Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 33 Meeting a colleague

Mo Ci knew that his disciple was quick-witted and rarely resorted to charades.

But he couldn't help but ask, "How do you know? I didn't hear any flaws in what this girl said just now."

Chen Ye said, "I didn't detect any flaws either. It's just that when you arrive in a strange place, the first person you meet is usually not so simple."

Mo Ci asked doubtfully, "What kind of evidence is this? It sounds like the delusion of a madman."

Chen Ye also said self-deprecatingly, "Indeed, just think I have paranoia. Sigh, if only my cultivation were higher, I could just do a soul search."

Mo Ci scoffed, "What are you thinking? Even those in the Tongxuan Realm find it difficult to search souls. Their souls are incredibly fragile; the slightest struggle will destroy their memories. Look at your Ten Thousand Soul Banner; the vengeful spirits that have been tormented for so long can't even remember who they are anymore. What you dig out through soul searching might not be what you want; it might just be the hatred from when you were bullied as a child."

"Even the most righteous methods of questioning the mind require setting up a grand array, presided over by a master, and the preparation alone takes several months. Do you really think you can know everything just by reaching out and grabbing something?"

Chen Ye sighed, "Yes, that's why it's troublesome."

Chen Ye looked at the martial arts practitioners whose heads were banging on the ground. If they couldn't search their souls, interrogating them would be very difficult.

Mo Ci asked again, "Since you think that girl is still hiding something, why did you release her? Just put her into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and torture her for a few days. I don't believe she can withstand it. She would definitely tell you everything like that monk."

Chen Ye countered, "And then what? If what this young girl says is true, and she really is a righteous thief, how are we going to explain this to Miss Su when she returns and we review the situation? Do you really think Miss Su, after years of arduous training, is so easily fooled on her first trip down the mountain for training?"

"I'm not afraid. At worst, I'll just have a falling out with Miss Su. She won't make me pay with my life. But Master, it will be difficult for you to ask the Qinghe Sword Sect for help."

Mo Ci sighed, "Alas, in the end, it is I who have dragged you down."

Chen Ye nodded repeatedly and said, "Master, it's good that you know. Remember this favor when you rebuild your physical body and restore your cultivation."

Mo Ci sensed something was wrong and asked suspiciously, "Wait a minute, kid, you're not trying to trick me, are you?"

"Hehe, Master, guess."

"You treacherous disciple who betrayed his master and ancestors!"

Mo Ci didn't bother to guess Chen Ye's true thoughts. This disciple was even more cunning than a fox demon, and he probably wouldn't do anything that would be a loss.

"So what are you going to do now? Is this how you avenge the teahouse waiter?"

Chen Ye shook his head and said, "Revenge is just a side effect. I came here to investigate the case for Miss Su. Since we've already fought, I might as well use the methods of a cultivator to resolve it."

Chen Ye never misses the point, whether in cultivation or in doing things.

He originally intended to gain fame by upholding justice so that he could quickly get close to Princess Hongyu. Coincidentally, these martial arts figures were also involved in the forced conscription of young boys and girls, so he decided to do it all at once.

Chen Ye waved the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, commanding the vengeful spirits to pull out all the martial arts practitioners whose heads were stuck in the floor.

They were all covered in blood and most of them had already fainted.

Chen Ye walked up to the guy who had attacked first, the one with the scarred face. He had a few more scars on his face, which would probably make him look even more imposing in the future.

Chen Ye felt that he was such a good person and deserved to be rewarded.

A slap across his face woke the scarred man, who was both drunk and dizzy, but he remained defiant.

Even with his face covered in blood, he gritted his teeth and said, "If you've got guts... give me a quick death! If you even flinch, I'm a coward!"

Chen Ye laughed and said, "You dog who bullies the kind-hearted have quite a sense of honor."

The scarred man scoffed, "Bah! That's how the world works – the strong prey on the weak. Wolves eat meat, dogs eat shit. This is the fate of those who have no ability."

"It's that beastly behavior again, where you're not human." Chen Ye shook his head and retorted, "Wild animals only fight the strong because they're hungry and they're trying to survive. You people are well-fed and clothed, and bullying others is just pure cruelty. Even wild dogs don't bite people randomly if they're full. You're really worse than a dog."

