Unfortunate Transmigrator

35

Interrogation

I

The inner elder regarded them silently. He stood with his arms crossed atop his magical cloud, the cascading curtain of water of the waterfall just behind him.

“I see you’ve been waiting for me,” he said. “I take it you realized running away is futile?”

The magical cloud then descended, coming into contact with the floor, before it started dispersing, billowing into the elder’s sleeve until nothing of it remained, and the elder was standing on the floor directly before them.

Hao Zhen watched him warily, paying close attention to the elder’s position. The man didn’t seem to have noticed the arrays on the cave yet—or at least hadn’t realized what they could do—which he had been counting on. Hao Zhen had already told Lan Yue that if the elder seemed to suspect something, she was to immediately use her remaining Radiant Light Imprisonment Talisman. She was currently grasping it so that she could activate it at a moment’s notice.

For the time being, there was nothing he, Tian Jin, or Lan Yue could do. They needed the elder to step into the cave proper—past the area where the barrier had been—to activate the restraining array. The situation wasn’t really risky, as Lan Yue could neutralize him at a moment’s notice, but there was still no guarantee that the elder would walk this far inside the cave.

If Lan Yue ended up having to use the talisman, Tian Jin would get rid of the tracking matrix on his spatial ring, and they’d resume their original plan of venturing deeper into the forest.

“Well,” the elder said, taking another step forward. The man carried himself with absolute confidence, as if his victory was certain. “Aren’t you going to say something?”

Hao Zhen remained silent. Tian Jin and Lan Yue didn’t say anything, either. They all simply watched the elder.

The man shrugged. “So be it,” he said, taking another step forward. And then another. “Don’t worry. You’ll still get to live for a little longer.” He focused on Lan Yue. “Especially you. I have some questions I’d like to ask you, girl. Starting with how in the world you managed to get your hands on a Radiant Light Imprisonment Talisman.”

Hao Zhen glanced at Lan Yue and saw that there hadn’t been any change in her expression. She continued to stare at the elder stoically, not giving anything away.

At their lack of reaction, the elder sighed. Another step. “All right,” he said. “I see how it’ll be. Before, when I said I found it regretful I’d have to kill you two, I wasn’t lying. It truly is a waste to kill off such talented individuals.” The elder took another three steps, and Hao Zhen stilled.

Now.

Hao Zhen glanced at Tian Jin and saw the other boy’s eyes narrowing. The next moment, the arrays on the walls of the cave lit up, the inscriptions becoming visible even without the use of Spiritual Sight.

The elder started, alarmed. “What is—” The man frowned. Only his face moved. The rest of his body remained perfectly immobile. “You…” Veins appeared on the elder’s face, but that was it. Nothing else happened. “What have you done!” the elder snapped at them, his face flushing red.

Hao Zhen could see, spiritually, how all the elder’s spiritual power remained inside the man’s soul. The restraining array on the cave didn’t just seal physical movements—it also sealed a cultivator’s ability to use their spiritual power. They wouldn’t be able to use their spiritual power even inside the soul—it’d remain completely unmoving, much like the body—so spiritual skills couldn’t be used either. The only thing that the restraining array allowed those affected by it to move was their head.

Hao Zhen knew that much, not just because Tian Jin had explained it to him, but also because, much like the elder, he was also affected by the array. The same went for Lan Yue.

Tian Jin, the only one that could move, didn’t say anything at first, only looking at the elder coldly. Then, ignoring the elder, he turned to Hao Zhen. “Go ahead.”

“Thank you,” Hao Zhen said. They had already agreed beforehand that he’d be the one conducting the interrogation. In his head, he kept track of the time. They had about twenty minutes’ worth of spiritual stones, which he thought were plenty, but the sooner they got this over with, the better, so as to waste as few spiritual stones as possible.

Hao Zhen focused on the elder, who was still glowering at them, though his face was no longer as red. He seemed to have calmed down a little.

“I believe you have already understood the situation you’re in,” Hao Zhen said. It felt odd, being able to only control the muscles on his face, but he tried not to dwell too much on that.

“A restraining schema,” the elder snapped.

“That’s right,” Hao Zhen said. “Out of the four of us, only Tian Jin is currently able to move. Your life is in his hands, now.”

“Spare me this talk, boy,” the elder said. “What do you want?”

