Chapter 182: Interrogation, Seizing Power

"Wuwuwu!!"

In the room, the man wearing black robes was bound by iron chains, his mouth gagged, constantly struggling on the ground with a ferocious expression, looking extremely pained.

Li Fei stood right beside this person, watching him expressionlessly.

The person on the ground was the very same Force-Refining martial artist who had previously impersonated the "Green-Faced Ghost." Now, Li Fei had broken his limbs and used Blood Fiend Qi to severely damage the implant inside his body, leaving him with no power to resist.

This Force-Refining martial artist had assumed Li Fei was just an ordinary Body-Breaking realm martial artist. After he had injected C-Fire Gang Qi into all of Li Fei's joints, he was certain there would be no mishaps, so he had let his guard down completely.

To avoid revealing any flaws, Li Fei had proactively severed his connection with the Myriad Blood Bead when the opponent injected the C-Fire Gang Qi. Only after the opponent let down his guard and turned his back to examine the Ghost-Slaying Blade did Li Fei re-establish the connection, allowing the Myriad Blood Bead to absorb almost all the C-Fire Gang Qi in his joints.

Then, Li Fei suddenly erupted in a sneak attack, injecting a strand of Blood Fiend Qi into the opponent's body, severely wounding him in one blow!

After subduing the man, Li Fei began to interrogate him about his identity and what the Tiger Blade Gang's trump card was for this operation.

But this man had a stiff mouth and did not seem to fear death at all.

Li Fei did not know any methods for torture, but he had Nether Spring Poison on hand, so he fed the man a dose of the liquid poison.

This was something Li Fei usually took himself to increase the energy of the Myriad Blood Bead. When he concocted this poison, he aimed for a slow onset but maximized the final accumulated toxicity.

After being poisoned with the Nether Spring Poison, the Force-Refining martial artist was able to endure it at first, but as the toxicity intensified, he began to struggle crazily on the ground.

Originally, with a Force-Refining martial artist's physical constitution and Force protecting the body, he could have forcibly withstood even the most potent poisons.

However, this Force-Refining martial artist had first been severely wounded by Li Fei's Blood Fiend Qi, leaving the implant in his body in a nearly crippled state, and his internal organs had already been corroded before being poisoned, making it hard to bear.

The combination of Blood Fiend Qi and Nether Spring Poison brought about extreme torture!

"Tell me everything you know, and I will give you the antidote."

Li Fei squatted down and said into the man's ear.

After struggling for a while longer, the man finally could not take it anymore and nodded desperately at Li Fei.

Li Fei loosened the gag in his mouth.

"Give me the antidote! Quickly, give me the antidote!"

The Force-Refining martial artist shouted with rapid breathing.

His accent was somewhat strange; it was not a local Xingcheng accent, nor was it even an accent from Feng Province.

"First, tell me who you are and where you are from?"

Li Fei pressed down on him and asked.

"Give me the antidote!"

"I'll give it to you once you tell me! Speak quickly!"

". eh. Heh. Heh."

The Force-Refining martial artist gasped violently, his eyes still showing signs of struggle.

"The longer you drag this out, the deeper the poison will sink, and the more uncomfortable you will be. This poison will last for at least another two hours; I can wait it out with you slowly."

Li Fei's words broke the opponent's final psychological defense:

"Fine, I'll talk!"

"My real name is Hu En Tuso, and I am from the Meijia Kingdom!"

The opponent revealed his identity.

"What did you say?!"

Li Fei's eyes widened sharply.

Inspection Bureau.

Dozens of armed horse bandits besieged the Inspection Bureau. Under Wu Yihua's orders, the Inspection Bureau adopted the most conservative strategy—hold the line firmly and never launch an offensive!

"Li Lei, did Xiao Fei fall into the hands of the Tiger Blade Gang? Is Wu Yihua threatening you with Xiao Fei's life?"

