Seeing Luo Shang approach, the two rows of soldiers dropped to one knee in unison.
"Your Highness."
Luo Shang nodded and didn't break stride.
The soldiers rose. Working in pairs, they pushed open the massive iron gate.
Beyond it lay a vast space.
Luo Yun walked inside and stopped at the entrance. When he saw what lay within, his pupils contracted slightly.
A prison.
A huge underground prison.
Iron bars divided it into cramped cells, each holding people.
Men, women, and the elderly.
Their clothes were so filthy their original colors were impossible to make out. Their hair was matted into clumps, and their faces were caked with grime.
Their eyes glinted in the torchlight. Some were vacant, some ferocious, and others were crazed...
They certainly didn't look like good people.
Luo Yun gave them a rough count. There were at least several hundred.
No, more than that.
He looked deeper into the prison. In the corners beyond the reach of the torchlight, more eyes glimmered.
Thousands of people.
Imprisoned here.
Luo Shang stood beside Luo Yun. His voice was quiet, but it carried clearly through the cavernous prison.
"These people are all condemned criminals."
His tone was flat, as if he were stating a fact.
"Enemy spies, Evil Soul Masters who slaughtered civilians, child traffickers, bandits who massacred villagers. Every one of them committed heinous crimes and deserves to die."
Luo Yun said nothing. He stared at the prisoners without blinking.
"By law, they should have been executed long ago." Luo Shang paused. "But I kept some of them alive."
He looked down at Luo Yun.
"For you to use."
Luo Yun's fingers twitched slightly, but he said nothing.
Luo Shang gave his adjutant a glance.
The adjutant was a man in his forties, with a scar running diagonally from his forehead to his chin. He was burly, and his whole bearing radiated the ferocity of a man who had survived countless battles.
He was Luo Shang's trusted aide, a Soul Emperor and a veteran of Frost Ridge City, where he had served for over a decade.
He walked to a cell, opened the iron door, and dragged out ten prisoners.
Their chains clattered as the adjutant and several soldiers shoved them into the open space in the middle of the prison.
Some stumbled along, some could barely stand, and others kept their heads down without a word.
The torchlight fell across their faces.
An old man with a long beard lifted his head. He stared at the darkness above, broken into fragments by iron bars, and tears suddenly welled in his cloudy eyes.
"I'm out..." His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible. "I'm out..."
"I regret it so much... I regret it so much..."
Before he could finish, a burly man beside him cut him off.
The man had a fleshy face, a shaved head, and a snake tattooed on his neck. Even in chains, he held his back ramrod straight.
He looked at the soldiers before him and grinned instead of showing fear, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
"You stinking officials."
"If you've got the guts, take these chains off and fight me fair and square! What kind of man locks me up in here? Come on! Come on!"
His voice grew louder and more arrogant, spittle flying everywhere.
Luo Shang's brow furrowed slightly.
The adjutant didn't even raise an eyelid. He stepped forward and punched the burly man in the mouth.
A Soul Emperor's punch was more than an ordinary man could withstand.
The man's mouth was first knocked crooked, then several teeth flew out and clattered to the ground.
His mouth split open. Blood mixed with saliva ran from the corner of his lips, and he crumpled like a puddle of mud, his knees hitting the ground with a dull thud.
Silence fell.
Standing to the side, Luo Yun watched. His heart gave a sudden jolt.
It wasn't fear.
It was a feeling he couldn't quite explain.
Luo Shang glanced at him but said nothing.
Then he turned to face the remaining nine prisoners.
Just moments ago, they had all worn different expressions. Now, fear filled every one of their eyes.
They instinctively edged backward.
Luo Shang's voice was quiet, but every word rang clear in the silent prison.
"You are all condemned criminals. By law, you are all going to die."
The nine held their breath.
"But I'll give you a chance." Luo Shang's gaze swept over their faces. "This is my son."
He pointed to Luo Yun.
All nine prisoners turned to look at Luo Yun.
A six-year-old child stood in the torchlight, dressed in clean clothes, his expression calm beyond his years.
"If you can hurt him—even if all you do is cut one of his fingers—I'll let you go."
The nine prisoners froze.
Silence lasted for several breaths.
Then a gaunt, middle-aged prisoner spoke, his voice dry. "You mean... if we hurt him, you'll let us go?"
"I never go back on my word."
The prisoners' expressions changed.
Fear receded, replaced by a feverish gleam.
One of them was already rolling his wrists.
Another licked his cracked lips.
The light in someone else's eyes had turned murderous.
A prisoner wearing glasses took half a step forward, his voice trembling. "Really... we can actually hurt him? Even if we accidentally..."
Luo Shang looked at him. His expression didn't change, but the prisoner's body stiffened.
"He won't die."
A hulking prisoner sprang to his feet, his chains rattling.
"Good!"
"I'm in!"
Luo Shang lifted his chin toward the adjutant.
The adjutant hesitated.
"Your Highness, what if something happens to the young master..."
"It's fine. I know what I'm doing."
Seeing this, the adjutant sighed, stepped forward, and unlocked the chains of the nine prisoners one by one.
The chains hit the ground and echoed through the cavernous prison, clinking like a clear funeral bell.
The soldiers took nine swords from the weapon rack and tossed them in front of the prisoners.
They were no divine weapons, just ordinary steel swords, but they were more than enough to wound a child.
The prisoners picked them up. Their movements shifted from awkward to practiced, and the light in their eyes changed from fear to murderous intent.
Luo Shang stepped back a few paces and stood behind Luo Yun.
He patted Luo Yun on the shoulder, his voice low.
"Go on. You can't use Soul Power."
Luo Yun took a deep breath.
His hand was trembling slightly.
He was a little afraid. After all, he was still only six years old.
Facing nine grown men who wielded weapons and killed without blinking, he couldn't help feeling nervous.
He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and clenched his right hand.
The Moon Eclipse Sword slowly appeared in his palm.
Its purplish-black blade gleamed coldly in the torchlight.
Luo Yun gripped the sword and walked forward.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
He stood before the nine prisoners, the Moon Eclipse Sword angled toward the ground.
His back was ramrod straight, his chin slightly raised. In the torchlight, most of the childishness had left his face, replaced by a composure no six-year-old should possess.
An inexplicable chill rose in the hearts of the nine prisoners.
Those eyes of his.
Was he really only six years old?
Before you continue