Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 645 Interrogation
Seeing Shi Chun end up in such a state, Young Master Nan, who wanted to smile in return, couldn't bring himself to do so. If he hadn't sold the iron box that Shi Chun had sent to Marquis Jia Huan, the Right Assistant of Dong Sheng, Shi Chun wouldn't have ended up like this.

After confirming that Shi Chun had been firmly captured, Wei Mo ordered a body search of Shi Chun. The search revealed that Shi Chun was 'clean', with only a few simple items and not a single coin.

After examining the bag, Wei Mo personally took Shi Chun's Qiankun bag and asked, "Please don't tell me that this is all you have on you?"

He had personally seen in the mirror image of the Heavenly Mirror the magical treasures the other party mentioned using.

Shi Chun: "I don't know what fate awaits me. Before parting ways with Wu Jinliang, I gave everything to him. You don't need to ask me where he went. He didn't say before we parted, and I didn't ask either. I was afraid that if I knew, I wouldn't be able to help but tell. I've already turned myself in, so there's no need to implicate others. Lord Wei, the Xunmen of Jukuzhou is searching for me. Can you take me out?"

Wei Mo paused for a moment and said, "I have my own way of getting out; you don't need to worry about it."

He tilted his head and gestured, and someone immediately took out a black cloth bag and covered Shi Chun's head with it.

The group then quickly left with the suspect.

The target has been captured. To avoid any unforeseen complications, we must return to the territory of the Eastern Victory Royal Court as soon as possible.

Before returning, some people were to be released, including Lan Qiaoyan and her daughter, Mulan Qingqing, Gu Lianni, and others.

It wasn't really a release; Wei Mode expressed at least some 'gratitude' for inviting them here, since he had troubled them and would need to continue his career, so he couldn't afford to offend them too much.

Incidentally, Wu Kangshan and his gang were also released. Wu Kangshan and he had a relationship, and in some ways, he was even one of his men.

Those good-for-nothings who came out of the exile area were also released. Young Master Nan even gave them extra repatriation fees, because these people couldn't even afford to enter and leave Xunmen. They were the true bottom of the cultivation world.

Only Ming Shanzong and his group were also hooded and were to be taken away temporarily. After all, they were clearly Shi Chun's accomplices, and they could not be released until the matter was clarified.

Before leaving the cave to take her leave, Lan Qiaoyan paused and asked, "Has Shi Chun been captured?"

Wei Mo thought for a moment, then politely informed him: "Shi Chun has already turned himself in. It's thanks to the cooperation of Madam Miao and others that we were able to catch him."

What was meant to be a polite expression of gratitude took on a very unpleasant tone for some people.

Lan Qiaoyan's lips tightened, Miao Yilan secretly bit her lip, and Mulan Qingqing lowered her head slightly.

The group from Wukang Mountain behind them also had different expressions.

To avoid any further complications, Wei Mo didn't give them a chance to see Shi Chun again, and the two sides parted ways just like that...

With the black cloth covering his head removed, Shi Chun, who could see the light again, found himself in a dimly lit interrogation room. He had left Xiniu Hezhou and returned to the Eastern Victory Royal Court.

Without wasting a moment, as soon as the person was delivered, he was immediately chained to the rack. The surrounding torture instruments were dark and terrifying, and there were some wriggling nematodes or something similar in transparent jars, no one knew what they were.

Shi Chun looked frightened and his gaze fell on a dignified old man with white hair and beard. Wei Mo, who had brought the man there, bowed to the old man and then withdrew.

At this point, the interrogation was no longer relevant to Wei Mo, or rather, there were some things that Wei Mo could not know.

The old man was none other than Jia Huan, the Right Assistant Marquis of Dongsheng Royal Court, who was here to conduct the trial in person.

Beside them were two women in palace attire, out of place in this setting; they were attendants of Queen Dong Sheng, sent to participate in the interrogation.

All the irrelevant people were dismissed, leaving only these three.

The three of them looked at Shi Chun, who was tightly bound, as if he were some kind of monster, and examined him closely for a while.

