Book 4: Chapter 7: Prisoner-of-War Prison

Azure Foundation City:

After dried corpses got pulled out of the river outside the city, more and more citizens went to take a look.

They saw two holes with dried blood at the necks, and the corpses were completely drained of blood.

“Does anyone know who these ten corpses were?”

“They are already wizen to such an extent, and the water made them swell. Who can recognize them? However, they are surely my Azure Foundation City’s defenders.”

“Weren’t they locked up by the Yuan Nation army?”

“These holes… Were they made by a bat spirit—no, vampires?”

“Vampires? Those Yuan Nation soldiers?”

Countless citizens started discussing this.

Wearing a simple disguise, Tang Chu stood among the crowd. A group of citizens nearby appeared to be preparing themselves to put on certain expressions. He looked at that group of people and nodded gently.

That group received the signal.

“My son! Why did you die such a miserable death?!”

“It’s my nephew! He just broke through to the Golden Core Realm that year!”

“The Yuan Nation’s army went back on their word! They said that they are just imprisoning the defenders, but they are lying to us! The Yuan Nation’s army is eating the defenders! After eating my nephew, will they come for us next?!”

“Blood-sucking demons! Return my grandfather to me! Sob! Sob! Sob! Sob!”

A group of people cried endlessly, continuously vilifying the Yuan Nation’s army. The citizens watching this also turned flustered.

Are the one million defenders really being eaten and not imprisoned?

Will they eat the defenders over the ten years? Will they attack us after ten years? These are bloodsuckers!

“Madam Zhang, the dried corpses already looked so deformed, yet you can recognize your son?” someone asked in doubt.

“I don’t know. However, can you guarantee that it’s not my son?”

“Huh?”

“These are the dried corpses that we managed to discover. What about those that we did not find? Can you guarantee that my son is not among them?”

“Huh?” 

“Back then, when the Heptagold Sect attacked Azure Foundation City, three of my younger brothers and one of my sons died defending Azure Foundation City to prevent the entire city from getting slaughtered. They sacrificed themselves to save everyone in the city. Now, my final and youngest son got sucked into a dried corpse by the Yuan Nation’s army. My life is already so bitter, and you are still suspecting me? Sob! Sob! Sob!” Madam Zhang cried with great sorrow and grief.

The surrounding citizens started scolding the person who doubted Madam Zhang earlier.

“You inhumane thing, what did Madam Zhang do to you? Why are you exonerating the vampires!”

“Ptooey! Are you not embarrassed? Back when our entire city nearly got slaughtered, how many people from Madam Zhang’s family died to protect the city? Yet, you doubt her? Dog of the Yuan Nation!”

“You cold-blooded creature!”

The initial voice of doubt immediately vanished.

Tang Chu had found some families of the defenders to cry and complain, kicking up a big fuss. Sorrow, grief, and fear quickly spread throughout the city.

This attracted even more citizens to come and take a look. Even those that did not come heard about it. Everyone wanted to see how the city lord would react.

The news quickly spread to the city lord’s official residence, prompting the city lord to summon most of the officials to a large hall in the city lord’s official residence.

Bang!

The city lord flung a vase to the floor in anger. Then, he looked at his subordinates coldly and demanded, “Who was it? Who could not keep their mouth in check? Have you forgotten the imperial edict? How bold of you! His Reverence told us to do our best to placate the citizens and assimilate them into the Yuan Nation. Who was it that could not keep their mouth in check, sucking the blood of the defenders? Are there not enough convicts for you to suck blood from? Furthermore, you just tossed the body into the wild after you were done with it? Who was it?!”

The officials did not dare to answer.

“City Lord, this has caused a huge commotion. Should we seal off these ten dried corpses outside the city first, in case the citizens grow even more resentful?”

“Is there even a need to ask? We must seal off those dried corpses. However, when we do that, there will be an even larger backlash. Investigate this! Find out who it is. I want him executed!” the city lord roared with a glare.

Now, the officials did not dare to say anything.

Coming to assimilate Azure Foundation City into the Yuan Nation was initially a lucrative job. Ten years later, all of them would have an excellent record with great contributions. However, the Yuan Imperial Emperor would blame them for such a mistake. At that time, it was no longer about contributions but the negligence of duty.

“I have a report!”

Suddenly, a guard rushed into the hall.

“Huh?” Everyone looked over.

“Reporting to the city lord, we just received word from Azure Foundation Prison. There are one million thirty-six thousand four hundred twenty-five prisoners of war. Not a single one is missing!” that guard said.

“Huh?” The expression of everyone in the hall changed.

“Not a single one is missing? Then, who are those ten dried corpses? Furthermore, they are wearing the defender’s uniform?” the city lord said with a frown.

“Someone did this on purpose to cause us trouble?”

Everyone in the hall felt shocked. Then, they all looked at the city lord.

“Go count again! Make sure you count carefully!” the city lord said sullenly.

“Yes!”

“Where did those dried corpses come from? Could it be the Qian Heavenly Dynasty causing trouble for us?”

“It is possible. Only the Qian Heavenly Dynasty would dare use such a sinister scheme.”

“City Lord, what should we do with those dried corpses outside the city?”

“Don’t touch them. Since those dried corpses are there to cause us trouble, don’t touch them first. Investigate who did it! Also, investigate if there are any outsiders.”

“Yes!”

The news of the dried corpses continued to spread.

The citizens in the city expressed diverse attitudes to this. Some felt fear, but some felt skeptical. However, regardless of the citizens’ stance, the news of the dried corpses soon spread everywhere in the city. Practically all the adults in the city heard of this; there was no way to lock down this information.

