250: evidence!

The One-Eyed Dragon's face instantly turned ashen white.

“You... you’re a remnant of the Shen Family?!” he cried out, but then he vigorously shook his head. “No! The Shen Family couldn’t have someone like you! And everyone died back then!”

The One-Eyed Dragon's sole remaining eye suddenly constricted, an undisguised terror and fear deep within his pupil.

The faces of the several minor leaders around him also changed drastically, and they instinctively gripped their weapons, their eyes becoming even more fierce and desperate.

They knew that since the other party had come for this, there was no way for things to end peacefully.

This was a blood feud that would not rest until one side was dead!

The cold glint in Li Shengyuan’s eyes grew even colder. The One-Eyed Dragon’s reaction indicated he definitely knew something, so catching him was the right move!

“Damn it! Let’s fight him! Even if he’s a third-rank, I’ll take him on!”

A burly man with a scarred face, wielding a broadaxe, roared. His vital energy exploded, and he forcefully stimulated his potential, swinging his broadaxe like a mad tiger as he pounced on Li Shengyuan.

The axe blade brought with it a chilling, fierce wind, its force powerful enough to cleave mountains and shatter stones.

Although this man’s cultivation was only fifth-rank, when dealing with these individuals who lived by the sword, his colleagues in the Demon Suppression Division had found him quite troublesome.

But now… On the other side, a lean and nimble man silently threw several poisoned darts, aiming straight for Li Shengyuan’s throat, heart, and other vital points, with cunning and vicious angles.

The remaining few also roared, mustering their last bit of courage, drawing their swords and blades, attempting a desperate last stand.

They were all desperadoes, knowing that begging for mercy was useless, and only by fighting for their lives did they have a sliver of hope, even if the opponent was a top-tier expert above the third-rank!

However, facing this dying counterattack, Li Shengyuan’s eyes showed no ripples, only an icy, frozen stillness.

He didn't even look at the attacks.

He just raised his hand.

He pointed his fingers together and casually swiped forward.

An invisible yet extremely sharp sword qi cut horizontally.

Puff puff puff—!

The broadaxe-wielding strongman who charged at the front suddenly froze. Before his axe could fall, a thin line of blood spread from his forehead, down his nose, lips, and chin... Then, his body silently split into two halves, and his internal organs and blood spilled all over the ground.

The poisoned darts, still in mid-air, seemed to hit an invisible wall and were instantly shattered into dust.

Immediately after, the sword qi, its momentum undiminished, swept lightly past the other few who attempted to resist, like the scythe of the grim reaper.

Their roars and the clanging of their weapons abruptly ceased.

Heads rolled, severed limbs flew, and blood gushed like fountains, staining the cave walls an even more garish crimson.

Li Shengyuan did not directly obliterate them into nothingness; he wanted a bloody effect!

In the blink of an eye, the only one left breathing in the field was the One-Eyed Dragon leader.

He froze in place, his nine-ringed ghost-head saber clattering to the ground, his body trembling uncontrollably.

Crushing!

A complete, despair-inducing crushing!

All his ferocity and courage were utterly shattered before the opponent's understated yet terrifying and incomprehensible strength.

This wasn't a battle; it was a massacre!

It was the annihilation of ants by a god!

Previously, when facing some third-rank experts, they could still resist a bit, but they had never felt such despair!

“Uh… uh…”

The One-Eyed Dragon made meaningless gurgling sounds in his throat, then he plopped to his knees, tears and snot streaming down his face: “Mercy… have mercy, sir! I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything! It was all ordered by my superiors! It has nothing to do with me!”

Li Shengyuan looked at him indifferently, as if looking at a dead object.

He once again meticulously swept his divine sense across the entire cave, including the passage in the depths.

Inside, there were indeed more looted treasures, as well as the remains of some abducted women, but no other survivors or hidden experts.

“Zixuan,” he said faintly.

With a flash, Zixuan appeared like a ghost at the cave entrance. She glanced at the gruesome scene inside, her expression unchanged, and quickly began to search, focusing on turning over the chests and the pirate leaders' bodies for any potential letters, ledgers, or tokens.

Soon, she found several secret letters and a simple ledger from a hidden compartment and handed them to Li Shengyuan: “Young Master, I found some correspondence and records, involving financial transactions and some directives, pointing to peripheral personnel of the Prince Weis Residence. There are also some traces of contact with overseas Japanese pirates.”

“This should be one of their transit points…”

Li Shengyuan glanced at them and put the items away.

These fellows leaving these things behind must have intended to use them as leverage, to check Prince Wei to some extent.

These were important physical evidences, but not enough to directly bring down Prince Wei.

If this person wasn't his senior sister's imperial brother, killing him directly would make things difficult for her, and hard to explain to some second- and third-rank princes in the imperial family.

Just knowing that the downfall of the Shen Family was related to him, Li Shengyuan would have already gone to his door and killed him!

Colluding with the demonic cult was a national enmity, and silencing the Shen Family was a personal vendetta!

Li Shengyuan couldn't wait that long!

He wanted to see who else was involved back then; not a single one would escape!

However, Li Shengyuan was also a bit puzzled. How could a mere Shen Family provoke so many people to go to such great lengths to act?

His gaze fell back on the One-Eyed Dragon, who was slumped like mud.

“Take him away.”

...Hangzhou, Xuanyi Guard secret stronghold, underground interrogation room.

Here, all sound was isolated, and the walls were covered with confinement runes to prevent spiritual energy leakage and prisoners from committing suicide.

The One-Eyed Dragon was locked in a cold stone chair with specialized shackles, facing the chilling torture instruments around him, and the cold-faced Li Shengyuan and Xue Yao before him. He had long since turned pale, his spirit on the verge of collapse.

He stammered tremblingly: “S-sir, the Shen Family really has nothing to do with me. Back then, I was just a seventh-rank errand boy. I truly don’t know anything!”

Li Shengyuan looked at him expressionlessly, “Whether you know or not is not for you to decide!”

“I presume even if I ask you who was involved back then, you wouldn’t say, so let’s not waste time!”

At this moment, Zixuan emerged from the darkness of the interrogation room and came to Li Shengyuan’s side. She opened the jade box in her hand, and an unremarkable pearl appeared before them.

The One-Eyed Dragon looked at the pearl with a puzzled expression. Was this some new interrogation method he didn't know about?

Soon, he grew anxious. Now, he would rather die quickly… Li Shengyuan, on the other hand, took it into his hand and examined it. It was the Yuehua Palace’s unique secret treasure—the Truth-telling Pearl!

Moreover, it was an enhanced version after Ye Hangzhou's research and development. The Yuehua Palace's Truth-telling Pearl was only effective on those of fourth-rank and below.

But the one in his hand was effective even against a third-rank, and it ignored soul restrictions!

It could be said to be an essential artifact for torture, confession, and seeking the truth!