The Truth of the Golden Saber Academy

Wang Yuanyi was visibly confused.

He hesitated. "I-I don't know Duan Qian!"

He Yu's face darkened. Just as he was about to act, Wang Yuanyi hurriedly added:

"I really don't know Duan Qian! How could I possibly know the Prefectural Governor, my lord?!"

He Yu saw that Wang Yuanyi did not seem to be faking it.

But perhaps Wang Yuanyi was simply a good actor.

He Yu sent a wisp of true qi drifting lightly into Wang Yuanyi's body.

That strand of true qi wreaked havoc within Wang Yuanyi.

It specifically struck several of the body's most painful acupoints.

"Ah—!"

"I really don't know!!"

The true qi took effect quickly. Wang Yuanyi rolled about the ground in agony.

Like a leech thrown into a jar of salt, he writhed madly.

The piercing pain gave him nowhere to hide.

He Yu knew that such pain was absolutely beyond what ordinary people could endure.

When ordinary people suffered this kind of torture, not only would they confess everything, they would even try to frame a few innocent people.

He Yu dispersed the true qi within Wang Yuanyi.

As though granted a pardon, Wang Yuanyi lay on the ground, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.

"Do you know Duan Qian now?" He Yu asked.

Wang Yuanyi was nearly in tears. "I really don't know Duan Qian!"

He Yu frowned, realizing that Wang Yuanyi probably truly did not know Duan Qian.

Could it be that only Wang Kun knew Duan Qian? He Yu silently pondered.

He Yu asked again, "What is the relationship between you and Zhang Hongwen, the county magistrate of Xian'an?"

This time, Wang Yuanyi visibly hesitated.

Only then did he put on an innocent expression. "My father and I have only had a meal with Lord Zhang once. To open a martial hall, we have to maintain good relations with Lord Zhang!"

He Yu clearly did not believe him, and another strand of true qi gathered in his hand.

"It's true! It's true! The Black Tiger Martial Hall often invites Lord Zhang to meals too! Ah—!"

Wang Yuanyi once more rolled all over the ground in pain.

"Ah! Kill me! Kill me—"

He Yu tortured Wang Yuanyi for nearly half an hour.

Wang Yuanyi finally collapsed limply onto the ground.

He had lost too much blood, and his face was deathly pale.

The ground was covered in traces of his agonized struggling.

"Still not talking?" He Yu asked calmly.

"Kill... kill me..."

He Yu was puzzled. He did not know what secret was worth Wang Yuanyi defending with his life.

But He Yu had no patience to waste on him any longer.

A strand of true qi containing violent power gradually took shape at He Yu's fingertips.

"I never expected you to be such a tough bone. I'll grant you your wish."

Wang Yuanyi could sense the terrifying power contained in that true qi.

The transparent liquid true qi was like Yama come to claim his life, foretelling the arrival of death.

Wang Yuanyi's gaze flickered, and conflict appeared on his face.

When he felt true death drawing near, Wang Yuanyi wavered.

It was human instinct, untouched by reason.

"W-wait, I'll talk, but after I do, you have to promise not to kill me!"

He Yu shook his head and laughed. "You villains who are at death's door all love making demands. Do you have the strength to make demands, buddy?"

Bang—

Wang Yuanyi's other leg exploded into a spray of blood.

Wang Yuanyi howled again, clutching his blood-soaked thigh as he did sit-ups, looking utterly miserable.

He Yu slapped Wang Yuanyi's face hard. "Still want to haggle and talk terms with me?"

"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!!"

Wang Yuanyi's psychological defenses crumbled.

Wang Yuanyi told He Yu everything he knew.

It turned out that the Golden Saber Academy had always been helping Zhang Hongwen, the county magistrate of Xian'an, traffic people.

And Zhang Hongwen only wanted youths under sixteen.

That was why the previous owner of this body had been brought back to the Golden Saber Academy.

There were also many youths who had entered the Golden Saber Academy hoping to cultivate the Martial Path, only to be handed over to Zhang Hongwen.

Zhang Hongwen gave the Golden Saber Academy vast sums of money, cultivation techniques, and additional protection.

But Wang Yuanyi did not know what Zhang Hongwen took those youths away to do.

He only knew that none of those youths had ever returned.

Wang Yuanyi guessed that they had all died.

And He Yu himself had originally been someone the Golden Saber Academy intended to hand over to Zhang Hongwen.

Wang Yuanyi knew that once he told He Yu about this, He Yu would definitely retaliate and kill him.

That was why he had pretended to be tough just now, hoping to take a gamble.

He gambled that, in order to learn about this matter, He Yu would spare him for the time being.

Then he could find an opportunity to seek help from Zhang Hongwen.

But who would have thought that He Yu refused to play by the rules and was utterly immune to threats?

Wang Yuanyi knew that if he still refused to talk, not only would he lose his life, he likely would not even be left with an intact corpse.

With no other choice, Wang Yuanyi laid the entire matter bare.

"No wonder you kept it under wraps. Turns out this involves me too." He Yu looked thoughtful.

From the looks of it, it could basically be confirmed that all those youths Zhang Hongwen received were ultimately transferred to Duan Qian.

So Wang Yuanyi truly did not know Duan Qian, because Zhang Hongwen had always been the one dealing with Duan Qian.

