The man jolted awake, sputtering as ice-cold water drenched his face. His eyes snapped open, only to find darkness pressing against him. His breath hitched — he couldn't move. His arms were stretched above his head, nailed to the bark of a tree. Thick ropes bound his torso and legs, and a heavy stone pinned his stomach, crushing him against the trunk. Pain shot through his body when he shifted, reminding him of his broken hand.
"What kind of paranoid bastard did I run into...?" he thought, cursing his luck. Regret gnawed at him. If he knew things would turn out like this, he would've run the moment he sensed someone tailing him.
A cold voice drifted through the darkness. "Awake, huh?"
The man flinched. His gaze darted toward the source of the voice, and what he saw made his blood run cold. Emerging from the shadows was a figure clad in bone-white armor. The armor was cold and unfeeling, devoid of decoration, yet it carried the weight of countless deaths. The moonlight glimmered off the jagged edges of the bone gauntlets, the clawed fingers curling slightly, as if hungering for flesh. The darkness behind the visor was endless — no rage, no satisfaction. Just emptiness. It wasn't armor; it was a weapon shaped like a man.
Lin Shu crouched in front of him, eyes cold. "Let's make this simple," he began, voice low and sharp. "I'm going to torture you in the most painful ways imaginable."
The man's breath caught in his throat. "Y-you're bluffing."
Lin Shu tilted his head, bone claws tapping lightly against the stone on the man's stomach, each tap echoing like a distant war drum. "Am I?" He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I've done it before. Some scream. Some beg. Some think they're strong enough to endure. But in the end…" His gauntlet traced the man's broken hand, fingers curling slowly around it. The man shuddered, sweat pouring down his face.
He's lying… right? But when the claws squeezed just slightly, the pain made him bite his tongue to keep from screaming. His body trembled. Whether Lin Shu had done this before or not didn't matter — he believed he had. And that belief was enough.
"Now…" Lin Shu straightened, his tone almost casual. "I'll give you a choice. You tell me where your hideout is. Any skills you've hidden. Any allies. Everything about your plan." His voice darkened. "Or we can take our time."
The man swallowed hard. "You— You'd let me go?"
Lin Shu smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "We'll swear an oath. I promise to let you live if you give me what I want. Simple, isn't it?" He tilted his head, watching the man squirm. "Unless you want to test your pain tolerance instead."
The demonic cultivator's heart pounded. His body ached, his hand throbbed, and the weight of the stone made breathing difficult. The armor-clad figure before him felt less like a human and more like a beast, crouched and ready to tear him apart the moment he gave the wrong answer.
"I…" The man's throat bobbed. "Shit, shit, shit."
Lin Shu waited, silent and patient. The claws tapped against the stone once more, each tap a countdown.
The man's resolve cracked. "I'll talk! I'll talk!" he gasped, sweat streaming down his face. "Just… Just don't kill me."
Lin Shu's grin widened beneath his mask. "Good."
The pact was sealed. Neither could kill the other, nor speak of this encounter. They couldn't track each other, send others after one another, or break their agreement. The demonic cultivator had no choice but to answer every question Lin Shu asked — fully, truthfully, and without omission. If he tried otherwise, the pact would tear him apart.
Lin Shu stood in silence, his bone-clad figure looming over the man. The captured cultivator's breath was ragged, his body trembling from pain and fear. He knew there was no escape now. Swallowing hard, he began to speak.
"We… We had a hideout, but it was only where we stayed before coming here. I'm not part of any organization. We were just hired to attack this village by someone."
Lin Shu's eyes narrowed. "You didn't sign an oath to keep this secret?"
The man shook his head weakly. "Of course not. If things went south, we'd all spill everything to save our own skins. Even the one who hired us would do the same." He paused, grimacing. "But we did make an oath on one thing — not to reveal each other's identities. I can't break that, but I can tell you how many of us there are."
Lin Shu stared at him, silent. The armor's cold, unyielding presence felt suffocating. Finally, he spoke. "How many?"
"Five," the man answered quickly. "There are five of us here. The ones who hired us aren't in the village. They had some other mission — I don't know the details."
Lin Shu processed the information, his expression unreadable. "Where are the other four? What's their cultivation? Their skills?"
