"If you refuse, you'll wish you were dead."
"If you deceive me, you'll wish you were dead."
"Even if you just halfheartedly comply, you'll wish you were dead."
That was the entirety of Jiang Chen's message.
The Snake-Mask before him looked truly pitiful, but Jiang Chen wouldn't spare her even an ounce of sympathy.
After confirming his point had been delivered, he asked directly: "Why did you mistake me for the Messenger?"
In his view, the reason he'd been mistaken for the Messenger was likely because of the Nether Candle still residing within his Celestial Palace.
Before leaving Maple City, Miao Qing had said the Nether Candle was something she'd searched for but couldn't find, proving its importance to the Bone Path.
But he still wanted confirmation from the Snake-Mask's own mouth, and ideally, to gain a deeper understanding of the Nether Candle.
If she could, the Snake-Mask would have torn Jiang Chen apart and eaten him raw, but she couldn't.
As Jiang Chen had pointed out, she was born into the Bone Path and knew very well that there were tortures far worse than death. Death was eternal oblivion, yes, but the dead had no consciousness, no need to feel anything.
For the Bone Path especially, death was the only true fairness in the world. Though she'd developed an attachment to life because of the Dog-Mask's death, when the inevitable moment came, death was not entirely unacceptable.
There were many methods that could make a person beg for death. She herself had tried them many times. The human tendon used to suspend the plague bell was just one such attempt.
Of course, in the past she had always been the one dispensing such treatment—cold and composed, free to observe closely and explore the nature of humanity or what some might call the aesthetics of cruelty. But once she realized she might face such a fate herself, she couldn't help but feel fear.
Having witnessed fear, she understood it all the better.
The Snake-Mask was silent for a while, then finally gripped the Snake-Tongue Sword and wrote on the bare ground: "The cultivator from Yue City said you were Zhang Yuan."
It was worth noting that she wrote in the script of the State of Zhuang.
The Zhuang script was derived from the commonly used Jing Kingdom script among the Daoist vassal states, but had developed its own distinct characteristics.
The Jing Kingdom script was said to have evolved from the Dao Script, and was considered the most noble writing in the world (according to the Jing Kingdom people).
The so-called Dao Script was the pattern of the Great Dao itself.
But what truly concerned Jiang Chen was the information the Snake-Mask had conveyed.
Could the world's affairs truly be so coincidental?
He'd merely tossed out the name Zhang Yuan in passing, and those cultivators from Yue City had relayed it all the way to the Snake-Mask's ears.
The second question Jiang Chen had prepared was: "Who is the Messenger you spoke of?"
But there was no need to ask that now.
Zhang Yuan was the Bone Mask Messenger!
Third on Maple City's merit rankings, a prominent figure at Maple City's Dao Academy—his true identity was actually a high-ranking member of the Bone Path.
Now, scenes from the past flooded back. When he'd first investigated the Bone Path heretics in Tangshe Town, Zhang Yuan had separated from him twice, and both times he'd been ambushed by the Bone Path.
Given what Miao Qing had later revealed, those were clearly both tests of him. And at the time, Zhang Yuan—the Bone Mask Messenger—had been watching coldly from the sidelines!
Thinking about it now, Jiang Chen still felt a chill. If that man had had even a passing whim to act, he'd likely have died on the spot.
Then he thought further—how long had the Bone Path been preparing for the sacrifice of Maple City?
Figures like Zhang Yuan and Miao Qing were merely participants in such a grand undertaking.
Jiang Chen could easily imagine just how thorough the Bone Path's preparations must have been.
Yet even with such meticulous planning, with so many brilliant individuals, with the Bone Path being so powerful and terrifying—even with the Bone God itself reaching across planes to intervene—they had still been outmaneuvered by Zhuang Chengqian, Du Ruhui, and Dean Dong, who plucked the prize from the fire and extracted the tooth from the tiger's jaws!
The Bone Path was his enemy. But were Dean Dong and the others any different?
"Who else is in the Bone Path's leadership now?" Jiang Chen thought for a moment, then asked.
This question wouldn't trigger the blood oath.
"The Holy Sovereign, Second Elder Lu Yan, Bone Mask Messenger Zhang Yuan, the Holy Maiden."
"Dragon-Mask, Monkey-Mask, Rabbit-Mask."
The Snake-Mask wrote each name in turn, then pointed to herself, indicating she was the final "leader" of the Bone Path—but she was about to die, so she didn't count as existing anymore.
When she'd clashed with Ji Xuan, the Clear River County Chief of the Justice Enforcement Bureau, the Holy Maiden Miao Qing's strength had been at the Inner Fane realm. Judging by the order the Snake-Mask listed them, Lu Yan and Zhang Yuan's strength was at least Inner Fane or above.
Among the remaining twelve Bone Masks still alive, the Dragon-Mask was likely the strongest and the Snake-Mask the weakest.
But because of that plague-carrying little bell, defeating the Snake-Mask hadn't been easy either.
The Bone Path had operated for so many years—they would inevitably have some unknown methods up their sleeve. None of these people could be underestimated.
As for the Holy Sovereign...
Why did the Bone Path still have a Holy Sovereign? He hadn't heard of one participating in the Battle of Maple City.
If it was the Bone God, hadn't it been repelled?
Jiang Chen suddenly recalled the identity Miao Qing had mistakenly attributed to him—"Dao Child of the Bone Path."
Was the real Dao Child now the Bone Path's "Holy Sovereign"? Especially since the Snake-Mask hadn't mentioned the Dao Child's existence, but such a person must exist.
Miao Qing had emphasized the word "awakening." Had that Dao Child completed his "awakening"?
If he hadn't "fully awakened," did something else still need to be done?
If he had "fully awakened," then from Dao Child to Holy Sovereign—did that transition require some kind of transformation? Was it related to the Bone Path spreading plague in the State of Yang?
He didn't need to ask the Snake-Mask these questions, because anything involving the "Holy Sovereign" would be the Bone Path's highest secret. He'd never get an answer.
Asking her would be the same as killing her.
"You came to the State of Yang to spread the plague?" Jiang Chen asked.
"I did." The Snake-Mask wrote.
Jiang Chen thought for a moment, then asked: "Where is Zhang Yuan now?"
The Snake-Mask didn't move.
Jiang Chen understood—this question had no answer either. It couldn't be revealed.
Where was he hiding? Most likely the Bone Path's headquarters.
But where would that be?
Setting these questions aside for now, Jiang Chen glanced at the bell hanging from her hand. "You spread the plague using this little bell?"
The Snake-Mask lowered her head and wrote a single character: "Yes."
Because her head was bowed and her hair fell forward, Jiang Chen didn't catch the fleeting look of satisfaction in her eyes. Her hatred, however, remained undimmed.
Of course, Jiang Chen hadn't expected any goodwill from her.
"I have no more questions," he said.
This was the death sentence.
But the Snake-Mask was still writing.
Dragging her agonizing body, gritting her teeth, she wrote on the ground: "When the Age of Bones arrives, I will make sure to give you a proper welcome."
Jiang Chen gently turned her shoulder, took the Snake-Tongue Sword from her hand, reversed it, and slowly drove it into her heart.
"If—I'm saying if. If there truly is some 'Age of Bones.'"
Jiang Chen spoke: "Then you must find me."
The Snake-Tongue Sword pierced to the hilt.
Jiang Chen's voice sounded beside her ear: "Let me kill you one more time."
The Snake-Mask's body convulsed violently several times, then went still.
The fear and hatred in her eyes extinguished together.