Lin Canghai, who was silent for all this time, finally opened his mouth. "Do you know your sins?"
Lin Zichen hurriedly replied. "I know! I know! I don't dare to do anymore! Please spare me, Father!"
"Really? Why don't you tell everyone about it?" Lin Canghai looked calm, but his voice was full of unquestionable authority, causing everyone in the hall to hold their breaths.
Lin Zichen became agitated and did not dare to say it out loud.
"It seems you are unwilling to tell everyone." Watching Lin Zichen keep changing his expression, Lin Canghai exerted more pressure on him.
"I said! I said!" Lin Zichen gritted his teeth and yelled out loud. "I had colluded with the Peng clan in human trading!"
The crowd went uproar upon hearing this. They had completely forgotten the surrounding pressure and looked at Lin Zichen in disbelief.
Everyone in the Lin clan knew that any business related to human trading was a taboo set by Lin Canghai. Even it wasn't taboo, everyone would never do such an inhumane thing. They couldn't believe Lin Zichen, who basically did not lack anything, actually did it. Not to mention he had also conspired with the mortal enemy, the Peng clan. How could Lin Canghai not be furious about it?
"Tell everyone the detail." Lin Canghai said plainly.
Lin Zichen knew this was the last straw for him. Whether he could continue to live depended on this. Without hesitation, he quickly explained. "A year ago, Peng Xun approached me in the guise of doing business. At first, I thought it was a normal goods shipping business, but later, I realized something was wrong. I discovered he actually used our merchant caravan as a facade while hiding those abducted victims among the goods."
He took a deep breath and continued. "Naturally, I went to find him for an explanation, but I was blackmailed by him in the end. If I didn't cooperate with him, he would expose everything to the public. Even though it could not shake our foundation, our reputation would reduce significantly, and no one would dare to do business with us again…."
"So you chose to cooperate with them instead of telling me? Do you think I would believe it?" Lin Canghai interrupted.
Lin Zichen's face turned even uglier. He knew the reason he gave out was insufficient and hard to believe, but it was the truth. He continued. "It is really the case. However, I admitted I was blind by greed as I received a huge benefit from it… I am willing to receive any punishment as long as Father spares my life."
Hearing this, everyone fell into silence once again. They could understand Lin Zichen's circumstance at that time, but in any case, human traffic was something unforgivable. Lin Zichen fully deserved to be punished.
Lin Zihuang and Lin Zihan glanced at each other and shook their heads at the same time. They had no sympathy for this Second Brother. Had Lin Zichen acted smarter, he could easily use this chance to bring the Peng clan down by collecting all the evidence. Unfortunately, he chose the wrong path in the end.
"What roles did Lin Changkong and Lin Wuwei play in this?" Lin Canghai questioned. His anger seemed to reduce a lot now as the pressure faded by half.
Hearing his name and his nephew's name mentioned, Lin Changkong squinted his muddy eyes at Lin Zichen but said nothing. It didn't matter to him anymore as his fate had been sealed since he was punished by Lin Canghai a month ago.
The thing that lingered in his heart was the pent-up hatred he had toward Yun Lintian. If it wasn't because of him, Lin Changkong would never reduce to this point. Right now, he could only hope his son, Lin Kai, who had been outside, would avenge him after his death.
Lin Zichen perceived Lin Changkong's gaze, but he didn't dare to meet it. He hurriedly replied. "Of course, they know everything. Lin Kai and Lin Wuwei are the regular customers of the red light streets. They are always asking for a fresh young girl provided by Peng Xun. As for Lin Changkong, he mainly concealed everything… We all sharing benefits together."
"Beast!" Great Elder Lin couldn't help cursing. Who knows how many innocent girls had been ruined by these beasts? If Lin Canghai wasn't here, he would slap Lin Zichen and Lin Changkong to dead by now.
"Our Lin clan might not be righteous, but we have never done something inhumane like this!" Great Elder Lin yelled angrily that his entire body trembled.
Lin Zichen lowered his head, did not dare to say anything. He thoroughly regretted it. If he had told his father honestly at that time, he wouldn't have become like this. Sadly, it was too late now.
The crowd looked at each other with no intention of speaking out for Lin Zichen. Everything was left for Lin Canghai to decide.
"Tell me, what is the punishment you deserve?" Lin Canghai asked. This time, he had retracted his aura entirely.
Lin Zichen was silent for a while before raising his head to look at his father. His eyes turned resolute as he spoke. "I deserve to lose all my profound strength."
"Very well. Let's do it." Lin Canghai said and closed his eyes.
Great Elder Lin immediately took action. He pointed his index finger at Lin Zichen, and a deadly profound light shot out of his finger straight to Lin Zichen's Profound Vein.
Lin Zichen did not put up any resistance and closed his eyes, resigning to his fate. When the profound light hit him and shattered his Profound Vein, he didn't even utter a word; not even a grunt slipped out of his mouth.
After losing his profound strength, Lin Zichen's appearance instantly transformed from a middle-aged man to an old man in his eighties. His long black hair turned white, and several wrinkles emerged on his face. From now on, he was destined to be an ordinary person for the rest of his life.