Chapter 182: Interrogation

Zhou Heng looked at the parchment again, then tucked it into his Ruyi Hundred Treasure Pouch, deciding to hand this letter to Qian Daoliu when the time came to see if this Peerless Douluo's mindset had changed at all because of the previous incident.

"The Wutian Sect's Second Elder, the Fifth Elder—two Title Douluos, and the Seventh Elder?"

Chen Ming looked at Lou Gao: "Elder Lou, have you managed to pry any information out of those people? How long ago was this letter written? Has that Seventh Elder of the Clear Sky Sect absorbed a Ninth Spirit Ring and broken through to become a Title Douluo?"

"The clansmen Tai Tan brought are all trusted aides; although their brains aren't very sharp, their mouths are quite tough," Lou Gao sighed, then continued.

"However, because their brains aren't sharp, this bunch actually had some information tricked out of them by my disciple.

This letter seems to be from three months ago; it was only a while ago that Tai Tan led his clansmen to pinpoint the location of a 60,000-year Power-type Soul Beast, a Flame Lion Tiger.

A month ago, Tai Tan mobilized the men of the Strength Clan and set off toward my Blacksmith Association.

Judging by the time, that Wutian Sect elder has likely already advanced to a Title Douluo. Based on the information tricked out of Tai Tan's clansmen, these three Clear Sky Sect elders should currently be in the nearby cities, probably waiting for news from Tai Tan."

Although he knew there were three Title Douluos, there was no great look of worry on Lou Gao's face; instead, he calmly stated his thoughts.

"I can temporarily mobilize the Gengxin City defense guards, and with my connections, I can also recruit some wandering Spirit Masters for the time being.

With the Tai Tan affair as a pretext, everything is quite reasonable, and then I can quietly send people to report to the nearest few Spirit Halls that high-level Spirit Masters from the Wutian Sect have appeared.

There are countless secret chambers within the Association, and many places were built by our predecessors using metal, containing a large number of secret doors, secret passages, and anti-enemy mechanisms; even a Title Douluo cannot treat them as nothing.

As long as I don't leave the Association during this time, even three Title Douluos cannot touch me.

Later on, I will just find something that can be called a treasure but isn't actually that precious to a Spirit Master and announce it; given the current state of the Wutian Sect, it's impossible for them to keep staring at my Blacksmith Association forever."

So damn realistic, so damn effective.

Having been involved in so much killing, Zhou Heng's first thought in his mind was always how to make these people disappear in a physical sense; he never thought that one could actually use stillness to control movement.

Gengxin City is Lou Gao's lair; as long as he wants, even a Title Douluo couldn't catch him head-on. The Wutian Sect Spirit Masters are all blockheaded, so if they don't cause some earth-shattering incident, it would be difficult to find Lou Gao's figure among the various secret chambers and mechanisms.

If they were to smash it with that Clear Sky Hammer, wow, let alone the Blacksmith Association, even the entire Gengxin City would probably hear the commotion.

Anyone with an IQ over 30 wouldn't think of doing it the hard way.

He only needs to inform the Spirit Hall and then stall for time; as long as these Wutian Sect elders still want their own lives and don't want the Wutian Sect to get into a real, bloody fight with the Spirit Hall, then in the end, they will only be able to slink back to the Wutian Sect.

Of course, all of this is based on the fact that their identities really cannot withstand investigation.

If it were ten years ago, let alone three Title Douluos lurking in other cities, even three Wutian Sect Spirit Douluos could have directly broken into the Blacksmith Association head-on, holding Wutian Hammers and forcing Lou Gao to hand over the so-called treasure.

Although that is the case, having people stare at you all the time isn't a solution either.

Now the enemy is in the dark and I am in the even darker; as a Poison Soul Master who can theoretically kill enemies above his rank easily during a sneak attack, Zhou Heng couldn't help but think about whether he could deal with these Wutian Sect elders.

In Zhou Heng's eyes, A Yin's expression at this moment became very conflicted; she clutched her chest, but said nothing at all.

Although it is true that Tang Hao betrayed A Yin, in A Yin's heart, Tang Xiao is a qualified big brother who treated her truly well, and for her and Tang Wu, he even took the initiative to choose to withdraw.

Rationally, A Yin knows that she shouldn't get involved in the Wutian Sect's affairs, but emotionally, A Yin is still somewhat hesitant.

Seeing this, Zhou Heng gently patted his right leg, and the mental "illusion" was thus canceled; A Yin returned to the soul bone, unable to perceive external factors.

And Zhou Heng's action also made A Yin heave a sigh of relief; she stopped thinking about those troublesome things and instead felt Zhou Heng's vitality and spirit power, slowly recovering her own origin, while incidentally increasing Zhou Heng's soul power and vitality at a very, very weak rate.

Well, strictly speaking, after A Yin took up residence, the Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone, which was originally a dead object, came back to life; A Yin's recovery can also, to a certain extent, enhance the age and quality of this soul bone, thereby driving an improvement in basic attributes.

"Elder Lou, take me to where Tai Tan is; I think I should have the ability to make him talk."

"That... Tai Tan is rigid, stubborn, and irritable; I'm afraid it's difficult to force him through violent means. I don't know if the Hall Master knows any Spirit-type Spirit Masters? If there is the help of a Spirit-type Spirit Master, we should be able to pry open Tai Tan's mouth."

Lou Gao was somewhat hesitant and offered his suggestion according to his own thoughts.

The lack of innovation in Douluo people is reflected in every aspect; not only are culture and technology backward, but interrogation methods are also relatively simple and backward. Facing those high-level Spirit Masters with superhuman willpower and spirit power, it is difficult to achieve much effect.

According to the conventions of the Douluo Continent, Lou Gao's idea is correct.

But in Zhou Heng's view, even without using mental means, he has a hundred ways to make Tai Tan obediently spit out what he wants to know.

Zhou Heng called Lou Gao over and whispered a few words in his ear. After hearing about the things Chen Ming wanted to build, Lou Gao's expression changed, and for the first time, he realized that there were such methods in the world.

Honestly speaking, even if Zhou Heng didn't use these torture instruments, he could use deadly poison to make Tai Tan obediently open his mouth, but as the saying goes, he won't always stay in the Blacksmith Association; he must let the Blacksmith Association, especially Lou Gao, have their own ways of dealing with such things.

One day later, Zhou Heng and Lou Gao appeared in the prison cell where Tai Tan was held.

In a dungeon that no outsider could find, Tai Tan was hung up by iron chains and iron hooks like a roasted duck.

The Lou Gao disciple responsible for binding Tai Tan at the time had mercilessly pierced Tai Tan's shoulder blades with iron chains and iron hooks.

Those huge iron chains and iron hooks were enough to kill an ordinary person, but under the effect of a Healing-type Soul Master and Tai Tan's own physical constitution, Tai Tan's flesh had healed, and the chains and hooks were deeply embedded in Tai Tan's flesh.

Even if Tai Tan moved his head just a little, the chains that pierced his bones and flesh would vibrate, bringing him intense pain.

In two days, Tai Tan was first severely wounded by Zhou Heng, the poison from Poison Dominates the World eroding his body, and then he was fed laxatives.

As the saying goes, a hero can't withstand three bouts of diarrhea.

Feeding laxatives sounds despicable, but it is indeed very practical; even with a Spirit Master's constitution, dehydration is a big problem.

Don't look at the fact that Tai Tan had only gone without food and water for two days; he still looked significantly thinner, and his face was full of haggardness.

So even with the soul power and vitality of a Spirit Douluo, he was now in a state of being on the verge of death.