Chapter 125 - 124: All Sins Arise from Profit! The Flood Calamity
Su Bai finally understood.
All evil in the world is born from greed.
’A greedy heart truly is the original sin!’
"Are these all officials from the Water Department?"
Snapping back to his senses, Su Bai pointed at the several convicts behind Zhang Wei and asked, his expression turning cold.
"Not all of them!"
Zhang Wei’s face was grim. He pointed to a portly middle-aged man and said, "This beast is the County Magistrate of Wushan County!"
"To embezzle the relief silver from his superiors, he conspired with the Ministry of Water Affairs officials in Wushan County. He secretly sent men to dig through the upstream dam, causing the floodwaters to pour down and drown nearly a thousand commoners downstream!"
"Afterward, this beast even had the gall to feign concern, going to the scene himself to ’help’ with disaster relief alongside the court’s soldiers!"
Hearing this, the fat middle-aged man’s face turned pale, his expression sullen.
As he spoke, Zhang Wei pointed to another short, stout official.
"This one is even more vicious! After sending men to breach the dam, he found that not many people had drowned. He figured that even if relief silver were allocated, it wouldn’t be much!"
"So, he joined forces with a group of bandits to massacre several villages. When he reported it to his superiors, he claimed they were all swept away and drowned by the flood!"
As Zhang Wei said this, the men behind him all showed expressions of unbearable shame.
Immediately after, they began to shout!
"We’ve been framed!" "I’m a good person!" "There must be some mistake!" "This lowly official was just momentarily confused!" and so on!
Their goal... was simply to exonerate themselves!
The shame they had shown earlier was nothing but a prelude to their cries of injustice!
A person capable of such great evil—drowning commoners for money!
Could one really expect such a person to reflect deeply on their actions? To feel any real remorse?
"They certainly deserve to die!"
Su Bai glanced at the men, ignoring their cries of injustice, and said with a deadpan expression.
"They do deserve to die!"
Zhang Wei nodded as well. "Lord Ning also thinks these men deserve to die! But he won’t let them die so easily!"
"What do you mean?"
Su Bai’s eyes flickered.
Zhang Wei explained in a low voice, "After Lord Ning heard about this, he insisted on torturing them personally. That’s why he stepped in and requested custody of these men from his superiors!"
"Tsk, tsk... You should have seen how dark Lord Ning’s face was just now!"
"Forget it... I won’t say more! Lord Ning should be back soon. This time, there are a few more officials to be brought in!"
Sure enough, not long after Zhang Wei finished speaking, Ning Fengyun returned, his face murderous, with three more officials in tow.
"Let’s go!"
Seeing Su Bai and the others, Ning Fengyun gestured with a grim expression.
"Yes, sir!"
The men quickly nodded and escorted the officials into the torture chamber of the B-Class Prison.
As soon as they entered the torture chamber, Ning Fengyun sat in the main seat, his face like frost, his eyes radiating a bone-chilling cold!
The group of convicts knelt on the ground, hunched over, staring at the various blood-stained torture instruments around them!
Terrified, they trembled uncontrollably!
What happened next was more or less what Su Bai expected.
Among all types of convicts, which ones had the softest bones and weakest spines?
It had to be these lords, who had lived pampered lives of luxury only to suddenly be thrown in jail!
Unlike the tools in the C-Class Prison, the torture instruments in the B-Class Prison were far more varied and numerous.
There were nearly a thousand methods of torture in total, but before more than a few had been used, every single one of them started wailing and screaming, confessing everything they possibly could.
Tears of blood streamed down their faces, a truly miserable sight!
Naturally, Ning Fengyun wasn’t about to let them off. He immediately ordered the Martial Artists of the Prison Suppression Bureau to increase the intensity of the punishment, continuing the torture with a stern face!
The executing Prison Guards also seemed to hate these officials to the bone, and they all increased their efforts!
Some torture methods, typically reserved only for powerful, high-level convicts, were all brought to bear.
Several of the corrupt officials fainted on the spot, three went into convulsions, and two lost control of their bowels!
Flesh and blood, mixed with tears and shredded robes, littered the ground. The scene was too gruesome to behold!
An hour later, the matter finally came to a close.
