"Speak! Why did you kill Yuan Dasheng?" Zhu Xuanji suddenly opened his mouth. His voice was as hard as iron, without a trace of warmth.
"Ah?" Ning Zhuo's face revealed a look of surprise.
"Speak!" Zhu Xuanji shouted, simultaneously erupting a powerful pressure, like an invisible mountain, suddenly pressing on Ning Zhuo.
This pressure was so immense that Ning Zhuo almost kneeled under the sudden weight.
He staggered, his waist and back inevitably bent, but he did not kneel. Instead, he stubbornly maintained his stance, his eyes showing a hint of defiance as he looked at Zhu Xuanji.
Zhu Xuanji's eyes shone with golden light. With unprecedented hardness, they scrutinized Ning Zhuo!
The sharp gaze made Ning Zhuo feel as if he was naked in the freezing snow.
Ning Zhuo frantically summoned mana at the peak of nine levels, injecting it into the concealed cloud shadow under his tongue's root.
When the cloud shadow was activated, it temporarily resisted Zhu Xuanji's scrutiny.
But clearly, the resistance had a time limit.
Sweating profusely, Ning Zhuo gritted his teeth and spoke with difficulty. "Yes, I had a personal motive."
"I wanted to deal in mechanical Explosive Flame Monkeys. I wanted to expand my business, and the Monkey Head Gang was my biggest obstacle."
"Yuan Dasheng's existence blocked my path to wealth."
"So when I saw him gravely injured and on the verge of death during the Fire Persimmon Festival, I harbored thoughts of killing him. I actively sought a token from Lord Fei."
"Using this token, I entered the Monkey Head Gang and persuaded Yuan Er to abandon the treatment of Yuan Dasheng."
"Yuan Dasheng eventually died from his injuries, and I am the true culprit!"
"Hehehe." Zhu Xuanji let out three cold laughs. "What else?"
His questioning was like a cold blade directly pressed against Ning Zhuo's throat.
Ning Zhuo looked at Zhu Xuanji with difficulty, his expression full of shock and fear.
Zhu Xuanji's eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, locking onto Ning Zhuo: "Don't tell me you killed Yuan Dasheng for just that one reason!"
"Speak correctly."
"Confess leniently, resist strictly."
"You should understand that continuing to hide the truth will lead to severe consequences for you."
"Know this: I am a member of the South Bean Royal Family, part of the Divine Hunter Office."
"When it comes to settling accounts, your Ning Family is just a mantis trying to stop a cart. Even the Meng Family is insignificant!"
Ning Zhuo was covered in cold sweat, pale, and unsteady.
His mind was a tempest of thoughts and countless questions.
"What exactly did Zhu Xuanji discover to suddenly question me?"
"What should I say? What do I need to say?"
"To what extent can I gamble?!"
Seeing Ning Zhuo hesitate, Zhu Xuanji snorted unhappily, abruptly increasing the pressure.
Ning Zhuo could no longer withstand it and kneeled on one knee under the immense invisible pressure.
Seeing Ning Zhuo's stubborn demeanor, Zhu Xuanji asked again: "Where is the Demon Dao True Scripture?"
Ning Zhuo raised his head with difficulty, his confusion genuine. He truly did not know about the Demon Dao True Scripture!
"I don't know. What kind of Demon Dao True Scripture?" Ning Zhuo immediately replied. "I have never seen such a scripture. I haven't even heard of one."
This was the truth!
Zhu Xuanji had a strong ability to discern lies. He could tell what was true and what was false.
Zhu Xuanji frowned. "If you don't have the scripture, how did you cultivate demonic arts? How did you collect your clan's blood and flesh?"
Ning Zhuo hurriedly said: "Lord, it's a misunderstanding!"
"I have always been researching substitute puppets."
"Collecting clan members' blood and flesh for this purpose is very normal."
"You can look at my research records. They are right here."
Zhu Xuanji swept his gaze around, and in the next moment, used his spirit to fetch many drawings and a few jade slips.
Indeed, these were records of substitute puppet research and experiments, as well as many small ideas and accomplishments Ning Zhuo had conceived.
Ning Zhuo, naturally cautious, had prepared these pieces of evidence when he announced he was going to develop substitute puppets.
Zhu Xuanji examined the evidence, pondering in silence.
Suddenly.
Ning Zhuo, who was straining against the pressure to the limit, spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
He gave a wry smile and changed his posture, directly sitting on the ground.
He looked at Zhu Xuanji, panting heavily, adopting a posture of confession and punishment.
He spoke miserably: "This day has finally come."
"I knew it would come; I always knew..."
Seeing Ning Zhuo surrendering, wanting to cooperate, Zhu Xuanji gradually reduced the pressure, giving Ning Zhuo some breathing space: "You finally decided to talk?"
But just this small action gave Ning Zhuo a big psychological jolt, allowing him to gather crucial information.
In secret, Ning Zhuo bit his teeth, deciding to gamble!
He swallowed hard and shook his head at Zhu Xuanji:
"Divine Hunter, you know the truth, and I am exposed, but I still can't say anything."
"I'm just a small figure. If I speak the truth, I'm doomed!"
"Hm?!" Zhu Xuanji raised his eyebrows. "You still dare to resist?!"
He scrutinized Ning Zhuo from head to toe: "Ning Zhuo, it hasn't been easy for you to come this far. Cherish it."
Ning Zhuo gave a wretched smile: "Of course I know—it wasn't easy for me to get here! No one knows better than me."
