Zhou Chen opened his eyes wide in a daze and saw the situation clearly. He found himself in a small, dim room. There was a candle on the table in the room. Under the swaying candlelight, there were two people standing, one of whom was Ma An's.
Daughter, the other person is Zhao Zheng with an expressionless face.
Zhao Zheng!
Zhou Chen immediately shuddered and tried to struggle to get up, but his body could not move at all, and if he moved even a little, his arms would be affected, causing endless pain. He groaned and his face turned pale.
"The situation at hand is like this. You should understand your situation without me having to say anything. I advise you to be obedient and tell everything you know. This will save you a lot of trouble. Otherwise, I will definitely
It will make you miserable." Zhao Zheng was very calm when he spoke, but it was more terrifying than shouting.
"Hmph, don't get carried away. I didn't do this alone. There are several powerful people behind me. It won't be long before they come to save me. I advise you to let me go now.
Otherwise, you must be the one who suffers!" Zhou Chen screamed in pain. Of course, what he said were all lies, just to deceive Zhao Zheng.
"If there are masters behind you, why would you send a few of you idiots to deal with me? Stop lying to me. With your strength and wealth, you can't date any masters. If I guessed correctly, you
His other accomplices are just Zhang Yongling, Luo Xing and others." Zhao Zheng snorted.
Zhou Chen's lie was exposed, his face changed, and he looked even more ugly. By the time he tried to cover it up, it was already too late. He rolled his eyes and continued to lie: "Believe it or not, I'll wait for my accomplice
You will regret it when you come to save me."
"Maybe I will regret it later, but you will definitely regret it before me." Zhao Zheng glared at Zhou Chen, then turned his head, "Xiaohong, go to another room to avoid it. You are not allowed to come out without my order.
.”
Ma Hong may have had the courage to act coquettishly and disobey orders in front of her father, but she had no temper at all in front of an outsider like Zhao Zheng. She obeyed obediently, walked to another room, and closed the door. In fact, given how old she was,
Cognition, I couldn't figure out what happened at all, I could only vaguely judge that Zhou Chen and others were the bad guys, Zhao was the good guy, that's all.
Zhao Zheng and Zhou Chen were the only two people left in the room. Zhao Zheng walked slowly to Zhou Chen and looked down at Zhou Chen. His face turned red under the candlelight.
"Do you know why I asked Ma Hong to go to another room?" Zhao Zheng asked.
Zhou Chen swallowed and did not answer.
"Because I'm afraid she'll have nightmares after watching it." Zhao Zheng said, squatting down, grabbing Zhou Chen's tied wrists, and pinching one of his fingers.
"You, what do you want to do?" Zhou Chen asked in a panic.
"Are you afraid? If you are afraid, just tell me honestly. Tell me where Ma An is, how many accomplices you have, who they are, and what your plan is."
"If I tell you this, will you still spare my life? I won't say anything." Zhou Chen gritted his teeth and said harshly.
"Whether you say it or not, your life will not be saved. I am not asking you to choose between life or death, but I am asking you to choose between a comfortable death and a painful death. It seems that you want to choose
The latter. But it doesn't matter, I will help you." Zhao Zheng lifted Zhou Chen's little finger, then placed the bundle of wooden sticks that he had prepared on the ground, took out one of them, and pointed it at Zhou Chen's little finger.
He thrust it in without hesitation.
The wooden skewer penetrated into the gap between the nails, and the nails immediately started to bleed.
As the saying goes, ten fingers are connected to the heart, and this kind of severe pain is even more serious than a knife wound.
"Ah!!!" Zhou Chen screamed in pain, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and veins bulged.
"What are you yelling about? This is just the first one. You have ten fingers. After you use up your ten fingers, you still have ten toes. After you use up your ten toes, you still have many, many places to go.
I torture. In fact, interrogation and extorting confessions are my weakness, so I will use you to practice this time." Zhao Zheng said lightly, picked up the second finger and the second wooden stick, and stabbed it again.
Zhou Chen let out another scream.
In this way, Zhao Zheng picked up the wooden sticks one after another and pierced Zhou Chen's fingernails one by one, torturing Zhou Chen to death.
