Chapter 810: Interrogation
Chapter 810: Interrogation
On the journey back to Yanshui City from Yunshui City, the group chose not to travel by carriage.
Mo Hua walked with his hands behind his back, his fingers subtly pinching as if in deep contemplation, yet he instinctively led the way as if guided by some unseen force.
Gu Changhuai and the other two followed silently behind.
Gu Quan couldn't help but whisper, "Uncle Di, how is Little Mo able to find the way?"
He was completely baffled.
Gu Changhuai frowned slightly, "Just follow him..."
"Yes," Gu Quan dared not say more.
Gu Changhuai sighed inwardly as he glanced at Mo Hua, who was walking ahead of them with an air of nonchalance, resembling a "little swindler."
Although he had never fully understood Mo Hua, he now felt even more perplexed by the young man's enigmatic abilities.
Mo Hua walked with confidence, occasionally pausing to survey their surroundings, using his spiritual sense to scrutinize and unravel the intricacies of cause and effect. After some time, he suddenly stopped and pointed to a small grove by the roadside. "This place..."
It was here that the thread of cause and effect had been severed, or perhaps obscured by something that disrupted the natural order.
This grove seemed to be the source of the anomaly.
Gu Changhuai nodded, "Let's take a look. You stay behind and be cautious."
"Mhm." Mo Hua agreed.
He was well aware of his limitations in such situations.
With Uncle Gu around, he could afford to be lazy and let others take the lead.
Gu Changhuai walked ahead toward the grove, with Mo Hua trailing close behind, using Gu Changhuai as a human shield of sorts. Gu An and Gu Quan flanked Mo Hua on either side, providing protection.
In this formation, the four of them approached the grove.
After walking for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the dense forest began to thin out, and a way station appeared in the distance.
The way station looked rather dilapidated and was located in a secluded area. Nearby, a tributary of the Yanshui River meandered slowly.
There was a stable in front of the way station, housing two horses and a plain-looking carriage.
Mo Hua and the others exchanged glances, their expressions filled with confusion.
"A way station?"
Why would there be a way station in such a remote location? And it seemed deliberately hidden among the dense forests, as if they didn't want people to know of its existence.
Gu Changhuai released his spiritual sense, scanning the area briefly before saying, "Let's go in and take a look."
"Yes," Gu An and Gu Quan nodded.
As they approached the entrance, a burly man with a bushy beard and malevolent gaze suddenly emerged and yelled at them, "What are you lot doing here?"
Gu Changhuai maintained a calm demeanor, "We're traveling and saw your way station. We'd like to hire a few horses."
The man frowned, his gaze sweeping over them, "One thousand spirit stones as a deposit. The rental is one hundred spirit stones per horse per day. If the horse dies, the deposit won't be refunded."
Gu Changhuai's eyes narrowed slightly, "That seems a bit expensive, no?"
"If you think it's too expensive, then don't rent them." The man grew impatient, "Look at you, all dressed up like young masters from prestigious families. Can't even come up with a thousand spirit stones?"
Gu Changhuai's eyebrows arched, "Very well."
The burly man held out his hand, "Hand over the spirit stones, and I'll get you the horses."
"No rush," Gu Changhuai took a breath, "We're a bit tired from the journey. We'll rest here for a bit and have some tea."
The man's expression soured, "There's no tea here, only horses. Hand over the spirit stones, then take the horses and leave."
Gu Changhuai replied nonchalantly, "You run a way station, yet you don't offer tea to your guests?"
The man hesitated for a moment, then smiled, "We can do the tea business too, but it's a thousand spirit stones per pot."
He had thought that his outrageous demand would make Gu Changhuai back down.
But to his surprise, Gu Changhuai simply nodded, "Alright."
The man was taken aback, his gaze turning hostile, "Did you hear me clearly? I said it's a thousand spirit stones per pot of tea."
Gu Changhuai's gaze turned contemptuous, "What? Do you think a mere thousand spirit stones is too much for this young master to afford?"
Hidden behind Gu Changhuai, Mo Hua couldn't help but scoff inwardly, A thousand spirit stones for a pot of tea?
No matter how abundant spirit stones are, they shouldn't be spent so frivolously.
Uncle Gu is too extravagant.
However, upon hearing this, the burly man's expression changed, and he stared at Gu Changhuai with cold eyes, "You're not here for tea, nor to hire horses. Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Gu Changhuai remained unfazed, "I'm here to invite you to have tea."
