Li Miao rattled off a string of words, but the woman showed no reaction.
After fighting Li Miao for the duration of an incense stick, even with Li Miao intentionally holding back, she was now almost unrecognizable—her left eye was a dark, hollow socket from which blood flowed.
Her right arm was severed at the elbow, a large section of her left abdomen was a bloody mess, and her legs were covered in bloodstains and wounds.
Her clothes were torn, revealing numerous gruesome scars all over her body.
Yet, she didn't utter a sound.
Ever since she revealed her true appearance, no matter how badly Li Miao injured her, even when he ripped off her right arm, she hadn't made a single sound.
This was not normal.
Martial arts struggles in Great Shuo were exceptionally brutal, so people in the martial world were accustomed to fighting while injured, and their tolerance for pain was stronger, which was normal.
However, will was will, and instinct was instinct.
No matter how much one could endure, it only meant continuing to fight while injured; it didn't mean there would be no reaction.
It was impossible not to even let out a muffled groan when an arm was suddenly torn off.
Li Miao scrutinized her from head to toe, frowning.
He had first severely wounded the woman before speaking, precisely to make her lose emotional control under severe injury, so he could verify whether what he said was correct.
It seemed entirely useless now.
Just as Li Miao was considering whether to kill her directly, the woman suddenly spoke.
"Lord Li, you don't need to think you can get anything out of my mouth."
"I only have three messages to convey to you on behalf of the Cult Master."
"After I've finished speaking, you may dispose of my life as you please.
Whether it's dismemberment, dissection, or hanging my head above the city gates, it's all up to your will."
Li Miao raised an eyebrow, then sneered.
"You think you can refuse to speak just because you don't want to?"
As long as she wasn't mute, he could make even a stone speak!
With that, he formed his hand into a claw and lunged through the air towards the woman's head!
After the woman finished speaking, she neither dodged nor evaded, even dropping her stance and standing calmly in place, watching as Li Miao's fingers clamped onto her forehead.
"Hmm?"
Li Miao was surprised, but his hand didn't stop for a moment.
With a tearing sound, he ripped off half of her scalp, then pressed it back into place, employing that miraculous "biological welding" technique to reattach the flesh.
This martial art was good for healing injuries, but even better for interrogation.
Even an old hand like Liu Baiyun couldn't endure it.
The woman's injury was to her head, where nerves were most dense; blood streamed down her face from her forehead.
Yet, she truly allowed Li Miao to do as he pleased.
The woman stood calmly in place, her pupils not contracting, her fingers not trembling, as if Li Miao had merely gently stroked her head.
She said impassively, "Lord Li, as long as you don't kill me before I finish conveying the Cult Master's words, you may freely test me to see if I am bluffing."
"After our recent struggle, I am already certain that I cannot escape from your hands no matter what.
Thus, my mission is only to finish speaking those three sentences; after that, my life is yours."
"I know you are a seasoned Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards), and you have integrated three paths, having a thorough understanding of the human body's meridians, bones, and true qi, and possessing countless self-created miraculous techniques.
You have countless methods of torture.
But, you alone cannot torture me."
"Whatever you do to me, it will be completely meaningless to me."
Li Miao frowned, rubbing his fingers, and scrutinized the woman for a long while.
Then, he suddenly understood and sighed deeply.
"So that's it.
I wondered why those scars on your body looked so familiar."
"You are a 'Yong Nu' who was rescued."
During his trip to the Miao King's Tomb, Li Miao had seen these attendant women kneeling before the Miao King's sarcophagus as burial sacrifices.
After enduring countless torments, their five senses stripped away, they would feel the Gu devouring them from within while despairingly awaiting the Miao King's resurrection; they were pitiable creations of a misguided faith.
And the scars revealed on this woman's body after her clothes were torn during her struggle with Li Miao were indeed similar to those of a "Yong Nu."
The woman nodded.
"You should have seen 'things' like me in the Miao King's Tomb."
"The Gu crawled up my neck into my head and ate a part of my brain marrow.
From then on, I could no longer feel any pain.
It is precisely because of this that I survived until the end."
"So-called torture is merely of the mind and body.
