CHAPTER 677: CHAPTER 134: IMPRISONMENT

The timely arrival of the Southern Expedition Army, coupled with the near-wholesale slaughter by Long Jiuzun and Yue Minzhi, finally resolved the crisis at Fandi Port by daybreak.

The supply ship that Long Jiuzun and others were on and the sea and air ship that Yue Jinghua and others took arrived almost simultaneously, quickly attracting a crowd of civilians.

Long Jiuzun thought that the civilians had come to welcome the Southern Expedition Army, but when Shalman led Yu Dan by the hand off the ship, the fishermen let out an ear-splitting cheer.

In the simple hearts of the fishermen, they didn’t know what the Southern Expedition Army was; they only knew that a team of soldiers had risked their lives to rescue a common fisherman’s child, turning their sincere gratitude into waves of sound, one after the other.

A shadow briefly flitted across Long Jiuzun’s eyes, but he quickly smiled and strode toward Sea Defense Army Captain Ya Lei.

According to the Imperial Army’s hierarchy, as an Imperial Junior General, Long Jiuzun was a Second-Rank Official. Despite Yue Minzhi being the heir to the Duke Mansion, since he was not yet officially ennobled, his status could not compare to Long Jiuzun.

This meant that upon Long Jiuzun’s arrival, he became the highest-ranking military officer at Fandi Port.

Ya Lei had long heard the illustrious name of Long Jiuzun, the Empire War God, and after saluting, he detailed the situation at Fandi Port, including Yue Jinghua’s earlier assistance with the defenses and the lending of the sea and air ship.

Yue Minzhi saw that his sister was safe and sound, his face also breaking into a smile.

Ji Yun and Qing Zizhu, on the other hand, glared angrily at Long Jiuzun, privately discussing how they were going to confront him later.

But Long Jiuzun did not give them any chance at all; after listening to Captain Ya Lei’s report, his expression became serious, "Captain Ya Lei has worked hard. The Southern Expedition Army’s delay in the rescue was all because a small detachment did not follow military discipline and left the marching route without orders. I will deal with them severely later. The sea beast uprising has just ended, and the morale within Fandi Port must be low. I request that Captain Ya Lei immediately dispatch the local Sea Defense Army to be on alert and gather information on casualties."

Long Jiuzun was cunning indeed, and would not allow Yue Jinghua and the others to question him.

No sooner had he reassured Captain Ya Lei than he immediately punished Yue Jinghua and others, under the pretext of disregarding military discipline and leaving the troops without authorization.

Upon hearing this, Ji Yun and the others were livid, "Long Jiuzun, you treacherous villain, dare you say you didn’t tamper with the Dark Pill? Our leaving the troops was clearly because you regarded us as threats and sought to send us to our deaths."

Ji Yun recounted how they nearly met with disaster earlier, and it was only with the help of Yue Jinghua’s Array Master that they narrowly escaped.

After hearing this, Yue Minzhi also became angry, but after seeing the suggestive glance from Yue Jinghua, he forcefully suppressed his rage.

"Oh, do you really think you’re worth my, the Imperial Junior General, jealousy? Ji Yun, you seem to think too highly of yourself," Long Jiuzun sneered proudly, his eyes filled with disdain, "Your claims are full of holes and laughably absurd. I have never heard that there exists an Array-in-Array in this world. That young Array Master beside Yue Jinghua is of unknown origin, how could he possibly have drawn a miraculous array that even veteran Array Masters cannot draw? This is clearly just an excuse you lot came up with to shirk responsibility. Violating military discipline, forcibly pressing Captain Ya Lei of the Sea Defense Army to lend an empty ship, and even failing to take care of your travel companions, causing their deaths at sea. Your actions have thoroughly disgraced the Southern Expedition Army. Considering that you are all descendants of nobility, and it is your first time on campaign, I’m punishing you to be confined in the Sea Defense Army’s water dungeon for ten days. And whether you accept it or not, you must. Duke Yue, I ask you to escort these people to the water dungeon at the seaport."

To demonstrate his impartiality, he also ordered for Long Rui to be imprisoned as well.

Seeing that Yue Minzhi didn’t move, Long Jiuzun scoffed: "What is it, Duke Yue, are you also going to defy military discipline? If I, the Imperial Junior General, can imprison my sister Long Rui as well, are you looking to bend the law for selfish ends and shield Yue Jinghua?"

After hearing this, Long Rui’s expression changed slightly, as she truly saw her brother in a new light for the first time.

Yue Minzhi’s face was stiff as well, with a rage in his eyes that was ready to burst forth.

If Yue Minzhi doesn’t follow the orders of Long Jiuzun, that too would be considered a breach of military discipline. In this case, it indeed captures the Yue siblings in one fell swoop.

Little did they know, Yue Jinghua was not fooled. She sneered, "Don’t bother making my big brother act, we will accept our punishment ourselves. Long Jiuzun, you’d better remember, I accept the punishment today not because I yield to you, but because we, as subjects, must obey the imperial command and military authority. In life, if it’s not the east wind overpowering the west, it’s the west wind yielding to the east."

Having said that, she lifted her feet, walking with a strong, purposeful stride towards the Sea Defense Army’s Water Dungeon.

Seeing this, the others were filled with righteous indignation and followed Yue Jinghua’s departure.

Yue Minzhi snorted coldly and left with a swish of his sleeve.

Cheng Ying, however, twirled her beautiful eyes with a mocking smile. Long Jiuzun tried to approach her with kindness but was rejected with the excuse that she was feeling unwell.

Fandi Port is adjacent to the vast ocean, and the prison built by the Sea Defense Army is also distinct from others.

The Water Dungeon, as the name implies, is built within the water.

The Water Dungeon is constructed on an empty sea cliff near the ocean.

The cell is only four square meters, without even a bed to lie on. Prisoners can only stand all day, soaked in knee-deep seawater, receiving only two coarse meals a day, consisting of rough food like stale bread and dried fish. Moreover, thrice daily—at dawn, afternoon, and dusk—they are washed by the waves.

There is no lighting in the Water Dungeon, and the sunlight hardly reaches into the dim sea cliffs. Even in summer, the Water Dungeon is chillingly cold and damp.

When the waves are high, they carry stones from the cliffs which hit the prisoners as if they were being lashed with whips.

Ten days in solitary confinement, enduring wave after wave, day after day, those with lesser cultivation would come out looking haggard and worn.

Fortunately, the cultivation of these people is quite good, especially Ji Yun, Long Rui, and Yue Jinghua, who are above Dark Earth level Dark Practitioners. When they mobilize their Dark Energy, they can withstand the cold.

Perhaps thinking that Yue Jinghua and the others were being punished because of his own report, Captain Ya Lei was very apologetic and arranged for them to be held together.

Ji Yun, Qing Zizhu, and others couldn’t help but take the opportunity to make sarcastic comments and curse at Long Jiuzun.

Long Rui’s cell was adjacent to Yue Jinghua’s. After being locked up, she also remained silent.

Although the conditions in the Water Dungeon were rough, Yue Jinghua didn’t mind.

Being confined to a cell gave her a quiet place to think. The beating of the waves was like a scratch to her, who had endured the Jiao Long Duan, and was utterly trivial.

She simply took out the Devil Shell that she had not had time to examine before and summoned the Gold Eater Worm to observe it closely together.

Approximately on the third day of confinement, that night, Yue Jinghua took out the Devil Shell again to study in detail when she heard a faint greeting from Long Rui in the neighboring cell.