The Imperial Prison was dark and damp, thick with murderous malice, bloodstains splattered everywhere.
Inside a torture chamber, the short, fat Master Wu was a ghastly sight, his hands and feet bound. Twin Whips held an Embroidered Spring Saber and sliced and gouged back and forth across his protruding ribs, as though playing a pipa, precisely picking out fragment after fragment of bone.
Master Wu passed out from the pain.
Jia Huan grabbed a bucket of ice water and poured it over his head, barking:
"There are thirty-eight more tortures. Give him every last one!"
"I... I killed..." Master Wu pleaded in agony, his voice broken and faltering.
Twin Whips looked toward his boss.
"I didn't hear anything. Keep torturing him. Don't let him die!" Jia Huan walked into the interrogation room and leisurely crossed his legs.
Since the Embroidered Uniform Guard's founding, no fewer than five chancellors had died in the Imperial Prison, along with countless powerful court officials. What did a mere landed magnate amount to?
"Aaah!"
Master Wu screamed as though his heart and lungs were being torn apart. Twin Whips scrubbed his body hard with an iron brush studded with iron nails, wrenching at flesh, sinew, and bone. The screams alone were enough to make the soul shudder.
Another cup of tea's worth of time passed.
Jia Huan tapped the table.
"Feed him a pill."
The Embroidered Uniform Guard's specially made pills were used exclusively for pain relief, numbing prisoners' entire bodies until they felt nothing. The effects lasted a quarter of an hour, making interrogation easier.
Master Wu was forcibly dragged into the interrogation room. Twin Whips stuffed a black pill into his mouth, and only after a while did Master Wu stop howling.
"Who killed Madam Wu Zhang?" Jia Huan asked.
"I did." Master Wu's voice trembled.
"How did you kill her?"
"I... I poured poison into her tea..." Like beans spilling from a bamboo tube, Master Wu confessed everything.
"Why did you kill your wife?" Jia Huan stared at him.
Master Wu said nothing.
"Torture him!" Jia Huan roared in fury.
"I'll confess! I'll confess!" Like a bird startled by a bowstring, Master Wu was so terrified that he lost control of his bladder. He would rather die than endure that torture again.
"Write this down." Jia Huan looked at Twin Whips.
Master Wu's face was deathly pale. After a long silence, his lips finally moved.
"Ten years ago, I began colluding with a band of mountain bandits on Mang Mountain. I sent them money, grain, and women, and they took care of my troubles for me-business rivals, for instance, and tenant farmers who kept clamoring for lower taxes. Whoever displeased me, I had the bandits kill."
"A few days ago, my wife discovered some accounts. I brushed her off with a few words, but the day before yesterday, she caught me kidnapping the Li Family Heiress and handing her over to the bandits' underlings. I was afraid she would report me to the authorities, so... so I could only do it with tears in my eyes."
Jia Huan slammed the table and rose.
"Was Jia Zhen involved?"
"No." Master Wu shook his head. "I often used silver to curry favor with Master Zhen..."
"Torture him!" Jia Huan's voice was chilling.
Twin Whips dragged him straight toward a scorching branding iron.
"He really wasn't!" Master Wu wailed. "How would I dare tell anyone?"
Jia Huan waved a hand.
"Where are the bandits? And aside from the local coroner, who else covered for you? Write down every last detail!"
That night.
Seven riders left the Capital.
They galloped seventy li westward, reaching the foot of Mang Mountain in the early hours before dawn.
The men tethered their horses to tree stumps and headed into the dense forest on foot, following the direction marked on the map.
Jia Huan instructed them:
"Old Dog Wu confessed that there are more than sixty bandits in the stronghold. Their five chiefs are skilled fighters. I'll deal with them myself. You surround and wipe out the underlings, and I'll help once I have my hands free."
"Yes, sir!" Warmth flowed through the six men's hearts, and their loyalty to their boss deepened.
The mountain forest was quiet save for birds calling. After they walked for just under an hour, bright lights appeared in the distance, and the outline of the stronghold came dimly into view. Some underlings were drinking and making merry around a bonfire.
