Chapter 58: The Tenderness of an Overlord

Chapter 58: The Tenderness of an Overlord

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to him, Qin Yuan quietly slipped away. There was no need to watch the rest of the proceedings.

As he reached the corridor, he heard the agonizing cries of Nong Difei. Qin Yuan was very familiar with that particular sound—it was the agonizing torture of a soul being mutilated. Compared to the physical body, the pain inflicted upon the soul was many times more excruciating. This was precisely why many cultivators delighted in torturing others at the spiritual level.

Passing by a certain cell, Qin Yuan paused in his tracks.

Surely he wasn't seeing things. Imprisoned inside was actually Lao Dian Sun.

He stepped back and looked again.

It really was Lao Dian Sun. Qin Yuan might forget other people, but Lao Dian Sun had left far too deep an impression on him.

Qin Yuan deployed his formidable financial and relational prowess. It took very little effort to pry the information out of a few embroidered uniform guards: Lao Dian Sun possessed a rare supreme treasure and stubbornly refused to hand it over. In a fit of rage, the Grand Commander had locked him away. This imprisonment had already lasted several years.

Could it be that token bearing the ginseng pattern? Qin Yuan speculated.

Just as he was about to step out of the Embroidered Uniform Guard prison, a thought suddenly stirred in his heart: Could there really be such a rare supreme treasure after all?

On a chilly autumn night, inside Cell Number Two of the Jia District within the Embroidered Uniform Guard prison, Lao Dian Sun was locked up with his shoulder blades pierced, his hair disheveled like a madman's, and his entire body covered in wounds. His breathing was heavy and ragged, sounding much like a leaking bellows. For a cultivator to be reduced to this state meant his injuries were clearly far more severe than they appeared on the surface.

Seeming to have noticed something, he slowly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes filled with a trace of confusion.

The next moment, Zheng Sanfa walked in from outside, draped in a black, gold-stamped robe and wearing a bamboo hat. Removing the hat, he revealed a completely bald head and smiled. "Old Man Sun, have you thought it through?"

*That motherfucking Zheng Sanfa.* Lao Dian Sun cursed fiercely in his heart.

"Grand Commander, I truly possess no supreme treasure," Lao Dian Sun said, gasping for breath. Having seemingly expended too much strength, he panted heavily a few more times.

"My patience is limited. If you continue to be uncooperative, I won't be so polite to your family," Zheng Sanfa threatened.

Zheng Sanfa knew that Lao Dian Sun had only fathered a son in his twilight years and cherished the boy like a precious jewel, which was why he had refrained from touching the child until now.

But things were different now. His forces in Nanhuang had suffered a crushing defeat in battle against the Grand Unity Army, who had completely mastered the art of overthrowing dynasties—or rather, the pure power of collective faith. Meanwhile, the half-million-strong Grand Unity Army in Xizhou was also preparing to march east through the passes. Without a rare supreme treasure to protect him, he stood a high chance of failure in the upcoming decisive battle.

Even after cursing Zheng Sanfa a hundred times in his heart, Lao Dian Sun still refused to confess. That object was simply too precious. No matter what, he would never hand it over—not even if someone used his son to threaten him.

Zheng Sanfa smiled, retrieved a dozen-or-so-year-old unconscious youth from his Qi Sea, and threw him onto the ground.

"Tianyi!" Lao Dian Sun's expression changed slightly.

No man is made of stone; who could remain devoid of emotion? Seeing his own son right before his eyes stirred a completely different sentiment within him.

"Five."
"Four."
"Three."
"Two."

Lao Dian Sun remained silent; he did not believe the other party would actually kill him.

Zheng Sanfa glanced at Lao Dian Sun and very decisively killed the youth.

"You bald bastard Zheng, go fuck your mother!"

Zheng Sanfa smiled coldly, stepped forward, hacked Lao Dian Sun's soul into eight pieces, reassembled them, and then hacked them into eight pieces once more. After this process was repeated multiple times, Lao Dian Sun was left on the brink of death. Even if he were released now, he would be completely crippled.

"Still refusing to talk?"
"Go fuck your mother."
"Take your time, there's no rush."

With that, Zheng Sanfa turned and walked away. The expression on his face bore no resemblance whatsoever to the mild words he had just spoken.

In the dead of night, the entire Embroidered Uniform Guard prison remained far from quiet; the wails of tortured prisoners could be heard from time to time.

Regaining a shred of spirit, Lao Dian Sun looked at his son, who was thoroughly dead, and sorrow welled up from the depths of his heart. This son had been born to him in his old age, cherished beyond measure, and even sent to the Imperial Academy, which had since transformed into a gathering place for cultivators. Lao Dian Sun had suffered half a lifetime of hardship and finally made something of himself; he had never wanted his son to endure the same fate. Yet he never expected that his own actions would ultimately doom his boy.

"Open your eyes and look clearly. This person is not your son."

An ancient voice suddenly echoed in Lao Dian Sun's mind.

Like a heavy hammer striking his skull, the voice instantly yanked Lao Dian Sun back from the depths of grief into reality.

"Not him?" Lao Dian Sun looked at his son again. This was clearly his own flesh and blood; both his appearance and his spiritual aura matched completely.

"I swapped his primordial spirit."

Qin Yuan had replaced the primordial spirit of Lao Dian Sun's son with one of his own divine avatars. Besides, he mastered the North Dark Rebirth Technique; regenerating a divine avatar was child's play to him.

