Chapter 37: Extremely Cruel

Chen Ye arrived very early, before the wick had even turned to ash.

Princess Hongyu was still analyzing with Lan Shi why she was convinced Chen Ye was a demon, and she was truly sweating profusely as she listened.

This princess raised deep within the palace guessed too accurately; she had only taken away those corpses and was exposed.

After waiting half the night and listening for half the night, yet becoming even more confused, Chen Ye simply chose to reveal himself.

After wandering around for so many days, he had finally found the person behind the strange events in Cui Xian; Chen Ye did not wish to waste time, so he decided to clear up the truth tonight.

Seeing Princess Hongyu trembling with fear, Chen Ye felt it was just right, saving him the trouble of forcing answers.

Chen Ye said to Princess Hongyu: "Disturbing you late at night is my rudeness. However, regarding the matter of Cui Xian, I still need the Princess to enlighten me; please do not refuse."

"I do not know what the Daoist wishes to know?"

Princess Hongyu dared not move, and even spoke in a lowered voice, fearing she would wake Lan Shi, as if as long as this little girl did not wake, she could escape disaster.

Chen Ye got straight to the point: "I want to know everything. Who exactly are you? Why does a princess of the palace have any connection with cultivators? Was the forced conscription of boys and girls in Cui Xian truly your order, and for whom were so many children collected?"

Princess Hongyu did not answer, but instead asked back with a look of determination: "I can tell you everything, but you tell me first: what did you do to Little Stone? She could not have betrayed me; how did you know she was my person?"

Chen Ye did not expect the Princess to care about this, so he explained: "Rest assured, I did not do anything to this little girl. I was just guessing blindly. Princess Hongyu, Lan Shi the little thief... I originally guessed this little girl was the Princess in disguise, but now it seems I thought too much; it is ultimately not that cliché story. A body of gold would not expose herself so casually."

Princess Hongyu did not expect that to be the reason.

However, when she first named Lan Shi, she indeed had such a thought; she hoped Lan Shi would live a life completely different from her own, so since she herself was Hongyu, she named her Lan Shi.

Perhaps this was karma.

Seeing the look of resignation on Princess Hongyu's face, Chen Ye could not help but smile.

The so-called association by name was just something he made up on the spot; there are so many names in the world, relying solely on this to connect a thief with a princess was truly far-fetched.

In fact, Chen Ye had done something to Lan Shi.

The resentful souls inside the Ten Thousand Souls Banner could not leave too far, nor could they possess Lan Shi, but the yin spirits could leave enough yin qi on her.

A cultivator at the Spirit Awakening Realm could see the flow of spiritual energy; Chen Ye could find Princess Hongyu by tracking the traces of this residual yin qi, which was also the reason Chen Ye had so readily let her go at that time.

Cultivators have too many ways to bully mortals; no matter how smart this little girl was, it was useless.

Of course, there was no need to tell the Princess about this method; perhaps it could be used again next time.

Chen Ye reminded her: "Princess, dawn is approaching. Since I have enlightened you, you should answer my questions now."

"Indeed, the forced conscription of boys and girls in Cui Xian was indeed my order. I forged documents from the imperial court, demanding Cui Xian collect three thousand boys and girls. Because someone intended to use these three thousand boys and girls for a sacrifice to set up the Infant Soul Soul-Washing Array."

"The Infant Soul Soul-Washing Array?"

There are thousands upon thousands of arrays in this world; even the Ten Thousand Souls Banner has countless versions, so it was not strange that Chen Ye had never heard of this array.

It was just that the methods of the Demonic Path were mostly cruel and bloody sacrifices; it was likely not a single one of these three thousand boys and girls would survive.

Princess Hongyu seemed to have accepted her fate and confessed: "I took Elder Tian Wu the Elder as my master. He cultivates a Demonic Wu Gong and needs three thousand boys and girls as sacrifices. I happened to have Cui Xian as my fief, so I ordered the collection of boys and girls for him..."

Hearing this, Chen Ye interrupted: "Princess, there is no need for this. I arrived earlier and heard your conversation with Miss Lan Shi. The Qinghe Sword Sect was deliberately lured by you; you were not willing to serve that demon. Since things have come to this, you might as well be more frank; perhaps there is still a chance."

Hearing Chen Ye say this, Princess Hongyu showed no sign of happiness, only sneering coldly: "Why do you speak as if you are going to save me? Are you not a demon too? People of the Demonic Path are selfish; the lives of boys and girls, my life, what does it have to do with you? You speak such soft words because you want to know the secrets of this array, right? Demons are all like this: greedy, selfish, cruel... You might as well just kill me and search my soul."

Chen Ye felt slightly embarrassed; the identity of a Demonic Cultivator was real, but he truly did not look down on the Infant Soul Soul-Washing Array; these bloody and cruel methods were something he would never use even if he died.

However, how could this Princess fail to see the situation at this moment?

Life and death were in another's hands; provoking them was not the act of a wise person.

Chen Ye seemed to sense something, chanted a spell, and traced his fingers across his eyes; his pupils turned golden.

Looking again at Princess Hongyu, he indeed saw countless traces of spiritual energy on her body, forming the appearance of various runes.

Chen Ye sighed: "The runes are somewhat different, but largely the same. Princess, it turns out you are also a Cursed Soul Child. If I kill you, I am afraid Elder Tian Wu the Elder will sense it. You want me and that demon to destroy each other, right? Wait, that's not right... Miss Lan is also a Cursed Soul Child!"

As soon as Chen Ye finished speaking, Princess Hongyu threw a hidden weapon at him.

With a soft 'Bang', the thing Princess Hongyu threw turned out to be a powder packet that exploded automatically.