In just one stick of incense, Zhou Chen suffered more than he had ever suffered in his life, and it was really unbearable. Only then did he understand that it is not easy to be a tough guy. No wonder so many people in history chose to be one.
Traitor. After much thought, he realized that Ma An was still in the hands of Luo Xing and Zhang Yongling. Perhaps he could take advantage of this and use himself as a hostage in exchange for Ma An, thus saving his life.
"I say! I say! Stop torturing me and quickly pull the wooden stick out of my fingernails!" Zhou Chen surrendered and begged for mercy.
Zhao Zheng pretended not to hear, pierced Zhou Chen's tenth finger with a wooden skewer, and then said slowly: "Okay, I will ask you a question now, and you can answer it. If you are obedient,
If you cooperate, I will take out all these wooden sticks."
"Okay, you can ask." Zhou Chen nodded weakly.
"Who are your accomplices?"
"You guessed it right just now, my accomplices are Luo Xing and Zhang Yongling."
Zhao Zheng's eyes lit up, and he secretly said that it was true, and then asked: "Besides the two of them, is there anyone else?"
"No, as you said, I can't hire a master, and it's useless to hire an ordinary martial artist. I can only hire these two more reliable ones for help."
"Huh, you guys are all in the same boat."
Zhou Chen was tortured to the point of losing his temper. He did not dare to talk back and remained silent.
"Let me ask you again, where is Ma An being imprisoned?" Zhao Zheng then asked.
"He was locked up in a secret room under Luo Xing's courtyard. The entrance to the secret room is behind the bookcase in his study. You can see it just by removing the bookcase."
"Why do you care about my Hu Li Zhuang Yang Pill?"
"Of course it's for money, what else could it be for."
"Who took the lead?"
"It's... Zhang Yongling." Of course Zhou Chen couldn't say that he was the mastermind.
"What's your plan?"
"Actually, the plan is very simple, that is, let me bring people to kidnap you, and then force out the source of the Huli Zhuang Yang Pill from your mouth."
"You have quite an appetite, and you actually covet my pills." Zhao Zheng snorted, "Since you know I'm not easy to deal with, why don't you bring Wei Buxiao with you?"
"I also wanted to bring him here, but he was Zhang Yongling's subordinate. Even Zhang Yongling couldn't dispatch him, let alone me. He refused to come that day, and there was nothing I could do. I thought we had more people, and with the use of
The plan to frame you should have been foolproof, but I didn’t expect that I still fell into your hands." Zhou Chen replied bitterly.
Zhao Zheng secretly thought that he was lucky. If Wei Buxiao had been there that day, today would not have ended like this. Thinking of this, his spine felt cold. This time, he was really too close to death.
He looked at Zhou Chen with eyes that became more ferocious, suppressed his anger and asked: "Who among you killed Ma An's mother?"
"Yes... it was Luo Xing's men who killed him. I didn't do anything." Zhou Chen lied again. In fact, he was the one who invaded Ma An's room that day, and he was also the one who killed Ma An's mother. But in
Under such circumstances, how could he take such a crime on himself?
"Luo Xing's men? Are they the ones I killed in the woods?"
"Yes, that's the one with the sword."
Zhao Zheng stared at Zhou Chen for a moment, making Zhou Chen feel hairy all over. He had already asked all the questions he wanted to ask, and Zhou Chen was of no use for the time being.
"You, don't kill me! If you want to save Ma An, you can use me as a hostage in exchange. Luo Xing will definitely hand Ma An over to you." Seeing Zhao Zheng's unkind look, Zhou Chen said quickly.
"This is the only use you have, but I don't want to do it yet, because exchanging hostages is only a last resort. There are too many variables. If you want to save Ma An, there are other simpler ways." Zhao Zheng stretched out his hand.
Huai took out a bottle of elixir, pulled out the stopper, and poured out one pill. This elixir was none other than the Great Dream Unconscious Pill, "Take it and have a good sleep. You will suffer like this."
The pain will be less.”
"It's okay to eat, but can you give me some water first? I'm almost dying of thirst." Zhou Chen begged painfully.
