Chapter 601: Interrogation

Song Xuan was also injured, her arm wounded.

Pan Yun finally stopped teasing them; they still had to serve in the same team, and if Gao Zhiming and the others kept disobeying orders and acting on their own, who knew how many more injuries or deaths would follow…

Pan Yun said gravely: "This time, our team lost one man and had three seriously wounded."

Saying this, she turned and walked away.

Gao Zhiming's heart skipped a beat; he fell silent, unable to help wondering—if he hadn't left when he did, would they have trusted him enough to stay and hold formation, avoiding injury and death altogether?

Xue Shao's servant, Xi Jin, knew only rudimentary martial arts, yet he followed Pan Yun in and out of battle unharmed—how much more so should they have been?

Zhang Ning had counted the wounded; he kept only the lightly injured, while the seriously wounded were treated by Tao Yanbai and Miao He before being carried onto the ship, escorted back to Quanzhou Harbor by a squad.

The pirates' corpses were buried on the spot; their own fallen were also carried aboard and sent back to Quanzhou Harbor together.

In this battle, they lost twelve men and had twenty-one seriously wounded.

Zhang Ning arranged escorts for them, assigning half the crew to the task; only forty-seven remained on site, along with three pirates.

Wu Dahai was dragged out from among the pirates; Zhang Ning stood before him and asked: "What's your name?"

Wu Dahai said: "Taro."

Zhang Ning was speechless, kicked him: "You think we're fools? That authentic Minnan accent, and you call yourself Taro? Why not just name yourself Choros Yexian?"

Wu Dahai stared at Zhang Ning with confused eyes: "Who's that? I don't know him."

"Good that you don't know—stop pretending to be Japanese pirates. Tell me your real name."

Wu Dahai said nothing.

Zhang Ning sneered: "Even if you won't speak, I can find out. All these pirates want is money. Someone, search the pirate lair—find where they bought land and houses, and see whose names are on the deeds!"

Wu Dahai remained motionless, unafraid.

Pan Yun glided over quietly and whispered: "Young Master Zhang, you forgot—this is just one of their dens. A clever rabbit has three burrows; there are two more."

Zhang Ning: …

Zhang Weiyi also came over: "Don't ask. They won't speak, and neither will their men. Just put them on the ship to guide us to Wangyue Island."

It's an obscure little island; supposedly, Japanese pirates—no, this time, real Japanese pirates.

All of them passing through from the mainland stop here to regroup.

Cen Dachuan's group knew two such Japanese pirate transit islands: one they'd actually been to, called Dongyang Island;

the other was Wangyue Island—only heard of, never visited.

Li Wenying led another team to take Cen Dachuan's brothers to Dongyang Island; our group was tasked with wiping out this pirate nest and securing Wangyue Island's location.

But Wu Dahai and the other two remained silent; Zhang Ning grew furious and ordered them taken away for interrogation by torture.

When Pan Yun saw Wu Dahai again, he was barely alive.

Zhang Ning had tortured them too harshly—one died, the other two could barely breathe; they had to summon Tao Yanbai and Miao He to treat their wounds.

Pan Yun and the others had come along out of curiosity, hoping to gather information.

But seeing the two men reduced to bloody pulp, their expressions darkened.

Miao He winced, pinching her nose softly: "This violates the harmony of Heaven."

Zhang Ning pretended not to hear and pressed: "Can you save them? Just keep them alive."

Pan Yun frowned: "If they won't speak even after being beaten like this, keeping them barely alive won't help."

Zhang Ning said gravely: "I've confirmed—the location of Wangyue Island is known only to these three. If they stay silent, we'll have to hunt down another pirate nest and interrogate their leader."

Pan Yun frowned.

Xue Shao stepped forward, glanced at the two unconscious men with their heads drooping, and said: "Let me try." Zhang Ning, seeing his scholarly air, frowned: "You?"

Xue Shao: "If they won't speak after being beaten to this state, further torture is meaningless."

Zhang Ning stayed silent, lips pressed tight.

Zhang Weiyi had quietly stepped behind Zhang Ning and whispered: "Let him try."

Zhang Ning was surprised: "You trust him?"

Zhang Weiyi said expressionlessly: "He's a scholar. Scholars are cunning—perhaps he has a way."

Turning to Xue Shao, he said: "Young Master Xue, you're a scholar. Scholars are clever. This matter is entrusted to you."

Zhang Ning agreed.

Wu Dahai and the other were carried onto a bed; Tao Yanbai and Miao He immediately began treating them.

After nearly an hour of frantic work, their wounds were bandaged—completely wrapped like mummies.

!

Xue Shao knew they couldn't afford delays, so he asked: "When will they wake?"

Tao Yanbai said: "I can pierce them awake, but it will harm their bodies further."

Xue Shao didn't hesitate: "Then pierce them awake."

Other fronts were already engaged—the longer we wait, the greater the danger to our people.

Tao Yanbai took a needle and moved it up and down over Wu Dahai's Hukou.

Wu Dahai felt no pain, only a sudden acceleration of his heartbeat; in hazy consciousness, he opened his eyes.

The moment he opened them, he met Xue Shao's gentle gaze.

Wu Dahai stared back coldly, unmoved.

Xue Shao pulled over a chair, sat squarely opposite the bed, knees pressed against the edge, and sighed softly: "I know you won't reveal your names or origins."

"The Great Ming Code: any pirate shall be executed, and his family and neighbors who knew and failed to report shall be severely punished!" Xue Shao said: "When you take to the seas as pirates, it's usually an entire village, a whole neighborhood—even a dozen surrounding hamlets—all connected. If you confess your true identity, you'll drag countless others down with you."

"Even if the authorities ultimately spare the masses, your relatives and friends will pay a terrible price—and the government, fearing rebellion from oppression, will pretend not to notice."

Xue Shao sneered: "The authorities are always like this—wanting money, yet refusing to take responsibility."

Wu Dahai slowly turned his head, fixing his gaze on him, and after a long pause, rasped: "Aren't you a scholar?"

Xue Shao gave a mocking smile, dejectedly saying: "Just a down-and-out, useless Provincial Graduate scholar."

"You're already a Provincial Graduate scholar, how could you be useless?"

Xue Shao simply tilted his head back and sighed, looking utterly desolate.

Pan Yun and the other four stood off to the side, some with arms crossed, some propping up their chins, staring blankly.

Xue Shao did not continue the topic about himself, but pulled the conversation back: "The boss should have figured it out too — we're not from the government."

Wu Dahai said resentfully: "If you're not from the government office, then who exactly are you? Why are you targeting me?"

He had long suspected it — their methods simply didn't resemble those of the naval government office. He suspected they were rival sea bandits coming to seize his territory and wealth, but listening to their interrogation questions, that didn't fit either. What band of sea bandits would keep asking his surname and given name, where Moonview Isle was, instead of asking where he hid his gold and silver?

So he kept wavering between two answers, and didn't dare reveal his own name and origins.

(End of chapter)