Chapter 541: Flower Phase Order

The interrogators looked around in bewilderment; the lights quickly returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

Everyone's gaze soon focused on Dong Wenshu again. Although they didn't know what he was doing, they all sensed something was amiss.

The interrogator in charge waved his hand, signaling, "Restrain him."

Immediately, two more people rushed forward and held Dong Wenshu down, re-tying him to the torture rack.

The interrogator in charge walked up and picked up several pieces of the shattered jade tablet. After observing them, he put them to his nose and sniffed. He then stood up and presented them to Dong Wenshu, asking, "Mr. Dong, what is this? What were you just doing? Were you sending a message to someone?"

Dong Wenshu slightly raised his head and looked at the ceiling. His Adam's apple bobbed as he sighed, "Wang Ping was just a shop assistant I hired for my library. If he didn't want me to know something, how could I know it? I told you I don't know anything about his background, but you refuse to believe me and insist on forcing me to reveal every detail. Is that reasonable? I adhere to benevolence and morality, while you speak of being a butcher and a fish. Now I see how ridiculous it is; my family is implicated. Ultimately, I was wrong."

The interrogator held up the fragments in his palm and said in a deep voice, "You said you hired him for this? Mr. Dong, we are old acquaintances. I respect you, but are you playing games with me? Tell me, who were you informing? If you can't give an explanation today, the punishment you face will be beyond your imagination. It's better to confess sooner rather than later!"

He was a bit enraged. If this jade tablet message indeed caused the target they were tracking to escape, he, as the one who allowed it, would be held responsible.

Dong Wenshu slowly closed his eyes. He truly didn't know how to explain himself. He genuinely had no knowledge of Wang Ping's affairs, nor did he know about the jade tablet. It had been passed down through generations in his family, but its origin was never mentioned.

He didn't know if the explanation of its origin had been lost during the transmission process, or if some generation had intentionally downplayed its background.

But he was, after all, a practitioner in the cultivation world. From the way the jade tablet was used, he could tell it was likely used to send a message or call for help to someone.

Due to a certain experience of his ancestors, he vaguely had someone in mind as a suspect, but he couldn't be sure.

Furthermore, given the great passage of time, he didn't know if it was still effective, and thus had nothing to explain.

He was not good at lying. If it were someone like Shi Chun or Wu Jinliang, to avoid suffering, they would probably immediately reveal the possible origins of the jade tablet as a genuine means of self-preservation, prioritizing the present before considering the future.

Seeing his stubborn demeanor, the interrogator in charge grew angry and sneered, "Mr. Dong, in this interrogation room, I've never seen a truly unyielding person, but I hope you are. Come on, let's give him a proper 'service' first, then we can talk slowly!"

With a wave of his hand, his subordinates immediately grabbed their tools from the side.

However, at this very moment, a sudden booming sound like thunder seemed to erupt from outside.

Thunder on a clear day? The few people in the torture chamber were bewildered, remembering it was a bright, sunny day outside.

Little did they know, the sky outside had already darkened.

More precisely, the sky above Dazhi City had suddenly grown dim.

First, an unnoticed crack in the void suddenly appeared in the sky. Then, gray clouds began to spread out of nowhere, gradually obscuring the sunlight, which is when people started to look up.

The gray clouds could be seen swirling like a vortex in the sky, with occasional flashes of lightning within, as they descended to envelop Dazhi City.

"It's demonic energy..." someone on the street murmured.

Many were alarmed; such immense demonic energy, they wondered which powerful demon had arrived.

The commotion in the street constantly drew people from indoors to look outside.

On the mountain within the city, many people were also startled and came out, one after another, including Li Xianghong and Poyuan from the City Guard Manor. They had been interrogating Bai Qiru but were startled out by reports from their subordinates. Also startled out with them were the accompanying interrogators from the Extreme Fire Sect.

Qiu Ben's second disciple, Zhuxin, had come in person.

In fact, the main interrogators were from the Extreme Fire Sect; the Divine Mountain faction was only cooperating.

