Otherwise, although this kind of thing would have very limited benefits for Ye Tiancheng himself, not worth him coveting such a small gain.
But didn't everyone have relatives and friends?
Even for the sake of his own family and friends, Ye Tiancheng would not let go of such a natural treasure.
However, it was truly difficult to bring himself to act when it had already taken human form.
After all, it hadn't done anything wrong, just cultivating peacefully and reaching its current state. Ye Tiancheng wasn't some great villain, nor was he a good person, but he still couldn't do something like that.
After all, to use Zhang Qishu as a treasure would mean killing Zhang Qishu.
In Ye Tiancheng's eyes, Zhang Qishu's current appearance was no different from murder.
It was truly unnecessary, with no prior grievances or enmity.
Zhang Qishu, having been captured by Ye Tiancheng and his identity exposed by the little fox, seeing no hope of escape, decided to throw caution to the wind and said, "Since I've been caught, it seems this is my fate. Kill me or torture me, as you please!"
"Just grant me a quick end!"
Ye Tiancheng looked at him and showed a very strange smile.
He asked in an unfathomable tone, "Are you serious?"
Zhang Qishu, with a look of heroic sacrifice, nodded vigorously, "It's best if you just swallow me whole, without any pain. Skinning and bleeding me would be too cruel, so please don't do that, okay?"
"Oh..."
Ye Tiancheng's voice drew out, appreciating Zhang Qishu's expression for a moment, then said with a sigh, "Why don't you believe what we're saying?"
"We're really here to investigate a case. Who would covet you for no reason? Isn't the one who is truly coveting you the one hiding in the dark, causing harm? We're also here to catch that person, and we discovered that he might have committed these crimes because he was targeting you, which is why we came to question you."
"With our strength, if we really wanted to capture you, why would we be talking so much with you? Everyone is very busy and doesn't have this much free time. We would have just apprehended you directly, without needing any reason!"
This time, it was Zhang Qishu's turn to ask with suspicion, "Are you serious?"
If he could truly survive, then that would be the best. Who would dislike living longer? In any case, Zhang Qishu didn't dislike living longer. He just wanted to live his current ordinary life for a long, long time.
But fate had dealt him a bad hand. First, he accidentally leaked his aura and was discovered by mountain spirits and wild beasts. Then he was targeted, constantly worrying about when he would be captured and eaten. He was also implicated in murder cases because of this, and now he had been caught by Ye Tiancheng and the little fox.
He only hoped that what Ye Tiancheng said was true and that he wasn't being tricked.
If they could really catch the mountain spirit or wild beast that was secretly targeting him, that would be even better!
Ye Tiancheng said to Zhang Qishu, "Of course, what I said is true. If it were false, now that we've caught you, our objective has been achieved, right? Why would we need to explain ourselves again and again?"
Zhang Qishu thought about it for a moment and felt that it made sense.
However, he still couldn't be completely at ease. Human society was too treacherous. What if Ye Tiancheng was just tricking him, thinking it would be fun to play with him?
Zhang Qishu said to Ye Tiancheng with some frustration, "Then if you don't want to catch and eat me, why haven't you let me go yet?"
Ye Tiancheng still held Zhang Qishu firmly, without any intention of letting go. Even if he were to let go, unless he could ensure that Zhang Qishu would absolutely not escape, Ye Tiancheng would absolutely not release him.
He replied to Zhang Qishu, "Don't you know why I'm not letting you go?"
"If I had let go earlier, you would have run away without looking back. You are a ginseng, and if you burrow into the ground, where would I find you?" Ye Tiancheng said, not reducing his grip at all. "Isn't it common knowledge how difficult ginseng is to find and catch?"
"There are even sayings among those who dig for ginseng."
"They say that ginseng with good years has developed sentience, and without some trick, even if you discover them, they will escape from your hands. I remember the method, it seems to be to shout 'Bangchui!' when catching them, and then the ginseng will be startled and frozen, unable to run, and thus captured. Is there such a saying?"
When he said the word "Bangchui," Ye Tiancheng suddenly raised his voice, with a clear intent to scare the ginseng.
Zhang Qishu's expression immediately became speechless.
He certainly knew about this saying.
He replied to Ye Tiancheng, "Bangchui, who are you trying to scare?"
Before Ye Tiancheng could react, the little fox narrowed its eyes, leaned closer to Zhang Qishu, met his gaze, and then said, "You dare to curse now. It seems you believe us and are not afraid of us at all?"
To say he wasn't afraid would be impossible.
Zhang Qishu was still afraid, but since Ye Tiancheng and the others had been messing around for so long without actually doing anything to him, nor causing him any substantial harm, Zhang Qishu had indeed begun to believe a little that Ye Tiancheng and the others weren't after him because he was ginseng, or at least they didn't plan to eat him.
Even if they had the thought of eating him, it wouldn't be possible in the short term.
Therefore, Zhang Qishu's courage had actually increased a bit.
Zhang Qishu said to the little fox, "Didn't you both shout 'Bangchui!' so loudly? Aren't you deliberately trying to scare me?"
Ye Tiancheng blinked innocently.
"I just suddenly remembered such a saying and was simply narrating it. I didn't mean to scare you."
