For the first ti since buying ng Jueyan, Han Yu felt the smallest bit of reassurance.
Her recognition of Xuan Qing ant her mind had not been erased. She was battered, scarred, emotionally hollowed by suffering, but she still rembered. That alone made her far easier to save than Xuan Qing. With Xuan Qing, he had saved only the body. The mind was still locked away. ng Jueyan at least retained her sense of self.
Yet he needed to know more. He needed to confirm how slaves were handled, what they rembered, what they endured, and whether any of his friends were still alive. He could not ask directly, but he could ask in pieces. All of this had to be done through the identity of Ju Fan.
He kept his face cold and expressionless as he turned toward ng Jueyan.
"You rember her," he said. "Good. That ans your mory is intact. Let us see how much you can still recall."
ng Jueyan looked puzzled.
The single eye she had left flickered with confusion, even caution. She probably could not understand why soone like Ju Fan would care about anything involving the purge. But her conditioning as a slave made it impossible for her to question openly.
She bowed her head slightly. "This slave will answer."
Han Yu crossed his arms, keeping up the icy persona. "Tell about the others. The ones captured with you. What happened to them after the battlefield?"
ng Jueyan stiffened. She hesitated for a breath, then forced herself to speak.
"After the battle ended, the disciples tied us with spirit restricting chains. Many were wounded. So had lost limbs. The elders placed seals on us to prevent us from dying before we arrived at the sect. Then they separated the disciples and sent them away."
Han Yu narrowed his eyes. "Separated how."
"The slaves and the disciples who submitted to the sect were taken by elders and guards. The rest of the disciples... at least the ones deed talented enough were willing to join the sect as new mbers from the purge, followed the disciples of this sect back on their own."
This matched what Han Yu had suspected. So unorthodox cultivators had indeed defected instantly for survival. He had heard much later that the sect had indeed recruited a few talented discipels among those captured. Though he had not seen any of them so far.
All he got from rumors was the fact that they weren’t given an official disciple status right away and were instead in so kind of ’education’ camp.
"After that," he asked. "When you reached the sect. What happened?"
Her voice grew quieter.
"They put us in the Slave District. The elders and torturers said our past life was over. They said we would forget everything and serve as slaves. If anyone resisted, they were struck down to set an example."
Han Yu clenched his jaw but kept his expression neutral.
"How many resisted?"
"Many," ng Jueyan whispered. "Most of the orthodox cultivators resisted. So fought even after being restrained. So killed themselves by ramming their heads against walls. So begged for death so they would not be broken."
Her hands trembled slightly behind her back. Even after what she had suffered, her mories still shook her. Her voice grew unsteady.
"They were taken to the chambers underground. The torturers called it conditioning. They stripped us of our clothes and tossed us into cold stone rooms. They fed us nothing for days. They beat us with spirit whips. They forced us to kneel in blood.
They hung us from hooks until our arms nearly tore. They used illusion arrays to show us nightmares. They drowned so of us in vats of sludge and revived them only to drown them again.
Others were thrown into pits full of spirit insects that dug into the skin. Those with stronger minds were taken deeper into the chambers."
Han Yu could barely keep himself composed. His face twisted inwardly, but outwardly he maintained a mask of dispassion.
ng Jueyan continued, her eye unfocused as she recalled mories she would rather forget.
"The elders said we were being graded. So were marked as labor slaves. Others were to be guard slaves. So were chosen as pleasure slaves. The ones who refused were mutilated. Those chosen as pleasure slaves were washed, powdered, and prepared for branding. The ones chosen for other work were beaten until they understood obedience."
Han Yu felt his stomach twist. He knew this sect was monstrous, but hearing it from soone who lived through it was far worse.
"Who submitted willingly?" he asked, forcing himself to sound curious rather than appalled.
ng Jueyan swallowed.
"Several from my sect and the other unorthodox sects. They were used to brutality. Submission ca easier to them. They chose life instead of torture. They bowed before the elders and took the slave seals as soon as they arrived. A few orthodox ones did too. The weakest ones. Those with no cultivation talent. They hoped submission would protect them."
Han Yu pretended to scoff. "Cowards."
But inside he felt a stab of sorrow. Those people were not cowards. They were desperate.
ng Jueyan continued.
"Those who resisted were tortured the most. Physical pain was only part of it. There were ntal tortures too. They used curse needles to stab the ridians. They used mory twisting salves that made people relive their worst fears.
They poured corrosive Qi into the ridians. They broke bones and reset them wrong. They sliced the tongue to prevent chanting of cultivation thods. They shattered dantians in front of the others."
Her face trembled and she paused before speaking again.
"The screams never stopped. Not for a single day."
Han Yu almost lost his composure at that. His fingers curled tightly into his sleeves.
He needed to redirect the conversation before he lost his cover.
He turned his gaze toward Xuan Qing, who still sat calmly with the blank serenity of a doll.
"You said you saw this one on the first day. Did you see any more from her sect afterward?"
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