"Invite us for tea?" The man frowned.
Gu Changhuai nodded, "Yes, to have tea at the Daotingsi."
At the mention of "Daotingsi," the man's eyes turned vicious, and murderous intent surged forth.
From the grove, the stable, and the way station, several sinister hidden weapons imbued with green light shot out, aiming for Mo Hua and the others.
Gu An drew his sword, deflecting one of the hidden weapons.
Gu Quan blocked another and quickly shielded Mo Hua, his long sword slicing through the air to intercept the hidden weapon that was headed their way.
As for Gu Changhuai, he merely extended his hand.
The hidden weapon, aimed directly at his heart and coated with deadly poison, froze in mid-air before being crushed to pieces by his grip.
When the hidden weapons proved ineffective, several cultivators rushed out from their hiding places.
Most of these cultivators were at the mid-Qi Refining stage, with a few at the late-Qi Refining stage. Their eyes were cold, and their movements were skilled, indicating that they had ample experience in ambushing and robbing unsuspecting victims.
However, against Mo Hua's group, especially Gu Changhuai, a Jin Dan stage cultivator and the Chief of Daotingsi, their efforts were futile.
Gu An and Gu Quan's swords danced in perfect unison, their blades sharp and precise.
Gu Changhuai conjured wind blades, his spiritual power dazzling.
Mo Hua contributed by casting Fireball Technique, adding to the chaos.
Even though they were still in a second-rate province where Gu Changhuai couldn't utilize his Jin Dan power, it took them less than ten breaths to subdue their attackers.
The only one who managed to escape was the burly man.
When he saw Gu Changhuai effortlessly crush the hidden weapon with his bare hand, he was terrified. He knew that Gu Changhuai's cultivation was extraordinary, and even if he wasn't at the Jin Dan stage, he was likely at the peak of Qi Refining. Thus, he fled as soon as he could.
But Mo Hua didn't let him get away easily.
A Water Prison Technique materialized out of thin air, immobilizing the man for a couple of breaths.
Gu Changhuai gently snapped his fingers, and a wind blade severed one of the man's legs.
With that, all the cultivators from the way station were captured.
Gu An and Gu Quan dragged the captured cultivators into the dilapidated building and locked the doors and windows. Then, Gu An sternly questioned them, "Who are you people?"
The captured cultivators hung their heads low and remained silent.
Gu An drew his sword and pressed it against one of the cultivator's necks. In a deep voice, he asked, "Are you going to talk now?"
As the sword tip pressed against the skin, drawing blood, the cultivator gritted his teeth and still said nothing.
Mo Hua shook his head. "They're not being honest... They won't speak the truth." Then, his eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "Shall we use interrogation techniques?"
Gu An and Gu Quan were taken aback, and even Gu Changhuai's eyelids twitched slightly.
Gu An hesitated, "We didn't bring any interrogation tools from the Daotingsi, and we left in a hurry, so..."
"No problem!" Mo Hua excitedly interrupted. "I brought some!"
Mo Hua took out a formation torture board from his storage bag and proudly explained, "This is the latest model, with numerous improvements, and I've added quite a few formations to it myself..."
It was an eighteen-formation array!
Previously, Mo Hua had learned the eighteen formations but hadn't had a chance to use them, so he had impulsively drawn them on the torture board.
However, he hadn't used this torture board in a long time. After being confined to the boundaries of the Qian Xue Province, he hadn't had the opportunity to use it.
Mo Hua felt a sense of regret.
Unexpectedly, just a few days after leaving, an opportunity presented itself.
Mo Hua was thrilled.
He had been eager to test the power of this improved version of the formation torture device.
Seeing Mo Hua's excited expression, Gu An fell silent and glanced at Gu Changhuai.
Gu Changhuai looked at the torture device in Mo Hua's hands, which seemed familiar yet improved, and sighed, nodding in agreement.
Mo Hua handed the device to Gu An and said, "Have them kneel on it, and they should behave."
Gu An placed the iron board on the ground, and one of the cultivators was forced to kneel on it.
In an instant, the iron board glowed with spiritual energy, and the cultivator screamed in agony like a pig being slaughtered.
The other cultivators turned pale, and their eyes filled with anger as they glared at Mo Hua.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Mo Hua asked.
"Oh, I understand now!" Mo Hua exclaimed after a moment of thought. "You're brothers, and you want to share the pain. You want to experience this iron board too!"
