Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan! Chapter 472 Justice in the Dark Chamber

"Aaargh...!"

Screams from the Elder reverberated across the entire experiment chamber.

They climbed higher, shattered into rough cries, then fractured into raspy whimpers before rising once more.

Jin Yuanzhan felt no pity whatsoever.

No matter if that Elder endured torment a hundredfold worse than this, it could never atone for the mountain of crimes he had piled up.

Bai Zihan remained standing a bit farther off, arms crossed behind him, his face showing zero ripple of emotion amid the gruesome display unfolding nearby.

He chose not to step in—not even if it allowed the Azure Sun Holy Sect to dispatch additional cultivators in the meantime.

He recognized that the deep-seated resentment Jin Yuanzhan harbored demanded full release through personal retribution.

He refused to meddle or let Jin Yuanzhan walk away with any lingering dissatisfaction after seizing this long-awaited chance for payback.

Jin Yuanzhan kept his tone subdued.

"Circulate your qi."

The Elder shook uncontrollably.

"I-can't-!"

A blast of burning energy erupted inside his meridians.

His frame bowed sharply, dark veins swelling under the surface of his skin.

"You can," Jin Yuanzhan stated evenly. "You said the exact same thing to me!"

Yet another rush.

The Elder wailed until his voice ripped apart.

Bai Zihan observed how Jin Yuanzhan manipulated the qi churning in the Elder's body. His control was exact.

He steered clear of utterly ruining the dantian and causing instant death.

Instead, he delivered the peak level of agony while preserving the man's life.

A subtle smile tugged at Bai Zihan's mouth.

(Not bad!)

He had fretted—just a touch—that hatred might overwhelm Jin Yuanzhan. Yet it hadn't.

He stayed composed and managed the situation with impressive poise.

Yet another piercing cry tore through the room.

The kids inside the cages huddled into the shadows, their eyes stretched wide.

A few clamped hands over their ears.

Others gawked in shocked quiet.

One little boy—barely past eight—gripped the bars with such force that his knuckles blanched white.

What gleamed in his gaze wasn't terror, but the raw thrill of seeing vengeance finally served.

Maybe he believed the wicked figure had at last faced his due punishment and grasped the suffering they'd all borne.

Bai Zihan's eyes turned toward the captives.

He approached them at an unhurried pace.

Those iron enclosures looked rough next to the intricate formation array.

In truth, beyond the bars sat frail youngsters who could scarcely stand, let alone shatter such restraints—even if they weren't sturdy.

He halted in front of one enclosure.

Within, three youngsters clustered close.

Their garments were filthy.

Singe scars dotted their sleeves.

One girl jerked back as his silhouette loomed over her.

Bai Zihan bent down a little—not from compassion, but just to inspect them nearer.

They appeared terrified and famished.

"Tsk!"

Even during these tests, they could've at least given them food. It wasn't like a Sect of their stature suffered from shortages.

Ordinary meals cost next to nothing.

They could've saved more lives if they'd maintained them in better condition.

But what good would scolding these idiots do now?

He eyed them a moment longer, expecting fury to ignite.

Expecting wrath to boil.

Expecting some spark of indignation to ignite in his chest at the horror.

Nothing stirred.

Logically, he knew this was abhorrent.

He knew blameless souls had been demoted to mere "materials" for the mighty.

Still, his heart stayed even.

Icy and aloof.

Maybe it stemmed from anticipating such horrors already.

Or maybe it boiled down to something basic.

The wrongdoer faced his penalty right then.

Justice—should the term even apply in this realm—was playing out in agonized yells behind him.

No point in raging over events long past.

He wasn't compassionate enough to fret over every wrong.

He might even prove harsher toward foes.

If sudden anger gripped him and he started moralizing, it'd ring hollow as pretense.

From behind—

"ARGHHH-! I'll tell you-anything-!"

The Elder's voice splintered.

Jin Yuanzhan offered no reply.

Another controlled burst of qi flooded the Elder's dantian.

The Elder spasmed wildly.

Bai Zihan stood up.

He pointed a finger gently at the cage's lock.

Crack!

The mechanism broke apart.

It swung loose with a heavy thud.

The children gazed in astonishment.

Not one budged.

"You can leave," Bai Zihan stated steadily.

His voice held no warmth or chill.

They wavered.

The tiniest one ventured out first.

His bare soles met the cold stone beyond the bars.

He tilted his head up at Bai Zihan with doubtful eyes.

"Are... are we going to die?"

Bai Zihan considered him briefly.

"No!"

The boy gulped.

The rest seemed skeptical of Bai Zihan's words, which made sense in their dire spot.

But Bai Zihan saw no reason to justify further.

He held no wish to play the savior meting out righteousness to all.

That wasn't his style.

Behind him—

The Elder's aura had faded to a shadow of itself.

His complexion drained to ashen.

Sweat soaked through his robes.

Meridians bloated and twisted under his skin.

His plight now surpassed that of any disabled soul.

Jin Yuanzhan pulled his hand away at last. The Elder slumped forward onto the hard stone.

He lacked even the power to cry out anymore.

Shudders wracked him instead.

Jin Yuanzhan retreated from the huddled form.

His breaths came even, his face serene.

