Another man entered the room when the residual anesthetic smoke had completely disappeared and Jinshui still struggled to maintain his consciousness. He was a middle-aged man, very tall, and wore a dark red shirt. The man was also wearing a protective cloak. The man's face was wide, his expression cold and stiff, and his eyes were vicious. Jinshui had never seen the man before, but he could faintly guess.
"Yumen Mowang is a government fugitive, a dangerous criminal who has killed and harmed many people," said the man's deep voice. "Lin-mo is a palace guard, catching criminals like you is my job. Hua Jinshui, the journey to the capital is still far, I hope you don't die just yet. Your head is more valuable if it is still attached to your body."
That man was Lin Tongtian, and he was Lin Jixuan's father. Lin Tongtian used to be a criminal hunter working under the orders of an imperial agency. He was also one of the three leaders of the alliance that destroyed Yumen Jiao's headquarters thirteen years ago. His title was Banye Xiake, or the Midnight Killer. However, little was known about the origin of this title.
Lin Tongtian should have retired and no longer had the obligation to arrest government fugitives as he had just said. He appeared in this place, far away from the capital, here presumably because of the news about the Yumen descendants in the last few years, or this old man just wasn't ready to leave his job yet.
"Where's Lin Jixuan?" Jinshui asked weakly, the effect of Lin Tongtian's drug was still felt and made his head hurt. He didn't know what kind of drug that former palace guard was using.
"That kid should be guarding the criminals his father caught, not wandering around and making friends with people he shouldn't be," Lin Tongtian said bluntly. "I told him to go home. My own trusted bodyguards brought him along with his one-armed friend."
Jinshui and Huang Yu looked at him, estimating that Lin Tongtian had not found out that Lin Jixuan was one of the eight descendants of Yumen. Lin Tongtian apparently only found his son taking his ship away without permission, then reclaimed the ship and sent Lin Jixuan home. Of course, if Lin Tongtian had known his son was Xiezhang's descendant, he would have immediately finished him off and would forever assume he never had a son.
"Bring it here!" Lin Tongtian shouted and one of his men handed him two pieces of paper and some ink. "Put it there."
The two sheets of paper and some ink were prepared on the table. Jinshui and Huang Yu immediately guessed the two pieces of paper were confession letters prepared for them. Signing them means admitting themselves as a criminal, and then they will be waiting for punishment.
"Just hand me the paper and I'll sign it," Jinshui laughed to himself. "I'm a criminal and there's no shame of admitting it. Yumen Mowang will definitely admit everything he's done. I'll take whatever punishment you want me to take."
"You think I'm going to release you two now to sign?" Lin Tongtian turned around. "Make them suffer," he gave another order to his men. "Lin-mo doesn't like prisoners who are willing to confess without a fight. You two can sign the paper later."
The men prepared two whips. Lin Tongtian was used to torturing people since he was young. He sat watching with a stiff face with no mercy at all. His men were no different, there was never any mercy for the victims. It wasn't long before the sound of the whip lashing was heard.
Jinshui and Huang Yu were the descendants of Moying and Chailang, the two main guardians of Yumen. Both of them possessed the energy of their master, the result of decades of practice. They were able to endure the torment and neither screamed in pain nor asked for mercy. However, having high-level internal energy does not mean that their skin was immune. Wounds from the whiplash of course ached.
The minutes passed painfully. Lin Tongtian drank the tea his servant provided, and his stiff face remain unchanged. Blood began to flow from the clothes of the two prisoners, several lashes even touched Jinshui and Huang Yu's faces. But until now, the two of them kept their mouths shut and didn't make the slightest sound.
"Stop," Lin Tongtian suddenly made a sound. The whiplashing sound stopped. Lin Tongtian put his teacup on the table, then stood up, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked around the two prisoners. "Thirteen years ago, Lin-mo and two other friends led the martial world's warriors to destroy Yumen's headquarters and managed to finish off the sect's core power, painstakingly eliminating the demon sect. Unexpectedly, Wu Youwei still left an illegitimate son."
