"He couldn't have told you the truth after just a few blows," Yao Yao sneered. "He was just stalling for time. Whatever he told you must be false intelligence."
The elder eyed Yao Yao coldly, a mixture of three parts animosity and seven parts fear in his gaze. It seemed Yao Yao had indeed hit the mark with her words.
After all, Yao Yao was a seasoned leader of the "Bayiala," likely experienced in such interrogations.
Xiong Xiaomeng licked his paw, about to continue when the elder suddenly called out in a low voice, "Wait!"
"Old Fourth, proceed!" Yao Yao commanded loudly.
"Don't let her do this to me!" the elder cried with a child-like whimpering tone. "I'll talk... I'll talk, alright!"
The collapse of an adult often happens in an instant, without the need for accumulated pressure. For him, seeing the mangled pieces of flesh scattered on the ground by Xiong Xiaomeng was enough.
Martial artists possess robust physiques, and Yao Yao had sealed a few of his pressure points to stop the bleeding. After a brief rest, the elder voluntarily led us to the site of the final battle from fourteen years ago. Coincidentally, it was the very same house belonging to the "cousin" where Song Lei had brought me the previous day. I examined everything closely; it was all as it was, except the paper effigy that had been in the east room was now soaked and unrecognizable from the heavy rain.
"Could this be a hint from Song Lei?" I muttered to myself. Yao Yao asked what I was talking about, so I briefly recounted my first encounter with Song Lei and her cousin in Fanshen Village.
Zheng Bingbing shivered, goosebumps rising on her skin. Looking at the paper effigy on the ground, she stammered, "Chengfeng ge, please stop. It's too scary!"
"Heh heh, what's so scary about ghosts?" Yao Yao chuckled, surveying the surroundings. "The most terrifying things in the world are right beside you!"
"Ah! Are there ghosts?" Zheng Bingbing became even more frightened and quickly hid in the embrace of Xiong Xiaomeng, who had transformed into his bear form, tightly clutching its large furry paws.
I was speechless...
The elder pointed to the west room. "It's this one."
It was the very room where I had slept. The water pit on the floor was still there, and now it looked like it had been dug. I suspected it was the work of Shabiya's people, but they hadn't found the Chuyun Pin.
The demons were about to start digging, but I waved them off. "Hold on for a moment. The area is still too large. Let's simulate it again."
I had the elder stand outside the window and describe the precise location where the traitor had been hiding, as well as the formation and positions of Shabiya's forces outside.
Based on his memory, the elder positioned the demons in the spots where the enemy had been. I, as he instructed, stood beside the water pit—specifically, at its edge, as the pit was quite deep, so I didn't stand inside it.
"And then?" Yao Yao asked from the k'ang.
"Let me imagine..." I closed my eyes, trying my best to reconstruct the scene of the great battle.
My subordinates were decimated, leaving only me. The area in front of and behind the house was surrounded by Shabiya's experts. Since this was already a ruin, they could see my every move. I reached for the Chuyun Pin at my waist, intending to hide it so Shabiya wouldn't reclaim it. Looking around, all I saw were eyes. Where should I hide it?
Dropping it on the ground was out of the question. Sticking it into a wall? That would be discovered too... There was no way to hide it!
I slowly opened my eyes and told them to turn on their flashlights and shine them in all directions. This would better simulate the environment at the time—though the great battle took place at night and during a torrential downpour, Shabiya's searchlights illuminated the entire battlefield as bright as day.
"Who attacked first, at that time?" I asked the elder.
The elder thought for a moment and pointed to the position of a large snake by the window. "Captain Lin Xi of the Bordered Yellow Banner, standing there."
"What weapon did she use?" I asked again.
"A meteor hammer."
"A meteor hammer... And what weapon did the traitor use?"
"His weapon had already been knocked away. He was unarmed."
"Unarmed, how could he defend against a meteor hammer?" I asked, puzzled. I knew what a meteor hammer was; it was a formidable weapon, capable of immense power that even conventional weapons struggled to withstand, let alone bare hands.