"All mid-stage Rank 1, like me. As for skills… most are sword techniques. Nothing special. Sword arts are easiest to get for rogue cultivators like us."
Lin Shu's eyes narrowed. "Three of you outside the village. Two inside. Is that right?"
The man nodded hastily. "Yes, three of us — two men and one woman — were sent to encircle the village, while the other two infiltrated it."
Lin Shu scoffed. "Traitors. Let me guess — they're the ones who told you about the beast wave."
But the man's response made Lin Shu's expression darken. "No," the man said quietly. "The one who hired us told us about the wave. He somehow knew. He told the two traitors as well, but they weren't the source. All I know is that they agreed to the plan because they have a grudge against the village leader."
Lin Shu's eyes narrowed further. "The village leader... So the news about the beast wave was hidden from most of the village."
"That's what I was told," the man said, shaking his head. "I don't know if it's true. Maybe the traitors lied, maybe they didn't. But that's all I have."
Lin Shu fell silent, absorbing the information. He could sense no deception — the pact made sure of that. Still, something felt off.
"One last thing," Lin Shu said, his voice cold. "Do you have any cultivation techniques hidden away? Any gold?"
The man hesitated. Lin Shu's bone claws scraped lightly against the stone on his stomach, the faint sound making his skin crawl. He clenched his jaw and finally spoke.
"I don't have any battle skills. The ones I know came from an institute I used to be part of. I swore an oath never to pass them on. As for gold…" His face twisted in frustration. "I used everything I had to buy that sword for this mission. I've got nothing left."
Lin Shu stared at him for a long moment, the weight of his gaze heavier than the stone pressing on the man's stomach. The pact made lying impossible. This wretch truly had nothing left.
Lin Shu stepped back, eyes cold and calculating. The man's fate now rested in his hands.
The man thrashed against his bindings, his broken hand sending waves of pain through his body. "Alright! Alright, you got what you wanted! Now untie me! Let me go, and we'll never meet again!" he screamed, his voice raw with desperation.
Lin Shu tilted his head, his bone-clad figure looming over the helpless man. Beneath his armor, a cold smile curled on his lips. "Let you go?" His voice was soft, almost amused. "We made a pact — I won't kill you, hunt you down, or send anyone after you. But…" He crouched down, his armored fingers tapping against the stone weighing down the man's stomach. Clink. Clink. Clink. "Did I ever say I'd untie you?"
The man's breath caught in his throat. "W-what…?"
Lin Shu's voice dropped to a whisper, sharp and cutting. "Did I promise to remove the nails pinning your hands to the tree? To lift this rock from your gut?" He leaned closer, his cold gaze boring into the man's wide, terrified eyes. "You're not a body refiner. Without pills, you won't heal. And your Qi… It's gone, isn't it? Even if you had a battle skill that could save you, you would've used it already. So tell me…" His tone turned almost mocking. "What hope do you have?"
The man's body trembled violently, cold sweat pouring down his face. "No… No, no, no…" His mind raced, panic choking him as the situation truly sank in. He'd been so focused on surviving the interrogation, on not getting killed, that he never considered this. "How did I forget?!" His thoughts spiraled. "I made sure to cover everything! I forced him into a pact — he can't kill me, but… but…"
His eyes darted wildly, searching for anything, anyone, that could help him. There was nothing but darkness. He tugged at the ropes, felt the sharp sting from the nails piercing his palms. Each breath was shallow, ragged. "I'm trapped. I can't move. I can't fight. Bloodbeasts… Bloodbeasts will come. They'll smell the blood. Or worse…" His breath hitched. "What if he has allies? He doesn't need to tell them. He can just leave. Let them find me. Let them tear me apart."
His vision blurred with tears, the weight of the stone crushing his stomach, his body weak and broken. "Why? Why did I meet this demon?" His gaze snapped to Lin Shu, who stood silently before him — cold, distant, unmoved. The bone armor gleamed faintly in the moonlight, its jagged edges stained with blood. Everything about him radiated death. "Why did I cross him?"
"Please…" the man whispered. "Don't leave me like this. Have mercy."
Lin Shu said nothing. He merely turned, his white armor vanishing into the shadows. The man was left alone, his screams echoing into the night.