Chapter 1744: Interrogation

Old Man Luo's chin trembled. He gasped several times, looking as if he were on the verge of a heart attack, but his mouth still opened to deny, "My lord, I truly don't know where Pengqi is. How could I call it out..."

Diyun sighed impatiently and slapped his palm down.

"Fool. You don't know what's good for you."

"Why complicate such a simple matter?"

"Xiang'er!" Old Man Luo cried out, his eyes wide with grief, and he lunged forward.

The person behind him let go, and he fell onto his grandson's small, soft, lifeless body, sobbing heartbrokenly.

His son and daughter-in-law had died young, and for years, he and his grandson had depended on each other. Old Man Luo truly wished he could have died in his grandson's place.

He glared at Diyun, his eyes bulging. "You are more vicious than yakshas! The Immortal Sect will surely kill you!"

These mortals are useless; they only ever threaten. Revered Diyun looked at the immortal tablet enshrined in the house. "Isn't it because of Qianhuan that you've come to this? Foolish mortals, he killed you, yet you still worship him."

Preferring to watch his grandson die before his eyes rather than speak, the old man's lips were tighter than a clam shell. More importantly, time was short, and there was no time to interrogate him slowly.

Revered Diyun had no choice but to reach out and strike Old Man Luo's forehead again.

He deliberately slowed his movement, which Old Man Luo saw clearly but did not evade. Believing he was certainly going to die, he thought it would be good to join his grandson; the child shouldn't have gone far yet.

To his surprise, Diyun's strike did not shatter his skull. Instead, a whitish shadow was slapped out from behind his head.

The white shadow floated in the air, its features and form identical to Old Man Luo's, but its shape was unstable, as if it could dissipate into smoke at any moment.

This was Old Man Luo's living soul. Revered Diyun had slapped it out of him, then took two steps to block the body on the ground, and lit an incense stick.

The smoke rising from it was bluish, with a strange, sweet aroma. For living people, too much inhalation would cause dizziness and confusion, but Old Man Luo kept inhaling through his nose, displaying an expression of ecstasy.

The more he inhaled, the more intoxicated he became.

The incense Diyun produced was called "Soul-Loss Guide." It worked equally well on living and dead souls, acting like a sedative for spirits, making them dazed and confused, not only losing aggression but also becoming mentally dull and answering any question.

Revered Diyun hadn't used this method initially because it was time-consuming and prone to losing control. It was better if Old Man Luo agreed on his own.

Who knew this old man was more stubborn than a donkey, impervious to both persuasion and force.

When a living soul suddenly leaves the body, it often forgets recent events. Old Man Luo's current expression towards Revered Diyun was peaceful, almost dismissive—his eyes were fixed solely on the half-burnt incense stick.

Seeing that he was intoxicated by the incense, Revered Diyun finally spoke: "To summon Pengqi, how many steps are there in total?"

A living soul in this state had little capacity for thought. Conversations needed to be direct and precise; any ambiguity would render them incomprehensible.

Old Man Luo said blankly, "Get food, call it, give it to it."

"...How do you call it?"

Old Man Luo demonstrated by pursing his lips and making a sound: "Tsuo tsuo tsuo tsuo tsuo—Pengqi, come, come quickly!"

"..." This was different from what everyone in the room had imagined. Wasn't this how you called chickens or cats? "You don't use any summoning artifacts?"

"I've never used any. It just comes when I call."

Purely through affinity.

Revered Diyun finally caught one or two useful words: "What does it usually eat?"

"Soil."

"...Is soil considered food? And does this old man feed it? What do you feed it? What does it like to eat most?"

To lure Pengqi out, the bait needed to be at least somewhat appealing.

"Chicks, preferably before their second molt, but not too small," Old Man Luo said blankly. "They must be alive, at least twenty or more at a time."

Chicks usually molt for the second time around ten weeks after hatching. At this point, they are half-grown, able to run, jump, and chirp, very lively.

Revered Diyun frowned. "What else does it eat?"

Even if Old Man Luo had said Pengqi liked to eat mystic crystals or elixirs, he could have easily produced them.

But these chicks...

"It also eats dogs because dogs are too noisy, and it really dislikes them." Old Man Luo shook his head. "It's a picky eater; it either eats soil or eats chickens and dogs."

In rural areas, chicken coops and sheep pens are often guarded by dogs. If Pengqi were to eat chickens, the dogs would naturally bark.

Revered Diyun turned and gave an instruction, and someone went to check the chicken coop in the yard. They returned, shaking their head. "None, just two eggs."

"Where does Pengqi usually hide?"

"Underground, deep underground!" Old Man Luo said. "Even when I sit in the yard, it can emerge from beneath the ground and complain to me that the yard is too small."

"Where do you usually feed it?"

"In the village or the back, back mountain..." Old Man Luo uttered two words, then suddenly stalled.

"What about the back mountain?" Revered Diyun asked anxiously. "Speak quickly!"

If he hadn't urged him, it would have been fine, but with this urging, Old Man Luo's eyes began to tremble erratically.

How could someone whose soul was ensnared by the bluish smoke move their eyes so freely? Revered Diyun inwardly thought, "This is bad," and was about to have the old man inhale more incense, but Old Man Luo had already regained his senses.

The persistence and hatred in his heart were so strong that even divine powers couldn't suppress them, truly making everyone look at him with new respect.

Of course, Old Man Luo also remembered the tragedy that had just befallen him!

"You harm lives with your cruel hearts! Immortal Venerable Qianhuan will surely not spare you!" In just a few moments, Old Man Luo's face became frantic, and he shrieked with laughter. "Wait to die! All of you wait to be torn to shreds and ground to dust by the Immortals!"

Having said that, he burst into a torrent of curses, tears streaming down his face.

Revered Diyun had never heard so many crude, rural obscenities and frowned. Among the uncontrollable side effects of the "Soul-Loss Guide" was that the soul could become even more persistent, stronger... and even more insane.

Old Man Luo was completely mad. Disregarding his own precarious state and the vast power disparity between them, he charged forward, intending to fight Diyun to the death.

Under these circumstances, extracting any more useful clues was impossible. Even if he tortured the old man's living soul, the other party likely wouldn't yield.

Before Revered Diyun could act, someone behind him grabbed Old Man Luo's living soul and gently squeezed it—

The mortal's soul body vanished as simply as a soap bubble popping.

"What do we do now?" said the person behind Revered Diyun. "I told you long ago to build the tower first, then go to Yu Village, secure the mine, and then find Pengqi. But you insisted on creating extra complications, wasting the most precious time. If this trip fails, Exalted Celestial Miaozhan will surely punish you."

Revered Diyun said coldly, "Enough nonsense."

Stopping midway to find Old Man Luo was indeed his spontaneous decision. A captive caught by the Heavenly Palace at the lakeside battlefield had mentioned Yu Village, so he thought about getting some ready-made mystic crystals first, as the Heavenly Palace team's mystic crystal reserves were critically low.