I can no longer feel physical pain, and as for mental pain... could it be more painful than my experience in the tomb, when I lost all five senses and could only agonizingly await death?
Therefore, you don't need to trouble yourself with someone like me."
"Now, may I tell you the three messages the Cult Master wishes to convey to you?"
Li Miao also felt a bit helpless.
All methods of interrogation were based on two premises—the ability to feel pain, and the desire to live.
But this woman was clearly an anomaly, a double anomaly of both mind and body; she neither wished to live nor could she feel pain.
She was completely indifferent to her own body.
Of course, Li Miao wasn't incapable of thinking of some extreme methods that might work.
However, those methods would, firstly, be time-consuming, and secondly, too extreme; even Li Miao himself found them repulsive and had no desire to use them.
So, he truly had no recourse against this woman.
Seeing that Li Miao didn't speak, the woman slowly began.
"Very well, I will tell Lord Li."
"First, Lord Li and I are both 'heretics,' not tolerated by the 'righteous path,' so why should we fight each other?"
Li Miao sneered.
"I am a heretic, who is the righteous path?"
"The Imperial Court."
The woman said without hesitation.
"A tall tree catches the wind.
The Celestial Humans have not appeared for a long time, and the root cause lies with Great Shuo and the Zhu imperial relatives.
As your martial arts improve day by day, one day you will stand in the position of Ji Tianrui, in the position of the Ming Cult, in the position of the Cult Master, facing the Imperial Court's military might."
Li Miao scoffed again.
"Anything new?"
To Li Miao, these words were outdated nonsense.
Had he been hiding his strength for twenty years, only revealing his martial arts after he had the power to protect himself, because he had nothing better to do?
On Mount Tai, after learning that there were already signs of the Eastern Depot appearing, his statement to the Five Mountains Sword Sect, "serve the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards)," rather than "serve the Imperial Court," was it without purpose?
Outside Shaolin Temple, Zhu Zai had already made it very clear, "Whether one is a rebel depends not on whether one wants to be, but on whether one can be."
Whether in Great Shuo or his previous life, as long as the main body of civilization was still humanity, the underlying logic of its operation would always be "fists" and "power"; Li Miao had long seen this clearly.
At this moment, for Ji Tianrui to say such things to Li Miao again, Li Miao only felt that he probably thought he was just a brute who only knew how to fight.
The woman showed no reaction and continued.
"Second, the four Celestial Humans who killed Ji Tianrui back then all perished within a year of Ji Tianrui's death due to successive outbreaks of the Celestial Human Five Declines.
Zhu Zai, being an imperial relative, was spared death, but he was also confined to the position of Jinyiwei Commander, unable to advance for fifteen years."
"After jiajing (era) dies, Zhu Zai will also die."
"Oh?" Li Miao raised his eyebrows, noncommittal.
This statement was useful.
If it was truly as this second Ji Tianrui said, then if the Imperial Court knew he had killed him, he might also incur disaster, just like those Celestial Humans back then.
However, this matter would have to be verified later.
Seeing Li Miao's indifferent expression, the woman didn't mind and slowly began.
"Third, I am already disheartened and will be leaving Great Shuo soon.
If Lord Li holds a grudge against the Ming Cult, you may kill as you please; I will not have the slightest complaint."
"But, if Lord Li still wishes to spar with me, I will gladly await you.
I only hope Lord Li will accept the invitation soon, so as not to delay my journey."
"Ji Tianrui, respectfully."
With that, the woman raised her hand into a palm and fiercely struck her own forehead.
Bang!
With a muffled thud, red and white matter splattered, and the woman's beautiful face was utterly ruined.
Her body swayed a few times in place before crashing to the ground.
Li Miao had no intention of stopping her; he simply stood silently, rubbing his fingers.
"Interesting.
Ji Tianrui should be well aware of what I did on Mount Tai and in Shaolin Temple."
"Knowing that I have integrated three paths and can simultaneously perfect two, does she still dare to ask me to find her?"
"Good, good."
Li Miao showed a faint smile.
Unlike his usual lazy smile, this one carried a hint of excitement.
"Fighting children, I'm a bit tired of it too."