Zhang Qishu had retaliated for the "Bangchui!" shout, so he didn't intend to pursue the "Bangchui" topic relentlessly. Moreover, he didn't want to be held like this by Ye Tiancheng, as it was quite uncomfortable.
So, Zhang Qishu turned the conversation back to the main issue.
He said to Ye Tiancheng, "Alright, alright, I'll reluctantly believe you and cooperate with you. Ask what you need to ask, and let me go quickly. You're not going to let me go until you've finished asking, are you?"
Ye Tiancheng also felt that it was quite tiring to keep suppressing Zhang Qishu, but he couldn't let go before convincing Zhang Qishu.
Now that Zhang Qishu was willing to cooperate, that was naturally for the best.
So Ye Tiancheng said, "I can let you go, but you have to promise to cooperate with us properly and provide clues. You cannot escape!"
Zhang Qishu was truly fed up. Hearing Ye Tiancheng say this, he immediately swore to Ye Tiancheng, "I swear to heaven, if you let me go, and I don't cooperate with your work, and run away halfway, I will be immediately caught by the spirit that is targeting me and eaten!"
"With this, you should be willing to believe me now, right?"
Unlike ordinary people who would talk nonsense, Zhang Qishu's oath would truly take effect and form a karmic relationship. With him saying it to this extent, Ye Tiancheng finally let go and released Zhang Qishu.
Zhang Qishu immediately breathed a sigh of relief and stretched his limbs.
Then, he said to Ye Tiancheng, "I can cooperate with your work, but before that, you also have to swear an oath and guarantee that you will absolutely not covet my body! You will absolutely not eat me! You will absolutely not harm me!"
Ye Tiancheng had no problem with this.
So, Ye Tiancheng, along with the little fox, swore an oath, guaranteeing that they would absolutely not intentionally harm Zhang Qishu, eat him, or capture him.
With his life secured, Zhang Qishu was willing to cooperate.
However, to save trouble, and also to avoid the need for subsequent relaying of information, Ye Tiancheng planned to take Zhang Qishu back to Nie Chongyang, and then have Zhang Qishu explain the situation.
Zhang Qishu was somewhat unwilling.
He said, "I've already agreed to cooperate with you, and you still want me to go with you? What if you have other intentions? You two promised not to capture me, but what if your companions capture me?"
"I'm not going. If you have any questions, I'm only willing to answer them in front of you two. No one else is allowed."
Ye Tiancheng was packing up his things, and the identification documents he had taken out also needed to be put back properly for Old Li and Nie Chongyang.
Hearing Zhang Qishu's words, Ye Tiancheng glanced at him.
Zhang Qishu immediately adopted a self-protective posture, crossed his arms, and said to Ye Tiancheng vigilantly, "You've sworn an oath, you can't harm me! And you absolutely cannot force me. Since you have no ulterior motives, why do you insist on taking me elsewhere to see others?"
Ye Tiancheng didn't get angry with him, but said slowly, "I'm taking you there not because of any ulterior motives. Let alone for this case, even for your identity, you have to come with us."
Zhang Qishu said indignantly, "Why?!"
Ye Tiancheng told him, "Because you are not human. Do you think this case was transferred to us? Because cases committed by non-humans are under the jurisdiction of the Special Operations Team, and are no longer within the scope of ordinary criminal cases."
"And non-humans like you have an obligation to register, accept state control, and obtain identification cards to legally live in human society. Otherwise, you are breaking the law!"
"Spirits without identification like you are not under jurisdiction. If you are mistakenly killed, no one will be responsible for your life."
Zhang Qishu's expression immediately turned to one of disbelief.
"There's such a thing? How have I never heard of it? You're not lying to me, are you? Does our country have such an organization?"
Ye Tiancheng solemnly fooled him, "Of course, it's a legitimate official organization. Otherwise, how would we have identification documents?"
"It's not strange that you don't know. How could a wild spirit who hasn't gone through legal procedures know such things? But you have to get an ID, you have to register to legally stay in human society. Otherwise, killing you is not illegal, but if you commit a crime, whether you have an ID or not, you will definitely be held accountable to the end."
Zhang Qishu, hearing Ye Tiancheng speak so plausibly, gradually began to believe him.
He indeed didn't understand many things. In human society, he had always acted as a human. The general public were all ordinary people and knew nothing about these supernatural matters, so he naturally had no way of knowing these things.
He had also disguised himself well and hadn't interacted much with his own kind, as he needed to be careful that his identity wouldn't be exploited as medicinal material. He didn't want to be eaten, so he had even fewer channels to hear this news.
Ye Tiancheng and the others seemed quite trustworthy, had never harmed him, and had official identification.
Earlier, when Ye Tiancheng and the others were gaining Zhang Qishu's trust, they had let Zhang Qishu check the identification numbers on the documents to verify their authenticity, so Zhang Qishu knew that Ye Tiancheng's documents were definitely real.
He really hadn't expected the country to have such an organization.
But thinking about it, this country was so vast, with countless demons and monsters living in it, possessing supernatural powers. If they weren't regulated, it would be very bad for humans. From this perspective, it was reasonable for such an organization to exist, and for Ye Tiancheng and the others to take on this case.