When I first captured that bitch, I really didn’t think much about it.
Someone had reported her, and she just happened to be very suitable for adaptation to the Demon God’s power.
She had a wealthy estate and little means of self-defense.
Lan Luo Si sat on the sofa, recounting the story calmly.
“However, during the duel between Qiao En and you, a sudden flash of inspiration struck me… I suddenly remembered that bitch’s father once sold live sacrifices for the Pleasure Ritual. He was a very powerful supplier in that circle.”
The Pleasure Ritual was a quite popular “pleasure game” in the high society circles of the Empire Capital.
As long as you offer a fallen pure soul to the creator of the Seventh Demon Realm’s “Abyss of Desire”—the Mother of Pleasure—she will bestow endless pleasure upon you.
According to those who have tasted it, it is such a wonderful sensation that they would be willing to die immediately after experiencing it.
Then, Lan Luo Si snapped his fingers.
A cluster of crimson magical flame sprang from his fingertip, lighting his pipe.
“I knew right away what to do.”
“Lady Zhiniya, I have secured an opportunity for you to clear your husband’s name. If you have any hidden truths in your heart, speak them all out here, and I will see justice done for you.”
At the mention of clearing her husband’s name, the thinly clothed young woman below the bench mustered a bit of courage.
She kept her head lowered, not daring to look directly at Joen, let alone Lan Luo Si.
Her snow-white shoulders, so thin that her bones were visible, trembled helplessly.
“L-Lord, my husband did not collude with the Demonkind, nor did I. Those are all malicious slanders.”
Joen’s gaze then turned to Lan Luo Si.
“And you? What do you have to say?”
Although Lan Luo Si had been kept in prison, the commotion from the duel outside was quite loud.
He had pricked up his ears and gathered the gist, knowing full well that the man before him was no pushover.
He stared at Joen and said, with a vague and cunning tone:
“Brother, take my advice—don’t be fooled by these hypocritical bitches. They’re experts at pretending. She says she didn’t collude with demons, and you believe her? Every criminal under the gallows claims they’re innocent.”
“Then do you have any solid evidence?”
Joen pressed on.
Lan Luo Si suddenly fixed his eyes on Zhiniya, his voice booming like thunder:
“Slut! On the seventeenth of last month, what comments did you openly make at Lady Dongniya’s tea party?”
Zhiniya was stunned.
She struggled to search through her chaotic memories but couldn’t piece anything together.
In the end, she could only look at Joen helplessly and blankly.
“Can’t remember? Then let me help you recall. In front of all those ladies present, you said: ‘The Church has been collecting donations for years, yet the number of homeless on the streets hasn’t decreased at all. That money must have all gone into the bishops’ pockets.’ You also said: ‘His Majesty actually lets these vampires run rampant in the Empire Capital. He must be old and senile.’ Did those words come from your mouth?”
“I… I…”
Zhiniya gradually recalled it, but her reaction was on the verge of collapse.
“Is this why? Just for this? You burst in and killed my husband? Just because I said… I said…”
Her voice choked with sobs.
“If you dare to say these things in public, I can’t imagine what you’d do in private. If you’re not a Demon Collaborator, why would you slander the Goddess? Slander the Church? Even discuss His Majesty improperly?”
Lan Luo Si scolded with righteous indignation.
Zhiniya could no longer hear the outside world.
She only knew she was covering her face and crying in regret and pain.
Joen felt his temples throbbing, his head about to explode.
He knocked the Judgment Hammer to suppress his anger and continued questioning Lan Luo Si:
“Is that all? Just some specious remarks?”
“Of course not.”
Lan Luo Si suddenly exerted force, snapping the ropes binding him.
He no longer knelt.
Instead, he slowly stood up, brushed the dirt off his knees, and stared straight at Joen, his gaze sharp as a knife, his voice full of vigor.
“After receiving the report, I looked into her father’s business and found many transactions involving specially treated children—sacrifices for Black Magic rituals. They were clearly goods sold to the Demonkind and Black Magicians. The evidence is solid and undeniable.”
Zhiniya suddenly reacted violently, screaming:
“No! They weren’t sold to the Demonkind! Not to Black Magicians! They were sold to… sold to…”
She gradually faltered.
Her dull eyes regained clarity, as if she suddenly understood something, and she stared blankly at Lan Luo Si.
Lan Luo Si responded with a cold laugh.
Zhiniya fell into a deathly silence.
After a long, long time, she finally made up her mind and knocked her head heavily on the floor before Joen.
“Thank you, Lord… Thank you for everything you’ve done for me…”
“But I confess.”
“What are you talking about?”
Joen showed an expression of disbelief, crushing the Judgment Hammer in his hand.
“So, how about it, my righteous little friend? Do you have any more questions?”
