Gasping desperately for air, a wave of nausea churning in the pit of his hollow stomach, the middle-aged prisoner's eyes shot open. His heart pounded violently against his ribcage as beads of cold sweat trickled down his gaunt, ashen face.

Still seated on the rigid wooden chair, illuminated by a lone shaft of dusty light filtering through a crack in the damp stone ceiling above, he regained consciousness with a disorienting jolt.

His head twitched instinctively, eyes widening in alarm as they focused on the figure standing before him - a startlingly handsome young man with penetrating crimson eyes that seemed to bore straight through the prisoner's soul.

The young man's striking features remained utterly calm yet unmistakably predatory. The prisoner blinked rapidly, his thoughts clouded by a haze of confusion and fear as the room around him slowly came into focus.

"Wh-where am I? What is this place?" he croaked, his raspy voice little more than a tremulous whisper.

Senses heightening, he scanned the cramped, cave-like chamber with rising panic. The rough, mossy stone walls seemed to press inward, the shadows between them thick and suffocating. The dank, musty air carried the faint metallic tinge of dried blood, causing his empty stomach to lurch again.

"Ah, you're finally awake, Uncle," the smooth, ominous voice drew the prisoner's frantic gaze back to the young man. Despite his non-threatening stance, an unnatural stillness hung about him like the eerie calm before a storm unleashes its fury.

The prisoner's sunken, hollow eyes locked onto the young man's chiseled features, a mixture of confusion and wariness etched into the deep lines framing his mouth and eyes.

Unconsciously licking dry, cracked lips, he rasped, "Who are you? Wh...?" His voice trailed off as his gaze shifted to the man's long white martial robe, aqua stripes trimming the sleeves and hem.

Upon seeing this, a distant, nightmarish flicker of memory sparked in the recesses of his mind.

On the other hand, the young man, or no one other than, Ji Wuye, had his full lips curled ever so slightly at the corners in a subtly menacing smile. "Oh, have you forgotten our little encounter already?" His tone carried a dangerous undercurrent of amusement. "How disappointing, Uncle."

A tremor of dread coursed through the prisoner's battered frame as realization crept through the fog of his addled mind. "I don't know what you're talking ab--Ugh!"

His words dissolved into a strangled cry of agony, body instinctively folding inward as an immense pressure blossomed at his wrist. "You... you're the one who--"

"Indeed," Ji Wuye confirmed with a slight nod, increasing the vise-like pressure on the prisoner's Neiguan point. The man doubled over, tendons straining against skin as he gasped desperately for air.

Leaning in closer, the young man's crimson eyes glinted with dark promise. "I've been waiting quite patiently for our chat, Uncle. Let's not waste any more time with pretenses, shall we?"

Jaw clenched hard enough to grind teeth, the prisoner glared up defiantly. Rivulets of sweat traced the deep crevices lining his face as he ground out through gritted teeth, "You bastard! I'll never--"

"Oops." The single mocking syllable was the only warning before Ji Wuye's finger dug viciously into the Neiguan pressure point. The prisoner's words strangled in his throat, body convulsing as a hoarse, animalistic sound of agony tore from his core.

Leaning in uncomfortably close, Ji Wuye's deep voice dropped to a dangerous whisper that seemed to reverberate from the stone walls themselves. "It seems you've forgotten your manners, Uncle, along with the fact that you tried to infiltrate the Kunlun Sect." His piercing crimson eyes glinted with cold, mocking amusement.

"But you know what they say: 'The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.' So tell me, what was your true purpose in trespassing here?"

As the Ji Wuye applied more brutal pressure to the Neiguan point, the prisoner's veins began to visibly swell and discolor beneath his sallow skin. His gaunt face contorted in a rictus of agony, his earlier bravado crumbling like a sandcastle before the relentless tide.

"P-please..." he gasped out, his back arching involuntarily away from the vise-like grip as he met Ji Wuye's unflinching stare. The defiant spark that had flickered momentarily in his sunken eyes extinguished, replaced by naked terror. "I... I can't..."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Ji Wuye's expression remained glacial, merciless. "You can, and you will," he stated flatly, each word carrying the weight of the mountain. "Or shall we continue this dance indefinitely, Uncle?"

The prisoner's resolve wavered, shaken by the undisguised threat. But a flicker of that stubborn defiance burned anew in his gaze as he summoned what little remained of his dwindling inner fire.

With a pained, wheezing laugh that dissolved into a fit of dry coughing, he managed to spit out, "Haha! True purpose? 'The stone from other hills may serve to polish the jade of this one.' We sought only to learn the Kunlun's secrets, nothing more!"

One elegant eyebrow arched slightly as Ji Wuye regarded the prisoner with renewed interest.

'Ah, I see.' Though the gruff words sounded rebellious on the surface, the prisoner's pale, sickly countenance and pleading gaze hinted that there was something deeper at play. 'So he cannot speak directly, huh?'

Noticing this strange contradiction between words and body language, Ji Wuye slowly, purposefully released the agonizing pressure from the Neiguan point, allowing the prisoner to draw a long, ragged breath.

At the same time, the man's eyes glistened with grim intent as surrounding Qi began to flow and gather into his cells and organs, rather than flow into his severed meridians or stored in his damaged Dantians.

The prisoner's mind raced with renewed determination even as relief washed over his battered frame. 'I will drag all of you down into the abyss with me!' he thought fiercely, eyes narrowing.

