Zhong Mu pretended to turn around and glance at the head on the ground, then said coldly, "Anyway, your death won't affect me much. I'll just go and chop up another person to question you. If you have anything to hide or can't explain clearly, don't blame me."
The head on the ground reluctantly agreed, "Okay, okay... I'll explain everything clearly."
His life was now in someone else's hands, so even if he was a hundred times unwilling, he had no choice but to speak.
After making his threat, Zhong Mu breathed a slight sigh of relief.
It took a lot of courage to chop that one person down, and my hands were still ice cold afterward.
Even with desensitization therapy, the effects aren't that quick. If the doctor hadn't been there, he wouldn't have been able to act so decisively on his own to get the doctor's hand back.
Mu He silently grasped his cold hand, saying nothing, but she clearly understood Zhong Mu's discomfort and forbearance.
The head on the ground slowly spoke, "As you know, all cities were in chaos after the gods disappeared, and the City of Destiny was no exception. One of the major characteristics of our City of Destiny is that none of our residents have complete bodies; we are just a group of pitiful people gathered together."
"But God who cares for us can kindly make up for what we lack, allowing us to live in this city with complete bodies and be healthy and normal people."
"After God disappeared, the limbs that God had replaced quickly and neatly fell off, and we were restored to our broken bodies. This was hard for us to accept. We had had complete bodies for a long time under God's care, and we even gradually regarded ourselves as complete people. Suddenly being restored to broken bodies was something we could not accept."
The heads on the ground were filled with sorrow, but Zhong Mu gritted his teeth. All those beggars on the street had claimed they'd never had a complete body; they'd obviously figured out they weren't from the city and were trying to deceive them! Even the doctor had been fooled!
"But at this moment, news suddenly came from the main city that the High Priest's remaining power would help everyone become whole again. Then, some limbs were sent out from the main city. As long as these limbs are sewn onto the body, one can become whole again."
Zhong Mu seemed to be deep in thought, "Right now, all the usable limbs in the entire city are limbs that came from the main city?"
"Yes, yes... Because of the limited number of limbs, they circulated around the main city. At some point, due to the importance attached to lost limbs, people developed a somewhat perverse desire to possess them, wanting the best, the most perfect, to sew them onto their own bodies for use."
Zhong Mu refrained from commenting on the abnormal psychology they developed in the extreme environment, and continued to press, "Are there any abnormalities in those limbs that were teleported out of the main city? Otherwise, why would you be gathering at the main city gate shouting?"
The other person hesitated for a second, but looking at his body lying on the ground, he gritted his teeth and continued, "Because those limbs cannot be used for a long time, they will fall off on their own after a period of time. In this city, only your own original limbs can be sewn back on and not fall off. So even if everyone can use the limbs from the main city to live, they have to replace them with new ones every now and then in order to ensure their normal life."
"So the current situation in the City of Fallen Life is... Although the main city is continuously sending limbs out, the actual number of limbs that everyone can use is limited, so they can only cut off limbs that others can still use, or trade and buy them, or ask for them in front of the main city?"
"Yes..."
"Do you know where those limbs that keep being transmitted from the main city come from?" Zhong Muyue thought about it and felt something was wrong. He frowned and pressed for an answer.
The heads on the ground fell silent.
"Not going to talk?" Zhong Mu glanced at the headless body out of the corner of his eye, calculating the time. It was almost time for the other party to lose consciousness, but in such a pressing situation, the other party still wanted to avoid this question. It must be a very important question in the City of Fallen Life.
"Put my head back and I'll tell you then." The head on the ground struggled, finally uttering these words slowly.
"Even if you kill me, I don't want to bring this up. This matter would be the same for other citizens as well. Don't expect to find out about this from anyone else."
Judging from his confident tone, Zhong Mu could roughly guess that the origin of these limbs was the biggest secret of the City of Fallen Life, a secret that all the citizens of the city actively tried to hide, and it was of paramount importance.
"Okay." Zhong Mu nodded, picked up the head from the ground. Anyway, if the other party went back on their word, he could just chop it off again.
The other person didn't have much time left, which is why they were in a hurry to put their head back. Zhong Mu was also afraid that they would suddenly lose consciousness halfway through their speech, which would be troublesome.
He straightened the body, took a deep breath, turned around, lifted the head, and placed it on the neck of the body.
The moment his head touched the ground, his body immediately sprang to attention, raising his hand to steady his head as if afraid it would fall off again.
"Quick! Sew it up for me!" the other person urged hurriedly, holding his head with both hands and not daring to move, afraid that his head would fall to the ground again if he didn't make a mistake.
"No rush." After putting the head back, Zhong Mu saw that the broken part was rapidly healing and stitching up, so he figured the person wouldn't die anytime soon. He stood up and took two steps back. "Just tell me what you said for now, and I'll stitch it up for you after you're done."
"You!" The other party gritted his teeth, daring not to speak his anger to Zhong Mu. At this moment, all his energy was focused on the head, so he dared not make any big moves. He could only swallow his anger and say, "Fine, I'll tell you where those transmitted limbs came from."
"Let me put it this way: even though the limbs transmitted from the main city are all different, the only characteristic is that they are all women's limbs, and there is only one woman living in the main city."
The other person didn't finish speaking, but Zhong Mu already understood, and his eyes widened instantly.
"It is the high priest... the high priest who inherited the power of the gods."
"That's right…" The other person sighed slowly. "After the gods disappeared, there was no news of the high priest in the main city. It was forbidden to talk about the gods and the high priest in the main city. But at the same time, the main city was still providing the residents with temporary limbs that could be used. Where these limbs came from… In fact, all the citizens knew in their hearts, but no one said it."
"Once this stops, no one will be able to have a complete body anymore, so everyone keeps quiet about it."
The other person spoke calmly and even if there was a slight ripple in their tone, indicating a sense of guilt, it was only for a moment, and the rest was all indifference.
It was as if the chaos in the main city had nothing to do with them, and they were simply innocently using these limbs, trading these limbs, and even robbing these limbs in order to maintain their complete human form.
"What power does the High Priest possess?" Although he had already guessed, Zhong Mu still couldn't give up and wanted to confirm.
"...It is regeneration; after death, a new self is regenerated from the body's cells."
"You guys are really crazy." Zhong Mu gripped his axe tightly in disbelief. He couldn't even imagine what the high priest of the City of Fallen Fates had encountered.
Judging from the fact that it was forbidden to talk about God and the High Priest, the High Priest was not acting voluntarily at all.
This is a crime, a crime that the entire city is protecting, yet it targets a woman imprisoned in the main city in darkness.