Chapter 120: Interrogating the Villain at the Wuji Hall

By the time Shangqing Zhenren arrived, Lingxiang was already standing on the Hunyuan Platform, which truly surprised him greatly.

Lingxiang never concerned herself with sect affairs on ordinary days; even if something came up, someone had to be sent to invite her, and if it were urgent, Zhaoming Shidi would have to use a transformation technique. Why was she so proactive today?

"If Shixiong looks at me like that, does he think I usually neglect the sect?" Lingxiang said, holding the Fire Spirit Bead; it was truly quite cold in the middle of the night.

Shangqing Zhenren smiled upon hearing this and was just about to say something when he saw a group of Elders filing in from outside the hall.

Zhaoming Zhenren began shouting as soon as he entered the hall.

"Zhangmen Shixiong! I heard that the villain who committed the crimes has been caught? Which ungrateful wretch is it?"

As an Elder of the sect, speaking this way was truly somewhat inappropriate; Chengxin Zhenren hurriedly tugged at him, urging him to be mindful of his status. Zhaoming Zhenren snorted and then went up to the Hunyuan Platform with the other Elders.

Seeing that everyone had taken their places, Shangqing Zhenren ordered for the prisoner to be brought up.

When Huiwu was brought into the hall, the Elders were truly startled—the face that was once delicate and pretty was now hideous and ferocious. His face was covered in scratch marks and bloodstains, and his eyes were filled with malevolence.

Lingxiang tossed a medicine bottle down from the platform and ordered Guanxu to apply it for him. Guanxu grabbed it and was just about to apply the medicine when he heard Huiwu say hatefully: "Stop putting on a compassionate act; I won't fall for your tricks."

The Elders all gasped upon hearing this; that person who was originally silent and mute, how had he become like this now?

Zhaoming Zhenren had a fiery temper; hearing him speak like this, he immediately began to shout and scold:

"You filthy, foolish thing! Fucang Elder had good intentions, and not only do you not appreciate it, but you also utter such rebellious words; this is truly outrageous!"

Zhaoming Zhenren had intended to teach Huiwu a lesson, but Lingxiang spoke up to stop him at this moment.

"Fifth Shixiong, do not get angry with him; he is not worth it." She then instructed Guanxu: "This medicine is a powder; it is extremely effective for external wounds. You can just blow it onto his face; there is no need to smear it."

Guanxu followed her instructions, poured a handful into his hand, and then blew it onto Huiwu's face. Huiwu wanted to dodge, but he was under the influence of the Hanwu Buling Technique and could not move even a fraction, so not much of the medicinal powder was wasted.

It was just that he truly did not want to receive Lingxiang's favor, and he actually rolled onto the ground himself. Seeing this, Hanwu hurriedly pinched a hand seal, and Huiwu immediately knelt in the hall, unable to move.

"Hmph! What a look of benevolence, but in reality, you are full of malice! You actually set a trap for me! How utterly shameless!" Seeing that he was tightly bound by the witchcraft and unable to escape, Huiwu opened his mouth and began to curse.

Lingxiang, however, did not care at all; she walked down from the Hunyuan Platform and stared at Huiwu without moving. Huiwu felt a sudden sense of insecurity, yet he continued to curse.

"Go ahead and curse. I can wait even if you curse until dawn. If you still have the strength when dawn comes, then I will wait until dark to see how long you can curse," Lingxiang said, looking down at Huiwu from above.

Hearing this, Huiwu shut his mouth and only glared back at Lingxiang viciously.

"What? You're not cursing anymore? I was just about to grab a handful of pine nuts to snack on!" Lingxiang glanced at Huiwu and said: "Daring to collude with the Demon Race, I thought you were some formidable character, but you only amount to this much."

Huiwu snorted upon hearing this and cursed her for being despicable.

"I am despicable? And you are noble? Noble enough to use underhanded tricks behind people's backs?" As she said this, she slapped Huiwu across the face.

The Elders were stunned at the sight, but then they heard Lingxiang rebuke: "Yuanhui was only ten years old, yet you killed him so cruelly. And what about Awei? You were fellow disciples for several months, and you even cultivated together; how could you be so ruthless?!"

As she spoke, she backhanded Huiwu with another slap.

Fuyin Zhenren saw this and hurriedly went down from the Hunyuan Platform to pull Lingxiang back; he knew that Lingxiang must be furious this time, but they still needed to interrogate him after all.

