Chapter 869 Decay of the major families (7)

Chapter 869 Decay of the major families (7)

Zhang Guiren sighed lightly as his gaze seemed to wander elsewhere.

"Maybe we should start acting a little selfishly, otherwise.." on reaching here he paused his thoughts slightly as a melancholic gaze fell on Zhang Su before it inadvertently fell on the other clan members. In his sight, their faces kept changing as they overlapped with the faces of other Zhang Clan members he had seen die over the years from the moment he was a youth just like them, fresh on the battlefield, to now when he was an aged senior of the clan.

He let out another exasperated sigh as a number flashed in his mind. It was one of the few things he never liked about his growing cultivation realm. Cultivators had superior memories which only became more absurd the further up the realms they moved.

At his realm, as a quasi-palace stage cultivator, he could remember with perfect recall even the sensation of what it was like to be in his mother's womb from the moment he gained sentience. He could also remember what the weather was like the day he was born, how many people were there, who they were, what they smelled and looked like, and what their reactions were like.

Every single sense from sight, to smell, to sound, to touch and taste, he could feel it with vivid detail and clarity as though it happened just a few seconds ago even though he all this happened 840 years ago.

From the moment he broke through to the core formation realm, he could remember things that happened to him when he was younger with such vividness that to him, it was no different than being there. That sense of sharpness even extended to inane and casual moments in life. Any single thing or person that came across his sight even just once, he would never be able to forget it or them, even if his interaction with them was a passing glance, or it happened over a hundred years back, he would remember it just the same as he would, something very important to him.

Looking at Zhang Su and the rest, all the deaths he had seen of his fellow clansmen came flooding back, every single face, and their last moments, and what that tally had added up to the current date.

Zhang Su and the other seven clan members were not isolated in their thinking and in what they felt. Their sentiment was something that was felt by most within the clan be they old or young. Provided they have stayed at the battlefront long enough, they would have the same misgivings.

The rot of the Empire had spread all the way to the border and their clan, despite not being involved in the decay, had been affected by it, and the price for that was the death of hundreds of Zhang clan members.

The higher-ups of the clan have been debating for almost a thousand years if they should just pack it up and leave. Zhang Su was right, be it him, or elders of the clan of the same stature as him, they had long seized fighting for the Empire. They were all fighting to ensure they had as few casualties as possible among their clan members, to the point that their clan leader, the only palace realm cultivator their clan had was constantly stationed at the border to the point that he couldn't afford to leave and come here for the case.

If he left, who knows the damage they would suffer as a consequence of it? Being the largest contributors to the war against the Five Clovers Kingdom left them praised within the territories of the Red Maple Empire, however, outside of it, a completely different tune was sung. The Five Clovers Kingdom absolutely hated their guts.

No one has killed as many cultivators from their kingdom as the Zhang Clan has to the point that Zhang Guiren sometimes wondered whether the kingdom fought so hard, was it to reclaim the territory they lost to them all those years back or was it to erase every Zhang clan member and pay back the blood debt?

It was likely both. Countless assassination attempts had been made on their key clan members both at the border and at the center of the empire. Another reason most of the Zhang clan members had long lost any sentimental attachment to the Red Maple Empire. Some of the assassination attempts conducted within the confines of the Empire were done with the assistance of some of the nobles, and the despicable part was that it wasn't even the newly ambitious noble families who conspired with those assassins, but the founding families.

Both within the Empire and at the border, nowhere was truly safe for them but at least at the border, they had each other. Feared and plotted against by their own nation, and hated by their enemy.

If he was asked who he feared the most out of the two, he wouldn't have an answer to it.

"Thank you for your cooperation in advance. Now for the crime of practicing blood fiend arts, no matter the reason, all eight of you are guilty of it. While I do sympathize with the situation you were put in, a punishment must be given for what you have done. Now I have two options for you..." Yang Qing said as he leaned forward.

"You have two choices of sentence to choose from. One of the options is, I sentence you to a lifetime imprisonment in leaned forward.

"You have two choices of sentence to choose from. One of the Requiem where you will be locked until your last breath. You will never see the light of day, but you will live out the rest of yours afforded to you by your cultivation realms.

You can continue your cultivation, though it will be severely restricted, but when it comes to meditation there will be none.

To reiterate, the sentence is for life, so even if you somehow break through to a higher realm and your lifespan increases, the length of your imprisonment isn't firmly fixed on your present lifespan, but it is attached to your life in its entirety, whatever it may be now or in the future. You will be locked up in Requiem prison for all your days.

The other option is to face a treasure called the heavenly inquisition sword and undergo its judgment for 100 years. It will judge the weight of your crimes against your hearts..."

On reaching here, Yang Qing paused briefly as his gaze turned serious.

"Those 100 years will not be easy and there is a high chance you may lose your lives in the process, but if your hearts are clear and your willpower strong, you may survive it.

If you do, you may have a chance at some freedom. While you can never go back to the Zhang Clan, or go back to your lives as it was, you have a chance at a different life. If you survive the judgment of the sword, you have the opportunity to work for the Order on the various rehabilitation and restoration projects we have all around the continent.

So which option do you want?"

The eight clan members looked at each other in surprise before they smiled a second later as one of them said,

"Leader, would you please.."

"You're sure?"

"We are from the Zhang clan!" they answered in unison.

Their response left Zhang Su and Zhang Guiren smiling.

"We choose the second option.." Zhang Su answered without hesitation.