Chapter 87: The Dangerous Solo Trip

Chapter 87: Chapter 87: The Dangerous Solo Trip

"Don’t bother trying that again," he said. "As long as I’m here, you’re not going to escape by killing yourself."

The woman trembled.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice barely audible.

"That’s not important." Mr. X crouched slightly so that she could see his face. "What matters is how much you know about the Bloodshadow Cult. Tell me everything, and you might still have a chance of leaving here alive."

She pressed her lips together. For several seconds, she said nothing.

Her expression shifted as she weighed her options, desperately searching for a way out of the situation.

Mr. X’s patience began to wear thin. He turned toward Steven.

"You’ve spent years operating in Constance District," he said. "I imagine you’ve learned a thing or two about getting information out of people. Why don’t you handle this?"

Steven immediately understood what was expected of him. He had already crossed a line from which there was no easy return. If he wanted to survive, he had to demonstrate that he was useful to Mr. X. Hesitation would only make him look unreliable.

"Leave it to me, my lord," he said, turning toward Tea House.

What followed was a prolonged interrogation. Steven employed every coercive method he knew, while Mr. X ensured that the woman could not escape through death, no matter how desperate she became.

Whenever her injuries threatened to become fatal, Mr. X intervened with another elixir.

The woman was left in a state of unbearable suffering, unable to flee, unable to end her own life, and unable to rely on the usual methods of protecting the Cult’s secrets.

More than twenty minutes passed. At last, her resistance crumbled.

"I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!" she cried, her voice breaking as tears streamed down her face. "Please, just stop! I can’t take any more!"

She lowered her head repeatedly, begging them to end the ordeal.

For someone accustomed to working in the shadows, the prospect of capture had always been terrifying. But she had never imagined anything like this: a situation in which she could not escape, could not die, and could not endure the pain indefinitely.

The fear of what might happen next finally outweighed her loyalty to the Bloodshadow Cult.

"I’ll confess," she sobbed. "Everything I know, I’ll tell you. Just please, don’t torture me anymore!"

The woman codenamed Tea House eventually broke under interrogation and agreed to reveal everything she knew.

Her real name was Stella Pan. She was thirty years old, a native of the Valemont region, with elderly parents to care for and young children depending on her.

She claimed she had joined the Bloodshadow Cult six years ago and had remained loyal to the organization ever since.

Within the Bloodshadow Cult, Stella led one of its intelligence gathering teams in the Valemont region.

More than ten team leaders held similar positions throughout the organization, but none of them ranked highly enough to meet the sect master directly.

Her immediate superior was a deputy sect leader who went by the codename Selene. Stella had never learned anything about Selene’s true identity.

It was Selene who had ordered the Shadow Hunters to assassinate Mira.

According to Stella, the deputy sect leader intended to cultivate a powerful martial technique known as the Devouring Demon Skill. The technique allowed its practitioner to absorb the bodies of powerful martial artists and convert their strength into her own.

Mira’s recent awakening of the Frost Phoenix Bloodline had caught Selene’s attention. That was why the deputy sect leader wanted her so badly.

Based on the information available to her, Stella estimated Selene’s cultivation to be at the peak of the Spirit Platform Realm.

Unfortunately, Selene was notoriously difficult to track down. She had no permanent residence, and even Stella, one of her subordinates, had no idea where to find her.

However, she did know where Selene would appear that evening.

The previous night, Stella had received an order from her superior.

She was to meet representatives of the Dolly Bridle Evil Faction in an underground passage, negotiate with them, and arrange an exchange.

Two peak Foundation Establishment Realm martial artists would be handed over in return for Mira’s mother.

The proposed deal had two purposes. First, the Bloodshadow Cult’s leadership had acknowledged the Dolly Bridle Evil Faction’s capabilities and wanted to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with them.

Second, the Cult had recently received another commission involving Mira’s mother.

The employer behind the request had offered a generous reward, enough to tempt the Bloodshadow Cult into accepting the job.