A round-faced woman in palace attire reached out and touched Shi Chun. After using magic to check his cultivation level, she said in surprise, "With him, why haven't we caught him yet if he doesn't turn himself in? He doesn't seem that special."

The oval-faced woman in palace attire secretly tugged at her clothes, and the former then stepped back.

After the noise subsided, Jia Huan slowly spoke, "Shi Chun, do you know why you were arrested?"

Shi Chun smiled bitterly, "When Young Master Nan contacted me, he mentioned something about a theft at the royal court and suspected I was responsible. He didn't seem to know the specifics, and I knew even less. May I ask your esteemed name, senior? The theft at the royal court truly has nothing to do with me. Even if I had extraordinary abilities, I couldn't possibly enter the royal court to steal. To pin this on me is simply outrageous. Young Master Nan said that as long as I cooperate fully with the investigation, you will release me. You won't go back on your word, will you?"

He rattled off a string of words, looking like he was eager to distance himself from the situation.

The woman in palace attire with an oval face took out a jade slip and used magic to record the interrogation details.

Ignoring Shi Chun's mutterings, Jia Huan asked directly, "You sent one of the two soul-binding bags containing souls to Shen Moming of the Mingshan Sect and the other to Young Master Nan, is that right?"

Shi Chun asked in surprise, "Yes, that's true. What does that have to do with the theft at the royal court?"

Jia Huan asked again, "Where did you get those two soul-binding bags?" "This..." Shi Chun lowered his head, hesitating, as if he didn't want to answer.

Jia Huan's face darkened, and he suddenly shouted, "What? Now that you're here, do you still intend to refuse to confess? Do you even want to find out the truth and leave alive?"

Shi Chun hesitated and said, "Senior, this is my personal matter and has nothing to do with the theft of the Royal Court, right? I was trapped in Jukuzhou before and had no way to leave. Anyone with eyes can see that the theft of the Royal Court could not have been done by me."

Upon hearing this, the round-faced woman in palace attire said sternly, "Just answer whatever the Right Assistant Marquis asks you. Why all this rambling? Do you really think these instruments of torture are just for show?"

"Right Assistant Marquis..." Shi Chun was genuinely surprised and carefully examined the old man with white hair and beard. His magical power was restricted, and he was unable to activate his right eye's special ability to observe the other party's cultivation level.

He never expected that such an important figure would come to interrogate him personally.

Jia Huan then asked, "Whether you confess now or after being tortured, the choice is yours."

Shi Chun lowered his head and hesitated for a moment, "If I tell you, will you let me leave safely?"

Jia Huan: "As long as it can be proven that it has nothing to do with you, we will consider it accordingly."

Shi Chun then asked hesitantly, "May I ask, senior, I really can't understand what the theft from the royal court could have to do with the Soul-Binding Bag?"

Jia Huan said indifferently, "I don't want to waste any more words. I'll just ask you if you want to tell the truth."

Shi Chun lowered his head and finally sighed, "I stole those two soul-binding bags."

Upon hearing this, Jia Huan immediately pressed, "Where did you steal it from? You need to describe the details."

Shi Chun looked up and smiled wryly, "If we were to go into details about this, it would be a long story, and it can't be explained in just a few words."

Jia Huan said indifferently, "Then take your time. I have plenty of time."

Shi Chun looked at the two women in palace attire and slowly entered a state of contemplation, saying, "I really didn't expect that the royal court's capture of me would be related to the Soul-Binding Bag. Where should we start with this matter? It's actually quite a long story. The cause of the matter is that we obtained a batch of magical artifacts that were damaged by lightning during the Divine Fire Covenant. We wanted to repair them, and after inquiring, we learned that the 'Death-Repelling Incense' was feasible."

Where to find the "Death-Quelling Incense" was another problem. Later, Young Master Nan helped to find out that a zombie outbreak had occurred in the vicinity of Dazhi City in Jukuzhou. According to the strange fragrance left behind, it was very likely related to the "Death-Quelling Incense".

