Chapter 179: Interrogation

Pan Yun's lightning strike was immensely powerful; even after Lou Tong treated him, the evil sect youth did not awaken until late afternoon.

The moment he opened his eyes, he met Pan Yun's glittering gaze.

Pan Yun sighed, "Evil sect, you really know how to sleep—I went to bed later than you, yet woke up earlier."

Zhang Zi pulled Pan Yun aside, frowned at the dazed youth, and held up one finger: "How many is this?"

The youth slowly came to, staring at Pan Yun's face; memories from before his fainting slowly returned, and his eyes gradually filled with hatred.

Zhang Zi withdrew his finger and turned back: "He's not mad."

Lin Jingle stepped forward, glanced at his face, and nodded: "I'll interrogate him. All of you, leave."

Pan Yun eagerly said, "Master Lin, let me join you."

Zhang Zi shot her a glare: "Pan Yun, you should be in class."

Pan Yun said solemnly, "This concerns me—I must know the details."

Zhang Zi: "How is this any of your business?"

"I found him, I struck him, I captured him—we're locked in a mortal feud. Of course I need to know if he has accomplices, family, friends, whether anyone will seek revenge on me. Isn't that a major concern?"

Zhang Zi fell silent.

Lin Jingle said, "Go back to class first. Interrogation will take time. You may participate in this case—the case files will be open to you."

Pan Yun finally smiled, bowed, and said, "Then I leave it all in your hands, Master Lin."

She hated digging into such matters—doing grunt work. She preferred to reap rewards without effort, as long as she got the outcome she wanted.

Pan Yun happily went to class, leaving Chen Ziwu trembling in place, his mouth opening several times to speak, yet unable to utter a word under Lin Jingle's piercing stare.

He had been interrogated since early morning, speaking for two full hours, and had been terrified last night—he was truly exhausted, desperately wanting to sleep~~

Not just Chen Ziwu, the five other youths—He Jie and the rest—were also brought in for questioning, probed in exhaustive detail from the moment they descended the mountain, questioned back and forth.

Only then did he proceed to interrogate the evil sect youth.

But the evil sect youth was arrogant; he had suddenly fallen from the sky and hadn't adjusted his mindset at all.

He was brazenly unafraid.

Then, after Pan Yun finished class and came to see him in the evening, he looked entirely different—more wretched, more covered in wounds.

Miao Zhen and Miao He, who accompanied her, saw him for the first time. They felt nothing special, only curious: "Little Master, is this the one who captured He Jie and Chen Ziwu? He doesn't look very powerful."

Pan Yun fell silent.

The evil sect youth's gaze had grown dull, yet his face still bore defiance; he looked at Pan Yun, and deep in his eyes flickered a trace of hatred and murderous intent.

Pan Yun sighed and asked Lin Jingle: "Master Lin, what's his name?"

Lin Jingle: "Mo Rushi, a wandering Daoist from Lingnan."

Pan Yun: "He doesn't look like a wandering Daoist."

Lin Jingle: "Not all wandering Daoists are poor. He's one of the ones who aren't."

Chen Ziwu, who had just woken from sleep, murmured: "He even drains people's spiritual energy and uses humans to raise insects—how could he be poor? Only honest Daoists like me, who labor hard to earn money, stay poor."

Pan Yun: "How does he usually make money?"

"There are many ways—he smuggles life-transfers, locates tombs for grave-robbing, and if he's ruthless, he wipes out entire families to seize Qian Cai. And…" Chen Ziwu grew excited, then caught Lin Jingle's icy gaze and fell silent, forcing a laugh: "Of course, those who commit too many evils inevitably perish. Such acts bring only fleeting wealth; one day, they'll be investigated. Even if no one comes for him, the Dao itself will settle accounts."

"Evil cannot overcome righteousness—look, he's been caught now."

Lin Jingle nodded slightly and handed her several sheets of paper before Mo Rushi's face: "He's confessed to some things. Here's his testimony."

Pan Yun quickly took them, skimmed through at a glance, and finished reading: "That's all?"

Lin Jingle: "More will come. He can't escape—he'll slowly spill everything."

He met Mo Rushi's mocking gaze and said coldly: "If our Academy can't extract it, handing him to the Celestial Master's Mansion will make him wish he were dead."

Mo Rushi fell silent for a long while, then asked: "What do you want to know?"

Pan Yun: "I have few questions—only three."

