Chapter 98

"Are you insane?" someone immediately scolded. "What nonsense are you spouting!"

Another prisoner on the nearby rack chimed in: "How dare you speak recklessly about the Xianzun—have you grown tired of living?"

"To save your own life, you'd even smear our Heaven's Mandate Tower! Is your life really worth that much?"

"You'd better pray that everyone here dies today. If any one of us gets out, we will surely report this to the Xianzun!"

"You—" They continued hurling abuse, as if venting all the grievances they'd suffered in the Ghost Realm.

But soon, everyone fell silent. Thick iron chains, like pythons, coiled around their necks, seemingly ready to strangle them at any moment.

"Why stop cursing?" Lin Yu asked with a smile once they quieted down. "Now you're afraid of death?"

"Out there, once you die, everything ends. But here, death won't solve anything," several ghost attendants reminded them. "If we kill you now, the next instant your souls will be taken and sent to the underworld. Think carefully."

The prisoners were trapped in a situation where they could neither live nor die. If they had been captured and interrogated in the mortal world, facing torture over secrets they couldn't reveal, they could at least bite their tongues and end it. But this was the Ghost Realm. They were bound and questioned, unable to escape alive, and dying wouldn't help at all. Death would only bring them a worse fate. They absolutely could not die here.

Lin Yu said, "Tell me, what's the situation with Ming Jing? If you speak, I not only guarantee your release but also return your Divine Maiden to you."

"When you rescue the Divine Maiden and return to the Heaven's Mandate Tower, you'll be hailed as heroes. I assure you, I won't reveal a single detail about Ming Jing or the Xianzun. No one outside will know what you've been through or what you've said."

"Don't forget where you are. There's no wall without cracks in this world, but my walls are airtight. The only ones who know your secrets are the dead. Why bother arguing with the dead?"

Lin Yu had always liked the dead. Once people were dead, she could rest easy—the dead couldn't talk, and they couldn't cause trouble.

After a long pause, someone finally spoke up. The speaker appeared to be the oldest present, probably in his forties. "Have them all leave."

Lin Yu readily ordered the ghost attendants out. The chains lifted from their necks, and it was plain to see that everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Lin Yu: "Speak."

The man pursed his lips, as if engaging in a great mental struggle. After much hesitation, he finally said, "The Xianzun is the true Xianzun, but Elder Ming Jing is also our Xianzun. There are two Xianzuns; it's just a matter of who came first."

"Have you heard of the incident twenty years ago when the Divine Maiden failed her Ascension and died on the spot? The Xianzun used half his life's fortune to save her. That Divine Maiden was called A Si."

Hearing the name A Si, Lin Yu sat up straight. She didn't hide anything: "I've heard of it. What does that have to do with her?"

"The one who saved her back then was Elder Ming Jing."

At this point, there was no need to hide anything further. The bound prisoners all understood that even though they didn't know who was interrogating them, this person had the power to capture so many of them. If she was willing to investigate such old stories, she would surely find traces. Rather than pretend loyalty and guard a crumbling secret, it was better to trade that secret for a chance to survive.

A female disciple bound near the door picked up the thread: "What do you think of this 'half a life's fortune'? Doesn't it sound ridiculous? In this world, everything follows cause and effect, and balance. Could a cultivator's half-life fortune really bring a god back from the dead?"

"At that time, it was a life for a life."

The oldest man continued, "Elder Ming Jing died to give the Divine Maiden seven more days of life. Then, the elder's senior brother arrived and used a secret technique to revive him."

Lin Yu: "And this senior brother is your current Xianzun?"

"Yes. Though the elder was revived, his vitality was severely damaged and his cultivation was lost. He could no longer serve as Xianzun, so he yielded the position to his senior brother."

Lin Yu sensed something amiss. Apart from being erased from the Book of Life and Death, there was no true resurrection in this world. Those revived by other means would suffer immense backlash, living each remaining day in torment. Take the batch of revived people in Jiangnan two months ago—they were alive, but their bodies rotted day by day, turning them into walking corpses.

So was Ming Jing the same? No... how could a resurrected person live for twenty years?

Resurrection was less about being brought back to life and more about locking the soul in the body, preventing it from leaving, and creating a temporary semblance of life. After an ordinary person died, they would turn to bones within half a month. A resurrected person would decay much more slowly, but they wouldn't last more than a year before completely rotting.

Even Lu Yao's father—after the Rain Goddess woke and used divine power to revive him—even though a celestial had saved his life, his body couldn't hold out for more than two years before it began to decay.

Was there really someone who could live for twenty years after resurrection without their body rotting?

Lin Yu also thought of the Xianzun. His lifespan was exhausted. He had long since been white-haired, yet he relied on cultivation to maintain a youthful appearance. Now he could barely even hold that together, hoping to use the blessings of the Divine Maiden's ascension to prolong his life.

