Chapter 343: Chapter 231: Quelling the Demon Scourge, Interrogating the Captive
This was exactly what Song Changsheng wanted to see. After all, it was another way to weaken the enemy’s strength.
Seeing their sincerity, Song Changsheng no longer hesitated. He called over a Steward and said, "Inform the Third Elder and the others that they can depart."
The Black Star Ship required at least three Foundation Establishment Cultivators to operate, so Song Changsheng directly assigned Xia Yunxue, Song Lutong, and Song Chang’an to pilot the Quasi-Celestial Ship into battle.
With their departure, and with Song Xianming and Song Luzhou in seclusion and Song Xianyun still unconscious, Song Changsheng was the only one left to guard the clan.
But he wasn’t worried. The Clan Protection Array had already recovered some of its power. Even if an enemy attacked, he was confident he could hold out until the others returned to provide support.
Song Changsheng wasn’t too worried about Xia Yunxue and the others. Without the Great Demon, the remaining Silver Moon Demon Wolves were no cause for concern.
The reason the battle had been a stalemate for so long was that both sides lacked the overwhelming power needed for a decisive blow.
And the Black Star Ship was the key to breaking that balance.
Once it appeared in the Liuyun Mountain Range, the demon scourge in Ling Province would soon be quelled.
After seeing Xia Yunxue and the others off, Song Changsheng went straight to the Law Enforcement Hall. With Song Chang’an away, only a single Steward was on duty.
Seeing Song Changsheng arrive in person, the Steward immediately hurried over and greeted him respectfully. "Young Clan Leader."
Song Changsheng gave a friendly nod and said casually, "The prisoner the Sixth Elder brought back... Bring him out. I want to interrogate him."
The Sixth Elder was Song Changxuan, who was currently stationed in the Mortal Realm. When Song Changsheng had first returned, he had encountered white-robed assailants of unknown origin attacking the Mortal Realm. He had deliberately left one alive, handing him over to Song Changxuan for interrogation before departing.
But the interrogation had yielded no useful clues, so when Song Changxuan returned for the funeral, he brought the prisoner with him.
However, Song Changsheng had been so busy he hadn’t had a moment to spare, so he hadn’t found time to question the man. Now that he had a free moment, he naturally came to handle it.
After all, a hidden enemy was the deadliest threat. If he didn’t get to the bottom of this, Song Changsheng would never be at ease.
"To answer the Young Clan Leader, the man is currently locked in the dungeon. I’ll go bring him up right away."
"Never mind, just take me to the dungeon," Song Changsheng said with a wave of his hand. His interrogation methods were rather crude, after all, and he didn’t want to make a mess of the floor.
He followed the Steward to the dungeon and soon saw a pale-faced, middle-aged man. The man’s initial injuries had been severe, and despite receiving basic treatment, he was still far from recovered.
Despite being a prisoner, the man’s expression was arrogant. He even seemed dismissive of Song Changsheng’s arrival.
This piqued Song Changsheng’s interest. He loved dealing with the defiant ones.
After dismissing the Steward, he walked up to the middle-aged man, looking down on him condescendingly.
The man wore special shackles on his hands and feet that not only suppressed his Cultivation but also made it difficult for him to move.
"You’re recovering well. Interested in a chat?" A faint smile played on Song Changsheng’s lips. He was trying courtesy before force; if the man was willing to cooperate, it would save him a lot of trouble.
Unexpectedly, the man just sneered, turned his head away, and closed his eyes.
The smile on Song Changsheng’s face faded, replaced by a cold severity. ’So he chooses the hard way.’ When it came to his enemies, he never shied away from using any means necessary.
He grabbed one of the man’s hands, pinned it to the ground, and asked coldly, "What is your name? Why did you attack the Mortal Realm? Who is the mastermind behind it all?"
As expected, the man showed no intention of answering.
Song Changsheng didn’t waste any time. With a sharp tug, he ripped the little finger right off the man’s hand.
"ARGH—"
The man let out a horrific scream. He stared at the gushing stump where his finger had been, at the pale shard of bone, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. Yet, he remained defiant. "Even if you tear off all ten of my fingers, I won’t tell you a single thing!"
