Immediately, the three men felt their tempers flare.
They had truly never encountered someone so infuriatingly cheeky. One of them, unable to endure it any longer, charged toward Lian Li with a face full of murderous intent. Seeing that he had successfully drawn their aggro back onto himself, Lian Li quickly turned around and continued to lead them on a chase.
Whenever they showed any sign of giving up the pursuit to interfere with Yun Huizhou or Zhao Honglan, Lian Li would face them and stick out his tongue. “Bleah-bleah-bleah!”
Driven to madness by his smug, irritating behavior, the three men lost all reason. The more they chased, the more worked up they became. Just as they were prepared to let Lian Li’s mechanical gadgets and hidden weapons strike non-vital areas of their bodies just to force a capture, they finally managed to corner him, blocking his path.
At that moment, Lian Li suddenly stopped his evasive footwork. He turned around, looking at them with a brilliant, slightly malicious smile.
The three instinctively felt something was wrong, but before they could figure out what it was, two figures appeared in front of them, shielding Lian Li firmly behind their backs.
It was Yun Huizhou and Zhao Honglan.
The two of them had already dealt with their respective opponents and had returned to provide backup.
While these three were capable of bullying Lian Li, they were completely outmatched when facing Yun Huizhou and Zhao Honglan.
Lian Li quickly scurried a safe distance away to start observing from the sidelines. He watched the field for a moment before suddenly shouting, “Don’t kill these ones! Capture them alive for questioning! Seal their internal energy and then dislocate their jaws!”
Yun Huizhou and Zhao Honglan took a brief moment to nod, though their moves remained lethal.
Seeing them nod, Lian Li knew they had agreed. If they were still fighting so aggressively, they surely had their reasons.
Thus, he didn’t run his mouth further, instead staying on guard and watching the surroundings.
The captives had gradually begun to forget the humiliation of being kited by Lian Li because of the pressure from Yun Huizhou and Zhao Honglan. However, upon hearing Lian Li’s words, their anger flared up once more.
The result of losing one’s head in battle was that it didn’t take long before they were all captured by Yun Huizhou and Zhao Honglan.
Because of their previous experience where captives had quickly committed suicide by swallowing poison, Yun Huizhou sealed their pressure points the instant he caught them.
Lian Li took a small medicine bottle out of his small bundle and walked up to the three men. With perfect unspoken coordination, Yun Huizhou squeezed their mouths open one by one, allowing Lian Li to pour the medicine from the bottle, diluted with water, down their throats.
“This is?” Zhao Honglan asked, puzzled.
Lian Li waved his hand and acted mysterious. “We’ll know after the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.”
The three men glared at Lian Li. Even though it was Yun Huizhou and Zhao Honglan who had actually captured them, Lian Li’s “hatred value” was significantly higher than everyone else’s.
The time it took to drink a cup of tea passed quickly, and the consciousness of the three men began to blur.
Lian Li said excitedly, “Quick, ask them! Ask what they want with Senior Sister Qu and exactly where she is right now.”
Zhao Honglan was a bit dazed. He saw that Yun Huizhou had already unsealed the trio’s pressure points, yet the three were swaying unsteadily as if they were drunk.
Zhao Honglan stepped forward and asked the three, “What are you planning to do with Tingquan?”
“What? Tingquan? Listening to a spring? Listening to the sound of spring water?” one of them muttered incoherently, even rolling around on the ground.
The other two also giggled and shouted, “Good, good, good! There’s spring water over there, let’s go take a bath.”
Zhao Honglan’s face went blank for a moment. He turned to look at Lian Li with a confused expression.
Lian Li was speechless for a second before saying, “Let me ask.”
Zhao Honglan stepped aside to let Lian Li through.
Lian Li crouched beside the three. His voice was soft, as if he were gently soothing them, as he asked, “Did your Spirit Cult capture someone recently?”
“Someone?” One of them caught the keyword. “Capture someone… yes, we need to capture someone.”
“You’ve already caught her,” Lian Li continued. “You caught a beautiful girl, didn’t you?”
“Yes, yes, yes, that girl was caught,” one of them answered with a grin.
“What are you doing with that girl?” Lian Li pressed further.
“The Sacred Gu. We found the Sacred Gu again.” One man suddenly raised his hands, extremely excited. “Once the Holy Gu matures, our Spirit Cult will finally have a Transcendent Master!”
Lian Li wanted to ask how they were raising the Sacred Gu, but he felt it was too complicated; given the state these people were in, they probably couldn’t explain it clearly.
Besides, how they raised it wasn’t important. What mattered was knowing where Qu Tingquan was so they could go find her.
“I see…” Lian Li continued softly. “Is the Sacred Gu going to be taken out?”
“Our Sacred Gu isn’t something just anyone can raise,” one man said with a proud tone. “It is her honor to become the vessel for our Sacred Gu!”
Hearing this, Zhao Honglan’s expression changed drastically. His sword flew out of its scabbard with a shing, but he was held back by Yun Huizhou.
Yun Huizhou shook his head at Zhao Honglan, signaling him to let Lian Li finish the questioning.
Lian Li also frowned. “What if that girl is unwilling?”
“Hmph! It’s not up to her to be unwilling,” the man on the ground replied. “After she has been soaked in the medicinal liquid for seven-times-seven, forty-nine days, what will she still remember? She’ll do whatever we say!”
Lian Li acted exaggeratedly impressed. “Wow~ that’s amazing. What kind of medicinal liquid is it?”
“That is our Holy Pool!” At the mention of the Holy Pool, the expressions of all three became proud simultaneously.
“Is she soaking in the Holy Pool?” Lian Li asked. “Wow, she actually gets to soak in the Holy Pool.”
“The Holy Pool isn’t a place for humans to soak,” the man on the ground huffed. “At most, we take some water from the Holy Pool every day and mix it into the bathwater. Combined with the medicines and Gu insects we’ve prepared, even an immortal would forget what we want them to forget.”
“Then if she’s not soaking in the Holy Pool, where is she?” Lian Li said. “Having to go to the Holy Pool every day to get water sounds so troublesome. Why not just put her directly in the Holy Pool?”
“Hmph, it’s not troublesome. It’s not far from the Holy Pool,” the man on the ground muttered. “Not far, not far…”
By now, Zhao Honglan had calmed down. He spoke up and asked, “Then exactly which location is she soaking in?”
His question was too direct. The man on the ground instinctively frowned, unwilling to speak.
Seeing this, Lian Li quickly chimed in, “You guys are so smart. Building the bathhouse right next to the Holy Pool makes it so convenient to get water and saves time. That’s incredible.”
As soon as he said this, the three men picked up the conversation again. “Of course! It’s very close. We did it specifically to make it easier to fetch water.”
After hearing this, Lian Li turned to Yun Huizhou and Zhao Honglan. “Senior Sister Qu is in a building next to the Holy Pool. Let’s find the location of the Holy Pool first. It’s better than wandering around aimlessly.”
Zhao Honglan asked, “Can’t we ask which direction the Holy Pool is in?”
Lian Li scratched his head. “I’ll try again.”
He then crouched back down and said to the dazed trio, “Your Holy Pool is so amazing, I’m truly envious. If I could just catch a glimpse of such a treasure of heaven and earth, I could die without regrets.”