At this moment, people from both the mountain and the city, inside and outside, all looked up at the sky.

The demonic energy swirling across the sky, descending and pressing down, instantly stirred up dust outside the city, causing it to fly everywhere. Inside the city, there was also a sensation of flying sand and stones.

Unlatched windows rattled and slammed, various hanging curtains flapped wildly, and various demonic insects scurried under eaves to hide.

The descending demonic energy suddenly covered the entire Dazhi City like a great fog. Countless people were alarmed, daring not to speak loudly, fearing they might disturb something sacred.

On the street, where the mist swirled chaotically, a woman in red slowly walked through the mist, almost unnoticed by anyone.

When she reached the vicinity of Chaoyue Pavilion, the swirling demonic energy within the city spun away, rapidly spreading outwards beyond the city, and also dispersing the swirling dust raised outside the city.

The anomaly in the sky disappeared, and clear skies returned to the city. The red-clad woman's appearance became clear: her features were exquisite like a painting, her eyes sparkled brightly like stars, her skin was fair and beautiful, and her face held an alluring, almost-smiling charm. She seemed to have a pleasant demeanor towards everyone, yet appeared to hold no one in the streets and alleys in her regard, walking with graceful ease.

Her long, flowing scarlet dress was striking. A vibrant red flower adorned one side of her elegantly coiffed hair. It was hard to tell if the flower was more vibrant, or the person more beautiful.

Despite her seemingly flamboyant attire, she exuded a refreshing aura.

She did catch the eye of people on the street, but they only gave her a few extra glances. Everyone was more focused on the recent strange phenomenon.

The red-clad woman walked to the entrance of Chaoyue Pavilion. She saw the sealed-off, closed door, then looked at the signboard. After that, she walked over to the chattering crowd discussing matters diagonally opposite, to listen to their gossip.

Meanwhile, at the center of the recent demonic energy storm, atop the mountain peak in the city, an old man in black appeared. His hair was dark and lustrous. He habitually tilted his head slightly. With his hands clasped in front of his abdomen, his face was deeply lined with wrinkles, and his gaze, when scrutinizing people, was profound and intimidating.

Li Xianghong and the others all watched the old man who had just descended from the center of the demonic energy storm with wary expressions, knowing that the newcomer was no ordinary person, but an absolute powerhouse.

Ultimately, it was the old man's low, gravelly voice that first broke the silence, asking, "Are the people from Chaoyue Pavilion's owner here?"

As soon as he spoke, everyone who knew Dong Wenshu's family had been arrested felt their hearts pound. Such an imposing entrance—was it specifically for the owner?

Zhuxin's Adam's apple bobbed.

Poyuan cupped his hands and said, "This is the Dazhi City Lord's Manor. May I ask who you are?"

The old man in black waved his hand, conjuring a beam of white light that appeared like a flash of lightning.

*Clang!* The ground cracked.

A four-foot-long command arrow, entirely silver-frosted, appeared and stuck into the ground right before Poyuan and the others.

The command arrow was covered with countless relief carvings of various elaborate flowers and vines. Beneath this seemingly flourishing facade, various animals, humans, or skeletons were faintly interwoven and entwined. The lifelike visual impact was intense, or rather, profoundly unsettling.

Even more astonishingly, the impact sound of it hitting the ground strangely reverberated from the command arrow as a peculiar sound, as if a woman were softly humming.

Upon seeing this command arrow, Li Xianghong, Poyuan, and Zhuxin were all greatly alarmed. They all quickly lifted their robes, immediately dropped to one knee, bowed their heads in respectful homage, kneeling before the command arrow.

Even the city guards who hadn't seen the command arrow from a distance, upon witnessing this, knew that an extraordinary person had arrived, and all promptly knelt as well.

The entire mountaintop instantly fell silent in submission.

Those kneeling before the command arrow didn't even dare to breathe audibly. Anyone with a bit of knowledge knew what this command arrow was: it was the Command Arrow of the Demon Queen of West Niuhe Continent, named the "Flower Aspect Decree."

