Chapter Sixty-Nine: Interrogating the Details

“Hurry up, what exactly happened?” Tang Wei pressed anxiously.

Zhang San, flustered and panicked, began to explain, “Y-yesterday—yesterday—”

“Calm down. What are you so afraid of? You weren’t this scared when you kidnapped Yaya. Acting like this now is useless! Give me a proper answer right now. If you answer well, once I find Yaya, I’ll spare your life!” Tang Wei impatiently promised him, though, of course, sparing his life didn’t mean she wouldn’t come looking for trouble later.

Zhang San was no fool. Realizing he still had a chance to live, he took several deep breaths and only spoke once his heartbeat had steadied. “Yesterday afternoon, the Twin Freaks of Tianshan found me. Someone offered a huge price for that little girl—oh, Miss Yaya. They really struck it rich this time. The reward wasn’t just two pills; each of them got one that could help them advance two whole levels in cultivation.”

He glanced up at the two in front of him. Seeing no murderous intent on their faces, he continued, “Both of them are stronger than me, and I couldn’t fight back, so I had to let them take Miss Yaya. After they snatched her, they even kindly warned me that I was in big trouble. The ones looking for this little girl are two cultivators at the Fasting stage. There’s already a huge uproar outside. If I show my face, I’ll be torn to pieces. I don’t fully understand the situation, but I know what the Fasting stage means. So, as soon as they left, I hurriedly packed up to run. But I only made it to the mouth of the valley before people from the Xuanyuan family blocked my way.” His voice grew quieter with these last words, barely audible to those nearby.

“So, those—what do you call them, the Twin Freaks—took Yaya just to exchange her for pills?” Zixuan asked uncertainly.

Zhang San quickly replied obsequiously, “That should be it, yes. The Twin Freaks were very respectful toward Miss Yaya. As they left, they even coaxed her, saying they were taking her to see her mother! I think they’re after the pills and shouldn’t harm Miss Yaya.”

Tang Wei looked up uncertainly and asked, “Xiao Xuan, what do you think?”

“If they’re really after the pills, I think we’ll see Yaya again soon. But… I admit, our original decision was too rash. Now, there are likely many more people after the pills, and who knows what new complications will arise. We’ll need to ask a few families to help us track down those two as well, so we can resolve this quickly,” Zixuan mused, conceding that he had underestimated the situation at first.

“What should we do? Could Yaya be in danger?” Tang Wei, hearing all this, grew even more anxious, unable to help worrying for Yaya’s safety.

“Don’t worry. Finding Yaya may be troublesome, but it’s only a matter of time. With you and me here, I believe no one would dare harm her.” Zixuan was confident about the little girl’s safety; with two Fasting-stage cultivators guarding her, anyone would have to think twice before making a move.

Despite Zixuan’s assurances, Tang Wei still frowned with worry. Zixuan, seeing this, tried to distract her and kicked the kneeling Zhang San. “How has Yaya been during this time? You’d better tell the truth. If you lie, your life’s forfeit!”

This did catch Tang Wei’s attention. She immediately snapped back to ask, “That’s right! Zhang San, tell me—did you ever beat or scold her?”

Zhang San, terrified, prostrated himself and cried, “Senior, I swear I never beat or scolded her! Really, you must believe me—I can swear an oath right now!” He started to get up, ready to raise his hand in oath.

“How could that be? Weren’t you going to ‘discipline’ her? How could you not beat or scold her? Tell the truth.” Tang Wei didn’t believe for a second that Zhang San had never laid a hand on Yaya. She just wanted to know whether Yaya had been hurt, and how badly—everything else was secondary now.

“It’s not that—I didn’t want to hit her, it’s just—” Zhang San stumbled over his explanation, finding the words difficult to say.

“Hurry up! Tell us exactly how you kidnapped Yaya,” Zixuan demanded sternly, his face cold.

“I used the soul-soothing technique my master taught me to take her out of the supermarket and straight onto a train. Afraid she’d make a fuss on the ride, I only woke her after we reached City B. At first, I thought she’d cry and scream, so I specially found a quiet place to stay. But when she woke up, she was calm, obedient, and did whatever I asked, calling me ‘uncle’ so sweetly.” Zhang San paused here, seemingly reluctant to continue.

“And then?” Tang Wei’s heart was in her throat. Seeing him stop, she couldn’t help but urge him on.

With Zixuan glaring at him in anger, Zhang San had no choice but to go on. “So, I relaxed my guard. But I didn’t expect her to trick me into revealing everything with just a few questions. After she found out I was going to exchange her for spirit stones—and that I wouldn’t hurt her—she became bolder. Every day she demanded this or that, and if she didn’t get what she wanted to eat or play with, she’d throw things at me and pick fights. If I was even a bit strict, she’d throw a tantrum and threaten me until I lost both money and patience.”

“And you just let her get away with it?” For the first time, a smile appeared on Tang Wei’s face. She thought to herself, “Why was I ever worried about her? That little imp is trouble at home; there’s no way she’d suddenly turn meek out in the world.”

Although Yaya looked only five on the outside, Tang Wei had played with her in the dimensional space every night—her intelligence now was at least that of a twelve- or thirteen-year-old. She’d always been clever, and with Zixuan’s deliberate or inadvertent guidance, she’d become even more unruly. For a child with that personality, suffering losses was almost impossible.

Tang Wei also realized something else: Zhang San wasn’t a completely depraved villain. How else could a seasoned cultivator be helpless in the face of a child? Impossible—there were plenty of ways he could have dealt with her. So now, Tang Wei’s tone softened considerably.

Zhang San seemed to sense this and quickly tried to secure his own escape. “First, I was eager to advance and needed the spirit stones, so I didn’t want to push her too far. Second, I suppose after spending so much time with her, I found her more and more adorable. Whenever I wanted to punish her, one look at her face and I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

“If you’re telling the truth, we won’t give you any trouble. We might even help you get what you want,” Zixuan said, less easily fooled than Tang Wei, baiting him with a promise.

“It’s true, it’s all true! Look, this bump on my head—she hit me with a stick. And here, this scrape—I got it when she tricked me into rescuing her on a hillside and I fell. And here—” To win their trust, Zhang San began pointing out all his shameful wounds.

“All right! We don’t need to see any more. You’ll return with the Xuanyuan family for now. Once we find Yaya and confirm your story, if it’s true, you’ll be rewarded,” Tang Wei interrupted, lest he continue and start stripping off his clothes for “evidence.” She had to admit, Yaya was probably capable of just that much! At this point, Tang Wei’s mood had improved greatly—she could even laugh at the kidnapper’s expense.

“Senior Sister, let’s go find Xiao Zhe and the others. We’ll need their help to track down the Twin Freaks of Tianshan,” Zixuan said, eager to capitalize on Tang Wei’s better mood.

“Oh, all right!” This time, Tang Wei didn’t object and obediently followed him out. But just as Zixuan reached the door, he suddenly turned around. Tang Wei, not paying attention, bumped straight into his chest. Catching the unique scent on Zixuan, her heart began to race, and her face flushed crimson. Realizing what had happened, she immediately pushed him away with her hand.

Zixuan stood there for a moment, a faint, ambiguous smile flickering across his face. He didn’t press the matter, but turned to Zhang San and asked, “Do you know Yaya’s real name?”

Zhang San shook his head, looking confused. “No, she only told me her name is Yaya.” Satisfied, Zixuan nodded and strode out without another word.