Chapter 429: Soul-Search Technique, Have You Heard of It?

Tang Bin's spirit lifted; he immediately waved his hand, and his subordinates, the guards, sprang into action without hesitation.

One group secured the scene, searching the secret passage and any other people who might be hiding, while the other firmly bound Yu Chengbang—his face ashen and utterly devoid of resistance—along with the two assassins.

Yu Chengbang didn't snap out of it until the cold, heavy shackles locked around his wrists, a sudden jolt shocking him awake.

He looked at Chen Mu, then at Tang Bin, a bitter, desolate smile spreading across his face.

"Hahaha... so... so that's how it is... what investigation, what list... it was all a trap!"

"All of it was just to force me... force me to come here!"

"What a fine scheme... truly a fine scheme indeed!"

He understood now that from the very beginning, he had fallen into their calculations.

The rumors, Tang Bin's late-night summons, the so-called list and the transfer of authority...

Everything had been designed to throw him into a panic, to force him to contact the Demonic Cult on his own initiative, thereby exposing this hidden contact point and catching them red-handed!

Chen Mu paid no heed to his frenzy. He instructed Tang Bin, "This place is not suitable for a prolonged stay. Clean it up quickly and secretly escort all the prisoners and evidence back to the Zhenwu Division. Keep them under strict guard."

"During the interrogation, mind your methods. Pry their mouths open and extract information on the Changsheng Cult's other strongholds, personnel, and next steps within the Shannan Circuit."

"Especially the whereabouts of that 'Boss Jia.'"

"Understood, sir!" Tang Bin replied solemnly, his heart filled with utter admiration for Chen Mu's masterful strategy.

Not only had they rooted out the traitor, but by following the thread, they had also destroyed a secret Demonic Cult contact point and captured them alive!

……

Naturally, Chen Mu did not need to personally handle the interrogation of the prisoners.

Yet barely a day had passed before Tang Bin sent a message to Chen Mu through the linked bamboo slips.

【Reporting to Lord Chen: the prisoner Yu and the two Demonic Cult captives have been interrogated repeatedly. The two minor henchmen know very little. Only the middle-aged man, named 'Li Gu,' remains stubbornly tight-lipped; despite employing numerous methods, he still refuses to speak. The intelligence he possesses is of vital importance, but your subordinate is at a loss and fears compromising the greater matter. I therefore make this special report.】

At the end of the message, the specific location and entry method of the Zhenwu Division's secret dungeon in Wulong Prefecture were attached.

"Li Gu? Stubbornly tight-lipped?"

A glint of coldness flashed in Chen Mu's eyes.

He decisively made his way to the entrance of the secret dungeon, located deep beneath the Zhenwu Division's government offices and guarded with strict security.

By virtue of his Inspector's token and Tang Bin's prior arrangements, he passed through several checkpoints and arrived at the lowest level of the dungeon, before an isolated stone chamber that had been specially cleared out to hold only important prisoners.

Tang Bin had long been waiting there. Upon seeing Chen Mu, he hurriedly stepped forward to salute, a look of guilt on his face.

"My lord, your subordinate is incompetent—I failed to pry open that Li Gu's mouth, and I've had to trouble you to come in person..."

Chen Mu waved his hand, cutting off his apology, and cast his gaze into the stone chamber.

The walls of the stone chamber were built of thick black steel rock, inscribed with formations that suppressed true qi and the spirit.

The light inside was dim, with only a few storm lanterns casting a sallow, hazy glow.

Three specially crafted, fine-steel iron cages stood side by side.

In the left cage was Yu Chengbang—listless, his eyes unfocused, his body bearing numerous marks of interrogation. Upon seeing Chen Mu, a flash of complicated, unfathomable fear and venomous hatred passed through his eyes before he lowered his head again.

The middle and right cages held the hunched old man and the middle-aged man named "Li Gu," respectively.

The hunched old man's breathing was faint and weak; he seemed unable to hold on much longer.

As for Li Gu, although his clothes were tattered and his body bore many wounds, his eyes remained sharp as blades, carrying a kind of almost fanatical obsession and cold indifference. He swept a cold gaze over the people at the doorway, lingering on Chen Mu for a moment, the corner of his mouth curling into a mocking arc.

