Chapter 1144: Night Interrogation

"Whoosh!"

That night, a soft sound suddenly came from outside the window.

Hong Tao was cultivating, but he frowned and dashed out.

A black shadow was darting toward the rear mountain.

"That figure, doesn't it look like that brat Ye Yuan? Damn, this kid wants to sneak into the rear mountain!"

Without a second thought, Hong Tao sped after the figure.

In the blink of an eye, they had traveled dozens of li.

The speed of the figure ahead was clearly no match for Hong Tao's.

It seemed Hong Tao would soon catch up to the black shadow.

A contemptuous smile flickered across his lips as he shouted, "Stop!"

The person ahead paused and turned around.

Hong Tao looked closely—who else could it be but Ye Yuan?

But at that moment, Hong Tao was startled to find Ye Yuan's eyes fixed on him.

"Buzz!"

Hong Tao felt his head spin, and then he knew nothing more.

Two black shadows darted out from the nearby woods and came to Ye Yuan's side—they were Ao Qian and Qiu Yuqiu.

Seeing Hong Tao standing there like a wooden chicken, Qiu Yuqiu cast a wary glance at Ye Yuan and exclaimed, "Brother Ye, your methods are truly endless! This Hong Tao is at least a Void Profound expert, yet under your soul attack, he had no power to resist!"

Ye Yuan smiled. "A mere trifle; I'm showing off my incompetence."

Qiu Yuqiu's mouth twitched, but he said nothing more.

Such a technique was hardly something that could be dismissed as a 'mere trifle'!

Just now, Ye Yuan had simultaneously used a soul attack and the Sun-Moon Heavenly Eye to subdue Hong Tao in an instant.

Dealing with Hong Tao was Qiu Yuqiu's suggestion.

He said that among the three island masters, Hong Tao was the most reckless and the weakest.

If they wanted to pry information out of someone, he was the easiest target.

But Qiu Yuqiu never dreamed that Ye Yuan would subdue Hong Tao so effortlessly.

He was now comparing whether he himself could escape unscathed if Ye Yuan launched such a surprise attack on him.

The answer was... he had absolutely no confidence!

Ye Yuan approached Hong Tao and asked, "Let me ask you: more than twenty years ago, a mysterious person exchanged Silver Moon Heavenly Tea on Nine Phoenix Island. Do you know where he went?"

With Ye Yuan's current soul power, launching a soul attack by surprise had severely damaged Hong Tao's soul.

Combined with the illusion of the Sun-Moon Heavenly Eye, controlling Hong Tao was a piece of cake.

Of course, this was also because Hong Tao had never taken Hei Meng's words seriously and had grossly underestimated Ye Yuan.

If it had been Duan Lingfeng, it would never have been so easy.

Completely under Ye Yuan's control, Hong Tao answered woodenly, "I... I know. He exchanged the Silver Moon Heavenly Tea and... wanted to go straight back to Ningyang City, but... I killed him on the way and took back the Silver Moon Heavenly Tea."

Hearing this, Ye Yuan's heart clenched.

An emotion called grief instantly filled his chest.

Though he had long known that Zhao Xingchen was likely doomed, deep down he still clung to a sliver of hope.

Maybe Zhao Xingchen had just been locked up?

Maybe...

But there was no maybe!

When Hong Tao, the murderer himself, spoke it aloud, Ye Yuan, despite being mentally prepared, still felt an inexplicable pain in his heart.

"Sir... please restrain your grief!" Ao Qian consoled.

Since he had followed Ye Yuan, this was the first time he had seen him so grief-stricken.

At this moment, Ye Yuan was trembling all over, clearly at the peak of rage.

The overwhelming grief had now turned into overwhelming hatred.

He wished he could grind Hong Tao's bones to dust!

After a long while, Ye Yuan calmed down a little and asked with a dark face, "Why did you seize the Silver Moon Heavenly Tea?"

Under the illusion, Hong Tao was oblivious to Ye Yuan's anger and continued answering woodenly.

Big... Big Brother accidentally obtained an ancient pill formula that requires... many million-year-old spiritual herbs. So... Big Brother came up with this idea: hold a trading fair on Nine Phoenix Island to attract... people to trade, so... we could gather those... spiritual herbs."

By now, Ye Yuan was beyond anger.

These bastards were utterly insane, using such a method to collect spiritual herbs.

They didn't have to waste time cultivating; others would find the herbs for them.

After the trades were done and the traders left, these scoundrels, relying on their superior strength, would assassinate them.

"Let me ask you again: how many people have you killed in the past thousand years?" Ye Yuan almost ground out the words.

"I... I haven't counted. Maybe... over a thousand."

Unaware, Hong Tao spilled everything.

Ao Qian and Qiu Yuqiu exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other's eyes.

Unbeknownst to them, over a thousand years, more than a thousand people had died silently!

Qiu Yuqiu had been attending this trading fair for over a hundred years.

Even he had not noticed that so many had died at the fair.

It seemed these island masters had secretly reaped countless benefits!

And the scattered cultivators on the island were still grateful to them!

"Then... do you have a target for this trading fair?" Ye Yuan asked again.

"Yes... yes, Purple Ganoderma."

Hong Tao's words made Qiu Yuqiu's face change.

If he hadn't traded away the Purple Ganoderma this time, wouldn't he have been their target?

At the thought, Qiu Yuqiu broke out in a cold sweat.

Had Ye Yuan, by sheer chance, saved his life?

At that moment, Qiu Yuqiu's gaze toward Ye Yuan changed.

He had lived his whole life alone, never grateful to anyone.

But this time, he couldn't help but be grateful.

If not for Ye Yuan, his thousands of years of cultivation would have been destroyed in an instant.

"Good. Let me ask you one last question: your Big Brother, the Tongtian Island Master—who exactly is he?" Ye Yuan asked.

Hong Tao opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly a terrifying aura soared into the sky.

"Who dares to act wildly on my Nine Phoenix Island!"

The voice belonged to Hei Meng!

It seemed that Ye Yuan's earlier overwhelming rage had finally alerted Hei Meng.

But it didn't matter anymore.

This battle was inevitable!

"Swish!"

With a clean stroke of his sword, Hong Tao's head was severed from his body, avenging his old friend Zhao Xingchen.

Yet, though Hong Tao was dead, the fire of rage in Ye Yuan's heart was not quenched in the slightest.

This Hong Tao was nothing but a killing machine.

The real culprit was still the Tongtian Island Master!

Today, he would see just who this Tongtian Island Master really was.

"Fourth Brother!"

A furious roar rang out as Hei Meng witnessed the scene of Hong Tao's decapitation.

"Ye Yuan, our Nine Phoenix Island has no grievance with you. How dare you kill my fourth brother? You're asking for death!" Hei Meng bellowed.

Ye Yuan looked at Hei Meng with a faint, mocking smile. "No grievance... no grudge, you say?"