"I was born at the bottom, on the periphery of the family branch, just a small figure."
"I'm like a small blade of grass sprouting from the soil, rooted in mud and manure."
"I have to fight with all my strength to absorb all the nutrients I can get, so I can grow."
"Just like controlling the black market, I know this work is dirty. Righteous cultivators disdain to involve themselves."
"But what can I do?"
"No matter how foul the manure, as long as it's nutritious for me, I will fight with all my might to obtain it."
At this point, Ning Zhuo looked up at Zhu Xuanji, his eyes full of jealousy.
"Lord Zhu, you will never understand me!"
"You are royalty, noble from birth."
"You have a Golden Core cultivation level, easily crushing me."
"Just like now, with one foot, you can easily crush me as you would an ant on the roadside."
"But why does someone as high and mighty as you have to trouble me?"
"You know the truth; why trouble someone so insignificant like me?!"
Ning Zhuo's voice became more aggrieved and angry as he spoke.
His face twisted with an expression of terrifying hatred.
"I just want to live well and cultivate properly!"
"I have no choice. At crucial moments, I'm too weak; I have no one to rely on. I can only do some unsavory things to gain others' support."
"I expected you to come and arrest me. As long as you have my crimes, I will admit them."
"But if you want me to testify, to be a witness and a breakthrough in the case, that's impossible."
"You might as well kill me."
"Because I am not just myself; I have my family, my friends. I don't want to implicate them."
"I will bear my own deeds!"
At this point, Ning Zhuo showed a look of dying to live with determination.
Zhu Xuanji fell into silence.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had been watching the commotion, but now it was puzzled.
It couldn't understand what Ning Zhuo was saying.
"What are you talking about?"
Even though it couldn't understand, it sensed an ominous trend.
Because Zhu Xuanji was gradually reducing his aura, no longer exerting strong pressure on Ning Zhuo.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit couldn't help but let out a low roar: "Zhu Xuanji, what are you doing? You've discovered him!"
"Yes, the young cultivator before you is the murderer, the one who bombed the Immortal Palace!"
However, at this moment, Zhu Xuanji looked at Ning Zhuo with pity in his eyes.
He was Zhu Xuanji, known as the one who Detects the Hidden and Calms the People.
He had always felt immense sympathy and pity for lower-level cultivators.
In Xuanlin City, he would risk danger for a bowl of sugar water from a village elder to investigate the Su Family's corruption.
In the Royal Capital, he boldly confronted the Nandou King, advising to restrain the large cultivation clans and actively supported the talents from the lower class.
Even when Li Leifeng tricked him before his death, he was not angry but sad, willing to be used for finding the most suitable head for Ciyou Garden.
He was inherently cautious of the powerful factions entrenched in the Nandou Kingdom. Meanwhile, he had genuine compassion for the middle and lower-tier cultivators.
Looking at Ning Zhuo, who was sitting on the ground, drenched in sweat and utterly disheveled.
Zhu Xuanji sighed, showing the first hint of emotion on his face: "You little scoundrel, you're too adept at scheming. Such manipulation will only lead you to your doom."
"You have the talent, so why are you so impatient for quick success?"
His tone carried a feeling of disappointment as if pitying something that could not achieve its potential.
Ning Zhuo gave a miserable smile: "Lord, I only realized my potential after Soul Entering Immortal Palace, finding that the puppet's head was so large. Only then did I discover my talent."
Zhu Xuanji remained silent.
In his eyes, Ning Zhuo gained another layer of tragic, pitiful, and laughable impression as someone toyed with by fate.
"Ning Zhuo, you have talent and are an excellent young man."
"I will give you a chance."
"Think it over carefully, and give me an answer within three days."
"Remember, the answer you give will determine your future."
Zhu Xuanji, with hands behind his back, rose into the sky and transformed into a beam of light, flying high and far away.
Ning Zhuo continued sitting on the ground, unmoving, for a long time.
The sounds of people coming closer became louder. The guards near his residence were rushing over.
But what good would that do?
Facing Zhu Xuanji, the power Ning Zhuo had built up was like paper, utterly unreliable.
"Too weak, too weak!"
"I am still too weak."
Ning Zhuo clenched his fists tightly, his fingers digging into his flesh.
Magma Fairy Palace, main hall.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was dumbfounded!
Even as Zhu Xuanji flew away, it kept staring, desperately hoping that the latter would come to his senses and turn back to capture Ning Zhuo.
"Aren't you leaving just like that?"
"He is the murderer, the real murderer!"
"But why do I feel like you are even pitying him?"
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit couldn't understand and found it absurd.
It had come to watch the drama and see Ning Zhuo captured, but instead, it saw Ning Zhuo surviving another fatal crisis.
Zhu Xuanji, the famed Divine Hunter, was deceived by Ning Zhuo.
"Are you really a Divine Hunter?"
"Are you fake?"
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was fuming.
It shifted its focus back to Ning Zhuo, who was being helped up and surrounded by many cultivators.
"Pretending, he's too good at pretending!"
Seeing Ning Zhuo being comforted and soothed, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit felt a chill.
"This young man is really crafty and terrifying!"
"Is he really just sixteen?"
"Could he be a five-hundred-year-old monster reincarnated?"
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit grew increasingly wary of Ning Zhuo.
It warned itself, in future interactions with this young cultivator, to be extremely cautious!
Extremely cautious!