Heaven Dou's Rotten Roots
Spirit Hall Branch.
The underground prison.
"Aaaah-!!!"
Agonized screams pierced the stone door, echoing throughout the underground corridor.
The Soul Emperor who had still been spouting "The Medicine King's compassion, the Sacred Tree's gift of life" last night had not even lasted a day.
Outside the cell.
Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, the Imperial Bow resting across his knees as he quietly circulated his Soul Power.
Guang Ling sat beside him, his eyelids twitching as he listened to scream after scream from inside.
"You little brat."
"Hm?"
"I've interrogated plenty of people."
Guang Ling glanced toward the cell.
"But where exactly did you learn these dirty tricks?"
Lin Yuan did not even open his eyes.
"Ancient texts."
"What ancient texts?"
"They've been lost."
Guang Ling: "..."
The brat had not even done it himself.
He had merely written down the so-called "Ten Great Tortures of the Qing Dynasty" and handed them to Spirit Hall's interrogation specialists.
Then-
In less than a day.
They had pried the Six-Ring Soul Emperor's mouth open.
Click.
The cell door opened.
The Soul King in charge of the interrogation walked out.
"Your Highness."
"He talked."
Lin Yuan opened his eyes.
"Where is the Medicine King Holy Church's main hall?"
The Soul King shook his head.
"He doesn't know."
"He's only a core member of a branch hall. He normally receives orders through a single superior."
"The main hall's location, the church leader's whereabouts, the church's true core strongholds-he wasn't authorized to know any of them."
Lin Yuan was not surprised.
For the Medicine King Holy Church to have grown to this scale within the two great empires, it would have been uprooted long ago if it lacked even this degree of secrecy.
"Then what does he know?"
The Soul King's expression gradually grew grave.
"The Heaven Dou Empire."
"The Hall of Relief's influence in Heaven Dou is even greater than we imagined."
"Nearly ninety percent of Heaven Dou City's nobles have dealings with them involving shared interests."
Guang Ling immediately frowned.
"Ninety percent?"
"That's right."
"Through medicines that heal wounds, sustain life, and extend lifespans, the Hall of Relief has bound Heaven Dou's entire noble circle to itself."
"Some provide money."
"Some provide land."
"Some provide trade routes."
"And some suppress missing-person cases for them."
Lin Yuan's gaze chilled slightly.
"What about the imperial family?"
"Prince Xue Xing."
The Soul King said gravely:
"He's one of the Hall of Relief's greatest backers in Heaven Dou."
"He's been taking their pills regularly for years."
"In exchange, he not only resolves their troubles with the authorities, but also secretly supplies them with living people."
Guang Ling's gaze abruptly turned icy.
"Living people?"
"Refugees, condemned prisoners, slaves, and some unregistered commoners."
"They're secretly shipped away through the prince's estate's channels."
"To be used for..."
The Soul King paused.
"Refining medicine."
Crack!
The teacup in Guang Ling's hand instantly froze and shattered.
"A prince, no less."
"Feeding his own empire's people to Evil Soul Masters?"
Lin Yuan, however, did not grow angry.
He merely asked:
"Xue Ye doesn't know?"
The Soul King fell silent for a moment.
"He knows something is wrong with the Hall of Relief."
"He also knows Xue Xing handles people for them in secret."
"But all these years, he's chosen to pretend he doesn't know."
The reason was hardly difficult to guess.
The Hall of Relief could provide lifespan-extending pills.
It could keep the nobles stable.
More importantly, it could keep those aging dignitaries plagued by old wounds alive.
As long as the dead were not laid out at the palace gates.
Xue Ye could continue being the emperor who knew nothing.
Guang Ling sneered.
"One handles supplying people."
"The other handles playing blind."
"The Heaven Dou Imperial Family certainly works well together."
The Soul King continued:
"It's not just the imperial family."
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan also have dealings with the Hall of Relief."
Lin Yuan looked up.
"To what extent?"
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect controls a great many trade routes. Many of the Hall of Relief's medicinal ingredients are transported through trading companies under the sect."
"Quite a few people within the sect also regularly purchase pills from the Hall of Relief."
"Especially some of the elderly."
"The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan controls several important medicinal supply routes. Some clan members have escorted medicinal ingredients and pills for the Hall of Relief."
"In exchange, the Hall of Relief gives them priority access to healing medicines."
Guang Ling's expression darkened completely.
The Heaven Dou Imperial Family.
The nobles.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Thread after thread had already entangled the entire Heaven Dou Empire.
Lin Yuan suddenly asked:
"Have those who've been taking the medicine for years shown any abnormalities?"
"None so far."
"They're just becoming increasingly dependent on the pills."
