Strongest Scammer: Scamming The World, One Death At A Time-Chapter 572: A Trapped Mind

Han Yu’s aura rushed out like a gust of crushing wind. Not overwhelming, but heavy enough to press into the bones of anyone nearby.

The disciples immediately shut up.

Some stepped back. Some swallowed nervously. A few lowered their gazes like scolded children. The path ahead cleared by several meters.

Han Yu turned away and continued walking. No one dared speak again.

To any outside observer, Ju Fan simply looked possessive and territorial, which was completely normal. Slave owners, especially those who treated their slaves as status symbols, often reacted violently to unwanted attention.

Han Yu’s reaction was exactly what they expected.

But inside, his heart felt like it was being torn apart.

He guided Xuan Qing through the sect, across bridges, around active peaks, and finally up the long winding path toward the Fifth Rib Peak. Along the way he kept glancing at her face, hoping to see some flicker of recognition.

Nothing.

Her gaze remained forward, lifeless, mechanical.

By the time they reached his cave, Han Yu felt physically sick.

He stepped inside and immediately slid the stone door shut behind them.

The echo of the closing mechanism filled the cave.

Only then did he finally let the mask slip.

"Xuan Qing..." he whispered.

For the first time in months, his voice trembled.

She did not react. Not a blink. Not a shift in posture. Not even a breath quickening.

She simply stood there, waiting for an order, her chains lightly clinking against each other.

Han Yu’s hands curled into fists.

He had bought her body.

But her mind was trapped.

And freeing her would not be simple.

Not at all.

The moment the stone door shut, Han Yu let out a long breath that trembled despite all his effort to keep calm. Xuan Qing stood where he left her, feet together, posture straight, eyes vacant. She did not turn to him or shift her gaze in the slightest. It was as if she had become a statue carved in the shape of a woman.

Han Yu stepped closer.

"Xuan Qing..." he whispered.

No reaction.

His throat tightened. He swallowed and forced his voice out again.

"Senior Sister Xuan Qing. It is me. Han Yu."

Still nothing.

Her eyes did not even blink differently. They simply stared ahead, waiting for commands she would follow without thought or emotion.

He took another step. The distance between them shrank until he stood right in front of her. He raised his hand and gently touched her cheek.

Cold.

Not lifeless, but too cold for a living person at her cultivation realm.

"Xuan Qing. Look at me."

Her head turned mechanically, like a puppet being pulled into position by unseen strings. Her eyes met his, but they did not see him. They were empty windows with no one behind them.

Han Yu’s heart clenched. It felt as if someone had reached into his chest and squeezed his lungs.

"It is me. Han Yu. Your junior brother from Twin Leaf Peak. Do you hear me. If you do, please show me something. Anything."

Her lips parted slightly. For a heartbeat Han Yu thought she would speak. His heart jumped.

Instead, she said in a hollow voice, "Please give an order."

Han Yu staggered back a step.

THUD

His body hit the wall behind him before he realized he was moving. He pressed a hand to his mouth and sucked in a harsh breath, fighting every instinct that screamed at him to break down.

He could not cry here.

He could not lose control.

He could not afford even a moment of weakness. Not in this place. Not when she needed him.

He forced himself to inhale, then exhale. Slowly. Carefully. Until his pulse steadied.

When he finally stepped forward again, his eyes were colder but more focused.

He had to understand what they did to her.

He closed his eyes and extended his spirit sense. It swept through her body with precision gained from months of careful cultivation. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

First he checked her neck. Beneath the collar he saw the familiar pattern of the standard slave seal. This one he understood well enough. It was crude, brutal, and designed only to enforce control through pain and destruction.

Then he moved to her dantian. Inside, he found the cultivation restraint seal. Standard for all slaves. He could deactivate parts of it if he wished, but it was pointless for now.

Nothing seemed unusual.

Until he checked her head.

The moment his spirit sense touched her skull, he felt resistance. Something throbbed beneath the bone like a heartbeat that did not belong to her.

Han Yu pushed deeper and then froze.

Her brain was wrapped in something unnatural.

A net.

No, a living mesh of dark crimson tendrils that pulsed and writhed as if breathing. It covered every surface of her brain like a parasite that had grown roots through her thoughts. Between the tendrils were black runes that crawled like insects across her mind.

Han Yu recoiled in horror.

When his spirit sense brushed against one strand of the crimson web, the entire structure flared with dark light.

Xuan Qing cried out.

A choked sound escaped her throat, yet her expression remained perfectly blank.

No flinch. No fear. No pain on her face even though he could feel it rippling through her body.

Han Yu immediately pulled his spirit sense back.

She went silent again. Her breathing returned to steady emptiness.

But the image of that crawling web was burned into his mind.

He whispered to himself, "This is the Doll Seal..."

It was unlike anything he had ever seen.

Not a formation. Not a talisman script. Not even something that resembled bloodline seals. It looked more like a parasite fused to the mind, a living structure that wrapped itself around every thought a person could have.

And he could not tell where it began.

He could not tell where it ended.

He could not even see a single weak point.

It was like a sealed prison carved from the essence of pure cruelty.