Hearing this, a smile touched Song Changsheng’s lips. ’Good. I like the ones with backbone.’
Then, amid a series of agonizing screams, he proceeded to brutally rip off all ten of the man’s fingers.
The man’s face was now ghastly pale from the excruciating pain and blood loss, but he clenched his jaw and remained silent.
A Cultivator who could reach Foundation Establishment would naturally possess immense willpower. Song Changsheng hadn’t expected these methods alone to make the man talk.
He was merely doing this to shred the man’s nerves.
It wasn’t that he had any particular sadistic tendencies; this was all in preparation for the next step.
"Impressive willpower. Let me stop the bleeding for you." Song Changsheng’s smile was chilling. He held out his hand, and a ball of fire materialized in his palm.
He then forced the man’s mangled hands into the flame.
The man let out a series of shrill, agonizing wails. Even the Steward, who hadn’t gotten far, felt goosebumps break out across his skin.
Song Changsheng tortured him like this for a full hour. By the end, the man was in a daze, his mind starting to fray.
And that was exactly what Song Changsheng had been waiting for.
He placed his palm on the man’s head. A strange light flickered, and the man began to tremble violently, drool spilling from the corner of his mouth.
Song Changsheng was using a Soul Searching Technique, a method that could directly probe the memories within a person’s Divine Soul. It was an ancestral Secret Technique of the Song Clan, and only those with a powerful Divine Soul could cultivate it.
However, the information obtained this way was often incomplete. Afterward, the target would become a drooling imbecile at best; at worst, their Divine Soul would collapse, and they would perish on the spot.
This man’s will was incredibly strong. If Song Changsheng had used the technique directly, there would have been a risk of failure. That was why he first tortured the man’s body, waiting until his mind was scattered before performing the Soul Search.
In less than fifteen minutes, the man’s eyes rolled back into his head. He collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth, and died.
Song Changsheng gave the corpse a passing glance before looking away. He felt no pity for a dead enemy, no matter how many there were.
As he finished absorbing the memories he had plundered, his brow slowly furrowed.
According to the Soul Search, the man’s name was Bai Zhisheng. He had started as a Loose Cultivator before joining an organization called the Thunder King Hall.
The Thunder King Hall was, by all accounts, a genuine Evil Cultivator organization, but an extremely secretive one. Bai Zhisheng had no idea where its headquarters was located or how powerful it truly was.
He only knew that their Hall Master was revered as the Thunder King, was immensely powerful, and that the organization’s influence was widespread.
The cell Bai Zhisheng belonged to was a subordinate branch located within Ling Province. It consisted of three Foundation Establishment Cultivators and over a hundred followers, but they had been almost completely wiped out in the previous battle.
They had attacked the Mortal Realm to abduct mortals. They had been doing this secretly for more than a decade, always exercising extreme caution by targeting only small clans, which was why they had never been discovered.
This time, with the Song Clan under siege, they saw an opportunity to make a big score and acted boldly. They ended up paying the price.
The memories indicated that abducting mortals was a task assigned from above. The purpose was unknown. Whenever they had gathered a certain number, an emissary would come to take the people away.
A flash of fury appeared in Song Changsheng’s eyes. In just over a decade, no fewer than 400,000 mortals had been taken. A small portion of them had been abducted directly, but the vast majority were bred from the captives they forced to reproduce.
One didn’t need to be a genius to imagine the fate that awaited those people in the hands of Evil Cultivators.
"Monsters!"
Song Changsheng’s eyes turned ice-cold. He now felt that Bai Zhisheng had gotten off far too easily.
Suppressing his rage, he continued to delve into the memories. Something called a Lei Zhenzi caught his attention.
According to Bai Zhisheng’s memories, it was a type of single-use, specialized Magical Artifact.
When they attacked the Mortal Realm, their plan had been to bury these items underground to destroy the City Defense Array by targeting its Array Foundation.
They had been stopped before they could even begin, however.
At this, a sharp glint flashed in Song Changsheng’s eyes. If this item was as miraculous as it sounded, it was the perfect tool for breaking arrays!
’I have to get my hands on the method for crafting these things!’
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