"Once they stop taking them, their old wounds and aging rapidly return with a vengeance."
Lin Yuan sneered.
Just as expected.
They thought they were taking miraculous lifespan-extending medicine.
Yet they did not know that every pill they swallowed accumulated another measure of the power of Abundance within their bodies.
When it finally spiraled completely out of control one day-
That supposed extension of life.
Would become a death warrant.
"Leave those old things who can no longer live without the pills alone."
Guang Ling looked at him.
Lin Yuan's tone was calm.
"They can't be saved right now."
"No one knows just how much power of Abundance has accumulated inside them."
"When Abundance truly erupts..."
"That will be the day they die."
The room fell silent for a moment.
Lin Yuan rose and walked over to the map of the Heaven Dou Empire.
They had not extracted the main hall's location.
But that no longer mattered.
Since they could not find its head.
They would first chop off the hands it had extended.
"Relay my orders."
The Soul King immediately straightened.
"Your Highness."
"Send this confession to every Spirit Hall Main Hall within Heaven Dou."
Lin Yuan's finger swept across the map.
"Mobilize the Soul Masters."
"Investigate every Hall of Relief branch, medicine storehouse, caravan, and secret stronghold."
"Anyone confirmed to be a core member of the Medicine King Holy Church-"
"Arrest them."
"Kill anyone who resists."
"Seal all pills, ledgers, and personnel lists."
"The influence the Medicine King Holy Church has spent years building in the Heaven Dou Empire..."
Lin Yuan slowly closed his fingers.
"I want none of it left."
"Uproot it all."
The Soul King's heart jolted.
"Yes!"
"One more thing."
Lin Yuan looked at him.
"Verify the identities of ordinary medicine apprentices and peripheral personnel first."
"Release those who were deceived."
"Settle accounts with those who actually participated in refining medicine from living people, kidnapping, and murder."
"Don't let the blade fall on the wrong people."
"Understood!"
The Soul King hurried away.
Lin Yuan took up paper and brush.
Guang Ling knew at a glance.
This letter was not addressed to an ordinary Spirit Hall Main Hall.
"To big brother?"
"Yes."
Lin Yuan raised his brush.
Recipient-
Worship Hall, Great Enshrined Qian Daoliu.
The Hall of Relief in Nuoding City has fallen.
One Soul Emperor of the Medicine King Holy Church has been captured.
The location of the Medicine King Holy Church's main temple remains unknown.
Ninety percent of Heaven Dou's nobles have vested interests tied to the Hall of Relief.
Prince Xue Xing secretly supplies living people for pill refinement.
Xue Ye knows, yet has tacitly permitted it for years.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan both have dealings involving shared interests with the Hall of Relief.
Spirit Hall within Heaven Dou has begun a comprehensive purge of the Medicine King Holy Church's forces.
Having written this far.
Lin Yuan paused his brush for a moment.
Then he continued.
"Great Enshrined."
"Have Xue'er prepare to draw in the net."
Guang Ling's gaze flickered.
But Lin Yuan did not stop writing.
"The Heaven Dou Empire is already rotten to the bone."
"The imperial family plays deaf and dumb."
"The nobles trade other people's lives for their own longevity."
"Having Xue'er keep acting out this struggle for the crown prince's position and succession to the throne with them is nothing more than playing house with a pack of dead people."
"There is no need anymore."
Lin Yuan brought his brush down.
"Arrest those who should be arrested."
"Kill those who should be killed."
"Replace everyone who should be replaced."
"As for those old things who can no longer live without the Hall of Relief's pills-"
"There is no need to deal with them."
"They think what they have gained is longevity."
"In truth, they are merely using the Power of Abundance to prolong their lives."
"When that power truly erupts."
The final stroke fell.
"That will be the day they die."
Lin Yuan blew the ink dry.
He folded the secret letter.
He took out the Imperial Bow Token and placed it on top as well.
"The highest level of secrecy."
"Send it directly to the Worship Hall."
"It must only be handed to the Great Enshrined himself."
"Yes!"
The messenger took the secret letter and swiftly departed.
Lin Yuan looked back at the map.
Heaven Dou City.
Prince Xue Xing.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
And the Hall of Relief branches spread throughout the empire.
Through years of operation, the Medicine King Holy Church had woven a net covering all of Heaven Dou.
Since he could not find the main temple.
Then he would cut the threads one by one.
Uproot them place by place.
Until-
The person hiding behind it all could no longer sit still.
Lin Yuan reached out.
He pulled out the marker representing Nuoding City's Hall of Relief from the map.
"One Nuoding City is only the beginning."
"Next..."
"All of Heaven Dou."