Chapter 444 : Let Me See
444: Let Me See
In the end, Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue couldn't extract more information from the man.
Under Yun Qingyue's threats, he relented, and when he spoke again, he was much more forthcoming: "My name is indeed Jia Qi, and I was an independent cultivator. But that was half a year ago. Six months ago, I joined a certain power, and my first task was to attack Buddha Sect disciples."
He wasn't lying this time; both Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue could tell. However, they also recognized that Jia Qi didn't know much—having joined only half a year ago, he clearly hadn't penetrated the inner circle and remained a peripheral figure, so his knowledge was naturally limited. But this had one advantage: being not deeply involved, he was more easily persuaded to talk by Yun Qingyue.
Understanding this was one thing, but whatever information could be extracted from him still needed to be uncovered. Therefore, Yun Qingyue maintained her expressionless face and continued questioning: "What is this power called?"
Jia Qi shook his head and said: "It's called the Demon Palace, and the leader calls himself the Demon Emperor."
Hearing this, Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue exchanged glances—Demon Emperor? Was he the emperor of demonic cultivators, or the emperor of the demon realm? What grand ambitions!
Without much hope, Yun Qingyue asked: "Have you ever seen the Demon Emperor, or do you know his identity in the outside world?"
As expected, Jia Qi shook his head, explaining that having joined the Demon Palace barely half a year ago, he hadn't seen the Demon Emperor, nor even the left and right guardians serving directly under him. Yun Qingyue then asked about the Demon Palace's structure, which Jia Qi did know something about and duly explained. Generally speaking, apart from the fixed positions of the Demon Emperor and his two guardians, the personnel below them could be increased or decreased at any time.
Their interrogation of him ended there, because beyond this, he knew nothing more. This included the identities and appearances of those accompanying him—he had no idea who they were.
Seeing that he had revealed so much, Jiang Mo perked up, thinking she could press him further. But somehow, one question must have touched a nerve, because Jia Qi, who had already abandoned all hope, suddenly exploded—literally exploded. A perfectly fine person about to answer suddenly burst into a mist of blood, his Nascent Soul and soul detonating together.
With a tremendous "boom," the powerful blast swept outward.
This was completely unexpected, and the power was immense. Without thinking, Jiang Mo's first reaction was to turn and shield her senior sister in her embrace. Even with her profound cultivation, facing such a self-detonation head-on was no small matter—her entire back went numb from the blast.
When Yun Qingyue came to her senses, her expression changed dramatically. She quickly dispelled the remaining shock wave and grabbed Jiang Mo: "Are you alright? Are you hurt? In that situation, running away with me would have been better than shielding me!" Their speed was certainly fast enough.
Jiang Mo could sense Yun Qingyue's agitation and didn't take her final remark as ingratitude. With her fair face spattered with blood, she still managed to smile at her senior sister: "I'm fine. Besides, the explosion happened so quickly—what if we couldn't escape? If we couldn't get away, it's better for one person to face the impact than two." Moreover, with her tough hide, she could withstand a low-level cultivator's self-detonation without issue.
Though she thought this, she dared not say the last part aloud, for fear her senior sister would change her expression on the spot.
Yet how well did Yun Qingyue know her? Even with Jiang Mo's words left unfinished, she could guess seven or eight tenths of what remained unsaid. She took a deep breath, barely suppressing the anger that suddenly flared in her heart, and silently turned Jiang Mo around.
Earlier, Jiang Mo had shielded her by directly absorbing the self-detonation's force with her back. Now, as Yun Qingyue turned her around, she saw that Jiang Mo's robe had been completely shredded. The tattered garment was speckled with blood, a sight that pained and alarmed the viewer.
Fortunately, Jiang Mo reacted quickly, turning her head to reassure Yun Qingyue: "It's alright, Ah Yue, I'm not hurt. That blood isn't mine." Fearing she wouldn't be believed, Jiang Mo hastily cast a cleaning spell on herself, and the large bloodstains on her robe quickly disappeared. With the crimson stains gone, the tattered state of her robe became more apparent—through the torn fabric, her fair back was directly visible.
Yun Qingyue only managed a hasty glance before her face grew slightly warm. She quickly produced a cloak for Jiang Mo to wear, minimizing the risk of exposure as quickly as possible. After all, they weren't the only ones present.
In fact, quite a few people were there, including the rescued Buddha Sect disciples and the attackers frozen as ice sculptures.
But after the explosion, the situation changed. Due to the interrogation, Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue had been closest to Jia Qi, so they faced the greatest impact from his self-detonation. The Buddha Sect disciples had all sustained various injuries and were healing at a distance, giving them slightly more reaction time to the self-detonation.
In comparison, those frozen in ice were most helpless against the explosion. They couldn't defend or escape, and facing the full power of a cultivator's self-detonation directly—while Jiang Mo with her profound cultivation could withstand it—these people were in a different situation altogether.
