Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master-Chapter 1263 - 489: Demon Seed

Ning Zhuo was slightly taken aback, then immediately returned the salute, "Indeed, I am Ning Zhuo. Your name, Brother Gu, is like thunder in my ears. The White Eyebrow Hero, swift in justice and spite, has slain countless evils, truly admirable."

Up to this day, Ning Zhuo’s reputation had reached a level where figures like Gu Huaijiu had to adopt different attitudes towards him.

Gu Huaijiu shook his head, his white eyebrows slightly quivering, "Just an empty reputation. Family ruined, living for revenge, what kind of hero is that?"

Switching topics, he pointed around, "This place should be the second trial. Has Daoist Fellow Ning Zhuo discovered anything?"

Ning Zhuo shook his head, suggesting to continue the investigation.

Gu Huaijiu nodded, "We have no other choice."

After walking for a while, they found the tunnel had split into two paths.

Gu Huaijiu frowned slightly, "One to the left and one to the right, which path will Daoist Fellow Ning Zhuo choose?"

Ning Zhuo extended his hand, gesturing for Gu Huaijiu to choose first, "Since the second trial arranged for us to meet, it must be intended to test our cooperation."

"No matter what we encounter, we should strive to work together."

"Makes sense." Gu Huaijiu nodded, immediately agreeing with Ning Zhuo on the time for their individual explorations. Once time was up, regardless of the outcome, both would return to this spot to regroup.

Thus, Gu Huaijiu went left, Ning Zhuo went right, temporarily parting ways.

Not long after entering the branch, Ning Zhuo made a major discovery.

He looked at the familiar Blood Qi before him, suddenly realizing, "So the second trial is linked to the first one."

The branching path wasn’t complex. Ning Zhuo passed through three iron grilles, walked by two torture rooms, and at the end found a curled-up figure.

It was a boy of about fifteen or sixteen, dressed in ragged clothes, covered in injuries, hugging his knees and trembling. When he looked up, he showed a pale, delicate face, eyes filled with tears, terror, and helplessness.

"Save, save me... I am not evil, I was forced..." He pleaded with Ning Zhuo.

At this moment, a Divine Sense Transmission reached Ning Zhuo’s Divine Sea, "You have discovered the Blood Fog suspect. Eliminate the true culprit to pass this trial."

"Hmm?" Ning Zhuo frowned slightly, with multiple thoughts emerging in his Divine Sea.

"The real culprit of the Blood Fog must be in the second trial!"

"The one I encountered is just a suspect, he might be the real culprit, or he might not be."

"Is this trial testing the ability to interrogate and discern?"

"No, there’s more to it!"

Ning Zhuo thought deeper, immediately considering Gu Huaijiu.

"What will Gu Huaijiu encounter?"

"Will he find nothing or encounter a similar situation?"

Ning Zhuo guessed that Gu Huaijiu might also have captured a suspect and received the same prompt.

"In that case, this trial is a competitive one?"

"Whoever judges the real culprit first and kills them will win. The loser will be... eliminated!"

Realizing this, Ning Zhuo immediately felt tense.

His current situation was much like Gu Qing’s during the Confucian Cultivation Three Trials, bearing everyone’s expectations, with no room for failure.

"My goal in participating in the second trial is to take first place."

"If I get eliminated by Gu Huaijiu in the second trial... how will I face Zhong Dao? How will the public perceive me?"

Ning Zhuo smiled bitterly, suddenly realizing he was in an awkward situation, experiencing the huge pressure Gu Qing had faced before.

Previously, he thought about cooperating with Gu Huaijiu, but didn’t expect they were competitors!

"I need to quickly interrogate and judge whether this boy is a suspect or the true culprit."

"If he is a suspect... then the true culprit is in Gu Huaijiu’s hands."

"At that time, do I need to seize from Gu Huaijiu?"

Thinking of this, Ning Zhuo frowned even deeper.

He restrained the boy and began to use various means for interrogation.

The boy initially spoke with full honesty and sincerity, but his words were contradictory, his emotions flustered, and his logic confused, making it hard to discern the truth.

"Wait, this tunnel is full of cells, torture chambers, the facilities inside can be used."

"Perhaps this is the purpose of the Evil Slaying Hall setting this scene?"

Ning Zhuo immediately dragged the boy back, using the facilities in the branch for interrogation.

Upon using torture, he indeed made a significant breakthrough.

The boy’s expression suddenly changed!

The terror in his eyes receded like the tide, replaced by a hint of resentful sneer. His mouth grinned to the ears, revealing fine sharp teeth, his voice becoming sharp and piercing, "Hehehe... I’ve been found out indeed. But do you dare to kill me? Once I die, a surge of Blood Fog will surely erupt, not only filling the entire dungeon, causing you trouble, but also leaking out and harming others!"

"By then, how many people will die because of you? Can you bear that responsibility?!"

"Hahaha!"

The boy became extremely arrogant.

In that instant, Ning Zhuo felt a surge of killing intent.

This was merely Yunmeng Marsh, not reality. The boy’s threat carried no deterrent effect.

"Looks like I’m lucky to find the real culprit among the suspects!"

"However, the prerequisite to eliminating the real culprit is to contain the Blood Fog that erupts afterward."

"Hehehe, if it were Gu Huaijiu, maybe he’d have difficulty. But as it happens, one of the cultivation techniques I practice is the Demon-infused Bloodline Technique."

Yet, just as Ning Zhuo was about to act, his mind suddenly moved, a flash of insight crossing his eyes.

"With such a grand setup by the Evil Slaying Hall, can it really be that simple?"

"Moreover, although this boy admitted it personally, the evidence chain isn’t complete."

"So..."

Ning Zhuo instinctively rubbed the Mechanical Ring, "Is the Evil Slaying Hall using the pressure from this competition to mislead cultivators into making wrong judgments?"

Having thought of this, Ning Zhuo suppressed his last bit of impatience and resumed coercion and interrogation.

After the boy’s change of face, his mind became remarkably clear, making no denial of his criminal actions.

As a result, Ning Zhuo successfully gathered a lot of evidence, filling in most of the missing links in the evidence chain.