Chen Ye had always disliked this so-called "survival of the fittest" mentality. Slash-and-burn agriculture was originally devised to feed more people; it was a testament to humanity's superiority over animals.

If sages are all beasts, why did they create the world and why did they create humans from clay?

Our ancestors finally escaped the wilderness, yet some still want to return to a primitive and savage past, and even take pride in it. Cannibalism should be seen as a last resort, not something to be praised, much less something to be proud of.

However, Chen Ye was too lazy to waste words with this kind of person and went straight to the point, asking, "Where is your Young Master Jiang? Is he involved in the forced recruitment of young boys and girls?"

The scarred man snorted coldly.

"Don't even think about betraying the young master. Even if it costs me my life, I won't tell you a single word."

Chen Ye knew this person wouldn't speak so easily, but he had a plan.

Taking out the Ksitigarbha Sutra from his storage bag, Chen Ye muttered to himself, "I originally wanted to learn the immobilization spell first, but they forced me to learn torture and interrogation first."

The scriptures record four secret techniques: detention, locking, interrogation, and torture. Chen Ye originally wanted to learn the locking technique first, but now he can only take out the torture technique to hone his skills before the battle.

"Let me see, like this... Oh, it's quite difficult."

The scarred man had no idea what Chen Ye was doing, but he was held captive by an invisible vengeful spirit and was completely unable to move. He could only watch helplessly as Chen Ye dismantled a table and arranged the pieces of wood around him in a bizarre shape.

Chen Ye walked around a few times, his fingertips tracing patterns on the pieces of wood, muttering to himself: "Drawing a circle on the ground as a prison, breaking wood into shackles, for your sins, may you never be reborn..."

Chen Ye recited for a very long time, so long that the blood on the scarred man's face dried up, and he thought Chen Ye was just making a fuss.

Finally, Chen Ye's fingertips left the mess of wood and touched the scarred man's chest.

The finger strike was very light, yet it left a bluish mark on his chest.

Immediately, a thorn sprouted from this dot.

The scarred man, who had just been looking down on people, suddenly let out a scream, his eyes instantly becoming bloodshot, as if they were about to burst out of their sockets.

Thorns spread and grew, instantly covering the entire body, crawling like venomous snakes, piercing flesh and tearing internal organs, yet without a trace of blood.

These are not real thorns, but thorns that affect the soul. They do not harm the physical body, nor do they cause any damage to the soul. This secret technique only brings pain, more painful than the torture of being cut into a thousand pieces.

The Art of Punishment—A Hell of Thorns!
Those who commit grave sins are punished by having thorns pierce their bodies.

Chen Ye did not use magic, but instead set up a simple formation, which would increase the success rate and make it easier to execute.

Unfortunately, it can't be used for magical battles, since no one will stand here waiting for you to set up an array and chant spells for ages.

However, it is very useful for extracting confessions.

The hell of thorns lasted only a moment before the scarred man, who had just been full of pride, was already convulsing in pain, crying out and begging for mercy.

Chen Ye didn't mind, letting him howl a little longer so that others could hear him more clearly.

Setting up an array once is already exhausting; if Chen Ye had to set up arrays to extract confessions from each one, he would be exhausted to death.

The scarred man howled for a moment, then his voice went hoarse, leaving only hoarse groans.

His entire body was covered in lush thorns, which even swarmed in and out of his seven orifices, making him look quite frightening.

Feeling that the time was about right, Chen Ye was about to remove the punishment and start questioning again when a hazy pink light appeared.

"Ok?"

Chen Ye frowned. Something was wrong with this man's spirit; it seemed as if someone had tampered with it.

Upon closer inspection, the pink light contained countless insect-like runes that had originally enveloped the person's soul. However, stimulated by the Thorn Hell, these runes were automatically brought to the surface by the intense pain.

"Oh no, I've run into a competitor."

Chen Ye examined it carefully for a long time before recognizing it as a bewitching technique from the Demonic Sect, not much different from the one Mo Ci had taught him before.

Is Young Master Jiang a demon?
Could he be the mastermind behind the forced conscription of boys and girls in Cui County?
(End of this chapter)