Hee Yan opened his mouth, but when he saw the undeniable killing intent in Zhang Cheng’s eyes, he didn’t dare utter another word. He knew that in the face of such overwhelming evidence and the Director’s fury, the name of any Noble Race could not quell the cries of the city’s countless wronged souls.
"Pang Song!" Zhang Cheng’s voice boomed like thunder, echoing throughout the headquarters.
"Here, Director!" Pang Song dropped to one knee, his voice booming.
"This is my command: March the Luu Family Patriarch and the ringleaders of the second team to the Execution Grounds immediately! At 11:45 AM, they are to be publicly executed by beheading! The Luu Family’s entire clan is to be put under seal, and all their assets confiscated. Use the proceeds to compensate the victimized fishermen and to rebuild the levees of the Sanmu River!"
Zhang Cheng’s gaze, sharp as a sword, swept over everyone in the hall before finally landing on Hee Yan, who had collapsed in a heap on the floor.
"I’d like to see who else in Anping County dares to commit such monstrous deeds in defiance of the law!"
"As you command!"
With a sharp command from Pang Song, the entire Evil Suppression Department sprang into action.
Chu Bai remained where he was, watching the criminals being dragged away. He then glanced at the ledger, from which the aura of Resentment was slowly receding.
The old score concerning the Sanmu River was finally settled. But now, Anping County was about to face an even more thorough reshuffling of power.
「Anping County, the Execution Grounds.」
It was noon, yet the scorching sun was nowhere to be seen. Layers of dark clouds pressed down upon the county like leaden blocks, creating a grim and oppressive atmosphere.
The air was thick with the earthy reek of mud and the faint scent of blood—the smell of death, carried all the way from the Sanmu River.
The area around the execution grounds was already packed, an impenetrable wall of bodies.
It wasn’t just curious townsfolk; the crowd was mostly composed of fishermen who had hurried from both banks of the Sanmu River. Supporting their elders and carrying their children, some had even walked for many miles over mountain roads, barefoot, just to see for themselves what kind of devil lurked behind their so-called "God."
"They’re here! The prisoners have arrived!"
Someone in the crowd shouted.
The clamor of the crowd instantly fell silent, only to erupt a moment later into a tidal wave of furious roars and curses.
A long line of condemned prisoners, shackled in iron chains, was herded stumbling down the street.
At the very front of the line was Luu Yuanshan, Patriarch of the Luu Family—a man who was once so imperious he never stepped outside without an attendant to shield him with an umbrella.
Now, his expensive, cloud-patterned silk robes were tattered and caked with filth. His once-ruddy face was as pale as a sheet, and his vacant eyes stared at the cobblestones beneath his feet, as if his soul had already departed his body.
Behind him were the remnants of the Evil Suppression Department’s second team, led by Lu Sen.
These Evil Suppression Guards, once respected and feared by the people in their dark official robes, were now condemned prisoners. Before the furious fishermen, they were like a flock of frightened quail, heads tucked down as they struggled to advance through a downpour of rotten eggs, rotting vegetables, and stones.
"Give me back my son!"
"Luu the Skinner! You finally get what’s coming to you!"
A wailing old woman burst from the crowd, a sharp stone clutched in her hand, and smashed it viciously against Luu Yuanshan’s forehead.
Blood streamed down Luu Yuanshan’s face, but he lacked the strength even to cry out. His body just gave a violent shudder.
Chu Bai stood silently at the edge of the execution grounds, his hand resting on the hilt of his broadsword. His gaze was as cold as an ancient, unmelting iceberg.
For him, the world had already changed.
As the condemned prisoners stepped onto the grounds, he could clearly feel it. The dense, malevolent Qi of Resentment—which had accumulated over the Sanmu River and blanketed Anping County for years—was beginning to churn violently with the arrival of these "causes."
It was the lingering obsession of the hundreds, even thousands, of children who had been unjustly slain.
"Execute them!"
Seated on the overseer’s platform, Zhang Cheng, his face devoid of expression, tossed down a crimson Command Arrow.
Several executioners took a great swig of strong liquor, then spat it in a fine mist across their gleaming blades.
With a flash of steel, blades rose and fell. Several heads rolled to the ground as fountains of blood gushed forth, staining the dry earth of the execution grounds crimson.
Chu Bai felt the gray-black Resentment that had been coiled in the air suddenly find a release, as if a floodgate had been opened. It began to dissipate with furious speed.
It was the solace of cosmic justice. Though the dead could not return to life, this settling of a blood debt in blood was the only remedy to quell the people’s resentment and secure the nation’s destiny.
This bloody purge had excised a massive tumor from Anping County. With the main line of the Luu Family and the ringleaders of the second team all executed, it meant that Chu Bai had violently shattered the old balance of power.
And yet, he felt no sense of relief.
From this moment on, he had officially become a thorn in the side of certain local vested interests.
As for the fishermen who had participated in the ritual sacrifices, Zhang Cheng did not pass a blanket judgment.
Chu Bai had taken part in the sentencing discussions, which were recorded in the temporary case files of the Anping Evil Suppression Department.
A few of the head village elders, blinded by greed, had actively cooperated with the Luu Family to lure the children, even taking a cut of the profits. They were sentenced to beheading and had just been executed.
The rest of the fishermen, the vast majority, were sentenced to short-term labor.
’In the end, desperation drove them to it.’
Chu Bai watched the fishermen kneeling outside the execution grounds, weeping bitterly, and sighed to himself.
’If this were a peaceful world, if fishermen could feed their families simply by catching fish, who would willingly cast their own flesh and blood into that frigid river?’
’When teetering on that desperate edge of survival, morality and law can be appallingly fragile.’
"We must keep the matter of the Sanmu Fairy under wraps for now," Zhang Cheng’s voice sounded beside him. "After some time, once the Spiritual Mechanism of the Water Vein has fully recovered and is no longer affected by the Demon’s residual aura, we can allow them to return home."

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