Smoke filled the air, and the entire room instantly became pitch black.

Princess Hongyu was prepared; she grabbed Lan Shi and threw her out the door. The Princess had practiced Wu Gong, and Lan Shi's figure was petite, so she was easily grabbed in her hand.

But just as she was about to exert force, Princess Hongyu felt something touch her shoulder.

In the next moment, Princess Hongyu's whole body stiffened; she could not even move her fingers.

"Princess, how..."

When Lan Shi woke up, the dust had settled in the room.

The little girl only saw Chen Ye sitting by the bed, while Princess Hongyu lay stiffly on the bed.

Lan Shi wanted to save her without thinking, but unfortunately, she soon followed in Princess Hongyu's footsteps; with a light touch from Chen Ye, her whole body stiffened.

Chen Ye brushed the dust off his clothes; this thing seemed to have some toxicity, but fortunately, it did not affect cultivators much.

After listening at the wall for half the night, Chen Ye was not idle; he had spent a lot of effort practicing spells and finally managed to draw the Immobilization Spell on the palms of both hands, just enough for one each.

Looking at the two little girls with faces full of panic, Chen Ye spoke again: "Princess, just now you made such a big scene just to save Miss Lan Shi? You are the one of noble birth, yet you were willing to sacrifice yourself. It seems you truly have a grievance. I know you do not trust me, but since you are not afraid of death, why not take a chance and trust me once?"

As Chen Ye spoke, he released the Immobilization Spell on both of them.

The little girl immediately protected Princess Hongyu behind her, and a small knife had appeared in her hand at some point.

These two, one sacrificing herself to send Lan Shi away, and the other protecting her master with loyalty the moment she was free, truly made Chen Ye feel a bit of admiration.

Chen Ye could only say to Lan Shi: "Miss Lan, you should know that if I wanted to kill someone, I would not need to be so troublesome. If you want the Princess to live, then persuade her; I truly want to save people. Not just those three thousand innocent children, but also you two, master and servant."

Although Lan Shi was still unclear about what had happened, hearing Chen Ye say this, she actually believed him a little.

Having witnessed Chen Ye's mysterious methods of subduing a large group of martial artists in an instant, Lan Shi knew she was no match for him.

If there was truly a sliver of a chance for survival, it was better to try following his words.

Lan Shi put down the dagger and leaned close to Princess Hongyu's ear: "Princess, how about we try? Anyway, we cannot resist."

Princess Hongyu sighed; mortals could not resist cultivators in the end. If this person truly had any malice, they would be powerless to resist; since that was the case, it was better to take a gamble.

Princess Hongyu straightened her clothes and said to Chen Ye: "The Daoist is magnanimous and does not hold my previous offense against me; I will not hide anything. However, what exactly do you wish to know?"

Chen Ye also breathed a sigh of relief; finally, she was willing to speak, so he asked: "Princess, in fact, you and this Miss Lan are not master and servant, but blood sisters, are you not?"

Lan Shi's eyes widened in surprise, but Princess Hongyu seemed to have known all along. With a sorrowful tone, she said, "Indeed, Lan Shi is my younger sister, the youngest of all my younger siblings, and the only one among all my brothers and sisters who survived. That old demon prepared many vessels for soul usurpation. Since I can remember, he has brought one or two younger sisters, or younger brothers, almost every year.

"I know they are all my blood relatives; I can feel their bloodline connected to mine. That old demon did not hide it from me either; instead, he forced me to personally draw runes on them, turning them into puppets just like me. However, not every one could withstand this ritual. Over so many years, only Lan Shi has survived.

"The others... all died by my hand. I killed them with my own hands."

Princess Hongyu seemed to recall that tragic past. Her body trembled continuously, her nails digging deep into her palms, and blood stained her robes red.

Chen Ye could not help but sigh. The methods of the Demon Sect were truly cruel, forcing a girl in her teens to kill her own brothers and sisters; it was truly inhumane.

Chen Ye asked, "So, you deliberately lured the Qinghe Sword Sect, hoping that righteous cultivators could save you from this sea of bitterness. Conscripting young boys and girls was just to make a big fuss, correct?"

Princess Hongyu nodded, saying helplessly, "Indeed so. Unfortunately, only the Daoist was lured. I think you are actually not a cultivator of the Qinghe Sword Sect either, but merely pretending to be righteous, correct?"

"You guessed correctly; I am indeed not a righteous cultivator."

Chen Ye's words left Princess Hongyu deeply despairing, her last hope shattered. In a few more days, the old man Tian Wu would emerge from seclusion. At that time, he would either forcibly seize young boys and girls or immediately attempt soul usurpation.

Whichever it was, the sisters would ultimately not escape death.

Chen Ye did not have the malicious taste to appreciate the girl's despairing expression. He said to Princess Hongyu, "However, I do know cultivators of the Qinghe Sword Sect. They hate evil as they hate their enemies and can certainly save you from this sea of bitterness."

Princess Hongyu looked at Chen Ye in disbelief and asked excitedly, "Truly?"

"Naturally it is true; I have no need to lie to you. However, she will not return for a few more days. Before that, please tell me all the information you have about that demon so I can prepare. What is his current cultivation realm?"

Princess Hongyu, unable to care about questioning the truth or falsehood, hurriedly said, "I know little about cultivation, but I heard him say that he has long been in the Profound Mystery realm. This time, he hopes his soul and spirit will transform and break through to the Soul Transformation realm."

Chen Ye smiled, "Still only Profound Mystery? Then it is simple."

Su Chunyi is also in the Profound Mystery realm, but the Qinghe Sword Sect is number one under heaven.