107: Look, I've prepared a sliding coffin for you.

Inspector Zou's hair stood on end when he heard this.

He wasn't angry; he was scared stiff.

"You, you, you..."

He repeated "you" three times, but couldn't get the rest of his words out.

It was as if something was lodged in his throat, allowing him to exhale but not inhale.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid."

Chen Heng comforted Inspector Zou, a very amiable smile on his face.

"Master Chen, Little Li Family Village has arrived."

Chen Heng just sat there in front of Inspector Zou, staring at him without a word.

Inspector Zou had been sweating since earlier, and he was still sweating even after they arrived at Little Li Family Village.

His clean official uniform was now completely soaked, as if it had just been pulled from water.

Inspector Zou couldn't have become an inspector if he were a fool.

Chen Heng would absolutely not use the lives of those two from the Cui Family to scare him.

Therefore, those two from the Cui Family were definitely dead beyond a doubt.

He absolutely couldn't put on any official airs now; finding a way to save his own life was the real priority.

"Come on, Inspector Zou, Little Li Family Village is here."

Chen Heng chuckled as he opened the carriage door and stood by the side, waiting for Inspector Zou to disembark.

Inspector Zou was so scared his legs weren't working properly; he shakily stepped down from the carriage.

As soon as he got off, he saw a large purplish-red coffin placed at the entrance of Little Li Family Village.

"Vice Gang Leader Chen, you, what is this..."

Inspector Zou tried to play dumb, but Chen Heng wasn't buying it.

"Inspector Zou, there's no need for that."

Chen Heng shook his head, walked over to him, and patted his shoulder.

"I, well, I think you're a good official, Inspector Zou."

"So, I'm going to give you a dignified death."

"Look, even the coffin is made of redwood. Dignified, isn't it?"

Chen Heng said this as he pulled Inspector Zou towards the coffin.

"Look, it's even a sliding lid."

Chen Heng pushed open the coffin lid, revealing the silk brocade and pillow already prepared inside.

"Tell me, Inspector, do you have any last words?"

"I, I..."

Inspector Zou's whole body was shaking like a vibrator.

His front teeth clattered 'gegegege' like castanets.

"Alright, since Inspector Zou doesn't want to choose, I'll help you!"

Chen Heng grabbed Inspector Zou by his clothes and threw him into the coffin.

"No!"

With a whoosh, the sliding-lid coffin was shut tight.

"Vice Gang Leader Chen, please spare me!"

"I, I don't know anything! Those two were killed by an Anomaly!"

"I don't know anything about your affairs!"

"I was just here to go through the motions, don't kill me!"

Pig-like screams echoed from inside the coffin, but Chen Heng paid no heed.

Actually, Chen Heng had wanted to slit Inspector Zou's throat last night.

But then he thought, this old fellow probably knows a lot of things he'd be interested in.

For example, the Noble and powerful clans closest to Qiyang City.

The consumption of Optimization attempts was growing for Chen Heng, and relying on the daily increase was too slow.

Even if Chen Heng constantly hunted Anomalies, how many could he get?

Moreover, Anomalies weren't common; you couldn't just stumble upon them anywhere.

Currently, there were only two unresolved Anomaly incidents left in the gang, which together would at most yield a dozen or so Optimizations.

For Chen Heng, that was far from enough.

Then Chen Heng thought of a source of continuous harvesting: the Noble and powerful clans.

The entire Great Liang had a large number of Aristocratic Clan descendants, especially in the imperial capital.

Conservatively, a mature Aristocratic Clan descendant could provide Chen Heng with at least a dozen Optimization attempts.

This was much better than those wild Anomalies.

And Chen Heng felt no psychological burden in killing them.

That bunch of beasts treated the common people of the world as their penned pigs, ready to be slaughtered and eaten at any time.

Perhaps some Aristocratic Clan descendants might even commit acts of eating living people raw.

Moreover, the Noble and powerful clans also possessed that strange thing called a strange seed.

These people were a huge, untapped treasure trove for Chen Heng!

However, there were no Noble and powerful clans in Qiyang City.

In fact, before meeting Helian Xuning, Chen Heng truly believed they were the guardians of Great Liang.

And this imperial official from the capital, currently before him, surely knew things Chen Heng didn't.

But such people usually weren't honest; he needed to be given a warning before questioning.

"Old Liu, a shovel!"

Chen Heng beckoned to Old Liu, who was standing by watching the spectacle.

Old Liu immediately ran over with two shovels.

"What's up, Master Chen, just dig a pit and bury him?"

This old fellow seemed very familiar with this kind of work; he found a spot that was relatively easy to dig and started tilling the soil.

Inspector Zou inside the coffin grew even more terrified upon hearing Old Liu's words.

His voice became even more miserable, louder than the sound of slaughtering a pig for the New Year.

Old Liu was an External Qi Martial Artist, so his physical condition was excellent.

Chen Heng, needless to say, dug dirt almost as fast as an excavator.

Soon, a large pit, three meters long, two meters wide, and five meters deep, was dug by the two of them.

Inspector Zou, lying in the coffin nearby, felt his breathing becoming increasingly difficult; the brocade beneath him was soaked with sweat.

With a rumble, Inspector Zou suddenly found himself falling rapidly, but he quickly hit the bottom.

He knew the pit for his burial was ready.

"Come, Old Liu, let's fill in the dirt."

Chen Heng winked at Old Liu, who understood and began to fill the pit with dirt, sometimes with force, sometimes without.

"Master Chen, Master Chen!"

"Are you perhaps trying to ask me something?"

"Just ask me directly! I will definitely tell you everything I know!"

"If you want money, Master Chen, I have that too!"

"All my money is back home; I only have two thousand taels of silver notes on me!"

"They're all for you, all for you!"

"Please, spare my life..."

Inspector Zou should thank Chen Heng, who had deliberately left a few gaps in the coffin to allow this dead fatty to breathe and not suffocate.

Otherwise, with his screaming, he would have suffocated long ago.

"Stop!"

Chen Heng called Old Liu to a halt, jumped into the pit, and patted the coffin lid.

"You answer whatever I ask."

"Say one extra word, and I'll have Old Liu shovel in more dirt."

"Do you understand?"

Saying this, Chen Heng tapped the coffin lid, signaling Inspector Zou to speak.

"I understand, I'll answer whatever you ask."

Inspector Zou knew his chance to live had come and quickly replied.

"Good, first thing."

Chen Heng cleared his throat and began his questioning.

"There were only three of you who came this time?"

Chen Heng still couldn't quite believe that so few people would come after an imperial prince died outside.

Are they trying to fool ghosts?

"No, not."

Inspector Zou's tongue was a bit clumsy, likely from being scared earlier.

"A total of one hundred and three of us came this time, one hundred soldiers with External Qi strength."

"But on the way, they were all eaten by those two from the Cui Family!"

Chen Heng frowned; those two had rather heavy tastes, eating both men and women.

"I'll believe you for now."

"Second thing, how did the two from the Cui Family know that Helian Xuning died in Little Li Family Village?"

"The two Cui brothers have a god-seeking disk bestowed by the Emperor; as long as they have a prince's life talisman, they can know where he died and who killed him."