Chapter 1128: Question

**Chapter 1128: Interrogation**

Wham—!!

A whip cracked through the air at incredible speed, narrowly missing Jian Changsheng's cheek before slamming hard into an unknown plant that lay motionless beside him.

It was clear that Chen Ling’s whip had considerable force; a large leaf was torn from the plant, sending its massive body crashing to the ground. The broken section looked horrifying.

Jian Changsheng froze.

He stiffly turned his head, saw the remnants of Jack of Diamonds that had been whipped away, and silently swallowed. Unbeknownst to him, his back was already drenched in cold sweat.

“That was a warning,” Chen Ling’s voice echoed, as if from the netherworld. “Don’t think that just because you’re not afraid to die, I can’t deal with you. This time I whipped him; next time… it’s hard to say who it’ll be.”

Sun Bumian and the others turned to look at the fallen remnants of Jack of Diamonds, their expressions a mix of relief and worry. They were relieved that this foolish Jiangtian Cult member had first struck the outer shell left by Jack of Diamonds, leaving the three of them unharmed. Their worry was not knowing who this guy would whip next.

Sun Bumian couldn't help but nudge Jian Changsheng in front of him with his toe: “Hey… when the Lord asks a question, just answer properly… don’t get us involved.”

Jiang Xiaohua nodded vigorously and silently.

Jian Changsheng: …

Chen Ling, holding the thorny whip, spoke again, “From now on, I ask, you answer. If you hesitate even for a moment, I’ll whip you all… Understood?”

Jian Changsheng glanced at Sun Bumian and the other person behind him, then reluctantly nodded.

“What’s your name?”

“Lin Yan.”

Chen Ling’s mouth twitched. He silently tightened his grip on the whip, suppressing the urge to strike the man, and pretended nothing was amiss as he continued to ask: “Where are you from?”

“The Tian Shu Domain.”

“Why are you going to the Fusion Sect?”

“Looking for someone.”

“Who are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for… someone who left without saying goodbye.”

Chen Ling paused, looking at Jian Changsheng’s gloomy face. As if realizing something, his expression became complicated. He paused for a moment, “If they left without saying goodbye, why are you still looking for them? Do they owe you money?”

Upon hearing that, Jian Changsheng’s brow furrowed abruptly. The suppressed anger and gloom in his heart suddenly ignited, and he rose from the ground, defiantly bearing the stone lock: “Damn it, I’ll look for whoever I want! I’ll do whatever I want! All of you keep bothering me, relying on your rotten luck! If you’ve got the guts, just kill me! Come on!”

Thud—

The moment Jian Changsheng stood up, the green sprout that was replicating the key’s pattern inside his stone lock was flung out. A verdant key clattered onto the ground between Jian Changsheng and Chen Ling.

Chen Ling: ?Jian Changsheng and the other two: !!!

Jian Changsheng still held his furious posture, but his expression had frozen in place. It was like secretly cheating behind a teacher’s back, only for the teacher to turn around and have the hidden phone slide right to their feet. The air suddenly fell into an eerily awkward silence…

At that moment, a single thought simultaneously flashed through the minds of Jian Changsheng, Sun Bumian, Jiang Xiaohua, and Jack of Diamonds: This is bad!!

Sun Bumian’s mind raced. Just as he and Jiang Xiaohua were about to spring up and directly fight these Jiangtian Cult members, the cultist standing before Jian Changsheng suddenly stepped forward, stomped on the verdant key, and then followed through with a punch to Jian Changsheng’s chest!

Boom!!

Jian Changsheng was slammed hard against the stone wall by the punch, letting out a pained groan.

Due to the distance, the observing Jiangtian Cult members didn't clearly see the small key fall. They only saw a blur as Chen Ling punched the man away.

Chen Ling rotated his wrist after delivering the punch, looking at Jian Changsheng, who was spitting blood, and spoke coldly: “I should have warned you… Since you’re unwilling to speak properly, don’t blame me for hitting hard.”

Jian Changsheng’s chest ached from the punch, but that was the extent of it. He stared blankly at the foot crushing the green key, momentarily dazed…

Just then, urgent shouts echoed from a distance!

“Found them!! We found them!!!”

Everyone present turned to look in the direction of the shouts, only to see several Jiangtian Cult members, their faces pale, rushing towards the center of the village, carrying several strange clumps of flesh they had unearthed from somewhere unknown.

This loud shout diverted everyone’s attention, and the heavy stone weighing on Chen Ling’s heart finally dropped. If the situation had continued as it was, he genuinely wouldn't have known how to handle Jian Changsheng and the other two. It must be said, how could these three mess up even the smallest trick? If he hadn’t reacted quickly, they surely would have been exposed.

The shouts of these individuals also drew out Zheng Ye and others. Everyone gathered in the center of the village, and the moment they clearly saw the clumps of flesh, their faces turned incredibly grim…

“What is this…?”

“It’s the missing people! How did they end up like this?”

“Where did you find them?”

“Under the eaves of their respective houses… We found them while meticulously searching the village.”

The crowd unwrapped the clumps of flesh, revealing pale, desiccated corpses reassembled on the ground. However, their limbs had been twisted and contorted together by some immense force, making them look, from a distance, like a pile of mangled parts—eerie and chilling!

Witnessing this sight, even the two Red Robed Priests gasped in shock.

“The numbers are correct… not a single one is missing,” Zheng Ye murmured. “But… how were they turned into this…?”

The Red Robed Priest spoke in a deep voice. Although it was unclear what he was saying, his tone was extremely grave. “We’ve already searched around the village, but we haven’t found anything unusual…”

“Yes, we’ll send more people to search right away!”

Even the Jiangtian Cult members were badly shaken by the way these people had died. Only after Zheng Ye gave his command did they slowly regain their senses, dispersing in different directions to search. The area around the bonfire, once bustling, became quiet once more.

Meanwhile, Jian Changsheng nudged Sun Bumian beside him and asked, puzzled: “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know… It seems like some monster has appeared here in the Jiangtian Cult’s territory. These Jiangtian Cult members are quite scared.”

“A monster? Is it a Calamity?”

“Not sure… but it’s definitely not human,” Sun Bumian stated with certainty. “Look closely at the wounds on those bodies. They were caused by something like tentacles piercing through them, and there are dozens on one person… How could a human have so many arms? Besides, these corpses have been completely drained… Humans don’t suck blood or eat human flesh, and even Calamities rarely do that. If that’s not a monster, what is it?”