After Transmigrating into a Book as Cannon Fodder, I Pampered the Villain - Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Foul Water

Yu Yingxia: Am I becoming an insider threat?

“Speak up. What is your name, who sent you, and what is your purpose?” Before anyone else could process what had happened, Yan Huaixi had already begun the interrogation.

She withdrew some of her power, leaving him just enough strength to speak.

Unfortunately, the man didn’t seize the chance to confess. Instead, he wasted his breath: “How… how did you find out? I clearly…”

“Tsk.” Yan Huaixi had little interest in playing Q&A games. She hooked her finger; the soul-threads that had slightly loosened instantly pulled taut.

The impostor, who had been full of confusion, immediately regretted his hesitation. But regret was useless; the pain, which felt like his skin being peeled off over and over again, left him incapable of thought.

“Forget it. Why waste words with you?” Yan Huaixi felt that after spending so much time with Yu Yingxia, her methods had truly become “softer.” In the past, she wouldn’t have said a single word to a mole.

She yanked the soul toward her, split it open, and began directly reading his memories.

The screams that followed were more piercing than a slaughtered pig’s. Though most people present were veterans of the cultivation world, they couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air at Yan Huaixi’s methods.

Thank heavens we aren’t her enemies. Judging by her practiced movements, this was clearly not her first time. She might be even more terrifying than the Qian family!

While Yan Huaixi’s elegant, systematic movements made the onlookers’ heads throb in sympathy, Yu Yingxia felt a phantom ache in her own soul.

So what the people in Xianlu Valley said was true. If Yan Huaixi found an enemy wearing the skin of one of her own, their end would be unbearable! This was just the beginning; the Avici Hell was waiting for him.

The screams continued. Yu Yingxia rubbed her arms, which were covered in goosebumps. If I voluntarily confessed that I’m a “counterfeit,” could I get a lighter sentence?

“Fellow Daoist, you’re shaking so hard. Are you unwell?” Zhao Xi asked with concern, noticing Yu Yingxia trembling beside her.

“N-no. Thank you for asking,” Yu Yingxia replied, forcing a smile.

Zhao Xi heard the strain in her voice. Hearing the soul scream so piteously nearby, she assumed the Senior’s sister was simply terrified.

“Don’t be afraid. This is a standard interrogation. If we don’t squeeze everything out of their scouts, we’ll be the ones in danger later,” Zhao Xi comforted her. In truth, she felt the Senior’s methods had crossed the line into pure torture.

She looked at Yan Huaixi again and felt more certain that this couldn’t be the Eldest Miss she remembered—the Yan Huaixi she knew wouldn’t have been this ruthless.

However, she was grateful the Senior had found the spy. Had they hidden in that pocket dimension as planned, the mole would have opened the door for the enemies once the Senior left, leaving the wounded trapped like turtles in a jar. Zhao Xi broke into a cold sweat just thinking about it.

Zhao Xi’s words reached Yan Huaixi’s ears. She realized her methods had scared the one person she didn’t want to frighten. It’s all this mole’s fault!

Becoming increasingly annoyed by the screaming, Yan Huaixi struck out and knocked the soul unconscious. The screaming stopped abruptly, but the onlookers flinched at the sudden silence.

Without the screaming, the scene felt more “harmonious.” Yan Huaixi thought this would keep Yu Yingxia from being scared, but Yu Yingxia could still feel the silent vibrations of a soul being shredded. A wordless terror began to spread.

Yan Huaixi sifted through the memories. As the truth surfaced, her calm expression turned grim.

The man wasn’t a Qian; he had nothing to do with them. He was an outsider who had first possessed a Qian body, then moved to a Zhao body. Her previous theory was wrong the Qian family wasn’t the mastermind; they were the scapegoats. They were even unluckier than the other two clans the entire Qian team had been murdered and replaced before even entering the secret realm.

An unknown, malicious force had slipped in. Their methods were sophisticated; without Yan Huaixi, these three families would have died without ever knowing what hit them.

Their disguise was so good that Yan Huaixi hadn’t immediately realized the soul and body were a mismatch. A layer of “soul camouflage” made them look perfectly integrated. It was only through repeated contact and the man’s overly eager attitude that she had sensed the anomaly.

In the entire cultivation world, few could camouflage a soul well enough to fool her. She could think of two soul cultivators who might manage it, but they were recluses who wouldn’t meddle in this.

Who else could it be?

As curiosity rose, so did her vigilance. If the enemy was this skilled, they could be a real threat. She delved deeper into the timeline of his memories, but things grew strange. As she pushed further, the memories lost their color and dissolved into chaos.

I can’t see them? Yan Huaixi was surprised. Someone had placed a seal on the scout’s mind to prevent secrets from leaking.

She tried to peel back the chaos, but the pain of the attempt was worse than the interrogation. The soul she had forced into a coma woke up screaming. The sound was so sudden and wretched that the Mirror Spirit fled back into its mirror, which began to tremble and bang against the wall.

Yan Huaixi’s power clashed with the mastermind’s seal within the man’s soul. Both forces were too immense for such a fragile vessel. The soul shattered.

With a final wail, it dissipated into the air.

Yan Huaixi turned to the remaining survivors with a dark expression. “I cannot be sure if there are more moles among you. If you want to be safe, I must inspect all your souls.”

