Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Has the Fish Taken the Bait?

Diagonally across from the main gate of the Daoist Scripture Hall was a wonton shop. Every morning, the Cultivators from the hall with an appetite for something savory loved nothing more than to come here for a bowl of wontons.

At the mouth of a small alley to the left of the shop’s entrance, Leng Qianhu, Wang Ping, and Ah Jiu were each holding a bowl of beef wontons, eating with great relish. Oh, and there was Yu Lian, too. Wang Ping had ordered a large bowl and would occasionally feed her a bite.

"A question just occurred to me..."

Yu Lian, who was enjoying her meal, looked at Leng Qianhu and asked in a low voice, "Back when General Niu Man was stationed here, what kind of expression did he have when he saw you all eating beef wontons?"

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH."

Leng Qianhu seemed to choke, coughing violently for a long while. His expression was unreadable, and he thought for a long time before replying, "I didn’t notice. To be honest, I almost forgot he was an Ox Demon. Great demons can transform into a truly human form, shedding all their wild instincts."

Yu Lian’s forked tongue flickered faster. She quickly swallowed a wonton and asked, "Judging by your expression, you’ve eaten here with him before?"

"Yes..."

After answering, a teasing look appeared on Leng Feng’s face. He asked Yu Lian, "How would you feel if you saw someone eating snake soup?"

"I’m not a snake. I just look like one."

Wang Ping found this rather amusing. He could clearly sense that Yu Lian was angry, but she was pretending to be unfazed on the surface. He quickly picked up another wonton and gave it to her, stopping her from saying anything more.

But then Ah Jiu asked, "Did General Niu Man really eat it?"

"He did!"

"But don’t oxen eat grass?"

It seemed this question couldn’t be avoided. Fortunately, there weren’t many wontons left in their bowls. After chatting idly for a little longer, Ah Jiu went to pay the bill, since he could get it reimbursed.

The three of them then walked out of the alley. Leng Qianhu waved his hand, and a dozen or so men from the Imperial Guard in practical uniforms immediately gathered around, carrying five iron chests.

After the trio met up with these men, Wang Ping led them to the small courtyard where the four guards who had neglected their duty were being held.

"Daoist Changqing, what is the meaning of this?"

The Qi Cultivator guarding the courtyard questioned Changqing, who was leading the group, as he eyed the menacing men from the Imperial Guard.

Wang Ping cupped his fists and said, "I’d like to try a different method of questioning them."

The Qi Cultivator was about to say something, but another leading Qi Cultivator, having heard the commotion from inside, came out and spoke quickly. "Daoist Changqing has written authorization from Daoist Wen Yang. If he wishes to take the men for questioning, we naturally have no objections. However, it is our duty to supervise."

Wang Ping nodded. "Of course. I will conduct the questioning right here. It will end when I have my answers."

With that, he turned to Leng Qianhu and said, "Have your men begin."

Leng Qianhu silently beckoned to the dozen or so men behind him. The group filed in. The men first placed the five iron chests in the middle of the courtyard, then quickly cleared out a room and moved the chests inside.

Inside the iron chests were, of course, interrogation tools. But these were no ordinary instruments. Every one of them was a Demon Soldier, designed to torture a Qi Cultivator’s Qi Sea, root bone, and meridians.

Next, the four Qi Cultivators were confined in separate rooms, and a soundproofing array was set up in the courtyard.

Finally, the interrogation began...

The first to be interrogated was one of the two guards from the pavilion. Less than fifteen minutes after being sent into the newly established interrogation room, he let out a bloodcurdling scream.

At that moment, Wang Ping concealed his form and ascended into the sky with Yu Lian. Soon, they disappeared into the clouds, looking down on the city below. From this high altitude, he could see anything happening in any corner of the city.

Leng Qianhu, meanwhile, leaped onto the roof of the courtyard’s main building. He took out a palm-sized piece of hardwood and began to carve it. After a moment, he looked down at the guards meditating in the courtyard and said, "I forgot to tell you. During the interrogation, no one is allowed to leave this courtyard. If you take even one step out..." He pointed to Wang Ping in the sky above. "If you dare take a single step out of this courtyard, heavenly punishment will immediately descend."