Lu Sheng stormed into Li Lei's office aggressively and demanded an answer.

Li Lei glanced at the doorway.

Lu Sheng turned and closed the office door, then walked over and sat down opposite Li Lei.

"Xiao Fei is fine."

Li Lei said to Lu Sheng in a low voice.

"Ah?"

Lu Sheng was stunned, completely not expecting this answer from Li Lei.

"The Tiger Blade Gang did send people to kidnap Xiao Fei, but he has already been rescued. He called me just a moment ago; he is indeed safe."

Li Lei said.

"Then why are you still waiting here? Can't you see that this is a deliberate arrangement by the Tiger Blade Gang just to stall the Inspection Bureau!"

Lu Sheng asked with some agitation.

Li Lei shook his head: "I looked carefully just now. The opponent seems to have specifically studied how to trap the Inspection Bureau. The various points held by the people outside are very tricky. If we relied only on the First Brigade, even if we succeeded in breaking out, we would suffer heavy casualties and wouldn't be able to do anything afterward."

Lu Sheng was stunned, and only then did he calm down.

"Being this impulsive, it's not like you, Old Lu."

Li Lei looked at Lu Sheng with suspicion.

Back then, Lu Sheng was able to rise step by step from an ordinary inspector to the captain of the First Brigade. Although there was a certain element of luck, his personal ability was also outstanding, which was why he was appreciated by all his superiors and able to climb the ranks.

But today, Lu Sheng seemed very impulsive.

Lu Sheng took a deep breath, his eyes bloodshot as he looked at Li Lei, and said word by word:

"My informant told me that the people who entered the city from the East City Gate are from the Peace-Seeking Sect!"

"What did you say?"

Now it was Li Lei's turn to be shocked.

After he had talked with Lu Sheng that day, he had truly been supporting Lu Sheng with all his might to investigate that old case, providing money, authority, and manpower!

When Lu Sheng was a brigade captain, he already had eyes in both the black and white circles of Xingcheng. After gaining Li Lei's support, he re-established contact with those informants and had them start helping him investigate the Peace-Seeking Sect.

When Zhao Yu led a large group of people into the city from the East City Gate, Lu Sheng's informant happened to be along the route. Someone recognized Zhao Yu, as the portrait of this Peace-Seeking Sect leader had long been circulated everywhere. Thus, the informant called Lu Sheng immediately to report the news.

This was the reason for Lu Sheng's agitation.

"That accident back then was indeed the Tiger Blade Gang colluding with the Peace-Seeking Sect in the dark! Changwu was also killed by the Tiger Blade Gang!"

Lu Sheng said through gritted teeth.

The Peace-Seeking Sect hadn't even killed him, so why would they kill his son for no reason?

Therefore, this must have been arranged by the Tiger Blade Gang!

"So today, it's not that the Tiger Blade Gang wants to rebel, but that the Tiger Blade Gang is using the hands of the Peace-Seeking Sect to eliminate dissidents."

Li Lei said in a deep voice.

"I have a plan..."

Lu Sheng suddenly lowered his voice and said.

A few minutes later, Lu Sheng walked out of Li Lei's office and headed straight for Wu Yihua's office.

At this time, a team of inspectors with guns was already guarding outside Wu Yihua's office. This was an arrangement Wu Yihua made to prevent Li Lei from doing something desperate.

Therefore, Lu Sheng could not see Wu Yihua directly and was stopped by this team.

"Please report that I wish to see Chief Inspector Wu."

Lu Sheng said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

Soon, Wu Yihua, sitting in his office, received the news:

"Lu Sheng wants to see me?"

"Yes, he just walked out of Li Lei's office."

"Oh?"

Wu Yihua narrowed his eyes, "Bring him in."

Soon, two inspectors brought Lu Sheng into the office.

"What do you want with me?"

Wu Yihua looked at Lu Sheng and asked.

