With virtue

Looking at the two tough men in front of him, the young Taoist priest pondered for a moment.

Then, he put down his pen and paper and said to them, "I have heard from those who have achieved spiritual cultivation that after a person dies, the underworld officials take them to the Yellow Springs, and the gates of hell block the way, completely separating them from the mortal world, making it impossible to interfere anymore. This is called 'the separation of life and death'."

"But there are always exceptions. If someone cultivates to a certain level and can go to the underworld and enter the Yellow Springs, then even if they die, they may not be able to escape the entanglements of the mortal world. That is the skill that Anhe Daoist cultivates. I can understand that you are afraid of him. It is only right."

At this point, Zhao Yunshu deliberately fell silent, paused, and scanned the two men, as if assessing their backgrounds.

He Wulang's calf twitched involuntarily, causing the iron chains attached to his body to jiggle.

Sun Meng's Adam's apple bobbed. Although he was trying to remain calm, he couldn't help but swallow.

Zhao Yunshu observed them carefully, so she saw all their reactions.

So he simply stood up and casually took out the black dagger that could be controlled by the Yin spirit from an inconspicuous place. It was the very dagger that An He had almost killed that night.

He gripped the knife handle and then immediately removed the red string from it.

Since the spirits of the underworld cannot touch physical objects, Anhe was able to wield the knife because of the red rope attached to it. As for how the red rope was made, the young Taoist priest had no idea yet.

But what he could figure out was that it was probably made using the blood of an unborn baby as a medium, allowing the ethereal spirit to directly contact reality by taking advantage of the baby's half-dead state of being about to be born.

So he tore the red rope off right in front of him, and with a wave of his hand, the red rope caught fire. There were no problems while the rope was burning, until the red rope was completely burned away, but then he discovered... there was still a red rope left in the same spot.

Seeing this, Zhao Yunshu already roughly knew why.

The dead are not very spiritual, and the living cannot bear to kill them. Only those who are about to die but are not yet dead, one part in the underworld and the other part in the human world, form a rope between the underworld and the human world. When parents have intercourse, their essence and blood combine, containing true energy, which resides in the pure yin palace of the mother, where the spirit is hidden within the undifferentiated yin and yang.

This thing isn't a rope; it's a fetal umbilical cord that's been ritualized, dried, and twisted into a rope!

What I just burned was only the part in the mortal world; the other part is still in the underworld!

Things from the underworld are not afraid of ordinary flames.

Then, the young Taoist priest exhaled a breath of air, spitting out a completely different flame. The red rope, which had remained unchanged in mortal fire, suddenly burst into flame.

This sip was the "true fire" that he had previously ignited in his mind.

That day, in a fit of rage, he ignited a fire in his heart. He wasn't a fool; he knew that true fire was hard to come by, so he didn't let it go out. Instead, he kept a spark in his heart so that he could breathe out true fire at any time.

However, since it is only a spark, it is not used skillfully and is slow to activate. It requires the mind to activate it, and the true fire to ignite the ordinary fire into a true fire before it can be used again, rather than directly using the spark. In daily life, one must also use the mind to add fuel.

Although it is not quite as good as that of someone who has truly mastered the art of fire, it is still fire after all.

Therefore, the underworld portion of the red rope was also burned away. This miraculous scene, and the power of the real fire, were witnessed by the two tough men, and even Young Master Wang was startled by the sight of the real fire!

The flames were blazing, burning even in mid-air. Zhao Yunshu picked up the tea beside him and poured it into the fire, but the flames only intensified and could not be extinguished by the water. It was as if he was adding fuel to the fire!

The light flashed and the fire continued, like water being quenched by fire, boiling loudly and burning away all the things in the underworld. If it burned a person, it would probably burn away their soul as well!

After burning it, Zhao Yunshu inhaled the true fire into his abdomen and then said, "This knife is truly wicked. Anhe used it to kill me, but unfortunately, he was killed by me instead. He was stabbed to death with one sword. You were unlucky and did not see what he looked like before he died. Even someone with such high cultivation was like a prisoner when he was stabbed to death. He didn't even make a sound, just stared blankly."

This is the truth.

That old ghost An and the other guy spent so much time showing off, only to be stabbed to death by the little Taoist priest with a single sword.

He said the same thing no matter who came!

Forget about cultivation level, let's just ask whether they live or die.

He Wulang and Sun Meng both stared at him, their fear barely concealed.

He didn't recognize real fire, but he knew it couldn't possibly be ordinary fire. He also knew that the red rope and the small knife were indeed items of peace and safety, and that they had all ended up in the hands of the young Taoist priest...

