Chapter 413: Yellow Springs Water

"Cut the sarcasm. I've got the kid. If you don't want anything to happen to him, you'd better do exactly as I say, otherwise..." Zhong Jiu gripped Wang Yu's neck with one hand, dangling half the boy's body out the window. "Say, what happens if my hand suddenly slips?"

Wang Yu's face was a bruised, suffocating purple, tiny blood vessels crawling across his tender cheeks like centipedes. His features scrunched together in pain, his thin lips trembling like withered willow leaves.

"Zhong Jiu, you belong to the Profound Truth Dao. You're supposed to be a righteous sect, yet you're acting worse than an evil cultivator! The boy is innocent. If you want to come after me, do it directly. Stop hurting him." Afraid of provoking Zhong Jiu, I tried my best to control my emotions, softening my voice.

"You're worried about this brat, aren't you?" Zhong Jiu laughed. "Don't worry, how could I possibly hurt him? But speaking of which, this kid is pretty interesting. He wouldn't say a word no matter what I asked. Quite the stubborn temper!"

Zhong Jiu casually lifted Wang Yu's shirt. Red welts from a leather belt still lingered across the child's skin. "Look at this. I just wanted to ask him a few things about you, but he adamantly refused to speak. He wouldn't even tell me his name. How rude is that? I had no choice but to teach him a lesson on your behalf."

The welts on Wang Yu's body were swollen high; anyone would ache just seeing them. I clenched my fists, barely keeping my emotions in check. "It's not that he wouldn't tell you. The boy has congenital autism. He doesn't know how to communicate. Let him go. He's not my child. You're hurting an innocent bystander who has nothing to do with this!"

Zhong Jiu dug at his ear, pretending he hadn't heard clearly. "What? You're saying the kid is sick? Need me to treat him for you?"

With that, he reached out and pressed his fingers hard against the swollen red whip marks on Wang Yu's back. Between the burning pain and the crushing pressure, Wang Yu squeezed his eyes shut, his lips trembling.

"Stop!" Bloodshot fury flooded my vision. Even though I was hostile toward the Profound Truth Dao before, I had never felt such intense murderous intent.

"Does your heart ache? Look at you, yelling and roaring like a Clown." Zhong Jiu set Wang Yu down on the windowsill. He felt a thrill of unprecedented satisfaction, a profound pleasure he hadn't experienced since the day he met me.

I took a deep breath, gritting my teeth to stay calm. "The boy is innocent. He has nothing to do with me. If you want revenge, come at me! I'll take it all!"

"Take it all? Do you really think you're in a position to say that right now?" Zhong Jiu shoved Wang Yu a little further out the window, the grin on his face widening.

"Enough. Bring the boy down." A faint voice drifted out from the ground floor. It sounded detached from the mortal world, carrying an ethereal quality. The speaker was Lu Chen.

The main doors of the Laboratory Building had been kicked open. A wooden chair sat right in the middle of the lobby, and a Daoist priest sat upright in it. Four Talisman Papers were plastered on the ground in a square around his feet. When I looked with my Judging Eye, I realized the talismans were merely a catalyst. The truly terrifying part was the complex characters drawn across the floor, forming a sizable array that gathered all the malevolent yin energy of the entire Laboratory Building right into the lobby.

"This man is incredibly strong." Even though Mr. Gu didn't understand Daoist arts, he immediately warned me. "Just by sitting there, he suppresses all the yin energy in the building. His cultivation is already extraordinary."

"Gao Jian, my senior brother has already set up an array inside this building. It won't matter how many people you bring. Considering you've also cultivated the Profound Truth Dao Method and share some fate with our Profound Truth Dao, come inside voluntarily. Confess your identity, offer up the million merits, and return to the sect with my senior brother. Do that, and we'll let this matter go." Lu Jin walked out of the doorway. Next to Lu Chen, he was dressed much more modestly, wearing only an ordinary Daoist robe.

I glanced at Wang Yu in Zhong Jiu's hands, suppressing the bloodshot fury in my eyes. "Return to the sect? Your Profound Truth Dao tortures a four- or five-year-old child, and you think I'd dare go back with you? You actually have the nerve to ask me for the million merits?"

"Stubborn fool. I'm not going to waste my breath on you. Today, you'll agree whether you want to or not. You have no choice. I suggest you behave and obey before I make my move. Don't wait until things are beyond saving and a tragedy happens before you regret it." Lu Jin watched me with a smiling face. He wasn't in a hurry at all. I figured he had already thought up several ways to torture me in his head.

