Chapter 192: Cry for Help

Although she was weak, having woken up meant the problem wasn't severe. She insisted on going. Ji Qinghe understood her obsession and, after several unsuccessful attempts to dissuade her, stopped trying to hinder her.

The people from the eleven sects were intercepted en route. After the black-clad individuals who stopped them displayed a token as a greeting, they obediently followed, none daring to resist.

The individuals from the eleven sects were transported in separate vehicles and interrogated individually.

"You wicked disciple, confess at once!"

Faced with questioning, the elders and other responsible figures from each sect almost uniformly reprimanded their respective disciples in a similar manner.

The disciples from various sects who had become involved in Wang Sheng's fraud ring confessed everything they knew, spilling it all out.

There was nothing left to hide. In their current situation, what was the point of concealment? What benefit could they gain by covering for Wang Sheng?

They had all been thoroughly exploited by Wang Sheng, and during their confessions, every single one of them vehemently cursed him, calling him a despicable scoundrel.

The relevant individuals had, in fact, already confessed to these matters once when they first met their sect elders.

Once they left Xiji, the elders of each sect were bound to inquire about Wang Sheng's battle with Mulan Qingqing.

They felt guilty, fearing responsibility and wanting to conceal the truth. However, too many people knew, and that beast, Wang Sheng, simply killed without covering his tracks, offering no prior warning. This left them no time to even find a scrap of cloth to hide their shame. In the end, they could only confess honestly to their sects.

Some had not even finished confessing when they were intercepted and brought in by the black-clad individuals.

Su Yuanzong's response was incredibly swift. As soon as Guan Yingjie explained the situation, the Green-robed Guest immediately dispatched personnel to intervene. Within the vast royal capital, everyone was quietly located with lightning speed.

The entire process unfolded without a hitch.

The interrogations took place in a main hall. Individuals sat formally on a raised platform, posing questions, while the crestfallen interviewees stood below, honestly confessing. Observers were present.

The black-clad individuals conducted the interrogations, while all Su Yuanzong members remained out of sight, at least from the main hall. People were present in the side rooms, separated by a single wall.

Ji Qinghe and Mulan Qingqing were in a room on the left, while the Green-robed Guest was in one on the right.

The Green-robed Guest seemed to be deliberately avoiding Mulan Qingqing.

After a brief review of a few sects, the investigative focus appeared to have become clear.

Most interviewees revealed no significant information, only admitting to minor collaborative actions. They consistently pointed to Chu Jingting of the Bilanzong sect as knowing the most.

The Green-robed Guest rapped his knuckles twice on the wooden wall. The chief interrogator immediately ordered a change: the current interviewee was led away, and the person from Bilanzong was brought in.

Chu Jingting knew he could not escape this ordeal. Facing the interrogation, he merely sighed that he should never have known Shi Chun. By then, everyone had already learned Wang Sheng's true identity from their sect elders.

His acquaintance with Wang Sheng, compared to that of others, was indeed deeply rooted.

"No rush, tell it slowly," he began, recounting from his first meeting with Wang Sheng and Gao Qiang, then their second encounter leading to his introduction to the Xuanzhou forces. Following that, Guan Wen attempted to trick Wang Sheng into the Moon Sea, only to be entrapped himself, with everyone else becoming accomplices.

The recounted events made Ji Qinghe and Mulan Qingqing in the adjacent room feel somewhat uncomfortable. If what was said was true, then Guan Wen had indeed acted dishonorably first.

The more embarrassing revelations naturally followed: Yan Ji, disregarding the lives of other sect members, knowingly tricked people from about twenty sects into risking entry into the Moon Sea to find Guan Wen.

Chu Jingting had not personally experienced this event; he had only heard about it from Wang Sheng afterward.

Logically, there should have been survivors who escaped the Moon Sea at that time. However, reality was harsh: Guan Yingjie had previously reported to Ji Qinghe and the Green-robed Guest that the remaining dozens of survivors had all been intentionally redirected by him to encounter powerful enemies, resulting in no one surviving. Mulan Qingqing was also aware of this.

