Nightmare Apostle

Chapter 1681: Chapter 972: The Second Human Skin Map (2)

"What’s the name of the captain of the provincial bureau team? He was also turned by you, wasn’t he?" Yang Xiao pursued.

"No, no, he wasn’t. These two haven’t known each other for long. We worried about alerting the enemy and hadn’t had time to turn him. His name is Sun Long, yes, Sun Long, that’s the name!" Funeral Guanyin confessed.

Upon getting the name, a surge of anger filled Yang Xiao’s heart. This operation almost failed because of Sun Long. All secret missions have strict discipline, yet this person secretly contacted his lover and relayed the location, completely treating the task as a game.

And it’s due to this person’s foolishness and negligence that Funeral Guanyin and others anticipated this joint action, nearly causing the operation to fail, not to mention directly resulting in the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians. If this person isn’t severely punished, Yang Xiao will never agree.

Otherwise, even a forceful attack wouldn’t have led to such significant casualties. Yang Xiao will do everything possible to ensure the safety of innocent lives.

But as things stand, Yang Xiao is also powerless to reverse the situation; to him, this operation has already failed in a sense.

Staring at the culprit before him, Yang Xiao suppressed the fury within him and asked the most crucial question: "Where is the human skin map in your possession?"

The moment these words were spoken, the dying Funeral Guanyin momentarily froze, terror surfacing in her eyes. She didn’t expect Yang Xiao to even know this.

Needless to ask, this must have been disclosed by Bone Burning Taoist. It was then that Funeral Guanyin realized Yang Xiao’s group came with ill intentions; their true target was not her, but that human skin map—they were searching for the patron!

"Don’t want to talk, huh?" Yang Xiao seized this opportunity, and suddenly lifted a patch of scalp from Funeral Guanyin with the Ghost Bamboo Stick.

Blood spattered as Funeral Guanyin erupted in an inhuman scream, her entire body writhing in agony like a shrimp. Yang Xiao was quite experienced in interrogation; he knew how to cause the greatest pain with the least harm.

The thought of those heaps of corpses intensified Yang Xiao’s hatred toward this person. Each was a living human being, raised by their parents, leaving behind families torn apart by these bastards.

If not for a prior agreement, Yang Xiao could have used the Mirror Ghost to torment her for three days and nights until she was undone entirely, making her atone for her sins, then turned her corpse into elixir to sell and donate the money to a hope primary school—perhaps a small redemption.

After some persuasive words, Funeral Guanyin confessed everything. Upon discovering that the provincial office had them targeted, she took a photo of the map behind the woman, then killed her, incinerating her body with gasoline. The charred remains are now hidden in the sanatorium basement.

"You guys really have it together, huh?!" Yang Xiao, fuming, couldn’t resist poking Funeral Guanyin again with the Ghost Bamboo Stick, leaving a hole in her wounded abdomen.

Yang Xiao then asked about the whereabouts of the Withered Bone Pavilion patron and the Great Protector, but unfortunately, Funeral Guanyin knew very little about their whereabouts.

Yang Xiao continued using torture for information, but indeed didn’t extract anything useful. He judged that there’s a high probability she genuinely didn’t know.

In excruciating pain, Funeral Guanyin kept struggling, and soon her pleas turned into curses, using the foulest language to curse Yang Xiao’s ancestors up to eighteen generations, including his living family and children. Yet Yang Xiao was indifferent, letting her curse; he had an innate advantage in this aspect, unable to be chosen.

After successfully obtaining a photo of the human skin map, Funeral Guanyin was of no further value to him. Yang Xiao directly drew out the Human Bone Staff and struck her on the head, erasing the memory of this interrogation segment.

Yang Xiao had held the Human Bone Staff for quite some time and was becoming increasingly adept at using it, especially in erasing memories.

Summed up in one sentence: I’m dumbfounded but not brain-injured, the strength is just right.

After taking the half-dead Funeral Guanyin out of the Mirror World, things outside had mostly been dealt with. Chen Nang and Trickster each held a box containing the magic artifact they chose. Yang Xiao had promised them, each may take one.

Only Ku Daoist stood with hands inside his sleeves, arms crossed over his chest, without picking up a magic artifact. freёwebnoѵel.com

"Ku Daoist, don’t you want one?" Yang Xiao asked curiously.

