Chapter 226: Closing the Case

"Xiao Fei! Do you know what you are doing?!"

Xia Huan, who was on the side, saw Li Fei holding the saber against Chen Xiang's neck and was scared half to death.

Bringing Li Fei directly to see Chen Xiang, this prisoner, was already a violation of regulations; if Chen Xiang ended up dying in Li Fei's hands, he might have to take off this official uniform!

Li Fei turned a deaf ear to Xia Huan's words, just looking at Chen Xiang calmly.

Chen Xiang twitched the corner of his mouth and smiled:

"I am already a death row prisoner; don't you find it ridiculous to threaten me with death?"

He colluded with Western spies, which was a capital crime; the reason he hadn't died yet was because the General Supervisory Academy hadn't dug out valuable information from him.

Li Fei said calmly:

"I carefully recalled the situation back then on the way here. You could actually have taken action to kill me yourself, but you insisted on borrowing someone else's hand to kill me. Apart from specific reasons, you actually wanted to protect yourself. If that student from the Dadi Martial Arts Gym had succeeded in killing me, you wouldn't have had to take action yourself, and even if you were suspected or arrested afterward, you would have had reasons to exonerate yourself, saying you were completely unaware."

Chen Xiang was stunned for a moment and looked at Li Fei: "What's the point of saying these things now?"

Li Fei: "There is; it shows you actually don't want to die, you really want to live."

Chen Xiang smiled: "Who would want to die? But now I can't live."

"No."

Li Fei shook his head, "If you knew from the beginning that your ending was destined to be death, you could have chosen to commit suicide when you were caught to avoid the suffering afterward. But you didn't choose to commit suicide at the time, which shows you are not a death squad member; the person behind you must have promised to save you, and you still have hope in your heart, which is why you have been able to hold on until now."

Xia Huan, standing behind, heard this and was slightly startled, immediately feeling that what Li Fei said made sense.

He had interrogated many prisoners, and regarding interrogation, he was absolutely a professional.

Those who seemed to hold a firm belief in death, feeling that death didn't matter, were instead easier to break.

And those who still held hope in their hearts were often the ones who could endure and persist the most.

After Chen Xiang was caught, he had been tortured by the General Supervisory Academy for months, and being able to hold on until now definitely counted as a rare tough nut.

Perhaps it was because Chen Xiang had always firmly believed he still had a way to live that he could hold on for so long?

Then who could the person behind him be?

Anyway, it was impossible to count on Western spies to save him from here; that would be too ridiculous.

Thinking this way, Xia Huan suddenly understood why Li Fei had specifically run over to see Chen Xiang.

"I don't understand what you are talking about."

Chen Xiang sneered.

"I don't care if you can understand; I just said, I will only ask the following question once. If you don't answer, I will kill you directly."

Li Fei looked into Chen Xiang's eyes and said calmly.

And the calmer he appeared, the more Chen Xiang could see the crazy killing intent in his eyes!

Chen Xiang could see that Li Fei wasn't joking, nor was he saying anything to scare people.

"A genius with such a bright future like you would ruin your future for a death row prisoner like me? I don't believe it!"

Chen Xiang gritted his teeth.

"I have already broken through to the Dao Foundation stage."

Li Fei said.

"What did you say?!"

Chen Xiang widened his eyes.

Back then, when he was teaching Li Fei, Li Fei had just broken through to the early Qi Transformation stage not long ago.

In just a few months, he had actually broken through to the Dao Foundation stage?

Chen Xiang didn't believe it at all!

The next second, a burst of force fluctuations erupted from Li Fei's dantian.

"This is..."

Chen Xiang had long been attempting 'Unity', so he immediately sensed that this was the fluctuation produced by Li Fei concentrating all his force in his dantian.

What was difficult wasn't concentrating the force in the dantian, but the speed of this concentration.

Li Fei completed it in an instant, indicating that all the branches of his implants had gathered in the dantian, which was why he could have such speed.

"You actually really..."

Chen Xiang looked incredulous.

"My speed of breaking through this step is number one in history, and Principal Shi Caiming has decided to accept me as a student. This is the token he gave me; do you recognize it?"

