Chapter 39: Clue: Water

After being brought in, the two puppets struggled incessantly on their own. It was evident that the Three-Corpse Insects could indeed squeeze out every bit of a person's potential; despite the group having been in the city for an hour, the two still had strength left.

However, the soldiers guarding them were not made of iron, so they simply tied the two men's legs together so they could take a nap.

Thus, these two fellows were carried in and placed on the floor. They hunched over, trembling uncontrollably.

The talismanic robes worn over them ensured that the Three-Corpse Insects were trapped within the human bodies and could not escape.

Situ Hanqi asked, "Is it because they are cold, or because they are afraid?"

"Afraid. Do creatures parasitized by Three-Corpse Insects even know what cold is?" He Lingchuan crouched down to examine them closely. "But they aren't afraid of us."

The two had unfocused gazes, clearly showing no regard for the group at all.

But in the vast, empty ruins of Panlong, there was no one else. What were they afraid of?

Nian Songyu also remarked, "Not only is there no one here, but there are no Three-Corpse Insects in this abandoned city either. They don't dare approach at all. Why?"

"Something makes them tremble with fear," Sun Fuping stood up. "Whatever it is, it should be similar to our objective."

He Lingchuan asked in surprise, "You want to make them say it themselves? Can Three-Corpse Insects even talk?"

It seemed Sun Fuping had brought these two puppets along intending to conduct an experiment.

"Ordinary methods won't work. I wonder if those produced by the Great Square Pot can give us a clue." Sun Fuping walked up to the puppets and said, "Your nest, the Great Square Pot, must still be in this city. Point me to its location, and I will let you go."

The two puppets continued to tremble, continuing to act as if he were invisible.

"These things have no respect for you!" He Lingchuan said indignantly. "Give them a taste of your power to save time."

Sun Fuping took a set of golden needles from his robe, applied medicine to them, and used a spark of True Fire from his fingertip to warm them before piercing them into the puppets' skulls, heart apertures, and soles of their feet.

The puppets immediately let out loud wails of agony.

These three locations were where the Three-Corpse Insects resided. By using medicinal fire to burn them directly at their "testicles," Sun Fuping inflicted excruciating, heart-wrenching pain. Otherwise, even with divine powers of blades and axes, only the host would be harmed, and the Three-Corpse Insects wouldn't care at all.

They intended to look Sun Fuping in the eye, but their gazes were exceptionally fierce, like wolves staring at meat.

To them, humans were merely skins.

"I know you can understand human speech," Sun Fuping's voice was calm. "If you don't give me answers, you will suffer more."

Then, he took action.

His golden needles were hollow, making it easy to replenish and increase the dosage at any time.

The group saw the red flame at the end of the needles grow brighter, and the puppets' screams instantly rose by three octaves.

Double the dosage, double the pain.

Sun Fuping stopped and asked, "Will you talk?"

The puppets only screamed incessantly.

So, he increased the punishment.

He did this repeatedly.

As time went on, his movements became slower. These enhanced Three-Corpse Insects had soul bodies far stronger than their ordinary counterparts; otherwise, they would have been killed by the medicine fifteen minutes ago.

Unless the host voluntarily severs the connection, once the Three-Corpse Insect dies, the host dies with it.

Therefore, maintaining the proper balance became increasingly difficult.

Finally, one puppet let out a great roar, its neck snapped to the side, and it breathed its last.

"As expected, it still won't work?" Sun Fuping let out a long sigh.

The Three-Corpse Insects raised in the Great Square Pot should have something special about them. If they could communicate with humans, this trip to Panlong City would have been much smoother.

Unfortunately, it seemed there were no shortcuts to this mission.

In truth, he only held a faint hope in his heart. After all, the Allied Forces fighting a war of attrition on this wasteland over a hundred years ago must have tried every possible method to obtain intelligence.

He just felt that perhaps time would change many things.

On the other side, the tormented Three-Corpse Insect suffered an explosion of madness; it actually broke free from its constraints and grabbed He Lingchuan's arm!

Caught off guard, everyone was startled.

He Chunhua rushed forward without hesitation and sliced off the puppet's head with a single blow.

The wailing stopped abruptly.

"Is Chuan'er alright?" He Chunhua's hand did not loosen its grip on the blade.

He Lingchuan was also startled. He instinctively pried the dead man's hand away and felt his own body carefully before saying, "I'm fine."

The fellow had gripped him so tightly that his fingers had almost sunk into the skin.

Fortunately, he circulated his True Qi through a full cycle and found nothing unusual.

Everyone looked at each other.

Sun Fuping stepped forward, inspecting the pupils of his eyes while asking, "Do you feel irritable, restless, or dizzy?"

"I feel very clear-headed, no abnormalities. It seems it had no effect on me."

Sun Fuping nodded. "The effects of the Soul-Extinguishing Powder haven't fully worn off, so it provided some resistance."

He Lingchuan sighed. "It seems the Three-Corpse Insects here aren't anything special either."

Seeing that he was truly unharmed, He Chunhua finally relaxed. "They just refuse to leave the Panlong Desert, or rather, they refuse to stay away from the Great Square Pot."

The principle of protecting the Great Square Pot had long been etched into the instincts of the Three-Corpse Insects; they could not betray it even in death. Similar loyalty existed in ant colonies and beehives, where individual worker ants and bees labored without complaint, showing no fear of hardship, and even finding death not to be a tragedy.

Thus, although the Three-Corpse Insects feared something here and dared not enter the city, they still lingered on the periphery—the Panlong Desert—refusing to flee far.

He Lingchuan shrugged. If Three-Corpse Insects could be interrogated like ordinary creatures, the intelligence regarding the Great Square Pot and Panlong City would have been thoroughly uncovered by the Baling Immortal Alliance long ago. The deity behind Panlong City would not tolerate such a loophole.

"Although Zhu Gen does not say, in my view, the conditions to trigger the Sandstorm Season should not be difficult. The last team he sent was also sent with the intent to verify..." Sun Fuping pondered, "Does the desert always experience thunderstorms before every Sandstorm Season?"

Zeng Feixiong nodded. "Yes."

Sun Fuping's eyes flickered. "In the city's temple, is only the God Mitian worshipped?"

"Yes. It is said that the God Mitian is the sole deity of Panlong City."

He Chunhua let out an "Eh," as if realizing something. "You aren't suggesting...?"

"Write it down, and let us cross-verify."

Thus, both Sun Fuping and He Chunhua raised their hands, dipped them in water, and wrote a character on the table.

When the others looked, the State Preceptor had written the character for "Water," while He Chunhua had written the character for "Rain."

The literal meanings were similar.

He Lingchuan stroked his chin and said, "The State Preceptor and Father are wise! The rainy season in Qiansong County comes later than in the inland; it doesn't arrive until around late August or early September."

Nian Songyu was puzzled. "If it is caused by rainwater, does that mean it doesn't rain in the desert normally?" As far as he knew, a lack of water in a desert did not mean it never rained. "Sometimes, heavy rain actually causes floods in the desert."

"It really doesn't rain," He Lingchuan chuckled. "Don't compare other deserts to Panlong; they aren't worthy."

He Chunhua said, "How could I be as learned as the State Preceptor? However, Deputy尉 Zeng's father was the only living person to have experienced a Sandstorm Season within the Panlong Desert. Although he was incoherent when he returned, he muttered the word 'water' all day long. I think this is the key clue."