Then, in the simulation, after the Golden Saber Academy was destroyed by the Black Tiger Martial Hall—

The reason Duan Qian sent people to wipe out the Black Tiger Martial Hall was probably not to search for some treasure.

It was to destroy the evidence of the transactions between the Golden Saber Academy and Zhang Hongwen.

He Yu had basically pieced together the whole sequence of events.

But there was still one point he was unsure about.

What had Duan Qian abducted these youths for?

He Yu fell into thought.

Fortunately, He Yu had been through a lot in his previous life.

He could roughly guess the fate of those handsome youths.

There were basically only a few possibilities.

The first possibility was that Duan Qian used them as bribes and social resources to win over his faction in officialdom.

In the ancient era of He Yu's previous life, male companionship had flourished in several dynasties.

The ancients of those times were accustomed to it, and their tastes were exceedingly extravagant.

By the same logic, there were certainly nobles and royalty in this world who enjoyed that sort of thing.

Then there would be no shortage of buyers for these handsome youths.

The second possibility was that, considering this was a world of the Martial Path, these innocent youths might have been taken by Duan Qian to refine some kind of evil art.

Compared to proper cultivation techniques that required bitter, painstaking practice—

Evil arts were all about putting in little effort, seeing quick results, feeling no pain, and being discharged the same day.

Naturally, everyone was willing to cultivate them.

Especially those nobles and royalty who held the power of life and death over ordinary people—they flocked to them like ducks.

But these were only He Yu's guesses.

He Yu was not certain what Duan Qian had actually taken those innocent youths away to do.

Perhaps there were things in this world that He Yu did not know about.

"Where did you hide the account books recording your transactions with Zhang Hongwen?" He Yu planned to get the evidence into his own hands.

Wang Yuanyi hurriedly said, "I-it's with my father. He handles all the transactions!"

Wang Yuanyi sold out his own father, Wang Kun, without the slightest psychological burden.

Sorry, Dad. I really can't hold out anymore.

You hold him off for me!

In Wang Yuanyi's eyes, Wang Kun was at least a Bone Tempering Realm martial artist. Even if he could not defeat He Yu, he was still far stronger than himself.

Luring He Yu over first could not go wrong!

Maybe while his father was tangled up with He Yu, he could find a chance to escape.

He Yu saw through Wang Yuanyi's scheme at a glance.

But He Yu did not care in the slightest.

"Where is Wang Kun now?" He Yu asked.

Wang Yuanyi quickly said, "My father is cultivating in the underground secret chamber beneath the Scripture Pavilion. The entrance is well hidden—I can take you there!"

Wang Yuanyi dropped to his knees remarkably quickly.

If this had been a special era, he would have been a textbook collaborator leading the way.

If He Yu had searched on his own, he definitely would not have known there was an underground secret chamber beneath the Scripture Pavilion.

When the Wang family was exterminated later, this bastard Wang Yuanyi would deserve half the credit.

"What a fine, filial son you are." He Yu picked up Wang Yuanyi and left.

However, He Yu did not head straight for the Scripture Pavilion. Instead, he first swept through the Golden Saber Academy.

Even while carrying Wang Yuanyi in one hand, limiting his movements—

He still took less than half an hour to kill all several hundred people of the Golden Saber Academy!

Wang Yuanyi witnessed this one-sided slaughter with his own eyes.

The shock made his scalp go numb.

The martial artists of the Golden Saber Academy seemed like toddlers who had only just learned to walk before He Yu.

They merely stood there stupidly, waiting for He Yu to split them apart with a single saber strike.

Wang Yuanyi knew that his father was absolutely no match for He Yu either.

But he no longer had any way out.

His overwhelming desire to live made Wang Yuanyi cling to a sliver of hope. He hoped his father could delay He Yu for a while longer.

"Dad, I'll come back and avenge you!"

Wang Yuanyi had already decided where to bury his father.

"Open it." He Yu pointed at the entrance to the underground secret chamber.

Wang Yuanyi pressed the code to open the door on the stone wall.

A heavy stone door rumbled open.

A deep passage leading downward was revealed.

Wang Yuanyi put on a flattering smile. "I didn't lie to you, did I? We can go in now."

He Yu smiled. "Sure."

At He Yu's answer, a hidden viciousness flashed through Wang Yuanyi's eyes.

He Yu lifted his foot and walked toward the passage.

A triumphant smile gradually appeared in Wang Yuanyi's eyes.

But in the next instant, Wang Yuanyi, who no longer had lower legs, was hurled directly into the narrow passage by He Yu.

Wang Yuanyi had not expected it. "You! You bastard!!"

Whoosh—

An arrow shot rapidly toward Wang Yuanyi.

Wang Yuanyi, sprawled on the ground, slammed both hands against the floor and barely dodged the arrow.

But a rapid succession of arrows came flying at him again.

Wang Yuanyi scrambled to dodge—no, his hands scrambled, since both his legs had already exploded.

He rolled wildly across the ground.

What was more, the walls on both sides of the passage began slowly closing inward, making the passage narrower and narrower.

They were about to crush Wang Yuanyi into a meat patty.

He Yu sneered coldly. "Someone as cautious as me—did you think you could set me up?"

"Dad! Save me!!"

Wang Yuanyi screamed himself hoarse toward the other end of the passage.