"You, as a military judge, should enforce the law fairly and uphold discipline, yet you act recklessly, confusing right and wrong. Doesn't the First Prince rein you in?" Lin Yu冷哼 (coldly snorted).
"Shen Chong served under the First Prince but constantly thought of his former master. If he didn't die, who should?" Tu Qi sneered triumphantly. "Besides, Lin Yu, you're like a clay Bodhisattva crossing a river—unable to save yourself. If I were you, I wouldn't plead for this dead ghost Shen Chong, but consider how to explain to the Emperor why you left the imperial mausoleum without permission. That's a grave crime!"
"I see..." Murderous intent filled Lin Yu's eyes.
So Shen Chong's death was because the First Prince feared him and sought to eliminate all his former subordinates.
"Lin Yu, if you kneel and beg me, I might consider concealing your unauthorized departure from the mausoleum." Tu Qi grinned proudly. "No prince has ever knelt to me. Today, I can have that pleasure."
"Kneel?" Lin Yu nodded slightly. "Yes, you indeed ought to kneel and apologize."
Before the words fell, a terrifying pressure surged from him. Before Tu Qi could react, it crushed him like a mountain.
Crack!
With a crisp sound, Tu Qi's knees couldn't withstand the pressure and snapped. He collapsed to his knees, blood gushing from the broken joints.
"You... you..." Terror filled Tu Qi's eyes, followed by the searing pain of shattered knees, eliciting a痛苦的哀嚎 (painful wail).
"Kneel over here and kowtow eighteen times before Brother Shen's grave, or I'll crush every bone in your body inch by inch." Lin Yu loomed over Tu Qi, who now saw him as a demon god.
"I apologize! I apologize!" Tu Qi's face paled as he艰难的挪动 (painfully inched) his broken knees toward Shen Chong's grave, leaving a trail of blood.
"Shen Chong... Brother Shen... Big Brother Shen... I was wrong before, causing your early death. I swear to support your wife and daughter, never letting them be bullied. Brother Shen, if you have spirit in heaven, forgive me!"
As Tu Qi kowtowed and begged, Lin Yu didn't stop him until his head bled. Trembling, Tu Qi looked up and pleaded, "Third Prince, please spare me! I truly know my mistake. I'll send a thousand taels of silver to Brother Shen's family—no, ten thousand taels! I'll ensure his wife and daughter lack nothing. If I break my word, may I be struck by lightning!"
"Do you deserve to call him 'Brother Shen'? Besides, I never said I'd spare you." Coldness flickered in Lin Yu's eyes.
"Third Prince, merc—!"
Before Tu Qi finished, the mountainous pressure Suddenly surged, roller compaction him into a bloody mist before Shen Chong's grave.
"Brother Shen, I avenged you. I won't forget the debts owed to our other brothers." Lin Yu touched Shen Chong's tombstone and turned to leave.
...
In the First Prince's mansion, a black-robed warrior with a mouth split to his ear, resembling an ape, sat in the upper seat. A green-robed warrior reported, "General Yuan, Military Judge Tu Qi, who followed you back, said he found evidence of the Third Prince contacting subordinates and leaving the mausoleum. He went out alone and hasn't returned. I suspect Tu Qi may have met misfortune."
"It seems His Highness's concerns were justified. Though Lin Yu is confined to the mausoleum, someone has funded southern expedition soldiers' families for years. Tu Qi likely discovered something and was silenced by Lin Yu's men." A cold smile crossed Yuan Ye's ugly face.
"General Yuan, should we inform His Highness?" the green-robed warrior试探着问道 (tentatively asked).
"No need. What's a mere废物? Even if he wants a comeback, he must see if he has the ability. I'll keep an eye on him. Withdraw." Yuan Ye waved, watching the warrior leave.
His eyes then turned cold as he muttered, "His Highness's great cause with our clan cannot tolerate mistakes. This Third Prince should have died long ago. I'll send him on his way."
With that, he pushed the door open, his figure shimmered, and vanished into the night.
...
In the imperial mausoleum, Lin Yu sat cross-legged in the stone house, too agitated to meditate.
Images of Shen Chong, Ding Yong, and soldiers who fought in the Southern Wasteland and died there emerged before him. Especially recalling Military Judge Tu Qi's behavior, Lin Yu suspected the First Prince might be the mastermind who betrayed him.
Otherwise, why would the First Prince spare no one among his subordinates?
But Lin Yu only suspected; he lacked concrete evidence. Once he found it, he would not let the First Prince go, vowing to bring his head to Shen Chong's grave as a sacrifice.
"Eh! Someone's here!" As Lin Yu prepared to cultivate the Saint Emperor Art, he sensed someone entering the mausoleum and rushing toward the stone house.
He rose, pushed the door open, and saw a black-robed warrior walking on the moonlit path, stopping before him in moments.
Looking at the warrior's mouth split to his ear, Lin Yu's memory was jolted.
"I remember you. You're with the First Prince. You saw me off when I marched to the Southern Wasteland."
Yuan Ye桀桀狞笑 (chuckled evilly). "Third Prince, your memory is good. In fact, we've met more than once."
"Why are you here?" Lin Yu's eyes turned cold. If Yuan Ye came for Tu Qi, he might as well send him to join Tu Qi.
"Before departing, the First Prince ordered me to watch you. If you tried to make a comeback, I was to 'teach you a lesson.' But I find that too troublesome. It's simpler to kill you once and for all." Yuan Ye grinned. "After all, who cares if a useless prince dies?"
"You want to kill me?" Lin Yu laughed in surprise, not expecting Yuan Ye had the same intention.
"Wrong—I've come to kill you." Yuan Ye冷哼 (snorted), releasing a tyrannical pressure. The aura of an Xiantian Seventh Grade warrior erupted, sweeping toward Lin Yu like a gale.
Yet this狂暴的coercion (raging pressure) vanished without a trace before Lin Yu, having no effect.
Yuan Ye's eyes shifted. "I knew your cultivation must have recovered."
He then released cyan lights like flames, thrusting a claw at Lin Yu's dantian. Cyan blades surged from his fingers, howling toward Lin Yu.
"Lin Yu, I crippled you once; I can do it again. If not for your men dying to protect you in the Southern Wasteland, you'd be dead!" Yuan Ye cackled as five claw-shaped lights attacked Lin Yu's dantian.