"Grandma, you have to unseal my mute acupoint before I can confess!"
Liang Zhong, unable to speak, could only endure the searing pain and desperately signal to Su Luo. His eyes blinked frantically, as if spasming, urging her to release the pressure points.
Su Luo feigned ignorance, waiting until he was on the verge of losing consciousness from despair before dousing him with a basin of water to revive him.
"Last chance, are you confessing or not?"
"I confess, I confess!"
Just as Liang Zhong woke up, he instinctively agreed upon hearing the voice, only to realize he could speak.
But then he felt something was wrong. What was that thing before his eyes?
It was a bloody mess, with remnants of semi-corroded flesh clinging to a white bone, still clad in a shoe… It was a leg! And that shoe was the one he was wearing!
Not good!
Liang Zhong was horrified and frantically looked down at his lower body.
Indeed, his left leg was gone, leaving only a small stump at the hip.
Heavens, that was his leg! His leg had been cut off! Ahhhhh… he was crippled!
His mind raced, and he almost fainted again.
If not for his desire to live, his craving for his own life, why would Liang Zhong have hidden his identity in Qingxu Heaven for eighteen years?
Still in the lowly position of a servant, day in and day out attending to a sickly young master.
Su Luo's clear and pleasant voice rang out again, smiling as she looked at Liang Zhong, "See how good I am? I was afraid you'd die, so I quickly cut off your leg. Otherwise, your entire body would have corroded away."
She said it as if she were doing him a favor.
Liang Zhong trembled all over. A demon! She was a demon!
Daring not to look at Su Luo again, he buried his face in the ground and tearfully begged for mercy, "I'll talk, I'll talk, woo woo woo… Please don't torment an old man anymore…"
"My name is Huang Yuanba. I was formerly the leader of the Haisha Gang. Eighteen years ago, I was sent by my superiors to be a mole by Bai Yanshu, the sect leader of Qingxu Heaven. Taking advantage of the opportunity when Liang Zhong saved Madam's life but died from severe injuries, I impersonated him and successfully gained Sect Leader Bai's trust. Since then, I've been pretending to be disabled and taking care of the young master."
He spoke in great detail, fearing Su Luo would be unsatisfied. Li Tianjue, however, directly asked, "Who sent you?"
This was the crux of his inquiry.
"I… how would I know the identity of my superiors…"
Liang Zhong dared not conceal anything, yet he also feared Li Tianjue and Su Luo would not believe him. He quickly added, "It's not just our Haisha Gang; many small gangs like the Haisha Gang are controlled by people from behind the scenes. To put it nicely, they are patrons. In reality, they use us to gather all sorts of intelligence, offer us money, and do all sorts of unsavory things."
Li Tianjue and Su Luo were aware of this; it was almost an open unspoken rule.
"Then how do you usually contact your superiors?" Li Tianjue asked again.
"Only my superiors contact me. I have no way to contact them. However, every so often, a letter is secretly delivered to me, transmitted by a Golden-Eyed Sparrow. I burn it after reading it and then act according to the instructions."
A Golden-Eyed Sparrow is a small spirit bird. Once tamed, it can be used for transmitting messages, and it's a common spirit pet.
Liang Zhong said that the commands arrived at irregular intervals.
Sometimes it was only once every year or two, and sometimes there were two in a row within a month. If he needed to transmit information, it would be written on paper and taken away by the Golden-Eyed Sparrow. If not, the bird would simply fly away.
"However, although the letters had no signature, they would leave a mark, and I would know it was an order from my superiors upon seeing it."
Saying this, Liang Zhong bit his finger and painstakingly drew the mark on the ground.
"Senior Disciple Brother, what is this?" Su Luo wouldn't recognize it without her Divine Eye.
Li Tianjue looked at the strange symbol. It resembled a flame, or perhaps twisted lines, drawn crookedly as if forming some characters. It was just drawn so poorly that he couldn't identify it immediately.
Su Luo yawned, about to use her Divine Eye to check, eager to finish and go back to sleep.
Suddenly, Li Tianjue's expression changed, his brow deeply furrowed.