Everything that needed to be asked had been asked.
And everyone who deserved to be beheaded was accounted for.
After this incident ended, Su Bai and the others, having worked tirelessly for a long time, were granted a rare day off by their superiors to get some proper rest.
After all, if a person’s mind is stretched taut for too long without relief, problems are bound to arise.
Besides, constantly delaying their leave wasn’t a sustainable solution; you have to give the people under you a break sometime!
Otherwise, resentment would build up, leading to inevitable backlash in the future!
The higher-ups were not fools, of course.
With a day off, Su Bai decided to just go home.
With his current Cultivation, it didn’t take much time to return to his home county.
"Xiaosu! What brings you back today?"
Upon seeing Su Bai, Aunt Chen, who was selling food, hurried over and asked happily.
"My superiors recently gave me a day off. I figured I had nothing else to do, so I came back to visit!"
Su Bai said with a smile.
"Oh! That’s wonderful! Come on! You haven’t eaten yet, have you?"
Aunt Chen quickly pulled Su Bai toward her stall.
"I still have a little left. Here, take this and eat. Fill your stomach a bit!"
Aunt Chen specially took out a few glutinous rice balls stuffed with meat filling and handed them to Su Bai with a smile.
"This smells amazing!"
Su Bai didn’t stand on ceremony. He took the bowl and chopsticks, happily took a bite, and couldn’t help but praise it as the rich aroma wafted into his nose like a gentle stream.
Hearing this, Aunt Chen’s smile grew even wider!
Then, she seemed to remember something, quickly taking Su Bai’s hand and saying.
"Oh, right! The rain stopped today, and your Uncle Wang is feeling much more robust now. He caught some fish, shrimp, and snails from the dikes outside the city!"
"You should come to our place for dinner tonight! It’s just a matter of setting out another bowl and chopsticks!"
Seeing Aunt Chen’s warmth, Su Bai didn’t refuse.
"But you’ll have to wait a bit. The catch was good today, so your Uncle Wang is probably still busy out there beyond the city walls!"
Aunt Chen added, as if remembering something.
The corners of her wrinkled eyes crinkled with warmth and a gentle smile!
"Aunt Chen! Let me go help too!"
Saying this, Su Bai rolled up his sleeves.
"When it comes to the art of catching fish, I’m quite good at it!"
"That’s great! Let’s go together!"
Aunt Chen chuckled and began to pack up her dining ware.
Su Bai cleared his bowl and chopsticks and lent a hand.
「Night fell. The moon was bright and the stars were few.」
Su Bai invited his somewhat old-fashioned second uncle to have dinner with Uncle Wang and Aunt Chen.
The group chatted about interesting things, laughing heartily from time to time!
They filled the entire house with joyous laughter.
Su Bai’s body and mind also relaxed considerably.
Content and at ease!
After witnessing the memories of so many from the paths of Demons and evil, he had come to deeply understand one thing.
The higher a person climbs, the more they must look down.
Otherwise, a single stray thought can turn their world upside down!
With Su Bai’s level of Cultivation, anyone who knew of it would be trembling with fear if they were to have dinner with him. How could they possibly be so casual?
But his aunt and uncle served as a reminder to Su Bai.
No matter how far you go, you must always look back.
「...」
「Imperial City, Ancestral Pool of Fate Gazing.」
Yan Qingyue stared, stunned, at the golden Dragon Qi before her. It was broken in two, whimpering and wailing in agony!
This golden Dragon Qi was the symbol of the Great Xia Country’s fate. Due to the previous celestial phenomenon of surging Purple Qi, it had already grown to a size of one hundred feet!
But now, the golden Dragon Qi representing the nation’s fate was severed in two, its head separated from its body!
Wisps of calamitous energy coiled around the Dragon’s head!
It was a shocking, ghastly sight!
"A single wisp of calamitous energy represents one tribulation!"
"Now there are nine wisps, which means the Nine Tribulations are coming! This is a calamity capable of destroying the nation!"
Yan Qingyue’s gaze was vacant as she lowered her head, murmuring weakly.
"Why... why is this happening?"
"Could it be... that the heavens wish to destroy our Great Xia?"