He regarded the tormentor who'd haunted his dreams once.

With revenge fulfilled, neither joy nor sorrow washed over him.

In the end, though the agony he'd suffered could fell most, it had forged the path to rescue his sister and encounter Young Master.

Maybe it hid a hidden gift.

"Young Master, I am done. I think he is ready to answer your questions without a speck of a lie."

Bai Zihan nodded faintly.

He advanced and halted in front of the shattered figure.

The Elder's state barely resembled anything human now.

The haughty air of a Spirit Severing Realm powerhouse had vanished.

Beneath Bai Zihan's steady stare and the ongoing weight of Void Refinement restraint, the notion of defiance never sparked.

The interrogation commenced.

The initial topic targeted the Sky Pirate Leader—did he recognize the head of the Yun Mo Kou Sky Pirates?

The response arrived swiftly.

Yes, the Yun Mo Kou Sky Pirates' chief stood as one of the experiment's rare triumphs.

Yet his story diverged from the rest.

He hadn't been seized.

He hadn't been coerced into the procedure like so many victims.

He had volunteered entirely.

Prior to the test, he ranked as an obscure cultivator in a petty pirate crew.

That band got wiped out by the Imperial Family in a sweeping crackdown. Their vessels, obliterated. Their supplies, confiscated. Their ranks, slaughtered—all save him.

He endured alone.

How he discovered the hidden trials under the Azure Sun Holy Sect remained a mystery.

Maybe whispers reached his ears.

Maybe a loose-lipped soul spilled secrets.

What stood firm was his silence toward officials.

As a Sky Pirate, after all.

He didn't dismiss it outright.

Rather, he pursued them.

He offered himself not as prey, but as a volunteer.

He demanded strength.

His drive stemmed not from vengeance against the Imperial Family.

Not sorrow.

It sprang from raw ambition.

Unmixed and stark.

He grasped the dangers. Grasped the deadly odds.

Grasped that the formation claimed most entrants as dust.

He insisted on the trial regardless.

To the Elder, this proved ideal.

A eager participant demanded no secrecy—though caution lingered.

The fusion rate surpassed all forecasts.

He lived through it.

Not just lived, but ascended higher.

His alignment with the Sun Dao Fragment topped the charts of successes.

As his might soared swiftly, the Azure Sun Holy Sect held onto him.

They backed him quietly.

Supplies flowed in secret.

Allies set up. Aerial vessels granted.

With their hidden aid, the Yun Mo Kou Sky Pirates took shape.

To outsiders, they appeared as just another bandit group—plundering shipping lanes, ambushing trade ships, battling minor sect fleets. But their core aim hid deeper.

They snatched folks and funneled them for trials.

He supplied "materials."

In exchange, he gained the assets he craved.

The Sky Pirate Leader comprehended the deal completely.

The Elder framed it as a fair partnership.

The pirate chief's drive didn't fade post-power.

If anything, it intensified.

He grew beyond projections, and through his work, the tests proceeded far easier, free from shortages of test subjects.

"Then, did your Sect ask him to capture me as well?" Bai Zihan inquired at last.

Was it a grudge?

Or the Azure Sun Holy Sect's scheme?

"This... I don't know!"

The Elder's tone fractured as he sprawled across the frigid floor, form jerking from lingering aches.

Jin Yuanzhan's gaze sharpened right away.

He lunged ahead and slammed his boot into the Elder's side.

Crack!

A dull fracture rang out in the space.

The Elder howled, coiling up on reflex, though the heavy suppression rendered even that twitch feeble.

"You don't know?" Jin Yuanzhan's words came soft and threatening. "You think we'll swallow that? Speak true to Young Master, or else—"

"I-truly-don't!"

The Elder wheezed, crimson dripping from his lip's edge.

"I manage the experiments alone! I seldom venture out! Outside dealings fall to others!"

Jin Yuanzhan seized his robe's front and hoisted him up a fraction, ignoring the wreckage.

"Last chance!"

"I swear!"

The Elder sobbed roughly.

"Yun Mo Kou Sky Pirates run independently! He brings materials, he gets Sect resources! That's all I know." Another strike.

This one to the gut.

Jin Yuanzhan scanned his features.

Fear lingered there.

Agony.

Despair.

But no hint of scheming.

He genuinely appeared clueless. "Useless!"

Bai Zihan had observed the exchange in silence all along.

His look stayed unchanged.

It held little weight if the Elder revealed this or held back.

He planned to confront the Azure Sun Holy Sect's Sect Leader regardless.

The facts would emerge then.

He drew nearer.

The Elder snapped his gaze upward, eyes quivering with faint hope.

"I've told you everything I know!" he begged.

Bai Zihan's eyes held steady.

He shifted a touch toward Jin Yuanzhan.

"We've heard what we needed." The Elder's eyes bulged. For an instant, hope lit his face.

He imagined survival.

He figured his truths had earned mercy,

Bai Zihan's following statement crushed that dream.

"There is no need for him to keep breathing"

The Elder's eyes contracted.

"Wai-"

Slash!

A flash of icy gleam cut the air.

Jin Yuanzhan showed no pause.

His sword swept swift and sure.

The Elder's head parted from his torso before the word ended.