A death sentence may be avoided, but a living punishment is inevitable and exile is the only escape.
The eunuch led Sangye and personally delivered the dinner she had prepared to the emperor.
Lin Shuangqiao finally saw the spiritual energy she had been sensing since earlier, and she raised her eyebrows in surprise.
Her chefs would occasionally try to prepare some dishes for her to taste, but never had a dish been as colorful and fragrant as the one before her.
The eunuch placed an exquisite porcelain spoon and fork beside Lin Shuangqiao—there were no chopsticks. In this era, chopsticks had no place to be used, and people had long forgotten how to use them.
Before the meal, Lin Shuangqiao glanced at Sangye, who was standing quietly to the side.
As the emperor of the empire, Lin Shuangqiao naturally couldn't attend the trial of a mere guide, but that didn't stop her from having heard about it and seen the trial video. However, she found it difficult to connect the person in the video with the person in front of her.
Kuwano was tall, nearly 1.8 meters, almost the same height as the eunuch who had come from a sentry background. She had a well-proportioned figure, and in her combat uniform from when she was captured, one could vaguely see the well-trained muscles beneath. This was completely different from the traditional image of a guide; after all, guides weren't trained for combat, and naturally, they didn't train their physical abilities. She was like a silent black knife, focused and deadly.
She had a beautiful face and a head of long, curly red hair. In particular, a black beauty mark under her left eye added to her charm; but her face was peaceful and showed no sign of hostility, which was very different from what was seen in the video.
With a skeptical attitude, Lin Shuangqiao scooped up a spoonful of the dark brown broth and put it in her mouth. The broth was infused with the aroma of meat, incredibly flavorful, even richer than the mixed wines the head chef had researched. The moment it entered her mouth, Lin Shuangqiao immediately felt the spiritual energy contained within, which relentlessly permeated her entire body—brain, torso, lungs…all were cleansed by this foreign spiritual energy, and surprisingly, she felt no repulsion towards it.
The reason why it's so difficult to perform mental cleansing on sentinels is that both guides and sentinels unconsciously reject external mental energy. The higher the sentinel's mental level, the more severe the rejection reaction. Therefore, only high-level guides can perform mental cleansing on low-level sentinels; conversely, guides might suffer a mental backlash and become mentally unstable.
Too shocked to speak, Lin Shuangqiao could only lower her head to hide the astonishment in her eyes. Then she used her fork to pick up a strand of noodles mixed with the aroma of lard. The noodles were cooked just right, not too undercooked and not too soft, with a slight chewiness. She couldn't wait to eat the next bite before she had even finished the first one.
After eating most of the plain noodles, Lin Shuangqiao turned her attention to the fried pork chop. With the advancement of technology, preservation and heat preservation are no longer problems. The fried pork chop was made first, but when it arrived, it still looked like it had just come out of the fryer, golden and crispy.
Lin Shuangqiao took her first bite and immediately sensed the delicious juices hidden inside the pork chop. The pork chop, with its fat locked in, was incredibly tender and had a unique texture. She wondered what method Sangye had used; it was completely different from the pork jerky the head chef had given her before, with absolutely no fishy smell. The egg coating on the pork chop had also absorbed the fat, becoming a thin, crispy layer. Paired with the ketchup on the side, it was sweet and sour, perfectly balancing the greasiness of the pork chop.
Lin Shuangqiao ate slowly but not slowly, finishing the plain noodles in no time and also eating most of the pork chop.
Then she finally had time to pick up the special cocktail. The sharp alcohol mixed with the sweetness of milk and juice made it smooth and delicate on the palate, without any of the harshness she had felt from drinking alcohol before.
Lin Shuangqiao accepted the mental energy baptism without any rejection whatsoever. If even she, an S-rank guide standing at the pinnacle of the empire, didn't reject the mental energy, then what about the sentinels who couldn't withstand the mental cleansing due to excessive rejection?
Thinking of Sangye's impending death sentence, Lin Shuangqiao suddenly understood why Sangye had asked her to make him dinner.
She pushed the half-eaten pork chop in front of her and tapped the table with her slender fingers: "Attendant, bring Charles here."
The eunuch seemed somewhat surprised by the emperor's order, and only left after glancing at everyone present.
Sangye, who had been silent until now, finally looked at Lin Shuangqiao, who had a light smile on her face, as if she had gotten rid of a major worry.
Seeing this, the heavy weight that had been hanging over Sangye's heart finally eased.
A moment later, the eunuch led a man into the study. He was a young man, but he looked listless, his eyes tired, and his gait unsteady; these were symptoms of a sentry who hadn't received mental cleansing in a long time. Many sentries in the military region were like this; guides were scarce, and guides with higher mental levels than them were even rarer. They often had to wait a long time for a cleansing session, and even then, they would be subjected to repeated rejections.
"Greetings, Your Majesty." Despite his lack of energy, and perhaps because there were outsiders present, Charles's manners were impeccable.
"Here you go." Lin Shuangqiao pushed the fried pork chop in front of him towards him, and then personally handed him a clean fork. "Try a bite."
Charles had no doubts. After just one bite, his eyes widened instantly, as if he had tasted something incredible.
A surge of spiritual energy flowed into his restless mind, instantly calming the clamoring and disruptive spirit within. The spirit that had been bothering him for days gradually quieted down.
"Aunt, what is this...?" Charles blurted out in shock.