Moying had told Jinshui about the attack on the Yumen headquarters thirteen years ago by the alliance of three major parties. Lin Tongtian was one of them, and he was the indirect representative of the government. Although Moying didn't really mention it, it was clear that this Lin Tongtian hated Yumen and intended to wipe out the sect entirely.
"The news in the martial world also says, Yumen Mowang is gathering new followers," said Lin Tongtian again. "My son Lin Jixuan left the house a while ago, some say he has become friends with you. I wonder if Hua Jiaozhu also wants to take him as one of your followers."
"Linglang (your son) is a grown man," Jinshui said, imitating Lin Tongtian's talking style, "if he wants to join us Yumen sect, of course, Hua-mo will gladly accept."
"Yumen is indeed a heretic sect," said Lin Tongtian, "you want to break me up with my own son, tear the Lin Family apart. I can say that this is your way of taking revenge on your followers who died at your headquarters thirteen years ago. Lin-mo will of course not grant your wishes."
"Lin Jixuan is still living well, you are also quite capable of torturing people still, how is the Lin Family torn apart?" Huang Yu asked. "In the future, the descendants of Lin Family will be famous everywhere, as loyal followers of our sect."
Lin Tongtian turned to Huang Yu, watched his face for a moment, then caught his jaw and twisted it once.
"You are the second son of Huang Weiqun, Huang Zongbiaotou of Hailang Biaoju," he recognized Huang Yu. "I never expect you to become one of them. Your parents were killed three years ago, don't you know why?"
"What did you say?" Huang Yu asked. He witnessed the death of his parents three years ago, and just a while ago he met the ones responsible for that murder. However, until now the identity of the two killers remained unknown, the reason for their killing was also unclear, and he was extremely curious about it.
"The guardians of Yumen prepared the descendants from a young age, children who didn't even know Yumen, let alone loyal to it," Lin Tongtian said again, "you tell me, how will they convince these children to revive Yumen together in the future, long after they are gone?"
"The guardians died because you people who claim to be of the pure righteous parties intend to wipe them out," Jinshui replied. "They left us to give us a chance. As for whether to revive the sect or not, it's all up to us."
Lin Tongtian glared at him. "You are the illegitimate son of Wu Youwei. With or without the guardians, you will resurrect Yumen and take the position left by your father," he said, "but there is no way anyone else will help you, loyal to you, except you give them the reasons. The reason to hate the righteous parties, the reason to side with Yumen, the reason to oppose the whole world."
Jinshui didn't give him an answer, while Huang Yu also suddenly trembled with emotion. For a moment he really hoped that Lin Tongtian would tell an important secret, but he also didn't want to hear the truth.
"The death of family members, or parents, can carry enough grudge and hatred to change one's mind," Lin Tongtian spoke again. "Hua Jinshui, say it, if this friend of yours hadn't lost his parents three years ago, wouldn't he still be the good young master of the Huang Family? If his parents were still alive, I believe he didn't think about following you as Yumen supporter."
His words just finished, Huang Yu had already vomited fresh blood and almost lost consciousness. Unknowingly to him, Baigu did say to his fellow guardians at Zilan Hua Yuan at that time about killing the family of one of the descendants and placing the blame on Yumen's enemies.
In fact, Jinshui and Huang Yu did think about the possibility of the guardians' plan to arouse the descendants' intention to restore Yumen's glory using this method. Yumen in the past was a heretic sect filled with cruel men, and they knew that. It's just that they certainly didn't want to have such thoughts towards the guardians who had contributed to raising them by sacrificed a lot.
Jinshui was silent, realizing that it was true that Huang Yu's ambition to revive Yumen began three years ago when he witnessed the death of his parents. Without that incident, perhaps, Huang Yu would never collect the other descendants. Jinshui, perhaps, also would not do anything and just simply spent his life in a quiet place, not participating in the chaos in the martial world.
"Go on," Lin Tongtian said to his men again, didn't care about the condition of his two prisoners. He stepped aside and returned to his seat.
His men continued beating Jinshui and Huang Yu with their whips. The pain was getting worse for both of them. Lin Tongtian just watched with his constantly stiff face, letting up to twenty more lashes. Huang Yu fell unconscious. Never in his life had he been beaten like this. Jinshui was stronger. His suffering from the zhaobai and zixie poison after helping Xu Qiao three years ago was a lot more painful, and now he was much more able to endure.
