Otherworldly Affairs Office-Chapter 688 Interest (Seeking Subscriptions)

Pei Yan had just finished speaking when he suddenly heard a disturbance behind him. Turning to look, he saw Li Songtao struggling to pull a pill out of his Hundred Treasures Pouch, intending to swallow it. At first, Pei Yan didn't pay much attention to it; even if Li Songtao took some miraculous elixir, he wouldn't be able to escape from Pei Yan's grasp. However, at this moment, Elder Lin urgently warned, "Watch out, he's trying to commit suicide!"

Upon hearing this, Pei Yan was startled. He saw Li Songtao immediately toss the pill into his mouth after hearing Elder Lin's words. Pei Yan was alarmed and quickly kicked at Li Songtao's mouth, sending the pill, along with his shattered teeth, flying out before it could be swallowed. Ignoring the pain, Li Songtao scrambled like a mad dog to retrieve the pill that had rolled into the puddle, but Pei Yan stepped forward and pinned Li Songtao's wrist under his foot, sneering, "You want to die? It's not that easy. Do you feel even a fraction of the despair I once experienced?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

At this moment, Elder Lin arrived at Pei Yan's side. Seeing that Pei Yan had Li Songtao subdued, Elder Lin breathed a sigh of relief, bent down, and placed his hand on Li Songtao's body. After a moment, he looked at Pei Yan and said, "He's seriously injured. Your earlier actions interrupted his qi-gathering process forcefully, causing some backlash to his meridians. Additionally, the side effects of his spellcasting and his internal and external injuries make his situation quite dire."

"Can he survive?" Pei Yan urgently asked upon hearing this.

"He can, but he'll need meticulous care for a while. Going straight to torture could be too much for him; he might die from the injuries." Knowing Pei Yan wanted to extract some information from Li Songtao, Elder Lin hesitated and then answered.

"That's good. As long as he survives, I have my ways to make him talk." With that, Pei Yan crouched down and pulled out a binding ring, preparing to place it on Li Songtao's hand. At this moment, seeing that he couldn't live and couldn't die, Li Songtao opened his mouth wide and spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto Pei Yan's face shield, hoping to anger him into killing him.

However, this action didn't seem to have any effect. Pei Yan continued with his task methodically. Li Songtao, seeing this, breathed heavily and said with resignation, "I've fallen into your hands and know I won't have a good end. Before I die, can you tell me what you did to interrupt my spellcasting just now?"

"You've seen it before," Pei Yan replied.

"I've seen it?" Li Songtao asked in confusion.

"When you released those Devouring Demons to attack me and my comrades, it was the first ability I exhibited."

Listening to Pei Yan's explanation, Li Songtao was still baffled. Just then, the voice of Shitang Longsi was heard from above, saying, "It was the Nanomechanical Insect. While sparring with you, he continuously sent these mechanical insects into your dimension, quietly entering your body. At the critical moment of your energy circulation, they attacked, which exposed your position and led to your downfall."

Seeing his method exposed, Pei Yan was not angry. He looked up at Shitang Longsi on the roof and chuckled. Then, he grabbed the already subdued Li Songtao with one hand and handed him to Elder Lin, saying, "Elder Lin, keep a close watch on him. There are many secrets I want to learn from him, and no outsiders must contact him."

"Understood." Elder Lin, supporting Li Songtao's arm, responded and was about to walk out when he heard Li Songtao mutter to himself, "I hate it. I hate my incompetence that led to being defeated by a junior like you. Hehehe, but this time I saw in your traveling team, the freak that can turn into a giant ape, didn't I? Oh yes, I heard he died, killed by Vlad. Did you know? Just a moment ago, I was so close to..."

Feeling Pei Yan's rising anger, Li Songtao became more excited, not waiting for him to finish speaking. Pei Yan stepped forward, squeezing his jaw tightly and snarling, "You can't wait for me to kill you, can you? The more you act like this, the more it shows that you have secrets you don't want me to know. I will not kill you. Not only will I not kill you, but I will also heal you and slowly extract everything I want to know from you. Don't worry, just because you think you can withstand the interrogation from the Investigation Office and Immortal Palace doesn't mean you can get past me. I will let you truly experience what it means to be unable to live or die!" With a sinister smile, Pei Yan continued, "But before that, I can collect some interest first."

Finishing these words, Pei Yan released his grip on Li Songtao's jaw. Li Songtao, not understanding what Pei Yan's last sentence meant, suddenly saw Pei Yan's left hand form a crane's claw and dart swiftly towards his own left eye like lightning.

"Ah!" Li Songtao's incessant chatter turned into a shrill scream as he clutched his left eye and writhed in agony on the ground. Pei Yan casually flung the plucked eyeball aside, bent down to wash the blood from his hands in the puddle, and then nodded towards Elder Lin.

Without speaking much, Elder Lin placed a palm on Li Songtao's back. As surging energy flowed in, Li Songtao's screams gradually subsided until he fainted. Seeing this, Elder Lin signaled to the crowd, prompting Jiang Feiyang and Wang Wenze to rush forward, lifting Li Songtao from either side and carrying him out.

Having dealt with Li Songtao, Pei Yan took a moment to glance up at the two on the rooftop and laughed, "Aren't you allies? How come, seeing him end up like this, you don't offer any help?"

"If it were someone else, we might have, but him, hehehe!" Shitang Longsi coldly laughed and said, "He brought this upon himself. Even if we helped, we wouldn't receive any thanks, only disdain. If you could kill him, I'd even thank you. As thanks for getting rid of this troublesome fellow for me, here's a friendly warning: you've stirred up quite a bit of trouble!"

"Oh? What trouble?" Pei Yan replied with interest, tilting his head and smiling.

"Li Songtao and that Little Vlad are similar. They may not have much ability on their own, but their elders are remarkable figures. Li Songtao's uncle is notorious even within the Underworld's Eighteen Courts, comparable to Vlad I. Their lineage left only the uncle and nephew duo. With such deep bonds, you leaving his nephew in this state will surely provoke his revenge."

Pei Yan shrugged upon hearing this and replied helplessly, "Then I really should thank you, but it's no big deal. When lice are numerous, they don't itch; when debts are many, they're not worrisome. Having many enemies is inconsequential; after all, how can one traverse the martial world without a few enemies? Just like us casually chatting here now, aren't we?"

"Hehe, I'm not in the mood for casual chat with you. If you really think we have such camaraderie, why not let me leave?" Shitang Longsi responded with a bitter laugh, his hand on his sword hilt.

"Oh!" Pei Yan feigned surprise, "You're actually asking me to let you go? That's not like you. Isn't the next scene supposed to be you drawing your sword and battling me for hundreds of rounds?"