Chapter 529 It’s Not Stealing If They Weren’t Using It
Chapter 529: Chapter 529 It’s Not Stealing If They Weren’t Using It
The old man had concealed his identity perfectly. His enemies believed him dead.
Even the few surviving acquaintances from his era would never recognize him in his current disguise.
Yet Lin Feng had casually revealed knowledge of the deepest secret in his heart.
The old man suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. Who exactly was this man Lin Feng?
How much did he know? For a brief moment, he considered asking.
But he quickly suppressed the thought. Some questions were better left unanswered.
Carefully storing the precious stone away, he bowed one final time.
"Thank you, Senior."
This time his voice contained genuine reverence. He turned around and left immediately.
Even after leaving the courtyard, his hand remained tightly wrapped around the stone inside his robe.
To him, its value surpassed all the treasures in the world combined.
And as he disappeared into the distance, only one thought remained in his mind.
Perhaps the day he had waited for over ten thousand years was finally approaching.
With the old man gone, silence once again descended upon the room.
Lin Feng sat calmly in his chair while the four rats remained on the table before him.
The room was spacious, yet none of the rats dared to move even an inch.
They knew exactly who the man before them was.
To others, Lin Feng might appear as a handsome young man with an extraordinary aura.
To them, however, he was a terrifying existence whose methods they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
Some time ago, they had been humans. Not ordinary humans either.
They had been cultivators who roamed the world freely.
Unfortunately, instead of walking the righteous path, they chose a life of robbery and murder.
They preyed on travelers, slaughtered innocent people for treasures, and buried their victims in unmarked graves where nobody would ever discover them.
For many years they enjoyed their ill-gotten wealth. Then they made the biggest mistake of their lives.
They targeted Lin Feng.
At that time, they had thought he was merely a handsome young cultivator traveling alone with a beauty beside him.
They believed he would be an easy target. The result was something they would never forget.
Lin Feng had easily subdued all four of them even without meeting them at all and transformed them into rats as punishment for their crimes.
From that day onward, they lost everything. Their strength. Their status. Their human bodies.
Their dignity. All of it vanished. The four rats lowered their heads in shame.
"I did not expect that you would find your way back to me," Lin Feng finally said.
His voice was calm, yet every word carried immense pressure.
The four rats trembled.
"Yes, I was the one who punished you."
Lin Feng’s eyes became cold.
"The four of you were thieves and murderers. Had I been weak, I would have become one of your victims. My corpse would have been buried beside some deserted road while you divided my belongings among yourselves."
The rats lowered their heads even further. None of them could deny it.
Everything Lin Feng said was true.
Back then they had not cared whether their victims were innocent or guilty.
As long as there was profit to be made, they would kill. One of the rats suddenly crawled forward.
"Master Lin Feng, please forgive us!"
Another immediately followed.
"We’ve changed!"
A third hurriedly spoke.
"We don’t kill anymore!"
The last rat practically threw himself onto the table.
"Please give us a chance to be free and become human again, Senior Lin Feng!"
Their voices were hoarse and unpleasant to hear, but Lin Feng understood every word perfectly.
He remained silent. The silence stretched on.
A minute passed. Then another.
The four rats felt as though they were standing before a judge waiting for their sentence.
Cold sweat appeared on their tiny bodies. Even breathing became difficult.
Finally, Lin Feng spoke.
"Changed?"
His voice contained neither anger nor mockery. Just indifference.
"You claim to have changed."
The four rats nodded frantically.
"Yes, Master!"
"We truly have!"
"We regret everything!"
"We’ve suffered enough to understand our mistakes!"
Lin Feng stared at them. His gaze seemed capable of seeing through their souls.
"Do you know how many people you killed?"
The question instantly silenced them. None of the four answered.
Not because they did not want to. But because they genuinely did not know.
There had been too many. Years of robbery and murder had left behind a trail of countless corpses.
Seeing their silence, Lin Feng sighed.
"You don’t even remember the number."
The rats felt their hearts sink.
"Murder is not a small crime," Lin Feng continued. "A single life carries immeasurable value. Yet the four of you treated human lives as though they were weeds by the roadside."
The room grew even quieter.
"In my opinion, murderers deserve either death or a life sentence."
The four rats turned pale. Fear filled their eyes.
For a moment they thought Lin Feng was about to execute them. Yet he did not move.
"However..."
The four rats immediately looked up. Hope appeared in their eyes.
Lin Feng remained silent for several seconds before continuing.
"Punishment exists for a reason. If there is absolutely no possibility of redemption, then punishment serves no purpose beyond destruction."
The four rats listened attentively.
"You have spent many days as rats."
"You have suffered humiliation."
"You have experienced weakness."
"You have lived in constant fear."
"You tasted death countless times already."
"You have tasted the consequences of your actions."
Lin Feng’s fingers lightly tapped the armrest of his chair.
"So I am willing to give you an opportunity."
The four rats felt as though they had just heard the greatest words in existence.
Tears began forming in their eyes. An opportunity. After all these long times of suffering, they finally had one.
Then Lin Feng announced his verdict.
"A trillion years."
The room fell silent. The four rats froze.
For a moment they wondered if they had heard incorrectly.