The underling seated farthest away was still drinking when a coldly gleaming Embroidered Spring Saber settled against his neck. One light sweep sent blood spraying.
Meanwhile, Jia Huan used Snow-Treading Without a Trace, moving through the darkness like a phantom as he silently slipped into the tower.
Murderous malice descended. Earthly Fiend One-Slash Kill! The fifth chief died on his bed, eyes bulging wide.
Jia Huan could not even be bothered to use the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms on this useless lot. He entered each room and delivered a single slash. Only the head chief managed to withstand two moves, but in the end, his head too was severed from his body.
Outside, they were nothing but a disorganized rabble. The underlings either died or dropped to their knees. Dozens of disheveled women were imprisoned in the stronghold's cells, all gaunt-faced and badly tormented.
"These beasts!" Fathead Fish opened the cells. The women wept bitterly, overflowing with gratitude.
An underling led Skinny Monkey and Twin Whips into a secret chamber filled with the Gold and Silver and jewels the stronghold had amassed. Without the slightest hesitation, the two stuffed it all into their bundles.
"I'll return to the Capital first. Take these underlings to the local jail. Also, the county office's registrar, the county magistrate's nephews, and the county coroner deliberately sheltered Old Dog Wu. Escort them to the Imperial Prison!"
"Remember, we'll secretly keep twenty percent of whatever is confiscated from Old Dog Wu's estate. Hand over the rest!"
It was not until the morning hours that Jia Huan returned to the Imperial Prison.
Master Wu was barely clinging to life.
"Old dog, how many innocent lives have you destroyed?"
Thud!
A head rolled to the ground.
Jia Huan sheathed his saber.
Immediately afterward, a panel appeared in his mind, portraits flashing past one after another. Old Dog Wu's Sin Value was the gravest: kidnapping dozens of respectable women, victimizing the estate's tenant farmers, inciting bandits to assassinate shopkeepers, and brutally murdering his wife.
His Sin Value was middle seventh rank.
The bandits' head chief, meanwhile, was middle eighth rank.
[Sin Value—middle seventh rank, middle eighth rank, lower eighth rank, lower eighth rank, lower eighth rank...] [Participation-65%] [Reward-Formless Kalpa Finger, proficiency-first glimpse of the fundamentals] [Experience Points: 689/1000]
In an instant, an ineffably mysterious force poured into his Dantian. Jia Huan's blood and vitality surged, and his Inner Qi grew rich and powerful.
Sixth level of the Postnatal Realm!
"With my two most powerful martial arts now-the first move of the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms and the Formless Kalpa Finger-even someone at the postnatal realm peak probably wouldn't be a match for me."
"When I killed those five bald donkeys, I was at the second level of the Postnatal Realm and ranked one hundred and ninety-ninth on the Dragon-Tiger Ranking. Where should I stand now?"
Jia Huan murmured to himself.
He then brought the scholar from the old government office into the Imperial Prison. Pointing at Master Wu's headless corpse, he said calmly:
"The man who murdered your sister and her maid is dead. The coroner, registrar, and county magistrate's nephew will be brought to the Imperial Prison today."
The scholar's eyes were red. He viciously kicked the corpse several times to vent his hatred, then dropped to his knees with a thump and choked out:
"Thank you, Lord Jia! Thank you, Lord Jia..."
He repeated it over and over, his gratitude coming from the depths of his heart.
"It was my duty." Jia Huan helped him up. "Old Dog Wu probably still has trusted associates and old friends. If they dare cause you trouble, go straight to the Embroidered Uniform Guard Office!"
He was glad he had intervened in this case. Not only had he eliminated scourges like Old Dog Wu and the bandits, but his strength had also increased greatly.
"Leave the Imperial Prison quickly. The sinister and murderous energies here are heavy. You're a scholar with a frail constitution, and they can easily weigh on your heart and damage your spirit."
After that reminder, Jia Huan walked away without looking back.
Lord Jia, I'll study hard, pass the imperial examinations to become a jinshi, and repay you as an official at court!
The scholar silently swore to himself.
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