Chapter 64 Interrogation

Everyone present was well-accustomed to the sight of life and death, so seeing Wang Jingyuan casually execute two men didn't cause any squeamishness. They were merely perplexed by his sudden, unprovoked violence. And that heavy crossbow... wait, where had the crossbow gone?

Among the younger generation, apart from Wang Jingyuan, only Lu Dayou was present, and he was nearly on the verge of a mental breakdown. Everything he had ever been taught preached that the Five Yue Sword Sects were as close as brothers, bound by a shared breath and destiny.

Yet now, Wang Jingyuan had suddenly resorted to brutal murder, and even his master and grand-uncle seemed to be abetting him. This ran completely counter to his deeply ingrained sense of righteousness, leaving him utterly unable to accept reality.

Meanwhile, Lu Bai, whose vital points had been sealed by Feng Qingyang, was immobilized but still capable of speech. To this moment, he still failed to grasp the gravity of his situation, blustering mindlessly, "If you dare touch me, Left Alliance Leader will never let you go!"

Wang Jingyuan let out a disdainful chuckle. "To catch a thief, you need stolen goods; to catch an adulterer, you need the pair. Just as if you plotted to assassinate me, without conclusive evidence, my master wouldn't be able to lift a finger against you.

If we kill you today, we can simply pin the blame on someone else. Even if Zuo Lengchan figures out that Mount Hua did it, what can he do? After all, these are the rules of the game, and everyone plays by them.

You fools had no business coming up Mount Hua with such a small retinue. Once you can be easily wiped out without leaving a single witness, your lives no longer belong to you. You're nothing more than pieces being captured on a Go board.

Master Uncle Lu, you were far too careless."

Turning to the bewildered Lu Dayou, Wang Jingyuan instructed, "Tell the other disciples to return to their quarters and keep away. Go fetch a few buckets of water."

With his mind in total chaos, Lu Dayou mechanically followed Wang Jingyuan's orders. He was so overwhelmed that obeying instructions was the only thing he could manage right now.

The martial arts world possessed the technique of sealing vital points, which was truly a blessing. It saved a lot of props, such as ropes or sleeping potions. Even better, the victim's body was completely paralyzed while their consciousness remained razor-sharp.

Wang Jingyuan placed Lu Bai horizontally across a table, leaving his upper body hanging off the edge, and covered his face with a piece of cloth. Moments later, Lu Dayou returned with the water, and Wang Jingyuan urged him to fetch several more buckets.

Then, he began pouring water over Lu Bai's face, ladle by ladle. Indeed, waterboarding—the breakthrough interrogation technique invented by the Lighthouse CIA, capable of extracting information efficiently without leaving any external trauma, and utilizing the simplest of ingredients.

Wang Jingyuan had no prior experience with waterboarding, but he knew how to read a subject's physical reactions. After a few rounds of intermittent pouring, Lu Bai quickly began to convulse, shuddering as if reacting to some horrific stimulus, before completely losing control of his bowels.

Recognizing that the timing was ripe, Wang Jingyuan removed the cloth. Lu Bai started coughing violently, gasping for air in huge, ragged breaths, before bursting into tears—crying with an utterly helpless despair, resembling nothing so much as a terrified little boy cornered by villains.

Everyone present frowned. Initially, they had thought Wang Jingyuan was merely toying with Lu Bai, but now it was evident that whatever he had just done was far from simple.

Wang Jingyuan looked down at Lu Bai. "If you don't wish to experience that again, you will answer my questions honestly."

Lu Bai nodded frantically. "Yes... yes!"

Wang Jingyuan demanded, "What was the real conspiracy behind your recent trip to Hengyang City?"

"There... there was no conspiracy! We just went to attend Liu Zhengfeng's—mhm! Mhm!"

Rolling his eyes, Wang Jingyuan dropped the cloth back over his face. After another bucket's duration, he lifted the white cloth once more. By now, Lu Bai's consciousness was beginning to scatter. Wang Jingyuan pressed a hand against his back as a wave of deep purple energy surged across his palms.

