After capturing the twelve cities, Gu Hai continuously rushed from city to city to pacify the citizens.
Now, he reached the last city, Mending Heaven City.
While the citizens did not support the Han Nation with everything they had after Gu Hai pacified them, they did not reject the Han Royal Dynasty. The citizens’ feelings for Huangfu Chaoge had not faded yet. Moreover, Gu Hai gave the citizens many benefits, so the citizens acknowledged him for now.
On the floating island of the Mending Heaven City Lord’s official residence:
As Gu Hai stood at the edge of the floating island, he held the railing and looked over the city where the citizens had acknowledged him. He let out a long breath and revealed a faint smile.
The Mending Heaven City Lord and Tang Chu stood behind him.
“Your Majesty, the various cities have been pacified already. Should we return to the capital? Mister Shangguan sent word that the Great Light Sovereign Deity has already arrived,” Tang Chu said respectfully.
Gu Hai nodded and was about to speak when his eyes grew incredibly wide and bloodshot. He gripped the railing so tightly that the veins in his arms bulged.
Gu Hai saw a convoy of immortal crane carriages flying by the city lord’s official residence’s floating island. The leader of that group was a white-haired old man with a childlike face. This person appeared to be in high spirits.
At the sight of that white-haired, child-faced old man, Gu Hai’s breathing suddenly turned rushed.
“Your Majesty, what’s wrong?” Tang Chu asked, feeling puzzled.
Gu Hai shot a cold look at the Mending Heaven City Lord. A chilling murderous intent filled Gu Hai’s tone as he asked, “Mending Heaven City Lord, who is he?”
Plop! The Mending Heaven City Lord suddenly knelt.
“Your Majesty, please forgive me! This offi-offi-official deserves death. I should not have given in to my greed!” the Mending Heaven City Lord stammered in horror.
“Huh?” This startled Gu Hai.
“Your Majesty, the Divine Foundation Royal Dynasty did not have any capital punishment. However, locking up those unpardonably wicked criminals would put a drain on the city’s military and resources, so…so we would sell them to the Mending Heaven Sect. While we were rescued not long ago, and the old laws were reinstated, many of the old officials wanted to continue the old practices and sell the unpardonably wicked criminals to the Mending Heaven Sect, so…so…,” the Mending Heaven City Lord said in a fluster.
“Oh? The Mending Heaven Sect? Sell the unpardonably wicked criminals to the Mending Heaven Sect?” Gu Hai appeared somewhat puzzled.
“Ah? Your Majesty, you did not know about it?” The Mending Heaven City Lord’s expression changed.
So, His Majesty did not know about this matter. Then, why was his expression so horrifying? That scared me into spilling everything. The Mending Heaven City Lord felt like crying, but it was too late.
Tang Chu looked behind the immortal crane carriages. Indeed, there were cages shrouded with large cloths.
“The unpardonably wicked criminals are being dragged behind the immortal crane carriages?” Tang Chu asked.
“Yes,” the Mending Heaven City Lord said, feeling regretful.
This is my own fault?
“The unpardonably wicked criminals are sold to the Mending Heaven Sect? Are you disregarding the law? If they release the criminals and the criminals harm people, you will be put in a difficult position!” Tang Chu said coldly.
“I’m not. Lord Tang misunderstands. We have an agreement with the Mending Heaven Sect. After we sell the criminals to them, they send the corpses back to us after a while. None of the criminals can escape,” the city lord explained.
“Oh?” Tang Chu frowned.
“The Mending Heaven Sect started a big casino. They use the unpardonably wicked criminals in arenas as fighters killing each other while people bet on the winner. When the convicts die, they send the corpses back to us. We worried about that as well, but nothing has happened even after so many years. The Mending Heaven Sect also buys convicts from other cities,” the city lord immediately explained.
“Oh? Arena? Gambling?” Tang Chu felt startled as he looked at Gu Hai.
This was nothing strange. Nine-Five Island’s Great Feng Mafia Family had done the same. The only difference was that the Great Feng Mafia Family’s evil men were not really convicts, unlike with the Mending Heaven Sect.
“My question is, who is the white-haired, child-faced old man?” Gu Hai continued looking coldly at the city lord.
“He…he is the Mending Heaven Sect Master, Hu Dongtian,” the city lord immediately said.
“Oh? The Mending Heaven Sect’s sect master?” Gu Hai raised his eyebrows.
Now that Gu Hai knew who this person was, he was not afraid of this person running away.
Far in the distance, the immortal crane carriages carried Hu Dongtian and others towards the city gate.
“The Mending Heaven Sect? What’s up with the Mending Heaven Sect?” Gu Hai looked at the city lord.
“It was said that back when the Mending Heaven Sect was at its peak, it reached the level of a middle-tier sect. However, every generation was worse than the one before. Eventually, it ended up a lower-tier sect and even fell to controlling only one city, which was our Mending Heaven City. Later on, they lost this city after the Divine Foundation Royal Dynasty was established. Now, their land is only in the wilderness outside the city, and they only operate a casino. More accurately, it lies on the border between my Han Royal Dynasty and the Yuan Imperial Dynasty,” the city lord explained.
“The Mending Heaven Sect and its sect master became this frail?” Gu Hai said.
“Yes. However, the Mending Heaven Sect Master, Hu Dongtian, has a special ability. He can repair enchanted treasures. If one’s enchanted treasure broke, he could fix it. After that, it would be like new, exactly the same as the original. Hence, we city lords maintain a friendship with him, not causing him any trouble for operating a casino outside the city,” the city lord explained.
