You don't want your secret to be revealed by others, right?

Chapter 121 - 49, Complete

Lin Yue gave a slight nod.

Having just listened to what the woman had said, he could discern from her evasive behavior and those grand but hollow arguments that something was clearly amiss.

He immediately remarked, "We’ll know once she opens her mouth. The only question is how loyal she is and whether she will speak at all."

"Martial Cultivators of the Four Symbols Level indeed have a very high tolerance for pain," Second Master also expressed some uncertainty. "Torture might not be very useful."

Lin Yue shook his head.

"This woman is not right in the head. I wanted to coax more words out of her, but I didn’t expect her to become aggressive at the slightest provocation."

He paused, then couldn’t help but add, "Speaking of which, your Tantian Sect is part of the Demon Path; don’t you have methods to extract memories from the soul, or mesmerize people in some way?"

Master and Second Master exchanged glances, somewhat confused.

"My lord," Master voiced his puzzlement, "why should the Demon Path necessarily know of such techniques?"

Second Master explained, "The technique of searching memories from the soul was created by the Netherworld Demon Ancestor of the Netherworld Palace, and perhaps similar methods do exist within the Demon Path established by the Myriad Poison Demon Ancestor and the Ancestor of Heart Demon. The Three Religions might have them too, but it’s rarely seen."

"So this tactic isn’t standard for the Demon Path..." Lin Yue muttered under his breath.

He suddenly spoke again, "Now that I think about it, claiming to be of the Demon Path seems a bit odd, too. Why would anyone identify themselves as ’demonic’?"

Master and Second Master appeared even more puzzled and questioned in unison, "My lord, what’s wrong with identifying as ’demonic’? The Demon Path is merely another path, one that is not recognized by orthodox schools. Isn’t that the reality?"

"That... makes sense."

Lin Yue understood their point.

’Demon’ was just a term, not necessarily signifying evil, but representing an alternative path not recognized by the orthodox schools.

From his understanding, the world’s recognized orthodox paths seemed to only include the Three Religions, Martial Cultivators, and the lineage of Xiahong. All others were considered alternative paths, the Demon Path.

He recalled a secret he had previously learned; there were only seven paths in the universe with the hope of breaking through all the Heavenly Barriers. Which seven could they be?

"First, let’s figure out how to get that woman to speak."

Lin Yue slightly shook his head, reined in his thoughts, and said, "You two go and make preparations."

"Yes," Master and Second Master immediately departed.

Lin Yue turned and walked into the pavilion, casually storing away the Blood Lotus Lamp that had been placed on the stone table inside.

It was the Barrier of the Blood Lotus Lamp that had just concealed the auras of the Tantian Sect members.

He then sat down in front of the stone table and took out a jar of old wine and two cups.

"Come, sit down."

Lin Yue said to Baili Fengzhi, "Since we have to wait anyway, might as well pass the time. Keep me company for a chat, and let’s have a few drinks."

Baili Fengzhi didn’t say much and took a seat across from Lin Yue.

A month ago, she, of course, wouldn’t have agreed so readily.

She would have made excuses about status differences to decline.

However, she had gradually come to understand what kind of person this pretend Your Highness was, especially some of his concepts that she found either utterly audacious or... shamelessly brazen.

"Your Highness."

After pouring Lin Yue a drink and then filling her own cup, Baili Fengzhi settled down and softly spoke, "It might be best for Your Highness to personally interrogate the woman later. As a Martial Cultivator from the Four Symbols Heaven Barrier, since she fainted from fright at Your Highness’s threat, it seems she must already be extremely afraid of you."

"That’s to be expected," Lin Yue nodded slightly. "She probably hasn’t been treated that way before. A mental collapse, a breakdown of defenses—it’s normal."

Although Baili Fengzhi didn’t quite understand, she caught on, "Your Highness, did you deliberately step on that woman’s head and then lie to her, saying her head was about to be crushed, precisely to frighten her?"

"More or less."

Lin Yue picked up his cup and drank it down in one gulp. "To break someone’s spirit, attack at the place they value and pride themselves on most, and completely shatter their limit of endurance."