That sorcerer, is he really dead?! He can die too?!

Zhao Yunshu pressed his advantage, continuing, "I pierced through that old ghost. I don't know if he's completely dead, but when his spirit left his body, I shattered it with thunderous sound, and now that his physical body is gone, I'm afraid he can't capture your souls anymore. But now that you're in my hands, I'll tell you the truth: you've witnessed An He's methods. If you want to keep quiet for him, then you can witness my methods." As he spoke, he forced his inner fire from between his fingers, and a wisp of true fire ignited on the tip of his index finger, flickering.

His words were half true and half false, a mix of truth and deception, yet they struck right at the spot in their hearts that they feared most.

Physical pain doesn't frighten them, but what they fear are the methods of those who have achieved mastery in cultivation, which are more terrifying than death!

Zhao Yunshu pinched a flame, then stood up, walked to He Wulang, put his hand on the other's shoulder, focused his inner vision, and began to examine the other's body, performing a "body examination".

If he's right, then there must be something wrong with their bodies.

The method of inner vision is no less effective than the method of yin-yang meditation. Although one cannot descend to the Yellow Springs to wander, the human body is also a small world. One can see into the other person's body and thus detect many methods that one might consider "flawless".

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed found that there were several wisps of black energy within the body.

However, Zhao Yunshu keenly noticed that although it was black energy, it seemed to be part of his own body, and he did not have any rejection reaction.

Zhao Yunshu carefully examined them and discovered that they were actually his seven souls.

It turned out that his seven souls had long been extracted by An He using the Soul-Controlling Technique, but remained inside his body, imprisoned within by yin energy and some kind of incantation.

If Anhe is willing, even if he dies and enters the underworld, Anhe can find him through the spell and bring him back, as long as he is willing.

Moreover, the seven souls are inextricably linked to the physical body, making them impossible to separate, and even invisible. No wonder those who tortured him were helpless despite exhausting all their methods.

Such a method, which is engraved deep inside the body using secret techniques, cannot be discovered even if the person is beaten to death, if the inside of the body cannot be seen directly.

But what a coincidence... the interior landscape's reflection is just right to be seen!

However... some solutions are still needed.

He slowly withdrew his hand and smiled at He Wulang: "You have something inside you, do you know that yourself?"

He Wulang trembled all over. His face, which was already frighteningly pale from the torture, became even more ashen.

Zhao Yunshu, unhurried, walked behind Sun Meng, pressed his hand on him for a moment, and observed the interior.

Sure enough, Sun Meng also had those same black energies lingering above his seven souls.

Zhao Yunshu nodded and then sat back down on the stool.

He swept his gaze across their faces and said, "I've already seen it. Anhe has left a backup plan on both of you, hasn't he?"

"So, your seven souls were already subdued by him using the Soul-Controlling Technique. But in order to keep you alive and do your work, he didn't take them away. Instead, he used a spell to lock your seven souls into your bodies and let you use them for a while. But in reality, your seven souls are no longer your own."

"Once you die, your seven souls will be freed from the shackles of your physical bodies. No matter where you escape to, he can use his magic to find the location of the curse and bring you back from the Yellow Springs with the help of the Luoyin Temple. At that time, your fate will be entirely up to him." Go to Bing to search for "Deqi" to view the latest chapter!

The truth was revealed by the young Taoist priest.

He Wulang could no longer hold on. His legs went weak, and even though his collarbone was being pulled, he didn't care about the pain. He immediately knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face, and cried out, "Master, please understand! He... he said that if I dared to have any disloyal thoughts, I wouldn't be able to escape even if I died. He wanted to personally go to the underworld to capture me and make me suffer the torment of being controlled by my soul every day!"

Sun Meng, who was standing next to him, did not say anything, but his shoulders trembled slightly.

Hearing this from the side, Young Master Wang remarked at the opportune moment, "This Anhe is truly more venomous than a ghost."

He seemed to have completely forgotten that he himself was actually quite familiar with the methods of "seeking ruin".

Zhao Yunshu then said frankly, "Since you've said that, I won't lie to you. Let me tell you, my teacher isn't entirely confident that I can break the curse on you right now. If I act rashly, I'm afraid you won't be able to withstand it."

"But I can also tell you that if I can see it, I can think of a way to deal with it. However, you have to tell me a few things first. I'm not running a charity. As for you, I'll have to see if you're really honest or just pretending."

Upon hearing this, He and Sun thought to themselves that although the Taoist priest in front of them looked very young, only about ten years old, he was probably a master of preserving his youth! Perhaps he was even the same age as that evil Taoist Anhe! Otherwise, how could he have killed Anhe?