He was joking.

Interrogating a Qi Cultivator was no simple matter; it was far more difficult than interrogating an ordinary person. Wang Ping remained seated in the clouds for two straight days, and there was no unusual activity in the entire city.

"What if they don’t make a move?" Yu Lian asked.

"They will. A person’s endurance has its limits. As long as there’s a problem with the four guards, their contacts in the city will definitely make a move," Wang Ping replied softly.

"And if there’s nothing wrong with them?"

"Do you think that’s possible?"

Yu Lian pondered for a moment before saying, "For something this obvious, shouldn’t they have prepared for it long ago?"

Wang Ping smiled. "Remember what Master once said? A Qi Cultivator who has not yet reached the Entering Realm can’t possibly imagine the grandeur and power of an Entering Cultivator. What they might see as a clever decision often seems childish in the eyes of an Entering Cultivator."

"But there must be an Entering Cultivator involved in this case, right?"

"But there are others cooperating with them. And those people... are the weak points."

Wang Ping was not wrong. On the morning of the third day, someone from the Imperial Guard Mansion left his post during the early shift and headed toward a deserted market in the eastern part of the city, seemingly to trade on the black market.

From that moment on, Wang Ping had one more fixed location to monitor...

「On the evening of the fourth day.」

A Qi Cultivator also furtively emerged from the Daoist Scripture Hall’s grand compound. He, too, went to that same market. Then, at daybreak, four fast horses were dispatched from the market, each heading toward a different city gate.

’Perhaps this is the answer.’

Wang Ping silently cast four Tracking Talismans. He then looked down at Leng Qianhu and passed four Positioning Talismans to him.

Catching the Positioning Talismans, Leng Qianhu grinned. "What did I tell you? There’s definitely something wrong with these four..." He looked at Ah Jiu, who was in the middle of eating, handed the Positioning Talismans to him, and said, "Speed is what matters now. Your Daoist Scripture Hall is faster. Go report to Wen Yang, quickly!"

From the sky, Wang Ping saw what Leng Qianhu was doing. A moment’s thought was all it took for him to understand. The fact that people were making moves meant the four guards from the Earth Cave Prison were definitely compromised. And among them, there might even be a big fish.

Wang Ping let out a soft chuckle. Just as Ah Jiu was about to leave, he descended from the sky and also told him the location of the market stronghold.

Seeing Wang Ping descend, Leng Qianhu jumped down from the roof as well, laughing. "Now we just have to wait for those four to talk. Time is tight. I’ll go have a word with them myself!"

"I’m afraid it won’t be that easy, will it?"

"Since they’re compromised, their memories have surely been altered. But memories can’t be changed on a large scale. As long as we use Soul Searching to go through all their memories from the past month and sort out everyone they’ve met, we can cross-reference that with our own clues. There are bound to be overlapping points. Those overlaps will be our breakthrough. Besides, everyone has a weakness. They’ve cultivated so desperately and even resorted to treason, so they must have their own motives. And where there’s a motive, there’s a weakness."

A confident smile spread across Leng Feng’s face. "As long as we’re heading in the right direction, we can..."

He trailed off, turning his head toward the entrance. Two middle-aged Daoists had arrived. They wore the cyan robes of the Daoist Scripture Hall and had Jade Hairpins in their hair. Their features looked northern, and they stood over eight feet tall.

The waist token of one of them was pure white, a color worn only by Entering Cultivators from the Daoist Scripture Hall’s headquarters.

"Which of you is Daoist Changqing...?" The one who spoke was the Daoist on the left. His voice had a hearty tone. He was the Entering Cultivator with the pure white identity token.

"I am!" Wang Ping was not intimidated by their status.

"Greetings, Daoist. We apologize for the intrusion, but we’re looking for you to ask about matters concerning the White Water Sect..." the Qi Cultivator on the right said, politely clasping his fists in a salute.