In the hotel hallway, the moment the door to the adjacent room opened, Stelle unleashed a single kick right into it.
The door, slamming inward with violent force, caught the Xianzhou woman completely off guard. The frame collided with her head, emitting a crisp Bang~!
The Xianzhou woman staggered back with a cry of pain, dizziness following immediately as expected.
"You have violated the unforgivable Crime of Greed and Plunder under the Galactic Justice Law! I, the Galaxy Batwoman, hereby declare you stripped of all rights! You are to be sealed and apprehended. Surrender peacefully!"
The sudden situation and the baffling proclamation left the middle-aged Outworlder man in a momentary daze, but the Xianzhou woman reacted quickly.
"Damn it! It's the Ten-Lords' hyenas!"
The Xianzhou woman's face, already twisted with a menopause-like gloom, instantly became hideous. Her body underwent a grotesque mutation; plant branches sprouted from various parts of her form, rapidly spreading and intertwining, transforming her into a Mara-struck monstrosity in the blink of an eye.
Seeing this, the Outworlder man also snapped to his senses. He had spent his life's savings and abandoned his wife and child to come to the Xianzhou. Having finally obtained the elixir of immortality, he naturally wouldn't retreat now.
Steeling his heart, the middle-aged man quickly opened the wooden box in his hands. With hands trembling from panic, he grabbed the porcelain bottle, intending to uncork it and swallow the pill inside.
"Hey now, words can be spoken randomly, but medicine cannot be eaten randomly!"
Just as the man's hand gripped the cork, accompanied by a faint humming sound, a yo-yo traced a graceful arc through the air, its string wrapping around the bottle's slender neck.
Caelus's wrist flipped abruptly. He raised his arm and yanked back, causing the string to contract in an instant. As the string went slack and unraveled, the porcelain bottle fell under the force of gravity, only to be calmly caught by Caelus's other hand.
"No! Give the elixir back to me!"
The middle-aged man roared madly, charging at Caelus in a desperate attempt to grab the porcelain bottle.
"Here, have it back."
Caelus threw the object in his hand—but it wasn't the porcelain bottle; it was the yo-yo.
Bang~!
With a crisp sound, the middle-aged man, being just an ordinary human, was knocked out cold by the ball.
Seeing this, the woman, now fully transformed into a Mara-struck form, grew even more anxious. Her arm-blades, formed of condensed bone and branches, slashed towards Stelle's throat.
"Old people have no martial ethics! Coming to trick, coming to ambush me, a baby less than a year old... Is this good? No, this is not good!"
Gripping the baseball bat in her right hand and holding it vertically to block the arm-blade, Stelle couldn't help but shake her head, lamenting the decline of public morals.
"Eat my Star Ace!"
Before the Mara-struck woman could launch a second attack, Stelle swung the bat in a full circle, engaging her core, and hammered it ruthlessly into the woman's face!
The immense force sent her flying backward, reeling in the exact direction of Caelus.
"A-da!"
Caelus raised his leg and delivered a kick. As it connected with the Mara-struck woman, it almost generated the electric visual effects of Conan kicking a soccer ball.
Unarmed attack multiplied by 60, kid!
The Mara-struck woman flew back at an even greater speed. Of course, Caelus had controlled his strength. Otherwise, with a kick truly multiplied by sixty, this hotel's wall would definitely be done for.
"The beautiful girl detective—this young lady—hasn't even made her move, and it's already resolved?"
March 7th walked over, scratching her head in frustration. She had wanted to show off her skills.
Forget it, let's just take pictures.
She took out the blue camera that never left her side and started snapping away ka-cha ka-cha at the scene of Stelle and Caelus playing 'Mara-struck Ball'. One used a baseball bat to hammer, the other used his feet to kick.
"Stop! Stop it! Stop!"
The Mara-struck indeed possessed self-healing abilities far beyond human imagination, but their sense of pain had not disappeared.
In the intense back-and-forth beatdown, green blood spurted from the Mara-struck woman's eyes, mouth, nose, and ears.
"I still prefer the unruly look you had just now."
Stelle and Caelus stood on either side, each stepping on one of the Mara-struck woman's shoulder blades.
She had been forcibly beaten out of her Mara-struck state, though residual plant branches and vines still clung to her, making her look grotesque and sinister.
"Done! March, call the Realm-Keeping Commission to come wash the floor!"
Stelle shouldered her bat dashingly and waved to March 7th.
"Huh? Wash the floor?"
Qingque walked over, her expression subtle.
"She means 'close the net'."
Caelus provided a translation from Chinese to Chinese for the Little Sparrow.
"Speaking of which, Qingque, you're an official from the Divination Commission. Do you know much about the organization known as the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus?"
In terms of combat power, this Mara-struck woman was about the same as the Mara-struck Caelus had encountered in the past, but her advantage lay in maintaining a relatively clear self-consciousness while in that state. This was obviously a peculiarity of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus members.
"I'm just a lowly diviner, the lowest level of civil servant."
Qingque glanced around the room where the transaction had taken place. She didn't find anything else suspicious, though her expression was slightly odd.
Qingque toyed with a Celestial Jade tile in her hand, tossing it up and catching it. She hadn't expected to find Celestial Jade tiles and a tile scale in a love hotel room!
Is there an erotic gameplay mode for Celestial Jade?
Qingque was puzzled.
"However, I do know a little bit," Qingque whispered, lowering her voice slightly.
"It's an organization that relies on swindling and abduction to recruit members. They are all lunatics following the footsteps of the Plagues Author."
"The Cloud Knights have broken up branch strongholds of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus before, rescuing many Outworlders who came to the Xianzhou seeking immortality, preventing them from falling into the tragic end of becoming Mara-struck."