Lu Sheng looked at the inspectors standing on his left and right, and smiled at Wu Yihua:

"Could we talk in private?"

Wu Yihua sneered: "Lu Sheng, what do you think?"

Lu Sheng's smile remained unchanged: "What I want to talk about is the Peace-Seeking Sect. Is Chief Inspector Wu sure he doesn't want to talk in private?"

"The Peace-Seeking Sect?"

Wu Yihua's expression changed slightly as he looked into Lu Sheng's eyes.

He hesitated for a moment and gave a look to one of the inspectors.

The man immediately began to search Lu Sheng. He searched his entire body thoroughly, and after confirming he was not carrying any weapons, he turned and nodded to Wu Yihua.

"You all go out."

Wu Yihua said to the two inspectors.

After the two exited and closed the office door, Wu Yihua had already taken the revolver from his desk into his hand, the muzzle pointed at Lu Sheng intentionally or otherwise.

Lu Sheng glanced at the gun in Wu Yihua's hand and smiled: "So cautious?"

Wu Yihua also smiled: "Sitting in this position, one has to be cautious."

Lu Sheng stepped forward as if to walk toward him, but was stopped directly by Wu Yihua:

"Don't move!"

Lu Sheng had no choice but to stop.

"If you have something to say, just say it standing there."

Wu Yihua said.

Lu Sheng nodded, looking straight at Wu Yihua:

"That incident in Luoshan back then was deliberately orchestrated by the Tiger Blade Gang, wasn't it?"

Wu Yihua's expression did not change as he stared at Lu Sheng:

"Oh, why do you say that?"

"The Tiger Blade Gang has always wanted to completely control the Inspectorate, but the previous Chief Inspector, Huang Weiguang, was a neutral party who couldn't be won over, and I, the First Captain, am not one of your people either. Chief Inspector Huang was already making preparations for the future while in office; if we had just waited things out step by step, there is no way the position of Chief Inspector would have fallen to you."

Lu Sheng said bluntly to Wu Yihua.

Wu Yihua's expression shifted slightly, and he sneered: "If it wouldn't fall to me, would it have fallen to you?"

Lu Sheng nodded and said with great confidence: "If Chief Inspector Huang hadn't stepped down early, I would have been promoted to Deputy Chief Inspector while he was still in office. At most, in ten years, the position of Chief Inspector would definitely have been mine!"

"Heh."

Wu Yihua looked at him mockingly, "Then why is it me sitting here and you standing there today?"

Lu Sheng's gaze turned cold: "That is why you all racked your brains to cause that incident in Luoshan! That incident appeared to benefit the Peace God Sect, but in reality, the Tiger Blade Gang also profited in the shadows. You quietly reaped the benefits, achieved your goals, and let the Peace God Sect take all the blame—this must have been the scheme of that Private Secretary Zhang, right? It's a pity, Zhang Mingze ended up dead after all."

Wu Yihua shook his head, looking at Lu Sheng with a pitiful gaze: "Is this what you came to tell me?"

"Of course not just that."

Lu Sheng said.

"Zhang Mingze is already dead; even if you cooperate with the Peace God Sect again, do you think you are guaranteed to win today?!"

Lu Sheng deliberately roared this last sentence out loud.

Hearing the words "cooperate with the Peace God Sect," Wu Yihua's mind jolted; he did not understand how Lu Sheng knew.

And in the instant Wu Yihua was distracted, Lu Sheng suddenly erupted and lunged fiercely at him!

Wu Yihua was startled, never expecting that Lu Sheng would suddenly make a move.

He immediately raised his gun to fire, but his reaction was a beat too slow; Lu Sheng had already lunged over and tackled him from his office chair to the ground.

Bang!

The gunshot still rang out.

However, Lu Sheng had controlled Wu Yihua's gun-wielding hand the moment he lunged, so he was not hit.

The two tumbled on the ground, and Wu Yihua struggled desperately, but a sharp pain suddenly shot through his nose as Lu Sheng had slammed his head into him with great force.

