"You have quite a relationship with Shui Yuan, don't you? By right, you should be looking after the people of the Righteous Blood Sect. What are you up to?" The man in strong attire was rather puzzled.
"Personal relationships are personal, this is Haotian City, this is the Heralds Office. How can personal affairs be mixed with military duties?" The woman spoke righteously and sternly.
The man in strong attire smiled lightly, "I almost believed it!"
"Suit yourself!"
At that mont, a violent wave of spirit force suddenly ca from outside the hall, followed by soone shouting, "Impudent!"
The sound of spirit force clashing echoed, mixed with the noise of spiritual artifacts colliding. Then, three figures rushed into the main hall, one in front and two behind.
The man in strong attire looked at Lu Ye, who charged in with a knife, and exclaid, "You have guts!"
What kind of place is this? This is the Heralds Office in Haotian City, and no one has ever dared to barge in so directly!
What surprised him even more was that Lu Ye really did break in. The two guards at the door were quite formidable, yet they couldn't stop Lu Ye at all.
On the other side, Lu Ye lifted his eyes and quickly scanned the room, spotting the man and the woman at a glance. His heart sank as he realized their strength.
These two were undoubtedly strong cultivators in the Divine Sea Realm!
He didn't know which one was the Chief of the Heralds Office and which one was the guest.
But he had been waiting outside for so long, and there was still no indication that they intended to et him. Clearly, they were deliberately making things difficult for him.
So it was pointless to wait any longer. Since that was the case, he might as well barge in directly.
Turning his palm, he raised a copper token high, the very transfer order Zhao Che had sent to the Righteous Blood Sect. Lu Ye shouted, "Disciple of the Righteous Blood Sect, Lu Ye, reporting for duty!"
The two cultivators who had rushed in after him looked both angry and terrified. One of them said, "Chief, forgive us, this man he..."
"Stand down."
"Yes!"
The two cultivators felt humiliated, each gave Lu Ye a hateful glance, and quickly retreated.
Lu Ye then looked at the elegantly dressed woman.
So she was the Chief of the Heralds Office!
The woman stood up and walked slowly to a distance of ten feet in front of Lu Ye, her expression indifferent and stern.
"Disciple of the Righteous Blood Sect, Lu Ye, reporting for duty!" Lu Ye shouted again.
The woman raised her hand, and the copper token flew into her hand. She then casually tossed it into a box on a nearby table.
With that, Lu Ye had fulfilled the reporting requirent.
"You have so nerve!" The woman coldly snorted.
"The deadline was approaching, and the disciple was anxious while waiting outside. Please forgive , Chief!"
"So you just barged in directly?"
"A desperate asure!"
"A desperate asure indeed!" The woman seed very angry, her Divine Sea Realm aura spread out. Lu Ye felt an imnse pressure, sweat appearing on his forehead.
She coldly said, "I don't care about your status in the Righteous Blood Sect, or what you have done before. Now that you are here in Haotian City, you must abide by its rules! Did no one tell you this before you ca?"
"My senior sister did advise ."
"Since you were advised, why did you not rember? If everyone was as unruly as you, the Bingzhou Guard would have fallen apart long ago!" She turned her head to the man in strong attire, "Qian Wudang! You are the Chief of the Justice Departnt. Unauthorized trespassing into a military important place, what is the penalty according to the law?"
The man nad Qian Wudang's expression turned stern, and he said solemnly, "According to the law, death!"
Lu Ye's brow twitched, death for this?
Amber, perched on his shoulder, imdiately growled at the woman, but was quickly silenced with a flick to its forehead by the woman.
Qian Wudang then changed his tone, "Considering it is his first offense, he can be punished with flogging and imprisoned for ten days to set an example. If there is a second offense, he will not be spared lightly!"
Lu Ye finally understood what this woman was up to, and it was indeed a cunning plan.
The woman glanced at him lightly, "The decision of the Chief of Justice has been spoken, so I leave it to you to handle." She turned and walked away.
Qian Wudang nodded, walked over to Lu Ye, and said with a smile, "Kid, you don't have much luck. Co with !"
He began walking outside.
Lu Ye hung his head and followed, feeling helpless.
He had thought that after joining the Bingzhou Guard he would accomplish sothing significant. Now, even before officially joining, he was to be punished.
But at that mont, he had no other choice, clearly, the Chief of the Heralds Office was deliberately targeting him. If he hadn't barged in directly, he might have been delayed past the deadline, which would be a bigger trouble.
Compared to that, a little punishnt was nothing.
This grudge, Lu Ye noted, would definitely be repaid in the future.
As for thinking about escaping from here... there was hardly any chance, and even if there was, Lu Ye could not do such a thing to disgrace his sect.
