Chapter 1246: Interrogation Room

Are there still ghosts in this dark room?

He uttered a surprised sound, walked around the room, then stopped in a corner of the dark room and bent down to examine something. "There's still a surprise here," he remarked.

He Lingchuan walked closer to look and saw a wooden birdcage.

At least its appearance was very similar to a birdcage, but it had no perches, water troughs, or food troughs inside, only a grille and a small door.

Dong Rui also leaned in to look. "This is a cage made of seabed wood," he said.

Seabed wood can house souls, which alone made this so-called "birdcage" extraordinary.

Fu Liushan raised the bell and brought it closer to the cage; it tinkled softly twice again.

"Come out," he said, putting away the bell. "I won't harm you; I just have something to ask you."

The cage was silent. At first glance, it appeared empty, with nothing inside.

Fu Liushan took out an incense stick, lit it, and blew the smoke towards the cage.

Within the smoke, a blurred shadow seemed to emerge.

"Manifest yourself! Don't make me resort to harsh measures!" Fu Liushan aimed the glowing incense tip at the shadow. "I don't want to torture you as Ghost King Xuanlu did."

Hearing the words "Ghost King Xuanlu," the shadow stirred a few times, finally rising from the bottom of the cage and gathering into a human form.

It took several deep breaths, completely absorbing all the smoke.

Fu Liushan's specially made incense was a tonic for weaker ghosts, helping them stabilize their human forms.

When the shadow fully manifested, it appeared to be a haggard man in his twenties, with everything below his right shoulder missing.

It was an armless ghost.

Fu Liushan, who was also good at making conversation, asked, "Such a big cage, and you're the only ghost living in it?"

The armless ghost spoke, his voice strained, "Just now there were over thirty."

"That must have been very crowded. Where are they now?"

"They were eaten," the armless ghost said, taking two steps forward. "They were originally Xuanlu's emergency provisions. Before the Ghost King escaped, he ordered his ghost servants to catch them and feed them to him to replenish his strength."

Dong Rui raised an eyebrow. "The Ghost King escaped? Are you sure?"

"It was gravely weakened, with only a trace of ghost energy left. I've never seen it so weak; it even needed ghost servants to carry it in a box," the armless ghost said. "If it didn't escape, was it supposed to just wait for you to come and capture it?"

"All the other souls in the cage were taken by it for replenishment. Why were you the only one left out? Was it a trap left by the Ghost King?"

"I've been in this cage for too long, longer than all the other unlucky ghosts. I know how to dissipate my soul, which can fool the ghost servants for a while," the armless ghost said with a strained voice. "Xuanlu was in too much of a hurry to escape; he quickly devoured all the prisoners here and left without looking closely. I've waited bitterly for eighty years just for this chance!"

"Eighty years?" Even He Lingchuan was somewhat moved. "You've been in this cage for eighty years?"

"More than just 'staying'!" The armless ghost gnashed his teeth loudly. "At most a month, at least ten days, Xuanlu would drag me out for torture, either gouging out my eyes, chopping off my hands, or tearing out my tendons—there were endless variations!"

"Then he'd heal me. As soon as my injuries recovered, the next round of torture would begin immediately!" The veins on the armless ghost's hand, grasping the grille, bulged. "Eighty years! This is how I've spent eighty years! Five days ago, Xuanlu even put my arm into a grinding mill and spent two hours grinding it into fine powder!"

"It especially loved the wails, whether from humans or ghosts!"

Fu Liushan couldn't help but ask, "It especially likes to torture you. Why?"

Ghost King Xuanlu specifically kept one ghost and tortured it for eighty years?

This isn't liking; this is hatred.

"It hates me to the bone," the armless ghost confirmed. "It hates my ancestor to the bone!"

"Who was your ancestor?"

"Eighty years ago, I was running a small business in Yaopo, married with children. Though life was ordinary, who could ask for more in a chaotic world?" the armless ghost whispered. "One night, Ghost King Xuanlu infiltrated and killed my entire family, devouring the souls of my wife and children right in front of me. He said my ancestor had betrayed him and cut off his head to claim credit when he was at his wit's end!"

"He searched for over two hundred years, finally finding the traitor's descendant. After killing me, he imprisoned my soul and brought it back, torturing me in various ways. I begged him to give me a quick end, but Ghost King Xuanlu said, 'As long as I exist, you will suffer; neither sooner nor later.'"

He Lingchuan understood when he heard this. Three hundred years ago, Wang Xuanlu escaped into the Screaming Forest and was not killed by Bao Ning, but instead had his head cut off by his subordinate as an offering. Given his nature, after dying and turning into a malevolent ghost, he would naturally be obsessed with revenge.

Bao Ning's descendants had all been killed by him; how could the subordinate who betrayed him be spared?

The Ghost King hated him even more, and thus would torture his descendants endlessly.

"Do you know how desperate I was?" the armless ghost cried out, clutching the grille. "Later, I stopped wishing for death. I swore that one day I would get my revenge, and I would cut off its head, just like my ancestor!"

Fu Liushan took out his precious pestle. "We can fulfill this wish for you," he said. "What you should truly seek is liberation."

As a Heavenly Master, guiding souls to the afterlife was his duty.

"Wait, wait!" the armless ghost quickly waved his hand. "I can help you track down Ghost King Xuanlu!"

"You're trapped here; how can you help?"

"I know its aura best; I can track anywhere it has been within six hours!" the armless ghost said, trying to prove his worth. "Besides, its subordinates tortured prisoners here, and I overheard many, many secrets! They never avoided me because they thought I couldn't get out."

"For example?"

"For example, this place was once an immortal's cave dwelling. This dark room we're in was formerly an immortal's torture chamber, filled with all sorts of torture instruments..."

"Wait a minute," Dong Rui said, greatly surprised, interrupting him. "This is an immortal's torture chamber? What does that mean? Immortals torture others?"

"Yes, that's what it should mean. I heard them say that when Ghost King Xuanlu first discovered this place, it already contained all sorts of torture instruments, but they were very large, not appearing to be for humans. Also, there were many bound remains here; some had their chests cut open, others had their heads severed, but they were quite large, none of them looked like..."

Dong Rui, finding his speaking speed too slow, interjected, "None of them looked like humans?"

"Yes, yes, none of them were human-like."

A hint of fanaticism appeared in Dong Rui's eyes. "Do they resemble those two skeletons outside, pinned to the wall by swords?"

"Uh, per-perhaps."

He Lingchuan and Fu Liushan exchanged glances.

What did this mean? The immortals living in this cave dwelling severely tortured sky demons?

The title "immortal" sounded dignified and otherworldly. However, in ancient times, the war between immortals and demons had long since become incandescent. Both sides were bloodthirsty; what means wouldn't they employ?

Sky demons are ruthless, but are immortals necessarily very loving?