Chapter 12: Interrogation (1)

Compared to back then, Zhu Xianyao’s appearance hadn’t changed much. She was still a pure beauty, but her temperament had changed drastically.

The Zhu Xianyao back then was extremely attractive and lovable, making it so that anyone who saw her would want to embrace her.

The current Zhu Xianyao’s aura had taken a complete 180.

He hadn’t noticed when he was far away, but now that he was close it was obvious.

Even though Zhu Xianyao was still elegant, she was no longer mild. Even though she was beautiful, she was no longer charming. Even though she was still full of life, she had lost her purity.

She was like a flower that had endured a snowstorm, transforming from a lily into a snowy rose.

Her eyebrows were cold, her face was cold, and even her gaze was cold.

This made Su Chen feel quite a bit of shock.

He was deeply aware that Zhu Xianyao’s former attitude wasn’t because she was born that way but because it had been the result of constant training after her birth. After all, women with the Slyheart Fox Bloodline needed to be charming in order to confuse their targets.

But what was with this current Zhu Xianyao?

This kind of noble, cool attitude wasn’t meant to charm people into getting closer but to keep them thousands of kilometers away.

And this kind of attitude and aura obviously wasn’t something that had surfaced overnight but was a habit developed over a long period of time. Only then would she possess such a majestic presence.

Su Chen refocused himself and lowered his head as he said, “Just tell me what you called me here for.”

This voice was very nasally and asinine, but it was in line with how You Tianyang usually behaved in front of Zhu Xianyao.

“Some humans tried to infiltrate earlier, but they didn’t belong to us. Let me ask you, did you tell anyone else about what we are here to do?” Zhu Xianyao asked coldly.

Su Chen froze. Zhu Xianyao thought that this was all because You Tianyang couldn’t keep his mouth shut and had told someone else?

But when he thought about it, it wasn’t too surprising. They had come all this way to discuss things with the Sand Race, so how could other humans infiltrate for no reason? Nothing had happened in West Laina Castle for many years, so why were there people trying to get into the castle just as Zhu Xianyao and the others had decided to come and visit?

Was this a coincidence? Or was this a scheme of hers?

It would have been strange if Zhu Xianyao wasn’t suspicious.

In reality, it wasn’t just Zhu Xianyao who was suspicious. Even Pall had realized this point, but he hadn’t immediately acted was all. Perhaps he was waiting for Zhu Xianyao to give him an explanation.

Upon realizing this, Su Chen’s heart seized. He said haltingly, “This……”

He purposefully hesitated and didn’t speak. Zhu Xianyao said, “You told Zhu Xianling, didn’t you?”

Su Chen didn’t know who this Zhu Xianling was, but he still seized the opportunity and nodded his head.

“You piece of trash! Didn’t I tell you not to let het her know?” Zhu Xianyao yelled in anger.

Su Chen rubbed the back of his head. “I……”

He was still dilly-dallying when an old man to the side spoke up. “Young Miss, you know that Prince Tianyang’s bloodline has yet to awaken. With Second Young Miss’s techniques, it’s very hard for him to endure.”

“Even if he couldn’t endure, he should have at least told me earlier so that I could prepare myself! Now what can we do? Our negotiations were going fine, but people suddenly tried to infiltrate the castle. Does she want to try and mess up my plan with chaos? Or does she want to try and assassinate Pall in order to frame me?” Zhu Xianyao said angrily.

Su Chen had never seen Zhu Xianyao speak in such an angry manner.

Perhaps the Zhu Xianyao he had seen before was someone living as a disguise and was never real. The current Zhu Xianyao seemed a bit more genuine to him somehow.

She was made of flesh and blood and had quite the temper, and even a bit of a tomboyish attitude.

This tomboyish attitude was obviously a turn-off to most men, so Zhu Xianyao never displayed it openly. It wasn’t until now that Su Chen saw this side of her.

