Chapter 656

Chen Liutao and Qu Zhixing finally dragged Dainai Hongjian back.

Dainai Hongjian's face was as pale as gold paper, utterly unlike his earlier arrogance; his eyes filled with terror when fixed on Pan Yun, and he trembled slightly when glancing at Chen Liutao and Qu Zhixing.

Pan Yun pretended not to notice, giving a slight nod to Chen Liutao and Qu Zhixing.

Those selected by the Northern Pacification Office to accompany Xue Shao on the sea voyage could hardly be incompetent.

Their backgrounds might not be strong, their family pedigrees might not be impressive, but their abilities were certainly solid.

Chen Liutao tossed Dainai Hongjian beside the fire, while Qu Zhixing shoved a pill into his mouth—ensuring he wouldn't die, for the bleeding had already been stopped before they dragged him back.

The two sat beside Pan Yun and Xue Shao, reporting in low voices what they had extracted.

"We tortured him, but he still refused to reveal who the man was—though we uncovered something else."

Pan Yun: "What?"

"This is connected to the Izumo Grand Shrine. Last year's village massacre wasn't meant for plunder—it was merely a pretext to lure enough Japanese pirates ashore, while Dainai clan members slipped past checkpoints and infiltrated Quanzhou. He won't say what he did in Shuangyang Village and Huaihua Village, but it was certainly no good."

Pan Yun's gaze settled on Dainai Hongjian, her voice low: "We have time. You can interrogate slowly. Who else is in his family?"

Chen Liutao: "Besides his parents, he has one younger brother and two younger sisters. The two sisters were sent away—he clearly places all his hopes on his brother."

Pan Yun tilted her head: "Sent away?"

"As concubines. He can't even recall who exactly they were sent to—can't remember if it was the second or third Young Master of the Oda clan—so if we're to threaten his family, only his brother will work."

"What about his parents?"

Chen Liutao shook his head: "I don't think so."

Qu Zhixing, unwilling to waste effort, said bluntly: "I think his brother won't work either. Better to give him two bowls of tonic and apply more torture. Time is short—we can't use many of the usual methods. He seems tough, but he's not that strong."

They had seen truly unyielding men in the Northern Pacification Office.

Dainai Hongjian paled in comparison—even lesser than some upright ministers.

When they entered the Imperial Prison, the prisoners cursed them, even cursed the Emperor—no matter how much they were beaten, they refused to confess at first, but usually by the third day they changed their tune, answering every question, even falsely implicating others to save themselves, adding unnecessary work for them.

Their goal was to trace the root cause, because these prisoners were simply too dishonest, too clever at lying—that's why they used torture. Who would enjoy their false accusations, adding to their workload?

Except for a few high-ranking officers who wanted to drag others down.

But that was the will of the top echelon—what did it have to do with lowly officers like them?

Back to the matter: Qu Zhixing was confident: "As long as we keep him alive, in at most three days we'll drain him dry. When Pan Daochang asks him anything, he'll answer—but whether it's true or false will be up to Pan Daochang to judge."

Of course, they'd assist from the side.

Years in the Northern Pacification Office had given them interrogation skills and the ability to discern truth from lies.

But their Japanese was limited, and Dainai Hongjian's Chinese was equally limited—during interrogation, they'd noticed he spoke several phrases in Japanese, which they barely understood, piecing together meaning through guesswork.

So… "Bring Yi Jianren along. I think he translates well."

Yi Jianren's Chinese had recently improved dramatically, making a qualitative leap.

Pan Yun agreed, asking: "What else did you find out?"

It was all fragmented information. Chen Liutao and Qu Zhixing suspected the Dainai clan head was involved, but being cautious by nature, they held back without evidence.

Both turned to glance at Pan Yun, wondering: if they confirmed the Dainai clan head was truly behind this, would Pan Yun kill him? Could she kill him?

Recalling rumors they'd heard, they exchanged a fleeting glance, both growing eager.

With Pan Yun's abilities, assassinating the Dainai clan head should be no problem. It seemed they'd need to ask more about the clan head during future interrogations of Dainai Hongjian.

The group slept by the fire all night; Dainai Hongjian warmed himself by the flames, and by morning he had recovered somewhat—his complexion was no longer as deathly pale as the night before.

Seeing Miao Zhen examined his wounds: "Young Master, should we change his medicine?"

Pan Yun: "Will he die?"

Seeing Miao Zhen: "No. Aside from these two wounds, the others are carefully controlled—look painful, but don't damage his core."

Qu Le glanced and realized those two wounds were his doing.

Chen Liutao passed by him and said: "The highest art of torture is to instill terror, pain, a living hell—without harming the body. You? You make people want to die, yet barely feel pain. In the Imperial Prison, men like you are the most popular with prisoners."

Qu Le: …

He wasn't pleased to hear this.

Pan Yun ignored the two, speaking directly to Seeing Miao Zhen: "If he won't die, leave him be. We must conserve our medicine."

She turned to Wang Cong: "Feed him. Once he's done eating, put him on the cart—we must catch up with those ahead."

Wang Cong complied.

The overnight millet porridge had burst open, thick and fragrant, paired with the pickled vegetables they'd brought—each person could eat two large bowls.

For the first time ever eating millet porridge while camping, Gao Zhiming couldn't help exclaiming: "Cultivation is wonderful! Why didn't you ever cook before?"

Wang Cong didn't look up: "No time."

If not for yesterday's exhaustion and his concern that Young Master hadn't eaten much at night, he wouldn't have bothered boiling this porridge.

Though dry rations were tasteless, they were convenient.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Seeing Miao He buried their faces in their bowls, accustomed to their senior brother's laziness—but Gao Zhiming choked on his food.

Dainai Hongjian ate his bowl of porridge without taste, was escorted aside by Chen Liutao to relieve himself, then thrown onto the cart, continuing onward.

The box containing the severed heads was placed inside the cart, right before Dainai Hongjian's eyes.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Seeing Miao He didn't want to share space with the heads, so they squeezed onto the cart's driver's bench with Song Xuan.

The others took turns riding inside to guard Dainai Hongjian; the rest ran on foot beside the cart.

But they still preferred running—they didn't like being near a box of heads.

When it was Pan Yun's turn, she sat down with a look of quiet satisfaction, showing no trace of revulsion—but as soon as she entered, Dainai Hongjian instinctively avoided her gaze.

Pan Yun sat directly opposite the box and raised an eyebrow: "Why the panic? I'm not torturing you. Since you're bored, let's chat."

Dainai Hongjian ignored her.

Pan Yun pulled back both side curtains and had Seeing Miao Zhen roll up the front curtain.

Light poured in, illuminating the dim carriage with a warm, gentle glow. (End of chapter)