Chapter 61
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- The Imperial Preceptor of Great Sui Dynasty
- Chapter 61 - The Hidden Truth Behind the Scenes
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The drifting clouds in the night sky revealed a crescent moon. A faint white mist arose along the street. Inside the prison of the yamen, where two lanterns hung, moonlight spilled through a small window.
Crack, crack, crack!
The leather whip lashed through the air, striking down viciously. The jailer, who was administering the punishment, wiped the blood splatters from his face and rinsed off by the water bucket. The prisoner had been delivered in the first half of the night with orders for an overnight interrogation, though typically, a few lashes were dealt first as a display of power.
After a brief moment.
The prison door creaked open. A figure, with a slender blade hanging at his waist, led several constables inside, waving his hand.
“Wake him up!”
“Yes!”
The jailer quickly instructed his men to splash water from the bucket onto the prisoner. The Daoist’s ragged robe was soaked and stained with blotches of blood. Daoist Yangming, coughing out a breath of turbid air, slowly regained consciousness, too weak even to beg for mercy.
His lips trembled, constantly mumbling: “…I won’t dare… I won’t dare again…”
The black dog’s blood had broken his spell. From there, he had been dragged all the way to the yamen’s prison. The experienced constables hadn’t given him any chance to cast spells, gagging him with cloth and binding his fingers, strapping his body to the torture rack, where they began their brutal interrogation.
By now, even if he found an opportunity to use his powers to escape, his body was so battered he wouldn’t make it out of the city.
Zuo Zhengyang unfastened his weapon and handed it to his deputy, then glanced at the Daoist on the torture rack and strode forward.
“I’ve never seen spell techniques up close. Daoist, could you perform a little for me to see?”
On the rack, the Daoist’s disheveled hair dripped with water as he weakly lifted his head, then shook it slightly and let it drop again.
“…This Daoist… I…I don’t dare anymore. I beg Chief Constable to spare my life…”
“Spare you?!” Zuo Zhengyang stood with his hands behind his back, narrowing his eyes. “If I spare you now, wouldn’t that leave the Zhou and Zhang families, as well as myself, in grave danger in the future?”
Daoist Yangming shook his head repeatedly, blood at the corners of his mouth as he struggled to speak. “I won’t… If you leave me a life, I swear I’ll never set foot in He Valley Prefecture again… Please, Chief Constable, have mercy… show mercy.”
“What a disgrace to the face of all cultivators.”
The words of the Chief Constable echoed through the torture chamber. After a pause, Zuo Zhengyang looked at him and spoke again: “Fortunately, no lives were lost in this matter. It could be considered a major issue, but at the same time, a minor one. If you want to get out of here, answer whatever I ask. What do you think, Daoist?”
Daoist Yangming stared at him blankly, then opened his bloodied mouth to smile and nodded repeatedly.
“Whatever Daren asks, I’ll answer.”
“Good. Since you’re being straightforward I, this Constable, will also keep my word.”
Zuo Zhengyang waved his hand, signaling for someone to bring a confession record book, and then began his questioning.
“How much silver did you take from Zhang Dongming to act on his behalf?”
“One hundred and seventy taels.”
“What did you do for him?”
“Reporting to the Daren… I sought a spiritual medicine to treat Patron Zhang’s son, Zhang Liancheng.”
“Where is the spiritual medicine? Why did you harm Zhou Zhen’s daughter from the Zhou family? The two families were betrothed, so why would you cause such harm to each other?”
“The spiritual medicine lies beneath Zhou Rong’s bedchamber. It is a human-shaped ginseng nurtured by a trace of Earth Spirit Qi. Patron Zhang was aware of the relationship between the two families, but his son injured himself through a fox spirit’s seduction and felt too ashamed to visit in person. So he asked me to do it. He did not know that Zhou Rong was harmed by me.”
Zuo Zhengyang nodded.
“Assuming what you said is true, then why did you resort to hurting others? With Daoist’s spiritual powers, you could have easily retrieved it.”
The words hung in the air for a moment. Before the Daoist on the rack could respond, Zuo Zhengyang suddenly roared like thunder: “It’s clear you intended to do something vile to Zhou Rong!!!”
Daoist Yangming was taken aback. Already tortured and covered in wounds, the pain from his torn injuries prevented him from focusing. The sudden outburst shattered his concentration, and he instinctively shook his head, trying to defend himself.
“Daren, I didn’t do anything vile. I only coveted the spiritual medicine and wanted to drag Zhang Liancheng to his death…”
At this point, everyone in the prison turned toward the Daoist and let out a long, knowing “Ohhhh!”.
