Chapter 378: Closing the Case

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

Xia Xia Huan, standing to the side, was scared half to death seeing Li Fei holding a blade to Chen Xiang's throat.

He had brought Li Fei to see the prisoner Chen Xiang directly, which was already a violation of the rules; if Chen Xiang ended up dying at Li Fei's hands, he might very well end up having to strip off this official uniform!

Li Fei turned a deaf ear to Xia Xia Huan's words, simply 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 had colluded with Western spies, which was a capital offense; the reason he was not yet dead was that the General Inspectorate had not yet extracted valuable intelligence from him.

Upon hearing this, Li Fei said calmly:

"On the way here, I carefully recalled the situation back then. You could have actually killed me yourself, but you insisted on borrowing someone else's hand to do it. Aside from specific reasons, you were actually trying to protect yourself. If that student from the Earth Martial Arts Hall had succeeded in killing me, you wouldn't have had to act yourself, and even if you were suspected or arrested later, you would have had a reason to absolve yourself, claiming you were completely unaware."

Chen Xiang was stunned for a moment, looking at Li Fei: "What is the point of saying these things now?"

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

Chen Xiang laughed: "Who would want to die? But now, I cannot live."

"No."

Li Fei shook his head, "If you had known from the beginning that your end was destined to be death, you could have chosen to commit suicide when you were caught to avoid the suffering that followed. But you didn't choose to commit suicide at the time, which shows you are not a death-sworn soldier. The people behind you must have promised they could save you; you still have hope in your heart, which is why you have been able to hold on until now."

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

He had interrogated many prisoners and was definitely a professional when it came to interrogation.

Those who seemed to hold a belief in certain death, feeling that death was no big deal, were actually the easiest to break mentally.

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 Inspectorate for months; being able to hold on until now definitely made him a rare tough nut to crack.

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

Then who could the person behind him be?

In any case, it was certainly impossible to count on Western spies to rescue him from here; that would be too ridiculous.

Thinking of this, Xia Xia Huan suddenly understood a bit why Li Fei had come specifically 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 said just now, I will only ask the next 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 murderous intent in his eyes!

Chen Xiang could tell that Li Fei was not joking, nor was he saying something to scare him.

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

Chen Xiang gritted his teeth and said.

"You have been locked up for too long and don't understand the current situation. Let me tell you: I have already broken through to the Dao Foundation Realm."

Li Fei said.

"What did you say?!"

Chen Xiang widened his eyes.

When he was teaching Li Fei, Li Fei had only just broken through to the early stage of Qi Transformation not long before.

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

Chen Xiang completely did not believe it!

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

"This is..."

Chen Xiang had long been attempting 'Return to One' himself, so he immediately sensed that this was the fluctuation produced by Li Fei concentrating his force entirely in his dantian.

The difficulty was not in concentrating the force in the dantian, but in the speed of this concentration.

Li Fei had completed it in an instant, which meant all his implant branches had already converged at the dantian, which was why he could achieve such speed.

"You actually really..."

Chen Xiang looked incredulous.

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

As Li Fei spoke, he took the token out from his bosom to show Chen Xiang.

"The Principal's token..."

Chen Xiang was stunned.

He sensed a faint, lingering sword intent from this token; he had once seen the same token in the hands of Qin Zhen.

So everything Li Fei said was true.

"Do you think that for a genius like me, killing a death-row prisoner like you would affect my future?"

Li Fei asked rhetorically.

Chen Xiang: "."

Xia Xia Huan: "."

Xia Xia Huan was actually the most speechless.

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

Chen Xiang remained silent.

"Alright, answer my question."

Li Fei did not give the other party too much time to think:

"Who instructed you to take me to the Earth Martial Arts Hall to be killed, thereby implicating the Iron Blade Sect and the Western spies?"

Hearing this question, Chen Xiang was startled.

The point of Li Fei's question was not killing him, but implicating the Iron Blade Sect and the Western spies.

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

"."

"I'll count down from three. If you don't answer, I will kill you with one slash!"

"."

"Three!"

"."

"Two!"

"."

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

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

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

"One!"

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

"I'll talk!!!"

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 would not be reconciled!

"Hoo—"

Xia Xia Huan let out a heavy breath.

Fortunately, his future was preserved, and it seemed there was even a chance to perform a meritorious service.

"Speak."

Li Fei stared fixedly at Chen Xiang.

"It was Xu Jing!"

Chen Xiang gave the answer.

"What did you say?!"

Xia Xia Huan shouted involuntarily.

Inside the cell, the air froze at this moment.

"My lord!"

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

"What is it again?"

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru frowned as he looked at the other party, his temper somewhat flared.

He had been exhausted by the investigation team all day and was under immense pressure.

He did not want to hear any more bad news.