"What a coincidence, I made a few extra ones for testing, so there's enough for each of you."
Mo Hua took out four more sets of iron boards from his storage bag.
The group of cultivators turned as pale as paper, looking at Mo Hua as if he were a devil from hell.
When Mo Hua looked at them again, they were filled with fear, their eyes darting away, no longer daring to meet his gaze.
Mo Hua nodded in satisfaction.
However, the burly man who had led them scoffed, "Forget it, kid. You underestimate us. Even if you kill us, you won't get anything out of us."
"Oh?" Mo Hua's interest was piqued. "A tough nut, I like that."
He moved his divine consciousness slightly, and the cultivator kneeling on the iron board screamed louder.
The eighteen formations were more than he could bear.
The cultivator wanted to speak, but when he saw the threatening look in the burly man's eyes, he gritted his teeth and endured the pain until he fainted.
"This iron board is powerful, but the 'torture' is a bit monotonous..." Mo Hua thought to himself.
On the other side, the burly man watched Mo Hua with a mocking smile.
"We are all outlaws, living with our necks on the line," he said. "You think you can force a confession out of us with this, kid? You're too green."
Too green? Then let's play a more mature game.
Mo Hua smiled and said, "In that case, let's play a game."
The burly man scoffed, "What game?"
"You will all undergo the torture together," Mo Hua explained. "Kneel on the iron boards and answer my questions. Whoever answers first will be spared from the torture, and I will stop their pain."
"How about it?" Mo Hua asked with a twisted sense of interest. "It's time to test your brotherhood, and I'm curious to see if you can truly share each other's pain..."
The burly man's expression changed.
"This kid has a vicious mind!"
Gu An and Gu Quan understood Mo Hua's intention and laid out the iron boards on the ground, forcing the group of outlaws to kneel on them.
Mo Hua activated the formations one by one.
As the formations glowed, the spiritual power manifested as knives and swords, fire and ice, causing indescribable agony.
The group of outlaws turned as pale as paper, their foreheads beaded with cold sweat, and some even cried out in pain.
"Now, for the first question!" Mo Hua asked in a serious tone. "What did you eat for lunch today?"
The question was completely unexpected.
Even Gu Changhuai and his companions were taken aback for a moment.
Instead of asking something important, he wanted to know what they had for lunch? This group of outlaws had no idea what Mo Hua was up to, so they clenched their teeth and remained silent.
But as long as they didn't answer, the torture of the formations continued, and the alternating pain of knives, swords, fire, and ice was unbearable.
Finally, one of them spoke up.
"I ate... beef..."
Mo Hua's eyebrows shot up, and he praised, "Very good!" With a slight wave of his hand, he deactivated the man's iron board.
The man escaped his torment and gasped for breath, relief washing over his face.
When the others saw that Mo Hua kept his word and only asked seemingly harmless questions, they began to waver.
"Now, for the second question!" Mo Hua continued. "How old are you?"
This time, it took only a few breaths for someone to answer, "One hundred and thirty years old..."
Mo Hua nodded and deactivated the man's torture device as promised.
He then asked, "What's your surname?"
Before he could finish his sentence, someone blurted out, "My surname is Zhao!"
True to his word, Mo Hua deactivated the man's formation torture device.
Mo Hua didn't pay attention to him but continued:
"Okay, let's start the second round."
As he finished speaking, he activated all the formation torture arrays once again.
In an instant, these cultivators, who had just caught a brief respite, were once again subjected to a new round of "torment."
"The second round, the first question..." Mo Hua's eyes flickered, "...what nickname do you use when you're out there?"
This question was a bit more confidential, but the timing was just right.
Soon, one of them couldn't withstand the pain of the formation and blurted out:
"Brothers out there respect me and call me 'Poison Sixth Master'..."
Mo Hua frowned slightly.
He had no impression of this nickname at all.
Could it be someone from another region?
Mo Hua nodded slightly and then asked the second question.
From this question onwards, he would gradually increase the intensity.
"Why are you here?"
The atmosphere became solemn.
This group of outlaw cultivators fell silent.
There were some things they could say, but there were also some things they obviously couldn't bring themselves to reveal.
Mo Hua wasn't in a hurry.
Even though they were from the same group, traveling together, calling each other brothers, ruthless and cruel, their endurance to pain was different.
Some could bear it, but there would definitely be some who couldn't.
Sure enough, after a moment, someone whispered, "We were... ordered to manage this way station..."
