Chapter 3363: Lin Mu The Criminal

Lin Mu looked at the glowing seal, then looked back at the guard, expression unchanged. To him these seals may as well not exist.

The guards shifted awkwardly, then turned on their heels and walked out, muttering to themselves.

Only after their footsteps faded did the ambience of the prison return: the hollow dripping of condensation, the faint hum of suppression formations, and the low murmurs of other prisoners.

Lin Mu glanced around. Each cell was occupied. Dozens of cultivators sat behind bars, some meditating, some sleeping, some glaring out at nothing.

He raised an eyebrow. "There are this many criminals in the outpost?"

A man in the cell diagonally across from him snorted. He was lean, with dark hair tied behind his head and a half healed cut along his cheek.

"They are not all local criminals," the man said. "Most of us are in transit. We are just passing through before being transferred to real prisons."

Lin Mu nodded slowly. "I see."

The man leaned forward, peering at Lin Mu with interest. "So what did you do? I have not seen the guards look that irritated in months."

Lin Mu replied calmly, "I scared a couple young masters."

The man erupted in laughter. "Understandable."

Another prisoner, an older cultivator with missing teeth, gripped the bars of his cell. "Whose brats did you offend?"

Lin Mu repeated the names: "Yong Heng and Qing Kuanshu."

A hush fell.

Then several prisoners sucked in deep breaths simultaneously.

"You offended them?" one whispered.

Another nodded gravely. "May the heavens protect your soul."

Lin Mu tilted his head. "Are their fathers so powerful? They are only captains."

One of the prisoners rubbed his temples. "Captains in an outpost like this are practically kings. They control all military operations here. Their authority is absolute within this world."

Lin Mu frowned. "What about those above them? Majors, colonels, or other higher ranks?"

A short, stocky cultivator with a scarred chin laughed bitterly. "Those officials are too busy with paperwork. They only leave their offices for three reasons. First, an inspection. Second, a large scale threat. Third, their own transfer. That is it. They do not bother with petty conflicts."

A lanky young man in another cell chimed in. "Most disputes between cultivators are handled by captains. They have the freedom to settle matters as they see fit. If you offend them, you may as well be offending an emperor."

The old man with missing teeth chuckled, though it sounded tired. "You are lucky they did not break your legs before throwing you in here. You probably bought yourself a few years inside this place."

Lin Mu raised an eyebrow. "Years? For offending a pair of young masters?"

The scarred man sighed deeply. "Justice is a luxury. Here in the outpost, things work differently. Corruption runs deep. People cling to whatever authority they have. If someone in power does not like you, they can make your life miserable."

Another prisoner added with a cynical grin, "Unless you have a powerful backer, you will not leave before the captains want you to leave."

Lin Mu’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Is that the justice of the Western Immortal Court?"

The prisoners laughed. Some bitterly. Some with shaking heads. Some with empty stares.

"You are new if you believe justice alone is enough," one said.

"They are still humans," another remarked. "Petty. Greedy. Vindictive."

A tall, muscular prisoner with numerous scars on his arms leaned forward. He looked like he had survived a hundred life and death battles.

He spoke slowly.

"Best keep your head down. Pray the captains forget about you in a year or so. That is the best outcome for you."

A ripple of agreement went through the cells.

Lin Mu remained composed, his breath even and calm.

Inside his mind, Lin Mo groaned. "What are you doing? You could slip out with Phase at any moment. You could even leave behind an illusion and never be caught."

Lin Mu replied silently, "I considered it. But now I want to see something."

Lin Mo paused. "See what?"

Lin Mu gazed at the glowing sealing array, his eyes steady.

"I want to see how just the outpost really is. They call this place the pinnacle of the Western Immortal Court’s order. I want to see what that order actually means."

Lin Mo made a frustrated noise. "You are too curious for your own good."

"Let him observe. This might prove interesting." Xukong chuckled faintly in the back of Lin Mu’s mind. "I also want to see how the ’Standards’ of the Immortal Court are these days." he added.

Lin Mu sat down on the stone bench with complete ease, his wrists still locked in shimmering shackles that meant nothing to him.

The prisoners around him muttered among themselves.

Some pitied him.

Some admired his nerve.

Some simply thought he was hopelessly naive.

None of them understood the truth.

Someone had not thrown a helpless cultivator into this jail.

Someone had locked themselves inside a cage.

Voluntarily.

And Lin Mu waited calmly, entirely certain that this would be very entertaining.

Lin Mu sat cross-legged on the cold stone bench of his cell. The faint hum of sealing arrays blended with the distant dripping of condensation. Despite the place being a prison, it felt more like a forgotten storeroom filled with discarded people rather than criminals.

Over the next few days he spoke with those around him, learning far more than he expected.

The first man he spoke with was the dark-haired cultivator from earlier. His crime was theft. Or so the records claimed. In truth, he had tried to retrieve his stolen goods from a merchant who had tricked him with a false contract.

Instead of punishing the fraud, the guards had punished him for disturbing the peace.

Another prisoner was an elderly woman who looked frail but whose cultivation was stable at the First Tribulation Stage. She had been a teacher on a nearby world. Her crime was apparently blasphemy against the guardian beasts.

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