The old man's face was ashen, and blood flowed from his seven orifices. He finally couldn't hold on and slumped to the ground.
"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, we understand now."
"Please stop, please stop…"
The others were barely holding on. When they heard the old man speak, not only did they show no displeasure, but they all sighed in relief as if a great burden had been lifted, and sat down on the ground together.
With a blur, Li Miao appeared before them.
He still wore a kind smile on his face as he looked at them: "What, not fighting a bit longer?"
The few of them waved their hands repeatedly: "No, no."
"We surrender."
Downstairs, it was already a mess.
Grooves several feet deep in the stone walls, palm prints the size of a person on the ground, and countless severed limbs and broken bones, all proved Li Miao's strength. At this moment, blood was still continuously dripping from Li Miao's gloves.
Without a doubt, Li Miao alone could slaughter all the Great Witches present.
No matter who Li Miao was, they no longer had the right to not cooperate.
"It's always like this; you won't talk until you've had a beating. I'm used to it, though. As long as you understand, that's all that matters."
"From now on, I ask, and you answer."
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The sound of wind arose, and everyone except the old man cried out in pain, then collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
"Your Excellency! This!"
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The old man exclaimed.
"Don't worry, they just fainted."
Li Miao waved his hand.
"After I question you, I'll go question the next one. If the answers aren't the same, I'll kill you, and then question the next one, until they are completely consistent."
The old man, however, heard this and gave a bitter smile.
"Your Excellency is overthinking. For someone of your stature, we truly dare not offend you, let alone deceive you."
"That's good."
Li Miao nodded.
"First question, who is this 'that one' you spoke of?"
The old man was first stunned, then gave a bitter smile.
"Your Excellency heard it all."
"Alright, at this point, there's nothing left to hide."
"The Miao King."
"The one we spoke of is the human-god and common ancestor of our Miao people's Twelve Sect Branches, the Miao King."
"Hmm?"
Li Miao frowned, looking into the old man's eyes.
"How is it that I remember your last Miao King died several hundred years ago? The Miao King's Tomb you led the southern great sects to, seemed to be her tomb, right?"
"You even deliberately left a lot of clues inside. If not for that, I wouldn't have spared your lives today."
When the old man heard Li Miao's words, he suddenly looked up at Li Miao, and a hint of joy actually appeared on his face.
"Your Excellency, did Your Excellency also enter that Miao King's Tomb? Were the clues we left discovered by you!?
"Who are you? Are you from the imperial court?"
Li Miao nodded.
"Jinyiwei Zhenfushi, Li Miao."
"The Yong Nu, Jia Yi Divine Skill, and Gu Beast you left behind, I all noticed them. They saved me a lot of effort. And they earned you a life."
Speaking of this, Li Miao suddenly paused.
Li Miao unconsciously rubbed his fingers a few times, thought for a moment, and then spoke.
"Speaking of which, there's one place I overlooked, didn't pay attention to at the time."
"The coffin in that Miao King's Tomb was empty. There were scratch marks from fingernails inside, but no corpse."
Li Miao looked at the old man, frowning as he spoke.
"You're not going to say that Miao King's Tomb isn't a false tomb. That the Miao King revived from the dead and crawled out of the coffin, are you?"
If the old man said "yes," Li Miao would immediately kill him and then ask the next person.
No other reason, if someone who had been dead for hundreds of years could be resurrected, then the Great Shuo would completely change its style. Reality is not a storybook; anything, once known, will slowly integrate into the operating rules of society. A "resurrection" could change everything. The Great Shuo simply couldn't be as it is now. The simplest point is, if there truly was resurrection from the dead, then this world should still be surnamed "Ying," not "Zhu." The dynastic title should also still be "Great Qin," not "Great Shuo."
The old man, however, gave a bitter smile.
"Yes, and no."
"The Miao King is indeed dead, but she also truly exists now."
Li Miao raised his hand, pointing two fingers at the old man's head.
"You are giving a confession now, not telling a story. If you keep speaking in such vague terms, I will go ask the next person."
No mistakes, one sentence, one hair, one content, one look!
"Yes, yes. Your Excellency, I just don't know how to explain it for a moment."
"The Miao King died; no one can be resurrected; there's no doubt about that. However, a certain Gu worm she left behind is still alive. After the other Gu worms in the Miao King's body died, this Gu worm controlled the Miao King's corpse, crawled out of the coffin, and walked out of the tomb. Following the scent of the Miao King's descendants, it found us."
The old man recounted slowly.
"The Miao King I speak of is precisely my two clansmen who, after being parasitized by this Gu worm, even had their brains invaded. Although they didn't have the Miao King's memories, their personalities and actions gradually became more and more like the Miao King of that year."
"The first was named Ge Pu Duo, and the second was Ge Pu Qi."
"Ge Pu Duo has already died; the one who inherited her Gu worm is precisely 'that one' we spoke of, and also the current Miao King, Ge Pu Qi."
Li Miao, however, found it increasingly familiar.
"Possession? Soul transmigration?"
"Ge Pu Qi? Why does that name sound familiar?"
"Wasn't Master Yongjie's wife before he became a monk named that?"
Thinking of this, Li Miao pressed further.
"What is the relationship between Ji Tianrui and Ji Tianrui and these two Miao Kings?"
The old man heard this and said with a bitter smile.
"Indeed, Your Excellency guessed it."
"That's right, the misfortune of our Miao people is all because of this damned Miao King."
"The two successive Miao Kings are precisely the mothers of the two successive Ming Cult leaders."
"The first Miao King, Ge Pu Duo, gave birth to Ji Tianrui. After she died, the Gu worm parasitized Ge Pu Qi, who then gave birth to Ji Tianrui."
"In a sense, they are both children of the Miao King, siblings."
His gaze was vacant, as if he was recalling something.
"Fifteen years ago, it was precisely because of Ge Pu Duo's command that we Miao people were forced to get involved in the Ming Cult's messy affairs, which led to our current plight. And now, it is also because of Ge Pu Qi's daughter that our Miao people are once again on the verge of extinction."
"What damned ancestors, what damned human-gods... Our lives are also lives; we were born naked, what do we owe them that we have to pay with our lives!?"
The old man's face was contorted as he roared.
Li Miao twirled his fingers, pondered for a moment, and then said with sudden understanding.
"So that's how it is."
"No wonder the traps in your Miao King's Tomb were so awkward, wanting to kill people yet being soft-handed, and even secretly leaving clues. It's because you were forced into it and didn't want to get involved in the Ming Cult's mess at all."
"However, since you didn't want to get involved, why didn't you just kill that so-called Miao King and surrender to the imperial court, instead of hinting so hesitantly?"
The old man revealed a very unpleasant smile.
"Your Excellency, how could we not want to?"
"That Miao King's Gu worm, with just a thought, can control all other Gu worms, and consuming its host is also at her whim."
"We can only secretly pull some strings. If she or Ji Tianrui discovered it, with just a flick of her finger, our Miao people's Twelve Sect Branches would be annihilated in an instant!"