“Reporting to the Supreme Grand Elder, over the past three days this subordinate has mobilized nearly all available forces within the Southwind Immortal Kingdom. However, we still have not uncovered the true identity of He Wanyi. We only found some circulating rumors. It can almost be confirmed that He Wanyi is a member of the He clan from the Southwind Immortal Kingdom.”
A girl who appeared to be around sixteen years old stood before Hua Yanyun and handed over a jade slip.
The girl’s name was Hua Sang. She was at the Soul Transformation realm and an important member of the Hua family in the Jade Water Immortal Kingdom. Although she looked young, she was actually over a thousand years old.
Hua Yanyun took the jade slip and began undoing the encryption array on it.
Since He Xiu could plant a spy in the Jade Water Immortal Kingdom, why couldn’t Hua Yanyun plant spies in the Southwind Immortal Kingdom? Both sides tacitly understood the game of espionage.
However, just as He Shu’s capture had not been made public, this involved the face of their respective clans. Making it public would mean admitting weakness—essentially slapping their own faces.
“He Wanyi is definitely a fake name. We already know her true appearance. Since we’ve confirmed she is a member of the He clan, we need to determine her real name as soon as possible. Once we have the name, the investigation will become much easier.”
Hua Yanyun sent her divine sense into the jade slip. While scanning through the contents, she suddenly paused on several entries.
“There are reports that the second princess of the Southwind Immortal Kingdom frequently bullied a young girl from a collateral branch of the He clan when she was young. The description of the bullied girl in the rumors closely resembles He Wanyi’s appearance. More information is currently being gathered.”
“A member of the Southwind He clan named He Gui has a great-granddaughter named He Weiyu who bears a resemblance to He Wanyi, though their eye colors differ. She mysteriously disappeared twenty-seven years ago while exploring a true inheritance secret realm. Investigation ongoing.”
“The daughter of He Buyi from the Southwind He clan, named He Gongshang, bears similarities to He Wanyi. She was confirmed dead sixteen years ago, but her body was never recovered. Authenticity is being verified.”
The jade slip contained over a thousand entries, but Hua Yanyun’s attention locked onto these three. She extracted them and recorded them onto a new jade slip, which she handed to Hua Sang.
“Hua Sang, focus your investigation on these three leads. Do not stop the other inquiries, but slow down their pace and run them parallel with these three.”
Hua Yanyun had ordered the investigation into He Shu’s identity three days ago. The more she dug, the more curious she became about the girl.
“Hehe, this little one is hiding quite deeply. Three days and we still haven’t dug her out.”
She had not questioned He Shu directly. She knew that anyone capable of quietly acting as a spy for nearly twenty years must have an extremely strong mentality. Asking too early would not only yield no answers but would also alert the little one and disrupt her own plans.
There were many ways to commit suicide. Even as a Body Integration realm powerhouse, Hua Yanyun had no guarantee she could completely prevent someone from trying to take their own life. The fact that He Shu had not attempted suicide yet showed she still believed she could be rescued. What Hua Yanyun needed to do now was keep that hope alive so He Shu would not take drastic action.
“Though even if He Wanyi really died, it wouldn’t matter. If she died, I’d actually have some peace and quiet. Catching the spy was only to save face so others wouldn’t say the Hua family went soft.”
Even though she thought this, Hua Yanyun did not actually want He Shu to die.
Not only because He Shu’s body perfectly matched her preferences, but also because she was genuinely interested in He Shu as a person.
Although her harem was vast, with countless male pets and female concubines of all types, He Shu gave her a very different feeling—one that was hard to describe yet undeniably real.
“Never mind. I should go back and check on the little one first. See how she’s doing.”
Just as He Shu had guessed, Hua Yanyun had not installed any surveillance in the room where she was imprisoned, because she saw no need for it.
The capital of the Jade Water Immortal Kingdom, Cloud Mist Immortal City, was a famous super immortal city in the cultivation world. Not only did it possess a Body Integration level grand city array, it was also guarded by two Void Refinement realm elders from the Hua family at all times. Moreover, Hua Yanyun herself, a Body Integration powerhouse, personally oversaw its defenses.
Not counting Hua Yanyun, five thousand years ago a Body Integration realm demonic cultivator named Luan Shi had launched a surprise attack on Cloud Mist Immortal City seeking revenge, only to be heavily injured and forced to flee in defeat.
At that time, the previous monarch of the Jade Water Immortal Kingdom—the Body Integration realm Hua Liantian—had recently fallen. The newly ascended Hua Haichuan was only at Void Refinement. The kingdom had been in a period of weakness and instability. It was precisely because of that battle that the surrounding immortal kingdoms and sects that were stirring were thoroughly intimidated.
Hua Yanyun teleported to the top floor of what was once the “Lanshan Inn” and was now “Wanyi Tower”—the room where He Shu was imprisoned.
The moment she arrived, she saw He Shu wriggling inside the cage like a helpless worm.
“What happened here? I’ve only been gone for a day…”
She looked at He Shu, who was blindfolded, gagged with her mouth pouting, and had her hands bound behind her back. Confusion rose in her heart. She guessed that someone had come to Wanyi Tower while she was away, but she couldn’t figure out why they would tie He Shu up like this.
Hua Yanyun walked closer, opened the cage, and tore off the tape sealing He Shu’s mouth. She pulled out a large wad of cotton cloth from inside. Looking at the cloth soaked with He Shu’s saliva, she felt a trace of surprise.
So much? How did they even fit it in?
The silk cloth she pulled out was almost the size of two fists. When it had been inside He Shu’s mouth, it must have reached deep into her throat.
“Who came while I was gone? Why did they tie you up like this?”
She asked He Shu but did not remove the lace ribbon covering her eyes or the red rope binding her arms. She found this version of He Shu rather pleasing to look at.
He Shu was feeling terrible—thirsty and starving. Her head felt dizzy and heavy. Earlier, when she sensed someone approaching, she had used all her remaining strength to wriggle and try to attract attention. She had not expected it to be Hua Yanyun.
Moreover, this damnable woman had only removed the cotton cloth from her mouth, deliberately leaving the blindfold and the ropes on her arms in place.
She spoke, her voice weak and breathless. “It was… Liu… Liu Shumei… and three… others I don’t know…”
Her mouth and throat had been stuffed for so long that it was hard to breathe. She desperately wanted water. Forcing herself to speak Liu Shumei’s name, she felt like her throat was about to explode.
“Water… I want water…”
Hua Yanyun was not surprised it was Liu Shumei. The only people who could openly enter this place were members of her own harem.
Seeing He Shu in such a wilted, half-dead state, she did not tease her. Instead, she helped He Shu sit upright against the cage and summoned a ball of water that flew into her mouth.
He Shu drank the water ball and immediately felt much better.
“Still… thirsty…”
Hua Yanyun summoned several more water balls, feeding them to He Shu until she could drink no more.
He Shu still had some of her own little schemes. She suspected Hua Yanyun was deliberately starving her, so even after drinking enough, she continued pretending to be on the verge of death and asked for more water. Only when she truly could not drink another drop did she stop.
With a considerable amount of water in her stomach, although it could not provide energy, it slightly eased her hunger pangs.