"First: Who is your master?"

Mo Rushi: "I have no master."

Pan Yun sneered.

Lin Jingle: "If you have no master, where did you get these skills?"

Mo Rushi: "I happened upon a scripture and taught myself."

Lin Jingle sneered: "We're both cultivators. This lie barely fools outsiders. How could you possibly develop such skills just from a scripture?"

Mo Rushi fell silent, still refusing to reveal his master: "Why must you know my master? I was expelled for raising insects—I have no face to mention my master."

"Many disciples who betray their sects exist in the Jianghu. No one hunts down their masters just because an expelled disciple commits crimes," Pan Yun said. "So don't worry—I'm asking only to prepare myself. If I ever meet your sect on the road, I'll keep my distance, so they won't be heartbroken."

Mo Rushi: "Heartbroken?"

"Of course. Even though you were expelled, you still trained together—you share bonds. Even if you erred, there's still sentiment. Meanwhile, I'm clever, kind-hearted, and will win many people's favor as I travel the Jianghu. If I avoid them, we might accidentally become friends. When they later learn you fell into my hands, won't they be saddened?"

"Since I'm kind-hearted, their sorrow will trouble me. My cultivation base will suffer. So to protect my Dao heart, I must stay far from your sect—never become friends. They can openly hate me, and I can openly dislike them."

Mo Rushi: …

After a long silence, he said: "My master is a tribal chieftain in Guangxi. His disciples rarely leave Lingnan. You won't encounter them."

Pan Yun sneered and shook her head: "You're dishonest, Master Lin. Let's send him to the Celestial Master's Mansion. He can't even answer the first question properly—I don't even want to ask the second."

Lin Jingle paused, then nodded.

Mo Rushi's chest heaved; after a long while, he closed his eyes, then opened them again: "Why won't you believe me?"

Pan Yun: "Did your tribal chieftain teach you to swap lives? Did your tribal chieftain expel you for raising insects?"

This clearly is a Central Plains Daoist technique.

"Your skills—except for the insects—are likely orthodox," Lin Jingle said. "The swordplay and agility you used last night—your origins are clearly the orthodox Lingnan Zhengyi Sect."

Mo Rushi fell silent again, then said: "My master is Chengyuan Daoist of Physician Temple in Chengdu." That was the beginning.

Pan Yun, as expected, asked only about his master and moved on: "Second question: Where did you get the spirit-draining worms?"

This time, Mo Rushi didn't hide: "I found cocoons in an ancient tomb and raised them using the secret method recorded in the scripture."

Pan Yun: "Third question: What's special about Chen Ziwu?"

Mo Rushi: "He has spiritual energy. People with spiritual energy outside are extremely rare. Finding one is hard."

Pan Yun: "Hard enough to risk your life chasing him all the way to Long Hushan? Long Hushan has no shortage of Daoists—weren't you afraid you'd get trapped here?"

Mo Rushi: "I was confident you couldn't catch me."

Pan Yun: "Where are you now?"

Mo Rushi paused, then said: "If not for your interference, I could've escaped. I planned everything—Chen Ziwu has no acquaintances here; capturing him wouldn't draw attention."

"Near dusk, capturing a low-level disciple—I only needed three hours to complete the spiritual energy transfer, feed his flesh to breed a new batch of spirit-draining worms. Three hours: based on my estimate of a boy his age, even if his companions noticed his disappearance, they'd first search nearby."

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"My corpse hands delivered the fertilizer back, then lured them into the dense forest, holding them off for at least a night—maybe even turning them all into fertilizer. By the time Long Hushan realized a disciple was missing, it would be the next day."

"By then, I'd have descended the river and left Long Hushan. No one could catch me." Mo Rushi looked at her: "I didn't expect your cultivation to be higher than it appeared."

A cruel glint flashed in his eyes, half-smiling: "You're so young, yet have such cultivation—didn't you use evil methods?"

Pan Yun: "You're narrow-minded. You assume everyone's as talentless as you, forced to rely on dark arts to advance. You don't know there are geniuses like me—I gain cultivation just by drinking water. Do you believe me?"

Mo Rushi: …

Lin Jingle, listening: …

Only Miao Zhen and Miao He nodded vigorously: Yes, yes, their Little Master truly is like that.

When Little Master first arrived, though she fought fiercely, her cultivation was truly weak—her face was small and pale, showing signs of deficiency.

