The Interrogation

"Pleasure to meet you. Let me introduce myself—I'm Li Huowang."

"About that time you tried to ambush me... I got over it a while ago, honestly. I mean, I'm a Heart-Element, basically a ginseng fruit with legs. You wanting to jump me is only natural."

"The reason I'm calling on you today is something else. To put it in one sentence: I'm a stranger to this world, and I want to use you to learn more about it."

"Of course, there's another reason too. You know I'm a Heart-Element. I'm also looking for a way to get rid of that condition. If you know something—and you tell me—I'll be truly grateful."

Li Huowang sat on the chair, speaking earnestly to the Han Fu in front of him.

The target of his conversation was not the two heads of shredded, bloody flesh dangling before him. He was speaking to the fist-sized little head growing out of Han Fu's neck.

Bai Sui's ability had not spared it either. Its face was already a complete mess. Calling it a head was generous—it was just a meat-tumor with twisted features.

This thing was incredibly strange. Its main body was already dead stiff, yet it was still alive and kicking. He had no idea what kind of cultivation the Luo Sect used.

"What's your name? Also Han Fu?"

In response to Li Huowang's question, the little head sneered mockingly, not saying a word.

Clatter, clatter.

A row of gleaming torture implements was laid out before it.

Li Huowang picked out an iron hemisphere, carefully cupped the little head, and brought the tool over.

"AHHHHH—!!" The shrill scream was piercing.

Throwing open the tent flap beside him, Li Huowang tossed the small eyeball onto the Black Tai Sui.

"Still not talking?"

The little head's single eye stared at the strange array of torture tools. A flicker of fear passed through it, but was quickly replaced by a look of grim resolve.

"You Ao-Jing madman! If I tell you, are you actually going to let me go?"

"I'm not going to let you go. But dying fast versus dying slow, being tortured to death—those are two very different things."

"You know, I'm not really that skilled at torture. But I've experienced a lot of pain. All kinds of different torments. Are you sure you want me to relive everything I've been through... on you?"

Seeing Li Huowang wipe the blood off his hand with a nearby towel and pick up a curved hook covered in barbs, the little head began to struggle desperately. But its limbs were already completely broken; it was doomed to fail.

"I DON'T KNOW! I really don't know anything!! We only just left the mountain! It hasn't been long at all!"

"Oh really? If you've only just left the mountain not long ago, then those nineteen Yang Life Pills—were they travel money your master gave you before you left?"

The barbed hook sank into the flesh, slowly pulling out something. Then Li Huowang took the coarse salt he had borrowed from Sun Baolu and spread it evenly over the wound.

The little head convulsed in pain, its mouth starting to foam with bloody spit.

Li Huowang put down the torture implement, pulled the True Sutra of the Fire Vestments from his bosom, and with a look of pity, began to chant the obscure, difficult words.

The solidified white wax caught fire, transforming into a writhing fire-slug that crawled onto Han Fu's body. With a sizzling, crackling sound of frying, it began to heal the wounds inflicted earlier.

"AHHHH!!!"

The screams traveled far, scaring many of Qingqiu's children in nearby tents into crying, and driving the still-shaken adults even further away.

After several rounds of this cycle, it finally relented. "I'LL TALK! I'LL TALK!!"

"Good. Let's start with the small questions. I ask, you answer."

"Can these Yang Life Pills be used as currency to buy things?"

Li Huowang pulled out a pill wrapped in a yellow talisman.

Seeing the other nod numbly, Li Huowang stuffed the pill back into his gourd. "Are they very valuable? What's the benchmark?"

"One Yang Life Pill... is enough to get someone like Han Fu to make a move for you once."

Li Huowang nodded with understanding. That was much clearer and more intuitive.

"How do you get Yang Life Pills?"

"Kill people. But ordinary people won't do. It has to be someone born in a Yang year, a Yang month, and a Yang day. If you want to hear it, I can tell you the refining method."

"Never mind. Next question. Earlier, Han Fu said you were from the Luo Sect? Where is your temple?"

"Snake Bone Mountain, in Liang."

"How many people in your temple?"

"Fifty-seven."

"How many heads?"

"Two hundred and twenty-four."

"What are you?"

"I am Han Fu's Nascent Soul."

Li Huowang continued to ask the thing all kinds of small questions. Some of them he already knew the answers to, just to test if it was lying to him.

When he was sure that it wasn't deceiving him, Li Huowang started asking the key questions.

"What is a Heart-Element? How is it formed? How many Heart-Elements are there in the world?"

"I really don't know any of that. Everything I know about Heart-Elements is just bits and pieces I overheard from my master."

When he saw Li Huowang's hand slowly starting to reach for the torture tools again, it began to cry in terror.

Snot and tears streamed down the little head's face. "I REALLY DON'T KNOW! My master just told us that Heart-Elements are extremely rare heavenly treasures! And that if we ever ran into one, we shouldn't let the chance slip by!"

"Then how do you people identify a Heart-Element?" Li Huowang had been wondering about this for a long time. Why could everyone he met see what he was at a single glance?

"I don't know how others do it. But our master said that everyone has three flames on their shoulders. Sometimes the flames are big, sometimes small—that's all normal. The only thing special about a Heart-Element is that its flames... they're there one moment, and gone the next."

Li Huowang looked down at his own shoulders but didn't see any so-called flames.

"That's about enough. Time to ask the most crucial question." Li Huowang stared at the little man, furrowed his brow as he considered his words for a moment, and then spoke again.

"Along this journey, or from your master's mouth... have you ever heard of a Heart-Element who escaped the Bewilderment?"

"No. You're the first Heart-Element we've ever seen."

Li Huowang carefully studied the malformed little head. He could believe that about ninety percent. Han Fu was a greenhorn. Even if a Heart-Element who had escaped the Bewilderment really existed, this guy might not know about it.

"What do you know about the Zuowandao?"

"I know about them. They're a bunch of liars. They love tricking people."

"What are their names?"

"I heard their names are all mahjong tile names. Eight-Ten-Thousand, Three-Bamboo, stuff like that. But I also heard that those names are just code names. If one Eight-Ten-Thousand dies, another one takes his place."

"What about someone inside the Zuowandao named North Wind? Do you know anything? How strong are they?"

This one was the Heart-Element who could escape the Bewilderment. If he wanted to completely escape it himself, this person was incredibly important.

"I don't know. I've never dealt with the Zuowandao."

Li Huowang continued to ask the little head a few more questions about the Zuowandao, but what he got from it was very limited.

Staring at the little head in front of him, Li Huowang pushed himself up with his hands on his knees, the stool letting out a creak.

"Good. I'm done asking. Now, to make sure you're telling the truth, I need to double-check."

With that, Li Huowang reached for the torture tools again.