Li Qingxian pointed to the assassin and said, "His right shoulder originally had a tiny speck of maple sugar on it, so small he didn’t even notice. But by the time you interrogated him, the maple sugar was gone. And his shoes—you took them off to torture him and tossed them aside, and they got wet. I could have used all of these to trace his fate and find the path he took to get here. I can still use them now, but it might cause the Fate Skill to fail."
Fei Yan gave an awkward laugh. "As expected of a Fate Master. We really don’t understand these things. After all, very few Fate Masters are willing to cooperate with us in the Internal Factory. Master Xiaoli, rest assured. From this day on, regardless of what the other halls do, whenever our North Hall captures an important criminal, we’ll be sure to let you have a look first."
Li Qingxian nodded, looked at the assassin, and said, "I know you won’t reveal anything about Nether Mountain, but I want to know about the Luu City disaster."
The assassin stared sharply at Li Qingxian.
Fei Yan hurried over and lowered his voice. "The Luu City disaster is an officially forbidden topic. It’s not something to be discussed freely."
Then, he announced loudly, "My stomach is upset. I’ll be back in a moment." After speaking, he gave Li Qingxian a meaningful look, left the interrogation room, and took the others with him.
Only the two of them remained in the interrogation room.
With a wave of his hand, Li Qingxian sent a Sound Insulation Talisman flying, which released a faint shield of light.
Li Qingxian said, "I have no connection to the Demon Sect, but I want to know about their affairs. Besides, you must be eager to avenge your family, aren’t you?"
"You..." The assassin’s chest heaved.
"Let’s make a deal. You don’t need to confess anything about Nether Mountain. Just tell me the secrets of Demon Transformation Mountain. In return, I’ll help you deal with the people from Demon Transformation Mountain, like the Seventh-Grade Direct Inheritor Zhang Yulin, who is currently in Beichang County. He’s the direct lineage grand-disciple of Sect Leader Zhang of Demon Transformation Mountain. Of course, if I can’t deal with him now, we’ll take our time."
"Aren’t you afraid I’ll betray you?"
"If you don’t care about the spirits of your father, mother, sister, wife, and daughter in the afterlife, then feel free to betray me," Li Qingxian said calmly.
"You divined some of my past?" the assassin asked.
"A little," Li Qingxian said. "For instance, that your sister liked coastal paulownia flowers, your wife enjoyed rowing in a phoenix-tail boat with you, and your daughter..."
"Enough!" the assassin snapped.
Li Qingxian watched him quietly.
After a long while, the assassin asked, "Why should I cooperate with you?"
"Your life and death are not in your hands, nor in mine. The Internal Factory decides. Barring any surprises, you won’t live for more than a month. With your vengeance unfulfilled, are you really willing to die just like that? Don’t you want to get revenge on Demon Transformation Mountain before you die?"
"Can you divine how my family died?" the assassin asked.
"A Fate Master used a Chaotic Banner to muddle your fate. I can no longer see it clearly," Li Qingxian admitted frankly.
"A Chaotic Banner... I understand." The assassin lowered his head.
"Actually, you already had the answer in your heart," said Li Qingxian.
The assassin was silent for a long time before saying, "The terms of the deal must be changed."
"Speak."
"I can tell you everything about Demon Transformation Mountain, but you have to give me a quick death."
"Agreed," said Li Qingxian.
The assassin looked up at the flickering candlelight in the interrogation room and slowly began to speak.
"It all started when I saw the entire city of Luu City enveloped in a poisonous fog from the Demon Sect..."
"I hated myself for not daring to enter the city, hated myself for fearing the Demon Sect..."
"I joined Demon Transformation Mountain and, bit by bit, spied on everything about the sect..."
"While at Demon Transformation Mountain, I gradually learned that no one from the Demon Race had gone to Luu City back then. The true culprit was Demon Transformation Mountain itself. Its people had originally intended to test a new Demon Poison and Demonic Skill on a few individuals, but they never expected the new Demon Poison to be so powerful that they not only poisoned themselves but also doomed all of Luu City. Nearly all Dead Demon Lands are the lingering poison from Demon Transformation Mountain’s Demon Poison and Demonic Skills..."
