Bai Cha was swift and decisive. Before the uninvited guests could even react, shadows emerged and pinned them down.
They looked at each other, unable to confer their stories before being separated and confined to different rooms. The rooms were soundproof, making it impossible for them to communicate even if they wanted to. Their phones were confiscated, leaving them to stare blankly at the brightly lit, sterile rooms.
"You'd better behave. I have a score to settle with those people," Bai Cha said, kicking the table in front of Yun Yi. The solid wood table splintered instantly. The whole ordeal happened too fast for Yun Yi to comprehend the situation.
How could a solid wood table break so easily from a single kick? Yun Yi's mood soured, a bad premonition dawning on him.
"We only came to bring our juniors home. How can you resort to torture?" Yun Yi finally regained his senses and struggled to resist. Before he could utter two more words, Bai Cha kicked him to the ground, breaking two of his ribs.
"Behave yourself. I haven't had a chance to settle accounts with them yet," Bai Cha sneered. "Who has been to Taoyuan Village recently, what did they look like, and what ambushes were planned? I'll give you three minutes to explain."
"Nothing, I'm being framed... Ah!!"
"I really... Ah!!!"
"I, I... Ah!!"
One person's screams had already escalated into a chorus of shrieks, their pig-like cries deafening and earth-shattering.
The guards, members of the Shadow Guard, silently covered their ears.
Ever since their leader, Bai Cha, had determined her earlier assessment had been severely flawed, she had been incredibly volatile. Her investigations and missions were aggressive, and her methods were swift and decisive, leaving those around her afraid to speak.
Seeing their leader hitting a bottleneck in investigating her opponents, she had become increasingly agitated. Little did they know, someone had run headfirst into her fury.
As the saying goes, if you can't get answers from anyone, ask the Shadow Guard. If the Shadow Guard's subordinates can't get answers, they ask Bai Cha.
There was nothing in this world that Bai Cha couldn't get answers to; at least, no precedent had been set.
Everyone knew Bai Cha had been in a bad mood lately. During training, she had already broken several training equipment made of special synthetic ore, acting like a berserk Beelzemon. Now, it was interrogation time, and Bai Cha displayed an equally formidable energy.
When Bai Cha emerged from the sixth room, the guards nearby clearly saw her washing her hands and smiling. Blood splattered on her face was wiped away with a smile, and the ferocity emanating from her had significantly subsided.
Witnessing this, the guards outside felt even more sympathy for the people inside the rooms.
The interrogation was a facade; venting her emotions was the real purpose.
As expected, by the time she reached the seventh room, before Bai Cha could even speak, the seventh person's legs gave out, and they collapsed to their knees.
The soundproofing in these rooms was better than the last. They had tried various methods – knocking on walls, shouting, stomping their feet – but were unable to transmit any information to the outside, demonstrating the thickness of the walls.
However, even these thick walls couldn't block the screams from the adjacent rooms. From their distance, they had heard the screams travel from the first room to the one next to them, the sounds growing louder, frightening them and making their weathered faces tremble with wrinkles.
They were merely entrusted to disrupt the situation. As former elders of prominent families, they couldn't endure Bai Cha's interrogation methods.
"Ah, ah, ah!"
Bai Cha calmly pulled a set of torture instruments from a nearby cabinet. As soon as the black-haired, white-bearded old man was fitted with one, he began to scream, baffling Bai Cha.
"I haven't even touched you yet, why are you screaming?" Bai Cha tapped the iron chain, her mood improving. She felt as though she had finally unleashed the frustration she had bottled up for months.
"Miss Bai, I was wrong, I'll tell you everything!" The white-bearded old man was terrified as Bai Cha produced various peculiar torture devices. Seeing Bai Cha lift him, intending to place him on a wooden horse, the old man burst into tears, his composure crumbling.
"Uh, what do you know that Yun Yi and Yun Lan don't know?" Bai Cha hesitated.
In that brief moment of hesitation, the old man saw regret on Bai Cha's face, sending a chill down his spine.
"I, my name is Yun Ling. I know how to take the crystal, where it is, and who is orchestrating this matter!" Yun Ling, feeling a chilling sensation from behind, was terrified. He revealed everything he knew: "Miss Bai, ask me whatever you want! Please don't torture me without asking anything!"
Yun Ling had never felt so wronged. He was timid. From the moment he heard the first scream, he had been mentally reviewing everything he knew. Who would have thought that Bai Cha would start selecting torture instruments without asking him anything?
Didn't he see that he had already knelt?
"But, Yun Yi and the others have already told me," Bai Cha blinked, looking somewhat innocent. "Yun Yi told me everything he knew."
"...I know things he doesn't know! Truly! I overheard it accidentally when I got up to use the restroom late at night! Miss Bai, spare me!"
After a moment of stunned silence, Yun Ling hadn't fully recovered when he felt a touch behind him, making him tremble. He blurted out like a jumping bean: "I heard someone mention framing and their boss's surname. I also heard part of their next plan! And it's related to Miss Bai!"
Yun Ling was genuinely crying. He knew how tough Yun Yi was. Before meeting Bai Cha, he thought Yun Yi was the toughest person in the world. Witnessing him use torture instruments made him tremble, but then Bai Cha brought out an entire cabinet of strange torture devices – various knives, hooks, insects, wooden frames. It wasn't just the eighteen types of weapons; it was as if all eighty-one were present!
