E Kao fought back with all his might, but Zhao Wuji slapped him on the top of his head. His mountain-like body smashed through three floors, creating a deep crater in the street. Tian Ya had barely uttered a plea for mercy when Zhao Wuji beat him severely, then bound his limbs and sealed his Soul Power.
"Is that all you've got?" Zhao Wuji lifted the two men as easily as two chicks, his imposing aura making them tremble. "Come on, let's go see your good brother Bu Le!" With that, he vanished into the night.
A moment later, Zhao Wuji led E Kao and Tian Ya into the dungeon where they could not be imprisoned. After being severely tortured, the two confessed to the crimes they had committed over the years.
They were all bullying men and women, committing all sorts of evil deeds. Their targets were mostly ordinary people or those who hadn't awakened their Martial Soul. In short, they were bullies who preyed on the weak and feared the strong.
Thanks to this caution, the Wretched Three Musketeers have been able to run rampant in Suotuo City for many years without ever being caught. The nobles with status and power are too lazy to bother with them, while the people who are bullied are all ordinary people who dare not speak out against them.
However, they were unlucky to run into Yu Tianheng today.
A few days later, the bulletin board in Suotuo City was packed with people. When the notice personally signed by Yu Tianheng was posted, the crowd first fell into a deathly silence, and then erupted into a thunderous cheer.
The thirteen large vermilion characters reading "The three lewd Wretched Three Musketeers be publicly tried this afternoon" gleamed in the sunlight, with the Earl's official seal stamped below.
"Thank God!" Old Auntie Wang, the tofu seller, trembled as she leaned against the bulletin board, tears streaming down her wrinkled face. "My daughter, whom they drove to her death, can finally rest in peace..."
The blacksmith beside her gripped his hammer tightly; the scars from the burns inflicted by Bu Le's Martial Soul remained on his iron-like hands.
The coachmen in the noble district whispered among themselves, glancing occasionally toward the city center.
The noble lords, who usually turned a blind eye to the suffering of the common people, were now whispering among themselves through the carved window lattices. One of them lightly stroked a gilded folding fan and sneered, "It's nothing but a show put on by the nouveau riche to win people's hearts."
"But they're just a bunch of lowly commoners, what's there to care about?"
Upon hearing this, his companion quickly stopped him. "Shut up! That Yu Tianheng is the young patriarch of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, with Titled Douluo backing him up. We can't afford to offend him. Let him put on a show if he wants; let's mind our own business."
"To be Bu Le and Bu Le, weren't any good either. They abused their status as Soul Master and did whatever they wanted, completely disgracing the Soul Master profession. They deserved to die!"
"That makes sense. We'll go check it out when the time comes."
In the afternoon, the courtroom in the center of Suotuo City was packed with people. The three-tiered wooden stands were already filled with nobles, who were fanning themselves with folding fans and whispering among themselves, discussing whether this sudden trial would affect their black market business.
Below the stands, ragged civilians crowded in front of the railings, some standing on tiptoe to look, some clutching receipts for their stolen belongings, and many more simply waiting in silence, their fingernails digging deep marks into the rough wooden railings.
When Bu Le, E Kao, and Tian Ya, wearing specially made soul-guided shackles, were brought to the trial platform, a thunderous roar erupted from the crowd.
"Give me back my daughter's life!"
"Kill them, rid the people of this scourge!"
Amidst the rising and falling accusations, the three villains' former arrogance vanished, and they cowered in a corner of the judge's bench.
Yu Tianheng, dressed in a black formal suit, walked onto the judge's platform, followed by Zhao Wuji and others.
Yu Tianheng unfurled the scroll and read aloud the charges. His clear voice pierced through the clamor. "For many years Bu Le, E Kao, Tian Ya have abused their status as Soul Master to bully men and women and commit all sorts of evil deeds. I, Yu Tianheng, in the name of Earl of the Heaven Dou Empire, sentence them to death. Execute immediately!"
Upon hearing this, Bu Le and the other two trembled with fear. They had thought that Yu Tianheng would at most teach them a lesson in front of the entire city, but they never expected that he would actually execute them!
This punishment is far too severe.
The three men Bu Le begged for mercy.
"My lord, spare my life! I'm willing to hand over all my possessions!"
But Yu Tianheng was too lazy to listen. These three scumbags deserved to die. At least they could earn some fame for themselves before they died, which was a good deal for them.
"Enough with the noise!" Yu Tianheng impatiently flicked his sleeves. "Execute them immediately!"
The executioner's blade flashed coldly, Bu Le's screams came to an abrupt halt. His round head rolled off the stage and was kicked around amidst the cheers of the crowd.
E Kao's plump body was still twitching, and the sprayed blood stained half of the execution platform; when Tian Ya's head was cut off, his eyes were still wide open in terror.
The three men who committed the crimes were beheaded in public.
"Bravo!" A deafening cheer instantly lifted the clouds.
The blind old woman selling flowers groped as she clapped, tears rolling down her sunken eye sockets; several children climbed onto the wall and banged on the tiles with twigs in celebration; some even knelt down to express their gratitude, their foreheads bleeding from hitting the stone slabs.
The nobles in the stands, their faces ashen, hurriedly left.
They understood that Yu Tianheng was making an example of someone to scare others.
This was a warning to them that from now on, he was in charge of Suotuo City, and this was the consequence for anyone who disobeyed!
Yu Tianheng stood on the high platform and raised his hand to signal for silence. The entire square immediately fell silent.
"Today, I, Yu Tianheng, hereby make a promise," his voice clear and majestic, "No matter how high Soul Master's level is, anyone who dares to oppress the people will be severely punished!" Before he finished speaking, applause swept across the square like a tide.
At this moment, Yu Tianheng's prestige among the common people is rising rapidly, because he is one of the few nobles in many years who is willing to kill Soul Master for ordinary people.
One month later.
Yu Tianheng announced his plan to recruit soldiers.
As Earl with a fiefdom of one city, he was able to recruit a private army.
The quantity depends on the situation.
Therefore, Yu Tianheng ordered the issuance of a recruitment order for soldiers, "Recruit able-bodied men around eighteen years old, no need to awaken Martial Soul, monthly salary of five Gold Soul Coin."
"Five, five Gold Soul Coin?" Auntie Liu, who sells vegetables, clutched her mud-caked basket, her voice trembling. "My third son went to work in the mines last year, working himself to the bone for a year, and only earned three Gold Soul Coin. That's less than what he earns in a month as a soldier. No way, I'm going to send him to serve under the Earl!" Before she finished speaking, Wang Er from the tofu shop next door had already rushed off, his wooden clogs making a rapid clattering sound on the stone pavement.
"Make way! Make way!" Twenty-year-old woodcutter Zhao Hu, carrying an axe half his height, squeezed to the front, his bronze face full of urgency. "I can kill a wild boar with my bare hands and chop two loads of firewood a day! If Earl Excellency needs me, I can go into battle immediately!" The registrar's quill pen scratched as he registered the man.