Chapter 564: Interrogation, playing wicked (2/2)

After the terms were set, both of them looked towards Chu Tianyin, who only felt fear. They’re simply humiliating me! Especially that Tang Li. How much silver could he owe Long Feiye? Is a young master of the Chu Clan like me only worth a bit of silver?!

I won’t answer no matter what they ask, even if I die!

Suddenly, he felt hidden weapons flying in his direction. Because he was bound fast, he couldn’t dodge them at all. Soon enough, pain blossomed from his mouth, as if something had stabbed inside. Naturally, it was Tang Li’s assassination weapons. He wasn’t sure what weapon it was, but he knew it had hit his lips.

Ripples of pain soon followed the first wave, revealing thin lines connected to the buried weapons. Chu Tianyin finally realized that Tang Li’s weapons were connected to strings held in his hands. As long as Tang Li moved his strings, Chu Tianyin would feel pain.

Damn it. Of all the places to pick, he had to target my lips. The weapons were buried so deep and so painfully in his mouth that he couldn’t stop drooling. But he let Tang Li do as he wished while he grit his teeth against the agony! No matter what he asks me, I won’t answer. If he wants to tug, he can tug as much as he likes.

But despite all his waiting, Tang Li didn’t ask him a single thing. All he did was pull harder on the strings. Chu Tianyin began to feel that something was off, but he couldn’t tell what. While he was puzzling it out, his nose suddenly blocked up—stuffy like a cold. Chu Tianyin felt even more off as he realized Han Yunxi had used her poisons.

She couldn’t have just blocked up my nose. There must be something else lying in wait. Obviously, blocking his breathing was to force him to open his mouth. Is she going to feed me poison then?

Chu Tianyin tried to use the tortoise breathing technique, but Han Yunxi’s poisons made it completely ineffective. Breathing was an involuntary instinct, so Chu Tianyin quickly opened his mouth. Even if Han Yunxi’s going to feed me poison, so what? He had steeled his heart not to tell them anything.

But as soon as his mouth opened, Tang Li relaxed his strings and stared incredulously at Han Yunxi. She returned his look with a very pretty smile. “I won!”

“You…what do you mean, you won?!” Tang Li wouldn’t accept it.

“I made him open his mouth to breath. Doesn’t that count as prying his mouth open?” Han Yunxi asked earnestly.

Chu Tianyin almost collapsed at her words. That’s what they mean by ‘prying my mouth open?’ I was an idiot to expect any questions from them!

“You…” Tang Li wanted to cry, but he had no tears.

He and Han Yunxi had bet on who’d pry Chu Tianyin’s mouth open first, but there were two meanings to the phrase. One was simply making him open his mouth, while the other meant making him answer their questions. He had even schemed a bit to trick Han Yunxi by prying Chu Tianyin’s mouth open with weapons so he could ‘win’ on a technicality, then let her slowly interrogate the man. Who knew that Han Yunxi would stay calm and open Chu Tianyin’s mouth herself instead.

“Hey, if you agree to bet you have to agree to lose. Long Feiye can be the witness, you’re going to be my slave for a year!”

The word ‘slave’ made Tang Li’s heart jolt. He silently vowed never to bet with Han Yunxi again, but—this time, he had to bet to the end!

“A year is a year! Let’s have another bet!” Tang Li said arrogantly.

“What are we betting this time?” Han Yunxi didn’t refuse the offer.

“Who can make him bow his head first!” Tang Li said.

Chu Tianyin was infuriated. These two aren’t interrogating me at all! They’re just playing around! He glared at them both and cried, “Enough already!”

But neither Han Yunxi nor Tang Li paid him any attention. Han Yunxi even asked cheerfully, “What are the stakes this time?”

“If this young master loses, add another year to my service. If you lose, we’ll cancel the year I just earned,” Tang Li was going to risk it all.

“Alright, let’s start!” Han Yunxi made her move as soon as she spoke, shooting poisoned needles at Chu Tianyin’s neck. Unwilling to be outdone, Tang Li charged forwards as well.

Who needs weapons to make Chu Tianyin lower his head? I’ll just use my hands! In any case, there was no way for Chu Tianyin to resist now right when he was nothing more than a limp fish on the chopping board. They could do as they liked.

Han Yunxi’s poison caused Chu Tianyin to lose all strength in his neck, but he resisted with all his might. Being used as a plaything by these too was humiliating enough. If he really bowed his head to them, his dignity might as well be eaten by dogs. But as soon as Tang Li reached him, it was to grab his head from the back and forced it down. Chu Tianyin’s neck had lost all strength to begin it, so his head soon drooped from the added force.

“I won!” Tang Li rejoiced.

“That doesn’t count! You only won because I used poison first!” Han Yunxi denied him.

“Who even knew if you used poison?” Tang Li’s hands were still pressed against Chu Tianyin’s head as he retorted.

Han Yunxi hand slapped against Chu Tianyin’s head as she shoved it down as well. “You know very well that I did!”

Soon, the two had devolved into a shouting match. Long Feiye watched on in amusement while Chu Tianyin seethed with rage and shame, his head still bowed. His face was completely red and his eyes bloodshot as if they were going to pop out of his sockets. Whatever rationality and calm he had flew to the back of his head as he roared. “Enough already!”

“Han Yunxi, hurry up and treat this young master’s poison!”

“Tang Li, let go! I’m warning you right now, do you hear me?!”

Unfortunately, neither Han Yunxi nor Tang Li heard him in the midst of their heated arguments.

“At worst, we just won’t count this time and bet another round,” Tang Li finally relented.

“What are we betting on next?” Han Yunxi asked.

Before Tang Li could reply, Chu Tianyin caved in with a scream. “This young master will answer all your questions! I’ll tell you whatever you what to know, alright?!”

1. Emperor Kangcheng (康成皇帝) – Kang means “healthy, peaceful, abundant,” Cheng means “accomplish, succeed, become.” Huangdi is emperor. As reader sithkazar pointed out, Western Zhou’s emperor was already referred to as “Chongrui” in Chapter 297. I’ve looked into future chapters of PGC and see that he’s never referred to as ‘Chongrui’ again, so I’ll be assuming that was simply referring to a one-off fluke or his personal name (like the situation with the Kangxi Emperor vs. Xuanye).