Chapter 021
Chapter 21: Questioning
At the same moment, the scholar lightly curled his finger, causing Cang Yin Yue to uncontrollably step toward the valley.
Cang Yin Yue, though anxious at heart, calmly considered ways to break the spell. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Li Mu Sheng but noticed he stood motionless, seemingly lost in thought.
“I thought this kid was some hidden master, but there’s not even a trace of Qi in his body.” From within the valley, the scholar cast a glance at Li Mu Sheng, scoffing as he shook his head.
He had already silently used the Formless Puppet Art to infiltrate Li Mu Sheng’s body, thus clearly sensing the lack of Qi within him.
Hearing this, the heavily wounded woman, busy circulating her Qi to heal, casually replied, “Since he’s just an ordinary human, junior brother, you can kill him directly. He’s of no use to my Blood Aspect Poison Claw Technique.”
“You’re right,” the scholar agreed, nodding.
He ceased looking at Li Mu Sheng and gently moved his finger, intending to control Li Mu Sheng to slit his own throat. However, he suddenly let out a small cry of surprise and stared at Li Mu Sheng again.
The self-inflicted wound he expected did not happen. That handsome young man remained standing exactly where he was, completely still.
Frowning, the scholar moved his finger again, but his usually infallible Formless Puppet Art still had no effect. Growing frustrated, he fully activated his Dantian, sending a surge of Qi into his finger, trying to control the invisible threads linked to Li Mu Sheng’s body. Yet, it was still useless.
“How is this possible?” the scholar murmured in disbelief.
The woman looked puzzledly at her distracted junior brother, about to ask what was wrong, when Li Mu Sheng suddenly shook his head and spoke:
“This martial art doesn’t seem too impressive. If I had the complete manual, I might study it a bit.”
As he spoke, Li Mu Sheng casually lifted his hand and grabbed forward, gathering all the densely tangled threads that wrapped around him into his palm.
Simultaneously, the scholar—still doubting if he’d made a mistake in his cultivation—felt an overwhelming power seize his hand. His vision blurred as the scenery before him rapidly receded, and his entire body violently crashed onto the ground.
A thunderous boom echoed through the quiet mountains. Rocks shattered, dust billowed, and the scholar was buried within a pile of splintered stone. The force of impact shattered his bones and mangled his flesh, yet he still couldn’t comprehend what had just happened, despite the pain enveloping every inch of him.
“You…” With dirt and blood clouding his eyes, the scholar stared at Li Mu Sheng, unable to finish his sentence as blood and fragments of his insides surged to his throat, silencing him.
At this moment, having regained control of her movements, Cang Yin Yue flashed to Li Mu Sheng’s side. Her cold, clear eyes moved from the broken body in the rocks to Li Mu Sheng, astonishment filling her gaze.
“You broke his Formless Puppet Art. How did you manage it?”
Li Mu Sheng dusted off his hands, looked at her, and playfully replied, “Miss Cang, why do you always ask me that same question? Can’t you change it to something like, ‘Your Highness, you’re amazing,’ or ‘Truly terrifying’?”
Cang Yin Yue paused, then seriously nodded, “Indeed, very impressive!”
However, in the next instant, her eyes flashed sharply. Her figure vanished, swiftly becoming a shadow that shot toward the valley.
The scholar’s senior sister, witnessing his strange defeat, instantly realized they had encountered someone powerful. Taking advantage of the chaos, she immediately turned to flee, knowing that in her injured state, staying would mean certain death.
But how could she outrun Cang Yin Yue? In mere moments, Cang Yin Yue captured her and dragged her back, throwing her beside the scholar’s battered body.
“Which sect do you belong to, and what’s your purpose in going to Shang Yang City?”
Cang Yin Yue’s slender blade hovered menacingly against the ugly woman’s scarred neck.
The complete Formless Puppet Art had never appeared openly in the Martial World before, suggesting a possible resurgence of the Infinite Forms Demon Sect. The unclear relationship between these two and General Wu An only heightened suspicion.
The ugly woman moved her lips to speak, but Cang Yin Yue immediately stopped her, adding:
“To prevent you two from matching your stories, we’d better question you separately.”
Li Mu Sheng nodded, “I have no objection.”
Cang Yin Yue promptly took the ugly woman aside to interrogate her. Meanwhile, Li Mu Sheng slowly crouched down beside the scholar, thoughtfully saying:
“Hand over your Formless Puppet Art. Let me take a look.”
Hearing this, the scholar swallowed a mouthful of blood, glaring stubbornly at Li Mu Sheng without responding.
“Hmm? You don’t want to give it?” Li Mu Sheng raised an eyebrow.
The scholar still didn’t respond clearly, only weakly murmuring, “You…why…have no Qi…”
Li Mu Sheng chuckled softly, then asked, “Have you ever heard of Heavenly Union? The martial dao Transformation Stage? Returning to simplicity?”
The scholar opened his mouth wide, eyes bulging in shock, but then slowly shook his head, struggling to speak clearly, “You…can’t possibly…be at Heavenly Union…”
Li Mu Sheng rolled his eyes, repeating, “Will you hand over the martial art or not?”
The scholar only shook his head, repeatedly mumbling the same words without answering the question.
Seeing this, Li Mu Sheng sighed softly, shaking his head, “Fine, keep it. It’s not like I need it.”
He flicked out a finger, instantly extinguishing the scholar’s life.
Unlike Cang Yin Yue from the Shadow Spy Division, Li Mu Sheng had no patience for interrogation. Even in death, disbelief lingered on the scholar’s face.
A moment later, Cang Yin Yue returned, dragging along the barely alive ugly woman.
“She confessed everything. How about your questioning?” Cang Yin Yue asked, preparing to cross-check their testimonies.
But when her gaze fell upon the now-dead scholar, she furrowed her brow suspiciously, “Don’t tell me you killed him without learning anything?”
Li Mu Sheng shrugged casually, “I’m no expert. Getting two sentences out of him was already good enough.”
“Questioning is best left to talented people like you, Miss Cang. I trust you found out something useful?”
Cang Yin Yue softly sighed, explaining, “They are both disciples of an elder known as Elder Formless, who taught them their martial arts. As for their goal…”
She paused, staring directly at Li Mu Sheng, and finished grimly:
“It was to impersonate you.”