Gu Hai narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched the immortal crane carriages fly on, disappearing in the direction of the city gate.
“The city changed hands, so Hu Dongtian came personally to collect the unpardonably wicked criminals. Your Majesty, rest assured. This official did not sell off a good person by mistake. They are all extremely wicked criminals, and their deeds are well documented,” the city lord added.
“Alright, get up,” Gu Hai said.
“Yes!” The city lord continued looking at Gu Hai in fear.
“Tang Chu, immediately send a message. Call all the unassigned foundation rock golems to Mending Heaven City,” Gu Hai said as he turned to Tang Chu.
“Yes!” Although Tang Chu did not know what was going on, he still answered.
“Mending Heaven City Lord.” Gu Hai looked at the Mending Heaven City Lord.
“Yes!”
“The Han Royal Dynasty has the capital punishment, so I will not pursue you for your earlier mismanagement. However, I hope there will not be a next time,” Gu Hai said coldly.
“Yes! This official knows his mistake. Thank you, Your Majesty!” the city lord immediately responded in gratitude.
“Get me all the information on the Mending Heaven Sect. I want all of it,” Gu Hai said.
“Yes!” the city lord answered.
Then, the two men left, and Gu Hai stood by the floating island’s railing alone. Overwhelming hatred flashed in his eyes. He had already crushed the railing under his hands.
Gu Hai took a few deep breaths before finally managing to suppress the anger in his heart.
“Ha! Hahahaha! I’ve finally found one! I’ve finally found one! Hu Dongtian?” Gu Hai said with a ferocious expression.
“Xianer, it has been over ten years. I finally found one of your enemies. Although this Hu Dongtian was one of the most unremarkable ones among that group, I can find the others through him. None of them can escape. My Xianer, were you guiding me from heaven?” Gu Hai’s eyes turned red as he looked at the sky.
Five days later:
Gu Hai brought Tang Chu to the Mending Heaven Sect. When they entered the gambling area, they heard loud cheers coming from the arena.
It was just like the Great Feng Mafia Family back then. The betting took place in the arena, and cultivators from the surrounding cities came here to spend money.
“Your Majesty, even among lower-tier sects, this Mending Heaven Sect is at the bottom. There actually is not even a single bit of blessings above the sect. According to the information, this Hu Dongtian’s cultivation only reached the Nascent Soul Realm less than five years ago, yet all of the Mending Heaven Sect’s sect masters were experts in fixing enchanted treasures?” Tang Chu said, feeling puzzled as he took in the surroundings.
Gu Hai frowned slightly and said, “He just reached the Nascent Soul Realm, but he is not following that personage around. Instead, he would rather open a small casino here?”
At this moment, the battle in the arena ended. One of the convicts lost but was still alive. Preparations for the next match began.
“Your Majesty, according to the information we read on this sect, the cause of death of all the convicts in the arena is very strange, a sword through the heart,” Tang Chu said, feeling puzzled.
“We saw it as well. There should be someone else killing the convicts after the battle finishes.”
“However, this official still cannot understand this.”
“If you can’t understand it, then don’t bother. You will know why soon. Lay the ritual array. Surround the entire Mending Heaven Sect. Let no one escape,” Gu Hai said coldly.
“Yes!” Tang Chu answered.
The many Han Royal Dynasty elites did as Gu Hai ordered, burying spirit stones.
No matter how strange the Mending Heaven Sect appeared, Gu Hai remained extremely cautious.
Half a day later:
Boom!
A vast fog appeared around the Mending Heaven Sect.
“Huh? What’s going on?”
“Hu Dongtian, what are you doing?”
“Why is there fog? Is this a ritual array?”
The surrounded gamblers let out startled cries, their expressions suddenly changing.
The Mending Heaven Sect disciples immediately turned flustered, running around without any direction in mind. Some ran further into the sect and shouted, “Sect Master! Sect Master! It’s not good!”
Some cultivators tried to exit the ritual array, but they ended up walking in a circle and coming back.
“Who is it?! Come out!” Loud shouts rang out in the casino.
Outside:
Gu Hai looked at the ritual array before him as a cold look flashed in his eyes.
“Everyone inside, listen up. The Mending Heaven Sect’s Hu Dongtian has broken the Han Royal Dynasty’s laws. We are here to capture Hu Dongtian today. This does not involve anyone else. Don’t act rashly. We will let everyone leave later, so please cooperate. If anyone acts rashly, we will treat them the same as the offender!” Tang Chu’s voice rang out in the ritual array.
“Here to capture Hu Dongtian?”
“He broke the Han Royal Dynasty’s laws?”
The anxious cultivators slowly calmed down, no longer acting rashly.
After a while, Hu Dongtian’s startled voice came from the Mending Heaven Sect. “Which lord of the Han Royal Dynasty is this? This humble one is Hu Dongtian. I have not broken any of the Han Royal Dynasty’s laws, and I have a friendship with the Mending Heaven City Lord. Milord, please investigate this!”
“Your Majesty, he is speaking nonsense. I am not good friends with him,” the Mending Heaven City Lord insisted bitterly.
“This has nothing to do with you.” Gu Hai shook his head.
“This official will investigate whether you did break the law or not. Sect Master Hu, are you going to surrender yourself, or should we take action?” Tang Chu’s voice rang out in the ritual array again.
By now, Gu Hai had already laid an inescapable net. This Hu Dongtian could not escape.
In a plaza within the Mending Heaven Sect, Hu Dongtian narrowed his eyes, his expression slowly turning sullen.
