Who Let Him Cultivate?!

“Name?”

“Yizhang Hong.”

“Be honest, what’s your real name!”

” Zhang Xiaohong.”

Inside the interrogation room, the dim oil lamp flickered, casting a gloomy darkness. Fang Qingyun sneer with his arms crossed at the recently captured suspect, while Guard Captain Wei stared into Yizhang Hong’s eyes, throwing one question after another. A Constable sat nearby hastily writing down the interrogation content.

“Gender?”

“Male.”

“Cultivation Level?”

“Foundation Establishment Stage at Completion at its peak.”

Guard Captain Wei snorted, “Note him down as Foundation Establishment Stage. Ignore whatever he said afterwards. Zhang Xiaohong, let me tell you, if you think our handling of this case affects the fairness of the trial, you can apply for a recusal, which is to have somebody else process it. Do you want to apply for a recusal?”

“I’m applying…”

Guard Captain Wei gave a low grunt, his voice dragging out, pitch ascending at the end.

Zhang Xiaohong quickly said, “No, no, no, I won’t apply for recusal.”

“Tell us, why were you brought in?”

“For eating skewers without paying?”

Fang Qingyun impatiently said, “Stop questioning him, just execute him here and now. We’ll say he resisted arrest fiercely, chose death over surrender, and died from taking poison.”

This was definitely something Fang Qingyun could do. Yizhang Hong, who was handcuffed, hurriedly said, “I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you. It was about ten days ago when I woke up from the bottom of a cliff. I must have accidentally slipped while passing by the mountain to the west of Yanjiang County. When I woke up, I found a cave, probably a cultivator’s dwelling. The cave had been abandoned for a long time. I tiptoed in, and only found an old book where I didn’t see anything valuable.”

“That book was taken by you when you searched me.”

“It recorded some obscure talismans and their associated array methods, such as the Reverse Life Talisman and the Reverse Life Array. According to the book, the Reverse Life Talisman can turn lifespan into my cultivation level. I was stuck at a bottleneck and thought this might be a chance to breakthrough to the Golden Core Stage and live freely. Moreover, this method of breakthrough can also increase lifespan. It’s too enticing.”

Fang Qingyun angrily said, “I consulted the County Magistrate, and according to the scale of your setup, forget about breaking through from the Foundation Establishment Stage to the Golden Core Stage, it’s more than enough even to go from the Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul Stage!”

Yizhang Hong thought to himself that he also knew it was wasteful, but he didn’t know any other methods.

Of course, he couldn’t voice these thoughts. He ignored Fang Qingyun’s scolding and continued, “I’m a Talisman Cultivator, so I quickly learned the Reverse Life Talisman. Setting up the Reverse Life Array was not difficult, as it simply required arranging the Reverse Life Talisman into the shape of the array.”

“The effects of the Reverse Life Talisman cannot be sensed by cultivators. Against ordinary people, the only effect is drowsiness, which is easily overlooked. Moreover, once the array is set up, even the effect of drowsiness is no longer present.”

“The only problem is that the Reverse Life Array requires so many talismans to set up that one person cannot complete it in a short time. I happened to meet two companions, who are the other two people you arrested.”

“Oddly enough, those two men were not from Yanjiang County and happened to appear here. They couldn’t remember what brought them to Yanjiang County.”

“We hit it off instantly and decided to break through the Foundation Establishment Stage together.”

“We are careful and leave no traces. While you were busy looking for the Reverse Life Talisman, we stopped our actions. Feeling that this place was becoming increasingly unsafe, we planned to leave Yanjiang County. We heard about a famous barbecue shop here and wanted to try it out. But you guys arrived before the skewers were done grilling.”

A puzzled expression spread across Yizhang Hong’s face, unable to figure out where they made a mistake. Guard Captain Wei, of course, would not mention that it was the fervent shop owner who reported them.