Su Chen thought for a moment. Suddenly, a thought came to him as he said, “Their leader wasn’t angry and didn’t turn on us. No matter what the spies’ goals were, you could say that they failed in their mission this time. I think that what we should do now is interrogate the criminal and figure out what his target was, as well as what their next steps are.

He said this clearly and succinctly, giving even Zhu Xianyao a bit of surprise. “You’ve finally said something sensible for once.”

Su Chen wasn’t worried that Zhu Xianyao would suspect him because of what he had said.

Even though You Tianyang looked like he was an idiot, his outward appearance didn’t necessarily match up with his real situation. You Tianyang had tried to lie to Su Chen even after he had fallen into Su Chen’s hands, showing that he wasn’t a complete idiot.

More importantly, people had many different characteristics and were often hard to understand. It might be possible to assign them certain stereotypes, but reducing them to a base set of rules was impossible.

As such, no matter how much Su Chen’s words didn’t seem like they could ever come out of You Tianyang’s mouth, Zhu Xianyao wouldn’t suspect him — you wouldn’t suspect a normally stupid friend of being someone else just because they said something smart from time to time unless it started to happen constantly and their entire personality had changed. However, this method of discovery through comparison required a lot of time.

Su Chen needed to openly talk about interrogating He Xu in order to get into contact him without being suspected.

“Young Miss, Leader Pall might not allow us to interrogate him,” the old man said.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll talk things over with Pall; I need to make sure that this guy didn’t come here to target us,” Zhu Xianyao said as she turned around and left.

Not long afterwards, Zhu Xianyao returned, her expression tired. “He agreed.”

Pall wasn’t an idiot. The Zhu Clan had come with a request and had no reason to scheme against him under these kinds of circumstances. In addition, if they wanted to assassinate Pall, they wouldn’t have sent a Yang Opening Realm cultivator. As such, he accepted what Zhu Xianyao had said and believed that it was likely the Zhu Clan’s opponents were purposefully making trouble. Of course, he didn’t just accept that reasoning for nothing; he had harshly extorted Zhu Xianyao again, causing her to go pale with anger.

“It’s all because of that damned bastard, costing me an additional hundred thousand Origin Stones. This guy won’t accept any payments in installments and just wants a one-time reward. He has no long-term insight whatsoever,” Zhu Xianyao cursed angrily.

“He’s just been tricked one too many times. Even the dumbest person will start to become cautious when they’ve been lied to enough, and he’s not nearly that stupid,” Zhu Baiyu laughed as he walked into the room, carrying He Xu over his shoulder.

Upon seeing Zhu Baiyu arrive, Su Chen lowered his head silently.

“Sixth Uncle!” Zhu Xianyao said in a low voice, obviously agitated.

“Don’t worry,” Zhu Baiyu replied. “Those Sand Race individuals aren’t there anymore, so feel free to speak.”

Upon hearing this, Su Chen felt his heart jolt.

So Zhu Xianyao and the others actually did have other goals in mind in coming here? Establishing a foothold in Long Sang Country to fight with the Immortal Temple was all a lie?

Zhu Baiyu set He Xu down, then returned and sat next to Zhu Xianyao, preparing to start the interrogation. The others stood behind them.

Zhu Xianyao didn’t like You Tianyang, but Zhu Baiyu didn’t seem to have any issues with him. He said quite gently, “Tianyang, you can have a seat too. Why are you standing there like you’re a servant?”

Su Chen lowered his head and replied, “Tianyang messed up and told Second Young Miss that we were coming here, causing this matter to occur. That’s why Tianyang doesn’t dare sit.”

Zhu Baoui laughed. “I already know about this matter; it’s not entirely your fault. Don’t worry, have a seat.”

“Oh.” Su Chen pretended to sit down clumsily. In a moment of inattention, an item fell out from his clothes, rolling forward until it came to a stop at He Xu’s feet.

When he saw that item, He Xu’s eyes lit up.