"I know Nether Mountain isn’t any good either. Some of the Netherworld Lords want to become the Emperor, others want to achieve godhood, and the Nether Sons are all scheming against each other... I like the Mud Society. I like being like a commoner, walking through the neighborhoods, strolling through the alleyways, listening to the vendors’ calls, and smelling the aroma of street food. But I can’t. The moment I think of my family, my heart shatters..."
"Only by slaughtering Demon Cultivators can I lessen my pain..."
Li Qingxian glanced at the man’s left arm. Besides the new wounds, there were old, overlapping cut marks running from his wrist all the way to his shoulder.
The assassin spoke slowly, and Li Qingxian listened slowly.
Finally, the assassin lowered his head slightly and said, "That’s everything."
Li Qingxian nodded. "Liu Shida, our pact is sealed."
"Thank you," the assassin said, lowering his head.
Li Qingxian left the cell, where Fei Yan was waiting outside.
"How did it go?"
"He only told me a part of it. I’ll need a long time for Inference."
"Should we wait longer?"
"You all stay out. I’m going to keep trying to get more information out of him. Don’t disturb me unless it’s important."
"Right!" Fei Yan said.
Re-entering the cell, Li Qingxian sat down to the side.
Liu Shida glanced at him and remained silent.
Li Qingxian entered his Life Mansion, consumed a Qi Fortune Fish to open a Long Qi Fortune Bridge connecting to Liu Shida’s Life Mansion, and hunted for his fate.
This time, Li Qingxian had five targets: Dusk Night Sky, Burning Court Fire, Voice of Bone Carving, True Fire Refining Wood, and Black Fire Melting Sword.
At this moment, Liu Shida’s Cultivation had vanished, the protection of Nether Mountain was blocked by the Imperial Court’s Qi Fortune, and his fate was muddled by the Chaotic Banner. All that remained was the power of his Destiny Stars themselves, making the task about five to six times more difficult than with Shenn Goudan.
Li Qingxian had bought and hunted fate many times, so he was much more experienced.
In just a single day, he had fished out all five Destiny Stars.
After fishing out the last Destiny Star, Li Qingxian got up and walked to the door. Liu Shida’s voice came from behind him.
"If you ever go to Luu City, please buy a white seashell bracelet and bury it in the ground for me."
Li Qingxian nodded and walked out of the prison.
’Liu Shida’s daughter liked white seashells.’
Fei Yan greeted him with a smile and asked, "How did it go?"
"Kill him," Li Qingxian said. "Use his clothes and shoes as Life Materials to run an Inference on his approximate route. A Chaotic Banner is causing interference, so it won’t be perfectly accurate, but the general direction will be correct."
"Excellent!" Fei Yan said with a smile, signaling his men to go inside.
A short while later, Li Qingxian went inside to collect the Life Materials.
Fei Yan walked out of the prison with Li Qingxian, smiling as he spoke. "Master Xiaoli, with your Fate Skill, the higher-ups will likely dispatch more men to encircle and destroy the Divine Capital Sub-Branch of Nether Mountain. As long as we find the Nether Mountain Sub-Branch, you’ll surely earn great merit again and obtain a Qi Fortune Seventh-Grade Official Body. If your Cultivation is fast enough, you might even be able to participate in this year’s Seventh-Grade Cyan Cloud Examination. Once you pass it and get a Senior Seventh Grade official position, things will be completely different."
"In the Night Guard, Seventh Grade is just a minor official," Li Qingxian said.
Fei Yan smiled faintly. "Others might grow old and die in the Night Guard, but you’re different. Ever since the Demon Race invaded from the south, the official hierarchy has been in disarray. The clear line that once separated Civil and Military Officers has long since been blurred. Before, the Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of War were all staffed by Civil Servants with Literature Cultivation. But now? Literature Cultivators can only serve as Assistant Officers in those three ministries, reaching Fifth and Sixth Grades at best. If you can advance to Seventh Grade, you could easily get a position as a Seventh-Grade Military County Magistrate in one of the non-civilian-led prefectures. You’re the son of Gangfeng; the Literature Cultivation faction won’t say a thing, making your path much smoother than others. With a foundation as a Military County Magistrate, future promotions to Military Magistrate and Military Governor will come naturally. Above that, there’s Governor, or even a cabinet position. Your future is limitless."
"Brother Fei, are you trying to praise me to death?" Li Qingxian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.