Thinking about it this way, they felt the young Taoist priest was becoming increasingly unfathomable! So, they dared not remain silent any longer and immediately nodded, "Taoist priest, spare our lives! We'll tell you everything!"

Seeing this, Zhao Yunshu nodded in satisfaction, and then asked about the two of them's journey to Dingzhou with Anhe.

He Wulang did indeed speak. He had never been much of a man of principle, and now that he had a chance to break free from the control of the spirit, he immediately grasped at this lifeline. Although his speech was somewhat intermittent due to his injuries, he was very cooperative, answering every question without struggling. Sun Meng was initially hesitant and dared not say much, only responding with a few "uh-huhs" and "ah-ahs." However, after seeing He Wulang spill the beans, even mentioning how he contacted Lushan and which mass graves were being smuggled with protective items, he gradually stopped hiding his true intentions.

At this point, there's no escaping it anyway.

Young Master Wang gave Zhao Yunshu a thumbs up.

Zhao Yunshu understood and continued to ask questions.

He was somewhat relieved that his coaxing had actually yielded some results, but he was also grateful for Anhe's belongings; otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy to get these two to talk.

The young Taoist priest sat inside for almost half an hour.

After listening to the whole thing, he nodded and said, "I already know all of this, but I'd like to know more."

He deliberately stood up and then said in a serious tone, "You two sneaked in to work for Anhe, so you couldn't have come to him on your own. Therefore, there must be other informants in Dingzhou City besides the two of you, and there must be a way to pass messages up the chain of command. You can't be headless flies."

"Now, you two hand over the spell that connects you. I can promise you that as long as you don't play any tricks and tell the truth, I will have them heal your wounds and give you good wine and meat. You can stay here until this matter is over. I will personally lift the spell for you and let you go back. Then you can go wherever you want, like fish returning to the sea."

He Wulang and Sun Meng immediately nodded and shouted that they understood.

They were terrified of Anhe, having witnessed his methods firsthand.

But Zhao Yunshu was exceptionally capable, even producing evidence to prove he killed An He. This Taoist priest was probably some ancient monster with an extraordinary ability to maintain youth, able to see through the curses within their bodies, and his true fire was indeed extraordinary; their defenses had already been breached. Now that things had come to this, everything that needed to be said had been said, and everything that shouldn't have been said had been said. An He would definitely not let them go, so what was there left to hide?

Of the two, Sun Meng spoke first: "Daoist Master, please understand that Wu Lang and I were not directly accepted by An He. We were only in contact with someone above us. We have never seen that person's face and usually communicate with him through incantations."

"Whenever there is an order, I will receive the message, then return home, write a talisman, recite an incantation, bury the talisman in charcoal ash and burn it. I will hear the voice of that person in my heart. However, this incantation cannot speak, so we can only obey the order and do not know where that person is."

Upon hearing the words "one-way communication," Zhao Yunshu immediately laughed and said, "There is no such thing as a truly one-way spell in this world. Where there is a source, there is a destination. Recite the incantation to me and draw the talisman for me."

Since He Wulang and Sun Meng had already gotten to this point, they simply spilled the beans, explaining the incantation and the talisman in turn, and then asked for paper and pen to draw the design.

That's enough.

Zhao Yunshu carefully put these things away. He would take them back to study them, using talismanic techniques to deduce the truth and see if he could find the person behind them.

The interrogation is now over. As for the black energy in the two men's seven souls, he can't get rid of it for the time being, but it doesn't matter.

Although Anhe is dead, there must be other Lushan monks in Dingzhou City. We can capture one alive later and force him to reveal the method to break the curse.

After doing all this, Zhao Yunshu turned to look at Young Master Wang: "Young Master, what about these two?"

Young Master Wang laughed and said, "Let's do as you just said. Someone, go and prepare medicine, wine, and meat so they can rest."

After speaking, he pulled Zhao Yunshu out. Zhao Yunshu didn't want to stay in the dungeon any longer, but he had arranged to meet with Young Master Wang again early the next morning. He would go back and study the matter first.

After making the agreement, he took the few pieces of paper with him and walked back to the small courtyard he had left before.

He wanted to study this spell carefully tonight, away from any disturbance.

Knowing this, after Zhao Yunshu left, Young Master Wang turned to Zhou Yi and gave him some minor instructions.

Zhou Yi was efficient. He immediately selected six or seven capable men from the crowd. They were all strong men around thirty years old and all martial artists. Although they were dressed in civilian clothes, they could not hide the murderous aura honed in the military. They went to different places, obviously to verify the information they had just confessed.