoners, men and women, old and young, all in shabby clothes. They looked pale, as if they hadn't seen the sun for many years. Death might be a kind of relief for them since they had already lost the courage to live on. They kneeled on the ground numbly and revealed no intentions of atonement, so the rain falling from the sky didn't add much of a solemn atmosphere to the scene.

Seeing this, the officials from the Ministry of Revenue were nervous and their hands that were holding the pens were shaking slightly. But the executioners seemed calm and their hands holding the hilts were stable.

"How do you plan on killing them?" Shangguan Yangyu stood behind Ning Que with his body bowed and whispered, "The cultivators who participated in the rebellion, except for those died of illness and torture, are all here. You want to kill them all or pick out some unlucky fellows?"