After learning of this clue, Wu Jinliang and I secretly went to Dazhi City in Jukuzhou. Perhaps to make it easier to find clues, I entered a bookstore called Chaoyue Pavilion to look through some ancient books. Later, I even worked odd jobs in the bookstore. In order to find clues, I even secretly set up a "Treasure Pavilion" in Dazhi City, under the guise of having "Death-Repelling Incense", intending to lure out the person who actually possessed "Death-Repelling Incense".

Life had been peaceful until one day a man arrived at Chaoyue Pavilion. He was Fan Wuzhe, the nephew of the pavilion's owner, Dong Wenshu. His arrival shattered the tranquility. It turned out this was related to a friend named Huang Yingying whom Wu Jinliang had made in Dazhi City…

Huang Yingying recognized Fan Wuzhe and slowly recounted how she discovered his purpose in coming to Chaoyue Pavilion.

It has to be said that this is quite a long story, but the three interrogators listened attentively and took notes without being disturbed.

And the story was indeed getting more and more interesting. I never expected that Lou Xiu, the Inner Court Commander of Dazhi City, would cause such a mess over a mere piece of real estate for a library.

Of course, Shi Chun distorted the events in his account, removing parts that were unfavorable to him, but most of it was true.

"After Bai Qiru found us, I left the academy and went to work as a handyman at the rice shop with Wu Jinliang. Bai Qiru assigned us to go to Yaoshan City at the foot of Shenshan Mountain to try to rescue Huang Yingying. Because I suspected that Lord A Xun of Shenshan Mountain was killed by Lou Xiu, I secretly kept an eye on Lou Xiu, who had been transferred to Yaoshan City, hoping to find some incriminating evidence on him in order to rescue Huang Yingying."

As a result, he accidentally discovered that Lou Xiu was having a secret conversation with a patrolman named Jiang You'er from the northern district of Shenshan. The two were talking about an important item, saying that a batch had already been sent to the mountain and another batch would be delivered soon. He heard the words "resurrection from the dead," guessing that it was "incense that wards off death." So he got the idea to get close to Jiang You'er, and then seized the opportunity to steal the important item before the handover.

Sure enough, we found the "Death-Quelling Incense" among those items. In addition, there were two Soul-Binding Bags tightly sealed in ironware. At the time, we didn't know what was inside, and we were too busy using the "Death-Quelling Incense" to restore those magical treasures.

However, a mishap occurred during the restoration process. Unexpectedly, even when used underground, the fragrance of the "Death-Defying Incense" still seeped out. Even more unexpectedly, Jiang You'er, who was searching everywhere with his men, discovered it, and thus Jiang You'er led a large group of people to hunt him down..."

The actual location and course of the fight during the chase are also recounted here.

Hearing that this guy actually managed to kill a bunch of people by relying on his magical treasures despite being surrounded by a large number of Earth Immortal experts, even the three of them, who were well-versed in the world, couldn't help but twitch their lips.

The oval-faced palace lady meticulously recorded all of this information for future verification.

In his subsequent confession, Shi Chun largely told the truth, saying that after escaping the pursuit, he went to hide in the library in Dazhi City. Strangely enough, even though he had already shaken off the pursuit, he was still tracked down by a master, who later turned out to be a master at the Celestial Immortal realm.

Fortunately, there was a master reading in the library at the time. He later learned that the master was the famous sword saint Fu Que. Just when he was in imminent danger, Fu Que made a move. Fu Que seemed to know the other party and started fighting in the library. The assassin was beaten and fled in a sorry state. Fu Que chased after him, which allowed him to escape a disaster by chance.

Only then did Shi Chun realize that among the things he had seized, the two Soul-Binding Bags were probably even more important than the 'Death-Repelling Incense'. Otherwise, why would he have mobilized hundreds of experts to hunt him down, and even mobilized experts at the Heavenly Immortal level to deal with him?

It was precisely because he realized the importance of the items that Shi Chun secretly sent the two soul-binding bags back to the capital of Dongsheng for safekeeping. Fearing that putting all his eggs in one basket would not be safe, he secretly sent them to two different places, intending to investigate their secrets after he escaped. He never expected that he would be involved in a theft case at the royal court.

(End of this chapter)