"Introduction"

After slamming Song He onto the shattered bluestone slab, Ji Wang did not immediately step forward. He stood there, his gaze sweeping over the other's body inch by inch, finally settling on the face that had been slashed open by his own sword energy, leaving it a bloody mess.

Bu Jiu stood a step behind him, standing quietly to his side: "Are you going to interrogate him? Don't you think it's... a bit too bloody?"

It wasn't that he was soft-hearted or afraid. It was simply his own nature; he had a natural aversion to such filth that was so close at hand.

So subconsciously, he didn't want Ji Wang to get too involved with such unclean things.

“Then I definitely can’t let you come.” Ji Wang said casually, as if he were saying something perfectly natural. “If I get your hands dirty, you’ll be unhappy again, and I’ll have to coax you later.”

Ji Wang saw Song He slumped to the ground, barely breathing, seemingly delirious from his injuries and fear. He showed little patience, raising his foot and lightly kicking Song He's uninjured shoulder with the tip of his boot.

"Wake up." His voice wasn't loud. "It's not time for you to faint yet."

The force from the boot tip caused Songhe's body to twitch again. The intense pain stimulated his scattered nerves, forcing him back to reality from the brink of unconsciousness.

He struggled to open the eye that could still see, and through his blurry vision, he saw Ji Wang's figure against the light of the sky, looking down at him from above.

Ji Wang squatted down and used his fingertips to lightly touch the meridians at the edge of the hideous wound, a wisp of extremely fine spiritual energy piercing in like a needle.

"I'll ask, you answer," Ji Wang threatened. "If the answer satisfies me, I might suffer less. If you try to stall, or lie..."

His fingertips flickered slightly with spiritual energy.

"Ugh—!" Songhe arched his back, letting out a short, sharp gasp, as if a red-hot wire was rolling across his wound. The pain was sharp but brief, not a continuous torment, but a clear warning.

"Do you understand?" Ji Wang withdrew his spiritual power and looked at his face, which was contorted with pain.

Song He was breathing heavily, cold sweat mixed with blood rolling down his forehead. The last bit of fierceness in his eyes as he looked at Ji Wang was finally crushed, leaving only the most primal fear and will to survive.

Before he set off, he heard from Ling Gu that Ji Wang had already remembered the events of his previous two lives, and that his methods and temperament were far from being as innocent and harmless as they appeared on the surface.

And the Ghost King behind him, who remained silent the whole time... he didn't even dare to imagine what the other party might do to him.

Songhe coughed up a mouthful of bloody foam, his only remaining intact eye struggling to focus.

He knew he was finished; the mission had failed, he had fallen into enemy hands, and into the hands of these two.

"Who dares to harm the people of Bu Nian Guan? Ling Gu? 'Your Excellency'?" Ji took a step forward, his boots making a slight crunching sound on the gravel. "Speak."

Song He's lips moved, as if he wanted to be defiant or fabricate a lie. But Ji Wang didn't give him a chance to organize his thoughts.

"Think it through." Ji Wang's voice suddenly lowered. "This cut on your face was left by me. I can leave it, and I can also let it heal, or I can let it rot into the bone, causing you to suffer excruciating pain every day, unable to live or die."

A look of horror flashed in Songhe's single eye. He wasn't afraid of death; over the years, he had long since disregarded life and death.

But he feared the endless torment, feared that even death would become a luxury.

“It’s…it’s Lord Linggu’s order,” he said hoarsely. “He said His Majesty…needs a ‘catalyst’.”

"The prelude?" Ji Wang narrowed his eyes.

Song He seemed to have given up entirely, or rather, under Ji Wang's gaze and Bu Jiu's tangible pressure, his remaining will was crumbling.

He quickened his pace, trying to buy even a moment's respite with information: "The formation of Wuwang Plain... Last time, the last time you fought with the Venerable One... those stirred-up souls, and the mutation of the Reverse Scale Shuttle... the Venerable One seemed very concerned. Lord Linggu suspects that there might be a way to counter that formation..."

His cloudy, single eye darted around, quickly glancing at Bu Jiu standing silently behind Ji Wang, before immediately lowering its gaze in terror. His voice trembled even lower as he said, "He said that if we could completely separate the soul of the person closest to you, the one with whom you have the deepest bond, and carefully refine and study it... perhaps we could glimpse the secret of that resonance, and even find the key to counter that formation..."

“So…” Bu Jiu interrupted him, “you couldn’t catch me, so you went after Bu Nian Temple?”

Song He dared not look directly at Mo Jue, and his throat made a "hoarse" sound. It took him a long time to barely organize his thoughts: "Yes... Lord Ling Gu said that your strength is unfathomable, and the two of you are inseparable. The chances of successfully attacking by force are too low, and it is very easy to cause uncontrollable consequences... On the contrary, it will alert the enemy and ruin Your Majesty's grand plan."

He swallowed blood and continued incoherently, "Not reciting scriptures... is the best choice. We can obtain the 'catalyst,' and perhaps glean some clues while refining those souls... at the very least, it can distract you two from the rescue, creating other opportunities..."