But after only nine months on Mount Sanqing, her cultivation skyrocketed, her complexion grew ruddy, and she was clearly trending toward Miao He's vitality.

With cultivation rising so fast, wouldn't even drinking water boost it?

Mo Rushi's anger surged—he'd always considered himself a genius, yet Pan Yun now claimed he lacked talent?

"At Physician Temple, I was praised as a genius."

Pan Yun: "Clearly you know you're not one—otherwise, why resort to spirit-draining worms and feeding on human flesh?"

Pan Yun lifted her chin: "True geniuses disdain such dark arts to boost cultivation. The world is vast—spiritual energy is everywhere. Why not cultivate properly? Even if you fail, you can attain Dao through insight. Worms…"

Pan Yun showed a look of disgust: "I find them filthy even to look at—how could I let them enter my body?"

Mo Rushi spat blood—he hadn't bled under Lin Jingle's torture, but Pan Yun's words had enraged him into vomiting blood.

Pan Yun dodged the spattered blood and said to the silent Lin Jingle: "Master Lin, I have no more questions."

Lin Jingle waved her off.

Pan Yun left with Miao Zhen and Miao He.

Chen Ziwu stood watching, stunned; after a moment's thought, he chased after her.

"Pan Daoist, Pan Daoist…"

Pan Yun turned: "What do you want?"

Chen Ziwu smiled: "Pan Daoist, are you still selling the talismans you used yesterday?"

Pan Yun immediately smiled: "Of course. What kind and how many do you want?"

"How much for one Lei Fu, Sister?"

Pan Yun: "I don't differentiate by type. All talismans are twenty taels each."

In the Long Hushan territory, this price equals a talisman drawn by a First Rank cultivator.

Chen Ziwu felt his money pouch ache, but to maintain good relations, he gritted his teeth: "Then… give me five Lei Fu."

"Sister, I'm not in a hurry—I can come to your courtyard…" Seeing the Lei Fu she handed him, Chen Ziwu grinned: "Sister, you have so many Lei Fu?"

Pan Yun blinked: "When traveling, one must be cautious—I prepared extra."

Chen Ziwu took it and pulled out his own money pouch from his sleeve, producing a hundred-tael silver note which he reluctantly handed over.

Pan Yun reached out and tugged twice but couldn't pull it away; she frowned. "To be honest, in all my life, I've rarely seen a hundred-tael silver note. If you can produce one, you must be well-off."

Chen Ziwu: "This hundred-tael note, I've kept it for two years."

Pan Yun: "Then… why not piece together smaller bills? I don't mind if the hundred taels are in change."

Only then did Chen Ziwu push the note toward her and turned his face away. "No need. Take it, sister."

Pan Yun knew he didn't have enough loose cash to make up a hundred taels.

Pan Yun tucked the money away, her expression puzzled. Could a genuine Daoist priest really be this poor?

Pan Yun wanted to learn more about the outside world, so she invited Chen Ziwu to visit Fengqi Courtyard.

Though the method was different, the goal was achieved: Chen Ziwu had indeed drawn closer to Pan Yun and successfully accepted her invitation to Fengqi Courtyard.

Chen Ziwu said: "A genuine Daoist priest is this poor. I'm actually better off—I have connections in the Jianghu, can help people brew medicine or escort caravans. But if you rely solely on fortune-telling and divination for income, you barely scrape by—can't even afford cultivation resources."

"Most Daoists have families to support. Oh, I have brothers; my parents don't depend on me, and I have no plans to marry or have children, so I'm the type who eats his fill and the whole family is free of worry—no family burdens."

Pan Yun thought of Mount Sanqing and Datong, then sighed: "I can't. I have elders above me and young ones below—I'm under heavy pressure."

Most of her cultivation resources now come from her senior and junior brothers and sisters. When she grows stronger and goes out on trials herself, she'll surely have to support them too—so she has two families to support.

Chen Ziwu: "Sister, you needn't worry. The medicines of Mount Sanqing are famous far and wide—not just Daoists need them, but the Jianghu does too. Master the art of alchemy, and you'll never lack food or drink."

Unlike me—good at everything, skilled at nothing—so I can only earn small sums.

Today marks the end of the daily ten-thousand. Starting tomorrow, I'll travel with my family, so from tomorrow I'll post six thousand per day, two chapters, and resume extra updates when I return next week. Love you all.

(End of chapter)