Chapter 2603 — Sun Jingyan in Trouble

True ancient martial arts! Sun Jingyan's heart lurched. Wei Zhao might be well versed in acupoint-sealing, yes—but that was a lost art, a legacy with no heirs; never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that this newcomer would also be a master of that craft. Behind the woman in black came a long-haired man with a gloomy cast of face; once inside, the two of them shut the door behind them at once.

The room Sun Jingyan had taken was at the very end of the hotel corridor, next door to the transformer room, and with the soundproofing as good as it was, nothing said inside could possibly carry to any other room. She had chosen it to work undisturbed at her cultivation, never guessing it would become the perfect place for Xiao Yi and Xiao Shiyi to make their move.

That was right—these two were Xiao Yi and Xiao Shiyi, sent from that place on Elder Xuanchen's orders to find Sun Jingyan and Han Jingyi. They too had rented a room in the hotel, but once they saw Sun Jingyan's, they changed their plans on the spot. Her room was safer and more private than their own, so questioning her right here was far easier than dragging her off.

"Little Junior Sister, I'll question her about a few things here first. You go and seize Han Jingyi—in a school, it will be easier for you to act than for me," Xiao Yi said to Xiao Shiyi.

"Very well, Senior Brother. I hope that by the time I get back, you'll have wrung some clues out of her!" the junior sister said.

"Don't worry, Little Junior Sister. I won't let the Master down!" Xiao Yi said, thumping his chest and taking the whole thing upon himself.

"Still—this girl is a beauty. When you interrogate her, mind yourself..." The junior sister glanced at Sun Jingyan, then offered a mild warning.

"Ahem, ahem..." Xiao Yi jumped, and hurried to swear his loyalty. "Little Junior Sister, my feelings for you are plain as heaven and earth—how could I ever do such a thing?"

"Hmph. I hope what you say is true." The junior sister gave a cold snort and turned and left the room.

Xiao Yi was left in a cold sweat. Sun Jingyan was beautiful—many times more beautiful than his junior sister—but Xiao Yi knew perfectly well that he could not touch this woman, that he could not even entertain the thought, or if his junior sister found out, he would have no chance at all.

His junior sister might not compare to Sun Jingyan, and her temper was none too pleasant either, but the great advantage was that she had a formidable father. Marry her, and in the future he could claim a greater share of that place's cultivation resources; even on the Cloud-Tier Island, he might receive more than the others.

For a cultivator of his rank, the pursuit of the heavenly Way stirred him far more; women came second. Unless, of course, the woman was of use to him—that was another matter entirely.

"All right, you may speak now." Xiao Yi pointed casually, and a steel bead shot out and struck Sun Jingyan's body; her power of speech returned. To avoid any suspicion, he did not touch her even once—he had no wish to lose his chance at advancing along the heavenly Way over a single beauty.

Among the several senior and junior brothers, his junior sister's relationship with him was fairly good. He meant to use this joint mission as an opportunity to cultivate their bond further, and from the Master's arrangement this time, he could tell that such was likely the Master's intent as well—so Xiao Yi could not afford not to seize the chance.

"Who are you? What is your purpose here?" Sun Jingyan did not shout for help either, for she knew the location of the room she had taken. To scream at such a moment—unless one were right at the door—would be difficult for anyone outside to hear.

She had, after all, weathered no small number of storms at Wei Zhao's side, and she was not about to lose her head now.

"Sun Jingyan, is it? You and a man named Zhang Naipao went to the Wulonghaote Mountains, made off with a great treasure, and killed my sixth, twelfth, and thirteenth brothers?" Xiao Yi wasted no time in beating around the bush and came straight to the point.

"Since you've investigated it all so thoroughly, what need is there to ask me?" Sun Jingyan was no fool. This man had dug up even her name, and knew that she and Wei Zhao had been to the Wulonghaote Mountains. Even if he did not know Wei Zhao's name, his understanding of the affair was close enough to the truth. So there was all the less reason for her to conceal anything. "You've come to avenge them?"

"You could say yes, and you could say no. You don't seem to have much strength about you, so the killing was most likely done by that fellow called Zhang Naipao. Now I'll give you a chance at life: what was that great treasure you obtained? Tell me, and I won't kill you," Xiao Yi said.

"The treasure?" Sun Jingyan paused to consider. A wise man did not fight against the odds, and that treasure seemed to be of little use to her anymore. Besides, even if she said nothing, the man could search her room and find it all the same. So she simply said outright, "It's over there on the bed, in that little box."

Xiao Yi had not expected things to go so smoothly. All his grand threats and intimidations had gone unused—which saved him the trouble. He picked up the little box from the bed and opened it, but when he saw what was inside, his brow furrowed.

"A true-qi energy stone?" Xiao Yi took the stone out and looked it over a few times, then tossed it back into the box. "And a true-qi energy stone that's nearly used up, at that? This is the great treasure you obtained?"

"That's it. What else would there be?" Sun Jingyan was taken aback. Was there supposed to be something besides this?

"Just this one? This thing can only speed up one's cultivation a little—it can't bring you anywhere near the heavenly Way." Xiao Yi had no interest in the energy stone at all and tossed it back onto the bed. Frowning, he asked, "You're not lying?"

Sun Jingyan shook her head. "No."

"Look me in the eye!" Xiao Yi barked suddenly.

"Ah..." Sun Jingyan looked up reflexively and met Xiao Yi's eyes. But the instant she did, her face turned to a look of bewilderment; the tension in her eyes was gone, replaced by a blank stare.

"Phew..." Xiao Yi smiled faintly at the sight of her. His hypnosis had worked. For cultivators, hypnosis was in essence a release of spiritual power; powerful alchemists and artifact smiths could all employ it, and those who came out of that place all knew a little alchemy, so they were no strangers to hypnosis either.

Of course, that was limited to ordinary people like Sun Jingyan, who had not a shred of cultivation strength. If the subject were a cultivator—even a Yellow-Rank one—it would be somewhat difficult; against a Mystic-Rank or Earth-Rank cultivator, success was all but impossible, unless one commanded a hypnosis art of truly heaven-defying power.