"Y-You... my son is in your hands?" Lao Dian Sun asked tremulously.

"He is." Qin Yuan added another condition: "Hand the supreme treasure over to me."

"And if I refuse?"
"If you refuse, your son truly dies."

Lao Dian Sun fell silent. After a long while, he rasped, "Let me see my son first."

"Very well."

A thought flickered in Qin Yuan's mind, and the primordial spirit of a delicate-looking, unconscious youth materialized before Lao Dian Sun.

Lao Dian Sun examined it closely several times, confirming that it was indeed the primordial spirit of his own son. After a fierce internal struggle between human affection and worldly desire, he finally spoke: "Before I tell you, you must promise me one condition."

Such a troublesome fellow. Qin Yuan was just about to intimidate him when he heard Lao Dian Sun say: "My days are numbered, and I can no longer protect Tianyi. If Tianyi encounters danger in the future, I beg senior to spare his life."

"Granted." Qin Yuan agreed readily; he was already accustomed to such requests.

Lao Dian Sun gritted his teeth and said, "The Heaven-Swallowing Demon Coffin—I buried it inside Wang Jixin's tomb."

The Heaven-Swallowing Demon Coffin? What an overbearing name.

Then, Qin Yuan heard weeping. Following the sound, he saw that the rough-hewn Lao Dian Sun was actually crying. He hadn't shed a tear when being so ruthlessly tortured by Zheng Sanfa earlier, but at this moment, he wept.

"My Heaven-Swallowing Demon Coffin... I suffered a massive loss for this little brat. I regret it." Lao Dian Sun looked ready to beat his chest and stamp his feet in despair.

Profit comes first, family ties come second. This was the true essence of an overlord who had clawed his way up from the very bottom.

Suddenly thinking of something, Qin Yuan asked with a peculiar expression, "Could this Heaven-Swallowing Demon Coffin you speak of be the very coffin the Empress Dowager lay in?"

Lao Dian Sun's weeping stopped abruptly. A flash of surprise crossed his eyes, and he nodded. "Indeed."

Qin Yuan felt very much like the foolish person in the idiom about buying the wooden box and returning the pearl.

"I will impart a strand of my magical power to you so you can break out on your own."

With that, Qin Yuan channeled a surge of magical power into Lao Dian Sun's body.

Boom!

It was as if Lao Dian Sun had consumed some supreme miraculous elixir; his entire body expanded by a full size.

"Such formidable power!"

While feeling deeply shocked, Lao Dian Sun developed an even greater dread toward the mysterious old monster lurking in the shadows. Wasting no time, he grabbed his son's primordial spirit, guided it back into the boy's body, tucked him safely into his Qi Sea, and charged straight out.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard could not hold him back at all. Of course, if they had genuinely fought to the death, containment might not have been entirely impossible. But why would anyone risk their life?

By the time the commotion alerted Zheng Sanfa, Lao Dian Sun had already vanished without a trace.

Enraged, Zheng Sanfa let out another vulgar curse: "Your mother!"

Outside the city, at a certain burial mound before Wang Jixin's tomb, Qin Yuan felt a sudden urge to laugh. First he had killed Wang Jixin, then he had slain Wang Jixin's evil spirit, kicked over the sacrificial offerings, and now he was back to dig up the grave. If Wang Jixin had any awareness in the netherworld, his face would certainly be filled with grief and indignation.

With a wave of his hand, a golden coffin burst through the mound of earth and appeared before Qin Yuan.

For safety's sake, Qin Yuan dispatched one of his divine avatars. The avatar then projected a wisp of soul perception to investigate.

Boom!

Qin Yuan's body shook slightly. Inside felt as vast and complete as an entire world. This was undoubtedly a supreme treasure.

Carefully storing it away in his Qi Sea, Qin Yuan headed south. Mountains and rivers retreated behind him until he finally stopped on the southern bank of a roaring, turbulent great river.

With a flicker of his thought, Lao Dian Sun and his still-unconscious son, Sun Tianyi, tumbled out of his Qi Sea.

"This is the territory of the Grand Unity Army; you are safe now."
"Many thanks, senior." Lao Dian Sun cupped his fists in gratitude.
"This was merely a transaction; you need not thank me."

Having spoken in a chilling tone, Qin Yuan vanished.

"Ah..."

A long sigh suddenly echoed by the riverbank in the dead of night.

The next day, in the capital, wind and rain gathered ominously. Two major events occurred today.

The first was a massive manhunt for Lao Dian Sun, which turned the entire capital upside down in a flurry of chaos. The second was the imperial court's public execution of Nong Difei.

At the Vegetable Market execution grounds, a massive crowd had gathered. Ever since the Zhizhi Army had conquered the realm all those years ago, this was the first time they were executing someone publicly at the Vegetable Market. Everyone had come to witness the rare spectacle.

Upon the execution platform, alongside Nong Difei, were his family members.

"Nong Difei colluded with the Grand Unity rebels... his crime warrants that his bones be ground to dust and scattered to the winds."

The execution supervisor read out Nong Difei's crimes. The spectator-like expressions instantly vanished from the faces of the common folk. Yet no one dared to hurl abuses, because speaking out meant death. The rulers of the meat-grinder had changed batch after batch, only growing ever more tyrannical. This could only be described as a tragedy.

"Grind his bones to dust and scatter them!"

Accompanied by the merciless decree, an execution token was forcefully hurled to the ground.

Nong Difei and his entire family were utterly obliterated, body and soul.