Desertion was a major taboo in the Bingzhou Guard.
"Kid, so things are not as simple as they seem, so people are not what you think. Now that you are new to Haotian City and young, it is natural that you cannot see or understand everything clearly. You will understand it all gradually."
Qian Wudang's voice suddenly ca from the front.
Lu Ye remained silent, just following behind him.
Although this Chief of Justice didn't seem to bear any malice towards him and had even proposed a lighter punishnt, one should never judge soone's intentions easily. Being new and ignorant, he decided to keep quiet and observe more.
"You are quite cautious, not bad." Qian Wudang seed to sense his thoughts, smiled lightly, and didn't mind.
The two of them traversed across a part of Haotian City and landed at a place.
Here was a place resembling a small mountain, with a huge and ferocious stone carving of a beast head at the entrance, its wide-open mouth dark and gloomy, giving an eerie feeling.
This was the prison of Haotian City, feared by all Bingzhou Guards. There was a rumor that once you enter here, you might lose a layer of skin even if you don't die.
With the large number of Bingzhou Guards and the strict adherence to military regulations, there were always so cultivators who violated guard discipline for various reasons.
Most of these violators would be sent here for punishnt.
No Bingzhou Guard would co near this place within a mile easily. Even when traveling through the air, they would avoid this place.
"Chief, what brings you here?"
The cultivators guarding the prison were startled seeing Qian Wudang, and an elderly man quickly approached.
"Delivering soone." Qian Wudang grabbed Lu Ye, who had been following him and curiously looking around, and brought him forth.
The elderly man was stunned.
In all these years, countless Bingzhou Guards ca in and out of this prison, but this was the first ti the Chief himself brought soone.
The elderly man imdiately beca serious, "Chief, what cri did this one commit?"
Automatically assuming Lu Ye had committed so horrendous cri, his mind raced with many vicious scenarios, making his expression towards Lu Ye very grave.
"Nothing serious, just a kid who doesn't know the rules and barged into the Heralds Office," Qian Wudang casually explained.
"Uh…" The elderly man didn't know what to say, looking at Lu Ye with so pity.
Barging into the Heralds Office, it's not a major or minor cri. It seed like the Chief just brought him here because he happened to catch him.
"Take care of him," Qian Wudang instructed, then leapt into the sky.
"Safe travels, Chief!" The elderly man understood and, along with others, bowed in respect.
After Qian Wudang had gone far, the elderly man turned to Lu Ye with a smile and gestured, "Young friend, please?"
"Thank you," Lu Ye nodded and stepped towards the dark beast's mouth, entering the darkness.
Following the elderly man down, a damp and gloomy atmosphere hit them.
Soon they reached an underground level, filled with cage-like structures, many of which held cultivators. Many looked wretched, clearly having been punished severely, so even on the verge of death.
The elderly man smiled, "The prison holds those who violate guard discipline, unlike the environnt young friend was used to, but every place has its rules. They broke the rules, so they must be punished. Seeing this, young friend should be more cautious in the future. Guard discipline is strict, and even your sect cannot protect you if you break them."
"Thank you for the advice, elder," Lu Ye appreciated the kindness, realizing the strictness of the Bingzhou Guard's rules.
If he broke any major rules here, even the sect master couldn't help him, Lu Ye reminded himself.
"The prison doesn't only hold Cloud River Realm cultivators. Going further, you'll find True Lake Realm and even Divine Sea Realm cultivators have been imprisoned here." The elderly man continued.
"What penalty will I face?" Lu Ye was more concerned about himself.
"Flogged three tis and imprisoned for ten days," the elderly man didn't hide, having been inford by Qian Wudang of the punishnt plan.
Lu Ye nodded.
Though not a physique cultivator, his body was strong. Three floggings were manageable, and ten days of imprisonnt was no issue.
The elderly man chuckled, "Don't think the punishnt is light, young friend."
"I won't."
A voice ahead suddenly shouted, "Just three floggings? Beat hard! If I scream, you are my sons!"
The elderly man shook his head, "So people are always reckless."
They arrived at a place where the offenders were punished. Lu Ye saw a burly bald man bound by his hands and feet, hanging in mid-air.
He roared in anger, "Just beat directly! Why hang ! I am a True Lake Realm cultivator, I have pride!"
"Alright, alright, no more talking. Start the beating. Hang in there!"
"Co on!" The man taunted.
A sharp cracking sound followed by a whip striking the man echoed.
Lu Ye watched, his eyelids twitching, feeling an urge to fight his way out.
Because the mont the whip struck, the true Lake Realm cultivator's eyes turned white, his whole body shaking violently, clearly suffering imnse pain.
For a full 5 breaths, the man slowly regained his senses and let out a continuous wail!
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