"Fifth Elder, I'll escort you all back to headquarters now. I'll handle what comes next. Just tell Sect Leader Liu to keep the mountain gates sealed upon your return."
After transferring the four men in black into the Phantom Tower, Ye Yunfei addressed the Fifth Elder.
He then had one of the Earth Dragons carry the dozen or so Ziwei Sect members back, dispatching four Flying Sky Yin Monkeys to escort them. Meanwhile, Ye Yunfei descended deep underground, entered a natural limestone cave, and hid himself away.
Inside the Phantom Tower.
Ye Yunfei appeared before the four captives.
"Talk. Tell me everything about Tianyou Tomb's recent operations against Ziwei Sect." Ye Yunfei's voice was cold.
"There's nothing to say. As assassins of the Tianyou Tomb, once a mission fails, death is the only option. Su Fei, don't even think about getting a single word out of us," one of the men in black said.
"Su Fei, by crossing our Tianyou Tomb, you've condemned yourself to eternal pursuit. On the Primordial Continent, anyone who provokes us never has an easy time of it," another added.
"In my presence, you'll find death hard to come by."
With a wave of his hand, Ye Yunfei swiftly forced a pill into the mouth of each of the four captives. Their cultivation had been sealed, leaving them limp and powerless, incapable of resistance.
"I advise you to obediently tell me everything you know. That way, I can grant you a swift death and spare you further torment," Ye Yunfei sneered.
"Just you wait, Su Fei. Someone will avenge us," all four men retorted with cold smiles.
However, mere moments later, expressions of shock began to replace the smugness on their faces. They had just activated the poison pills hidden within their bodies, intending to take their own lives — a standard Tianyou Tomb protocol for assassins captured after a failed mission, to prevent interrogation. Yet, instead of the expected, swift poison-induced death, nothing happened.
"I told you. You cannot die so easily before me. The pills I just gave you neutralize the poison in your system and fortify your meridians. You can't even trigger a self-detonation now. Good. Now, tell me everything I want to know," Ye Yunfei stated impassively, his tone flat.
"Su Fei, you'll get nothing from us!" one of the assassins shouted coldly.
Ye Yunfei's face darkened. He produced four black pills and forced one into each of their mouths.
Soon, agonized groans filled the space as the four men writhed and thrashed on the ground.
Ye Yunfei sat cross-legged nearby, closing his eyes to rest.
Two hours passed before their cries gradually weakened.
"Ready to talk now?" Ye Yunfei's figure flashed, reappearing before them.
"Su Fei, you…" The four glared at him with venomous hatred, one attempting to speak.
With another wave of his hand, Ye Yunfei stuffed four more black poison pills into their mouths.
"These are even more potent than the last batch," he remarked coldly.
Screams erupted once more, even more ghastly than before. Their faces twisted in utter agony, bodies convulsing violently from the excruciating pain. They tried to shriek, but only hoarse, choked sounds emerged; their throats had been shredded by the prior two hours of screaming. At this moment, they experienced the very definition of 'life being worse than death' and gained a chilling glimpse into hellish torment.
Ye Yunfei sat nearby, his expression blank. The Tianyou Tomb's assassins had inflicted heavy casualties on Ziwei Sect. Many, including Ji Yue and several elders and stewards, had gone missing. Ye Yunfei had long been seething with a potent killing intent towards them. Showing these assassins any mercy was out of the question.
Two more hours crawled by. Finally, the screams dwindled to faint whimpers. The four men were completely limp on the floor, nearly voiceless, their mouths gaping as they struggled for breath.
"Well? Are you ready to speak?" Ye Yunfei asked coldly.
"You…" They all trembled, staring at him.
"No rush. I have plenty of time to entertain you slowly."
Ye Yunfei waved his hand once more, producing four more black pills that hovered before the captives.
"These are stronger still. Have a taste."
He gave a cold laugh and was about to flick his sleeve, sending the pills flying toward their mouths.
"I'll talk!" one of them suddenly blurted out.
"What are you doing? You'll disgrace Tianyou Tomb!" the other three exclaimed, aghast.
"He's not human… he's a devil from hell. I can't endure this anymore. Su Fei, ask your questions," the man replied with a bitter smile.
Ye Yunfei proceeded to interrogate him. The answers largely matched his suspicions.
The target of Tianyou Tomb's current operation was Ye Yunfei himself. A batch of assassins had been deployed to lurk around Ziwei Sect's headquarters, conducting strict surveillance and establishing a blockade. Any Ziwei Sect member emerging from the headquarters was to be killed if deemed unimportant, or captured if valuable, the latter intended as leverage against Ye Yunfei.
Ye Yunfei also learned that Tianyou Tomb had a branch operating within the Eastern Barrens, commanding a large number of assassins who had been active there for a considerable time.
Furthermore, Tianyou Tomb assassins were currently scouring the Eastern Barrens, hunting down Ziwei Sect members to either kill or capture.
In short, Tianyou Tomb aimed to force Ye Yunfei into the open by targeting Ziwei Sect, and then assassinate him.
Ye Yunfei had hoped to learn the whereabouts of the captured Ziwei Sect members from these four. However, their mission had been limited to ambushing and capturing those leaving the headquarters; they had no knowledge of where the captives were being held.
"One day, I will personally wipe Tianyou Tomb, this assassin organization, from the face of this world," Ye Yunfei declared coldly after finishing his questions.
The Tianyou Tomb had thoroughly enraged him this time.
'Why not try to subdue and enslave these four instead?'
Having finished the interrogation, Ye Yunfei initially intended to kill them outright. But the thought gave him pause, and he stayed his hand.