At this moment, Huiwu actually began to laugh, his voice sounding like a fierce ghost, eerie to the extreme.

"Why couldn't I be ruthless? It's just that I told them there was no hope of promotion in this life, but I didn't expect them to be so content with the status quo. And that Yuanhui, he even said he would follow Shizun's arrangements! Hahahaha! A fine 'Shizun's arrangements'—is that what you call giving someone the title of a gate-keeping boy for many years? A bunch of cowards!"

Zhaoming Zhenren was so angry that he wanted to walk down from the Hunyuan Platform, but thanks to Chengxin Zhenren pulling him aside, he didn't manage to go down, though he still couldn't help but curse:

"You ignorant degenerate!"

Huiwu laughed again upon hearing this, the laughter sounding as hoarse and sinister as grinding stones.

"I am ignorant? Even if I am ignorant, I am still better than those fools you chose! In what way are they better than me? You even took them as your own disciples—isn't it just because they come from prominent backgrounds? One by one, you act all righteous, talking about self-cultivation, yet you've raised a bunch of sycophants!"

So it was because he had not been promoted to the inner sect that he had developed a heart demon.

Lingxiang looked back at Fuyin Zhenren and then at Shangqing Zhenren; the latter nodded at her.

"You say prominent backgrounds? You must mean Zhao Wuyang; his father is the City Lord of Guyang, which is indeed a prominent status. And that Boluohui is the son of a tribal leader, which can also be considered noble. Even Yinqiao, who comes from an Exorcist Family, has a sister who is a noble consort in the palace."

"You are unwilling to be mediocre; I saw that the first moment I laid eyes on you. You were born with a stubborn face and strive to be at the forefront of cultivation, but have you ever thought about what you are lacking? Could it be that everyone who is promoted to the inner sect comes from high-ranking, prominent families? Take Banxia, for example; she comes from a remote and impoverished place. How was she able to be taken in by the Scripture Managing Elder?"

"Pah!" Huiwu suddenly spat, "Stop with your glib tongue in front of me. I saw it clearly; that Banxia entered the sect through the back door from the very beginning, opened by that old man Donghui. And you dare mention her in front of me? If you want to kill me or slice me up, stop the chatter!"

"Since that is the case, I will only ask one thing: during the previous martial arts demonstration, I saw you use the Cloud Treading Step and the Fushui Sword Technique. These two Yuanqing Sect techniques require Qi Refining to practice. As a newly entered disciple, why were you able to use them?"

Hearing this, Huiwu lowered his head and said in a low voice: "You want to know? Come closer and I will tell you."

Lingxiang was about to walk closer, but Fuyin Zhenren held her back.

"If you want to speak, then speak; if not, it doesn't matter. In any case, your cultivation is going to be crippled, so it doesn't matter how you learned them!"

Lingxiang signaled back that it was fine. Fuyin Zhenren hesitated for a long time before finally letting her go.

"Speak!" Lingxiang said as she walked up to Huiwu.

"Squat down, and I will tell you quietly."

Lingxiang squatted down as instructed. Huiwu immediately lunged forward, thinking he could knock Lingxiang down and take a bite, but he didn't expect Lingxiang to flick her finger and send him flying.

"You want to use a cliché trick from a mortal storybook to ambush me?" Lingxiang sneered, then turned and returned to the Hunyuan Platform with Fuyin Zhenren.

"Fellow Shixiong, I have finished my questioning. I have overstepped my bounds this time, and I will certainly reflect on my actions behind closed doors in the future. It is just that this person's heart is filled with darkness that is hard to remove, and he has committed such heinous acts; he truly cannot be forgiven!"

Qianyuan Zhenren was quite surprised to hear this. Lingxiang had been the one interrogating this villain for half the night, while they old fellows had been like mere accompaniments, and he hadn't expected Lingxiang to care about them. Shangqing Zhenren had only exchanged a brief glance with Lingxiang earlier and had kept his eyes closed ever since, not asking about anything. As for Donghui Zhenren, he hadn't said a single word from beginning to end.

"Ahem..." Qianyuan Zhenren cleared his throat to cover the awkwardness in the hall, "Since he was caught red-handed and is so unrepentant, let his cultivation be crippled and lock him away at Siguo Cliff!"