Thomas sighed deeply after leaving the private room. Although he himself knew that his jealousy was most likely without reason, but he simply couldn't fight against his own feelings. Especially after hearing about Bai Jingshen's success it became harder and harder to even stay in the same room with him. He wished Kayleen would stop any contact with that guy, but even he realized that this thought was unfair towards his girlfriend. Therefore he almost escaped from their meeting, trying to forget all those unpleasant things. He told himself to concentrate on his own path, trying his hardest to enter the elite program as well.
Just as Thomas managed to reassure himself he suddenly felt a yank on his arm. His eyes instantly went wide when a hand quickly pressed his mouth shut. The young man tried to struggle, but he was helpless as he soon vanished behind an unremarkable door below a staircase. Since customers on the second floor were all in private room, no one noticed anything wrong.
Thomas trembled all over as his assailants roughly shoved him on a chair before delivering a blow to his stomach. He only had a second to count his four mask-wearing kidnappers before his upper body snapped forward as he held his stomach in pain. A deep voice reached his ears as the pressure of a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator enveloped him.
"Don't you dare to move, or the next punch won't be this light."
The young man had never been in such a situation. Light tears started to run down his cheeks. He didn't even dare to nod his head, afraid it would displease his captors in any way. Suddenly he felt his mind slightly relax as a gentle feminine voice spoke.
"I'm really sorry if my partner was a bit rough just now. See, we only want to know some news. I'm sure we can help each other."
"What she wants to say is, tell us everything you know about Bai Jingshen's mission, and you might not be fished from a river tomorrow morning!"
With those words the pressure on Thomas's body heightened again. He trembled as his back made unhealthy cracking sounds. He was absolutely overburdened by the current situation. His brain was only able to react as he heard the name of Bai Jingshen. The young man suddenly began to panic as these people wanted him to become a traitor. Although he disliked Bai Jingshen, he didn't want to see him dead. His eyes widened as additional tears ran down his cheeks.
"Don't panic. I know we can help each other. Are you scared about the bracelet's recording function? You don't need to be, we naturally jammed all signals here."
The woman actually spoke the truth this time. Although they couldn't care less about what would happen to Thomas, they still used an expensive device to protect themselves. However, the woman didn't know that Thomas hadn't even thought so far. He was simply to scared to make such connections right now.
Finally getting impatient with Thomas delay, the rough man suddenly grabbed the young man's hand. Thomas had no way to defend himself as the man suddenly wrenched his hand upwards. The young man screamed in pain, not even able to register where it came from. The two weaker cultivator's behind the interrogators slightly averted their gaze, looking away from the bones sticking out from Thomas' hand.
This new pain finally brought about the desired result. Thomas' mind broke, only seeking for a way out of here. Suddenly a dangerous thought even invaded him. Was it really that bad if something happened to Bai Jingshen? Wasn't it all his fault that he was in this situation now? Yes! Of course it was! He had to pay!
Noticing Thomas obvious shift in demeanor, the female interrogator made a step forward. She gentle held Thomas' chin while pulling out a handkerchief to dry the man's tears. Suddenly she noticed Thomas' eyes wandering to her wrist. Her heart skipped a beat as she noticed her bracelet sticking out from the black robe she was wearing. She didn't let anyone notice as she pulled her sleeve further up with a natural movement. Hopefully her partner wasn't perceptive enough. If he told their boss, it would mean months of cruel training for her. Therefore, she continued as if nothing happened:
"Come on. Now tell us what we need. We might even reward you if your information proves important. How about gaining a place in the elite program?"
Thomas shivered slightly, not understanding how they would know his goal. Had they been keeping an eye on him for a while now? He didn't understand, but he didn't have to. All he had to do was to open his mouth, so this hell could end.
"I… I tell you. But I don't know much. Please. Please let me go, alright? I don't need a reward. I just want to live peacefully. I will tell nobody what happened here."
"That depends on your cooperation. If you are a good boy and help us out, we will naturally guarantee you a good life."
"And if you don't help us out, you better not let your little girlfriend leave your line of sight."
"Non-no… don't! Kayleen has nothing to do with this. I… I'll talk.
Bai Jingshen will be leaving tomorrow. He took a mission to help an alchemist. He will gather low-grade beast blood. Th…that's all I know. Please let me go!"
"Are you kidding me?! That's as good as not saying anything!"
While the two interrogators continued to fish for information, one of the weaker cultivators lightly closed his eyes. He quickly went through the mission list in his head, which he deliberately remembered beforehand. He looked for everything that matched the description, quickly narrowing it down to three possible missions. A few minutes passed as the interrogator slowly believed that Thomas didn't know any more useful information. Since they couldn't let Thomas vanish forever, they decided they had heard enough.
The leading man grunted as he easily knocked Thomas unconscious. The gentle woman's eyes turned cold again, while she took some slow-acting medicine. It would heal the unconscious Thomas over the next half an hour. Afterwards he would wake up without any injuries and with a relaxed mind. After all, it was already suspicious to not appear for a longer time. If he carried obvious injuries everyone would know that something was wrong.
After dealing with their captive, the group quickly and professionally cleaned the room, before quietly leaving, acting like normal customers again.
In front of the Three Lives Tavern Kayleen was anxiously waiting for her boyfriend. She only followed a minute after Thomas, but even now the young man didn't appear. The redhead was worried if Thomas' jealousy prompted him to avoid her. She blamed herself a bit, not sure how to deal with this situation.
Shortly after, Bai Jingshen, Sam and Torren also left the restaurant. They managed to calm the nervous girl and told her to try to contact Thomas first. As she was anxiously running left to right, Kayleen had even forgotten about this simple solution. However, the group of friends soon grew worried as Thomas didn't answer their calls.
While the young cultivators were standing in front of the restaurant, contemplating what to do now, a group of four left the front door. They were laughing happily at their own jokes. The two leading Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators were even occasionally flirting with each other, promoting the friends following behind them to poke fun at their affectionate actions. Everything was normal as this group was in their own world, ignoring Bai Jingshen and the others.
However how could they know that Bai Jingshen had a Sea Of Consciousness, making his senses simply overwhelmingly strong. The more the group tried to act normal, the more Bai Jingshen felt that something was amiss. If they had higher cultivation or more training, they might have an easier time fooling Bai Jingshen. Unfortunately, they simply underestimate their target.
Ever since this group first walked in Bai Jingshen's direction he had this weird feeling. Soon he realized where his uneasiness came from. Although those people seemed to be in their own world, they were trying too hard to ignore him. No one even tried to turn their had into his direction. This in itself showed that they were aware of their surroundings.
Bai Jingshen stayed calm, while talking to his friends. He still pretended to be worried about Thomas. Contrary to the passing group, his acting was actually believable, although he was already observing his surroundings with his senses. Suddenly he noticed the slightest smirk on one of the Qi Gathering Realm cultivator's faces. Fortunately, that man got careless as he thought the were a safe distance away. Everything would have been fine if they were trying to fool any other Qi Gathering Realm cultivator. Bai Jingshen's friends for example hadn't noticed anything wrong. Sadly, their target was the former emperor.
Sam, Torren and Kayleen were surprised when Bai Jingshen suddenly said his goodbyes. They didn't understand what was happening, wondering if they had misjudged Bai Jingshen. Although he and Thomas would never be best friends, but they still thought Bai Jingshen would help them searching. Kayleen felt especially sad. However, this only lasted for a few seconds until she received a message:
"Something is wrong. Be careful. Don't alert the guards right away, please."