"Senior Disciple Brother, have you remembered something?" Su Luo quickly asked.
If Li Tianjue knew, she wouldn't need to use her Divine Eye.
After expending so much energy throughout the night, even though the spirit energy required each time was minimal, the cumulative amount was significant.
"If I recall correctly, this is a mark previously used by the Poison Toad King. However, since he pledged allegiance to the Dark Demon Ridge, he hasn't publicly used it for over ten years."
This was some of the secret information Li Tianjue had gathered from eliminating so many demonic organizations.
Su Luo frowned. She hadn't expected things to point towards such a powerful force. The Dark Demon Ridge was one of the six top powers, on par with Qingxu Heaven. But who was this Ma Daluan?
Li Tianjue also knew that the Poison Toad King was an expert in poisons, at least a top-tier cultivator at the Saint realm. He was now one of the Eight Envoys under Moluo Jia, the master of the Dark Demon Ridge.
The righteous path feared him and whispered his name, and he was consistently ranked within the top fifty on the bounty lists of major sects. Even members of demonic organizations kept a respectful distance.
If it was indeed the Poison Toad King who sent someone to harm Bai Qi, then Moluo Jia might also be involved.
That master of the Dark Demon Ridge!
But what grudge could Moluo Jia have with their master?
Li Tianjue remained silent for a long time, his expression growing darker. Su Luo also stayed quiet, but she could clearly sense the aura emanating from him. It was as cold as ice, and the killing intent intensified, making the spy tremble in fear.
"Alright, Senior Disciple Brother, we have a lead, which is good. We'll slowly follow the clues and eventually find out," Su Luo quickly interrupted Li Tianjue's thoughts and comforted him.
Such a major matter couldn't be uncovered in a short time.
She had done all she could. The rest was up to Li Tianjue and the other senior disciples to figure out. It was almost past midnight, and she wanted to go back to sleep, sleep, sleep!
Finally, Li Tianjue let Su Luo go. Without a second word, she handed over the remaining matters to Li Tianjue and fled.
She slept soundly, without any dreams.
The next day, Su Luo was awakened by the chirping of birds outside her window.
She woke up, and the sun was already high in the sky.
Su Luo stretched. She had slept wonderfully, and all her fatigue was gone. Hearing faint sounds from outside, she quickly got dressed and went out into the courtyard while combing her hair.
"Sister Su, did I wake you up?" Tang Xiaoguo knew nothing about what happened last night. She was with two servants, placing fish into a large bluestone fish tank under Su Luo's eaves.
Fish of various colors swam around in the water, looking incredibly cute.
"It's Xiaoguo! No, I just woke up."
Su Luo played with the fish with Tang Xiaoguo for a while and thanked her for making her courtyard so beautiful. She casually asked if Tang Xiaoguo was hungry, as she was preparing to make some lunch for them to share.
Thinking of Su Luo's cooking, Tang Xiaoguo's eyes lit up, "Yes, yes! Everything Sister Su makes is delicious!"
The sky was high and clouds were thin, the air was fresh and invigorating. They had caught a spy last night, and it seemed she would soon officially join Qingxu Heaven. Su Luo was in an exceptionally good mood and planned to cook some delicacies she usually couldn't afford to treat herself well.
"Let's make some simple braised pork ribs, plus a cold mixed shredded vegetables and a winter melon ball soup. That should be enough for us. Hmm, and I must make Immortal Tofu…"
Su Luo said, listing the ingredients she needed. Tang Xiaoguo called for servants to prepare them and curiously asked, "Sister Su, what is Immortal Tofu? Is it delicious?"
"The first three dishes are enough for the two of us. The Immortal Tofu is for Fifth Disciple Brother."
Su Luo explained, "Fifth Disciple Brother isn't in good health, so he can't eat ordinary food. Plus, he's been taking medicine for a long time and doesn't have a good appetite. So I plan to make this Immortal Tofu for him to try; he's sure to like it."
If it were someone else, she wouldn't bother making such a complicated dish.
But for her Fifth Disciple Brother, who was as beautiful as an immortal, Su Luo only wished for his speedy recovery.