freenovelworld Chapter 525 Seeking Justice for the Victims!
Chapter 525 Seeking Justice for the Victims!
The charges against him flew everywhere.
Many of the people who came today were scholars. They rushed to grab the offering book and loudly recited the heinous crimes of the Taoist priest Shangqing. From initial disbelief to later astonishment and uncertainty, they eventually became utterly bewildered.
In recent years, they have gotten used to going to the Immortal Temple to offer incense and pray for the immortals' blessings whenever anything happens.
Many people didn't believe it at first, but as more and more people believed, they gradually convinced themselves that there really are immortals in this world, and that Master Shangqing is that immortal. They believed that as long as they made sincere contributions, the immortal would bless them with peace and success.
Long-held ways of thinking are suddenly shattered, which is hard for most people to believe.
As countless people pleading for Master Shangqing were left bewildered, Prefect Ling struck his gong once more. "Master Shangqing's crimes deserve a thousand cuts! But today, to let the victims of Yuzhou see the true face of this charlatan, we will use his own methods to punish him, to appease the souls of the victims! Under this blazing sun, we will seek justice for their wrongful deaths!"
Immediately, someone in the crowd raised their arm and shouted, "Good!"
"it is good!"
Lu Yangyang also took the opportunity to shout,
"Seek justice for the victims!"
In an instant, the indignant scholars also joined in the shouting.
"Seek justice for the victims!"
The cry was loud.
Prefect Ling had two large boxes of "elixirs" collected from various Taoist temples and palaces brought out and displayed them to the onlookers.
Those people who had spent all their savings to obtain even a single elixir were ecstatic to see so many elixirs. Even now, they still refused to believe that these were the poisonous pills they had been told about. Some even tried to snatch them away, to the point that when a box of elixirs was overturned, the people rushed forward in a frenzy, disregarding their own lives, to grab them.
The person who snatched it didn't even think twice before stuffing the elixir into their mouth and covering it tightly, as if afraid it would be taken away.
Prefect Ling said nothing, but instead ordered his soldiers to stop them while he had his men feed the elixirs to the fake Taoist priests who were kneeling on the ground and colluding with the Shangqing Taoist priest.
The elixirs were fed to people one by one, and before long, some people could no longer withstand it and began to show symptoms.
Amidst the scramble for the elixir, someone shouted, "Immortal punishment!"
It refers to those fake Taoist priests who have been fed elixirs of immortality.
One attack followed by two, and within half an hour, the fake Taoist priests were crying and wailing, "My lord, spare us! My lord, spare us! We were wrong, we were wrong! This elixir is not to be eaten, not to be eaten—"
The ground was filled with the wailing and howling of ghosts.
At this moment, when everyone's attention had turned to him, Prefect Ling had someone feed the elixir to Daoist Shangqing.
Master Shangqing knew better than those fake Taoists what the so-called elixirs he had people refine were. They were made with a large amount of cinnabar, and a few pills would be enough to poison people whose bodies couldn't handle them. Even people made of iron would eventually be poisoned if they took a few more pills.
This is why those who stayed in cinnabar mines for a long time gradually died from poisoning.
Excessive use of cinnabar will inevitably lead to death.
At this moment, Master Shangqing fully regained his senses; he was truly finished this time.
At this point, no amount of stirring up the people's emotions would be of any use. The truth was already laid bare before everyone. The testimonies might be fabricated, and the government might deceive the people, but all these elixirs came from the Immortal Temple. Anyone who had seen the Immortal Temple's elixirs would recognize them.
Any explanation is useless now.
Master Shangqing was never a man of principle; he was just a conman who had been terrified long ago. Otherwise, he wouldn't have confessed and signed so readily. The reason he tried to struggle on the execution ground was because he was used to deceiving people and wanted to try to buy himself a chance at survival.
When he realized it was impossible, he admitted defeat faster than anyone else.
He clenched his teeth tightly, refusing to eat, until someone forcibly pried open his mouth and shoved the elixir into his mouth. He then desperately wanted to vomit, begging for mercy with snot running down his face.
"I confess, I confess! I'm a liar! These elixirs are all poison! Please, just give me a quick death! I don't want to eat poisonous pills! I don't want to eat poisonous pills! Please, just give me a quick death!"
His cries startled not only Commander Wei, who was kneeling beside him, but also the people who still held onto their hopes for the elixir.
If anyone says that this elixir is fake or a poisonous pill, the people will not believe it.
However, Master Shangqing's pathetic cries shattered all their illusions.
Prefect Ling ignored his cries and forced his men to hold him down, continuing to feed him the elixirs he used to manipulate people and act recklessly.
After consuming handful after handful of elixirs, even Master Shangqing himself inevitably developed symptoms of poisoning.
Just as the poison took effect, Lu Yangyang, who was mixed in with the crowd, seized the opportunity to shout.
"Look! Even the Immortal Master Shangqing has been punished by the gods!"
Even the immortal Shangqing has suffered divine punishment!
This sound completely woke up the onlookers. In an instant, the sounds of vomiting and gagging filled the air, and countless people knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly.
Countless times, they had witnessed people being poisoned by elixirs, believing it to be divine punishment for their disloyalty to the immortal. But they never imagined that one day, they would see the same "divine punishment" befall the once high and mighty Shangqing Immortal, who was like a god in their eyes.
So where is there any divine punishment?
That means you've been poisoned; the poison has taken effect.
The truth needs no further explanation; it is already crystal clear to everyone.
Seeing this, Prefect Ling ordered his men to remove the plaque of the Immortal Temple, set it ablaze with a bonfire, and then bring over a sealed furnace. He poured the remaining elixirs into the furnace and burned them completely.
With the burning of the Immortal Temple plaque and the elixir, the elixir that had shrouded Yuzhou for several years vanished completely.
Prefect Ling ordered his men to read aloud the charges against Daoist Shangqing and others, and ordered all those involved to be beheaded and their heads displayed to the public.
Beneath the thick smoke from the burning plaque in front of the Immortal Temple, heads rolled and blood flowed everywhere.
But that's less than one ten-millionth of the harm suffered by ordinary people as a result.
As the thick smoke cleared, Prefect Ling looked at the onlookers, gripped the scroll hidden in his sleeve, and silently recited in his heart,
"On the eve of the New Year in the twenty-third year of Yongxing, it was found that His Highness Zong Ke colluded with Prince Shun Zong Yujing, using the Taoist priest Shangqing to create the Yuzhou Immortal Pill case, which caused banditry, forced labor, illegal mining, rape and abuse of young girls, and private construction of mausoleums and palaces, harming countless people. These are heinous crimes and he deserves to be executed."
One day, the hidden half of the truth will be revealed to the world.