Baili Fengzhi stood to pour another round and asked, "Are you saying she particularly despises being stepped on the head?"

"Not exactly."

Lin Yue cast her a teasing glance, "What I did to her is like a perverse game. You’ve probably never heard of it. In a way, I turned her from an abuser into a victim."

Baili Fengzhi grew even more curious, "Perverse? I could only tell that the woman seemed to greatly dislike men. Are you suggesting she also abuses other men in the same way?"

"Actually, it’s a reward... but you’re better off not knowing, otherwise, I’m afraid you’ll pick up bad habits," Lin Yue said, shaking his head with a smile.

However, on second thought, a beautiful and aloof female general like Baili Fengzhi, she might quite suit the role?

My bad, my bad.

"However, it’s not an injustice for that woman to lose to Your Highness."

Baili Fengzhi slowly sipped her wine, "A few days ago, after Your Highness ordered me to tie up Song Cidong, you suddenly asked me to be wary of him. At that time, I didn’t understand what you meant, but now it seems, had Your Highness anticipated today’s situation already?"

Lin Yue said casually, "Just digging a hole. If not for that, the woman might have doubted your strength."

Suddenly, Baili Fengzhi said, "Did Your Highness also dig such a hole for me in the past? It seems that I am not so smart after all."

"Ahem..."

Lin Yue coughed, shaking his head, "I actually don’t think others are dumber than me. The so-called strategy is nothing more than organizing effective information for judgment and playing on information asymmetry, based on what I have and others don’t."

"Although this Supreme Elder from the Nanyun Sect is twisted, is she really stupid?"

"She has been searching for martial cultivator talents for more than a day or two, yet no one has discovered her. The fact that the higher-ups are willing to choose her speaks volumes."

He continued, "Moreover, we deliberately let Song Cidong go three days ago, but she only came tonight, indicating that she didn’t fully trust that dog. In these three days, she was probably conducting her own secret investigation. By avoiding three days, she had time to observe carefully."

Baili Fengzhi seemed thoughtful, "No wonder you asked us to hide these past few days and even had the Sword Seeking Boat’s transformed residence restrain its barrier."

"How could someone who has cultivated to the Four Symbols Level possibly be a fool?"

Lin Yue picked up his glass and took a sip, then feeling the statement might be inappropriate, he added, "Except for Little Fish."

"..."

Baili Fengzhi nearly lost control of her expression upon hearing that, but with some effort, she maintained her cool female general demeanor.

At this moment—

"Young master."

An old voice sounded, and suddenly the Master floated over.

In his hands, he was holding a woman’s waist belt, inlaid with jade and gold thread. He smiled at Lin Yue, "Young master, I have used the principles of the Sword Seeking Boat’s barrier to erase the ownership prohibition on this storage treasure. You can check it freely."

"Oh?"

Lin Yue immediately took the belt and nodded, "Thank you for your hard work, Master."

The Master found it a bit odd upon hearing the thanks; why was he suddenly being addressed as Master?

Wasn’t that Little Fish’s way of addressing him?

If His Highness followed Little Fish in calling him Master, could it really mean he intends to marry Little Fish...

He was at a loss for words, conflicted, and couldn’t help but slightly resent the pit he had dug for himself in the past.

Unaware of his thoughts, Lin Yue eagerly took the belt and began to infuse primordial power.

After searching for a while—

"... This woman is really twisted."

The corners of Lin Yue’s mouth twitched slightly, completely surprised by the various strange and peculiar artifacts inside; who would have thought the insiders of this world were so playful?

He didn’t even dare to take them out, to avoid the awkward questions that would come from Baili Fengzhi.

After a while longer.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Lin Yue revealed a touch of joy and quickly took something out from the storage space within the belt.

It was a broken piece of a stele.

Upon seeing it, Baili Fengzhi was also surprised, "Your Highness, is this..."

"Yes, the fourth and fifth strikes of Thirteen Flames."

Lin Yue showed a smile, "Looks like my guess was correct; it actually was in the hands of the person behind Song Cidong."

With this, Thirteen Flames is finally complete.