After the interrogation ended, Guard Captain Wei asked him to sign his name: “Write your name at the bottom of each page. And on the last page write: ‘I have read the above record, and it matches what I said’.”

“Press your fingerprints at all places where you sign.”

The next day, as usual, Guard Captain Wei brought a banner of honor.

He was considering whether he should set up an office right in the barbecue shop and live there, considering the arrest efficiency here was higher than his daily patrol, right? At this rate, he would soon become the Chief Constable.

“Mr. Little Lu, your barbecue shop has a good vibe. Such a prosperous place!”

Lu Yang smiled politely, “Whether the place is prosperous or not is secondary, the key is the excellence of the people.”

“Recently, the office has been too busy. Once it’s not so busy, I’ll apply to the higher-ups, see if I can get a plaque of ‘Excellent Shop’ for your store.”

“That would be great. Here’s some hot water I just boiled, drink it while it’s warm.”

Lu Yang poured a cup of hot water warmly, “Are you still so busy after catching the man?”

“Well, although we have caught the man and found the place he confessed, an abandoned cave, probably a place where some Demon Path fugitive had once hidden. When we remove the Reverse Life Talisman according to the place they confessed to, this case will be closed.”

“The problem is that the Spring Festival is here and by the looks of it, the number of people coming could be twenty percent more than last year. I wanted to take a break, but the Chief Constable did not approve. He said I need to patrol more during the Spring Festival.”

“You can come and rest at our place when you’re tired from patrolling. Our shop will be open as usual during the Spring Festival.”

After seeing off Guard Captain Wei, Meng Jingzhou breathed a sigh of relief, “Finally, it’s over. It was tense these past few days, searching for the Reverse Life Talisman every day. It’s probable that this Yizhang Hong saw us working so hard and decided to give himself up.”

Man Gu hesitated for a while. He thought Yizhang Hong probably didn’t think that way.

Lu Yang noticed Lan Ting keeps gesturing something and curiously asked, “What are you doing?”

Without looking up, Lan Ting said, “I am trying to study an Automatic Skewer Formation where bamboo sticks automatically string up the meat pieces.”

Lu Yang picked up a bamboo stick, pinched it between two fingers, and swung it back and forth thoughtfully.

Suddenly, he tossed a few pieces of meat into the air. With force on his fingers, he threw out the bamboo stick.

Unfortunately, the bamboo stick only brushed past the meat pieces and didn’t skewer them.

Man Gu didn’t understand what Lu Yang was doing, thinking that Brother Lu was playing a new kind of game. Meng Jingzhou’s eyes lit up when he realized what was happening.

“Are you trying to practice the use of hidden weapons by skewering meat with a bamboo stick?”

Lu Yang smiled and didn’t answer, which was equivalent to an affirmation.

Meng Jingzhou quickly joined the practice, studying how to exert precise force in order to skewer the moving pieces of meat in the air.

Man Gu hesitated, “This… is not something the Righteous Path would do, right?”

Lu Yang said earnestly. “That’s where you’re wrong. Haven’t you heard the saying ‘Stubbornly persevere, root deeply embedded in craggy rocks. Thousands of grinds and strikes still robust, firm against winds from all directions’?”

“Bamboo is tenacious, elegant and indifferent, it represents a humble gentleman. Using bamboo as a weapon, how could it be a hidden weapon?”

“This is a weapon only for gentlemen.”

Man Gu finally understood, feeling an epiphany, “I see, then I’ll join too.”

Lan Ting was focusing on studying the Array Method. Several bamboo sticks suspended in the air, and with a swoosh, a bamboo stick was stuck straight on the wall, the tail end still vibrating.

If the target was a person, they would have died.

“The power is a bit too much.” Lan Ting scratched her head, frustrated. She had already tried to reduce the power as much as possible.

“If the Automatic Skewer Formation isn’t working, might as well increase the power to the maximum.”

Two ghouls watched the chaotic scene shivering in fear.