And Yun Yi, such a stubborn person, with his rebellious spirit. Back then, even when the clan leader broke three of his ribs for violating clan rules, he hadn't uttered a sound. How could he have told everything he knew?
Yun Ling truly felt incredibly scared!
"Alright, then tell me," Bai Cha hesitated, then decided it was fine. After all, she had already vented her frustration on the others, so it was better to properly interrogate this one.
Bai Cha helped Yun Ling onto the chair, as his legs were too weak to stand. Crouched on the chair, the chair creaked and shook as if someone was vigorously shaking their legs.
"We didn't know about the existence of this child, Yun He, at first. Then one day, a group of people suddenly arrived, saying they knew of a child with exceptional talent and a descendant of the late clan leader. As we had no successor, we followed the person's instructions to find him." Yun Ling was in tears, revealing everything. "That night, we thought the Yun family had hope and held a grand banquet. Unfortunately, I ate too much cold dish and had an upset stomach, so I got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom."
"I saw someone with a large belly, about this tall, with a receding hairline and a ring of white hair around the back, a goatee, and wearing small sunglasses." Apparently, terrified by Bai Cha, Yun Ling gestured frantically with both hands, afraid Bai Cha wouldn't understand. "He also wore a badge on his chest. I couldn't understand what was printed on it, but I heard him say that after this job, they could also deliver the goods to the Mo family."
"You couldn't understand?" Bai Cha touched her chin. "A badge clearly indicates identity. How could they do bad things and tell you who they are? Wearing the badge openly is the most suspicious thing, isn't it?"
"No, no, no. He was already leaving. He put on the badge at the door before he left," Yun Ling waved his hands quickly. "They laughed smugly, saying they would succeed this time and had developed something close to a finished product. They seemed very satisfied, saying that many people from the Pear Blossom Sect had been persuaded, and they wouldn't stand with the other side this time."
Bai Cha: "..."
Pear Blossom Sect? They were neutral, weren't they? Don't speak carelessly if you can't hear clearly.
"But, but I heard someone mention the surname Bai, and I think, uh, it might be Miss Bai," Yun Ling looked at Bai Cha pitifully. "They also said that people without fighting spirit posed no threat to them. Uh, anyway, this is all I heard. I've told you everything I know. Please, Miss Bai, spare my life."
Bai Cha fell into thought.
"Miss Bai, please don't torture me. I've truly told you everything I know. If you want to know anything else, I'll go find out. Please don't touch those things." Seeing Bai Cha lost in thought, Yun Ling thought he hadn't said enough. He swayed on the stool and plopped onto the ground, nearly clasping Bai Cha's leg in tears.
"Ah? Alright, alright, I understand. Get up."
Bai Cha was speechless. "So, this time, you used those people's ambush in the village to wait for me and capture me all at once?"
"No, we didn't know what it was. They said they were responsible, and we had no idea what they were doing." Yun Ling started crying again, his tears flowing profusely. "They told us to just bring the child back, and leave everything else to them. We asked how they would deal with it, but they didn't say. We asked what would happen next, and they didn't say either. They told us to just take care of our own descendants."
It was clear Yun Ling was terrified, his cries heartbroken. Bai Cha's ears ached, so she waved her hand.
"Alright, alright, stop crying. I won't torture you then, okay?" Bai Cha sighed. "Can you at least see their eyes? Are they all from Yuzhou?"
"Uh, most of them seemed to be, but I clearly remember that some of them were definitely not from China." Yun Ling stated confidently. "A few of them had different eyes and accents."
This point coincided with what Yun Yi had said.
"Okay, let me confirm again. You were supposed to take the person back in a week, right?" Bai Cha pondered for a moment, looking at Yun Ling, who was nodding frantically like a pecking chick, and added, "Your brothers' injuries, I should be able to find someone to heal them tomorrow. You are responsible for dragging them all into one room. Tomorrow, after their injuries are healed, I will take you all back."
"Ah? We're still going back? Didn't Miss Bai say there was an ambush?" Yun Ling's sycophantic nature was fully revealed at this moment. He looked at Bai Cha with an excessively fawning gaze and blurted out "Miss Bai" so naturally.
Bai Cha gave Yun Ling a speechless look. "I already said, Yun Shen Bu Zhi Chu has something that can stimulate Yun He's power. Why wouldn't I go? They aren't capable of stopping me."
"Miss Bai is mighty, Miss Bai is mighty."
Yun Ling breathed a sigh of relief. It was a long time after Bai Cha left the room that he shakily supported himself against the wall and went to the other rooms.
As soon as he entered the other people's rooms, Yun Ling's legs went weak with fright again. These weren't just minor injuries; they looked like piles of shredded meat. Not a piece of flesh, not a patch of skin, not even a single bone was intact. Yet, they were still alive?
Yun Ling found a way to lift his brothers and carried them away on wooden planks. Looking at their blood-stained rear ends, he felt a chill in his own posterior.
Indeed, he was the smartest.
Yun Ling felt immensely proud of his choice. How could anyone be as smart as him? Clearly, timid yet intelligent people lived longer.