This was unknown to both Wang Sheng and Chu Jingting, but others were aware of the personnel movements at the time. A serious investigation would easily confirm it.

People from about twenty sects were not only deceived into dying, but then, to ensure silence, all survivors were also killed. What would happen if this information were to spread?

There was no need for Chu Jingting to continue speaking about this. Previous interrogations had already revealed this information, making repetition unnecessary. The Green-robed Guest raised his hand and knocked on the wall again.

Thus, the chief interrogator bypassed that topic and asked Chu Jingting how he had re-established contact with Wang Sheng.

Chu Jingting recounted the events in detail, recalling how after Wang Sheng approached him, he introduced him to Huyan Dao. Wang Sheng declared his intent to fight Su Yuanzong to the bitter end, aiming to elevate Yuanjian Palace to the top. Huyan Dao outwardly agreed, but secretly allied with Su Yuanzong to eliminate Wang Sheng, only to be defeated by Wang Sheng himself.

From that point on, Chu Jingting realized there was no turning back; he had no choice but to flee. Su Yuanzong had clearly demonstrated its intent to eliminate all who knew, so he dared not remain and await death. He could only gather the implicated sects and escape with them.

Faced with Su Yuanzong's terrifying threats, their group had no choice but to commit fully, resisting alongside Wang Sheng.

This detailed account far surpassed Shi Chun's own incomplete confession to Wukang Mountain, fully revealing Shi Chun's entire deceptive strategy.

He answered every question, holding nothing back and speaking exhaustively.

Yet, recounting it afterward was quite bitter; he felt incredibly foolish. Chu Jingting even moved himself to tears while speaking, narrating through his sobs.

When he reached the point of Wang Sheng commanding half of the Xuanzhou forces to seize the Insect Essence Crystals...

The chief interrogator couldn't help but ask, "I heard your gains were always substantial, almost never empty-handed. Given your amateur scouts, who logically could at most pinpoint the target's location, how did you manage to never come up empty?"

This question had been posed to others previously, and none had a clear answer, only confirming that they always managed to seize a significant amount.

It was truly puzzling how a disorganized rabble could perform more effectively than an elite force.

At this point, Mulan Qingqing, listening in the adjacent room, also perked up her ears, as this was something she was intensely curious about.

Chu Jingting raised his sleeve to wipe away tears, a mixture of laughter and tears on his face. "There was no 'never coming back empty-handed.' We didn't seize any Insect Essence Crystals at all."

The chief interrogator asked in surprise, "What do you mean?"

Mulan Qingqing and the others were also utterly bewildered.

Chu Jingting gave a bitter smile. "Apart from the first day, when we genuinely seized several hundred, every subsequent 'raid' primarily involved us 'seizing' Insect Essence Crystals that were already in our own pockets.

When the forces were divided equally, we still received half of the Insect Essence Crystals. Wang Sheng simply used those crystals to repeatedly stage successful hauls for everyone.

On the surface, all the spoils were handed to me for safekeeping, visible to everyone. In reality, behind the scenes, they were replaced with bags of stones.

When we 'raided' again on the second day, it's conceivable that he discreetly threw pre-prepared Insect Essence Crystals onto the battlefield during the chaos, which were then 'discovered' when the spoils were collected. This was repeated endlessly.

We appeared to be carrying vast quantities of Insect Essence Crystals, but in truth, we were mostly carrying stones. Ultimately, while they claimed to have sixty or seventy thousand crystals, there were actually only about three thousand."

At these words, a stunned silence fell over everyone in the hall.

The Green-robed Guest in the right room froze. This method sounded strangely familiar.

Ji Qinghe in the left room also froze, slowly turning his head to look at Mulan Qingqing. This was precisely what Guan Yingjie had reported: that they actually possessed only about forty thousand Insect Essence Crystals, with a significant portion being stones used to inflate the count.

What a coincidence; both sides employed this tactic.

Coincidence? To Mulan Qingqing, the difference was vast, even numerically. She used forty thousand to impersonate seventy thousand, while they used three thousand to impersonate sixty thousand. The deception was far too exaggerated. Could they possibly be considered the same?

