Xuanyuan Zhaoxi was being held in a cell in the ship’s hold. Just as Situ Haonan was about to open the door, Jun Beiyue suddenly kicked it from behind him—”Crash!”—and the entire door, rather than simply swinging open, shattered into pieces on the spot!

Situ Haonan froze in place, watching Jun Beiyue walk past him, an involuntary chill running down his spine…

“Jun Beiyue…” Situ Haonan couldn’t help but speak up—not to reason with him, just a single utterance of his full name, “Jun Beiyue,” carrying more weight than any argument could have.

But Jun Beiyue didn’t slow his pace at all, didn’t respond, each step landing with tremendous force, until he stopped directly before the still-unconscious Xuanyuan Zhaoxi!

In truth, the moment he’d made the reckless decision to deploy the Jiao forces without regard for the consequences, he had already made it clear to everyone: whoever dared touch his wife would face his retaliation, regardless of cost, regardless of consequence!

“Yingzi, water,” Jun Beiyue said coldly.

Yingzi glanced at Situ Haonan, shrugged, and quickly brought forward a bucket of cold water!

Was he going to pour it over her head to wake her?

No—Jun Beiyue, taking matters into his own hands, would never resort to something so mundane.

Showing not the slightest mercy, he seized Xuanyuan Zhaoxi by the hair and forced her head straight down into the water!

Either she would suffocate, or the shock of drowning would jolt her awake!

Within moments, Xuanyuan Zhaoxi began choking, thrashing violently with both hands and feet.

Yet Jun Beiyue didn’t release her, demanding coldly, “Who exactly are Yanzi and the black-clad man—will you talk, or not!”

Only after asking did he yank Xuanyuan Zhaoxi’s head up by the hair!

Xuanyuan Zhaoxi could only cough, her face deathly pale, tears and water mixing together until they were indistinguishable.

“Won’t talk, is that it?” Jun Beiyue said coldly, about to force her head back down. Xuanyuan Zhaoxi, too panicked to even finish coughing, waved her hands frantically. “I… cough… I don’t know… I really don’t know!”

Jun Beiyue’s lips twisted into a cruel smirk, and with a sudden surge of force, he violently slammed Xuanyuan Zhaoxi’s head down into the bucket—the impact so hard that a resounding “crack” rang out, though whether it was her head striking the bucket or the floor, no one could say.

Soon, the once-clear water began welling up with streaks of blood.

Yingzi and Situ Haonan watched from the side, neither daring to utter a single word.

Xuanyuan Zhaoxi, who had originally been trying to claw at Jun Beiyue, instead found her hands braced against the rim of the bucket—and in her thrashing, she managed to shatter the bucket entirely.

Water gushed out at once, and only then could her labored, heaving coughs and gasps for breath be heard.

Her head rested against the floor, blood trickling steadily from her hair. Too weak to struggle any further, she simply collapsed, sprawled flat.

Jun Beiyue, still gripping her hair, slowly crouched down, a cruel, malicious curve twisting his pale lips. In this moment, he looked exactly like some pitiless demon, the kind no one would dare approach.

“No more water…” His voice, half-laughing, half-furious, was so chillingly dark it sent shivers down anyone’s spine.

Xuanyuan Zhaoxi gasped for breath in great heaving gulps. “Jun… Jun Beiyue… you madman! Madman! Let me tell you, you’re finished… how dare you use Jiao warriors… Nanzhao will very soon… very soon…”

A warning?

Whatever Jun Beiyue dared to do, he dared to answer for!

Before she could even finish speaking, Jun Beiyue yanked her up by the hair and rose abruptly to his feet!

“Ahh…”

Xuanyuan Zhaoxi screamed in agony, a great fistful of her hair caught in his grip, impossible to tear free. Her already bleeding, injured scalp now felt as though the entire skin of her head were about to be ripped clean off, the pain sending gooseflesh rippling across her entire body.

Ignoring her screams entirely, Jun Beiyue dragged her along by the hair, striding forward.

They soon reached the very lowest deck of the ship. Without another question, without any further discussion, he shoved Xuanyuan Zhaoxi directly into the seawater to drink.

On the razor’s edge between life and death, no matter how much pain, how much exhaustion Xuanyuan Zhaoxi felt, she fought back with everything she had—but no matter how desperately she struggled to survive, how could her strength possibly match Jun Beiyue’s grip, especially now, with him teetering on the very edge of madness?

At last, just as Xuanyuan Zhaoxi was on the verge of drowning, Jun Beiyue yanked her back up, suspending her just above the water’s surface, her chin still submerged.

