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nAs they were cleaning up, Wu Long told his ladies to go through the palace above, as he first cleaned up the bodies of the cultists outside, both taking away spatial rings and incinerating the bodies, then swept throughout the cave complex, and then finally went deep into the catacombs of the temple complex, the ones which entrances were in the grotto that the cultists called the “Inner Sanctum”.

nThough his main reason for sending them toward the palace was that he did not want them to see what was there, as it was not a pleasant scene.

nEven though they have already seen some harsh realities, the cruelty of battle and the barbaric methods and rituals of the Corrupt Path were different things entirely.

nAs he went around cleansing those tunnels by way of incinerating everything with fire talismans, and then spreading and directing the flames with the Wind Rune, lastly washing everything away with water, he reached a door at the very end of those ritualistic rooms resembling torture chambers, leading deep down to a dungeon with an abundance of cages.

nMost of them were empty, but there were still some people at the deeper parts, around 500 of them.

nThere was a gloomy atmosphere, full of surrender,?despair, and apathy, as they simply awaited their fates, not even reacting to the sound of approaching footsteps.

n“Hey you! You there! Yes, yes, you! Are you new? Come closer! I have a lucrative deal for you!”, suddenly a strangely energetic amid the general gloominess, half-whispering voice, which was also vaguely familiar to Wu Long, came from one of the furthest cages.

nTwo hands reached out from the cage to make a fast thrifty-looking beckoning motion, as the sound of metal handcuffs hitting the cage bars reached Wu Long’s ears.

nThere was a particular look on the faces of other captives that Wu Long read as “He’s at it again”.

nHe first intended to simply remove the cages and restraints without engaging in conversations, but driven by curiosity, moved closer to the beckoning hands while his spiritual sense spread toward the locks and handcuffs.

n“Don’t worry, it’s honest business!”, the voice became more excited as the sound of Wu Long’s footsteps approached closer, starting to explain “Let me tell ya! You’re in luck! You see, I was operating a super successful super legitimate business before being captured, and I have a hidden stash of everything I earned, that only I know of! If you-…”

nThe voice continued speaking until Wu Long’s figure came into view, as a set of quick-witted and slightly shifty eyes widened at seeing him, the energetic captive freezing on the spot.

n“Eh? You are…? Mister! I remember you! You were one of my clients! It’s me! Captain Kwon of the Gugong Royal Army! Do you remember? … You joined the cult…?”, the man Wu Long finally recognized as the one that operated a smuggling business on the border and war zone between the Yen and Gugong Kingdoms, spoke with surprise and even more excitement, and then confusion.

n“Heh, what’s the matter? Did you finally run into a wrong business deal?”, Wu Long chuckled with an amicable expression and friendly tone as the man made a wry smile.

n“Eyy… just got unlucky! How would I know that they were from this cult?”, Captain Kwon spread his hands that were hanging through the cage, slightly relaxing at the familiar face and non-hostile tone of voice, adding ” And yes, I charged them double… okay triple, but they were honestly quite dumb, I am sure they are at the very bottom of the ladder here, and they didn’t do their homework like your subordinate… eehm… what’s his face? … Old Yen! Yes, that guy did excellent groundwork so you got the standard price… or a discounted one? Same thing, anyway…”

nWu Long shook his head with a wry smile at the way this man talked at a fast pace.

n“…Anyway! Then you know I’m legit! Just think of how much I took off from ya! And the traffic there was not small at all! Think of how much money that is!”, the man spoke again with a thrifty look, returning to business.

n“I didn’t join the cult, more like, there’s no more cult”, Wu Long spoke calmy, taking out talismans.

n“Eh? Then…”, Captain Kwon spoke as he was the first to realize the meaning of those words, the others still processing them as they only were hearing the conversation, not listening to it.

n“Mm, you may all go”, Wu Long nodded as he waved his hand, and the talismans floated toward the cage doors, small array circles appeared on the door locks, and similar ones appeared before the talismans, the patterns on the circles moving at the same time.

nThese doors required a token to open, but Wu Long did not bother searching for them, as he could simply unlock the array by analyzing and deciphering it, which he did while speaking with Captain Kwon.

nHe could also break either the cage walls or the locks, but he did not want to spook these people who had enough of a bad experience with loud or sudden actions.

nSomething within the solid part of the cage doors clicked, and all of them made squeaking sounds as the doors, free of the lock slightly cracked open, some more than others.

n“””…!”””

n“I-is it over…?”

n“I… it’s not a dream, right?!”

n“W-We… We are free!”

nFirst murmurs, and then gradually exclamations resounded in the dungeon as the former captives started to come out from their apathetic state, some hugging, some crying.

n“…What’s the catch?”, Captain Kwon asked, his eyes turning extremely cautious and dubious, his words causing the others celebrating their freedom to freeze, and then turn eyes full of worry to Wu Long.

n“No catch, I came to erase the cult, which I did. Let me remove the restraints now. Don’t worry and stay calm as I unlock them”, Wu Long spoke in a calm tone, as even more talismans floated toward each person, hovering in front of the solid-piece metal handcuffs, repeating the same process with the central part of the cuffs as with the door locks.

nThe former captives gulped, stretching out their hands, and as the handcuffs clicked, they started falling to the floor with loud *thuds*.

nMore exclamations of joy and now words of gratitude followed as Captain Kwon still looked at Wu Long with eyes full of suspicion.

n“You may all go unimpeded now. It is nighttime now, so you can stay in this area until it is dawn, or however much time you need since there are no more cult members. There is a small door to the side of this dungeon entrance, there is a storage where all possessions of captives were kept. You may freely take what you need to get to safety there”, Wu Long spoke, as he has already swept clean the cult belongings prior to this, so no legacy of Corrupt Path could be found and taken away by these people.

nAs for the belongings of the cult’s victims that were dumped in a huge pile in that storage, he did not care much about them.

nSome eyes that were full of despair just some moments ago and gratitude now, instantly were filled with greed, while some were still full of appreciation and modesty, and every mix in between, as a range of human natures was in full display before Wu Long.

nA few figures made a quick bow and rushed toward the door Wu Long spoke of, a few doing the same with only a slight delay.

nAnd though some groups departed every few seconds, the majority stayed for a bit to express their appreciation and only then more calmly moved toward the exit, and some continued to bow and give words of gratitude.

nWu Long did not tell them that he only moved out of his motives, and that their salvation was only a tertiary result, although it was true.

nThat would have been an insult to their sincerity and dignity, which he did not feel the need for, even if he did not particularly enjoy this formal and intense expression of gratitude toward himself.

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