Chapter 38: Digging Out Clues

Amidst the intense firelight, Feng Zi's blood-covered face was illuminated in a deep red, like a vengeful ghost come from the underworld to claim a life.

Though his expression was calm, it had long since filled the Martial Artist bandit with such terror that his heart and gallbladder were shattered, and he could not help but secretly think:

"It's over... Bosses, I warned you many times, but why wouldn't you listen? You really have provoked such a god of slaughter!"

Yet even so, the bandit still forcibly summoned a breath of courage, his voice trembling and tears streaming down as he said:

"I, I cannot say. This was all my own doing..."

Hearing this answer, which possessed a certain backbone, Feng Zi could not help but feel a bit surprised, yet he still said coldly:

"A real man—did you think I would say that? If you were truly a man of iron will, would you be doing such despicable things as bullying the weak for no reason?"

As he spoke, his hand tore through the other's chest like a sharp blade, forcibly crushing one of the man's ribs to pieces!

The heart-rending, lung-splitting agony swept over the bandit's heart like a tsunami, but the man could not fall unconscious no matter what; instead, his five senses became increasingly sharp—

"Do you think you still have a choice? Either confess honestly and I will give you a quick death, or I will pry your mouth open and force it out of you!"

If this tragedy taught Feng Zi any lesson, it was not to feign composure; once a decision to strike was made, one must use the most thunderous and overwhelming means!

He slowly withdrew his hand and calmly repeated his question:

"Speak, where exactly is your Black Bamboo Stronghold? Are there any identifying marks? What are your internal passwords? Is the main force stationed in the stronghold?"

The bandit's heart was already filled with fear, and that previous "toughness" had already exhausted his spirit.

Upon hearing Feng Zi's question, the man answered tremblingly: "I'll speak, I'll speak...

"Our stronghold is at Heizhu Mountain; this mountain is, is just like its name, full of black bamboo.

"Except for us, everyone in the stronghold is setting traps on the mountain—this was the order of that fat pig from the Sun Family, and the bosses dared not neglect it."

Feng Zi was not very satisfied with this answer; he reached out and meticulously crushed another one of the bandit's ribs.

A miserable and hoarse scream erupted from the bandit's throat, but Feng Zi seemed not to notice.

He merely extended his blood-stained hand, gently stroked the man's cheek, and whispered into the bandit's ear:

"You haven't finished answering my question yet. What are your internal passwords?"

Feng Zi did not deny that at this very moment, he was not only conducting an interrogation but also venting the rage in his heart.

Blood constantly overflowed from the bandit's mouth, yet he dared not be the least bit negligent, answering intermittently:

"W-we have no passwords. The, the mountain-patrolling lackeys only, only recognize our... our own people and the people of the Sun Family."

Feng Zi was not actually all that surprised by this answer—

After all, based on what he understood, the bandits of Black Bamboo Stronghold were essentially the Sun Family's dirty gloves, and their internal circle was naturally extremely exclusionary.

But he still frowned slightly and said quite "impatiently": "The Sun Family... it's the Sun Family again. What exactly is your relationship with the Sun Family?"

Based on his understanding and observations over this period, Feng Zi naturally understood the answer to this question.

But he wanted to get a concrete answer from the man's own mouth!

"Don't you already know?" The bandit's complexion grew paler, and his pupils became slightly unfocused.

Before Feng Zi could make any further move, the man muttered in a low voice: "What other relationship could there be...

"In the eyes of those commoners, we are imposing bandits who rob whoever we want and kill whoever we want, lawless and unscrupulous.

"But can't you see it? Even our Great Boss is only a Martial Artist—we are just dogs for that fat pig!

"Whatever he wants us to do, we must do. How big the commotion is, how it ends, and how much loot we get—none of that is for us to decide..."

Feng Zi was not surprised by this answer; he only needed a definitive confirmation.

But he was not very satisfied with the man's attempt to push all the blame onto the Sun Family:

"According to you, your Black Bamboo Stronghold is some kind of spotless white lotus flower then?!

"How about it? Did Sun Min order you to kill all one hundred and thirty-six people of Bao Jia Zhuang?

"Tonight's tragedy was supposed to be a trap to lure me in, so why did it turn into such a massacre? Was that also ordered by Sun Min?

"Don't make me laugh; you two are clearly birds of a feather!"

Perhaps because he heard the number "one hundred and thirty-six people," for a moment, the guilt in the bandit's heart actually overcame his fear of Feng Zi.

The man opened his eyes wide, struggling to focus his already unfocused pupils on Feng Zi, and shouted:

"Do you think we wanted to kill people? We aren't lunatics, and we didn't want to do such beastly things either!

"If it weren't for the times forcing our hand, we would have been honest, law-abiding farmers too; we didn't want to become outlaws!"

Hearing this unexpected confession, Feng Zi subconsciously raised an eyebrow and thought to himself: "Could there be a hidden story?"

Perhaps knowing that his life was coming to an end, the bandit actually forgot his fear for a moment and muttered:

"We didn't kill people originally, nor did we rob ordinary people... at most, we just did things like robbing merchant caravans and kidnapping for ransom.

"I know these things are also excessive, but we did it only for survival; we never killed anyone.

"But we don't have any Martial Masters. When that fat pig approached us, we could only listen to the Sun Family's instructions and do as they said.

"Whatever they told us to do, we could only do."

It sounded as if the man were quite pitiful, and that there might be an excuse for committing such heaven-defying and people-resented acts.

But Feng Zi was no idiot, nor was he a sycophant who lost his own judgment the moment someone spoke.

Regarding this "sincere" confession, he had only one thought in his heart:

"Boring. It is nothing more than using the oppression of power to rationalize one's own atrocities; in the end, they are just a group of accomplices not worth pitying."

Immediately, his heart firmed in his original resolve—

Whether it was the Sun Family hiding behind the scenes or the Black Bamboo Stronghold bandits active on the front lines, they were all a group of worthless, monstrous evils; if they were not killed, it would not be enough to cleanse the atmosphere of this place!

After pouring out all the frustration pent up in his heart, the bandit wore an expression of relief:

"What I could say, and what I couldn't, I have told you everything I know. I beg you... give me a quick death."

The man naturally understood that he was already finished; rather than waiting for death in despair, it was better to ask Feng Zi to "keep his promise."

Unfortunately, Feng Zi had never had such an intention, and merely said indifferently: "If I let you die so easily, how could I console those innocent people who died unjustly?"

Upon hearing these words, the mountain bandit's eyes, which had already become unfocused and dull, suddenly widened.

But fresh blood kept overflowing from the other party's throat, having long since made it impossible for him to emit any sound.

Feng Zi did not bother with more nonsense; he immediately broke all four of the mountain bandit's limbs and tossed him into the raging inferno.