A heretical cultivator in Bureau 749, I'm the fiercest at pulling out tendons and skinning peop

"No...don't kill me! Please! Lord Ji! Master Ji! Daoist Master!"

In the deathly silence of despair, a trembling, tearful female voice suddenly broke the suffocating silence.

A girl dressed in a light purple cheongsam, who looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, could no longer hold on. Her knees buckled, and she knelt down with a "thud," facing the high platform, tears streaming down her face, and desperately kowtowing.

"I know nothing! I'm just a servant! I've never harmed anyone! Please! Spare me! I'll be your slave, your servant! Please!!"

She kowtowed so hard that her smooth forehead quickly became red and swollen, and her voice was shrill and desperate, echoing in the cold hall.

This kneeling was like toppling the first domino.

"I don't know anything! It's all Yunniang's fault! She forced us into this!"

"Yes! The elixir was given by the Holy Maiden! We knew nothing about the Gu worms!"

"Spare me! I'm willing to testify! I'll testify against Yunniang! I'll testify against the Holy Maiden! I know a lot about them!"

"Don't kill me! I have parents to support! I can't die!"

Cries, pleas for mercy, accusations of betrayal... surged forth like a flood bursting its banks.

Dozens of disciples of the Hehuan Sect, who were just moments before looking glamorous and well-trained, now displayed their ugly side and lost all dignity.

They knelt down in droves, some kowtowing, some weeping, and for that slim chance of survival, they did not hesitate to turn their anger towards their former superiors and comrades.

They even went so far as to fabricate lies, desperately trying to extricate themselves from this certain death trap.

"You bastards! Shut up, all of you!!!"

Yunniang trembled with rage, her face ashen, her eyes bloodshot as she glared at her subordinates who had instantly turned against her and revealed their ugly side, and she shouted at them sharply.

"Look at the state of you! You've completely disgraced the Hehuan Sect! Spineless cowards! Now you're scared? Where were you before?!"

However, her rebuke seemed so pale and powerless at this moment.

The immense fear of impending death had long since shattered the loyalty built upon interests and coercion.

"Shut up, Yunniang!"

An older woman kneeling on the ground suddenly looked up, her face still wet with tears, but her eyes filled with resentment and madness. She pointed at Yunniang and screamed:

"Exactly! It's clearly your and the Holy Maiden's fault! Why should we be dragged down with them?!"

"If you want to die, don't drag us down with you!!"

"Pah! Who do you think you are! You dare to lecture us?!"

They retorted with sharp words and insults.

The once respectful and fearful gazes are now replaced by naked resentment, accusations, and attempts to cut ties.

When a tree falls, the monkeys scatter; when a wall collapses, everyone pushes it down.

Looking at those distorted faces, Yunniang's lips trembled, but she could no longer utter a complete sentence.

On the high platform.

Ji Zuodao seemed completely oblivious to the ugly farce unfolding on stage.

He remained leisurely leaning on the couch, a delicate crystal cake in his hand, slowly breaking it off piece by piece and offering it to Qiqi beside him.

Qiqi ate in small bites, her pale purple eyes quietly watching the chaotic and desperate crowd below the stage, a few crumbs of pastry seemingly clinging to her long eyelashes.

Ji Zuodao carefully brushed it away with his fingertips, his movements so gentle they were almost indulgent.

Then, as if finally disturbed by the increasingly loud cries and pleas for mercy, he turned his head slightly and lazily glanced at the audience.

That gaze was calm and unwavering, devoid of both mockery and pity, more like looking at a group of insignificant, noisy insects.

"Just now……"

He spoke, his voice not loud, yet strangely it drowned out all the cries and screams, reaching everyone's ears clearly.

"I already said that."

"I only want one person alive."

"boom--!!!"

These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over everyone's heads.

The cries, pleas for mercy, and curses... all froze instantly.

Those kneeling and those standing were all frozen in place, their faces drained of all color.

All that remained was endless despair and... a gradually spreading, chilling cold.

One survivor...

Just one...

What does that mean?

This means that out of dozens of them...

Ultimately, only one person can walk out of this frozen hall.

The rest...

They all have to die.

Yunniang's body swayed violently, and she staggered back half a step, barely managing to steady herself by grabbing onto the overturned table next to her.

She stared intently at the young man on the platform. An unprecedented, bone-chilling cold instantly swept through her body, making her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cave, and even her teeth began to chatter uncontrollably.

This demon...

He not only wanted them dead.

He also wanted them to tear apart the last bit of human dignity and connection before they died.

He wanted them to be like wild beasts in their despair...

They kill each other.

He wanted to sit on the high platform and watch this ugly and bloody drama he had directed.

In the end, that "lucky one" might kneel at his feet, his hands stained with the blood of his fellow disciples and his soul utterly broken, becoming what he calls a "living witness"...

He not only wanted them dead, but also to destroy their spirits.

So ruthless...

So poisonous!

This is not the method of a righteous cultivator.

This is the demonic path of manipulating people's hearts and trampling on souls!

What they are facing today is not a law-abiding official, but a demon in disguise!

"Heh...heh..."

Yunniang gasped for breath like a broken bellows, her gaze fixed on Ji Zuodao, her voice hoarse and distorted with extreme emotion:

"What...what exactly do you want?!"

"You want them to kill each other, just to watch a good show?"

"And then what? Watching the last living person crawl like a dog at your feet, begging for your meager right to be 'alive'?"

"Investigator Ji! Killing someone is just a matter of beheading! Why do you have to humiliate me like this?! Give me a quick death!!"

Her screams echoed in the empty hall, carrying with them resentment and a final, feeble struggle.

Ji Zuodao finally slowly raised his head.

He looked down at Yunniang, who was acting like a madwoman, her usual shy smile nowhere to be seen.

Instead, he wore a calm, almost indifferent expression.

"Humiliation?"

He repeated the word, seemingly finding it somewhat amusing.

"Yunniang, are you sure you're not mistaken about something?"

He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees, his gaze calmly sweeping over every face in the audience—whether it was one of despair, madness, or resentment.

"Your Hehuan Sect used the 'Spirit-Eating Gu' to disguise pills, control the minds of others, and turn living people into empty shells of corpses for you to drive and feed your Gu worms..."

"Have you ever considered that this is humiliation?"

His voice was not loud, and even had little inflection, but every word was clear and resonated in everyone's heart.

"Those people whose fortunes were drained, whose connections were squandered, and who ultimately became walking corpses, forgetting even who they were, did they, in their final moments, have the chance to kneel and beg for mercy, to curse injustice, and to desperately seek a quick end, just like you are doing now?"

Ji Zuodao paused, his gaze returning to Yunniang's pale face. The corners of his mouth seemed to curve slightly, but there was no hint of a smile.

"I'm not that particular."

"I'm too lazy to lecture you on any grand principles or discuss right and wrong."

"All I know is that what you did made me very unhappy."

"And that made me unhappy..."

"There will be a price to pay."

"I've set the rules."

"One survivor."

"As for who this survivor is..."

His gaze swept over the trembling Hehuan Sect women below the stage, their eyes gradually filled with fear and a kind of madness, and finally landed on Yunniang.

"You yourselves..."

"Let's discuss it together."