Chapter 1288: Full of Flaws

Chapter 1288: Chapter 1288: Full of Flaws

Pei Yan’s words petrified Ding Zhiyi on the spot; this wasn’t what he’d expected! Before they came, the Elder of the White Deer Institute had already informed them that Pei Yan would not easily believe their words and would definitely ask many questions. For this, they were even prepared to have their memories searched, and should any problem arise, it could trigger the restriction within their bodies, leaving them either dead or foolish. Such accidents are common during forced memory searches, leaving the Investigation Hall and others without any means to deal with the White Deer Institute for a while.

Yet Pei Yan didn’t follow the usual script. He didn’t ask for evidence or documents. He led Ding Zhiyi into a trap with just a few words and sent him away. It was only then that Ding Zhiyi realized Pei Yan had long set his sights on the White Deer Institute and didn’t care whether he spoke or not; Pei Yan had ways to proceed regardless.

But if he truly followed Pei Yan’s words, what meaning would his sacrifice hold for the continuation of his sect’s descendants? Wouldn’t his actions make him a fool?

After being urged repeatedly by a nearby impatient Zheng Jia Ru to leave, Ding Zhiyi, carrying doubts, walked a dozen steps outside, realizing the other side had no intention of calling him back for further questioning. He couldn’t hold back his emotions and rushed back into the interrogation room, colliding with Pei Yan, who had just finished tidying up the table and was preparing to leave. He growled, "I am not prepared to accept your conditions!"

"Ah?" Pei Yan stopped in his tracks, a puzzled expression on his face. He stepped back, looking Ding Zhiyi up and down with a look of surprise, and asked, "Why?"

"Your heart is too malicious! The lives of nearly ten thousand in a sect are like grass to you. For personal gain, you resort to despicable means to annihilate them. Although we hate the betrayal of the White Deer Institute, we scorn to align with you for such acts that incite the wrath of heaven and resentment alike," Ding Zhiyi thought for a moment, found an excuse, and argued for himself.

At this time, Mi Langcai, who had returned with Ding Zhiyi, understood his brother’s intentions and joined in, "That’s right! Since you came to the Daoist Plane, you have thrown it into chaos. Look! Since your arrival, how many sects have been destroyed because of you! The Celestial Secret Pavilion, once second only to the Mo Sect in mechanics, is now gone. Celestial Sword Manor, because of the so-called evidence you claim, has been detained. Peach Blossom Spring has perished! Now both the Hongjun Sword Furnace and the White Deer Institute are being investigated. Who knows if it’s your doing?"

"Hey! Hey! Hey! That’s too much! I’ll tolerate having some relation with Celestial Sword Manor! But what do the Celestial Secret Pavilion and Peach Blossom Spring have to do with me?" Pei Yan defended himself with a couple of sentences, then looked at the three before him and mocked, "You three, with no bottom line, don’t even spare the possessions of the dead, and yet here you pretend to be upright gentlemen concerned about the nation and the people?"

"We certainly don’t claim to be upright gentlemen! But we absolutely refuse to associate with a scoundrel who stirs trouble like you!" Xu Wendong said, filled with indignation.

"Alright! Alright! Alright! Consider me afraid of you! I’m the scoundrel! I’m the scoundrel!" Pei Yan, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry, raised both hands, shook his head, and sat back down at the long table, saying helplessly, "Didn’t you refuse the conditions I gave you! Fine, let’s proceed with the normal process!" After saying that, Pei Yan’s playful expression instantly turned gloomy and frightening, his cold gaze like that of someone looking at a corpse as he stared at Ding Zhiyi and sneered, "Before we officially begin, I’ll warn you one last time. Accept my conditions now, and there’s still a path to life for you! But if I uncover any issues later, you won’t even have the chance to cry!"

Ding Zhiyi had already determined Pei Yan was bluffing, believing the other side had no means to extract the truth from him. Feeling he had regained the upper hand, he provocatively replied, "I want to see what other methods you can use!"

"Alright! Then walk a few steps!"

"What?" Having just prepared himself to endure torture, Ding Zhiyi was once again defeated by Pei Yan’s strange line of thought, even suspecting whether his ears had misheard, and asked in confusion.

"Don’t understand what I said? Walk a few steps! Around this room! Do you understand! Summer Yu, release their handcuffs and shackles! Their original energy has been sealed; in this state, relying solely on the Body Refining Technique, Old Zheng could beat them till they’re searching for their teeth on the ground." Pei Yan first knocked on the table and impatiently scolded the three, then had Summer Yu step forward to unlock their shackles.

Ding Zhiyi and the others, having their shackles removed, rubbed their wrists and looked at each other in confusion. None could understand what Pei Yan was planning. Finally, under Pei Yan’s repeated urging, the three had no choice but to follow his order and started walking circles inside the room.

"Walk! I never said stop! Don’t stop!" He said, holding his left eye, which was starting to ache from merging, watching the three circling for a full five minutes and occasionally stopping to observe him, and said grumpily.

Finished with these words, as if to deliberately make things difficult for the three, Pei Yan raised his hand, causing mechanical obstacles resembling steps and slopes to rise from the floor inside the room, then had Summer Yu monitor the three as they continued to walk back and forth on them. It went on like this, leading Ding Zhiyi and others around the room for a whole hour, until a crisp sound suddenly rang in the interrogation room, drawing the attention back of those secretly observing, who were finding it dull and were about to drift off.

Pei Yan, who just slammed the table, smirked at the equally stunned Ding Zhiyi and the others, saying with a meaningful smile, "Are you still not ready to say anything by now? I’m very curious! Before coming, I also investigated your backgrounds; indeed, as you say, your neither small nor large declining sect was destroyed because of your actions, and based on the intelligence I’ve gathered so far, it seems you have no heirs! So how exactly did the White Deer Institute convince you to come here to die in vain to cover up their trivial matters? What benefit did they offer you? Speak, let me hear!"

"Hahahahaha!" Ding Zhiyi laughed heartily after Pei Yan’s words, and then taunted, "Pei Yan, I finally see it clearly! You’re not capable! Since I came in, you’ve been using unexpected approaches to disrupt our minds. Do you think using only verbal coercion and inducement constantly can truly fool us, scare us, and make us comply with your wishes in speech? Pei Yan, are you foundation plane people all so fond of wishful thinking, or do you underestimate the resolve of our Heavenly Dao experts from the Daoist Plane?"

"I see you won’t shed tears until you see the coffin, don’t talk to me about resolve; it’s not force but wisdom, experience, and savvy you rely on to expose someone. As far as that’s concerned, I truly don’t even look up to you people from the Daoist Plane. Aren’t you a stubborn duck! Today I’ll let you die understanding!" During his words, Pei Yan raised his arm, and a mechanical insect condensed from his fingertip, clawed and fluttered onto the long table.