Clue: Water

After being brought over, these two puppets continued to struggle incessantly. It was evident that the Three-Corpse Insects truly squeezed out every ounce of a person's potential; the group had been in the city for an hour, yet the two still had the strength to fight.

However, the soldiers guarding them were not made of iron, so they simply bound the pair's legs to find time for a nap.

Thus, these two wretches were carried in and placed on the floor. They hunched over, shivering uncontrollably.

The Talisman Garment worn on the outside ensured that the Three-Corpse Insects remained trapped within the human bodies, unable to escape.

Situ Han asked in surprise, "Are they cold, or are they afraid?"

"Afraid. Do those guys parasitized by Three-Corpse Insects even know what cold is?" He Lingchuan squatted down to examine them closely. "But it isn't us they're afraid of."

The pair's gazes lacked focus, clearly not regarding anyone present as worthy of their attention.

Yet, the vast Coiling Dragon Ruins were completely empty; what could they possibly be afraid of?

Nian Songyu also remarked, "Not to mention people, there aren't even any Three-Corpse Insects in this ruined city. They don't dare to come near at all. Why?"

"There is something here that makes them terrified." Sun Fuping stood up. "Whatever that may be, it should be close to our objective."

He Lingchuan asked curiously, "You want them to tell us themselves? Can Three-Corpse Insects even speak?"

It seemed Sun Fuping had brought these two puppets along with the intention of conducting an experiment.

"Ordinary ones cannot, but I wonder if those produced by the Great Square Pot can offer us a hint." Sun Fuping walked up to the puppets and said, "The Great Square Pot, your nest, must still be in the city. Point out its location, and I will let you go."

The two puppets continued to shiver and remain arrogant, treating him as if he were transparent.

"These two things don't hold you in any regard!" He Lingchuan said angrily. "Give them a taste of your methods to save us some time."

Sun Fuping took a set of golden needles from his robes, applied medicine to each one, and used a spark of true fire ignited at his fingertip to heat them before driving them into the puppets' skulls, heart orifices, and soles of their feet.

The puppets immediately let out loud, mournful wails.

These three spots were where the Three-Corpse Insects resided; Sun Fuping was using medicinal fire to burn them directly where it hurt most. Otherwise, if he had used blades or brute force, he would only have injured the hosts, and the insects wouldn't have cared at all.

They finally looked directly at Sun Fuping, but their gazes were exceptionally vicious, like wolves staring at meat.

To them, humans were nothing more than skin bags.

"I know you can understand human speech." Sun Fuping's voice was calm. "If you don't give me an answer, you will suffer even more."

Then, he took action.

His golden needles were hollow, designed for the continuous injection of medicine.

The group watched as the red flame at the tips of the needles grew brighter, and the puppets' screams rose by three octaves.

Double the dosage, double the agony.

Sun Fuping paused and asked, "Will you speak or not?"

The puppets only continued to shriek.

So, he increased the torture.

This happened time and again.

The further he went, the slower his movements became. The soul-bodies of these enhanced Three-Corpse Insects were far stronger than their ordinary counterparts; otherwise, they would have been poisoned to death by him a quarter-hour ago.

Unless the host severed the connection themselves, if the Three-Corpse Insect died, the host would perish along with it.

Therefore, gauging the limit was becoming increasingly difficult.

Finally, one of the puppets let out a roar, its neck went limp, and it breathed its last.

Was it truly impossible, then? Sun Fuping let out a long sigh.

The Three-Corpse Insects raised by the Great Square Pot should have had something special about them; if they could communicate with humans, this trip to Coiling Dragon City would have been much smoother.

What a pity; it seemed there were no shortcuts to this mission.

In truth, he had only held a faint hope; after all, the allied forces fighting a war of attrition on these plains over a hundred years ago had likely tried every method imaginable to extract intelligence.

He had simply felt that time might have changed many things.

Suddenly, the other tortured Three-Corpse Insect erupted in a frenzy, broke free from its restraints, and grabbed He Lingchuan by the arm!

Caught off guard, everyone was shocked.

He Chunhua rushed forward without a second thought and decapitated the puppet with a single strike.

The wailing came to an abrupt end.

"Are you alright, Chuan'er?" He Chunhua did not loosen his grip on his blade.

He Lingchuan was also startled; he subconsciously pried the dead man's hand off, felt his own heart, and said, "I'm fine."

The creature had gripped him so tightly that its fingers had nearly sunk into his skin.

Fortunately, he circulated his true energy through his body for one cycle and found nothing amiss.

Everyone looked at each other.

Sun Fuping stepped forward, checked his pupils, and asked, "Do you feel irritable, restless, or dizzy?"

"I am clear-headed and feel nothing unusual. It seems it had no effect on me."

Sun Fuping nodded. "The effects of the Soul-Suppressing Powder have not yet fully worn off, which also provides some resistance."

He Lingchuan sighed. "It seems the Three-Corpse Insects here aren't anything special."

Seeing that he was truly unharmed, He Chunhua finally set his mind at ease. "They simply refuse to leave the Coiling Dragon Desert, or rather, they refuse to stray far from the Great Square Pot."

The principle of guarding the Great Square Pot had long been carved into the instincts of the Three-Corpse Insects; they could not betray it even in death. The same loyalty existed within ant colonies and beehives, where individual worker bees and ants labored without complaint, harboring no fear of hardship, their lives of no consequence.

Thus, even though the Three-Corpse Insects feared something within the city and dared not enter, they still lingered on the periphery—the Coiling Dragon Desert—refusing to flee.

He Lingchuan shrugged. If the Three-Corpse Insects could be interrogated like ordinary creatures, the intelligence regarding the Great Square Pot and Coiling Dragon City would have long been uncovered by the allied forces of Baling and Xianyou. The deity behind Coiling Dragon City would never tolerate such a loophole.

"Although Zhu Gen won't say it, in my opinion, the conditions to trigger the Furious Sand Season shouldn't be difficult. The last team he sent out was also for the sake of verification..." Sun Fuping pondered. "Before every Furious Sand Season arrives, isn't the desert always plagued by thunderstorms?"

Zeng Feixiong nodded. "That's right."

Sun Fuping's gaze flickered. "The temple in the city only worships the Mitian Deity?"

"Yes. It is said that the Heavenly Deity Mitian is the sole faith of Coiling Dragon City."

He Chunhua let out an 'oh,' as if he had realized something. "You don't mean...?"

"Write it down, and let us compare."

Sun Fuping and He Chunhua both raised their hands, dipped their fingers in water, and wrote a character on the table.

When everyone looked, the State Preceptor had written the character for "water," while He Chunhua had written the character for "rain."

The literal meanings were much the same.

He Lingchuan stroked his chin and said, "The State Preceptor and Father are brilliant! The rainy season in Qiansong Prefecture comes later than in the interior, usually not arriving until the end of August or early September."

Nian Songyu was puzzled. "If it is caused by rainwater, does it not rain in the desert at other times?" As far as he knew, a lack of water in a desert didn't mean it never rained. "Sometimes, heavy downpours even cause flash floods in the desert."

"It really doesn't rain," He Lingchuan chuckled. "Don't compare other deserts to Coiling Dragon; they aren't worthy."

He Chunhua said, "How could I be as learned as the State Preceptor? However, Vice-Lieutenant Zeng's father is the only living person to have experienced the Furious Sand Season within the Coiling Dragon Desert. After he returned, although his mind was muddled, he would mutter the word 'water' all day long. I believe this is the key clue."