The Emperor's group arrived at a seemingly normal residence and entered the residence where some guards rushed over and bowed to the Emperor. The residence currently only held guards in it and they immediately led the way to the underground prison where their guests were kept.

The three guests of the prison heard the noise of feet and saw the shadows of light coming down the hallway and they immediately scrambled to their feet. As the Emperor and the others arrived at the front of the cell, and one of the guests immediately barked, "Who are you and what do you want from us?!" The men had gotten drunk and gone to sleep and found themselves here, caged in this dark and damp cell when they woke up.

The Emperor ignored the question and scanned the three guests with an icy glare, then asked in a cold and calm voice,?"Which one of you hit her?"

The three men looked at each other, and the confusion was clear on their faces. The Emperor let out a breath and then said, "I guess it's hard to remember such little details when it's your daily lives. In that ca-"

"I didn't touch her! It was them! I told these idiots to leave her alone!" The shortest of the men suddenly blurt out as he fell on his knees, the one who had questioned the Emperor immediately yanked him off the ground, "You ingrate! Who the hell d-"

"I warned you not to touch that noble girl yesterday but you didn't listen. Your fooli-" His words broke off, when he received the man holding him gave him a swift punch in the gut and released his collar and then pushed him down, straddled him and began raining punches. The second man immediately leaped forward to play peacemaker and separate the two.

"So it would have been fine if she wasn't a noble...?" The Emperor's cold voice suddenly reached the rowdy bunch and they froze. Finally remembering that they were not in their run-down hideout, and more importantly, they were currently someone else's prisoner.

The Emperor did not wait for a response and ordered, "Open the cell." The Emperor handed over his sword to the guard beside him and stepped forward, when Commander An blocked him, but before he could say anything, the Emperor narrowed his eyes and ordered, "Move."

Regardless of the Emperor's skills, putting himself in danger, no matter how minuscule was not advisable. So Commander An knit his brows and advised, "You don't nee-"

"Move." The Emperor repeated and stared Commander An down. He was in a very bad mood and there was cold energy radiating off him. And he was not in the mood for a discussion and Commander An sensed this, and so he sighed and stepped aside. But stood right by the door as the Emperor entered with?his hand on his sword, ready to attack.

The Emperor entered the cell and looked at the three men, who's gazes were roving between and the open gate behind him.

The Emperor then calmly said, "Come if you want your freedom."

On hearing those words, the prisoners blinked and warily scanned the Emperor, who was seemed to be leisurely standing there. Then they glanced Commander An and the guards on the other side, who all had their hands on their swords.

The Emperor lightly smirked with no humor at all and informed, "My word is law, if you can pass, you can go." When they still did not move, the Emperor glared at them, "Are you cowards only good at attacking weak and defenseless women?"

That finally got a response, and the one who had been assaulting the short one lunged towards the Emperor, intending to barrel him to the ground. The Emperor moved out of the way and instead grabbed the man by the back of the head and banged his head against the heavy steel of the prison bars, opening a gash in the man's skull and he immediately crumbled to the ground, unconscious. At the same time, the peacemaker threw a punch towards the Emperor's face.

The Emperor avoided the punch, grabbed the man's wrist and twisted his arm towards his back, and then used his other hand to hold the man's shoulder as he dislocated the arm, causing him to fall to his knees and scream out in pain.

The Emperor then proceeded to break the man's fingers one by one, completely deaf to the man's screams and pleas. When he was done with the fingers on the hand, he grabbed the other hand, despite the man's struggle, he yanked it and dislocated that as well and proceeded to ruin his fingers. When he was done, he dropped the arm and let the man scramble to the corner as he wailed in pain.

The Emperor then kicked the head of the other one on the ground, causing his head to bash into the bars again. The Emperor then turned his attention to the short beat-up man who had yet to move from where he was pushed to the ground by his unconscious comrade. The man gulped and shakingly shuffled to his knees and kowtowed as he pleaded again, "I really didn't touch her. I would ne-"

"So you never touched any of the women?" The Emperor asked with raised eyebrows and a cold stare.

The man froze and then glanced up at the Emperor and said with conviction, "I never did! I swear-"

"So you were simply the lookout?" The Emperor interjected again.

"Yes, exactly! I was scared, they forced me into it! I had no choice...But I never touched any of them! I swear!" The man frantically pleaded.

The Emperor quietly assessed the man's "sincere" tearful gaze and then flatly said, "I don't believe you." The man's face fell and you could see the fear on his face, but before he could begin pleading again, the Emperor continued, "...And even if all you did was look, I still consider you responsible. At any time, you could have done something to stop them or alerted the authorities...You have proved to be useless."

The Emperor then turned and left the cell and it was promptly locked behind him. Then he scanned the three men in the cell, his gaze settling on the lookout, "Your eyes and mouth have proved to be useless...But I will be merciful, on the account that you say you were led by fear..."

The man's face lit up with hope and then the Emperor gave his orders, "...Cut off his tongue and blind his eyes. He has no need for them...For the other two, cut off their fingers and then their wrists. Castrate them all and make sure they are all awake for the whole process....In the last two weeks, there have ten r.a.p.es so far and two of the young girls passed away during the assault. I don't care whether or you are responsible for all of them or not. Ten girls, ten days...If you are not dead from your injuries in ten days, then you will be pardoned with death..."

With that said, the Emperor and Commander An left the scene. As the sound of the lookout's pleas and then screams reverberated through the prison as the guards mete out his punishment.

When they arrived outside, the Emperor looked up at the night sky and then closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the fresh air, as the muffled screams carried through the prison doors behind him. He was finally able to let out some anger, but it did not do much to better his mood...It was not enough.

"Do you feel better now?" Commander An asked observing the Emperor's face.

The Emperor slightly opened his eyes and stared forward at nothing and then responded, "No."

{...Not in the least...}

The Emperor walked forward and the men followed his lead, got on their horses and sped off behind him.