Master of Strange Dao

"Given your circumstances back then, how did you manage to send him to the execution ground?"

"Hehe..." Song chuckled.

"Because the young brat was spoiled from a young age, he got whatever he wanted, arrogant as hell, a real rotten seed.

Many people couldn't stand the sight of him.

This brat once attended a poetry gathering and took a liking to a Commandery Princess. Guess what?

Upon hearing it was a Commandery Princess, he had no idea who she was, thinking she was some idle prince's daughter inheriting a title.

People like this, generation after generation, have become exceedingly docile, with no real power.

So the brat, as usual, acted without restraint, directly abducting her into the Jade Chariot.

Then, my men immediately discovered and reported it to me. My mind was made up, and I went in for the arrest.

Guess what? This Commandery Princess was the granddaughter of Emperor Qian's few surviving brothers.

That old man neither formed cliques nor sought gains, lived a secluded life. This incident enraged him so much that he came out but didn't cause trouble for the An Family.

He endured it, crying bitterly in court.

Can you imagine?

Emperor Qian couldn't maintain his facade.

There was no need for a trial; no one dared to interfere. The conviction was smooth, the execution swift, eradicated both body and soul.

Alongside him, dozens were also executed.

It didn't escalate further because the An Family Patriarch personally apologized, and also due to the old man's special status, he didn't want it to blow up, maintaining dignity for Emperor Qian, requesting just to follow the Law Code.

It was the smoothest, swiftest execution in the past two hundred years.

Unfortunately, after the fact, the An Family acted like rabid dogs, occasionally biting me.

They even produced an Imperial Censor, who once, in a single day, reported me eight times.

Simply insane.

For the past hundred years, every time I saw the An Family's mad dogs, I consoled myself, thinking that I had killed their next Family Head. Surely, I'm allowed to hear them bark a little.

Let them be.

Sadly, later on, the An Family fell, and I barely intervened; it wasn't even my turn.

They offended too many people, far more than I did, truly skillful indeed."

Yu Ziqing listened to Song boasting happily, hesitated whether to say his next words.

Speaking might spoil Song's rare moment of happiness.

In the future, remembering it might bring displeasure.

New No. Ten mentioned that years ago, one White Water Egg from their organization, No. 6 White Water Egg, was killed under some pretext.

According to Yu Ziqing's deductions, the forces behind No. 6 White Water Egg were likely destroyed or were no longer valuable.

Now it truly seemed to match with someone.

"I wonder, if I told you something, it might ruin your mood. Do you think I should say it?"

Yu Ziqing asked for Song's opinion first.

Song stopped laughing and sighed lightly.

"Since you're asking like that, just say it."

"I was going to say that the person executed back then might not have been the real culprit, would you believe it?"

"Absolutely impossible. It was a proper execution, and before it, identity verification was mandatory.

Verify face, verify body, verify Divine Soul; everything must match before execution.

Substituting a condemned criminal is a crime as grave as storming an execution ground. Getting caught means a death sentence, implicating the entire family, who would all be imprisoned.

If egregious enough, might even eradicate three generations.

How could the An Family have the means, for the sake of one descendant, to make everyone take such a huge risk."

Song spoke with confidence; Yu Ziqing smiled and waved his hand, signaling him to calm down.

"Hey, they don't need to make everyone take a risk.

They only need to bribe the verifier, possibly even just the person verifying the Divine Soul.

After the events then, did anyone involved die unexpectedly?"

Song Chengyue felt a shiver.

"The one verifying the Divine Soul was from the Jinyi Wei. A few months later, he died on a failed mission, his body unrecovered."

A sudden death in the Jinyi Wei would naturally be investigated, but the result showed no anomalies.

During the arrest, the criminal resisted fiercely, ambushing and killing him.

It was later found that this Jinyi Wei had embezzled quite a lot.

But with Jinyi Wei, as long as it wasn't excessive, everyone turned a blind eye.

During raids, people always got a share; even if Emperor Qian knew, he'd pretend not to.

Otherwise, how could you expect those paid pennies to risk their lives?

Even if risking their lives, there must be a foundation of skills.

Without resources, how could skills be improved?

But this Jinyi Wei had taken a bit too much, enough that he left plenty for his family.

However, since he died in service, Song Chengyue suppressed the matter.

What began as investigating for someone else had now looped back to him, leaving Song in no mood to laugh.

"What's happening?"

"Have you heard of the Faceless Man?"

"Dazhen's Faceless Man?"

"No, literally, people without faces."

"Didn't Dazhen abandon that Dharma Method long ago?"

"It's by other people. I unexpectedly had some encounters with them, a small grudge, so I prepared early.

I discovered these guys are deeply hidden, and found out they seem to replenish their ranks using these condemned criminals.

After a convict becomes a Faceless Man, they remember neither their name nor past, only what they learned and the skills mastered.

They use these convicts to indirectly manipulate the forces behind to accomplish certain tasks.