Destiny is ashes

Chapter 353 Interrogation (13)

With Xu Tai's strength, he would most likely be injured if he faced the siege of these well-trained warriors in white alone, but he could still run away.

However, if one is accidentally hit by the cold poison of the skinny warrior in the lead, the poison will spread under the stimulation of the frost disaster environment and he may not be able to escape.

But now, it would be a piece of cake for him to deal with just five warriors who have lost their will to fight and their courage.

Soon, several captives with broken arms and legs were thrown in front of An Jing, waiting for his questioning.

An Jing glanced at the trembling warriors and asked calmly, "What's your origin?"

The captured warriors looked at each other, and no one answered.

"It looks like a real demon sect." An Jing chopped off a man's head and continued to ask, "What's the purpose?"

Blood splattered on the remaining four people. One of them trembled and shouted, "Yes, someone hired us to kill all the convoys heading to Linjiang City..."

"You're lying." An Jing chopped off his head and continued to ask the remaining three people who were almost collapsed: "What are you looking for?"

"I don't know, I really don't know!" One person cried, one person roared: "Kill him if you want him, why are you talking so much nonsense!" Another person lowered his head and remained silent.

"It seems very important, but I really don't know it."

An Jing nodded slightly, beheaded the two people who made the noise, then put away his knife and looked at the last silent person: "When did they take over the magpie's nest? How is the team in Broken Blade Mountain? How do they control you?"

"About two months ago."

The silent warrior in white had an old face and looked very bad at this moment, but he still smiled bitterly and said, "I don't know. The original induction team has been completely disbanded. They used a strange poison to control us... I'm afraid I can't make it. Please kill me quickly. I don't want to... die incontinently before I die, and die in such a shameful way."

"You're not a good person either, but you won't die. For now."

An Jing shook his head. He motioned to Xu Tai to carry the old man back on his back. "Interesting. The situation in Linjiang City is really complicated."

Xu Tai was amazed at how An Jing came to a set of conclusions after seeing the conversation which was almost like asking and answering himself.

And judging from the performance of the old man who was left at the end, it turned out that he was not in the same group with those who were killed before... He seemed to be a normal person?
How on earth is this done?
On the way back to Shimen Town, Xu Tai asked curiously, and An Jing explained: "They are obviously a team of warriors who are guiding the beast tide away from the town, or bandits disguised as a decoy team."

"If they just wanted to rob your supplies on a whim, just tell the truth. If they remain silent, it means there must be a powerful force behind them and some unspeakable plot. And those who can control the demons are by default the True Demon Cult."

"If it is a true demon sect, then what is their purpose? Are they really going to kill all the transport teams approaching Linjiang City? Maybe that is indeed their mission, but their priority is to test the combat effectiveness of those monsters, and then to plunder supplies."

"And finally..."

An Jing's eyes were deep, he looked up at Duanren Mountain: "The Iron Falcon just scanned the area, and your food and medicine have been taken away very quickly."

"If nothing unexpected happens, the remaining group will leave later if they don't wait for you to enter the ambush circle. They will wait until you leave Shimen Town before attacking, or maybe not. I can't be sure of this."

"I see……"

Although Xu Tai could see through part of it, she could not analyze it as decisively as An Jing. This was because she was too confident.

The warrior asked in a low voice: "What about the identity of this old man..." "He had no intention of killing, he just wanted to escape. Obviously, he is not in the same group with this group of True Demon Sect warriors."

An Jing was particularly sensitive in this regard, and could tell at a glance who wanted to kill him: "It's clear at a glance that these True Demon Cult warriors are not locals. If they want to move around Broken Blade Mountain, they will definitely need a guide to lead the way. I saw that this old man has obvious calluses on his hands from the bow and sword, so he must be a local old hunter. So I guessed that he was a member of the real 'induction team', and these True Demon Cult warriors just stole their identities."

"The only question now is whether the mission to intercept the transport team was given to the True Demon Sect or to the induction team."

Having said that, An Jing turned his head and looked at the gray-faced old hunter on Xu Tai's back: "I guess it's the latter. The Demon Cult's mind is not entirely on this mission."

"Yes, indeed... it is a task assigned to us."

The old hunter said dejectedly: "We are employed by the Linlang Chamber of Commerce, which is a large chamber of commerce in the state capital..."

"Not urgent."

After confirming this, An Jing was no longer in a hurry and stopped the old man from talking: "Go back to Shimen Town, I will remove the poison for you, you can talk slowly."

Soon, An Jing and others returned to Shimen Town.

The poison in the old hunter's body is called [Penetrating Spinal Gu], which is a kind of insect poison that attaches to the spine behind the heart. Once stimulated, it will spit out stinging cells, inject them into the heart and spine, and spread the toxin throughout the body, causing festering and death.

It is almost impossible to remove this Gu because it is very similar to a worm, can simulate flesh and blood, and participate in the functioning of the human body. Ordinary warriors cannot even discover it, let alone remove it safely.

But An Jing was not an ordinary warrior. Fire was already formed in his pupils, and he also had true spiritual pupils. He could see through the spinal Gu's location with one glance, igniting its essence and burning himself.

Without any restraint, the old man knelt on the ground and told him all the information he knew.

It’s all because of the frost disaster and the beast tide.

Because of the frost disaster, the beasts around Broken Blade Mountain migrated, and the Northern Barbarians appeared and invaded the edge. The villages and towns around Broken Blade Mountain began to shrink, and the population gathered towards safer big cities. Linjiang City is such a hub.

Although theoretically, the beast tide will not actively attack villages and cities, but if they really happen to be on the path, the beasts will not deliberately avoid it. In order to avoid losses, there will be special warriors to guide the direction of the beast tide's migration to avoid some important industrial facilities, such as medicinal fields and mining areas.

There are many teams of warriors being guided, all of whom are hunter warriors who often move around in the surrounding areas and are familiar with the habits of ferocious beasts and demons.

"Both the military and civil officials of Broken Blade Mountain are gone. The one in charge of the city's affairs now is the Linlang Chamber of Commerce, which is said to have connections in the provincial capital. They are holding the official seal on behalf of the city."

The old hunter confessed honestly: "We are all employed by the Linlang Chamber of Commerce. We are responsible for guiding the direction of the beast tide and avoiding casualties... But before that, we also took on several dishonorable tasks."

"What is dishonorable? Tell me."

An Jing tapped the scabbard and spoke casually, but how could the old hunter dare to be casual? He hurriedly said, "Because of the Frost Calamity and the Northern Barbarians, the value of various industrial estates around Linjiang City has plummeted. Coupled with the beast tide, some villages have moved away. The Linlang Chamber of Commerce took advantage of the opportunity to acquire a lot of high-quality industries."

"However, some villages with excellent industries think they have some strength and don't want to move. For example, Shimen Town has a frost jade mine next to it, and they planned to stay in the town and not move."

"We will cooperate with the Linlang Chamber of Commerce and guide the beast tide to force them to hand over their industry - if they hand it over, they can get a sum of money and leave safely."

"If you don't hand it over, we will lead the beast tide to flatten their village, and then we can take over it anyway."

(End of this chapter)