Chapter 201: Senior Brother, Watching the Show and Fanning the Flames
“Ah—!!!” Xue Xinghai never expected that a casual joke would come true. He himself had fallen under the very torture instrument he had personally forged.
Although Zhuang Yan’s seemingly ordinary dagger could not penetrate the shell of a Core Formation Stage cultivator, it could cut through the body and into the spirit.
Zhuang Yan only lightly sliced Xue Xinghai’s shoulder, and Xue Xinghai was already covered in sweat, his eyes fierce as he glared at Yun Yiyi and the others watching from the side.
But to make them believe him, he had to endure. He had to drag it out for a while at least.
However, after just one quarter of an hour, Xue Xinghai could no longer bear it and cried out:
“Stop—stop—I’ll confess! I’ll confess everything!!”
Hearing this, Zhuang Yan’s heart sank.
He also understood the power of the torture instrument in his hand and had witnessed criminal cultivators who had been tight-lipped under its influence reveal everything they knew.
He was genuinely worried now that Xue Xinghai, in a fit of despair, would directly expose him.
Zhuang Yan looked at the three people beside him, then put down the torture instrument, and asked, “Why did you kill twenty-seven Inner Family disciples?”
“I…” Xue Xinghai looked at the fierce gaze in Zhuang Yan’s eyes and immediately understood that if he said anything he shouldn’t, Zhuang Yan would definitely kill him on the spot.
“Someone ordered me to do it. That person is called… Yanhai!! He’s a wanted criminal from the border of the domain. He paid me spirit stones to help him kill twenty-eight Inner Family disciples. Those Inner Family disciples offended him.”
Hearing this, Zhuang Yan pondered for a moment and quickly understood. He could still avert disaster by paying a price. If Xue Xinghai said this, then he only needed to hand over some spirit stones as illicit gains, and the matter could be closed.
As for the criminal named Yanhai, he could go and capture him himself. If he killed him directly, there would be no proof.
“How much did he give you in spirit stones?”
“Five hundred thousand.”
“Couldn’t you have said less?!” Zhuang Yan pouted and asked, “Where are the spirit stones?”
“In… in the basement of Wu Tian Sword Pavilion.”
“So…” Zhuang Yan nodded, then turned to the three people listening to the interrogation and said, “Eldest Miss, Elder Hu, it seems it won’t take long. After I send someone to retrieve the illicit gains from Wu Tian Sword Pavilion, this case can be concluded. As for the criminal named Yanhai, I will also send someone to arrest him.”
However, Ye Anping shook his head at their clumsy acting.
But there was no need for Ye Anping to speak; Hu Tianyue simply spoke on his behalf: “Elder Zhuang, I have heard some news about this case. The lives of twenty-eight Inner Family disciples and two Inner disciples. This is already a very serious murder case. Even if Elder Xue has merits towards the Sword Sect, and considering his past achievements, his crime can be reduced by one level. But even reduced by one level, it is still a capital offense. You really don’t need to show mercy and should just conduct a soul search.”
“This…” Zhuang Yan was momentarily speechless. Soul searching techniques were rarely used due to their side effects and were usually only applied to unforgivable criminals.
If a cultivator were to have their soul searched, it would be no different from being killed directly.
Although their life would be spared and their cultivation would remain, their spirit would inevitably be severely damaged.
After their spirit was severely damaged, they would become a fool who could only drool, with intelligence inferior to that of an infant. After all, an infant would cry when in pain and smile when full.
Hearing this, Xue Xinghai immediately panicked and pleaded, “Senior Hu!! I’ve already confessed! I’ve forged swords for the Sword Sect, how can you be so heartless…”
Ye Anping interrupted, “Pavilion Master Xue, you have taken the lives of thirty Sword Sect disciples, and twenty-eight of them are direct descendants of the Sword Sect’s Yun Family, with countless among them possessing excellent aptitude. Ultimately, it’s all death. Soul searching at least allows you to die without suffering too much.”
“Suffering?! You call the shattering of one’s spirit ‘not suffering’?!”
“Your crime will ultimately be the Three Flavors Fire Torture. If you become a fool first, at least you won’t feel pain then, will you?”