Of the one million prisoners of war, about three hundred thousand had family in Azure Foundation City. The families of these three hundred thousand defenders would definitely come to investigate. All of them felt worried, and there was even a large group of them who wailed endlessly. They banded together and headed to the city lord’s official residence.

“City Lord, release my family!”

“Murderous demons! Return me my son!”

“Kill me as well if you dare! Go on!”

“You say that my son is still alive. Prove it! Show me! Even prisoners can get visitors. Why can’t we visit?!”

“Everyone!” A loud shout suddenly came from the city lord’s official residence. It spread everywhere via sound amplification ritual arrays.

All the citizens fell quiet.

The city lord’s voice rang out. “I guarantee everyone that your family is safe. The dried corpses found outside the city are the result of a malicious plot!” 

“Then, what about my son?”

“Where’s my grandfather?”

Countless relatives of the defenders clamored.

The city lord’s voice rang out again. “From tomorrow on, we will allow visits in small groups. One hundred people a day can visit them. Go to the department of prisons and punishment to register yourself. First come, first served!” 

The defenders’ families immediately rushed towards the department of prisons and punishment in excitement to register themselves.

The storm caused by the worries of vampires immediately vanished.

Since the city lord permitted visits, then the city lord should be telling the truth. Someone was vilifying the city lord on purpose. Now, the family of the prisoners of war rejoiced.

As Gu Hai stood in This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion, he looked in the direction of the city lord’s official residence and showed a faint smile.

“Your Majesty, the location of the prison will be exposed,” Tang Chu said respectfully with a smile.

“Go make arrangements. Also, record every batch of visitors. Prepare to start.” Gu Hai nodded.

“Yes!”

——

Around the time Azure Foundation City opened up the prison to visitors, the other eleven cities started doing the same.

Allowing visitors resolved the danger immediately. The Yuan Nation’s army no longer worried. Everything returned to how it was. Before the truth, all schemes and plots were useless.

However, Azure Foundation City’s city lord still wrote a report about this and sent it to the Yuan Nation’s capital and Northern Expedition City.

The first batch of defenders’ families was brought to an extremely remote area of the city, where a large ritual array was.

A group of Yuan Nation’s soldiers guarded that place as the defenders met with their families.

Afterward, the first batch of one hundred family members happily came out of the prison.

“How was it? How did it go?” Countless people waited outside in anticipation.

“It’s fine. My son is doing well in there. It is just that his cultivation is sealed, so he has to be an ordinary person for ten years. However, he is fine. No one was injured.”

“My grandfather wants me to cultivate properly and will check on my cultivation ten years later.”

The first batch of one hundred visitors came out and dispelled the citizens’ worries. It turned out that everything from before was truly fake.

After the second and third batches went in and came out, the citizens no longer worried at all.

——

The prison seemed like a place where ordinary people lived. The one million defenders lived here together.

A few people who had been visited gathered at the entrance to a small mountain.

“My clan head sent word to ask us to cooperate. What does everyone think?” one of them said in a low voice.

“Although my clan head did not mention who we are helping, I will listen to my clan head.”

“Me too.”

“Humph! Back then, my clan put in a lot of effort to make me a military officer. Now, I am a prisoner with nothing after ten years?”

“My clan is trying to figure out how to help us remove the seals. Brothers, we killed enemies together in the past. Now, we have an opportunity to work from the inside and take back everything that belongs to us. Do you dare to do that?”

“We dare to. However, not everyone thinks like that. Now, the one million of us are like loose sand.”

“My clan gave me a plan for rebellion. The first thing is to convince the previous city lord. He is also imprisoned here and is definitely filled with resentment. According to the plan, he will continue to be the city lord in the future. I don’t believe that he won’t be tempted. If he is not interested and does not cooperate with us, we will just replace him.”

“We will use our past military structure to manage everyone, level by level. As per the rebellion plan, we should bring in some officers with prestige. After we get out, we will all regain our old positions and even be rewarded according to our contributions. As for the foot soldiers, we should not let them know for now. If too many people come to know, it will be hard to keep this secret. Time is limited. We need to hurry.”

“Alright!”

——

As the rebellion in the prison brewed, Gu Hai looked in the direction of the foggy prison area. “The prison is tightly guarded?

“Yes, there are many Yuan Nation soldiers, and they set up ritual arrays. The ritual arrays even cover the ground. We can’t tunnel our way in,” Tang Chu explained.

Gu Hai nodded. He smiled and said, “Now that we know the location, it is easy to deal with.”

“Yes!”

“Have you figured out how to undo the seals on the one million prisoners?” Gu Hai looked at Tang Chu.

“The cooperative clans and the prisoners studied it together. This seal is similar to the seal used on Your Majesty by Nine-Five Island’s Great Feng Mafia Family back then. It can be undone by using a lightning rod,” Tang Chu said respectfully.

Gu Hai nodded. “Since this has been dealt with, I think that the rebellion in there should start. As long as a group of officers rebels, it will be accomplished in at most ten days.”

“Yes!”

“Since that is the case, let’s begin. Surprisingly, it is even easier than I expected. Ha! I hope this will succeed.” A resolute look flashed in Gu Hai’s eyes.

“Build up the citizens’ resentment and provoke the officials? Ten days should be more than enough.” Tang Chu nodded and smiled.

However, Gu Hai said after some silence, “We should not trick the citizens like this. However, we do not have a choice this time. After we take back the city, we will compensate them for this.”

“Yes!” Tang Chu’s expression turned stern.

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