Chapter 532

He Lingchuan leaped into the cellar. The suspect, Wu Kai, was sprawled on the ground, and although a guard tried to help him up, his waist wouldn't straighten.

Wu Kai coughed up large gouts of blood, which surprisingly was pale yellow.

"Remove the shackles!" He Lingchuan commanded. A guard immediately moved to unlock the runic restraints on the suspect.

Perhaps due to nervousness or urgency, he fumbled several times and couldn't open them.

He Lingchuan pushed him aside, and with a swift motion, brought his blade down, cleaving the shackles with a clang.

With the runic shackles removed, Wu Kai could once again use his internal energy, and the formation tattoos on his body immediately glowed. He stumbled towards a corner, grabbing numerous protective talismans and putting them on.

He Lingchuan didn't stop him. The cellar was heavily guarded; even if Wu Kai were several times stronger, he couldn't escape.

After putting on the talismans, Wu Kai seemed able to breathe again, gasping for air in large gulps.

A moment ago, his internal organs had felt like they were being twisted, and his throat was constricted, making it impossible to breathe.

Everyone had been on high alert. As soon as Wu Kai showed symptoms, the guards stationed there wanted to report it. However, He Lingchuan didn't trust anyone completely and had secretly placed "eyeball spiders" on the ceiling beams.

After all, this prisoner was too important.

He had noticed Wu Kai's sudden illness, a couple of shudders, even before the guards.

Fu Shanyue's spellcaster also arrived. He pried open Wu Kai's eyes and examined them, noting what looked like tiny worms wriggling beneath the whites of his eyes.

"It's a curse! Cen Boqing has attacked you," He Lingchuan said, pulling out a mirror and holding it up for Wu Kai to see his own condition. "Confess now, and we can save your life."

He had recently arrived in Panlong City and noticed several lectures on curses advertised on the Wenxiantang notice board. Panlong City's struggle against its enemies encompassed all aspects; Beijia had even used biological warfare against the Chipa Plateau, so there was nothing strange about curses or forbidden arts.

Consequently, he had accumulated considerable experience in this area.

He Lingchuan quickly attended these lectures and benefited greatly.

When he borrowed books from the Wenxuan Pavilion, books on defensive curses were prominently displayed on the shelves.

While they didn't explain how to cast spells or harm others, they provided detailed methods for prevention and counteraction.

Now aware that Panlong City was making it convenient for him, he immersed himself in their study.

While not yet an expert, he had at least gained an entry-level understanding and was no longer completely ignorant of curses.

Wu Kai looked up and saw his glabella was completely black, and pale yellow saliva uncontrollably drooled from between his teeth.

Cen Boqing truly lacked resolve, falling so easily for the Crown Prince's divisive scheme!

Now, both of them were doomed to die.

Wu Kai closed his eyes in anger, panting continuously. "If I confess, I'll still end up dead!"

This was the first sentence he had spoken since his capture.

"But your grandson will live, the Crown Prince guarantees it," He Lingchuan said, glancing at the spellcaster, who nodded. He continued quickly, "You've been stalling, thinking the Grand Minister of Agriculture could send someone to mediate and save both you and Cen Boqing. In reality, the Cloud Emissary personally dispatched by the Demon Emperor arrived today. The Heavenly Gods will thoroughly investigate the elixir of immortality, and your entire family will be crushed to dust, unable to withstand divine wrath!"

Wu Kai looked up, staring intently at him.

"He's right there in the inn's lobby, and will be here in a few breaths," He Lingchuan said, pointing upwards towards the cellar entrance. "If you agree now, he won't know your grandson is also in our custody. But once the Cloud Emissary arrives and you still haven't agreed, the terms I'm offering will be invalid. You've lived in Lingxu City for a long time; you know best what methods the Heavenly Envoy employs. Once he gets here, your entire family will die! And your grandson will certainly die before you do."

In any case, as the person in charge of hunting demons and acquiring their pearls, Wu Kai's life was certainly doomed in the end.

He now had to choose: sacrifice one, or...

"Even if we save you this time and Cen Boqing's curse fails, he will try again later, and eventually, he will succeed," He Lingchuan added. "Given how he's treated you, have you truly considered sacrificing your entire family to protect him?"

Wu Kai trembled all over. The two protective jade pendants around his neck suddenly broke, and his exorcism talisman spontaneously combusted without flame, instantly burning away.

He then began to vomit uncontrollably.

This time, the greenish-yellow bile he vomited contained numerous grayish-brown bird feathers.

It seemed even more severe than his earlier blood-spitting; his body began to twitch uncontrollably, like someone having an epileptic seizure, and his eyes rolled back.

"First, it harms the liver, then the gallbladder. The next two attacks will target the lungs and heart," the spellcaster said, taking out several peachwood nails and inserting them into Wu Kai's Yutang and Yuzhen acupoints. "These are branches from a 300-year-old peach tree, grown facing east, so they possess the strongest Yang energy. However, they can only provide slight relief now. This kind of death-hastening curse usually has five stages, each more potent than the last. If you manage to survive the first four—which ordinary people can't—the fifth stage will directly enter your brain."

These peachwood nails were a gift from Fu Shanyue.

Although that fellow looked like an ordinary person, people often overlooked that his true form was a drought demon. Thus, he naturally understood more about malevolent spirits and specters than average cultivators.

At the same time, He Lingchuan added, "Cen Boqing is desperate to kill you. This death-hastening talisman is more vicious than usual. The next three curses will come swiftly and fiercely, making you realize the first two were merely appetizers. If we don't intervene, you won't last ten breaths."

Wu Kai's face was slowly turning green.