Everything went black for Wu Yihua, followed by a sharp pain in his finger joints, and then the gun in his hand was snatched away.

Slap!

At this moment, the office door had already been opened, and the inspectors guarding outside rushed in.

But Wu Yihua had already been forcibly hauled up by Lu Sheng, who held the gun against his head.

"Stop!"

"Don't move!"

"Drop the gun!"

"Move again and I'll shoot him dead!"

A standoff erupted in the office.

From Lu Sheng's sudden eruption to the inspectors outside rushing into the room, the entire process took only a few seconds, but Lu Sheng had already completed the disarming and hostage-taking—all actions performed in one smooth motion, extremely sharp and ruthless!

Lu Sheng had sat in the position of Captain for seven or eight years and had not personally participated in frontline operations for too long. Later, being demoted to a clerk made him a purely administrative staff member, which made Wu Yihua almost forget the past record of this Captain Lu:

He had personally hunted down heinous murderers, fought criminals with his bare hands and captured them, and once faced seven armed bandits alone with a single gun, eventually killing three, suppressing the rest, and waiting for reinforcements.

Although Lu Sheng was not a martial artist, he had fought his way up from the bottom with blade and gun; even if he hadn't fought anyone in years, dealing with a Chief Inspector who had risen from an administrative post was more than enough!

"Wu Yihua, tell your men to drop their guns, or I'll kill you!"

Lu Sheng roared at Wu Yihua.

Wu Yihua's face flushed red: "I am an official of the imperial court, do you dare to kill me?!"

"Damn it, my son is already gone, do you think I care about your bullshit official title? Are you trying to gamble your life with me? Fine, I'll count to three, and we'll all fire!"

"Three!"

"Two!!!"

"Alright, alright, alright, drop the guns! You all drop your guns!"

Wu Yihua ultimately did not dare to gamble his life against Lu Sheng and backed down.

Just as Lu Sheng said, his son was already dead, so what did he care about being an official?

Li Lei, who had been waiting in the hallway, saw Wu Yihua's men drop their guns and immediately led his people in to take control of the squad.

"Old Lu, you're really badass!"

Li Lei looked at Lu Sheng, who was holding Wu Yihua, and admired him sincerely.

In that situation just now, if Lu Sheng had been even a second slower, or had the slightest error, Lu Sheng would have been the one controlled by Wu Yihua's men, and Li Lei wouldn't have been able to save him even if he wanted to.

This was the plan Lu Sheng had just proposed to Li Lei: he would gamble his life, go all out, and seize power in the most direct way!

"Li Lei, you want to seize power? Do you think you can do it?"

Wu Yihua said to Li Lei with a stern expression.

"It wouldn't work with just him, but with me added, it's different."

Lu Sheng sneered and struck Wu Yihua with the butt of the gun.

Wu Yihua cried out in pain, his expression changing instantly.

Indeed, Li Lei's foundation in the Inspectorate was shallow after all; even as Deputy Chief Inspector, it was still very difficult to seize power directly, and even the people of the First Brigade might not all be willing to follow him into danger.

But with Lu Sheng added, it was different.

Lu Sheng had been the "Crown Prince" of the Inspectorate for seven or eight years; he had connections, prestige, and methods, and there were many in the Inspectorate who owed him favors.

If it was Lu Sheng standing up to support Li Lei, the chances of seizing power would be much greater!

"Call Qian Hengjun and the others up here!"

Lu Sheng pointed the gun at Wu Yihua and said coldly.

He wanted Wu Yihua to call all his confidants in the Inspectorate up.

A few minutes later, gunshots rang out one after another inside the Inspectorate.

A dozen minutes later, over two hundred combat personnel from the three brigades of the Inspectorate rushed out, broke through the horse bandits' blockade, and charged toward Kaiping District!

(End of chapter)