Chapter 277: Enough

Finally, they heard the seventh drum beat. The fog on the lake faded away. The moonlight shone on the surface. The lake was incredibly quiet. Everything disappeared like they had never been there in the first place. The only change was Tang Shirou was gone.

“It’s over.” Zuo Qing’s tone was filled with regret. She turned to inform An Xuan’s group. “Come… and see what we found.”

They moved away the bundles of firewood at the corner. An Xuan walked over. Thanks to the moonlight, he saw a person curled up in the corner. The person’s limbs were bound. Something was stuffed in his mouth. When he saw the travellers, he wiggled his body to crawl deeper into the corner.

“This is…” Qin Jian was confused.

“We just caught him.” Zuo Qing stared at the man and explained, “Not long after you left, the door was locked. Just as we were discussing how to escape, we heard noises. We followed the noises and caught him.” Zuo Qing glanced at Fatty, “If not for Brother Wang’s agility, he would have slipped away.”

An Xuan turned to look at Fatty. He scanned his large body. Fatty puffed up his chest like he was very proud. “Thank you, Brother Wang,” An Xuan said.

“You’re welcome.”

“Was it… him who locked the door?” It was You Qi who spoke. He was frightened by the paper doll inside the sedan chair. He had just recovered. His voice was flimsy.

“It shouldn’t be him.” Xia Meng answered. She pointed at the lake, which was opposite the door. “We found him in the bush near the lake.”

“Have you interrogated him?” An Xuan asked.

Zuo Qing frowned. “This man… appears to have some mental issues. He refuses to speak and, based on his appearance, has been homeless for quite some time already.”

“He’s a homeless guy who snuck in from outside?!” Qin Jian got a better look at the man. His clothes were incredibly dirty and were covered in patches. His face was so dirty that one couldn’t tell what he looked like.

“Unlikely.” Shi Liaozhi whispered, “Even though this place doesn’t look that well-guarded, they wouldn’t allow a homeless guy to linger within its vicinity. Plus, when we tried to catch him, he tried to escape using the knowledge of the land. He clearly knew this place. If not for Brother Huang, he would have slipped away.”

An Xuan’s face darkened. “We’ll know if he’s really dull with a test.” He moved to the man and half-knelt before him. His dark eyes stared at the man. “I don’t have time to waste with you, so I hope you can answer me honestly.” He reached out and placed his hand gently on the man’s shoulder. He bent his index finger. Suddenly, he applied force and pierced into the soft spot above the man’s scapula. The sudden pain caused the man to struggle.

Using torture before asking questions was a common tactic in interrogation. The benefit was to warn the other party from putting up pointless resistance. Great beads of sweat showed how much pain the man was in.

“Enough.” Fatty spoke up, “You didn’t even ask any questions. What do you expect him to say? If it were me, I wouldn’t tell you anything!” Seeing this helpless man, Fatty’s heart wavered. He could always see himself as the one who was suffering. Plus, the man didn’t look that old. He was, at most, twelve. He was still a kid.

An Xuan let go and removed the ball of cloth from the kid’s mouth. He asked coolly, “What’s your name? What are you doing here?”

The kid leaned against the wall weakly. He stared at An Xuan. The fear in his eyes was palpable.

“Still refusing to speak?” An Xuan narrowed his eyes. He wanted to use the same tactic again. However, as he reached his hand out, the kid suddenly grabbed his arm and then bit on it harshly.

“Ah!”

The kid had managed to struggle loose from the bindings. After he bit An Xuan, he jumped up from the ground and knocked over An Xuan, who was half-kneeling. Then, he pounced on the ground and then slithered away.

Everything happened so quickly that no one had the chance to react. Xia Meng chased after the kid. Underneath the old yard wall, she found a doggy hole. That should be where the kid had slipped through.

An Xuan held his finger. Blood dripped to the ground. The wound should be quite deep. His face shook from pain. His eyes looked like they wanted to murder someone.

Fatty was thankful, but he didn’t dare show it.

“Why did you do that?” Shi Liaozhi grumbled loudly, “Do you know how much…” Before he could say anything else, he was held back by the others.

Even though the play was over, if they made too much noise, who knew what would happen?

There was a play at night, but other than them, no one came to support the show. Butler Zhou, the middle-aged woman, the muscular man, the young maid, and even Elder Huang didn’t show up. The place was deathly still.

After everyone calmed up, they cleaned up the yard. They didn’t dawdle and returned to their rooms. After closing the door, Fatty sighed in relief. Even though they were still in the nightmare mission, it was a temporary reprieve.

After Xia Meng returned, she rushed to the table and poured herself a large glass of water. She gurgled it down as if to wash down the fear.

“Leave me some!” Jiang Cheng glared at her.

“Doctor,” Fatty turned to Jiang Cheng with a question in his eyes. Before he could ask, Jiang Cheng turned to him seriously, “Fail to figure out why An Xuan purposely let that kid go?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read