"Song He." Ji Wang suddenly called his name, interrupting Song He's incoherent confession, "Do you know why I was able to recognize you?"

Songhe froze.

Ji Wang didn't give him time to react, and continued in that calm tone: "Three hundred years ago, at Wuwang Plain, when I burned my soul and heaven and earth grieved, the vast majority of people either died or were injured."

Every word he spoke was like a heavy hammer blow to Song He's already collapsing nerves: "Only a very few react with extraordinary speed. For example, you. You took your most core team and ran away faster than anyone else without looking back."

Song He almost vomited. The escape scene, which had been sealed away for hundreds of years and which he least wanted to remember and felt most ashamed of, was so bloodily exposed by Ji Wang.

"Is it because of that 'wise' retreat that you've been unable to gain any real power under Ling Gu for the past few centuries, only able to lead some lowly lackeys and do dirty work on the margins, ending up in this predicament?"

Songhe's chest heaved violently, and after a long while, his frantic emotions slowly settled into a stagnant calm.

“…You’re right.” His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible. “All right. I’m just a piece of trash who ran away because I was afraid of dying and was abandoned for hundreds of years.”

After Songhe finished speaking, he seemed to have used up the last bit of his strength to support himself. He subconsciously used his elbow to brace himself against the cold, rough ground, trying to steady himself. However, due to his serious injuries, his body still tilted uncontrollably to the side.

Seeing this, Ji Wang steadily supported his shoulder and led him to a relatively flat collapsed earthen wall to the side, so that he could have something to lean on and not fall completely into the filth and dust.

This action completely surprised Songhe. There was no humiliating kicking, no disgust at his blood-stained body, just a simple act of helping him up.

"Heh...cough cough..." He coughed twice, "Thank you, Venerable Yun Shen."

He leaned there, his gaze somewhat unfocused, as if he wasn't speaking to Ji Wang and Bu Jiu, but rather to this ruin, to his own failed past, talking to himself.

"You think... that Ling Gu is giving me this death-defying job as a chance to redeem myself?" He tugged at his bloodied and mangled mouth, forcing a smile that was more like a grimace. "He knows me too well. He knows I hate him for suppressing me, he knows I'm desperate to get back into the core, he knows I've been marginalized for too long, and that I'll pounce on even the faintest hope like a starving dog just to climb up..."

"He knows better than anyone how low the success rate of this operation is. Facing you, and this sir... it would be a miracle to escape unscathed, let alone complete the mission. He sent me here with no expectation of success, nor did he intend for me to return alive. I, and the people I took with me, are nothing more than pebbles he threw out to ask for directions."

Ji Wang understood that if Song He's words were true, then the nature of this attack was even more egregious.

It was more of a test, a provocation.

“Abandoned pawns…” Ji Wang chewed on the word, “What is he trying to find out by using you abandoned pawns?”

Songhe shook his head: "I really don't know. Linggu would never tell people like us the real plans. We just need to follow orders, and then... die."

“One last question.” Ji Wangzhi stood up. “You should know the contact methods, the retreat route, and the pre-arranged rendezvous points for this operation.”

Songhe gave out several locations and simple communication codes, all of which were one-time use and likely already invalid or exposed. This further confirmed his status as a pawn—he even gave a perfunctory explanation of his retreat route.

At this point, there is no further value in asking questions.

Ji Wang looked at Bu Jiu and gestured with his eyes—it can be dealt with now.

Just as Bu Jiu was about to make his move, Song He suddenly pleaded in an almost humble voice, "Can I ask for a quick death?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Wang glanced at Song He for a few moments and asked, "Then how should we settle the score for the grudges between my fellow disciples?"

Songhe trembled. He remembered the Taoist disciples he and his men had almost killed.

“They…they are still alive…” Songhe tried to explain, his voice weak.

"Just because you're alive doesn't mean it never happened." Ji Wang interrupted him. "You want a quick death because you know what awaits you. But what about my fellow disciples? What did they do wrong?"

Songhe was speechless; his lips moved, but no sound came out.

“Your life no longer belongs to you, nor does it belong solely to me.” Ji Wang stopped looking at him. “I will take you back and hand you over to Huai Qing. How to deal with you is up to Huai Qing. If you are still of any use, then make the most of your resources. If not, then use your crippled body as a final, insignificant repayment.”

The last faint light in Songhe's eyes went out completely. He stopped struggling and begging, and closed his eyes as if resigned to his fate.

After giving instructions to Huaiqing and visiting Sui'an as agreed, the two then headed into their residence.

Ji Wang raised his hand, looked at it carefully, and then held it out to Bu Jiu: "So dirty."

Bu Jiu turned his head, his gaze falling on his stained hands, then sweeping over his furrowed brows.

The disgust in that expression was real, but deeper, it might have been an instinct to seek comfort after experiencing a bloody interrogation.

Without hesitation, Bu Jiu lifted his sleeve and rolled it up twice, revealing the relatively soft and clean lining inside.

He gently grasped Ji Wang's outstretched wrist and began to wipe away the dried bloodstains between Ji Wang's fingers: "You wash the clothes."

“…Oh.” Ji Wang pursed his lips and squeezed out a muffled syllable from his throat.