Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master - Chapter 1346 - 530: Wu An’s Hunt

9th Floor of Cloud Prison.

The blood has already coagulated, the corpses are being moved, and the shattered Yun Gang Rock walls are being repaired.

The guards are cleaning the battlefield in small groups, some in silence, some whispering, some still trembling slightly.

Zhong Dao stands with hands behind his back, at the spot.

A tall and burly cultivator, with a rugged face, carrying the smell of alcohol, hurriedly runs over and kneels directly in front of Zhong Dao.

It is none other than Wu An, the commander of Cloud Prison.

Wu An’s forehead touches the ground, making a thumping sound.

“Hall Master, your subordinate deserves death! Your subordinate deserves death! Last night, your subordinate drank too much, drunk beyond reason. When your subordinate woke up… everything was… already…”

Zhong Dao looks down at him, coldly saying, “Last night, thirty-seven guards of Cloud Prison died, and one hundred and fifty-two injured. What do you have to say?”

Wu An’s mouth opens and closes several times, unable to utter any defense.

Zhong Dao continues, “Your drunken negligence resulted in more than twenty heavy prisoners escaping from the 9th Floor of Cloud Prison, causing heavy casualties among the guards, disgracing our Myriad Images Sect at the Feiyun Conference. According to the rules of the Evil Slaying Hall, how should this be handled?”

Wu An closes his eyes, his voice hoarse: “It should… it should be an execution.”

Zhong Dao nods, “Good. Someone come!”

As soon as the words fall, someone starts pleading.

“Hall Master, please!”

“Hall Master, don’t!”

“Commander Wu An is diligent and dedicated, it was just this one time, we were all exhausted from comprehensively repairing Cloud Prison and coordinating the formation.”

“Your subordinates… beg the Hall Master to be merciful.”

More and more guardian cultivators come forward to plead. Some are full of blood, some are seriously injured, all struggling to stand up.

Wu An is deeply respected, as can be seen.

Zhong Dao’s gaze is ice-cold, sweeping across the crowd: “You all want to plead for him?”

Most of the guardian cultivators remain silent like cicadas in winter, with trepidation, yet ultimately do not move.

Among them, one bites their teeth: “Commander Wu indeed made a mistake. But about last night’s incident, we are also responsible. The formation had flaws, and we didn’t notice it; the patrols had leaks, and we didn’t detect them; lacking vigilance, we are also to blame.”

Someone adds: “If death is deserved, we all… deserve it!”

“I am too!”

“I am too!”

“We beg the Hall Master to spare the commander’s life!”

In an instant, the doorway is filled with people kneeling, each confessing guilt, each pleading.

Zhong Dao’s gaze is sharp like a knife: “Do you think pleading can exempt him from punishment?”

Someone musters the courage: “Hall Master, although Commander Wu drinks, he treats us lavishly and is always diligent. Last night’s incident, we are also at fault, and cannot let Commander Wu bear it alone.”

He kneels heavily, knocking his head: “We are willing to share the blame with Commander Wu!”

Soon, all surrounding cultivators follow suit.

“We are willing!”

“We are willing!”

Zhong Dao is silent for a moment, then snorts coldly: “You guys are rather united.”

He looks at Wu An. The latter kneels on the ground, face full of tears, lips trembling, unable to speak.

Zhong Dao slowly says: “Since so many plead for you, I’ll give you a chance.”

Wu An abruptly raises his head.

Zhong Dao coldly says: “Death penalty can be avoided, but a living penalty is hard to escape. Lead a team to hunt down those escaped Demon Cultivators. In three days, if you can capture them all, dead or alive, I’ll spare your life. If not, I’ll execute you!”

The pleading cultivators widen their eyes.

Someone hastily tries to call out: “How can three days be enough to capture everyone?”

This seems like redemption through punishment, but it is actually still a death sentence.

Wu An bites his lips hard, with shame filling his face, heavily bows his head: “Your subordinate obeys!”

Zhong Dao sees his performance and feels satisfied, giving a slight nod: “Scram.”

Wu An quickly withdraws.

Moments later, Wu An leads a group of Golden Core elites from Cloud Prison, hurriedly leaving the premises.

Everyone wears a serious expression.

“Three days is incredibly limited, we must seize every second!”

“But this is simply an impossible task!!”

“There is still hope. I’ve reviewed the information about the Infinite Realm Gap Master, finding that yesterday’s Demon Cultivators used a void fissure, which randomly teleports and has limited distance. Our Myriad Images Sect’s Main Mountain Gate is hidden in the sea of clouds, if they teleport out, they directly enter the sea of clouds, equating to death. So, the survivors can only shrink in our sect’s Main Mountain Gate, clinging to life, desperately hiding.”

“Indeed…”

“But even so, how can we find these Demon Cultivators? Even if found, over time, these Demon Cultivators’ abilities and minds will surely exert every effort to create huge trouble for us. In our sect if a battle starts, I fear the disturbance will be greater, the casualties higher, further tarnishing our sect!”

“Sigh!!”

The cultivators glance at each other, then simultaneously sigh deeply, feeling the future bleak.

“Perhaps the Hall Master…” a cultivator realizes something, looks at Wu An, almost falling over.

Wu An looks back at the person, nodding slightly: “I know what you want to say. Cloud Prison caused such a mess, Hall Master Zhong Dao surely needs to clean up. But cleaning up this mess will likely worsen the impact, so he chose not to kill me directly, but make me take the fall, ultimately executing me as a means of waste disposal.”

The cultivator behind him opens his mouth, says nothing, implicitly agreeing.

Wu An sighs deeply and slowly surveys everyone: “Those who follow me out under such circumstances are my brothers!”

“I’ll say something from the heart! Even if it’s like this, I, Wu An, am willing.”

“This Cloud Prison incident was indeed my dereliction! It was my drinking that implicated so many brothers in Cloud Prison.”