The Interrogation Room of Luoyun Cave, also known as the Torture Chamber, was located within the dungeon.
Zhang Zongnian was tied in a spread-eagle position to a blood-stained Cross-shaped Stake.
Inside the Torture Chamber, various instruments of pain were displayed.
Some of them still bore traces of dried blood on their surfaces, exuding a faint metallic scent that spoke of the despairing wails and the horrors of torn flesh that had once taken place here.
To the side, a furnace blazed with heat, and within it glowed a red-hot branding iron.
Hua Ban Tongling stood nearby, holding a whip soaked in chili water, his face fierce and menacing as he glared at Zhang Zongnian like a tiger eyeing its prey.
Hong Yanzhi sat opposite, arms crossed over her chest, long legs crossed, chin lifted as she gazed down at Zhang Zongnian, speaking coldly:
“Speak. Who killed my Younger Brother? What was that loud Explosion just now? Tell this Miss everything, without leaving out a single detail. If you dare conceal even the slightest thing, this Miss will make you regret ever being born to your mother!”
Feeling the scorching heat from the furnace at his side, and the persistent bloody scent invading his nostrils, Zhang Zongnian’s heart was filled with gloom.
He felt that today, he would not leave this Torture Chamber alive.
The only thing worth being grateful for was that Lin Xue had already been sent by the Lesser Beasts to the Yi Fang for treatment—she would not have to suffer here.
Zhang Zongnian made up his mind: he would pin all the deaths of Hong Huzhi and those Sui Cong onto the Raven Demon sent by the Yang Family.
There was a ready scapegoat—why not use it?
He started recounting from when Hong Huzhi cornered him and Lin Xue in the Storeroom, and went on to explain how, after leaving the cave, Hong Huzhi led them toward the Back Mountain.
These events all had witnesses, so he narrated them truthfully.
As for what happened afterward, he modified it: after they reached the scene at the Back Mountain, the Raven Demon suddenly appeared, showing itself and using Fei Zhen to kill Hong Huzhi and the Sui Cong.
“Raven? Fei Zhen?” Hong Yanzhi raised her eyebrows.
Zhang Zongnian explained, “That’s right. The Raven Demon claimed it was a Spirit Beast rented by the Yang Family from the Beast Taming Sect, specifically to hunt down me and my little sister.”
“The weapon the Raven Demon used was a set of extremely powerful Fei Zhen. The Fei Zhen were swift and ethereal, their power overwhelming; the Young Master and his Sui Cong couldn’t withstand them, and thus were killed.”
“These Fei Zhen were stored by that Raven in a Storage Pouch hung around its neck. I don’t know if the pouch was destroyed by the Explosion, or if it’s still at the scene.”
Hong Yanzhi turned and asked Dingdang behind her, “Were any remnants found at the scene?”
Dingdang immediately brought forward a tray with both hands, presenting it to Hong Yanzhi.
On the tray lay a bloodstained small Storage Pouch, several Raven Feathers, and half a broken Raven Demon head.
Hong Yanzhi picked up the Storage Pouch, and the nails on her fingers suddenly lengthened.
She drew a sharp line across the pouch with her nails, instantly slashing open a gash.
A set of Fei Zhen appeared in Hong Yanzhi’s hand.
She picked up the Fei Zhen, examined it carefully before her eyes, and nodded.
Indeed, Hong Huzhi and his Sui Cong had been pierced to death by dense, sharp objects—this matched the evidence.
She tossed the Storage Pouch and Fei Zhen back onto the tray, then ordered Zhang Zongnian,
“Continue. Since that Raven Demon was sent by the Yang Family of Xichuan to hunt you siblings, why would it kill my Younger Brother but not you two? And why did it self-destruct?”
Zhang Zongnian hesitated.
He thought, Lin Xue surely didn’t want to reveal that she had another Storage Pouch, nor that she possessed a Foundation-building Pill and the Fuyao Wang.
Holding onto that Fuyao Wang might someday be her trump card in this Demon Den, just like today.
As for the Foundation-building Pill, its value was obvious to any cultivator. If this tigress found out, she would certainly snatch it from Lin Xue.
Therefore, he couldn’t mention the Fuyao Wang.
But if he concealed the Storage Pouch and the Fuyao Wang, he couldn’t explain how he and Lin Xue had managed to subdue the Raven Demon and force it to self-destruct.
After all, the Raven Demon had effortlessly killed even the peak Body Tempering Hong Huzhi and eight other late-stage Body Tempering Sui Cong.
How could it fail to kill Lin Xue, just a mid-stage Body Tempering Lesser Beast, and himself, a crippled third-level Qi Refining cultivator? It made no sense.
Zhang Zongnian hesitated a moment, looking at Hong Yanzhi, who watched him coldly, awaiting his answer.