"Manage?" Mo Hua sneered.
Now that the man had opened his mouth, he could only grit his teeth and continue, "This place is remote and sparsely populated. If a wealthy target comes by, we can also make some extra profit..."
"You said you were ordered. Whose orders are you following?" Mo Hua asked.
"I..."
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by the burly man, who shouted, "Shut up!"
Mo Hua glanced at the burly man.
Gu An understood his intention and immediately took out a black cloth to gag the man, preventing him from speaking.
"Continue." Mo Hua said.
The cultivator clenched his teeth, enduring the pain, and said in a trembling voice, "You said... you'd only ask one question. I've already answered two..."
Mo Hua suddenly realized, "That's right!"
One must keep one's word. The same principle applied to torture.
Mo Hua indeed spared him and turned his attention to the others, "This opportunity is for you to answer now."
Immediately, one of them, unable to bear the pain of the blades and the fire and ice tortures, blurted out, "It's Big Brother! Big Brother told us to guard this way station!"
He saw that his brothers had answered the questions and were no longer suffering, but he was still kneeling on the torture device, enduring the excruciating pain.
People fear inequality more than scarcity.
He couldn't bear to see his brothers enjoying relief while he suffered.
"Big Brother also said that we should do our best, be quick and clean, and not make any trouble. After the task is completed, he will reward us with a large sum of spirit stones and specially allow us to enjoy a night on the boat..."
Upon hearing this, Gu Changhuai, Gu An, and Gu Quan were slightly moved.
Mo Hua then asked, "What boat?"
"It's... a pleasure boat."
"What kind of pleasure boat?"
The cultivator said, "We're from out of town, and we don't know the name of the boat. We just know that there are singing and dancing girls on board, and there are... a lot of women..."
"How do you get on the boat?"
"I don't know about that. Unless someone leads the way, no one knows the entrance to the boat, and you can't get on without guidance."
Mo Hua nodded and also spared him from the torture. He then turned to ask:
"Who is this 'Big Brother' you're talking about?"
He pointed at the burly man with a bushy beard, whose mouth was gagged, "...it shouldn't be this useless guy, right?"
The burly man struggled to speak, his eyes filled with anger as he glared at Mo Hua.
"No..." A cultivator with a scar on his face said.
Mo Hua asked, "Who is he then?"
The scar-faced cultivator looked anxious.
He wanted to speak, but he couldn't bring himself to do so...
Mo Hua seemed to understand and thought for a moment before saying, "In that case, you don't have to speak. I'll make a guess, and you just need to answer yes or no."
The scar-faced cultivator nodded.
"Your 'Big Brother'..." Mo Hua's eyes shone with insight, "...is he proficient in water-attributed cultivation techniques?"
The scar-faced cultivator was taken aback and nodded slowly.
"Has he killed a lot of people?"
The scar-faced cultivator remained silent and nodded again.
"Then, his nickname, is it..." Mo Hua's eyes turned sharp, "...'Water Yanluo'?"
The burly man was furious and struggled to speak, his eyes wide with rage.
The scar-faced cultivator glanced at the burly man and, after a moment of silence, slowly nodded, "Yes."
As expected!
Mo Hua's eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
Finally, they had found a lead!
After that, Mo Hua asked a few more miscellaneous questions.
After being put through such an ordeal, these outlaws no longer had any fight left in them, and they honestly spilled everything they knew.
Brothers should share each other's burdens.
If someone answered slowly, they would have to endure more pain.
Naturally, they didn't want to be the odd one out.
After the interrogation, Gu Changhuai tied them up and then, along with Gu An and Gu Quan, searched the way station thoroughly.
As Gu An walked alongside Gu Changhuai, he couldn't help but comment, "Young Master Mo is indeed clever and full of tricks..."
Gu Changhuai's eyes flickered, but his expression turned solemn.
It wasn't just cleverness; it was exceptional intelligence...
He wondered who had raised this child and influenced him. Mo Hua's expression seemed innocent, but his eyes reflected a profound understanding of human nature.
He had played these outlaws like a puppeteer.
Using both incentives and threats, he had pried open the mouths of these outlaws.
Many of the older cultivators in Daotingsi wouldn't be able to pull off such a tactic.
If this child were to walk the path of righteousness, it would be fine, but if he strayed onto the path of evil and became a manipulative demonic cultivator, the consequences would be unimaginable...
Gu Changhuai sighed deeply.
(End of Chapter)
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