Hearing this, she seemed to grasp something. Her face progressively paled, and her breathing became increasingly rapid.

After the chief interrogator in the hall recovered, he asked, "What was Wang Sheng's purpose in all of this? I heard that after the elite forces surpassed their number of Insect Essence Crystals, Wang Sheng voluntarily gave up, having become disheartened and conceded defeat."

Chu Jingting sighed, "Why bother with those tricks if he was going to concede defeat? He had long known and suspected that the elite forces were faking their numbers. He had long anticipated that their reported gains could not exceed the fraudulent figures he was using. It was only afterward, when I saw him actually defeat Mulan Qingqing, that I realized he must have foreseen the strength of the elite forces and anticipated that they would never simply concede. Thus, he played along..."

As she listened to the narration from the main hall, Mulan Qingqing's mind replayed vivid images of that time: feeling she lacked enough Insect Essence Crystals, resorting to faking them with stones; using moles to sow discord after the two sides met; deliberately yielding ground to give the opponent another chance; and how she molded and manipulated the rabble. All of it remained incredibly clear in her memory.

Her breathing became increasingly abnormal.

Ji Qinghe's ears twitched; he sensed something was wrong. He turned his head again and saw her chest heaving rapidly, yet there was no sound of breathing. He immediately whispered, "Qingqing? Qingqing?"

"Actually, the Insect Essence Crystals they possessed far exceeded ours. According to the previous wager rules, they had already won, and Su Yuanzong likely would have secured first place without issue. But they were overly deceptive, insisting on playing tricks and competing again..."

As Chu Jingting's words continued, Ji Qinghe, having noticed something amiss, reached out to check Mulan Qingqing. But before his hand could even touch her, he gasped in alarm.

"Pfft..."

Mulan Qingqing suddenly spewed another mouthful of blood she couldn't contain, which splattered onto the wooden wall like a dazzling, crimson flower. Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed backward.

Ji Qinghe instinctively caught her, immediately administering emergency aid.

The distinct sound of blood hitting the wall panel caused all questions and answers in the hall to cease. Everyone turned to look in their direction.

The Green-robed Guest's figure emerged from the back door, quickly arriving in the left room. Seeing the situation, his face darkened, and he swiftly went to assist in the rescue...

Two vehicles pulled into a relatively quiet inn, and the Wukang Mountain group disembarked one by one.

Wukang Mountain, being a somewhat affluent sect, had booked the entire establishment.

Before the conference was officially declared over, free accommodations were offered to attendees, who could choose to stay or not. Some opted to use them, while others, like those from Wukang Mountain, had private matters to discuss.

The moment Yin Huixin stepped out of the vehicle, an inn employee approached and handed her a confidential letter.

After checking the cipher on the confidential letter, Yin Huixin moved aside to open and read it. She then abruptly turned and stared at the back of Bian Jixiong, who was striding into the inn, and immediately followed him with large strides.

As soon as Bian Jixiong and Elder Ke entered the room, Yin Huixin followed them inside.

The moment she closed the door, Bian Jixiong immediately said in a solemn voice, "Those two little rascals have caused a major problem. The situation is unpredictable. We cannot all remain here; we must prepare for subsequent contingencies. Elder Ke, you will need to remain here and oversee things, which may entail some risks."

Elder Ke nodded slightly. "Understood."

Yin Huixin, her gaze fixed on Bian Jixiong, suddenly interjected coldly, "Shi Chun joined Wukang Mountain because he liked Xiang Lan'er. Did you inform Weikang of this beforehand, before your arrival?"

Elder Ke paused, then turned to look at his junior brother, the Sect Leader.

Bian Jixiong was silent for a moment, then slowly exhaled. "That's right. After receiving your report and learning of the trouble Shi Chun and the others had caused, I felt we needed to provide an explanation to all parties. Those three could not be kept. I was worried Weikang wouldn't be able to accept it, so... who would have thought they might actually win the championship?"