Chapter 81 Interrogating a Criminal Who Cannot Open His Mouth

“No need for formalities.”

Yun Yan stroked his white beard and said calmly.

“The person who was brought in today, how did the interrogation go?”

“Uh…”

As soon as Yun Yan asked, the slightly taller Disciple kept darting his eyes around, his voice stammering and uncertain.

The other, who was more introverted, simply lowered his head so much that Yun Yan couldn’t even see his eyes.

“Re… report… Zongzhu.”

The one who spoke was the slightly shorter Disciple.

Yun Yan hadn’t expected him to be the first to speak, and it was obvious that this one stuttered.

“Zong… Zongzhu, th… that person… we did interrogate him, but…”

“Liang, stop! Let me say it.”

The slightly taller Disciple suddenly interrupted.

Yun Yan narrowed his eyes; the stammering made him anxious as well.

“Tian Ge, I… I…”

“Enough, be quiet! Zongzhu, everything is this Disciple’s fault. If you want to punish someone, punish me!”

Yun Yan’s mouth twitched imperceptibly.

What does this mean?

A bad feeling welled up inside him.

Especially with these two male Disciples acting so codependent in front of him, Yun Yan truly felt the urge to explode.

But he had to keep up the appearance of kindness.

After all, he was the leader of a sect.

The most senior, most respected figure within the Shenxiao Sect.

Still, the Warden arrangements in this prison were truly troublesome; one man and one woman, two women, or two men, any combination seemed to cause chaos.

“Ahem! Enough, you two. Hurry up and speak, what exactly happened?”

The one called Tian Ge raised his head and said,

“Zongzhu, it’s like this. Someone was indeed brought in today, but the person who came forgot to tell us exactly what we were supposed to interrogate about.”

“So we thought, well, let’s just interrogate him anyway, and once we use torture, whatever he did will probably come out without us even needing to ask.”

“But who would have thought his mouth was so tough? He didn’t say a thing, and then… then he fainted.”

After listening, Yun Yan barely managed to suppress his anger.

The two Disciples were nervous too.

After all, they hadn’t done this in so long, and they accidentally used a bit too much force.

The other party was also of a certain status, so even if they didn’t ask, whatever he had done, he should have confessed!

Both lowered their heads, waiting for Yun Yan to speak.

Yun Yan covered his face.

Judging by these two Disciples’ performances, it seemed they really weren’t skilled at interrogations. Thinking it over, he decided to let it go.

“It’s fine, it’s not your fault. Looks like he has a very tight mouth. Take me to see him.”

After he finished, the two of them led Yun Yan downstairs.

In the depths of the dungeon.

Under the dim glow of the phosphorescent stones, Yun Yan could see Yang Xiong’s situation clearly.

His upper body was bare, covered in bloody marks.

His body was chained tightly to a chair with thick iron chains.

He looked completely wilted, lifeless, not a trace of vitality left in him.

Yun Yan carefully examined Yang Xiong’s condition.

He lifted Yang Xiong’s chin with a finger.

That face had also been struck.

On the racks around him, all sorts of torture tools were displayed, leaving Yun Yan a bit surprised.

Still, these were all ancestral tools.

He wondered if anyone had bothered to sterilize them before using them.

Yun Yan then noticed that Yang Xiong’s mouth was sealed with a talisman.

Yun Yan’s mouth twitched again. He turned back and asked the two Disciples:

“Which peak are you two from?”

“Reporting to Zongzhu, we are Disciples of Wanzhen Peak.”

The slightly taller Disciple answered.

“Hey, don’t you two know that the talisman on his mouth is a Seal Sound Talisman?”

The two of them widened their eyes at each other, then shook their heads.

Yun Yan covered his face and sighed deeply.

He’d been in a hurry to deal with Jiang Che’s matter and hadn’t paid attention to this.

It seemed that among the Disciples who brought Yang Xiong, there had been someone from Shenfu Peak.

Annoyed by Yang Xiong’s noise, they probably sealed his mouth.

Sigh.

Yun Yan covered his face and let out another long sigh, thinking to himself: Forget it, knocking someone out during an interrogation is common.

We’ll just question him when he wakes up. It’s not like it’s urgent. Waiting a bit longer won’t hurt.

He casually reached out and touched Yang Xiong’s neck, thinking to check his pulse and see how long it might take for him to wake up.

At that moment, Yun Yan’s fingers suddenly froze.

No!

The touch under his fingertips was icy and stiff—there was not a trace of a living person’s warmth left.

He checked his breathing more closely—nothing!

This guy… had long since stopped breathing!

“How did you two interrogate him? The man’s already dead, and you didn’t even notice?”

Yun Yan’s old, murky eyes instantly went wide, and a chill burst from his body, making the entire dim dungeon seem a few degrees colder.

His aura, too, became completely frigid.

Sensing this change, the two Disciples immediately dropped to their knees, their faces full of shock.

“De… dead? How could that be? We didn’t strike any vital points!

So… sorry, Zongzhu, it was me who used the torture. Liang had nothing to do with it!”

“No… no, I… I also…”

Looking at the two of them, Yun Yan’s aura lessened a bit.

He examined Yang Xiong’s body once more.

The injury caused by his own palm had been stabilized afterward by taking a low-quality Healing Pill.

As for the torture marks, they didn’t seem enough to kill a person.

Yet Yang Xiong was dead.

As for the cause of death… Yun Yan couldn’t tell. It seemed even his divine sense had completely dissipated.

Clearly, this was beyond what these two Disciples could accomplish.

“Enough, get up. It wasn’t you. Did anyone else come here before I arrived?”

The two visibly relaxed at his words.

“Reporting to Zongzhu, yes, someone did come. That person was, uh… who was it again?”

Both of them fell into deep thought but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t remember who had come.

Yun Yan sighed helplessly.

It seemed someone had silenced him.

…

Jiang Che returned to his room.

Yun Yan hadn’t made his situation public; it seemed he still wasn’t sure if Jiang Che counted as a new Disciple.

But Jiang Che understood.

Yun Yan was giving him the chance to make his own choice.

But Jiang Che didn’t trust Yun Yan completely.

Otherwise, he would’ve told Yun Yan everything about what happened in Shenxiao Town, about Xu Yan’s killing.

If he told Yun Yan, and Yun Yan killed Xu Yan with a single sword, that would be fine.

But if Yun Yan decided not to intervene, or even chose to protect Xu Yan, then he’d be in real trouble.

Still… just thinking about the day left Jiang Che feeling flustered.

He really did think of Hu Qiao’er as an older sister.

He also felt that Hu Qiao’er regarded him as a younger brother, as family.

But they’d hugged for so long.

And those things Hu Qiao’er said… surely she meant them as family, right?

When Hu Qiao’er let go of Jiang Che, she still kept holding onto him, making Jiang Che a little afraid.

He was scared he might suddenly feel something soft land on his lips.

But fortunately, a rabbit popped out of nowhere and interrupted Hu Qiao’er.

Jiang Che used the excuse that someone was waiting for him to go find Yun Fan.

In the end, he chose to stay in his old room.

At first, Hu Qiao’er had suggested squeezing together in her little courtyard,

But Jiang Che declined.

He needed time to calm down and think.

Sitting on his bed, he carefully examined the small thing that had appeared within his divine sense.

A lot of strange things had happened these past two days.

By rights, one could only enter the Shenxiao Secret Realm once.

He had already been in once, and had received a Gongfa and Sword Manual that suited him perfectly.

But the result of this second time was different.

The golden light cluster in his mind seemed to be wrapping something up, something he couldn’t probe.