"As for that one, there really was no helping him."
Qingque pointed to the unconscious middle-aged man.
Actually, if Qingque wanted to, she could access more information. But Little Qingque had plenty of self-awareness. As a diviner, she would at most look at information within a diviner's clearance. Without a leader's request, she wouldn't look at a single byte extra.
The three secrets of the God of Sparrows' work: Don't volunteer, don't refuse, don't be responsible.
March 7th took out her phone to contact the Realm-Keeping Commission deacon to hand over the quest items, while Little Duck messaged Seele, who was ambushing the back door, calling her over.
"It seems if we want to know more about the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, we'll have to pry it out of her."
Caelus narrowed his eyes sharply, looking into that pair of identical golden eyes.
Stelle paused for a moment, then realization dawned in her eyes two seconds later. she narrowed her eyes as well.
The two gray-haired trash pandas locked eyes, breaking into simultaneous, villainous jie-jie-jie laughter.
"Before the Realm-Keeping Commission deacon comes to pick them up, let's interrogate her first."
Stelle and Caelus each grabbed one of the Xianzhou woman's arms and dragged her to the depths of the room.
"Interrogation?"
Qingque blinked. Stelle, March 7th, and Miss Bronya all had temporary IDs and interrogation rights. However, she didn't think they could easily obtain useful intelligence. Otherwise, the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus wouldn't have been able to hide on the Xianzhou until now.
"Give up. I won't say a thing."
Even with the organization's secret medicine, having been beaten out of her Mara-struck state had left the Xianzhou woman mentally confused. Only now did she barely recover a shred of clarity.
Caelus approached the Xianzhou woman, whose hands and feet were bound. He slowly squatted down and spoke in a tone heavily flavored with the essence of an Imperial Japanese Colonel:
"There is an old saying in Japan... er, there is an old saying on the Xianzhou: Those who understand the times are... Wei Junjie."
As he spoke, Caelus put on a pair of ultra-thin transparent gloves made of special materials found in the room's cabinet. He plugged in the erotic version of a branding iron and blew on it.
"Wei Junjie?"
The Xianzhou woman was confused. What was this follower of the Reignbow Arbiter babbling about?
Due to the existence of Synesthesia Beacons, she could understand some of it, but she couldn't understand the accent.
After rummaging through his ring's spatial storage for a long time, Stelle finally dug out a small item from Asta's gift package: a black fake mustache. She bit off a small piece and stuck it under her cute nose.
She bit off another piece and stuck it under Caelus's nose. Then, hugging various erotic toys found in the room, she squatted on the other side of the Xianzhou woman.
Stelle's expression was calm and composed. Adopting a tone that sounded like she had swallowed eight Imperial Officers in one breath, she continued:
"Hmph hmph. Surely... the various torture devices before your eyes will be enough to pry open your Excellency's mouth."
Stelle smiled faintly. Amidst the Xianzhou woman's stunned, even horrified expression, she began to showcase the toys in her hands one by one.
"I hope you will cooperate with us properly. We won't treat you unfairly. Otherwise... hehe..."
Caelus pressed the branding iron, which was roughly 35 degrees Celsius, against the Xianzhou woman's chest.
"Now then, Miss. Please tell us: Ba— Pah! Where are the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus?"
The branding iron on her chest wasn't just gradually increasing in temperature; rather than pain, it brought more comfort. But physical comfort could not dispel her mental terror.
The two gray-haired figures with fake mustaches stuck between their noses and mouths, the bizarre, insane aura surrounding them—it all made the Xianzhou woman uncontrollably terrified, breaking out in a cold sweat.
These two guys!
They are definitely not normal people!
March 7th, who had just finished cosplaying Maori Ran and calling the police, returned. Seeing this scene, she was completely dumbfounded.
"Hey! What are you two doing?!"
"Don't!"
Qingque saw this scene and also nearly fainted, her vision going black.
Novels often described the Ten-Lords Commission's interrogation methods as super scary. Although Qingque didn't know exactly what special methods they were, she was certain they didn't include this kind of method!
As for the Realm-Keeping Commission... as a fellow Xianzhou civil servant, she felt it necessary to stand up and stop these two from ruining the image and face of the Xianzhou's Six Commissions.
Only Bronya remained relatively calm. After all, she was the Silver Wolf of the Urals. She knew the cruelty of the dark world and was familiar with the torture methods of the assassination world. Sometimes, being caught by the enemy was worse than suicide.
Suddenly thinking of something, Bronya frowned slightly and turned to leave the room.
No, I can't let Seele see this kind of interrogation scene. It will corrupt her!
"Stelle, stop it! Where did you get those things?"
March 7th grabbed Stelle from behind, her eyes darting away as they swept over those toys, her pretty face flushing red.
"Old Caelus, calm down! Calm down a bit! Torture is not advisable. We have to focus on moving them with emotion and reasoning with logic!"
Qingque grabbed Caelus's arm to prevent the situation from truly evolving into an R-200 scenario.
"Alright, alright. I'll change my method of inquiry."
Caelus tapped the Xianzhou woman's face with the 40-degree branding iron. "Still not talking? Thank you, Sister Que."
"That's really not necessary."
Qingque laughed dryly.
Caelus placed his palm on the Xianzhou woman's forehead.
"You..."
The Xianzhou woman was just preparing to shout abuse or say something, but suddenly, she saw crimson feathers drifting down from the void.
In the next second, her pupils dimmed. Her originally angry expression turned peaceful. Her head drooped low, and she collapsed to the ground as if she had lost all strength.
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