Lan Luo Si narrowed his eyes, crossed his arms, and questioned Joen with a flamboyant and cold smile.
Joen ignored him, rushed down from the trial platform in a few steps, and grabbed Zhiniya’s shoulders.
“What are you doing? Didn’t you want to clear your husband’s name? Explain yourself clearly! Don’t play dead!”
But Zhiniya only kept her head lowered, repeating in sobs:
“Don’t ask… don’t ask, Lord… I confess…”
The more Lan Luo Si watched, the more ridiculous he found it. He said contemptuously:
“You understand nothing. With just brute strength, what can you accomplish? Want to beat me? Go practice for another ninety years!”
Joen suddenly looked up, his eyes as if shooting fire, and yanked Lan Luo Si’s collar fiercely.
“What? You want to lay hands on me? Assault a Holy Knight with outstanding merits without any reason?”
Lan Luo Si’s tiger-like eyes widened without a trace of fear.
He had fully figured out Joen’s temperament.
“Come on! Aren’t you a great fighter? Hit me right in the face! Kill me directly!”
Joen’s hand trembled, but he finally let go, and his head gradually drooped.
‘This guy is a soft egg full of ideals of justice who can’t do anything.’
Lan Luo Si responded with a provocative, mocking gaze.
He had known all along…
Suddenly, Joen looked up sharply, his eyes bloodshot.
Before Lan Luo Si could react, a heavy punch landed on his face.
His nasal bone shattered instantly.
His entire face twisted like dough, and his whole body flew straight into the wall.
Lan Luo Si stared at Joen in terror, his consciousness blurry, his hands weakly trying to crawl away.
But he saw that demon-like figure walking toward him step by step.
“Holy Light Healing.”
The figure spoke, and Holy Light instantly enveloped Lan Luo Si, healing him to his best condition.
However, before Lan Luo Si could utter a single word, a second punch followed, then a third, a fourth…
Each punch carried Holy Light, shattering his skull before immediately healing the wound.
Unrelenting agony tortured Lan Luo Si.
At one point, he had the thought of confessing to beg for a quick death.
But that fist, covered in his blood and brains, gave him no chance to speak.
This was not an interrogation; it was pure brutality and venting of anger—exactly what the demons of the Seventh Demon Realm loved to do.
“Ugh… ugh… ugh…”
Lan Luo Si could only let out whimpers like a young beast.
Only when the bright red color filled his vision did those fists finally stop.
Joen’s body trembled, and the crimson tide in his eyes gradually receded.
He raised his hands tremblingly and looked at his palms.
Red and white intertwined, filthy and repulsive.
Zhiniya curled up in the corner, her terrified eyes reflecting Joen’s current demon-like appearance.
‘Is this me?’
‘Did I do this?’
‘What… what am I doing with the Heroic Power?’
‘I’m like a beast… no, I’m like a demon…’
After a long silence, Joen cast Holy Light to heal the dying, unconscious Lan Luo Si, and also changed his own horrifying blood-soaked clothes.
After a while, Lan Luo Si slowly woke up.
Seeing Joen, he asked groggily:
“Ah, hiss… Where is this? Did you punch me?”
The repeated heavy blows had turned his brain to mush, and the effect of Holy Light Healing was to restore him to his previous best state.
He had directly lost the memory of what just happened.
Joen remained silent, only pointing to the door from afar, signaling Lan Luo Si to get out.
Lan Luo Si found it inexplicable.
He stared at Joen for nine seconds, then burst into a laugh.
He thought Joen had backed down, still following the rules and not daring to torture him.
“That’s it? Then I’ll be on my way. May you live long.”
Lan Luo Si left gloatingly.
Outside the Inquisition Court.
The Holy Knights, who were still discussing countermeasures, suddenly saw Lan Luo Si walking out of that terrifying “Underground Demon King Castle” completely unharmed, running towards them.
“Lan Luo Si!”
Icot’s eyes lit up.
“How did you get out? Didn’t Qiao En make things difficult for you?”
Lan Luo Si’s expression was quite relaxed.
He thought to himself that the demon Qiao En was nothing much.
“A man needs some quick wit. He’s just a greenhorn. In all these years, what storms haven’t I seen? I deserve to live to a hundred.”
“I used a little trick—hehe, guess what? He couldn’t do a thing to me.”
“What method, big brother Lan Luo Si?”
“Yeah, what method exactly?”
The knights asked in a flurry.
Just as Lan Luo Si was about to speak, Icot suddenly gestured for him to stop.
“This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go to my house first, and we’ll talk there.”
Icot said seriously.
The group quickly moved to Icot’s private villa.
After confirming no one was following and activating the Soundproof Magic Circle, Icot allowed Lan Luo Si to recount his “method of escape.”
The hero is really too good for this world. It’s too corrupt.