Zhao Zheng looked at Zhou Chen's pitiful look and said coldly: "If I had known this, why did I do it in the first place!" He didn't want Zhou Chen to die so soon, so he gave Zhou Chen a drink of water and then passed away the dream.
The pill was stuffed into Zhou Chen's mouth.
Zhou Chen had no choice but to swallow the elixir with a grimace, and soon fell asleep under the power of the medicine.
Zhao just watched Zhou Chen take the medicine, knowing that Zhou Chen couldn't fake it, and it would be useless to fake it. Zhou Chen's arm was broken now and he couldn't use his strength at all. He took advantage of Zhou Chen's deep sleep.
, pulled out the wooden sticks from Zhou Chen's ten fingers one by one and threw them on the ground.
Zhou Chen had already told Zhao Zheng what he knew about the situation. Although he didn't know whether what he said was true or false, he also pointed out the next step for Zhao Zheng.
Next, we should work hard to investigate Zhang Yongling and Luo Xing. If Ma An is really in the hands of these two people, we must find a way to rescue him. Although he is injured now and his strength has been compromised, it can be done without further delay.
Still have to do it as soon as possible.
He thought for a while and felt that in another day or a day and a half, the wound should be scabbed, allowing him to perform the most basic actions. At that time, he could go out to find out the news.
While he was recuperating, he planned to go to the woods for free, because Zhou Chen's accomplices were likely to go there to check the situation. If these people could be caught, they would be able to ask more questions. He called
After making up his mind, he called Ma Hong out.
After Ma Hong saw the blood all over the floor, she was so frightened that she covered her eyes and did not dare to look any further.
Zhao Zheng waited until night, and after Ma Hong fell asleep, he quietly left the secret room and came to the top. He trotted quickly in the night, relying on the help of the cloud-stepping boots to suppress the sound of his footsteps to a minimum
, and then walked all the way to the murder scene, jumped onto the tree, and observed from a high place.
The body of the first attacker was still lying there, and it was unknown whether anyone had touched it.
Zhao Zheng observed for a while, then continued to climb over the branches, all the way to the second murder scene, where the two corpses were also left in place.
I don’t know if Zhou Chen’s accomplices have come, but even if they come, they may not be kind enough to bury these corpses.
Zhao Zheng, with the mentality of trying his luck, hid in a tree and observed for half the night, but unfortunately no one came. He still needed to recover from his injuries, so he did not stay any longer, so he returned to the secret room in the mass grave in the dark and went to sleep.
…
Secret rooms are always gloomy and dark, and this secret room is no exception. Few people in the world like to stay in such a gloomy place, but Luo Xing likes it very much.
The secret room buried deep underground will give him a sense of security, and in this special situation, this sense of security will be even stronger.
The current situation is indeed special. In his lifetime, this time is probably the most threatening.
In the past, he always pinched the soft ones, but this time he pinched the hard ones, which caused trouble.
During the day, several spies he sent out had returned one after another, bringing different news.
First of all, there is nothing unusual at Hongchen Inn. Both the shopkeeper and the clerks are working normally, and there is no sign of a big fight. The only doubt is that Zhao Zheng is missing in the store.
Secondly, there were several corpses lying in the woods near Hongchen Inn, all of which were Luo Xing's men. However, the corpses of Zhou Chen or Zhao Zheng were not found, and Ma Hong was nowhere to be found.
Finally, Zhou Chen's family members all stayed at home and did not wander around, and Zhou Chen did not go home. No matter how bad or cold-blooded Zhou Chen was, he would never abandon his wife and children for profit.
If we analyze these clues, we can come up with a terrible result.
The action of Zhou Chen and others must have failed. Zhou Chen himself fell into the hands of Zhao Zheng and became a hostage!
Only this speculation is the most reasonable.
Zhou Chen was arrested, so he couldn't go home. And Zhao Zheng must be carefully planning how to take revenge or how to rescue Ma An.
This situation is very unfavorable for Luo Xing and Zhang Yongling. Several of Luo Xing's capable men are dead, and there are no strong generals around him. Although Zhang Yongling has a powerful Wei Buxiao by his side, Wei Buxiao is nothing more than
He's just a third-level Heavenly Warrior.
