Douluo Continent has a system, but I don't want to use it.

Chapter 55 Who is behind the human traffickers?

Fang Tian's mind raced with thoughts, but his hands never stopped.

They had already manipulated their martial spirit to quietly set up a perimeter around the area.

"So you think you've got us cornered?" Fang Tian asked, frowning.

At the same time, he activated his Soul Skill—Scented Sleep.

"Hehe, how strong can a Soul Master who's just lodging in a small village be? I'm a Soul Emperor! Haha! Today I'll show you the price of meddling in other people's business," the masked leader said arrogantly.

"Boss is mighty! Invincible... Huh? Why am I so sleepy?" The masked Soul King swayed and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"What's going on? Ah! You actually betrayed us! Despicable!" The masked Soul Emperor, filled with rage, also felt dizzy and swayed from side to side a few times before finally collapsing to the ground with a thud.

When activating the Fragrant Sleep Soul Skill, Fang Tian had already secretly notified Qiu Fengyan. Both of them were holding their breath and concentrating intently at this moment.

Seeing the two men fall to the ground, Fang Tian quickly tied them up and extracted all their soul power.

Fang Tian and Qiu Fengyan each carried two masked men and two children, and retreated thirty meters away.

Fang Tian put down the two masked men he was holding and slapped the leader, Soul Emperor, twice to wake him up.

"You two despicable scoundrels actually managed to take me down with underhanded tactics. If you have the guts, let me go, and I can slap you both down with one slap." The masked Soul Emperor cursed as soon as he opened his eyes after waking up, and even challenged others to a duel.

"Slap! Shut up. Now I'll ask you a question, you answer it." Fang Tian raised his hand and slapped him again. This slap even ripped off his mask, revealing an ordinary middle-aged man's face.

The middle-aged man's cheeks and eyes were flushed red as he glared fiercely.

"Who sent you to kidnap the children?" Fang Tian asked, ignoring the hateful gaze of the middle-aged Soul Emperor.

"Hmph!" The middle-aged Soul Emperor snorted disdainfully and turned his head away.

"Heh! Do you know what this is?" Fang Tian took out a bottle with a silvery-white liquid flowing inside.

"This is mercury, a liquid metal at room temperature," Fang Tian replied without waiting for the middle-aged Soul Emperor's answer.

"I've heard that if you bury a person in the ground with their chest and above exposed, then make an incision in their scalp and pour mercury in, the mercury will continue to spread down the skin due to its weight."

"Because mercury is poisonous and numbs the nerves of the prisoner, they will not feel much pain at all. In the end, the mercury will flow to the soles of the prisoner's feet."

"The prisoner will wriggle continuously due to the numbness and itching, and eventually the whole person will jump out of the ground, leaving behind a complete human skin."

"Would you like to try it? I've only heard of this kind of punishment before, but I've never seen it. I sincerely hope you'll let me witness it," Fang Tian said sincerely.

At this moment, the middle-aged Soul Emperor was pale, his forehead was covered in cold sweat, his pupils were constricted, and his lips trembled, unable to speak.

Qiu Fengyan, who was standing next to him, was stunned and stared at Fang Tian in shock, as if she had just met him for the first time.

"My Lord Soul Emperor, would you like to give me the answer I'm looking for? I'm waiting for your definite answer." Fang Tian ignored Qiu Fengyan and teased the middle-aged Soul Emperor.

"I'll count to ten. If you remain silent after I've finished counting, then I'll assume you refuse to confess to being the mastermind behind it all," Fang Tian said, seeing that the middle-aged Soul Emperor still hadn't made a move.

"Ten, nine, eight... three, two..." Fang Tian counted slowly.

"I confess!" the middle-aged Soul Emperor said urgently, his face pale.

"You really confessed? Why didn't you hold on a little longer? I wanted to see how someone's skin is peeled off." Fang Tian's tone was full of regret.

"I confess, it was the brother-in-law of the Martial Soul Branch Hall Master of Blue City who made us do it." The middle-aged Soul Emperor felt his scalp tingle and quickly confessed.

"You need to think carefully about whether what you're saying is true or false. I'll wake up your accomplice later, and if the two of you give conflicting accounts, I'll skin you both alive," Fang Tian said with a grim face.

"Every word is true. If I am lying, may I be struck by lightning and die with my martial soul shattered!" The middle-aged Soul Emperor hurriedly swore an oath.

"I'll trust you for now. I'll interrogate your companion. If their testimonies match, everything will be fine. If not, well, hehe!" Fang Tian threatened again.

Fang Tian dragged the masked Soul King to the other side, checked him to make sure he was still unconscious, and slapped him awake. Then, following the interrogation procedure of the middle-aged Soul Emperor, he got the same answer as before.

Fang Tian dragged the masked Soul King back again: "Why are you working for the brother-in-law of the Martial Soul Branch Hall Master? Who is this so-called brother-in-law?"

"Hehe, sir, that so-called brother-in-law is named Wu Yang. He only has the cultivation of a Soul Master, so we naturally won't pay him any attention. However, his brother-in-law, the Hall Master of the Martial Soul Hall, is very protective of him. I heard that most of the money from selling the children went into the pocket of that Hall Master of the Martial Soul Hall," the middle-aged Soul Emperor said ingratiatingly.

"The branch hall master of the Spirit Hall was also involved? What evidence do you have?" Fang Tian's heart skipped a beat.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, the branch hall master of the Spirit Hall is extremely warm towards his brother-in-law, protecting him in every way. He's even closer to him than his wife and son. If it weren't for the fact that Wu Yang can bring him a lot of benefits, why would he act this way?" The middle-aged Soul Emperor analyzed anxiously, afraid that Fang Tian would misunderstand him as spreading rumors.

"That's quite possible. What is the cultivation level of the Hall Master of the Martial Soul Branch Hall in Bru City?" Fang Tian asked.

"I heard everyone say he's a Soul Saint, but he's been stuck at the Soul Saint stage for twenty years and still can't advance," the Soul King next to him quickly added, afraid that Fang Tian would think he was a piece of trash and get rid of him directly.

"Xiao Bai, I'll go investigate in a bit. You wait for me here," Fang Tian said, turning to Qiu Fengyan.

"I'll take this Soul King with me to familiarize myself with the route. If I haven't returned in three hours, you kill this Soul Emperor, take these two children and run away. We'll talk about avenging me later," Fang Tian added.

Qiu Fengyan knew that Fang Tian's strength was enough to rival a Title Douluo, and even if he couldn't defeat the enemy, he could escape. Besides, it wouldn't take him more than three hours to run an errand. So, the pre-arranged signal was now: "If he hasn't returned within an hour, something's wrong; run!"

"Yes, I understand," Qiu Fengyan nodded in reply.

Fang Tian knocked the Soul Emperor unconscious again and charged towards Bru City with the Soul King.

Fang Tian reduced his speed to half the speed of sound and arrived in Bru City in just ten minutes.

Guided by the Soul King in his hand, Fang Tian quickly found his brother-in-law Wu Yang's mansion. Looking at the extravagantly luxurious mansion, Fang Tian couldn't help but sigh, "It truly is a case of 'the rich feast while the poor freeze to death on the streets.'"

(End of this chapter)