Despite the situation he was in, he didn’t appear cowed or even fearful—only incensed. He did seem willing to cooperate, however, which was good. Seeing the man’s apprehensiveness, Hao Zhen had been afraid that he’d have been the type that would rather die than answer any of his captors’ questions.

“Do you know what else Du Qing is planning?” Hao Zhen said, cutting straight to the point.

“All he asked me to do was turn a blind eye while his cousin and his helpers killed you three, and to intervene if the situation didn’t go according to plan. He didn’t tell me anything else. I wasn’t interested in finding out, either.”

Hao Zhen had been afraid of that. Considering Du Jian hadn’t known anything else either, Hao Zhen was starting to believe that Du Qing was the sort that kept his plans for himself. Then again, there was also a possibility that Du Qing hadn’t planned anything else, either, in which case neither Du Jian nor the elder knew anything because there simply wasn’t more to the plan.

“What about when you were restrained by the Radiant Light Imprisonment Talisman? Did you contact Du Qing?”

At that question, the elder’s expression shifted slightly, becoming a little tenser. “No,” he said.

Got you.

“Tian Jin,” Hao Zhen said, simply.

Tian Jin nodded before starting to walk over to the elder, who focused on him.

The man’s expression didn’t turn fearful. Instead, it became derisive. “You’re planning on using that weapon to kill me?” He let out a laugh. “Since you were so confident, I thought you had an offensive talisman on the same level as the Radiant Light Imprisonment Talisman. It appears I was worried for nothing.” Tian Jin came to a stop right in front of the elder before raising his sword. The man didn’t seem too worried. “Are you daft, boy? I’m a fifth-level. Magical artifacts below the fourth order can’t do much—”

Tian Jin stabbed the sword through the elder’s shoulder. It seemed to meet no resistance whatsoever, smoothly piercing through the man’s shoulder. Hao Zhen cringed at the sight.

The elder cried out in pain, his expression reddening again. The man’s face warped into a pained grimace. Hao Zhen had never been seriously hurt before, so he could only imagine how much pain the man was in. The most experience he had with pain was the poison Ke Li had used on him, but that had been another kind of agony.

Paying the man no mind, Tian Jin swiftly pulled the sword out of the man’s shoulder, eliciting another cry. Hao Zhen couldn’t see Tian Jin’s face from where he stood—he could only see the other boy’s back—but he reckoned that it was as apathetic as ever. Tian Jin then snapped his wrist, giving his sword a flick, and all the blood that had been on the blade splattered onto the ground.

“That sword!” the elder cried out, his eyes on the weapon. “What— Where—” The pain and confusion seemed to be making a mess out of the man’s mind.

“That’s not important,” Hao Zhen cut in, drawing the elder’s attention back to him. “Now, I’ll ask you again: did you contact Du Qing? If you want to live, answer honestly.”

“You…” The elder gave the sword another glance. Beads of sweat ran down his face, and his lips were quivering slightly. Most of the man’s earlier composure was gone, making Hao Zhen reconsider his earlier assessment of him. Maybe he was the fearful type, after all. Most likely, the elder just hadn’t been too afraid before because he hadn’t been certain they’d be able to do anything to him.

It appeared that when Tian Jin stabbed the elder’s shoulder, he hadn’t just brought the man immense pain—it had also made him realize exactly what kind of situation he was in.

Seeing that the elder was still hesitating, Hao Zhen steeled himself and said, “Tian Jin.” He did his best to speak without inflection, trying to appear apathetic. Inwardly, he felt more than a little uncomfortable. The man may have been after their life, but he found no joy in torturing him. It wasn’t just the Amyas in him that felt aversion to this situation—even when he tried to divorce himself from his identity as Amyas, he still felt uneasy. He doubted Tian Jin was enjoying this, either.

This was, however, something they needed to do.

The other boy started raising his sword.

“All right!” the elder snapped before Tian Jin could do anything to him. “I did contact Du Qing. I informed him that the girl,” he said, glancing in Lan Yue’s direction, “had used a Radiant light Imprisonment Talisman on me and that I was stuck.”

“And?”

The elder glanced at the sword again. This time, Tian Jin did not need any prompting, raising it again.

