Captain Zhou closed his eyes in sorrow but steeled his heart as the cries of anguish and mercy rang out across the Yang family’s estate.

He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he could only hold onto his resolve and follow his orders.

‘I know I will be judged harshly by King Yama in the Underworld, but, I will do what I must for the sake of my people.’

Opening his eyes with renewed resolve, Captain Zhou glared coldly at the men, women, and children of the Yang family who were being systematically slaughtered by his men, all of whom held the same complex emotions as himself.

As the people responsible for the safety of the Capital, Captain Zhou and his men had to make harsh decisions, even if they went against their consciousness.

Just like they are doing right now.

For more than two months, Captain Zhou painstakingly worked with the rest of the Imperial Soldiers across the Capital in an effort to track down all evidence and actions of the Yang family ever since they discovered those corpses in their warehouse.

One after another, things started to come to light that made the Captain and his men furious and disgusted.

It turns out that the Yang family was nothing more than a pawn. A family that was being manipulated like a puppet by their masters just like more than a few dozen families across the empire that dealt in elixirs and alchemy.

Said masters were none other than the Alchemy Guild.

At first, Captain Zhou and his men felt disbelief as the gathered evidence from Imperial Spies across these families started to pile up and paint a grim picture.

However, when they reported their findings to their superior who in turn reported it to Lady Yao who was acting as the temporary ruler of the Empire, they received a single order.

To exterminate all these families to the last man while the Royal forces take care of the Alchemy Guild.

Captain Zhou knew the reasoning behind his orders.

Throughout the thousand-year-long history of the Empire, there have been countless cases where a family deemed to have dabbled in something forbidden had been punished harshly, either justly or unjustly.

More often than not, this punishment is the slaughter of the culprit and his accomplices.

After the punishment is carried out, it was not uncommon for the family members of the guilty to seek out revenge against the empire and the royal family in any way possible, which most of the time meant that they joined hands with the Demonic Path or some Sect and often schemed against the Royal family.

If it were not for the scarily competent nature of the Royal family and their management of the empire, they would have long since gone extinct thanks to these traitors.

However, despite their competence, it would only take a single slip-up for their lives to end. It was a fact that the Royal family knew very well. That is why, the Emperor from more than eight hundred years ago passed a decree that many viewed as tyrannical and abusive towards the people. In fact, this rule was one of the many reasons why a large group of people split from the Empire and established the Baihu Empire.

The rule is simple. Any family that is found to be a traitor to the Empire must be slaughtered to the last man. Not even the children, even animals, must be spared lest they grow up to be a thorn in the Empire.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Again, Captain Zhou understood the reasoning, especially since he knew his history well and why this law was passed in the first place.

During those times, the empire was in a very bad place.

Back then, the Empire was only two hundred years old, formed after the disastrous end of the 3rd era, also known as the Dragon Era for the abundance of all kinds of Dragons and Dragon-type Demonic Beasts that roamed the world and made life hell for most of the other creatures.

The Yin Long empire was founded by Yin Tianlong, a legendary Cultivator who is said to have been at the peak of the Dao Integration realm.

It is said that he founded the empire after the end of the 3rd era for all of Humanity so that they could band together and fight back against the various other races across the continent that used to see humans as nothing more than food and a resource to be exploited back then.

He achieved such a momentous feat thanks to his fame of slaying the last Dragon of the 3rd era, the Yin Dragon of the South, after its attack on the newly formed empire which later gave him the inspiration to name his empire the Yin Long Empire. Yin as in both his family name and the Yin attribute of the dragon, and the Long for dragon and the second character in his given name.

However, during this fight, Yin Tianlong was injured gravely which significantly reduced his lifespan. In the end, he did not even live past the hundred-year mark of his empire’s founding and passed the throne to his son.

During these turbulent times, resources were scarce and the lives of humans were considered cheap thanks to the rampant corruption present in the newly established empire which the founding emperor did not have the opportunity to cleanse thanks to his injuries.

In the end, all these problems came to a head and a large group of cultivators and mortals left the empire to found their own empire, led by Baihu Jinlie, the sworn brother of Yin Tianlong and the founding emperor of the Baihu empire.

What many people did not know was that there was another reason for the empire’s near destitute state in those times and the departure of Baihu Jinlie.

It was a traitor. A man whose name along with his family’s records were erased from existence.

It was said that this man’s family had committed some kind of a heinous deed that attracted the wrath of Yin Tianlong and Baihu Jinlie which resulted in the extermination of said family.

However, during the extermination, Yin Tianlong took pity on the children of the family and let them live, even giving them resources on a monthly basis so they could live.

Instead of being grateful, these children grew up resenting the emperor for the slaughter of their family and eventually, the eldest of the children grew up to be a Demonic Cultivator and the Heavenly Demon of those times, bringing disasters and hidden threats to the Empire from the shadows.

After his death at the hands of Baihu Jinlie, the emperor and his sworn brother realized just how much their empire was corrupted by this man and his companions.

This was why such an oppressive law was passed in haste by Yin Tianlong’s son after the founding emperor died from his injuries, causing a rift between him and Baihu Jinlie.

All of this history is something that is taught to every Imperial Soldier when they enlist so that they would know the reason for the harsh punishments that they would carry out in the future at the behest of the Royal Family.

And yet, despite knowing all of this, Captain Zhou still could not help but feel guilt for the scene in front of him.

Men begged the Imperial Soldiers to let their families live. Women did the same, even promising to serve the soldiers in any way possible in exchange for sparing their children. The children simply cried, not knowing what was happening.

And yet, the Imperial Soldiers held a cold face and simply slaughtered.

Captain Zhou knew every single member of his force intimately and knew that none of them were cold-hearted. He knew that they must be dying on the inside from the act they were forced to commit at this moment, just like he was. Yet, their loyalty to the Empress and the Empire, their loyalty to the common people, and their families would not allow them to stop.

Once again, Captain Zhou closed his eyes in pain and suppressed the bile rising from within and his complex emotions.

All he could do right now was offer his sincere apologies within his heart and the promise that they would avenge their death with the extermination of the Alchemy Guild.

Screams continued to ring out across the night sky above the Yang estate, chilling the hearts of those nearby and haunting the minds of the soldiers of the capital who were forced into fulfilling their duty in such a way.

Unfortunately, this was a scene that would be repeated many times across the empire that night, forever haunting those who witnessed these massacres.