So when the two women finally had time to survey their surroundings, they discovered the Buddha Sect disciples sprawled in disarray, some with blood at the corners of their mouths, clearly having suffered from the blast. Fortunately, they had reacted quickly enough that, though their injuries were aggravated, they avoided fundamental harm. The ice sculptures weren't so lucky—they now lay shattered across the ground, and the captives they had just secured were gone in the blink of an eye.
Seeing this, Jiang Mo knew she had created trouble and immediately felt guilty. She began to slip away while saying: "I'll go check if there are any survivors."
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After searching diligently, Jiang Mo finally found one survivor among the corpses—the Spirit Division cultivator who had led the group. His survival wasn't due to his cultivation being a notch above the others, but because the protective magical treasure he carried had absorbed most of the impact. Even so, when Jiang Mo found him, he was barely clinging to life.
After hastily administering a spiritual medicine to save his life, Jiang Mo finally had time to ask Yun Qingyue: "Qingyue, what exactly happened with that self-detonation? Jia Qi didn't seem like he was about to self-detonate, and hadn't his spiritual energy been sealed?"
Sealing spiritual energy was precisely to prevent self-detonation, and Jiang Mo had also noticed the look of bewilderment on Jia Qi's face at the moment of detonation.
Yun Qingyue hadn't reacted initially, but after the incident, she quickly deduced the cause: "His soul self-detonated first, then triggered his Nascent Soul to explode with it." After a slight pause, she continued: "I fear this self-detonation wasn't of his own volition, but due to a restriction previously placed on his soul. Once sensitive information was touched upon, the restriction would trigger self-detonation, leaving others no way to prevent it."
Jiang Mo wasn't stupid. Hearing this, she drew in a sharp breath—not because soul restrictions were particularly rare; in fact, they were quite common. What surprised Jiang Mo was that Jia Qi, having joined the Demon Palace only half a year ago, had already been subjected to such a restriction.
Did he know about it himself? Probably not, otherwise he wouldn't have talked so readily.
His death had been unexpectedly sudden, but since he was an enemy captive, Jiang Mo didn't feel particularly sorry. However, looking at the Spirit Division cultivator who was the sole survivor of the blast, she hesitated: "Should we continue the interrogation?"
Yun Qingyue contemplated the man for a moment before finally shaking her head: "Not for now. Let's leave this to the professionals later."
...
Tan Ming and his companions, whose lives had been saved by Yun Qingyue, recovered quickly—the Buddha Sect had prepared not only protective treasures for them but also numerous healing and life-saving pills, all entrusted to Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue. With an ample supply of miraculous medicines, even the most severe injuries recovered rapidly. After less than half a day, these Buddha Sect disciples had almost completely regained their vitality.
Leading a group of revitalized junior brothers, Tan Ming once again formally thanked the two women, followed by farewells.
Holding the protective treasures received from them, he said: "We are deeply indebted to you both, fellow Daoists. Our gratitude cannot be adequately expressed, but should you ever require assistance in the future, we will certainly do our utmost. We won't delay your journey further today; I will lead my junior brothers back to the Buddha Sect as quickly as possible. Since we've already experienced one attack, there likely won't be a second. You needn't worry about us."
A hasty encounter followed by a hasty parting—this had become routine for Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue in recent days. Though they could be considered old acquaintances, there was little else to discuss under the circumstances, so after brief farewells, they went their separate ways.
Jiang Mo moved the sole survivor back to the spirit boat, emptying a room and setting up restrictions, unconcerned about him escaping.
Once Jiang Mo had finished bustling about, Yun Qingyue finally tugged at her cloak, reminding her: "Your robe is torn, and your back is still exposed. You should go back to your room and change first."
Hearing this, Jiang Mo suddenly remembered, instinctively reaching back to touch her back, feeling the damage even through the cloak. She became uncomfortable at once, not because she recalled her senior sister seeing her back earlier, but because she had been wearing torn clothes all this time without thinking to change, even bidding farewell to Tan Ming and the others in this state—though the monks certainly hadn't noticed anything, the recollection was embarrassing enough.
"Then, I'll go change now," said Jiang Mo, instinctively covering her front with her hand before turning and running off.
She rushed back to her room in one breath, but just as she turned to close the door, a slender, fair hand stopped her. That hand pressed against her door, exerting slight force to push it open again.
Seeing her senior sister walk in, Jiang Mo retreated a step, her commanding presence inexplicably diminishing by three parts: "What is it, Ah Yue? Why did you follow me?"
Yun Qingyue's expression remained calm as her gaze swept over Jiang Mo's back: "I've come to see if your back was actually injured."
Jiang Mo claimed to have tough skin and thick flesh, and indeed, the White Tiger's defensive capabilities were astonishing. She didn't even carry many defensive treasures because her tiger hide surpassed most comparable treasures at her level. However, in human form, she appeared to be a delicate young woman, causing Yun Qingyue to worry for her. Especially upon reflection, Yun Qingyue vaguely recalled that brief glimpse of a fair and delicate back, without remembering whether it had been injured.
"Ah, this..." Jiang Mo's face suddenly turned crimson as some thought occurred to her.