"Netherworld Emperor Captain, this old man wants the Mourning Stick in Funeral Guanyin’s hand." Ku Daoist stated plainly.

He and Funeral Guanyin were both experts in Corpse Refining and Control; after a fierce battle, Ku Daoist greatly envied that Mourning Stick. It did indeed have unique qualities, and acquiring it would be immensely beneficial to him.

"Granted, but not now. In a week, I promise to bring Funeral Guanyin along with that Mourning Stick to you, but I can’t guarantee she’ll be alive." Yang Xiao promised.

Currently, Funeral Guanyin was still alive, and as long as the magic artifact’s original owner lives, it can’t be wielded, so Ku Daoist holding it was useless.

"Thank you, Netherworld Emperor Captain, for your kindness." Ku Daoist respectfully performed a Taoist salute to Yang Xiao.

"Open the boxes; let me see what good treasures you chose." Yang Xiao looked at Chen Nang and Trickster; he must always be aware of the abilities of these guys to prevent them from getting uncontrollable when their wings strengthen.

The two opened their boxes. In Chen Nang’s box was a hairpin, intricately shaped and very beautiful, featuring fine enamel work, which Yang Xiao had previously seen on Butterfly Lady.

Indeed, this was Butterfly Lady’s magic artifact, related to flight, and Yang Xiao had understood the depths of this group through his information.

In Trickster’s box was a rustic porcelain bowl, looking quite vintage, like the kind used for drinking wine in ancient times, with multiple worn edges and chipped openings.

According to Trickster’s own account, this rustic porcelain bowl was the magic artifact of his opponent, a mid-stage Ghost Level apostle from Withered Bone Pavilion.

This person was regarded as the strongest apart from Funeral Guanyin and Blood Flesh Immortal, with spiritual power not much inferior to that of Ten Guardians Bone Burning Taoist.

Confirming the scene had been mostly cleared, leaving no traces, Yang Xiao led his people down the mountain.

Meanwhile, he sent a message to Captain Zheng waiting below, detailing the situation here and emphasizing the presence of Evil Cultivator elements hiding in Mopan Town, followed by informing him about that team captain’s situation.

Upon learning the mission was a success, Zheng Mingde, who had been anxiously waiting, beamed with joy, but upon hearing that not a single innocent civilian in the sanatorium survived, his face gradually darkened—the cost of this operation was too high.

After hanging up the phone, Zheng Mingde immediately ordered a raid on the Mopan Town Terror Tale Association, controlled the scene, and arrested Song Yan and others.

Sun Long wasn’t necessary, as Zheng Mingde knew him—not only knew him but was rather familiar with him. This person was indeed one of his subordinates.

Sun Long was a captain under the law enforcement team two he oversaw, usually seen as quite honest, typically conducting himself with caution, having a good reputation and relations. Unexpectedly, this time things went awry because of this person.

In less than 10 minutes, a bewildered Sun Long was brought over, tightly bound. Upon seeing Zheng Mingde, he immediately shouted, "Captain Zheng, what... what does this mean? Why am I being tied up?!"

Upon seeing the suggestive chat records on Sun Long’s phone, the furious Zheng Mingde directly kicked him to the ground and was about to draw his gun. Had he not been held tightly by those around him, Sun Long would likely have been executed on the spot.

"You bastard! You incompetent thing, save your words for the special court!" Zheng Mingde shook off those nearby.

Yang Xiao had already sent him photos depicting the horrific state inside the sanatorium scene—hundreds of bodies lying around, piled together like a mound, shockingly gruesome.

"Captain Zheng, calm down. Old Sun indeed has faults, but... he doesn’t deserve death." someone pleaded, another team captain who had a good relationship with Sun Long—they were, after all, sworn brothers.

"Yeah, yeah, Old Sun didn’t sell us out, he... he was used by others, and Old Sun has made contributions!" another person’s eyes also reddened, firmly holding Zheng Mingde’s hand as he tried to grasp the gun, "Captain Zheng, back when we got ambushed near Yu City, if it weren’t for Old Sun covering for us, our dozens of brothers would’ve been wiped out there!"

Perhaps recalling past events, Zheng Mingde softened, throwing his arm to fling away the person holding it three meters away, glaring with bloodshot eyes and yelling, "Untie this bastard and let him lead a team to arrest people. Give him a chance to atone through meritorious deeds; whether he lives or dies afterward will depend on his own fate!"