"Save the hypocritical act; a cat crying over a rat is false mercy. You just lost face to me and want to win it back, don't you? You just want my million merits, right? Why resort to such despicable tactics? Why hurt a child?"

"Gao Jian, you know perfectly well whether you've learned the Profound Truth Mental Method. The sect's orders are clear: anyone who secretly learns our foundational mental method will have their dantian crippled and their meridians severed inch by inch. Are you going to do it yourself, or do you want me to help you?" Lu Jin's smile didn't falter. "Oh, right. After I cripple you, I'll go pay your girlfriend a visit. I'll ask her exactly what happened that day at Century New Garden, and while I'm at it, I'll finish what I started."

"Save your breath. Let him in and begin the interrogation of the Dao!" Lu Chen didn't even open his eyes. It was as if everything happening here wasn't worth his attention, nothing more than petty squabbling between children.

"I will obey Senior Brother's command." Lu Jin shot me a provocative look and waved to Zhong Jiu. "Come to the doorway. Let Gao Jian see clearly exactly how we interrogate the Dao."

"Yes." Zhong Jiu stepped into the doorway so everyone outside could clearly see his movements. Gripping Wang Yu with one hand, he pulled a canteen from his coat with the other.

The moment he twisted off the cap, a strange fragrance drifted out of the canteen. Then, a shocking scene unfolded. The dense yin energy in the lobby was drawn toward it, condensing into massive black pythons coiling around the canteen.

"This canteen is filled with Yin-Extracting Soup, also known as Yellow Springs Water. It was brewed using over a dozen rare yin-natured herbs. For ghosts and Gu insects, it possesses miraculous medicinal effects. It can turn the ethereal into the tangible, condense a true physical form, and harmonize with yin energy. But to humans, this liquid is highly toxic. Once consumed, the yin energy will relentlessly ravage the body while their Yang Qi slowly dissipates, ultimately turning them into a creature of pure yin." The smile on Lu Jin's lips grew manic, as if he were already imagining the scene in his mind. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a brightly colored silk pouch.

The pouch was incredibly vibrant. Slowly opening it, he shook it a few times toward the dense yin energy.

Something seemed to be inside the pouch, darting violently left and right. Just as it was about to burst out, Lu Jin aimed the opening directly at the canteen, allowing a brightly colored venomous insect to dive into the liquid.

"I don't even know the name of the venomous insect that was inside this pouch. All I know is that it's a variation of a Mother-Child Gu. According to my senior brother, that Black Robe next to you is a Gu master from Miaojiang. Why don't you ask him?" Lu Jin tied the pouch shut, looking completely relaxed.

Mr. Gu frowned, staring at it for a long while before finally shaking his head. "There are many brightly colored Gu insects, but I've never seen the one he just used. It's likely a mutation bred through a specialized method."

Hearing Mr. Gu's words, my heart sank. He had never even seen the insect before, let alone knew how to concoct an antidote for it.

"Bring the boy over." Zhong Jiu roughly hauled Wang Yu up and walked over to Lu Jin's side. "Gao Jian, I'll give you one last chance. Admit in front of my senior brother that you stole the Profound Truth Mental Method, then obediently follow us back to the sect. You'd better think carefully. This child's life hinges entirely on your decision."

"You dare commit murder here?" I asked, my voice chillingly cold as my hand reached for the dagger hidden at the small of my back.

"No, no, no, it's not murder." Lu Jin reached out and forcibly pried Wang Yu's mouth open, a sinister cruelty twisting his handsome face. "It's something dozens of times more painful than murder!"

He burst into manic laughter, and without any warning, he suddenly tipped the canteen, pouring its contents down Wang Yu's throat!

"You animals!"

My eyes completely bloodshot, I gripped my dagger in a reverse hold and charged into the Laboratory Building. Er Gou and the rest sprinted after me. Just as the situation was about to spiral completely out of control, several bright beams of light suddenly swept over us.

"Tsk, tsk. How lively!" The effeminate laughter was high-pitched and bone-chilling. Hearing that voice, my nerves completely froze. Forcing myself to a halt, I turned around.

Two high-end SUVs had driven directly into the wasteland, their headlights glaring. Five Daoist priests dressed in black robes were walking toward us from the distance.

"The Three Yin Sect, Snake Lord Lineage!" My heart plummeted to rock bottom. Attacked from the front and the rear, we were now caught directly between two terrifying factions.

The Laboratory Building was shrouded in swirling yin energy. Lu Jin noticed the black-robed Daoists too, and he frowned slightly. As for Lu Chen, he remained seated upright on his wooden chair, never even bothering to open his eyes.