Chapter 78 A Coward's Confession
The dungeon of the Prince Regent's Palace.
There were no heart-wrenching screams, no bloody displays of torture instruments, only the chilling dampness seeping from the cracks in the rocks, soaking through to the bones, and the endless sound of dripping water.
“Tick…tick…”
Lin Bo, the old butler who had always been so smooth and efficient in the palace, was now covered in mud and slumped on a pile of damp straw. His graying hair was plastered to his forehead, and he was shaking like a sieve.
At the other end of the dungeon, in the shadows, a tall figure leaned.
Xiao Yu didn't even approach. He simply stood there, his eyes as deep as a cold pond, silently watching, enough to create an invisible, crushing pressure. He didn't need to speak; his very presence was the harshest punishment.
Instead, Chu Xuanyi brought a small stool and sat down at the door of the cell, leisurely twisting the "incense-inducing wood" engraved with a dead vine pattern in his hand.
"Uncle Lin, Uncle Lin," Chu Xuanyi was the first to break the dead silence, his tone tinged with a hint of lazy regret. "Why do you do this? You've been working in the palace for over twenty years, enjoying the best food and the best drinks. How many people would envy you? Now that you're old, you insist on having a thrilling experience, and now you've jumped right into this dungeon. How do you feel? Nice feng shui, right? Warm in winter, cool in summer, with the added bonus of dripping music, how elegant."
Uncle Lin shuddered suddenly, as if burned by these frivolous words. He raised his head, his cloudy old eyes filled with bloodshot and endless fear.
"Master...Master..." "I...I was wrong...I was really wrong..."
"Oh? What did you do wrong?" Chu Xuanyi raised his eyebrows.
"Your Highness! Master Imperial Preceptor! Please spare my life! I didn't mean to harm you! I was forced to do this! I really was forced to do this!"
Uncle Lin suddenly struggled to get up from the haystack, crawled on his knees to the prison door, and grabbed the cold iron bars with both hands. He cried and his forehead banged against the bars with a dull sound.
Xiao Yu remained silent, but his cold gaze softened Lin Bo's cries.
"Forced?" Chu Xuanyi leaned closer with interest. "That's a fresh theory. Tell me, who has the power to force our Regent Palace's Steward Lin to do this? Did they put a knife to your neck, or knock you unconscious with mountains of gold and silver?"
"It's my family! It's my family!" Uncle Lin wailed, his voice trembling with despair. "My wife, my son and daughter-in-law, and my five-year-old grandson... They... more than a dozen of them, all in the hands of those beasts!"
The playful look on Chu Xuanyi's face slowly faded, and he exchanged a glance with Xiao Yu in the shadows.
"Who are they?" Chu Xuanyi's voice deepened. "The Black Bone Tribe? Or is it the Withered Vine Cult?"
"It's... it's the Withered Vine Cult!" Lin Bo answered without hesitation. "I don't know if they're from the Black Bone Tribe. I only know that they all look like evil spirits crawling out of hell! The leader, they all call him 'Tribe Elder,' and I've never even seen what he looks like!"
"Never seen it? Then how can he give you orders?"
"A letter! A dead letter!" Lin Bo trembled as he rummaged through his dirty undershirt for a long time before pulling out a crow feather blackened by sweat. "This is it! Every time... every time this feather feels hot in my arms, I have to go to the dilapidated Earth Temple in the west of the city before midnight. Behind the third shrine, there's a letter telling me what to do!"
"Ha, it's quite ceremonial." Chu Xuanyi snorted, "Is that the piece of wood also obtained in this way?"
"Yes! Yes!" Uncle Lin nodded vigorously. "Yes, it is! They also... they cast a spell on me!"
As he spoke, he suddenly tore open his collar, revealing his shrunken chest. Over his heart, a dense circle of black lines, like ink lines, swirled faintly beneath his skin, looking eerie.
"The elders said this is called the 'Withering Heart Curse'! If I dare to disobey or reveal a single word, the curse will take effect, rotting my intestines piece by piece and causing me to die in agony! And my family... my family..." He choked up, unable to continue, and roared with all his might, "They said they're going to turn everyone in my family into fertilizer!"
In the dungeon, the only sound was his grief-stricken breathing.
"Wood, what is it used for?" Xiao Yu asked coldly.
With just one sentence, Lin Bo's wails abruptly ceased. He stared at the shadow in horror, as if his throat was being strangled, and replied tremblingly, "The elder... the elder said that the wood is called the 'Soul-Guiding Wood,' a replica of their sect's sacred artifact. The runes engraved on it can... can sense a special bloodline. He told me to carry the wood around the mansion, and if I get close to that... that Miss Jiu, the wood will heat up."
"Get close to Ajiu?" Chu Xuanyi grasped the key point keenly.
"Yes! The elders said that Miss Jiu is the one they're looking for! This piece of wood can not only help me find her, but it can also... it can also act as a signpost, allowing their people outside to always know where Miss Jiu is in the palace!" Lin Bo poured out all the secrets like a bamboo tube pouring beans. "Your Highness, Master State Master, everything I said is true! I'm just a pawn in their hands, a coward who's afraid of death! I don't want to die, and I don't want my family to die even more! Please have mercy on me, Your Highness, and save my family!"
He burst into tears, completely collapsed, and collapsed at the cell door, leaving only meaningless sobs.
Chu Xuanyi stood up and brushed the nonexistent dust off his robes. His expression had returned to its usual calm. He walked over to Xiao Yu and whispered, "It seems that's all he knows. He's just a pawn pushed out into the open, a spineless coward. There's nothing more to be gained from him."
Xiao Yu didn't even look at Lin Bo again. He turned around and walked out of the dungeon without any reluctance.
"The rest is up to you." His cold voice came from outside the door.
"Oh, I knew it." Chu Xuanyi sighed helplessly, slowly took out a piece of yellow talisman paper with complex runes drawn on it from his wide sleeves, turned around, and gave a kind smile to Lin Bo who was about to faint.
"Uncle Lin, don't be afraid. This national teacher is not some devil." He shook the talisman paper in his hand and smiled like an old fox. "I just want you to have a good sleep and... tell us about your dream. Don't worry, the process is very gentle."
Uncle Lin widened his eyes in horror as he stared at the yellow talisman, which in his eyes was more terrifying than a death warrant. A short "click" sound came from his throat, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted from fright.
Chu Xuanyi: "...Tsk, your mental quality is really poor."
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