The spellcaster named Cheng had previously suffered a setback at He Xiao's hands and was even met with a backlash, spitting blood. Wu Kai had thought the man was all talk and not very formidable. But now, experiencing it himself—

The power was extraordinary, truly vicious and poisonous; it was unbearable.

Just then, Commander Lu's voice boomed from the cellar entrance: "Crown Prince, Cloud Emissary Bai has arrived—"

The Cloud Emissary was here!

Wu Kai's heart tightened, and He Lingchuan grabbed his collar. "Last chance, quickly!"

Time was running out. Even a cautious person like Wu Kai felt a wave of dizziness, his mind in turmoil.

He gritted his teeth and finally, enduring intense pain, told He Lingchuan, "I'll speak, I'll confess! You must guarantee my grandson's safety!"

He Lingchuan nodded solemnly. "It's a deal."

No sooner had he spoken than the light at the cellar entrance changed as Fu Shanyue, Bai Ziqi, and Fan Sheng all jumped down.

Given the urgency, they dispensed with pleasantries.

He Lingchuan looked at Fu Shanyue and stated concisely, "The suspect was remotely cursed and just barely pulled back from the brink of death!"

"Can he be saved?"

The spellcaster nodded and ignited the peachwood nails. The flames were not golden-red, but an unusual bluish-green.

The peachwood nails were hollow and filled with highly potent Yang substances. They were now to be driven into the prisoner's body using a searing technique, to counteract the insidious power of the curse.

Afterward, the spellcaster had someone fetch a three-year-old rooster, cut its neck to collect its blood, and mixed it with various medicines. This mixture was then administered to Wu Kai while still warm.

"Most evil entities detest roosters and will rush to consume their blood," the spellcaster explained. By the third mouthful, Wu Kai's expression began to relax, no longer so tense.

Seeing this, the spellcaster secretly let out a long sigh of relief.

The life of this important prisoner was saved, and so was his own remuneration.

Moreover, Fu Shanyue rarely praised him, but now said, "Alright, you did well this time."

When His Highness said that, a reward was surely forthcoming.

Fan Sheng frowned. "Shouldn't curse killings be performed at midnight? Why at this hour?"

He Lingchuan smiled. "Commander Fan has a lot of experience, doesn't he?" The last time Cheng Yu used a nightmare to ambush He Lingchuan, it was at midnight, and Fan Sheng had served as his protector.

Fan Sheng felt annoyed by He Lingchuan's cryptic jab, but Bai Ziqi interjected, "It's dinner time now; the guards are less vigilant, and the prisoner is shackled and helpless. It's the perfect time to strike."

He Lingchuan nodded. "Cloud Emissary Bai is insightful; that's precisely it!"

Just as Fu Shanyue was about to question him, Wu Kai suddenly collapsed onto the ground again, vomiting incessantly, even expelling the chicken blood he had just consumed.

The blood contained numerous tiny, black, rice-grain-sized ladybugs. He Lingchuan, with his keen eyesight, could discern that their mouthparts had specialized into sharp points, indicating they were adept at boring holes into their prey before entering.

It was clear these vile creatures were originally intended to attack Wu Kai's heart and lungs, but they were suppressed midway and attracted by the chicken blood, ultimately being forcefully expelled.

After leaving Wu Kai's body, they wobbled a few steps, then flipped onto their backs and became still.

Immediately afterward, these tiny insects and the bird feathers Wu Kai had just vomited turned into black liquid before everyone's eyes, slowly seeping into the cellar floor.

Wu Kai lay on the ground, gasping for breath, somewhat debilitated.

Bai Ziqi, observing with his hands behind his back, then said, "These things aren't real; they're merely the physical manifestations of the curse. However, the harm they inflict on the suspect is completely undiminished."

Meng Hu Jiao Yu immediately asked, "Can a spellcaster truly take someone's life from a hundred li away?"

"For a powerful spellcaster, yes," Bai Ziqi answered casually. "But it requires specific conditions; it cannot be invoked at will."

He Lingchuan's heart stirred. "Since this death-hastening talisman was broken, will the caster suffer a backlash?"

A few days ago, Cheng Yu had failed to ambush him with a nightmare and was provoked to spit blood. Was he about to relive that experience?

Bai Ziqi, however, looked at him with a strange expression. "You don't know?"

He Lingchuan was slightly startled. Why would Bai Ziqi ask that?

His gaze swept to Fan Sheng, and he suddenly felt a sense of unease. Of course, Bai Ziqi must have heard the full story of Fan Sheng's conflict with him. Cheng Yu's failed ambush on He Xiao implied that He Xiao must also be skilled in such arts.

Now, with one ill-phrased question, Bai Ziqi immediately sensed something amiss.

This man was too astute; he could seize upon a weakness if someone misspoke even a single word.

He needed to be extremely careful.

Bai Ziqi, however, withdrew his gaze as if his previous question was merely an aside, then urgently asked Wu Kai, "Was Cen Boqing the mastermind behind the courier case?"

Wu Kai swallowed with difficulty. "...Yes."

"Do you or Cen Boqing still possess any pulp pearls?"

"Yes," Wu Kai whispered. "I buried the remaining pulp pearls under the scholar tree at the entrance of Ta Lane."

Good, now there was physical evidence.

"Did he order you to kill demons and collect pearls to refine the elixir of immortality?"

Wu Kai was now very cooperative. "Yes, but we were only responsible for hunting and acquiring the pulp pearls. Someone else was in charge of refining the elixir."

"Who refined the elixir?"

"Twice a year, I would send the blood pearls to Qingfu Temple in Lingxu City. The rest was no longer our concern."

Fu Shanyue and He Lingchuan exchanged glances, both secretly letting out a sigh of relief.

It was done. Wu Kai had confessed, and in front of the special envoy sent from Lingxu City, no less.