Zhuang Yan frowned at this point and, using etiquette, interrupted, “Young Master Ye, you haven’t even entered the Yun Family yet, and you dare to interfere in the internal interrogation affairs of the Sword Sect?”
However, upon hearing this, Yun Yiyi also showed dissatisfaction and supported Ye Anping, “Elder Zhuang, Young Master Ye is just speaking up for me. As the Eldest Miss of the Sword Sect, am I not allowed to interfere in the interrogation?”
“…” Zhuang Yan’s lips parted slightly, his mind desperately trying to figure out how to save Xue Xinghai. After all, he was considered a “great general” under him, skilled in refining and forging swords, and with rather good aptitude.
It would be too regrettable for such a person to die so obscurely.
But what could be done now? Should he go all out and try to kill Hu Tianyue and the other two in this room along with Xue Xinghai?
However, even with his toes, he knew this was wishful thinking. Among cultivators below the Nascent Soul Stage, instant kills were possible, but among cultivators above the Nascent Soul Stage, as long as they were of the same realm, it was almost impossible for either side to kill the other. A battle might not conclude for ten days and a half month.
Could he only abandon Xue Xinghai? Zhuang Yan furrowed his brow, finally making up his mind. He turned back to look at Xue Xinghai behind him, his eyes showing a hint of apology, as if saying: For the greater good, I have to sacrifice you.
Seeing this, Xue Xinghai’s eyes widened. This was not what they had agreed upon! Zhuang Yan had promised him that after he used the organs of the Inner Family disciples to forge a body with the Yun Family’s bloodline and had the spirit of “Yun Kunwu,” who was imprisoned in the forbidden area, possess it, he would be appointed as the chief sword master of the Sword Sect.
The primary reason he agreed to help Zhuang Yan with this was for this very reason. The secondary reason was that “Yun Kunwu” had once shown him kindness.
But he never expected to die at Zhuang Yan’s hands.
“Zhuang Yan!!! I f***ing…”
“…” Zhuang Yan condensed spiritual energy at his fingertips and drew it across the front of Xue Xinghai’s neck, instantly causing golden yellow flames of burning spirit to appear in his eyes. His features contorted, and his arms, bound to the rack, struggled desperately.
In less than ten breaths, a golden spiritual light emerged from Xue Xinghai’s throat, floating in the air like a will-o’-the-wisp, before Zhuang Yan raised his hand and crushed it.
Xue Xinghai’s memories flashed through Zhuang Yan’s spiritual sense like a revolving lantern.
*Ding—ding—* The sounds of metal striking metal were incessant. For hundreds of years, his life had been dedicated solely to forging and refining swords. Even helping him kill Inner Family disciples was for the purpose of obtaining better materials for forging swords.
However, at this moment, he also saw the jade pendant that Xue Xinghai had seen on Ye Anping’s waist earlier. Zhuang Yan had initially thought Xue Xinghai was making a fuss over nothing, but after truly seeing the illusion-forming pendant, he was astonished. It was indeed a jade pendant with such rich spiritual essence that it would be difficult to find even in the various sects of the Southern Domain.
But fortunately, he also saw that the malevolent body that Xue Xinghai had refined was already completed, only lacking one last Blood Spirit Pearl.
“收!” Zhuang Yan saw this, waved his hand, and withdrew his spiritual sense. He then said to the three people beside him, “This matter indeed originated from the criminal named Yanhai. As for the specific reason, he doesn’t know either. He was just doing it for money.”
Hu Tianyue nodded, took a sip from her Jade Gourd, seeming a bit bored. She stood up, waved her hand, and said, “Then I’ll trouble Elder Zhuang to handle it.” With that, she turned and walked towards the door of the interrogation room. Ye Anping and Yun Yiyi also stood up, clasped their hands, and left with her.
Zhuang Yan remained standing, his brow deeply furrowed as he watched Ye Anping. Only after the three had left the room did he shift his gaze back to the bound Xue Xinghai on the torture rack and murmured, “Fellow Daoist Xue, I will definitely offer their heads as a sacrifice to you in the future.”
“Ababa—ababa—”