“Still won’t talk…?”

Before he’d even finished the question, Xuanyuan Zhaoxi could bear it no longer, gasping for air even as she burst into tears. “I’ll talk… I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything… I’ll tell you!”

“Who exactly are Yanzi and that black-clad man? Where is Xuanyuan Lige? Where are they now! What exactly do you people want with Ziqing!”

Jun Beiyue had far, far too many unanswered questions—questions he couldn’t make sense of, questions he didn’t even dare think too deeply about!

Yet Xuanyuan Zhaoxi’s very first response was, of all things, “I don’t know!”

The moment the words left her mouth, she startled even herself, hastily correcting course. “I don’t know where they went. They handed Han Ziqing and Xuanyuan Lige over to me and left—I truly don’t know where they went! Cough, cough… please, please pull me up, I’ll tell you everything!”

“Don’t try bargaining with this prince!”

“I don’t know where Xuanyuan Lige went either, nor where Han Ziqing is now. I went to look for them and ran into those poisonous beasts instead—it must have been my own brother who rescued Han Ziqing. Go ask him!”

Xuanyuan Zhaoxi, of course, had no idea what had actually happened to Xuanyuan Lige down in the ship’s hold—the moment she’d seen the poisonous beasts, she’d fled for her life, and the beasts had gone on to kill everyone else, while she hid among the corpses, too terrified to come out, until Jun Beiyue and Situ Haonan finally broke in.

“Why use corpse poison? What exactly have you people done to Ziqing!” This was, after all, the question that concerned Jun Beiyue most of all!

“To cultivate a Gu!” Xuanyuan Zhaoxi answered hastily. “Yanzi said she’s immune to all poisons, an orphaned survivor of the Lone Island, and they wanted to use her to cultivate a human Gu. Soaking her in corpse toxin is the very first step of that cultivation process—it’s meant to confirm she truly is immune to all poisons…”

Xuanyuan Zhaoxi had no idea just how much fury her own words were stoking in Jun Beiyue. She only knew he’d already gone half-mad with rage, and that if she didn’t answer, she wouldn’t live to see another moment.

Before she could even finish speaking, Jun Beiyue seized her by the throat outright. “The poisonous beasts were meant to cultivate a Gu!”

So that was it!

So this was the truth of it all!

He had only ever known that poisonous beasts could be used to cultivate a beast Gu—he had never once imagined that these same poisonous creatures could be used to cultivate a human Gu as well. They meant to turn Ziqing herself into a Gu!

That vicious Yanzi—how utterly, thoroughly wicked she was! Did she truly think so little of the woman who belonged to Jun Beiyue!

“Where is Yanzi? Who is she? And who is that black-clad man!” Jun Beiyue demanded coldly.

“Yanzi is the guardian of Mingsha Mountain—Mingsha Mountain is also a relic of the Lone Island. That black-clad man is…” Xuanyuan Zhaoxi trailed off suddenly, then switched to pleading instead. “Prince Yao, I beg you, please let me go, please don’t hurt me, and I’ll tell you everything, please, I’m begging you, I know I was wrong, it was all Yanzi’s doing, all of this was her scheme—I only agreed to send Han Ziqing to Yaoshun Island because I had no other choice, even my own brother is under her control…”

“You have no right to bargain with this prince—will you speak or not!” Jun Beiyue roared furiously, flinging Xuanyuan Zhaoxi aside violently. She slammed into the ship’s railing and crashed down onto the deck.

She had a distinct feeling that the man before her was nothing short of a demon incarnate—that even if she told him everything, he still wouldn’t spare her.

She didn’t want to die!

Even as a hostage, even in that role, she still didn’t want to die!

She forced herself to crawl forward, clutching desperately at Jun Beiyue’s leg, begging pitifully. “I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything, I can even help you uncover the secret of Yaoshun Island. Yanzi sent me to Yaoshun Island specifically to find Lishang’s secret—my brother knows the entire secret of Lishang, he told me himself that Lishang is still missing two notes! The secret lies on Yaoshun Island! Jun Beiyue, I’m begging you, please don’t kill me, I’ll tell you everything, just promise me, please!”

Jun Beiyue walked over, a flicker of malice crossing his eyes, and planted his foot directly on Xuanyuan Zhaoxi’s head. “Since you don’t want to talk, then don’t bother…”

“I’ll talk!” Xuanyuan Zhaoxi cried out at once in alarm. “I’ll talk! I’ll talk! That black-clad man is…”