Then Let You Speak For Yourself

To avoid causing confusion, Brother Ke Yi ordered a lockdown of the attack incident.

After rooting out several hidden spies, the inner castle quickly returned to its usual state, operating smoothly as before.

As for the Black Sword Knight, after undergoing some treatment, he barely clung to life and was imprisoned for interrogation.

Yet, over two days, no valuable information could be extracted from his mouth.

“That guy must have undergone counter-interrogation training. No matter how we torture him, he refuses to speak.”

In the council hall, Bured reported the results of the interrogation over the past two days.

“I say, just crush his bones one by one. I doubt he can endure that,” Jodun sneered.

Bured shook his head and said, “It’s useless. He seems to have mastered some means to shut out pain; he doesn’t react at all when we torture him.”

“Such a method exists?” Jodun widened his eyes in astonishment.

The other knights also exchanged glances upon hearing this.

How can they interrogate now?

Brother Ke Yi frowned, turned his head to look at Su Nan who was sitting beside him, and asked, “Su Nan, do you have any good ideas?”

Su Nan nodded and said, “Let me handle the interrogation.”

Seeing that Su Nan seemed to have a method, everyone’s spirits were immediately lifted.

Led by Bured and Jodun, Su Nan went to the cell where the Black Sword Knight was held.

Entering the cell, he saw the Black Sword Knight with his limbs chained tightly to iron pillars, looking extremely miserable.

Burn marks from lightning rune gems lingered on his body, and after two days of torture, there was hardly an intact piece of skin or flesh left.

Yet, despite this, he still showed no hint of pain.

Upon seeing Su Nan enter, his expression slightly changed, but then shifted into a disdainful sneer.

“Don’t waste your efforts; you’ll never extract information from me. If you have the guts, just kill me!”

Su Nan said flatly, “If you really wanted to die, there are plenty of ways to commit suicide. Why hang on until now?”

These words evidently struck a nerve. The Black Sword Knight’s eyes twitched fiercely, and he snorted without saying more.

Su Nan was unfazed, his face calm as he approached the Black Sword Knight.

“Since torture doesn’t work for you, I’ll let you speak for yourself.”

Hearing this, the Black Sword Knight looked even more disdainful, intending to mock further. But the moment he met Su Nan’s gaze, his entire body shuddered, feeling like his soul was being drawn into the deep abyss of Su Nan’s eyes.

Within a few seconds, the Black Sword Knight’s face turned blank, his eyes vacant, as if sleepwalking.

“Name,” Su Nan slowly asked.

“Yuri Erlik,” the Black Sword Knight replied, his eyes vacant.

“Age.”

“Thirty-two.”

Following behind Su Nan, Bured and Jodun were already dumbstruck.

What just happened?

How did this guy suddenly become so compliant, answering every question asked?

They soon noticed the abnormality in the Black Sword Knight’s complexion, faintly realizing that Lord Su Nan had likely employed that strange power called a spell.

They did not expect such a spell existed that could make a person lose consciousness and obediently answer questions!

In the face of such power, does anyone really have any secrets left?

Bured and Jodun inhaled lightly, their gaze at Su Nan’s back growing more reverent.

Su Nan, oblivious to the two’s subtle actions behind him, focused directly on the Black Sword Knight.

The ‘Charm of Humans’ spell can influence the subject’s perception to a certain degree, making them view you as a trustworthy companion.

A caster can command the subject to do things they ordinarily wouldn’t do.

However, orders clearly harmful to oneself, such as self-harm or suicide, are likely to fail, causing the spell to terminate.

But if it’s just to inquire some information, the ‘Charm of Humans’ spell proves extremely useful.
“Who sent you to assassinate the Lord of Blackstone City?”

“It was Lord Casper Priest.”

Priest?
Su Nan raised an eyebrow. “Where do you come from?”

“We belong to the Starfire Cult, worshiping the great Star God who created this land!”

Mentioning the Star God, even under the influence of a spell, the Black Sword Knight’s expression still showed a hint of fanaticism, highlighting his profound faith in the so-called Star God.

Starfire Cult?
Su Nan was somewhat surprised, not expecting these assassins to come from the Starfire Cult that attacked the Storm Count.

“What is your relationship with Marquis Jinyan?”

“I don’t know.” The Black Sword Knight shook his head dully.
Su Nan frowned slightly, knowing that the connection between Marquis Jinyan and the Starfire Cult was beyond doubt.

Since this guy doesn’t know, it indicates that the person responsible for contacting Marquis Jinyan should be a higher-ranking member of the Starfire Cult.

“How many comrades do you have in Blackstone City?”

“Including me, there are four of us.”

“Tell me the names of the spies you know.”

The Black Sword Knight rattled off six to seven names.

Some of them were indeed spies that had been rooted out in the past few days.

Without Su Nan’s instructions, Bured noted down these names and hiding spots diligently, then left the prison with Jodun, hurriedly going to capture them.

Su Nan then proceeded to inquire about the Starfire Cult’s organizational structure, branch distributions, and membership conditions.

According to the Black Sword Knight’s description, the Starfire Cult is a sect devoted to the Star God, dedicated to spreading the glorious light of the Star God across the entire continent.

They have collaborated secretly with many nobles, assassinating their rivals in exchange for the nobles’ influence to bolster the sect, spreading their reach throughout the entire Duchy of Starlit Stars in just over a decade.

As for which nobles they’ve cooperated with, the Black Sword Knight knew little, mostly barons and viscounts.

Higher-ranking noble collaborators are beyond the reach of his membership level.

After all, above the priests, there are high priests, chief priests, and the Pope who controls the entire sect.

“Even high knights are just middle-tier cadres. It seems the Starfire Cult is very profound indeed.”

Su Nan mused silently.

Previously, he speculated that the Starfire Cult might be related to wizard apprentices, but now it seems he guessed wrong.

The Starfire Cult obviously follows a religious faith route, the complete opposite of wizards who pursue truth and individual power.

In terms of bases, the Black Sword Knight knew little, only knowing about three bases located in Jinyan Province.

As for other provinces, he was completely unaware.

Memorizing the personnel structure of these bases from the Black Sword Knight’s account, Su Nan then asked about the Starfire Cult’s actions in Jinyan Province over the years.

The result was startling.

Turns out, the seven or eight noble deaths in Jinyan Province over the past decade were all the Starfire Cult’s doing.

They orchestrated various accidents and coincidences to kill these nobles, disguising their deaths as accidents or illnesses.

For more challenging targets, they resorted to direct assassination.

This included Su Nan’s own father.

Though appearing to have died heroically in battle, the truth was that the Starfire Cult had replaced one of his guards before the war broke out and then covertly made their move on the battlefield, causing him to die at the enemy’s hands.

Though the Black Sword Knight was unaware of the true purpose behind these assassinations, Su Nan could easily deduce that the mastermind was undoubtedly the Marquis of Jinyan.

By eliminating vassal nobles and installing puppets as rulers, they intend to control the territories indirectly.

The ultimate goal of the Marquis of Jinyan is to completely control the entire Jinyan Province.

No, maybe that’s not the final goal.

For complete control of Jinyan Province, such measures shouldn’t be necessary.

The Marquis of Jinyan probably has a deeper purpose!