Li Fei said while taking out the token from his bosom to show Chen Xiang.

"The Principal's token..."

Chen Xiang was stunned.

He sensed a faint sword intent from this token; he had seen the same token in Qin Zhen's hand back then.

So what Li Fei said was all true.

"Do you think a genius like me would be affected in my future by killing a death row prisoner like you?"

Li Fei asked back.

Chen Xiang: "..."

Xia Huan: "..."

Xia Huan was actually the most speechless.

Yes, Chen Xiang's death wouldn't affect Li Fei's future at all, it would only affect his, Xia's, future...

Chen Xiang was silent and didn't speak.

"Alright, answer my question."

Li Fei didn't give the other party too much time to think:

"Who instigated you to take me to the Dadi Martial Arts Gym to kill me, thereby implicating the Tiefeng Sect and Western spies?"

Hearing this question, Chen Xiang was startled.

The point of Li Fei's question wasn't killing him, but implicating the Tiefeng Sect and Western spies.

This showed that the information Li Fei grasped was far more than Chen Xiang thought!

"..."

"I'll count down three numbers; if you don't answer, I'll kill you with one saber!"

"..."

"Three!"

"..."

"Two!"

"..."

Xia Huan behind Li Fei looked nervous, staring fixedly at Chen Xiang.

Chen Xiang was also looking at Xia Huan, wanting to distinguish if this was a play specifically arranged by the General Supervisory Academy.

But looking at Xia Huan's expression, it didn't look like acting.

"One!"

The Ghost-Slaying Saber in Li Fei's hand exerted force, already cutting the skin on Chen Xiang's neck.

"I'll say!!!"

Chen Xiang roared.

He really didn't want to die yet.

Having suffered so much, endured for so long, and having almost reached victory, if he died just like this now, he wouldn't be reconciled!

"Hoo—"

Xia Huan let out a heavy breath.

Fortunately, his future was preserved, and it seemed there was also an opportunity to perform a meritorious service.

"Speak."

Li Fei stared fixedly at Chen Xiang.

"It was Xu Jing!"

Chen Xiang said the answer.

"What did you say?!"

Xia Huan shouted out.

Inside the cell, the air froze at this moment.

"My lord!"

The secretary pushed open the door to Governor Bian Jingru's office.

"What is it again?"

Governor Bian Jingru frowned at the other party, his temper a bit high.

He had been exhausted by the investigation team all day, bearing huge pressure.

He didn't want to hear any more bad news.

Unfortunately, the more one didn't want to encounter something, the easier it was to encounter it.

"The General Inspection Academy has caught that woman named Xiao Rui!"

The secretary said anxiously.

Governor Bian Jingru was startled: "Xiao Rui?"

Secretary: "It's that woman who had private dealings with Zhang Zongyang; Zhang Zongyang went to see this Xiao Rui that night."

Governor Bian Jingru realized, then reacted:

"You said the General Inspection Academy caught her? Where was she caught? Didn't the result of the General Supervisory Academy's investigation say she had already left Datong Prefecture?"

Secretary: "Just now, a squad leader from the General Inspection Academy took people to investigate a case, and ended up catching an extra woman in the suspect's house. When he brought the person back to the General Inspection Academy to check, he discovered that this woman was the one the academy had been looking for not long ago named Xiao Rui."

Governor Bian Jingru's expression was serious: "How many people know about this now?"

The secretary looked at him helplessly: "When this squad leader brought people back to the academy, the people from the investigation team happened to be at the General Inspection Academy too."

Governor Bian Jingru: "..."

Then there was no need to think; this had already been arranged clearly.

Governor Bian Jingru leaned back in his seat, let out a long breath, and sighed:

"Can't drag it out anymore."

Over an hour later, Xiao Rui, who had been caught back to the General Inspection Academy, was interrogated in the presence of multiple parties.

She personally identified that she was instigated by Shangguan Xiao because she looked exactly like Shangguan Xiao's late mother, so she was found by Shangguan Xiao and taught step by step how to lure Zhang Zongyang.

