Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 487 - 487 0338 Save Someone to The End_2

Chapter 487: Chapter 0338: Save Someone to The End_2 Chapter 487: Chapter 0338: Save Someone to The End_2 In order to minimize costs and avoid deficits in Prince Duan Manor, Zhao Zhiwei personally decided to resort to the current method, enslaving people and dismantling the villagers’ houses. As a result, the virtually ghost village observed by Qi Tian emerged.

Zhao Zhiwei is Prince Duan’s son and the future Prince Duan. As Prince Duan is the current Emperor’s own son, numerous officials desire to flatter Prince Duan Manor. Furthermore, this issue is also tied to the Guardian National Master Manor, which holds almost as much power and influence as Prince Duan Manor, so they dare not intervene. They turned a blind eye to the life and death of common villagers, arguing that they were just commoners. Pleasing Prince Duan Manor and the Guardian National Master Manor was their priority.

Such incidents have happened more than once within the borders of Great Zhao, and this will not be the last. Similar incidents have occurred in the past, but the parties involved did not receive much punishment afterwards, especially if it involved the National Master Manor. The imperial court would not rebuke them. In fact, they would even offer them rewards to appease them. After all, the deterrent force of a Gold Core cultivator is too large. If the royal family of Great Zhao wants to maintain its stability, it must not quarrel with the National Master Manor.

These cultivators supervising the mines and forcing villagers into labor, some were disciples of Cheng Wenbin, while others were hired by Prince Duan Manor. Though they hail from humble backgrounds, since embarking on the path of immortal cultivation, they consider themselves superior, treating ordinary people as nothing but ants, an endless supply of fodder. They were naturally hard on these common people, overworking them in a bid to please Prince Duan’s son and Cheng Wenbin. If a batch of them died, they could always capture more from another village.

That’s the root and branch of the matter. It doesn’t seem complex, but the forces involved are intimidating to the point that no one dares to interfere, like the local officials. Who dares to intervene, to meddle?

Upon finishing his account, the cultivator smugly looked at Qi Tian and said, “Sir, meddling requires more than hot-bloodedness, but also wit. You’re young with a promising future, don’t ruin it by interfering with the operations of Prince Duan Manor and National Master Manor. It’s okay to make mistakes when one is young. However, the great virtue is to correct your errors. Acknowledging and rectifying your mistakes could still save you. We can speak to our Master on your behalf, beseech him for clemency. If all goes well, our Master might even spare you and offer you a meal. In due course, you might climb higher in the ranks and if you’re lucky, earn the respect of the Master’s own Master and become his disciple.”

The cultivator’s words were half-true, but undeniably they wanted Qi Tian to spare them. Qi Tian was stronger than they’d anticipated, his prowess was on par with Cheng Wenbin’s. They had lost their conviction to confront him directly and could only hope to drive Qi Tian away using the gravitas of Prince Duan Manor and Guardian National Master Manor. As for how to settle the score with Qi Tian after, that was not their concern. Although they abhorred Qi Tian, they knew challenging him would be suicidal. Even with such resentments, they had to put up with it, just like the ordinary people whom they had tortured to death when confronting them.

Qi Tian snorted in disdain, saying, “Even now, you refuse to repent. Instead, you dare to threaten me. As descendants of the Guardian National Master Manor, you should be protecting the peace and happiness of the people. However, you’ve delighted in enslaving them, leading to countless deaths, homelessness, and injuries amongst the populace. Do you still believe you deserve to live in this world?”

“Think clearly, sir. To offend Prince Duan Manor, to offend the Guardian National Master Manor—there will be no place for you within Great Zhao, nowhere to run, no place to hide,” the cultivator threatened Qi Tian again.

“That’s not for you to worry about.” Qi Tian waved his hand and snatched a flying sword from the ground. With a flick of his wrist, the cultivator’s head was severed. After that, Qi Tian didn’t stop, he killed all the other cultivators as well.

Through life and death, Qi Tian knew that in such circumstances, even if he were in the right, even if he revealed his stature from the Imperial Master Mansion, he wouldn’t be able to seek justice for the villagers. The best possible outcome would be a blame game between the powers involved. Rather than that, it’d be best to directly execute the primary culprits and those involved in the incident.

When Qi Tian approached the mine, the soldiers assembled by the Prince Duan Manor looked fearfully at Qi Tian, unsure of how he would deal with them.

Qi Tian had no interest in killing ordinary people. Though these soldiers were hardly virtuous, and surely had blood on their hands, he merely said, “Don’t you know to scram? Are you waiting for me to claim your damn lives?”

A centurion in armor, riding a horse, stepped forward tremblingly. He mustered his courage and pointed at Qi Tian, saying, “Immortal master, you slaughtered the priests of Prince Duan Manor and threatened the personal soldiers of Prince Duan Manor. Are you planning to rebel?”

“Rebel, my ass.” Qi Tian threw the flying sword in his hand at the centurion. The sword pierced straight through the centurion’s chest, and he fell off his mount and died on the spot.

Qi Tian ignored the corpse of the centurion and looked at the remaining soldiers, saying, “I’ll give you one minute. After one minute, if you are still in my sight, you can go and join your centurion.”

The soldiers, shocked at Qi Tian’s brutality and lack of reverence for their status as Prince Duan Manor’s personal soldiers, did not linger. They quickly scrambled to evacuate the mines.

At this point, Hu Niu, covered in blood, returned. Qi Tian’s order to her was to execute anyone who dared to resist. The cultivators supervising the castle construction were terrified when they saw Hu Niu. They didn’t bother to figure out if Hu Niu had a master, and attacked her with full force. However, it was no surprise that they were all killed by Hu Niu.

Qi Tian didn’t care about this outcome. He was no stranger to the deaths of cultivators at his hands, and he didn’t care about a few more. Besides, all these people deserved to die, and none of them were worth any sympathy.

Qi Tian walked to the edge of the mine and said to the villagers gathered there, “Fellow villagers, you’re all safe now. I’ve killed the villains who imprisoned and enslaved you. You can go home now.”

Instead of leaving, the villagers knelt and said, “Immortal master, we are grateful that you saved us, but your actions have endangered us. You’ve killed so many people and can just walk away, leaving us behind. When the officials come, they’ll probably arrest us, and most likely behead us for treason in order to placate Prince Duan Manor and the Immortal Masters. What good is your rescue if such consequences are to follow?”

“Well…” Qi Tian slapped his forehead upon hearing this. He was merely trying to enjoy himself, forgetting about this consequence. He was almost certain that once he left, these villagers would definitely face retribution, whether from Prince Duan Manor or the Guardian National Master Manor. No one would accept the current outcome. In that case, he might as well not have saved these villagers.

After thinking a bit, Qi Tian said,”I’ll spare no effort to save and guide you. Since you’re worried about your safety, I’ll stay in the village until the problem is completely solved. Rest assured, I am not a rootless person, I will try my best to ensure your safety.”

Hearing Qi Tian’s promise, these villagers, who were somewhat skeptical, were now left with no choice but to believe him. However, there was disagreement among the villagers about where they should go next.

Many villagers advocated returning home, but even more preferred to stay at the mine or the castle and refused to leave.