'What was that thing though'.
Gu Zhi didn't miss how the talisman started to grow warmer right when the eye started to observe him. That most likely meant that the eye had something to do with divination and although he wasn't an expert on divination, he knew someone who was.
Gu Xiao went around asking for more information about the place until she returned to Gu Zhi.
"*Sigh* This place is on the border of Yangoo" she said.
"So?" Gu Zhi asked ignorantly.
"So, it means this is supposed to be a place were spy masters operate. Apart of the royal faction, their purpose is to hunt and find out spies in the area".
Gu Zhi was starting to connect some dots. "I think I just got divined rather recently" he said.
"I did too, if were lucky it was by someone far away if were not, well then we got a problem".
Gu Zhi immediately realized the problem, hopefully if they played their cards right they could get out of this mess.
"How strong are these spy masters, how many people will we see, and should we run or hide".
Gu Xiao looked at him with tired eyes. "First off, your ignorance is really starting to annoy me. Second these are spy masters that deal with foreign spies, they have agents at the nascent soul level and I doubt they are lacking in core formation experts. We will never outrun them, hiding on the other hand is also not an option. Spies are built off of stealth, if spy masters didn't have ways to find hidden people then they would be a joke. Our only option is to turn ourselves in for a favorable impression but that leaves us with many problems. We need a way to hide the ambrosia, theres no way they are going to hand it back to us if they find out what it is. Lastly I need you not to incriminate yourself, they will have truth crystals or ways to know if you are lying so just tell them irrelevant truths. You can't tell them anything about the palace, if they find out we're loaded with loot they won't care about justice they will kill you for less.... Hopefully though I'm overeating let's just move on like we don't know anything and try to get back home soon". Gu Zhi agreed and once they were finished eating they went up to their rooms. Not before he left the ambrosia on the counter like a common gourd. He would pick it up in the morning if it was still there.
'I can only hopes this works'.
Due to Gu Xiao's intellect if they had already been scoped out by a spy master then they knew they would pounce on them sometime in the night where there's the least amount of witnesses. Although spy masters are known publicly, who the spy masters are and where they operate aren't. If they had to do something they would do it secretly.
They had just gotten back to their rooms when the shadows suddenly came alive. Black hands seemingly made out of nothing but pure darkness wrapped around them like a glove. It yanked them towards the darkness as Gu Zhi could her his son crying in Gu Xiao's arms. They were pulled through like the darkness was a portal to another world they soon laid down together in a pitch black room. Gu Xiao couldn't tell if the room stretched on endlessly or if they were in a small confided space. A man sat down at a desk before them with chairs on both sides.
"Please sit down" he ordered.
Gu Xiao looked over only to find that her husband was gone without a word or trace he disappeared. 'A poetic threat huh, demonstrating that they can "remove" us anytime they want'.
Gu Zhi was pulled into another room, where he heard another voice this time feminine.
"Please sit down" they said.
He guessed where the chair might be, groping his way around before he finally found it and sat down in the chair.
Bu Wan was quite confused by the performance but that was okay, they were going to learn everything they wanted from them.
"I have a truth crystal here and other ways to identify if your lying, if you fail to meet our standards and can't answer are questions then you will be killed, do you understand?" Bu Wan asked.
"Of course" Gu Zhi said with a smile on his face.
"First question: who are you and what is your name".
"I'm Gu Zhi and I'm the husband of Gu Xiao".
Bu Wan then proceeded to ask him some, minor questions such as his background, intent, why he was here, what did he come for.
"What are you hiding... where did you come from".
"I'm hiding many things, I just came from another city".
Bu Wan was starting to get pissed. Gu Zhi was repeatedly telling the truth but in ways that didn't give her the answers she wanted. If this kept up things were going to get nowhere.
"Why did you have protection against divination, what are you trying to hide from diviners".
"To hide many things, and things that will get me in trouble" he said casually as the truth crystal lit up.
"...Fine, I'll just have to use a more forceful approach". She came up to him and pressed a dagger against his throat. He tried to resist but found that the chair he was sitting on had black chains made out of shadows around his arms in legs.
"You will answer with yes or no, are you spy from another country"?
"No".
"Are you here to hurt this country".
"No".
"Are you a citizen of this country".
"Yes".
"Are you in cahoots with any other foreign power".
"Yes".
She pressed the dagger deeper against him drawing a little blood.
"And what foreign power would that be?" she asked.
"Love city" Gu Zhi eventually said.
Confusion appeared on her face until she remembered what love city was.
"So, you were apart of the last batch of contestants from the palace of love" she said with a smile on her face.
'Shit' Gu Zhi thought to himself.