Only then did Daoist Yangming realize he had been tricked. He slumped weakly against the torture rack, too ashamed to look at the Chief Constable.
Zuo Zhengyang reached out, lifting the Daoist’s chin, his gaze falling on a five-flame emblem on the Daoist’s chest.
“Stealing treasures and harming others… It seems there are still many things you’re hiding. Let me ask you again—was the case of Landlord Chen from Fushui County your doing?”
The Daoist on the rack no longer dared to speak recklessly, afraid of being tricked into revealing more. He shook his head repeatedly.
“No… I didn’t… no…”
“It seems the Daoist still needs some help to properly recall the events.” Zuo Zhengyang stepped back half a pace. The interrogators in the prison approached, dipping their tools in salt water, ready to proceed with the torture.
Zuo Zhengyang wiped the blood from his fingertips, took his weapon, and turned to leave the cell, waving his hand. “I will keep my word. Release him. However, sever the tendons in his hands and feet, and cut out his tongue, so he cannot harm anyone again.”
Just as his deputy cupped his hands in acknowledgment, a piercing scream suddenly echoed from the prison cell. The jailer holding the whip froze in surprise.
“I haven’t even started yet. What are you screaming for?!”
Outside, Zuo Zhengyang, who had not yet walked far, stopped in his tracks and glanced back inside. On the rack, the Daoist was thrashing wildly, summoning strength from who-knows-where, his eyes wide as he stared at the ceiling of the prison, howling in agony.
“Aaaah… Daren, save me!”
Zuo Zhengyang immediately rushed back into the cell, shouting: “Let him down!”
However, the Daoist’s screams were drowned by a sharp crack of bone, followed by a deafening bang.
A mist of blood exploded inside the prison.
Zuo Zhengyang waved his hand to clear the thickening blood mist. After a moment, his vision cleared, and he saw that only the Daoist’s arms remained suspended on the rack.
His eyes scanned the surroundings. Blood, shattered flesh, and the remnants of the Daoist’s robe were splattered across the floor and prison bars.
After a long silence, he spoke.
“Clean this place up. Report everything as it happened.”
He walked outside as dawn began to break, taking a deep breath. Reflecting on what had just occurred, he furrowed his brow.
“It seems I’ve stumbled upon something extraordinary… He was silenced.”
The white mist over the streets gradually lifted as the sky brightened, the city waking from its quiet night. Near the Zhang Residence, residents rose early to buy vegetables and fetch water, gathering by the well to gossip.
“Oh my, something strange happened last night. Something was screaming in the night.”
“You heard it too?”
“…How could I not? It sounded like thunder. I was lying in bed, and it scared me so badly I fell off.”
“It seemed to come from the Zhang Residence.”
“In their household, it seems their son fell ill a few months ago. The rumor is that he was bewitched by a fox spirit, and they even hired an expert to perform a ritual.”
“…Wait a minute, I live nearby. Last night, I think I saw a group of constables enter the Zhang Residence. It looked like they were arresting a Daoist priest…”
“That’s strange. Why did I see a scholar walking with a constable instead?”
“What did the scholar look like?”
“It was too dark to tell…”
Amidst the idle chatter of the marketplace, on the other side of the city, sunlight fell upon the plaque inscribed with the words “Zhou Manor”. The morning light swept away the night’s gloom. Inside, a servant overheard the master and a scholar named Lu Liangsheng conversing in the study, their hearty laughter ringing out from time to time. It was clear that the strange happenings in the household had been resolved. The servant quickly ran off to spread the news to the rest of the household.
In the side courtyard, a Daoist, wrapped head to toe in bandages, listened to the cheerful banter of the servants and maids in the courtyard as he leisurely basked in the sun.
Sunlight poured through the lattice windows, illuminating the dancing dust in the air, casting light across the entire room and over a painting of a beautiful woman on the wall.
“Hmph, hmph…”
From beneath the bed, the Toad Daoist dragged out a gourd larger than himself, crawling out slowly. He grinned widely, letting out a few croaking sounds, and then stood upright. One webbed hand clutched the gourd, while the other rested on his waist, his croaking turning into laughter.
“Hahaha… hahahahahaha…”
His toad eyes shifted to gaze at the gourd.
“…A pill refined from thousands of human-shaped Renzhi… hahahaha… not only will it restore my powers and allow me to transform back into human form… but it can also heal the injuries to my demon core…”
His webbed fingers tightened into a fist as the Toad Daoist gazed up at the high window, watching the dust swirl in the sunlight.
“…This Old Man… will soon return to my peak, and be invincible under the heavens!”
At the same time.
Along the main street adjacent to the residence, Zuo Zhengyang was riding toward the estate on horseback.