"Now, tell me, how many Yumen descendants are there," Lin Tongtian asked after. "If you are willing to clearly identify all of them, Lin-mo will let you eat and sleep in peace."
Jinshui laughed. "I'm Yumen Mowang," he spoke in pain, "it's not that we don't want to reveal their identities, but we have no obligation to give a report to Mr. Lin."
"Hmh," Lin Tongtian was calm, it was normal to get this kind of answer from his prisoners. "Well, you two don't have an appetite today, Lin-mo is okay with that." Then he asked his men, "how many already?"
"Laoye, it's been seventy times," replied the one who was asked.
"Go on. They don't need to sleep tonight."
One man took water and splashed Huang Yu's face until he opened his eyes again. Some others prepare hot irons, it looks like they will really torture the two prisoners to death.
"Die (father)...."
A girl's soft voice was heard. There was a young lady entering the room. She was wearing a light purple soft dress. She was at most the same age as Xu Qiao, her petite face was pretty even though she was a little pale and her eyes were drooping. An old maidservant followed her without saying a word. Lin Tongtian immediately gave the signal to his men to extinguish the hot iron.
That girl was Lin Jixuan's younger sister, named Lin Xiaoyan. Huang Yu had heard quite a bit about her. Perhaps because Lin Tongtian was at his wit's end with his son's misbehavior, all his fatherly affection was poured out on this daughter. But despite being spoiled, Lin Xiaoyan was not a stubborn girl nor liked to cause trouble like her brother. Instead, she was very obedient and also loved her father dearly.
Lin Tongtian abstained from showing violence in front of his beloved daughter. He immediately pulled the young girl out of the room, but Lin Xiaoyan didn't want to obey her father this time.
"Xiaoyan, this place is not for you, you shouldn't be here. Your father is on business, you don't need to know. Yun Naima (Aunt Yun), take your lady back to her room," he gave an order to the old maid who was standing behind Lin Xiaoyan.
"Die, are you torturing the prisoner again?"
Lin Xiaoyan didn't wait for the answer. She came closer to Jinshui and Huang Yu, forcing his father's subordinates to stay out of her way. "Let them go," she demanded.
"No, you can't," Lin Tongtian knew if Hua Jinshui was released, the consequences would be dire for him. "Xiaoyan, you go back to your room please, I'll let them sleep well tonight, don't worry."
"Then why don't you just unchain them?" asked Lin Xiaoyan.
"They are dangerous criminals," replied Lin Tongtian, "there will be casualties if we let them go."
Lin Xiaoyan looked at the two letters on the table, she quite understood the function of those. Although her father treated her as an indoor girl who only knows how to eat, sleep and study literature, she also understood her father's work and the laws.
"They had not signed those papers, meaning you can't call them criminals," the young girl said again. "Die, it's like you're forcing them to confess to a crime they didn't commit, you're no different from them."
This daughter was indeed Lin Tongtian's biggest weakness. Since her birth, Lin Xiaoyan was weak and often suffered from illness. Her mother who cherished her the most always asked Lin Tongtian to find all kinds of healers and medicines to keep her alive. When Lin Furen died, this daughter had already started to grow up, her illness still hadn't gone away, so Lin Tongtian was left alone to take care of her, not allowing her to be injured at all, considering her a precious pearl.
"All right, all right, unchain them." Lin Tongtian finally said. "Lock them in the cage, don't let them leave this cabin." He approached his daughter and tried to pull her out of the room. "My dear, whether they are guilty or not, the court will decide later. Your father doesn't torture people anymore, but while he can't let them go, all right?"
The girl smiled nicely. "They're hurt, you have to cure them," she asked again.
"I'll ask A Hei to treat them. Now you go back to your room and stay there."
"I can't believe you can treat them well," Lin Xiaoyan insisted. "I have to see it myself."