"Don't waste your effort. I won't say a thing."

Li Gu's voice was hoarse and dry, like sandpaper scraping against a surface.

"Stubbornly incorrigible!"

Tang Bin's face darkened as he roared angrily, "My lord, this beast..."

Chen Mu raised his hand, signaling Tang Bin and the others to step out first.

Though Tang Bin was puzzled, since Chen Mu had spoken, he had no choice but to comply. He led the other guards away swiftly.

Chen Mu activated his "Listening to the Wind" skill, confirming that Tang Bin and the others had gone far away.

He stepped into the stone chamber, walked straight to the iron cage holding Li Gu, and regarded him calmly.

"Soul-Searching Art. Have you heard of it?"

Chen Mu's voice was not loud, yet it reached the middle-aged man's ears with perfect clarity.

Li Gu's pupils contracted sharply!

The mockery on his face instantly froze, replaced by an expression of incredulous, absolute terror!

Soul-Searching Art!

A forbidden art that forcibly reads the memories of others.

This method was vicious beyond compare. Those subjected to it would, at the very least, suffer damage to their soul and confusion of memories; at worst, they would be reduced to complete idiots!

Moreover, it placed extremely high demands on the caster, requiring an immensely powerful divine sense and exquisite control over spiritual force. Typically, only a Tiangong realm expert would dare attempt to perform it.

This young man before him...

How could he possibly...?!

"You... you're trying to scare me?"

Li Gu bellowed, fierce in appearance but cowardly at heart, yet a faint tremor in his voice betrayed the panic within.

He refused to believe—absolutely refused to believe—that someone who looked so young and whose aura did not seem to have reached the Tiangong realm could perform the Soul-Searching Art!

Chen Mu said nothing more.

He slowly raised his right hand, fingers spread wide, aiming it at Li Gu in the iron cage.

There was no earth-shattering momentum, no dazzling brilliance.

There was only an invisible, formless, yet strangely soul-stirring ripple that spread outward, centered on Chen Mu's palm!

This ripple was cold, profound, an authority that struck at the very essence of the soul!

Li Gu's face instantly lost all color.

He felt his consciousness seized by an invisible hand, forcibly dragged toward a cold, dark abyss!

He wanted to struggle, to roar, to sever his own heart meridian—but all his acupoints were locked, even the strength to bite his tongue was crushed under the invisible spiritual pressure!

"No… no… ahh—!!!"

A piercing scream, inhuman in its agony, erupted from Li Gu's throat.

His eyeballs bulged out, crisscrossed with blood vessels; his whole body convulsed violently, like a fish out of water, slamming wildly against the iron cage bars with loud "clang clang" crashes.

But all of it was useless.

Chen Mu's gaze was icy; his spiritual sense sliced like the most precise surgical blade, surged like a furious flood, forcibly breaching Li Gu's fragile spiritual defenses and invading the depths of his mind sea!

In an instant, countless chaotic, twisted fragments of memory—drenched in blood, cruelty, devotion, and terror—flooded into Chen Mu's perception like a ruptured dam.

Memories of Li Gu's impoverished childhood…

His being noticed by the Long Life Sect and taken into the cult…

The pain and distortion of practicing various sinister cultivation arts…

Scenes of him carrying out missions, swallowing human pills, and casting dark sorcery…

Encounters with his superiors, receiving orders…

Details about Wu Long Prefecture, Yu Cheng Gang, and the "Boss Jia"…

And also…

A blurred map pointing to a treacherous valley three hundred and fifty li northwest of Wu Long Prefecture, named "Poisonous Dragon Gorge."

Beside the map were scattered annotations: "Secret Branch Bing-7," "A Venerable One stationed here."

Deeper still, fragments of information on the Long Life Sect's higher echelons and contacts with other Mo Sects—but extremely vague and chaotic…

Chen Mu swiftly filtered and extracted useful information, especially regarding the "Poisonous Dragon Gorge" outpost.

At the same time, he "saw" scattered impressions from Li Gu's memories of the Venerable One stationed there.

His aura was cold as the abyss, perpetually shrouded in emerald-green toxic mist, rarely seen—but every appearance sent shivers through the soul.