Volume One: The Nature of the Devil Never Changes
Arc: The Great Guerrilla War
The silence dragged on…
until the verdict itself… became questionable.
(Everything went too smoothly… suspiciously so.)
The judge looked at Scarlet King with doubt, while Scarlet King looked back at him with cold confidence, only deepening the judge's suspicions.
Liu Zai Hang's voice cut through the judge's thoughts:
"Supreme Judge, what is your verdict now?"
The judge coughed, cleared his throat, then said:
"I amend my verdict. Wei Xia Mo is innocent. The assassin is guilty and sentenced to execution. Long Wei is guilty and sentenced to execution."
Scarlet King interrupted the judge:
"My lord judge… executing Long Wei now… is the wrong decision, Judge Wu Fa."
The judge's gaze shifted to Scarlet King in anger.
"You dare object to my verdict?"
Scarlet King bowed with false respect and replied:
"Long Wei…"
He paused.
Then continued:
"Cannot be killed… for now."
The judge clenched his fists and looked down at Scarlet King with arrogance. He could not understand what was going through Scarlet King's mind. He had expected Scarlet King to want Long Wei dead, but he had not expected him to oppose his death.
"You are overstepping your bounds, Gu Yue. But… give me one reason why I should not cut off both his head and yours right now."
Scarlet King replied with extreme calm, as though he were the only one in control of the conversation:
"My lord judge… Long Wei is guilty, and I do not deny that.
But executing him now would be a loss for the sect before it becomes a punishment for him.
He is still one of our strongest talents, and the Bloody War of the Four Sects of the First Dimension is near.
The sects coming from the Second Dimension in a few years will not look at our justice…
but at the strength of our disciples.
Kill him now, and we lose a witness, a piece of leverage, and a fighter who can be spent in war.
Keeping him alive… is not mercy.
It is use."
Scarlet King thought, as though issuing an eternal verdict that could not be challenged:
(His death… is certain.)
(But timing… is everything.)
The judge fell silent and thought, as if the fate of the world rested in his hands…
And in truth, the fate of the sect now did.
(His words… are logical. I cannot continue acting arrogantly.)
The judge remained silent in thought, while Liu Zai Hang was also thinking about the Bloody War of the Four Sects of the First Dimension.
(The Four-Sect Bloody War… is a war between the top twenty disciples, who fight on a battlefield. And once ten disciples remain from each sect, they are thrown into the Blood Snow Mountain Region, the most dangerous cosmic region in the entire First Dimension. Whoever survives gains a chance to go to the Second Dimension with some elders.)
The judge finally spoke:
"I amend my verdict once more… Long Wei is exempt from execution for now."
Whispers rose among the disciples in the hall.
Everyone was shocked that the judge had amended his verdict twice. This had never happened in the sect's history.
"I didn't expect Gu Yue to force the judge to change his verdict twice."
"Gu Yue really is incredible."
The judge raised his voice, declaring the end of the trial:
"I declare this trial over. Now, let the sect guards take the assassin to prison until his execution is carried out. As for Long Wei… leave!"
Long Wei nodded and turned to leave, but he thought:
(What the hell is that damn Gu Yue thinking?)
He continued walking and left, while Scarlet King spoke to the judge:
"Very well, my lord judge. I will leave as well."
The judge did not stop him. He only nodded slowly.
Scarlet King stepped down from the platform. From the corner of his eye, he saw the guards carrying the assassin's body away while he groaned and cried out:
"Please! I have a family! I don't want to die! I swear I was forced!"
No one listened.
But some disciples felt faint pity and sadness.
Scarlet King, however, showed not even a trace of concern.
He left the courtroom.
Sunlight struck his face, and the strong wind moved his long hair. Liu Zai Hang stood behind him and asked through spiritual communication, his spiritual voice filled with his usual curiosity, along with a trace of confusion:
(Why did you save Long Wei?)
Scarlet King replied calmly:
(If Long Wei is executed now, the Dragon Gang will be left without a leader. And without a leader, they will be driven to avenge the death of their supreme leader. That would drag us into a useless conflict.)
Scarlet King thought:
(But that is not the only reason. Da Fu and the First Elder are watching me closely after noticing my repeated movements toward the Sky-Grasping Sect. They suspect I am a spy for the other sect, so I must defend the sect's interests to make them feel that I am loyal to it, and make them stop watching and doubting me.)
He smiled.
As if everything that had happened… was merely another step beneath his feet on the path toward eternal rest.
(They must see my loyalty… until the time comes for me to slaughter them.)
(And the first of them… will be Long Wei.)