At this sight, Lu Dayou and the Three Idiots of the Sword Sect wore complicated expressions. The Purple Mists Divine Skill was the exclusive hallmark of the Qi Sect's leader; Yue Buqun had clearly already chosen Wang Jingyuan as his successor.

Nourished by the Purple Mists True Qi, Lu Bai regained a sliver of breath. Wang Jingyuan pointed to the two empty buckets on the floor, then gestured toward Lu Dayou, who was still mechanically fetching water back and forth, and said to Lu Bai, "I can play this game with you all day long."

Lu Bai finally shattered completely. He spilled every detail of the plot targeting Liu Zhengfeng at the Gold-Washing Hand Ceremony, meticulously analyzing the motives and even their contingency plans.

As if testing whether he was lying, Wang Jingyuan peppered him with detailed questions throughout the confession. One of them was: "Where did you find the person to trick Liu Zhengfeng into purchasing an official title?"

Lu Bai wore a puzzled expression. "Did we find that person? Perhaps. Senior Brother Fei said he would find a way to dispel Liu Zhengfeng's doubts and ensure his gold-washing ceremony felt completely foolproof."

Wang Jingyuan nodded. It seemed the man knew nothing at all about the imperial edict being forged. Casually, he dumped Lu Bai onto the floor and began stripping his clothes off.

The onlookers assumed Wang Jingyuan was about to devise some new form of humiliation, but instead, after setting Lu Bai's garments aside, Wang Jingyuan struck him squarely in the chest with a single palm strike.

Lu Bai's face instantly flushed crimson, his eyes bulged, and dark blood welled from the corners of his mouth. Then, producing a heavy sledgehammer, Wang Jingyuan rained brutal blows down upon his chest until the ribcage caved in entirely before finally stopping.

Observing this, Feng Qingyang glanced at the Three Idiots of the Sword Sect. "You three, step forward and each thrust your swords into him."

Too much had transpired in a short span, leaving the three idiots somewhat dazed. The slightly sharper Feng Buping felt a sense of impending trouble the moment he had laid eyes on the heavy crossbow earlier.

Hearing Grand-uncle Feng's command, he urged his two junior brothers to step up and comply, but Wang Jingyuan intercepted them. "Did you not see that I used unconventional weapons to dispose of the body? You actually want to use standard Mount Hua longswords and leave identifying marks?"

With that, Wang Jingyuan produced several eccentric weapons looted from the Demonic Cult's Ten Elders and handed them to the trio. "If you want to help, go mutilate that corpse properly."

Feng Qingyang's original intention had been for the three to leave traces on the body as a sign of allegiance, burning their bridges. Yet he hadn't expected Wang Jingyuan to deliberately prevent them from leaving recognizable traces. Still, this outcome worked just as well.

After Wang Jingyuan hacked the corpse into unrecognizable fragments with various weapons, he was finally able to store it within his inventory. Now, the Hall of Righteousness Aspiration bore no evidence of what had just occurred, save for the pooling blood staining the floor.

Retrieving the Five Yue Sword Sects command flag that Lu Bai had brought with him, Wang Jingyuan dipped it into the blood on the floor. Then, pulling out a dark, obscure token, he similarly coated it in blood and pressed it firmly onto the flag, leaving a vivid crimson imprint depicting a rising sun and moon cradled by auspicious clouds.

Feng Qingyang assumed the token was merely something Wang Jingyuan had picked up in the cave where the Demonic Cult's Ten Elders were trapped. Meanwhile, the Three Idiots of the Sword Sect took one look at it and gasped aloud, "The Black Wood Token? You're a Demonic Cult Elder?!"

Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Wang Jingyuan couldn't be bothered to explain. "When putting on a full performance, if we don't pin this blame on the Demonic Cult, where else can it go? Besides, have you ever seen a Demonic Cult Elder as young as me?"

The three idiots figured he had a point and dropped the matter, choosing instead to approach Feng Qingyang and inquire about his whereabouts and experiences over all these years.