Chapter 506: Everything Is Related to Him

As things stood, if he wanted to survive, there seemed to be no better way than the one suggested by the tall man.

Upon seeing the two powerful figures, Huang Yingying burst into tears without a word, immediately dropping to his knees. He then wailed at the top of his lungs, "City Lord, save me, someone wants to kill me! City Lord, save me, someone wants to kill me!"

He started crying with such emotion, tears and snot streaming down his face, and coupled with his disheveled appearance, he was truly a picture of misery.

Not to mention his current pathetic state, even in his normal appearance, Li Xianghong wouldn't have thought much of him. She truly couldn't understand how Bai Qiru could have married such a person.

She sternly rebuked him, "Act like a man! Stop crying! Alright, tell us what happened."

As she spoke, she glanced at Poyuan, who was observing Huang Yingying beside her. She wondered if Poyuan would be disappointed after witnessing the old man's demeanor, and if he would still believe such a person was the murderer.

"Yes..." Huang Yingying wiped away his tears with his sleeve. He was quick to cry and quick to stop, and his scarred and bruised hands were very noticeable. After composing himself, he babbled out his story: "Yesterday afternoon, Bai's Rice Store received a large order to deliver one thousand bags of spiritual rice to Shading Slope outside the city for handover. My wife instructed me to escort the shipment. Unexpectedly, shortly after we arrived at Shading Slope, a group of masked assassins suddenly appeared. I tried to use earth-burrowing to escape, but I was caught by a flying chain that wrapped around my ankle and dragged back. Then they knocked me out and took me away. When I woke up, I found myself in a cave. A group of masked men forced me to do something for them. I refused, so they tortured me..."

He spread his hands, tilted his neck, and displayed his injuries, adding, "Later, they even threatened me with death. I couldn't bear it anymore, so I used my earth-burrowing technique to help them with some tasks."

As soon as he said this, Poyuan immediately pressed him, "What did they make you do?"

Huang Yingying wailed in reply, "I truly didn't want to; I was really forced!"

Poyuan snapped, "What did they make you do?!"

Huang Yingying stammered, "First, they made me guide someone to sneak into the city and burrow into someone's bedroom, but..."

Li Xianghong interjected, "Stop hedging! If you don't say it now, don't ever say it!"

Huang Yingying quickly replied, "To the City Lord, although the masked men intentionally concealed their destination, only giving me a distance and not letting me know whose house it was, I am quite familiar with the general terrain of the city. For someone like me, skilled in earth-burrowing, a quick estimation allowed me to roughly guess the location. If I'm not mistaken, it was likely a bedroom in the 'Morning Moon Pavilion'."

"What else?" Poyuan asked indifferently.

Huang Yingying paused slightly in surprise. The other party seemed utterly uninterested, and he himself didn't know why the tall man had made him fabricate things he'd never done. He continued, "Then they made me use my earth-burrowing technique to take them around underground outside the city for a while; it almost killed me from exhaustion. They hit me if I slowed down. I couldn't figure out what they wanted."

Poyuan asked again, "When you were running around underground outside the city, did anything unusual happen?"

Huang Yingying thought for a moment and said, "While I poked my head out in the forest to get some air, someone suddenly descended. Upon seeing us, he shouted for help, but the person holding me captive silenced him with a slap. Then they made me continue burrowing underground and leave. Does that count as unusual?"

"Is that all?" Poyuan said in a deep voice.

"Is there anything else?" Huang Yingying thought for a moment, looking troubled. "Sir, please ask me directly what you want to know. I will tell you everything I know. I truly don't know what else would be considered unusual."

Poyuan stared intently at him and asked, "After he injured that person and fled underground again, did you encounter any other anomalies during your escape? Like a fight, for example."

"There was no other fighting," Huang Yingying shook his head, then hesitated. "However, there was some movement approaching us from behind at the time, as if someone was chasing us underground. As the sound got closer, the person holding me captive released some kind of light. I was focused on burrowing, and only felt a flash of light behind me, and then the sound of pursuit stopped. Does that count as unusual?"

He spoke with a very serious expression, but inside, he was incredibly nervous, wondering if the tall man's instructions would be enough to fool them.

This reckless attempt to deceive was too crude and unreliable, practically suicidal, which was why he truly didn't want to come.

Poyuan fell silent, deep in thought.

Li Xianghong glanced at him and interjected, "Who were the people who held you captive?"

"They were all masked; I truly don't know who they were," Huang Yingying replied.

Poyuan suddenly snorted coldly, "According to you, the people who held you captive must be highly skilled. How could they let you escape so easily?"

Huang Yingying said in astonishment, "I didn't escape; they released me. They said the matter was concluded, that they had been exposed, that something seemed to have gone wrong, and they were going to flee for their lives. They said they had no grudge against me, so they let me go."

Li Xianghong frowned, "If they already released you, why are you still crying that someone wants to kill you?"

Huang Yingying stammered a bit, "Those people were so secretive; they hardly said anything substantial, and besides..." He started wailing again. "They killed the employees in my store; all three of my employees were killed by them. What if they find me again? City Lord, you're friends with my wife, you must protect me! Could you please lock me up on the mountain first, and then release me once you've caught those people?"

