The ghost souls within the Soul-Summoning Banner seemed to understand Xie Bi'an's intentions. They bit down harder, leaving Shariputra writhing in agony.
It would have been better if the pain had made him pass out.
But his flesh could regenerate now. Every time they gnawed it away, new "feed" grew back for the ghost souls to feast on.
The endless, unbearable pain made Shariputra desperate to lose consciousness.
"I-I understand!" Shariputra said. "Whatever you want to ask, I'll answer honestly..."
"Very good." White Impermanence nodded. "Your attitude has changed, but my question hasn't. Tell me, what was your real purpose in coming here? If you wanted to purge the entire Immortal Realm, shouldn't you have struck while Old He was undercover? Why wait until now?"
Shariputra hadn't expected Xie Bi'an to be so fixated on this question. With a miserable expression, he could only shake his head and say, "I really don't know the true purpose... We were only following Great Dark Heaven's orders..."
Xie Bi'an's expression instantly turned cold. "Master," he said sternly, "I told you I didn't want to hear that sort of answer."
Frightened by Xie Bi'an's imposing aura, Shariputra hurriedly added, "I really don't know...! I only vaguely heard that there's someone 'above' Great Dark Heaven. This whole thing seems to be some sort of deal..."
Xie Bi'an nodded slightly at that and thought it over.
At this point, Shariputra probably wasn't lying. If Great Dark Heaven really had an "employer" above him, he wouldn't let every monk know about it.
But who was that "employer"?
What was the "purpose"?
And what was the "deal"?
White Impermanence ventured a bold deduction. The current Underworld was fundamentally no different from the Underworld where Old He had been stationed. From any angle, the "difficulty of attacking" was the