Unfortunately, the more one does not want to encounter something, the easier it is to encounter it.

"The General Inspectorate has caught that woman named Xiao Rui!"

The secretary said with an anxious look.

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru was stunned for a moment: "Xiao Rui?"

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

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru was stunned, then reacted:

"You said the General Inspectorate caught her? Where did they catch her? Didn't the investigation results from the General Supervisory Office say she had already left Datong Prefecture?"

Secretary: "Just a moment ago, a squad leader from the General Inspectorate took his men to investigate a case, and ended up catching an extra woman in the suspect's home. Once he brought her back to the General Inspectorate to check, he discovered this woman was the one named Xiao Rui that the office had been looking for recently."

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru looked solemn: "How many people know about this now?"

The secretary looked at him helplessly: "When this squad leader brought his men back to the office, the investigation team happened to be at the General Inspectorate as well."

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru: "."

Then there was no need to think about it; it had already been arranged perfectly.

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru leaned back in his chair, let out a long breath, and sighed:

"Can't hold it back anymore."

Over an hour later, Xiao Rui, who had been brought back to the General Inspectorate, finished her interrogation under the witness of multiple parties.

She personally confessed that she had been instigated by Shangguan Xiao, because she looked remarkably like Shangguan Xiao's late mother, so she was found by Shangguan Xiao and taught step-by-step how to seduce Zhang Chen Zongyang.

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

Afterward, once Zhang Chen Zongyang's poison took effect, the Western spies hiding in the shadows would move in to kill Zhang Chen Zongyang.

Xiao Rui explained the sequence of events clearly, when she was found by Shangguan Xiao, and how the two of them communicated; there were many details in between that happened to correspond with Zhang Zhang Shiwei's testimony.

As such, there was no longer any suspense left in this case.

Next, Xiao Rui also confessed the whereabouts of the Western spy who moved to kill Zhang Chen Zongyang that night.

The General Inspectorate, the General Zhige Office, and the General Zhengfa Office, these three offices immediately took action, sending men to capture this Western spy.

May 22nd, 7:18 PM.

A residential area in the West Commercial District of Datong Prefecture.

The residences here were all single-story houses, all located in narrow alleys, with a noisy environment and dense population.

At one moment, a thunderous sound suddenly erupted in a courtyard in one of the alleys.

Followed by a series of explosions!

Wall after wall was blasted open, house after house was collapsed.

In the night sky, a streak of sword light flashed across, then fell like a meteor, sealing the fate of this battlefield.

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

As for the accidentally injured civilians and the destroyed houses, they were left to the people of the General Inspectorate to handle the aftermath.

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

As for their identities, it had actually been confirmed during the previous exchange; they were indeed outlanders from the Western Continent, and also possessed the status of martial artists.

The weight of such three spies was naturally not light, and one of them was even a Dao Foundation realm powerhouse!

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

Who would care about the words of an alien race?

The most critical thing was that among them, there was indeed someone with the strength to kill Zhang Chen Zongyang!

Moreover, Xiao Rui also confessed more details about her collusion with these Western spies, and these details were also quickly verified.

Thus, the cause, process, and result of the Zhang Chen Zongyang case were very clear.

And all the masterminds involved in killing Zhang Chen Zongyang had also been caught.

The evidence was as solid as a mountain!

11:28 PM.

Datong Prefecture Government Building.

The Garrison Commander, the Deputy Garrison Commander.

The Chief Inspector of the General Inspectorate, the Deputy Chief Inspector.

The Head of the General Zhige Office, the Helmsman.

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

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

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

Yan Yan Shijin said to everyone present.

"Lord Yan is right."

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru said.

Things had reached this point; he had no way to obstruct it anymore, nor could he obstruct it.

He could only go with the flow.

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

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

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru said sternly: "Naturally, they should be dealt with according to the law."

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

Yan Yan Shijin asked.

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

"Good!"

Yan Yan Shijin slapped the wooden table in front of him, "Our investigation team has been in Datong Prefecture for over two months; we have stayed too long. Since the case is closed and all the culprits have been caught, let's not delay any further. Why not execute all the culprits by slow slicing in public at noon tomorrow! After tomorrow, we can return to the provincial capital to report."

". Good, let it be as Lord Yan says."

Senior Bian Senior Bian Jingru said word by word.

And so, the matter was settled just like that.

The news spread quickly:

At noon on May 23rd, all the culprits involved in the killing of General Zhige Office Helmsman Zhang Chen Zongyang, including Zhang Zhang Shiwei, Shangguan Xiao, Xiao Rui, and several Western spies.

These people would be executed in public at the Glory Plaza in the Datong District:

A thousand cuts, executed by slow slicing!

Requesting monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)