Chapter 254 - 30: Pursuit, Stealth, Taking a Pill

Chapter 254: Chapter 30: Pursuit, Stealth, Taking a Pill

Security at the city gate was still tight.

The disciples of Celestial Sword Manor and the Armored Warriors of Qingzhou Prefecture carefully questioned everyone leaving the city.

When it was Chen Ye’s turn, a disciple from Celestial Sword Manor stopped him.

"Name, origin, cultivation?"

"Chen Ye, a Loose Cultivator from Yu Huo County, Unobstructed Realm," Chen Ye answered calmly.

The disciple checked the roster in his hand, then looked Chen Ye up and down. Seeing he was just an ordinary young man carrying what appeared to be an equally ordinary saber, he didn’t ask any more questions.

"Move along." He waved his hand, signaling for him to pass.

Chen Ye cupped his fists and walked out of the city gate without incident.

Looking back at the tall, imposing city walls, Chen Ye felt not a shred of attachment.

Although this place was where he’d earned his first fortune, it had also brought him considerable trouble.

He took a deep breath, got his bearings, then set off, merging into the stream of people on the main road.

However, less than half an hour after Chen Ye left Qingzhou Prefecture City, the atmosphere in the sealed-off courtyard west of the city suddenly grew tense.

The one who took over the case from Xiao Zhanbai was another elite disciple from the Law Enforcement Hall named Zhao Qian.

He and Xiao Zhanbai had always been at odds, locked in years of open and covert conflict.

Therefore, Zhao Qian was immensely smug about being able to snatch this case from Xiao Zhanbai’s hands.

In the past two days, in his rush to solve the case, his methods had been even more brutal than Xiao Zhanbai’s.

He had rounded up anyone in all of Qingzhou Prefecture City who had even the slightest connection to the Evil Cultivation Demon Dao, and heart-wrenching screams could be heard from the interrogation room every day.

Just now, his men had actually gotten lucky and caught an outer disciple of White Bone Mountain.

The fellow had been discovered in a casino after losing all his money and starting a fight. In the process, he revealed the aura of his White Bone Mountain Cultivation Technique and was apprehended on the spot by patrolling disciples.

At this moment, the lamplight in the interrogation room flickered.

This unlucky White Bone Mountain disciple was chained to a torture rack by two thick iron chains, covered in blood, his breathing faint.

Zhao Qian sat in a Grandmaster chair, slowly and methodically wiping his longsword, a cruel smile on his face.

"Speak. Why exactly did Li Gu come to Qingzhou City?"

"I... I don’t know... I really don’t know..." the disciple’s voice was weak, filled with terror.

"Don’t know?" Zhao Qian sneered. "It seems your bones are quite hard."

He shot a look at the executioner beside him.

The executioner took the hint, picked up a red-hot branding iron, and pressed it onto the White Bone Mountain disciple’s chest.

"AHHH—!"

A bloodcurdling scream echoed throughout the entire dungeon.

Watching this from the corner where she stood in silence, Xiao Zhanbai’s brows furrowed tightly.

Although she had been removed from her post, she couldn’t accept it. She had stayed behind, wanting to see what on earth Zhao Qian could possibly uncover.

She despised Zhao Qian’s method of forced confession through torture. To her, it was crude and useless.

A truly resolute person wouldn’t fear such physical torment.

To her surprise, however, after several more rounds of brutal torture, the White Bone Mountain disciple actually broke.

"I’ll talk... I’ll talk! Stop, I’ll tell you everything!" he screamed, completely broken.

Zhao Qian stopped, glanced smugly at Xiao Zhanbai in the corner, his eyes full of provocation.

"Besides attending the trade conference, Elder Li Gu came to Qingzhou City with another purpose... It was... to kill someone!" the disciple gasped, speaking in ragged breaths.

"Kill who?" Zhao Qian’s eyes lit up.

"Kill... kill a kid from Yu Huo County, named... named..."

The disciple seemed to be trying hard to remember.

Everyone in the interrogation room held their breath.

Finally, the disciple seemed to remember, and with all his remaining strength, he shouted the name.

"Chen Ye!"

Hearing this name, everyone present, including Zhao Qian, looked completely baffled.

Only Xiao Zhanbai, standing in the corner, shuddered, a terrifying glint erupting in her phoenix eyes.

’It’s... him?’

Xiao Zhanbai thought of the young man she had met in the inn yesterday.

She remembered the young man: ordinary-looking, only at the Unobstructed Realm, yet he had faced her and her sister’s questions with unflappable composure, his answers watertight.

At the time, she’d thought she was overthinking things. ’How could a mere Junior Cultivator at the Unobstructed Realm possibly be connected to this case?’

But now...

’Li Gu, an Elder of White Bone Mountain, with a Divine Soul Cultivation of at least the Sea Condensation Realm Middle Stage... he came all this way just to kill him!’

’This means that boy, Chen Ye, is absolutely not as simple as he seems!’

’Would an ordinary Loose Cultivator at the Unobstructed Realm cause a White Bone Mountain Elder to travel so far just to kill him?’

’And another thing—he had a grudge against Lü Song, a disciple of White Bone Mountain.’

’And Li Gu is an Elder of White Bone Mountain.’

’Now Li Gu is dead, killed by a master of the saber.’

’And Chen Ye uses a saber.’

’All the clues pointed to one answer!’

’The killer is Chen Ye!’

This thought struck Xiao Zhanbai like a bolt of lightning.

She was completely stunned. An indescribable feeling of shock and absurdity swept over her.

’I was actually... I was tricked by some kid at the Unobstructed Realm!’

’Yesterday at the inn, I was so smug, dismissing him as a suspect and thinking he was beneath notice.’

’Thinking back, my high-and-mighty act... he must have thought I was a complete fool, right?’