The arrangement suited both sides. The Dolly Bridle Evil Faction needed sacrifices for its rituals, and the identities of those sacrifices were of little concern to its members.

In exchange for one woman, they would receive two martial artists at the peak of Foundation Establishment.

It was an excellent bargain from their perspective. The two organizations had therefore reached an agreement without much difficulty.

The exchange was scheduled for nine o’clock that evening at the foot of Eastwood Mountain, east of Valemont.

Stella also clarified that she had not participated in the original operation against Mira’s mother.

She was neither an executioner nor a member of the team responsible for following the target.

Consequently, she knew nothing about the identity of the employer who had placed the earlier commission.

Her knowledge of the Dolly Bridle Evil Faction was equally limited.

Nevertheless, Xavier was more than satisfied with what he had learned. The information exceeded his expectations.

As long as nothing unexpected happened that evening, he would finally have an opportunity to rescue his mother in law.

"Take her somewhere secure and keep her hidden," Xavier instructed Steven Holloway. "I’ll contact you tonight. If I discover that even a small part of her testimony was fabricated, you know what to do. Continue the interrogation using the same methods."

"Understood, sir!" Steven bowed repeatedly, making sure to convey his obedience.

Before leaving, Xavier handed him two Prosperity Pills.

With that settled, Xavier departed. Eastwood Mountain was a considerable distance from Constance District.

He wanted to reach the meeting place early, inspect the surrounding terrain, and work out the best way to move once darkness fell.

Initially, he considered handling the operation with assistance.

Selene was probably a peak Spirit Platform Realm martial artist, and Xavier could not be certain that he could defeat someone at that level.

He briefly considered using his Mr. X identity to ask Samuel Bush to dispatch a martial artist from the Extraordinary Division.

After giving it more thought, however, he abandoned the idea. There was a serious problem with involving Samuel.

Samuel had most likely heard about Mr X’s Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger from Grant Mercer, who had witnessed Mr X use the technique inside the Hunting Ground Secret Realm.

If Mr X confronted Selene and revealed the same technique during their battle, Samuel would have little trouble connecting the dots.

That would put his carefully concealed identity at risk.

Mr. X was regarded as a distinguished guest by the Extraordinary Division, someone whose reputation was firmly on the side of justice.

Xavier, on the other hand, was currently operating undercover as a ruthless figure who dealt specifically with the underground forces. If Samuel discovered that the two identities belonged to the same person, the revelation could create unnecessary complications. Worse, it might make Samuel suspicious of him.

Xavier had no intention of taking that risk.

Besides, killing Selene was not the primary objective of this operation. He only needed to bring his mother in law home safely.

His cultivation had already surpassed that of an ordinary 3rd-Star Spirit Platform Realm martial artist. In addition, he possessed the 9th-Grade martial skill Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger, the 8th-Grade Golden Body Soft Armor, two rune fragments, and the Six-Sided Destiny Die.

With so many powerful resources at his disposal, Xavier was confident that he could complete the rescue without involving anyone else.

He made up his mind and headed for Eastwood Mountain alone.

An hour later, he arrived at his destination. According to Stella, the exchange would take place inside a pavilion at the foot of the mountain’s western slope. Xavier quietly surveyed the area, memorizing the surrounding terrain and possible escape routes. Once he was satisfied, he found a suitable hiding place and waited for nightfall.

* * *

Under the cover of darkness, a vehicle pulled up near the foot of Eastwood Mountain.

Several men dragged a woman out of the car.

Ropes bound her so tightly that she could barely move, leaving her looking like a bundle wrapped from head to toe.

The woman was Mira’s mother.

The moment she recognized the mountain, her heart sank. She was familiar with the area. She had never imagined that she would return to this place under such circumstances.

Despair washed over her as memories of the past few months resurfaced. It had all begun when she and her husband ventured into Mistfall Forest in search of a rare treasure known as the Divine Grace Fruit.