Lin Tongtian was powerless to get rid of his daughter, nor could he yell, forced to order his man to unchain Jinshui and Huang Yu, and allowed them to sit on the floor of the room. Two of his men took off some of Jinshui and Huang Yu's clothes, cleaning their wounds. Lin Xiaoyan asked her maid to give them some medicine, and the old lady helped the two prisoners with the medicine.
Lin Xiaoyan was a little uncomfortable to see so many lashes and blood flowing. She walked around the room, ignoring her father who repeatedly told her to get out, then picked up the package containing the xuanlong sword that was lying on the table, opened the wrapping cloth, and looked at the sword carving, admiring its beauty.
"Xiaoyan," Lin Tongtian called her, "put the sword down."
"This sword is so beautiful," Lin Xiaoyan said, "can you give it to me?"
"You can't even fight, why do you want a sword?" Lin Tongtian asked back.
"Thank you Die," Lin Xiaoyan said as she hung the sword on her back, then walked over to Huang Yu, and handed him a piece of pastry.
Huang Yu was still very weak, watching a cute girl approach and give him food made him feel a vibe that he had never thought of before. For a while, he forgot his own injured condition and stared at Lin Xiaoyan.
"I know you are the friends of my brother," Lin Xiaoyan whispered softly to him, "you can use me to get out of this place, my brother won't blame you."
Huang Yu was still staring at her as if he didn't hear her words. Jinshui also heard, but using a girl to save himself wasn't something he would do.
"Lin Tongtian," Jinshui spoke to the Banye Xiake. "I've been poisoned, the wounds on the body haven't healed yet, today I was beaten by you. You can kill me easily."
Lin Tongtian was startled. He couldn't ask Jinshui to stop talking in front of his daughter.
"But I am the primary descendant of Yumen, the son of Tongjian Leishen Wu Youwei, worthy enough to challenge you to a one-on-one fight," continued Jinshui. "I'm sure you also want people to know you have the ability to kill Yumen Mowang Hua Jinshui, not by using poison and traps, but in a fair combat, am I right?"
Lin Tongtian raised his eyebrows, deeply tempted by Jinshui's words. Thirteen years ago he once wanted to have a one-on-one match with the leader of Yumen, Tongjian Leishen Wu Youwei. But Wu Youwei had already been defeated by the Sword God Zhang Zheliang, and he never got the chance to test the ability of the most powerful man in Yumen.
"It's Lin Daren'job to catch fugitives. You used a trap to catch me and tortured me a bit, Hua-mo wouldn't take that into account," Jinshui said again. "I just wanted to try a bit of your beifeng qi, see if Lin Daren could really catch and torture me by relying on his own abilities."
"Xiaoyan, hand him that sword," Lin Tongtian suddenly said to his daughter. "Hua Jinshui, you can use that sword and fight with me. Seeing as today you've been poisoned and injured, then I'll give you three moves to attack first."
"I don't need three moves to start the fight," said Jinshui, "it's just that I'm in this condition, I cannot use the energy given by my master Moying, hope Lin Daren fights me in a total of fifty moves. After that, if Hua-mo can still stand up straight, then I just need Lin Daren to release my friend Huang Yu. As for me, Lin Daren wants to continue today's work or end it immediately, it's all your decision."
"Jinshui," Huang Yu was awakened by his friend's words. Jinshui's condition was severed, his body was injured inside and out, the poison had not yet been removed and he still had to endure the pain throughout his body. Fighting Lin Tongtian for up to fifty moves was a suicide.
"Fifty moves is fair enough," Lin Tongtian said. "After those fifty moves, if you can still stand up straight, then Lin-mo must also acknowledge Yumen Mowang's superiority, today the two of you can leave this place, alive."
Lin Xiaoyan handed the xuanlong sword to Jinshui hesitantly, not because she was worried that Jinshui would fight with her father, but worried that she would not be able to help the two prisoners. Jinshui's decision just now of not wanting to use her as a hostage and instead challenging Lin Tongtian could clearly be seen, she really felt deep admiration.
Jinshui used the xuanlong sword to stand up, then followed Lin Tongtian out of the darkroom up to the deck. Lin Xiaoyan asked a subordinate to carry Huang Yu and followed them all.