Lin Shuangqiao noticed Charles's change at a glance. She nodded and said, "Take him back to eat. After you wake up, I'll give you another mental adjustment session, and then you can return to your military region."
The sentry's duty was to obey, and even if he had doubts, Charles would not refuse the emperor's orders: "Yes, sir."
It wasn't until he was leaving that Charles noticed a woman standing in the corner of the study who looked strangely familiar. Wasn't that...?
By the time he remembered who it was, the eunuch had already accompanied him outside the study.
Only Lin Shuangqiao and Sang Ye remained in the study.
Lin Shuangqiao swirled her wine glass, gesturing for Sangye to sit opposite her: "Sit down, let's talk."
*
Facing the emperor of the Gamma Empire head-on, Sangye showed no fear whatsoever; her expression remained calm.
"That was Charles Wenno, my sister's son. He was wounded in battle a while ago, and since there were no guides in his military district to help him sort things out, he came to me. He just arrived this morning, and I was originally planning to give him a mental cleansing session before he went to sleep. But it seems that's not necessary now."
"I've seen your file. You're only a B-level, which makes it impossible for you to project your mental energy. And before today, you've never demonstrated this ability before."
"But that's not important. You came prepared, so tell me frankly what you want to do." Lin Shuangqiao looked at her with scrutinizing eyes, her voice pleasant but revealing the oppressive demeanor of a superior.
“I can save your son.” Without the slightest hesitation, Sangye immediately pulled out his prepared explanation. “But you must save me now.”
Lin Shuangqiao chuckled, "Even the five of us S-level guides couldn't save Changli back then, and you, a B-level guide, dare to make such a boast?"
“Charles just now, his mental level should be higher than mine, but as you saw and felt, my mental energy manipulation is not divided by level and will not produce a rejection reaction.” Sangye said neither humbly nor arrogantly. “Moreover, I am a growth type. The mental energy I can release will only increase. As long as you give me time, one day I will be able to release mental energy that can manipulate Marshal Lin.”
The spiritual energy of this world seems to correspond ingeniously with that of the cultivation world. As Sangye cultivates his own cave heaven and gradually expands it, he can gradually raise various spiritual fruits, spiritual trees, and spiritual beasts inside. After taking them out through his storage ring, he can make various delicacies with spiritual energy (that is, spiritual energy), which can then be used as a medium for releasing his spiritual energy.
Once one has cultivated in the grotto-heaven to a certain level, one can bring that cultivation to the mortal world.
When Sangye was still in the cultivation world, she had heard that thousands of years ago, during a time of great chaos in the human world, a powerful being from Shifangwu couldn't bear to see his homeland torn apart by war. So he released his cave heaven, merging it with his homeland, using spiritual power to conceal the entrance and protect this small world. During this time, some people occasionally entered and called the cave heaven "Peach Blossom Spring." It wasn't until the powerful being failed in his ascension and the cave heaven dissipated that "Peach Blossom Spring" reappeared in the world.
All of this depends on her surviving first; only by surviving can she have a chance.
“If you save me, I can save the Marshal in the future. Your spiritual power and that of the other four S-class guides have reached their peak, but mine has not.” Sangye’s expression was sincere, full of longing for life. “I think you have your own decision in your heart about which is more important, the Marshal or me.”
Lin Shuangqiao stared at her for a while, then suddenly spoke: "Changli suffered a sudden mental upheaval after the expedition to the Sulfurfire Star System. My guides and I tried to enter his mental landscape, but we were all burned back by the flames inside, and three of us were even devoured. We didn't even see his mental body. If you were lucky enough to see his mental landscape, you might think it would have been better to be dead."
"I also need to remind you that Black Tower is home to some of the Empire's most ferocious and mentally unstable Sentinels. Sentinels who can be healed, or those who cannot be healed but are not too lethal, are not exiled to Black Tower. Most of them have long been disillusioned with their Guides and have chosen self-exile to fend for themselves. A portion of them are exiled because their mental states are too unique, and no Guide can help them. Whether you can survive on Black Tower depends entirely on yourself."
"You have to be alive first before you can make a judgment," Sangye replied after a moment of silence. In her grotto-heaven, the paulownia trees were rustling. "Also, I'd like to ask, what is the Marshal's spiritual body?"
Lin Shuangqiao chuckled: "Since you're so ambitious to manage Lin Changli, why don't you go and see for yourself?" Before Sang Ye could react, she stood up, pressed the hidden bell on the table, and several people filed in. "In the distant past, there was a saying on our planet: Death may be spared, but punishment is inescapable."
"In my name, I hereby pardon Kuwano from the death penalty and instead exile him to Black Tower for 9,999 star years. I will also compensate each of the victim's families with 10 million star coins and allow him to receive a reduced sentence through methods such as treating the Sentinels. During his imprisonment, Kuwano shall not leave Black Tower for more than 0.3 light-years without a royal decree."
Sangye stood there, stunned. If she remembered correctly, the average lifespan of people on this planet was 1,500 star years.
"9999 star years" basically means being locked up until death.
“I allow you to take whatever you need from the palace warehouse.” Lin Shuangqiao looked down at her mercifully. “My eunuch will keep in touch with you. Just ask him for whatever you need. The transport ship will visit Black Tower once a year on average and will bring you everything you need in one go.”
"Show your skills on Black Tower. I hope you bring me good news."
A note from the author:
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