“He told me to pursue you three once I had broken the barrier,” the elder blurted out, his eyes glued on the sword. Tian Jin didn’t raise it any further, but he didn’t drop it back down, either. “Du Qing also told me he’d be arranging for an inner disciple to go after you, in case you three managed to escape into the inner section of the forest,” the elder continued. “He should currently be on his way over here.”

There it is.

Hao Zhen narrowed his eyes, a rush of anxiety washing over him. This was exactly what he had been afraid of. “Do you know who it is?”

“No,” the elder said hurriedly. “Du Qing didn’t say anything about that.”

Hao Zhen frowned, considering the situation. There were still some questions he wanted to ask the elder—such as what kind of deal the elder had with Du Qing—but on second thought, he decided that there wasn’t any point in asking them. Now that he knew there was someone else they’d still have to deal with, he had to wrap this up as quickly as possible. There was only one question that mattered left to ask.

“How were you able to track us?”

Hao Zhen was already fairly certain he knew the answer, but it was good to confirm it, just in case there was something else they had missed.

“There’s a tracking matrix on Tian Jin’s spatial ring,” the elder promptly said. It seemed like that now that he had already so much away, he no longer saw any point in keeping the rest a secret. “There’s a jade slip in my spatial ring. Du Qing inscribed on it a copy of the paired matrix. I used it to find your current location.”

“Hmm.” Hao Zhen assumed that this paired matrix was somehow connected to the tracking matrix. Thankfully, it seemed like the tracking matrix on the ring was indeed the problem. Just in case, however, after this was over, he’d have Tian Jin check all of their belongings for any other trackers.

With that, one question remained. Unlike the previous ones, however, it wasn’t a question for the elder—a question to be asked—but one for himself. One whose answer he already knew.

Hao Zhen focused on the elder, whose expression was still warped in pain, before sighing. “Tian Jin. Do it.”

They couldn’t let the elder live. That much was certain. It didn’t matter what promises the man made them. They had no way of keeping him in under control, and the moment they left the cave, they’d be at his mercy.

Killing an inner elder would have consequences, definitely, but Hao Zhen had already thought of some ways to handle the fallout if the sect learned of it.

There was a moment of silence. Then, Tian Jin gave the subtlest of nods.

“Wait. Do what?” the elder asked, his eyes snapping back and forth between the two of them wildly. Tian Jin once again raised his sword. “Wait. What are you— No. You said— You said I could live!” The man’s expression grew desperate.

Hao Zhen closed his eyes.

He then heard a grunt, followed by silence. A moment later, he suddenly felt himself regain control of his own body, and he almost fell forward at the sudden freedom, opening his eyes on instinct.

Hao Zhen first glanced at Lan Yue. She hadn’t moved despite having regained the ability to do so, her expression cold as she stared ahead. Hao Zhen forced himself to look in Tian Jin’s direction.

Tian Jin stood in the same place, the Radiant Light Sword once again lowered, its blade coated with a red sheen.

And on the ground, in front of him, was the inner elder—now lying on the ground on his front. A pool of blood was spreading underneath him. Hao Zhen didn’t need Spiritual Sight to tell that the man was dead, but the lack of soul in the elder’s body confirmed that all the same way.

After a moment of hesitation, Hao Zhen walked over to Tian Jin. He looked at the other boy’s face and saw that it was still stony. Hao Zhen wondered what he was thinking. This was the fourth time Tian Jin had taken a life today, but the only one in cold blood. He had killed the two of Du Jian’s lackeys he had faced mid-fight, whereas Du Jian had all but thrown himself into his sword.

The people in this world took killing much more lightly than the people back on Earth did, but what just happened wasn’t merely killing.

Hao Zhen wondered whether Tian Jin had killed anyone in cold blood before. The fact that they had done this right after torturing someone while interrogating them probably didn’t help.

“Are you all right?” Hao Zhen asked.

Tian Jin’s gaze lingered on the corpse for a few more moments before he nodded. “Yes.”

Hao Zhen heard footsteps from behind. Turning around, he saw Lan Yue walking up to them. She came to a stop beside Tian Jin, glanced at the corpse, and then shrugged. “Well, what now?” she asked. Although she looked like her usual self, there was still a touch of somberness to her voice, a tightness to her face.

“We figure out what to do about the inner disciple,” Hao Zhen said, looking away from the corpse.

The day wasn’t quite over yet.