But his focused aura of grim resolution faltered, replaced by naked confusion and apprehension as Ji Wuye unexpectedly crouched down, hand extending towards his foot. "What are you--"

His bewildered question morphed into an earsplitting scream of tormented agony as Ji Wuye's fingers found and viciously struck another series of debilitating pressure points. "Argh! No more! Please, no more, Young Master!"

The prisoner's entire body thrashed wildly, arms flailing as he vainly attempted to block the strikes or knock his tormentor's head away. But his clumsy blows met only the faint bluish shimmer of impenetrable Qi surrounding Ji Wuye, leaving him even more utterly helpless, frustrated and terrified.

Meawnhile, Ji Wuye's face remained an inscrutable mask as a ethereal notification flashed across his vision:

image [https://i.ibb.co.com/9cwTRC8/Notif-Pressure.webp]

"I sense you seek something beyond mere knowledge of martial arts, Uncle." Ji Wuye's fingers pressed viciously into the Yongquan point on the sole of the prisoner's foot, sending icy sensation. "Perhaps 'To live like a mountain, to flow like water' would better describe your desires?"

The prisoner's teeth chattered uncontrollably as the last vestiges of his bravado crumbled. He could feel the tiny trickle of Qi he had managed to gather dispersing, leaving him once more hollow and utterly drained.

"A-All martial artists seek to perfect their martial art!" he gasped out desperately, a pleading edge creeping into his raspy voice. "'The journey of a thousand li begins with a single step.' We... we only wanted to live longer, that's all!"

With a slight tilt of his head, Ji Wuye released the pressure point and rose fluidly to his feet, his towering frame looming over the now significantly weakened prisoner. His piercing crimson eyes bored into the man, as if seeking to pierce the veil of lies and extract the deeper truth.

'So, it's about pursuing immortality after all...' Ji Wuye mused silently. Aloud, he pressed further, his tone deceptively gentle.

"Your stance whispers of a background in the Tianji village. 'A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.' What melody of enlightenment were you hoping to learn by infiltrating Kunlun?"

The prisoner's already pallid features twitched, a complicated mix of fear, calculation and indecision flickering across them.

He couldn't reveal everything, not with his life hanging so precariously... but perhaps he could increase his value to this terrifying young man. A smirk, devoid of any warmth, played at the corners of his mouth though it didn't reach his eyes.

"Tianji?" he echoed with an airy, dismissive scoff. "'The moon cannot be stolen.' What inner mysteries they guard are of no concern to the likes of you."

He paused, weighing his next words with the utmost care. When he continued, there was an unmistakable undercurrent of bravado.

"But you speak truly, 'Tall trees catch much wind.' Our numbers are our greatest strength... and also our vulnerability." The prisoner lifted his sunken gaze defiantly to lock onto Ji Wuye's inscrutable expression, a glimmer of calculated defiance smoldering in their depths.

"Do you truly wish to shake that ancient Fusang tree, Young Master? The fruits that may come crashing down could be more than even you can safely handle."

Ji Wuye's full lips curved into an almost predatory smile at the prisoner's thinly veiled threat. "Is that an invitation, Uncle? How tempting. I shall surely attend this gathering of yours."

Hearing the mocking words, the prisoner seemed to finally understand the full, devastating scope of the attack Ji Wuye was orchestrating.

On the other hand, to confirm this prisoner's claims and ensure their exchange was not simply the desperate bluster of a cornered foe, Ji Wuye turned on his heel and strode from the cramped cell, leaving the prisoner alone once more.

As the Ji Wuye's footsteps faded, the prisoner let out a dramatically theatrical peal of laughter that echoed hollowly off the stone walls. But it was a empty, forced sound that abruptly cut off as the man slipped back into an eerily blank, impassive state.

Mere moments later, similar anguished screams began echoing from another cave cell further within the dungeon's depths.

The Inner Disciple who had been accompanying Ji Wuye shivered involuntarily at the chilling sounds of torment. Li Rong, however, remained the only one still visibly conflicted by her role as witness to such cruelty.

...

The brutal interrogations finally concluded after several merciless hours, by the time the afternoon sun cast long, slanting rays through the towering bamboo forest outside. The deepening shadows darkened the dank dungeon as evening approached.

Ji Wuye and Li Rong emerged, cupping their hands and lowering their heads respectfully to the stoic Inner Disciples standing guard at the entrance.

"Thank you for assisting with the interrogations, Senior Brother," Ji Wuye said politely. The same Disciple who had accompanied him throughout now regarded the young man with an unsettled mix of trepidation and newfound perspective.

"N-no, Junior Brother... I was just doing my duty," the Disciple replied, his voice tinged with mixed emotions and uncertainty.

Who could have guessed that behind this devastatingly handsome face and gentle words lay a young man capable of such ruthless, sustained cruelty - torturing more than ten prisoners, all for the sake of extracting the same answer?

The other Inner Disciple, seeming confused by his fellow Martial Brother's perturbed reaction, cupped his hands as well in a display of courtesy. "Thank you for your hard work, Junior Brother and Fellow Martial Sister."

...

As they finally ascended the worn stone stairs back towards the lower levels of Kunlun Sect, Ji Wuye glanced sideways at Li Rong from the corner of his eye. His voice was deceptively casual as he spoke.

"The Grapes of Longevity. The unorthodox factions and the Jade Blossom Traders are making wine from them. The next attack will likely happen when they transport that precious wine."

Li Rong stopped dead in her tracks, stunned into stillness by the weight of the words. Ji Wuye didn't pause, continuing his unhurried stride up the stairs.

"Please convey that to Big Sister Qiao, Senior Sister," he added calmly, not waiting for a response.