"Shut up!" Li Xianghong snapped, annoyed by his constant wailing.

Poyuan interjected, "Huang Yingying, do you know Fan Wuzhe?"

Huang Yingying wiped away his tears and replied rather bluntly, "No, I don't."

At this statement, both Poyuan and Li Xianghong's expressions darkened. Fan Wuzhe had already confessed.

"Are you sure you don't know him?" Li Xianghong said in a deep voice.

"Do I, then?" Huang Yingying asked in surprise and suspicion.

This remark made the atmosphere in the room awkward.

Seeing that everyone seemed about to lose their temper, he quickly added, "Can you give me a hint?"

If it were anyone else, Li Xianghong would certainly have punished them first. For Bai Qiru's sake, she held back and countered, "Morning Moon Pavilion, the person Dong Wenshu's second daughter is marrying—you haven't seen him?"

"Ah? Oh, that pretty boy. Yes, yes, I've seen him. Fan what? So it's him you're talking about. Yes, I've seen him, yesterday afternoon, and it wasn't..." Huang Yingying mumbled, looking down, seemingly wanting to say more but holding back.

He clearly lacked any manly composure. Li Xianghong could no longer tolerate it. A strand of her long hair suddenly floated up like a spear and swiftly pierced Huang Yingying's left shoulder joint, twisting like a snake.

If she wished, each strand of her long hair could infiltrate every single one of the opponent's blood vessels.

"Ah!" Huang Yingying shrieked in pain. "A month ago, I also saw him a month ago at the tax office, being severely tortured by tax officials. I truly don't know how he became the Morning Moon Pavilion's son-in-law."

Li Xianghong and Poyuan exchanged a glance and realized that this matched Fan Wuzhe's confession.

*Swish*, the long hair was pulled out of Huang Yingying's shoulder. He winced and whimpered from the pain.

"You don't know who kidnapped you?" Poyuan asked.

Huang Yingying shook his head and quickly replied bluntly, "No, I don't! I haven't made any enemies, nor have I offended anyone. I really don't know why anyone would kidnap me."

As he spoke, tears and snot began to flow again, and he started crying once more.

After another round of detailed questioning, it eventually went as he wished. Didn't he want to be locked up on the mountain? Indeed, he was escorted to the dungeon and imprisoned.

With the nuisance gone, Li Xianghong, although disliking Huang Yingying, still spoke up for him: "He might genuinely not know who kidnapped him. Even if he recognized Fan Wuzhe as someone Meiyou and his group had previously captured, it's unlikely he would have known in advance about Meiyou's plans regarding the library. If he didn't see the kidnappers' true faces, he wouldn't have thought Meiyou would be the one to kidnap him."

Poyuan replied, "There are too many unresolved doubts surrounding this matter. Did you capture Meiyou because of his wife? Did Meiyou act against him because he discovered Fan Wuzhe's secret? He burrowed into Fan Wuzhe's bedroom. My two trusted lieutenants were killed, and he was involved. Now, the kidnappers supposedly released him just because they had no grudge against him. Every single detail is connected to him. Can we just let him go based on his plausible story? How did Meiyou die? Who sent you the letter and the mother-son talismans? Why did the mastermind want Axun's belongings? We don't know the real reasons for any of this. How can we just release this person?"

Li Xianghong countered, "Do you think this matter can still be thoroughly investigated? The mastermind has clearly succeeded and withdrawn. Are we to keep him indefinitely just because we can't get to the bottom of it?"

"If we can't get to the bottom of it," Poyuan replied, "he should never have left Divine Mountain; he should have remained there as a slave forever. This simply provides a good excuse to detain him and reassign him to slavery."

Li Xianghong widened her eyes slightly, "Don't forget why he was released. Don't forget he's Granny Qi's grandson-in-law."

Poyuan replied, "Granny Qi is far away in Phoenix Qilin Continent; whether she even knows her disowned granddaughter married such a person is another matter. If it weren't for his connections, do you think we'd be speaking to him so politely? He would have been tortured long ago. Some matters are not for you and me to worry about. My concern is that this series of events means those rat-like scoundrels are still up to no good. It's better to escort him back to Divine Mountain and keep an eye on him. If someone truly steps forward to plead for him, we can discuss it then. It's not our concern; the higher-ups will make their own decision!"

Seeing that his mind was made up, Li Xianghong's expression became somewhat serious. Her thoughts turned to Bai Qiru for a moment, then she returned to the main topic: "Lou Xiu is absolutely involved in this matter. It's very likely that he silenced Meiyou. He might even know who the mastermind is."

"Do you have any evidence?" Poyuan countered.

Li Xianghong's expression changed. "What do you mean?"

Poyuan was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "I received a message from Divine Mountain. If you have evidence, then naturally, we'll proceed as appropriate; he deserves it, and there's nothing more to say. However, if there's no solid evidence, given how far the two of you have gone, he will be transferred back to Divine Mountain."