13: Chapter 13 Master Qin is kind-hearted and cannot bear to see the people suffer.

Pry open Squire Chen's mouth?

Isn't that just torture!

This game actually has a torture segment?

While Qin Muyuan was feeling awed by the diversity of the game's gameplay, he also dislocated both of Squire Chen's arms with a single palm strike and dragged him down the cellar stairs.

The cellar below was not very dim either, with burning kerosene lamps illuminating the surroundings.

Inside the cellar were rows of rooms partitioned by solid wood fences, their doors locked with iron chains.

This appearance was much like the prison Qin Muyuan had previously seen in Heishui County.

Every small room in the cellar held people—both men and women—and crucially, all of these men and women were in their prime youth.

Only due to prolonged starvation, their complexions were sallow and their bodies emaciated.

When Xiao Chang saw these sallow and emaciated men and women locked in the cellar, his face instantly darkened, and he smashed a fist onto Squire Chen's head with an indignant expression:

"How dare you illegally set up a prison in your own residence and imprison the common people!"

Squire Chen let out a grunt of pain from this punch, and the moment he moved, he jarred the arms that Qin Muyuan had dislocated, immediately causing cold sweat to break out all over his back from the pain.

But Qin Muyuan didn't care about any of that. He fished a bunch of keys from Squire Chen's waist and tossed them to Xiao Chang, telling Xiao Chang to free the common people locked in the cells.

At first, these imprisoned common people could not believe they had been freed, standing stunned in place and not daring to come out.

It wasn't until Xiao Chang led them out and let them see Squire Chen pinned to the ground, groaning in pain like a dead dog,

that their eyes streamed with tears, knowing they were saved.

Looking at these pitiful people who had been locked away for an unknown length of time, Xiao Chang sighed and asked, "How long have you been imprisoned?"

"Reporting to our benefactor, we have been locked up here for over a month!"

A woman had tears welling in her eyes, but her gaze was nailed tightly onto Squire Chen slumped on the ground, filled with irrepressible hatred.

She continued to recount that she was originally washing clothes by the stream when she was suddenly knocked unconscious from behind with knockout drugs by someone.

When she woke up again, she found herself in this dark cellar cage.

Here, all of them had suffered beatings, abuse, and wanton venting from Squire Chen.

What terrified them even more was that every few days, one person would be dragged out of the cell, sent to an unknown place, and from then on there would be no news, never to return.

Hearing the woman's account, Qin Muyuan gave a slap with his palm, directly dislocating another of Squire Chen's knees.

Instantly, heart-rending screams resounded through the cellar.

Hearing the screams, however, the imprisoned common people held no pity in their eyes; instead, they were filled with the relief of hatred being vented.

Sensing these common people's gazes, Qin Muyuan then dislocated the other knee of Squire Chen.

Immediately, the screams rang out once more.

Hearing the screams, Qin Muyuan nodded in satisfaction.

There was no help for it; Master Qin was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to witness the sufferings of the common people.

Therefore, he would just let this squire, who caused the common people's sufferings, pay a small price.

Until the screams turned into half-dead, gasping breaths, did Qin Muyuan squat down and ask:

"Do you know Shi Gandang, the father of that little girl Shi Yan? Where did you send him?"

"Baiyun Martial Arts Hall! Beneath Baiyun Martial Arts Hall, there is an arena, and Shi Gandang is right there!" Squire Chen, having been tortured to the point of wishing he were dead, gritted his teeth and blurted out the intelligence Qin Muyuan wanted to know.

"It's that simple?" Hearing this, Qin Muyuan was somewhat disappointed.

He had thought he needed to torture him a few more times before Squire Chen would answer.

He had even recalled torture techniques he saw in spy warfare films, such as piercing the fingertips, or some kind of demon pill excision surgery and the like.

Yet none of them were put to use.

"Baiyun Martial Arts Hall, we have a lead."

Qin Muyuan turned around and walked toward the upper part of the earth cave.

"Kill, kill me!"

The entreaties of Squire Chen came from behind.

At this moment, Squire Chen had both arms and both legs dislocated and had become a cripple.

His decisive answers to Qin Muyuan's questions earlier were precisely in the hope that Qin Muyuan would kill him and stop torturing him.

Facing his request, Qin Muyuan merely glanced at him faintly and said:

"Begging me is useless; you have to go beg those people you tortured."

As his voice fell, Squire Chen trembling turned his head to look.

In the cellar, those common people he had imprisoned and tortured were each glaring at him with bloodshot eyes, like malevolent ghosts about to devour someone.

...

Qin Muyuan walked up the cellar stairs to the surface, and behind him came Squire Chen's miserable wails and desperate cries for mercy.

"Oh no, I forgot to ask what he sent Shi Yan's father to the arena for."

Qin Muyuan of course knew that an arena was used for gladiatorial combat.

But after Shi Yan's father was tied up by Squire Chen, why wasn't he sent to this cellar, but directly to the arena instead?

This was something Qin Muyuan only thought to ask about now.

"Forget it, forget it, why care so much."

Hearing the wails of Squire Chen from below, Qin Muyuan couldn't be bothered to go back down and interrupt the friendly exchange between the tortured common people and Squire Chen.

As for quests, just skip them and be done with it.

There's no need to understand the plot in such detail.

As long as the quest is completed and the final quest reward is obtained, that's enough.

"Brother Qin, I'll settle them down. You go ahead to Baiyun Martial Arts Hall to look for Shi Gandang; I'm afraid delays will bring changes."

Behind him, Xiao Chang, who had caught up, said to Qin Muyuan with a solemn expression:

"Once these pitiful common people are settled, I will bring sufficient guards from Xiao Mansion to Baiyun Martial Arts Hall to support you, Brother Qin."

"No need for support, let me enjoy the experience points all by myself; you guys just need to be responsible for cheering us on."

Qin Muyuan waved his hand indifferently and said.

He had finally discovered that his [Essential Master] talent could enhance the progress of his Cultivation Technique in a short time, and this enhancement was related to the opponents he fought.

Just like before when Qin Muyuan used Wind-Treading Step to run from the suburbs to Hongyan Prefecture, it only improved the progress by just a tiny bit.

But just now, fighting the two division leaders of the Black Tiger Gang, Wind-Treading Step instantly advanced to the second layer, and his speed increased immensely compared to before.

Therefore.

"Baiyun Martial Arts Hall, I alone am enough to flatten it, you guys don't get involved."

Qin Muyuan walked out of the cellar and turned to leave.

Following the newly generated arrow within his field of vision, he executed Wind-Treading Step, stepping directly onto the residence's wall, and quickly vanished into the compound.

Watching his back, Xiao Chang turned and returned to the cellar to comfort the common people tortured by Squire Chen.

Although Brother Qin possessed extremely strong martial prowess, Baiyun Martial Arts Hall was one of the most renowned martial arts halls in Huoyun Country.

Although the Baiyun Martial Arts Hall in the city was merely a branch, it also had several third-tier experts holding down the fort inside.

With Brother Qin's explosive temperament, he would likely storm the martial arts hall head-on. By then, if he got entangled by third-tier Martial Artists, he would probably find every step difficult.

And if Brother Qin were to also encounter the head of the Baiyun Martial Arts Hall branch, it would be even more ominous for him.

He still needed to comfort these common people before quickly bringing guards from Xiao Mansion to support Brother Qin.