5200

Chapter 5200: 5.0952 It's True

"Hmm," Qiao Mu nodded, "I know. Your spiritual consciousness has a spell on it, a defensive barrier outside your sea of consciousness. Whenever it's threatened by external force, whether by soul-searching or pressure from a箴言 (proverb/mantra) talisman, it will automatically self-destruct."

Qiao Mu watched her at her leisure. "This method reminds me of Shen Tuji."

"Shen Tuji once said that the barrier in her sea of consciousness was placed by Grand Master Lila. Now I have reason to suspect that this Lila person is connected to your Zhaoguang."

"Or let me put it this way, is your Zhaoguang organization affiliated with Tianyun?"

"N-no, no, no! How could our Zhaoguang be Tianyun's people? We, we are fighting against the Tianyun organization. When we joined the organization, we... we swore to be irreconcilable with Tianyun!" The Saintess of Zhaoguang shook her head repeatedly, hastily trying to explain.

Qiao Mu, however, didn't believe the person in front of her at all. She grabbed her hair, mercilessly pinched her face, and asked word by word, "Your name is Yuan Maoyi?"

Yuan Maoyi was truly terrified. This little Crown Princess in front of her was like a malevolent spirit crawled out of hell. When her five cold fingers pinched her face, the Saintess of Zhaoguang felt a chill rapidly climb from the depths of her heart, making her shiver uncontrollably.

She nodded, tears and snot streaming down her face, secretly regretting taking on such a task and provoking this terrifying Crown Princess. No wonder so many people present at the time, even when she exposed the Crown Princess's close ties with Tianyun's high-ranking officials, no one dared to openly question this little Crown Princess. Perhaps they had already been thoroughly subdued by this little Crown Princess's dreadful methods.

"Crown Princess, Crown Princess, please let me go, Crown Princess!"

The little Crown Princess's cold smile was truly endlessly chilling and terrifying.

"I, I will tell you everything without reservation. Whatever Your Highness wishes to ask, I, I am willing to say, say."

"Very good," Qiao Mu nodded. The hand gripping the Saintess's hair loosened slightly. "Speak, where is the tree seed fragment hidden?" This was the most important thing she wanted to know; as for the rest, it was all irrelevant.

"The tree seed fragment, hidden, hidden... no, not hidden." Yuan Maoyi quickly shook her head, showing a cautious expression. "Your Highness, please believe me, this lowly one absolutely has not, has not deceived you. It's true. Although this lowly one does not understand what Your Highness means, but, but it is presumed that what Your Highness said, should, should be..."

"Ah. Wait, wait, let, let this lowly one finish, finish speaking." Yuan Maoyi's eyes widened in fear. She quickly used both hands to brace herself against the edge of the wooden barrel, making sure her head wouldn't be pushed down for an intimate encounter with the contents of the barrel.

"Speak," Qiao Mu had no intention of wasting words with her, pressing directly, "Speak clearly."

"Yes, this lowly one dares not deceive Your Highness," Yuan Maoyi answered honestly. "That, that sacred fruit, truly, truly is..."

"I know." This was her concern. That sacred fruit was absolutely not fake, but it was an imperfect, semi-finished product, as if it had been artificially grown with external force. Qiuqiu said that the last tree seed fragment, its wood spirit origin power, surpassed all previous fragments.