Xiao Rui also said that the poison Zhang Zongyang was struck with was actually divided into two parts; the poison on the painting Zhang Shiwei swapped was the first half, and the trigger for the second half was on her, which she personally administered to Zhang Zongyang, thereby triggering this poison specifically tailored for Zhang Zongyang.

Afterward, when Zhang Zongyang's poison flared up, a Western spy hiding in the dark would take action to kill Zhang Zongyang.

Xiao Rui explained the process clearly, when she was found by Shangguan Xiao, how they contacted each other, and there were many details in between that could just correspond to Zhang Shiwei's testimony.

In this way, there were no more suspense in this case.

Next, Xiao Rui also confessed the whereabouts of the Western spy who had taken action to kill Zhang Zongyang that night.

The General Inspection Academy, the Zhige General Academy, and the Zhengfa General Academy took action immediately, sending people to capture this Western spy.

May 22nd, 7:18 PM.

A residential area in the Xishang District of Datong Prefecture.

The residences here were all bungalows, all in alleys, with a noisy environment and dense population.

At a certain moment, a thunderous sound suddenly rang out in a courtyard in an alley.

Followed by a series of explosions!

Walls were broken, and houses collapsed.

In the night sky, a sword light flashed, then fell like a meteor, delivering the final blow to this battlefield.

A few minutes later, a group of experts left this residential area with a few corpses and three captives.

As for the accidentally injured civilians and the destroyed houses, they were left to the people of the General Inspection Academy to clean up.

7:49 PM, the three captives were brought back to the Zhige General Academy.

As for their identities, they could actually be determined during the previous exchange; they were indeed foreigners from the West, and simultaneously possessed the identities of martial artists.

Three such spies, their weight was naturally not light, and one of them was even a Dao Foundation expert!

The interrogation of these three Western spies was actually no longer important.

Who would care about the words of foreigners?

The most critical thing was that someone among them indeed possessed the strength to kill Zhang Zongyang!

And Xiao Rui also confessed more details about the collusion with these Western spies, and these details were soon verified.

In this way, the cause, process, and result of the Zhang Zongyang case were very clear.

And all the masterminds who participated in killing Zhang Zongyang had also been caught.

The evidence was as solid as a mountain!

11:28 PM.

Datong Prefecture Government Building.

Garrison Commander, Deputy Garrison Commander.

Chief Inspector of the General Inspection Academy, Deputy Chief Inspector.

Head of the Zhige General Academy, helmsman...

All the high-level officials of Datong Prefecture were present.

Yan Shijin and all the officials of the investigation team were also present.

"... The entire process of the case, everyone is already clear; since this is the case, I think we can close the case."

Yan Shijin said to everyone present.

"Lord Yan is right."

Governor Bian Jingru said.

Things had reached this point, and he couldn't obstruct it anymore, nor could he obstruct it.

He could only go with the flow.

"Regarding the masterminds of this case, how does Lord Bian think they should be dealt with?"

Yan Shijin nodded with satisfaction, looked at Governor Bian Jingru, and asked.

Governor Bian Jingru said solemnly: "Naturally, deal with them according to the law."

"If according to the law, I remember that for assassinating high-ranking officials of the imperial court, the culprit should be executed by slow slicing in public to uphold the national prestige, right?"

Yan Shijin asked.

Governor Bian Jingru nodded expressionlessly: "Lord Yan remembers correctly."

"Good!"

Yan Shijin slapped the wooden table in front of him, "Our investigation team has been in Datong Prefecture for over two months, staying too long. Since the case is closed and all the culprits have been caught, then don't delay anymore; why not execute all the culprits by slow slicing in public tomorrow at noon! After tomorrow, we can go back to the provincial capital to report."

"... Alright, just as Lord Yan says."

Governor Bian Jingru said word by word.

Thus, this matter was settled.

The news spread quickly:

At noon on May 23rd, all the culprits who participated in killing Zhang Zongyang, the helmsman of the Zhige General Academy, including Zhang Shiwei, Shangguan Xiao, Xiao Rui, and several Western spies.

These people would be executed in public at the Rongguang Square in the Datong District:

A thousand cuts, executed by slow slicing!

Begging for monthly votes.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 227 =====