Shen Luoxia of Hongchen Inn has fourth-level strength, and there are several other powerful characters in the store. Their combined strength is much higher than theirs.
The disparity in strength between the two sides was so great that Luo Xing felt that he had already stepped on the edge of the cliff. If he took another step, he would be doomed!
He closed his eyes and thought hard about what to do next and how to save his life. In this situation, he didn't have many choices, probably only one.
"Bump, bump, bump! Brother Luo, it's me, open the door quickly." Zhang Yongling's voice sounded outside the door, interrupting Luo Xing's thoughts.
Luo Xing frowned, stood up and opened the door to the secret room.
As soon as Zhang Yongling came in, he asked about the results of the inquiry. Luo Xing answered them one by one with a calm face. After he finished speaking, Zhang Yongling was immediately dumbfounded and stood on the spot.
"How is this possible? Brother Zhou Xian brought several people together to attack, and he also had Ma Hong as a hostage. How could they lose? Could it be that their action was exposed in advance?" Zhang Yongling asked anxiously.
"These questions are irrelevant. Anyway, the deal is done. Now let's think about what to do next." Luo Xing rubbed his frown and said, "Exceptor Zhang, I wonder what you have to say?"
"I'm a little confused now, please let me think about it." Zhang Yongling paced back and forth in the secret room, thought for a while, and replied, "I think this matter is probably going to end, so it's better not to use any force. The idea of Zhuang*Yang Pill. In my opinion, we should find a way to make peace with Hongchen Inn. Let’s quickly return Ma An, exchange Zhou Xiandi back, and then pay some money to Hongchen Inn, so that big things can be made trivial. It’s melted.”
"Hmph, you think very simply. How can this matter be solved so easily?" Luo Xing rolled his eyes at Zhang Yongling angrily, "First we killed Ma An's mother, and then we killed Zhao Zheng. Zhao Zheng He is Shen Luoxia's younger brother. How could Shen Luoxia just give up? Even if we go bankrupt, it will be difficult to resolve this blood feud, let alone if we get some money."
"Has the matter...come to this?" Zhang Yongling was so anxious that he was sweating profusely and said bitterly, "If I had known this, I wouldn't have gotten involved in this matter."
"It's too late to regret now. It's better to think of a way to escape."
"Then what do you think we should do? I will listen to you." Zhang Yongling had no idea.
"The enemy is strong and we are weak, and both sides are fighting to the death. In this situation, there are only three solutions. One is to seek refuge with stronger people and find a backer. The second is to set a trap to defeat the many with less. The third is to The golden cicada escapes from its shell and stays away from the enemy. Choose a method yourself." Luo Xing analyzed in a deep voice.
"The second option will definitely not work. I don't want to take risks anymore. The third option will not work either. My family property is all in Qibao County. How can I abandon it so easily? I think I'd better choose the first option." Zhang Yongling replied.
"Then who do you want to seek refuge with?"
"The government! Take refuge with the government! Since Hongchen Inn wants to kill us, then ask the government to protect us."
"Why are you confused again? We have been plotting against Hongchen Inn for the whole thing. If we report these things to the government, we will be imprisoned before anything happens at Hongchen Inn."
"Money can make the world go round. We can use money to manage the government."
"That's true, but if you have money, doesn't Hongchen Inn have any?"
Zhang Yongling was speechless after hearing this. Shen Luoxia has been operating in the local area for many years and must have made a lot of money. Moreover, the local magistrate Miao Li is a well-known corrupt official. He always favors whoever gives more money. If this matter is If it were stabbed into Miao Li's hand, Miao Li would definitely become a lion and his family would have to go bankrupt.
If they can't take refuge in the government, then who can they take refuge in? Take refuge in a sect? The fate of that will be similar. If they don't give enough benefits, no sect will be willing to protect them.
If you can't find a backer, and you can't win head-on, then you can only choose the third route as the best option.
"Is it possible...that we can only leave Qibao County?" Zhang Yongling asked reluctantly.
"Whether you want to go or not is up to you." Luo Xing replied in a deep voice. In fact, he had already made this decision when he was meditating just now. They were only left with this last path to choose. (To be continued. If If you like this work, you are welcome to register as a member of Piaotian Literature to recommend this work. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