The innocent survivors were scared but agreed. It made sense no one wanted a traitor at their back. Better to check everyone than to live in suspicion. The Zhao Elder nodded, and the others followed suit. Only the actual moles and Yu Yingxia, with her own secret paled.

“One by one, then.”

Yu Yingxia felt incredibly guilty. She didn’t know if she should step forward. She’s checking the Zhao family… surely that doesn’t include me?

She was so distracted she didn’t notice the person next to her was even more nervous than she was. While Yu Yingxia was just pale, the person beside her was vibrating with fear, sweat pouring down his face.

Yan Huaixi moved quickly. She was halfway through when the most suspicious man finally broke. He looked up, eyes filled with ferocity, and lunged at Yu Yingxia. She was the weakest here, and he had realized she was the only leverage they had against this terrifying woman.

Alarm bells rang in Yu Yingxia’s head. A sensation of lethal danger surged from behind! She lunged forward instinctively; the cold gleam of a dagger grazed her neck.

Without even looking, Yan Huaixi flicked her hand. The man went flying and smashed into the wall. The force was immense; he was embedded in the masonry, buried under falling rubble. He didn’t move. For a soul cultivator, the death of the body was just the beginning.

“He… he was a mole too?!” The crowd gasped, then fell silent under the weight of Yan Huaixi’s radiating pressure. Some cursed the man in their hearts of all people to provoke, you touch her sister? Now we all have to suffer her wrath!

“Are you alright?” Yan Huaixi stepped past the others, her voice and expression softening only for Yu Yingxia.

Yu Yingxia shook her head. “I’m fine. Luckily, I haven’t been slacking on my training; I reacted quickly enough.”

“Good.” Yan Huaixi’s voice turned ice-cold again. The man had chosen the right target; if he had been strong enough to take Yu Yingxia hostage under her nose, he might have succeeded. But since he lacked that strength, it was a one-way ticket to hell.

She checked the remaining people with a lack of gentleness. After seeing the mole’s fate, anyone who could still act normal was likely innocent.

The only problems were the two moles. Yan Huaixi dragged the soul out of the wall-embedded corpse. Predictably, his memories were also tampered with.

“I-I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything! Don’t kill me! The Master made me do it, there’s an ambush, the Master sent—ARGHHH!!” This mole had learned from the first and tried to prove his value immediately.

But he didn’t realize his body was rigged with restrictions. The moment he tried to say too much, the power turned him into a firework.

As he exploded, Yan Huaixi threw up a barrier, trapping his soul and the blast within a small space.

“BOOM!” With a roar, the mole was silenced by his own master.

The blast would have alerted whoever was behind this. Yan Huaixi watched the smoke clear and retracted the barrier. From the first mole’s memory, she knew the pocket space ahead was indeed a safe haven.

“It’s safe inside. Now that the moles are gone, you can stay there.” Yan Huaixi prepared to open the passage, but a strange ripple appeared in the dust of the explosion.

Her power faltered for a heartbeat. Because the flow of energy was interrupted, she almost failed to open the portal.

How?! The sensation was absurd, yet real.

At that moment, the ceiling of the third floor cracked open. Several figures descended, launching lethal strikes at her! They wore black, their faces masked, and their soul vibrations were eerily similar as if they had been mass-produced. They weren’t ordinary assassins.

Unlike the moles, these soul signatures were recognizable. She had felt them before. Yan Huaixi’s heart sank. She knew who this was.

If it was him, then attacking the three families was just a diversion. The real target was her.

Yan Huaixi unleashed a crushing wave of spiritual energy, blasting the first wave of attackers away. She drew a flute and played; the closest, most reckless assassins died instantly, blood spraying from their mouths under the sonic assault.

When the strange spatial ripple appeared again, Yan Huaixi’s power was momentarily twisted. She was weaving a high-lethality melody; any break in rhythm risked a massive backlash. Had her control not been superb, she would have suffered a cultivation deviation right then.

As the flute music ceased, the dead bodies on the floor began to twitch. From the fresh corpses and the two moles, transparent, worm-like “Soul Insects” crawled out!

The moment they emerged, the corpses turned into brittle husks. Yan Huaixi’s eyes turned blood-red. When her family was slaughtered years ago, the bodies had looked exactly like this!

The second murderer had finally shown his face.

Without hesitation, Yan Huaixi threw everyone into the pocket dimension, including Yu Yingxia. “Yingxia, hide inside. I’ll come get you once I’ve settled this.”

She didn’t explain more, wanting to spare her the fear. Fighting Yan Zheng was incredibly dangerous; she couldn’t guarantee her own safety, let alone Yu Yingxia’s.

Yu Yingxia was tossed toward the entrance. She didn’t have time to say a word or ask what was happening. She was inches from safety when a frigid, sinister power coiled around her neck. The familiar chill made her shudder. The protective energy Yan Huaixi had placed on her dissolved, and she was yanked in the opposite direction.

The entrance to the safe space slammed shut. Yu Yingxia hit the ground hard beside a mass of pitch-black shadows. She let out a pained groan, but what made her heart freeze was the raspy, triumphant voice beside her.

“Well done, Protector Yu.” The shadow’s voice was filled with unconcealed pride, as if she and he had just successfully pulled off a grand scheme together.

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