In almost an instant, Lin Yu had pieced together the likely cause and effect: When the Xianzun arrived back then, the elder wasn't completely dead. The Xianzun traded his own lifespan to the elder, severely shortening his own, in exchange for the elder's continued survival.

Lin Yu didn't press further on the resurrection matter, assuming these people likely didn't know the details. "If the Xianzun was switched, wouldn't anyone have noticed?"

The female disciple replied, "No. They look very similar."

"Similar? How similar?" Lin Yu was puzzled. Two people who looked so alike that someone could be swapped without anyone noticing—was that even possible?

"They are biological brothers. They look alike, have matching personalities, behavior, and even identical past experiences. As long as they shared a portion of memories from the Heaven's Mandate Tower, they'd be no different from the same person."

Lin Yu was astonished. No wonder...

"Is he currently in the Heaven's Mandate Tower?"

The older man hesitated for a moment. "...Yes."

That moment of hesitation aroused Lin Yu's suspicion. "You all know his identity, and you're deliberately covering for him, keeping him from being exposed, right?"

The two didn't answer. Lin Yu continued, "He's the one assigning you tasks?"

"Yes," they both answered in unison.

Lin Yu: "Does he live in the palace at the peak of the Divine Mountain, or in the dense forest on the back side?"

"Who exactly are you? How do you know all this?" The female disciple, sensing something off, frowned. "Are you from the Heaven's Mandate Tower?!"

Someone else cut in, equally shocked: "What kind of person are you, knowing about the forest behind the Divine Mountain?! Have you been there?"

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow, casting a distant glance over them. "Was I too lenient with you just now? Did you forget where you are and who you are?"

"It's my turn to ask, and you're my prisoners. I ask, you answer. Know your place."

Someone nearby couldn't stand it. "Don't go too far! You—"

That man had been silent since being brought in. The first thing out of his mouth was accusing Lin Yu of going too far. She glanced at him, then hurled her long blade in his direction!

The blade struck the iron chain with a violent clang, and the thick links broke apart with a loud snap. The torture chamber wasn't very spacious, and the sound echoed loudly, making many faces pale.

The blade spun in the air for a moment before returning deftly to Lin Yu's hand. "Someone, drag him out. Let him choose his own death, and don't make it too ugly."

Her voice carried a chilling detachment as she spoke. The closed door immediately swung open, and two men came in to drag out the one now trembling with fear, wailing hysterically.

"He's gone. Now, let's continue." Lin Yu smiled at the rest. "Have you thought about what to say?"

"I'll talk... I'll talk..." Seeing someone actually dragged away, the female disciple was truly frightened. She didn't want to die in the underworld. "The Divine Mountain—on the back side, there's a mist, but it's just an illusion. Passing through the mist and heading south for about ten li, you'll find a thorn forest. Elder Ming Jing lives in a bamboo hut beyond it."

"He usually doesn't come out. Only when the Xianzun is away does he emerge to take his place briefly. He's our true master. All of us have practiced under his guidance."

No wonder they were so reluctant to speak. He was their master.

The female disciple finished in one breath, speaking quickly: "I've told you everything I know. Now can you let me go?"

Her tone was sincere. Lin Yu propped her head in thought for a moment. "Fine."

She ordered the attendants outside: "Someone, escort her out. Take her to the Buzhou River."

Ghost attendants quickly came in and untied her bonds. However, the cloth over her eyes remained untouched. Even though her hands were now free, she stayed rooted in place, like a puppet on strings.

Lin Yu stood and walked over to her. "Open your mouth."

The female disciple was startled but complied. A cold object slid down her throat. She had no idea what she'd swallowed. It wasn't until the strange sensation hit her stomach that she realized something was wrong. "What is this?"

Lin Yu turned away, speaking with total conviction: "You were poisoned as soon as you entered the Ghost Realm. No one told you? Check the time—in a little while, the rest of them will be bleeding from all seven orifices and dying."

"That was the antidote." Lin Yu added, "You were sincere, and I keep my word. I said I'd let you go, and I will."

The remaining bound prisoners grew anxious at this. A smile spread across Lin Yu's face. "In a moment, I'll send someone to bring your Divine Maiden out. You'll take her back. From now on, you'll be the only hero who rescued the Divine Maiden. Use that as a bargaining chip to rise high. Best of luck to you."

With that, Lin Yu waved her hand. The ghost attendants led the woman out. Lin Yu sat back in her chair, appraising the rest. Sure enough, provocation was the best tool against these people.

Who could stand the thought of a traitor who'd sold out the Heaven's Mandate Tower's secrets taking all the credit? Those disciples who had been silent earlier were now itching to speak.

As for the oldest disciple, even with his eyes blindfolded, Lin Yu could see the fury in him. He was the one who'd first revealed the story of the Xianzun and the elder, and now someone else had stolen the credit and left him here to suffer. Of course he couldn't take it.

The older disciple spoke up, this time without hesitation. "I know another secret about the elder!"

Lin Yu: "Let's hear it."

"The elder has been poisoning the Xianzun all along!"