251: Rank 3, Mr. Nu Tao!

Li Shengyuan picked up the seemingly unadorned “Truth-telling Pearl” with his fingertips.

As he slightly exhaled spiritual energy, a warm yet eerie glow immediately flowed across the pearl’s surface.

Inside, clouds seemed to swirl, and countless imperceptible runes appeared and vanished.

He held it in his palm and slowly walked to the One-Eyed Dragon, who was slumped in the stone chair.

The One-Eyed Dragon’s sole remaining eye stared intently at the pearl.

The unknown brought an even deeper fear, and he tried to shrink back, but the shackles held him firmly, allowing him only to writhe in vain:

“You... what do you want to do?! What is this monstrous thing?!”

Li Shengyuan did not answer, merely gently pushed forward the hand holding the pearl.

The Truth-telling Pearl silently floated up, stopping three inches in front of the One-Eyed Dragon’s glabella.

Its warm light suddenly intensified, like a third eye, coldly staring at him.

“No... don’t!”

The One-Eyed Dragon felt as if his soul was seized by an invisible large hand.

A tremor from the depths of his soul made him struggle madly, and the shackles clanked.

But all was in vain.

The light of the Truth-telling Pearl enveloped his head.

The terror, resistance, and despair in his eyes gradually gave way to emptiness and confusion.

His body stopped struggling, trembling slightly, saliva uncontrollably drooling from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes became dull and lifeless.

Li Shengyuan’s gaze was icy cold as he spoke, his voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable power that directly questioned the soul:

“How much do you know about the Shen Family’s massacre back then? Tell me all the participants and the process you know.”

The One-Eyed Dragon’s expression twisted for a moment, seemingly resisting, but as the light of the Truth-telling Pearl flickered slightly, his remaining will was completely crushed.

He opened his mouth, his voice becoming mechanical and flat, with a strange hollowness, and his answers were disjointed:

“The Shen Family… the Shen Family of Jiangnan… that night… many people went… many… many experts… even after the fighting started, the government officials only arrived… only arrived after a very long time…”

This first sentence caused Li Shengyuan’s face to turn cold.

A family was massacred, and government officials didn’t appear.

There could be no other reason than that the imperial court officials were colluding with them!

“The leader was… was ‘Lord Raging Waves’… I heard he… he was originally a top-tier expert in the Central Plains, but after committing a crime, he fled overseas… now… now he is a third-rank expert… entrenched in the ‘Penghu Islands’ area, calling himself the island master… he has gathered a large number of desperadoes under his command… our stronghold is one of them…”

“I… I was only a seventh-rank foot soldier at the time… following behind… responsible for clearing the scene and setting fires… the core combat… I couldn’t get close to…”

“I vaguely heard… it was for a secret treasure of the Shen Family… it seemed to be… an ancient mirror? Or… a jade pendant? I can’t remember clearly… very ancient… rumored to contain a great secret…”

“But… but ‘Lord Raging Waves’ seemed… to only be a hired thug… the real employer… was someone else…”

The One-Eyed Dragon’s body trembled violently, and extreme fear appeared on his face, as if merely mentioning that name would invite misfortune.

“The employer… is very mysterious… ‘Lord Raging Waves’ was also very secretive about them… I only overheard it once or twice… it seems… it seems to be related to… the ‘Demonic Cult’…”

At this point, he suddenly stopped, making strange gurgling sounds in his throat, and the light of the Truth-telling Pearl even fluctuated slightly, as if it had touched an extremely powerful taboo or soul restriction.

After a while, he regained his dullness and continued:

“As for Prince Wei… Prince Wei’s Residence… how could small fry like us… possibly be directly connected to the Prince…”

“Normally… we would meet with a steward named Qian Rong from the Prince’s Residence’s outer court… he was responsible for… handling some illicit income for the Prince’s Residence…”

“We… we mainly helped them smuggle… specialties from the East Sea, treasures from the South Seas… occasionally… we also helped them deal with… disobedient people… or plunder merchant ships, disguised as accidents…”

“A major event like the Shen Family massacre… was directly coordinated between ‘Lord Raging Waves’ and the employer above… we… we were just small fry following orders… truly… we didn’t know anything core…”

As his voice fell, the One-Eyed Dragon’s head tilted, and he completely fainted, his breath weak, as if the words he had just spoken had drained all his life force.

The interrogation room fell into a dead silence.

Xue Yao’s expression was solemn: “The Demonic Cult… they are involved! And the third-rank ‘Lord Raging Waves’ from overseas! What exactly is that secret treasure of the Shen Family?”

Zixuan quickly recorded the keywords: Penghu Islands, Lord Raging Waves, third-rank, ancient mirror/jade pendant, Demonic Cult, Qian Rong of Prince Wei’s Residence.

Li Shengyuan’s eyes were profound, like a fathomless cold abyss.

The clues were more complex than expected, but also clearer.

The Demonic Cult was one of the masterminds behind the Shen Family massacre, hiring overseas experts to carry it out.

And Prince Wei’s Residence, at least its subordinates, had intricate connections with these desperadoes who carried out the massacre, and might even have played the role of accomplices or intermediaries.

“Demonic Cult… Prince Wei…” Li Shengyuan murmured these two words, his killing intent almost solidifying.

He raised his hand and retracted the Truth-telling Pearl.

“It seems Hangzhou is becoming more and more interesting.”

“First, start with Qian Rong, pry open their mouths, and find concrete evidence connecting Prince Wei’s Residence with this group of desperadoes.”

“Then, I’ll go overseas and meet that third-rank… ‘Lord Raging Waves’!”

After so long, even if he came from the Central Plains, he would have long since changed his name.

This should be a title, and it would be difficult for the Demon Suppression Division to trace his origin.

But it would be enough to catch him!

His gaze finally swept over the unconscious One-Eyed Dragon.

“Dispose of him cleanly.”

The command was concise and cold.

With that, he turned and left, his robes stirring a cold breeze.

The path of revenge had just begun.

All those involved, no matter how deeply hidden or how high their status, he would drag them out one by one, blood for blood!