Steeling his heart, he insisted that after the Raven Demon killed Hong Huzhi and his Sui Cong and revealed its identity, it suddenly self-destructed, and he had no idea why.
In any case, the Raven Demon was already dead; a dead being could not testify.
When Lin Xue awoke, Hong Yanzhi would surely interrogate her as well.
How Lin Xue would answer was beyond his control.
All he could ensure was that Hong Yanzhi wouldn’t get a single word from him about Lin Xue’s secret Storage Pouch.
After listening to Zhang Zongnian’s reply, Hong Yanzhi’s face showed a cold sneer.
“So you’re saying, the Raven Demon that appeared out of nowhere went to all the trouble to kill my Younger Brother and his Sui Cong, but spared only you two—just to tell you it was rented by the Yang Family from the Beast Taming Sect—and then, without hesitation, destroyed its own life and cultivation right in front of you?”
Zhang Zongnian nodded stiffly. “Yes!”
Hong Yanzhi glanced at him with a mocking face, “You human cultivator, do you think all us demons are brainless fools, so easy to deceive?”
Zhang Zongnian lowered his gaze and said, “I wouldn’t dare. I have spoken only the truth. I wouldn’t dare deceive, Miss.”
Hong Yanzhi coldly asked,
“This Miss asks you: judging by the power of that Raven’s self-destruction, it must have been at least late-stage Body Tempering. It blew itself up right in front of you—how is it that you and that little snake demon weren’t killed? How do you explain that?”
Zhang Zongnian closed his eyes, bit down, and replied, “I don’t know. Maybe the Raven Demon held back, didn’t go all out.”
Hong Yanzhi gave a light laugh, “So, you refuse the toast and insist on drinking the penalty wine.”
She tipped her chin at Hua Ban, signaling toward Zhang Zongnian, “Hua Ban Tongling, give him twenty lashes first, loosen up his skin. Maybe then he’ll remember something.”
Hua Ban cupped his fists and shouted, “As you command!”
Then, turning, he glared with his leopard eyes, his face twitching with brutish delight.
He raised the chili water-soaked whip and brought it down hard on Zhang Zongnian.
“Pa!”
“Pa!”
“Pa!”
……
From the Torture Chamber came the stifled grunts of pain.
After twenty lashes, Zhang Zongnian’s flesh was torn open, his body covered in bruises.
Fiery pain burned all over him, as if flames licked his entire body. He trembled uncontrollably, convulsing.
Zhang Zongnian gritted his teeth and endured, thinking to himself: this is punishment for my own greed.
If only he had left with Lin Xue earlier!
Had he not coveted that Serpent Core, he would now be sitting atop the Immortal Crane with Lin Xue, far from this Demon Den, soaring to freedom.
It’s all my fault, harming myself and others, causing Lin Xue’s injury. This punishment is only what I deserve.
Hong Yanzhi looked down at him, coldly asking, “Do you remember now? Anything else to say?”
Zhang Zongnian shook his head. “I’ve already told you everything I have to say. I have nothing more to add.”
Hong Yanzhi chuckled.
She spread her jade-like arms on the chair’s armrests, face full of mockery, “Seems twenty lashes weren’t enough. In that case, try out all the torture devices in this room on him.”
Hua Ban answered gleefully, “As you command!”
He put down the whip, rubbed his leopard paws together, picked up the red-hot branding iron from the furnace, and, with a cruel grin, walked toward Zhang Zongnian.
……
(A scene too bloody, two thousand words omitted.)
An hour later, Hong Yanzhi stood before the torture pillar, looking at Zhang Zongnian, who was battered, nearly unrecognizable, his head drooping and on the verge of fainting.
She grabbed his hair, yanked his head up, and slapped his face with her other hand, shouting, “Pretty boy, don’t sleep yet. Come, tell this Miss, what exactly happened back then?”
Zhang Zongnian’s consciousness was fading, but he still gritted his teeth and insisted, “I’ve already told you everything…”
Hong Yanzhi dropped his hair, laughing, “You really are tough.”
Hua Ban stood aside, still holding a torture device, and asked eagerly, “Miss, should I splash water on him to wake him, then go another round?”
Hong Yanzhi glared at him, rebuking, “You stupid cat, are you trying to kill him?”
Hua Ban quickly bowed his head, repeating, “I wouldn’t dare, wouldn’t dare.”
Hong Yanzhi looked at the unconscious Zhang Zongnian and said, “He’s still useful. Lock him up in the dungeon, have someone keep watch, don’t let him die.”
Hua Ban bowed, “Yes! Understood!”
Two Lesser Beasts took Zhang Zongnian down from the stake, each shouldering one of his arms, dragging him toward the lowest cell in the dungeon.
Wherever they passed, a long trail of blood was left on the ground.
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