To see this decree was like seeing the Demon Queen herself.

The old man had directly named the owner of Chaoyue Pavilion. Those present who had vaguely heard legends about the owner's ancestors felt a shiver down their spines. Rumor had it that the owner's ancestors were once the Demon Queen's teachers. They never imagined such an ancient connection still existed.

Wasn't this terrifying?

The few people kneeling before the decree were at a loss as to how to conclude this situation, or what their own fate would be.

Zhuxin, in particular, was filled with overwhelming dread. He had already investigated, and that dilapidated library lived in abject poverty. How could people with such extensive connections and background live like that? Even if there was a slight connection, it shouldn't have escaped the notice of attentive individuals, nor could they have lived in such a state.

Poyuan and Li Xianghong also regretted it. 'Target the Bai family, sure,' they thought, 'but why did we agree to that Zhuxin guy's demand to arrest the people from Chaoyue Pavilion too?'

The problem lay here: precisely because nothing happened last time when the people from Chaoyue Pavilion were treated in such a manner, the two of them agreed to cooperate with Zhuxin. And Zhuxin, also because of the previous incident with Chaoyue Pavilion, believed that the owner's old background was actually insignificant, and thus planned to round everyone up, including the owner, to thoroughly investigate.

The old man in black raised a hand; the command arrow rose from the ground and instantly retracted. He then asked again, "Are the people from Chaoyue Pavilion's owner here?"

Li Xianghong looked up and replied, "Yes, they are."

The old man in black scanned the scene, none of them resembling who he sought. He immediately questioned, "Where are they?"

Li Xianghong immediately turned around and shouted, "Quickly go and invite the Dong family here!"

The maid behind her immediately got up and rushed away.

Before long, Dong Wenshu's family of five were all brought over. Including the general helper woman, all six people from the entire library were brought together.

Of the six, five appeared unharmed. It was obvious that only Dong Wenshu had suffered, his body covered in bloodstains, having been whipped a dozen more times for being uncooperative.

The reason the others were unharmed was simply because it wasn't their turn to be interrogated yet. If Chaoyue Pavilion was to be interrogated, Dong Wenshu would certainly be the first.

His four children, some weeping, some filled with indignation, were also uncertain of their own fates.

The woman who had been following them was also uneasy.

Upon reaching the mountaintop, and seeing Li Xianghong and the others kneeling in submission, most of them were stunned. They all realized that the old man in black was a significant figure.

Dong Wenshu already had a faint suspicion, and the old man in black's first words confirmed it: "Are you the people from Chaoyue Pavilion's owner?"

Dong Wenshu, now freed from his restraints, cupped his hands and said, "That is correct."

The old man in black examined his injuries, then asked again, "What happened? Explain everything clearly and thoroughly."

"Yes," Dong Wenshu assented, and naturally did not conceal anything, recounting the events in detail.

Li Xianghong and the others, meanwhile, remained kneeling, as they had not been told to rise.

Hearing the neighbors' chatter about an unknown incident at the library, the red-clad woman entered the alley next to Chaoyue Pavilion. She walked alone in the quiet alley, observed coldly by a spiritual cat on a wall.

Suddenly, the spiritual cat's fur bristled, and it arched its back, because the red-clad woman in the alley had seemingly vanished into thin air.

The cat let out a low, muffled meow, remaining wary on the wall.

The red-clad woman, however, had already appeared in the old courtyard of Chaoyue Pavilion. She wandered around, looking everywhere, walking by windows, passing old eaves, and touching pillars and railings, trying to feel everything with her fingertips.

When she stopped by the kitchen, seeing the clear traces of everyday life, she was lost in thought for a long time.

After walking across a small flowing bridge, she stood by a rockery, staring at the four large characters "Purple Qi from the East" vertically carved on it, which had been almost blurred by time. She then reached out and touched the obvious worn spot on the lower edge.

Beside the four large characters, there were originally two smaller characters, which was a person's inscription. Judging by the traces of time evident in the wear, it was clear that someone had erased that name a very, very long time ago.