247: Chapter 247 What exactly is Hongmen?

Chen Mo took a deep breath, his eyes filled with deep apology: "I'm sorry. To be honest, I... I really don't know the specific location of the organization."

Ye Qingcheng's eyes narrowed, her tone turning cold: "You don't know? Chen Mo, are you playing with me?"

Chen Mo hurriedly shook his head in denial: "No, everything I said is true. Besides, I've already confessed so much, and I've told you everything about Zhao Lintai. If the organization finds out I've exposed this hidden line, they will definitely not let me go. What... what reason would I have to hide anything for them? And," he paused, his voice turning low and weak, "my wife and child are in your hands. For their sake, it's impossible for me to hold anything back."

Seeing that Chen Mo didn't seem to be lying, the suspicion in Ye Qingcheng's heart lessened slightly. She sighed silently, feeling a bit helpless. She had thought she could learn the specific hiding place of Hongmen from Chen Mo, but now it seemed it was all for nothing.

"Fine, I'll believe you for now," Ye Qingcheng said slowly, though her gaze remained sharp. "Then, who is your superior? You should know this, right?"

"Yes," Chen Mo nodded. "My superior is the general head of Hongmen's Asia region. I usually call him Boss Lei. But," he frowned, "I don't know his real name. I'm not even sure if 'Lei' is his actual surname."

"Boss Lei?" Ye Qingcheng repeated the name, her brows slightly furrowed. She searched her memory for the name but found nothing. Thus, she continued to ask: "How old is this Boss Lei? Is he male or female? How strong is he?"

"Male." Chen Mo recalled for a moment before shaking his head. "As for his age... I'm really not sure. Since I started following him, his appearance never seemed to change; he's always looked like an old man with white hair and a white beard. Judging solely by his appearance, I'd guess he's in his sixties or seventies. As for his strength," he paused, "I suspect he has already entered the Huajin Realm."

"Suspect?" Ye Qingcheng raised an eyebrow, her tone betraying a hint of dissatisfaction.

Chen Mo gave a bitter smile. "Sigh, Young Miss Ye, you know that I'm only a Martial Artist at the Middle Stage of Ming Jin. I'm really not very clear about Boss Lei's strength. But what I can be certain of is that his Realm is definitely above Zhang Yu's. Furthermore, each of us in the Dark Net Quartet has mastered a unique Cultivation Technique, all of which were taught to us by Boss Lei."

Hearing this, Ye Qingcheng's heart couldn't help but skip a beat. Zhang Yu, codenamed X, was already a Martial Artist at the Peak Anjin stage. If this Boss Lei had truly entered the Huajin Stage, wouldn't his strength be even more unfathomable?

Upon breaking through to Huajin, a person's lifespan can be extended. It was truly hard to say exactly how old this Boss Lei was.

However, in this era, being able to Cultivate to Huajin suggested that Hongmen's foundation was indeed substantial.

Immediately, Ye Qingcheng raised her brows slightly and asked with a hint of urgency, "Then how do you contact Boss Lei?"

Chen Mo shook his head helplessly again. "Since I was placed by Boss Lei at Zhao Lintai's side two years ago, all my actions have followed Zhao Lintai's orders. Direct contact with Boss Lei has been almost completely cut off."

"And before that? How did you contact Boss Lei?" Ye Qingcheng continued to press him, unwilling to give up.

Chen Mo fell silent for a moment, appearing to reminisce about the past before slowly speaking: "I was sixteen when I was selected from the Slavery Camp by Boss Lei. Since then, I have always followed him." At this point, a complex emotion flashed in his eyes. "Boss Lei taught me a lightness technique and then arranged for me to operate in small countries around Southeast Asia. I've worked for several bosses with similar status to Zhao Lintai, but the contact was always handled between them and Boss Lei; I was only responsible for executing tasks."

"Slavery Camp? What kind of place is that?" Ye Qingcheng's curiosity was piqued, and she was desperate to find a Breakthrough.

"Slavery Camp... that's not actually its real name, but what we called it privately." As Chen Mo spoke, distant memories flooded back, and a look of sorrow flashed in his eyes as his voice grew heavy.

"From my earliest memories, I was raised by Hongmen on a deserted island surrounded by the sea. Aside from orphans like me with no parents, there were only some instructors stationed there by the organization."

"Instructors?" Ye Qingcheng repeated softly, her brow full of doubt.

Chen Mo nodded and continued, "Yes, those instructors were responsible for watching over us and teaching us boxing. The Hung Ga Kuen I learned was taught by them. Besides that, they also trained us in various killing techniques."

"How many orphans were in the Slavery Camp? How many instructors? How large was the island?" Ye Qingcheng tried to use these questions to estimate the scale of the island and the number of people to narrow down the search range.

However, Chen Mo shook his head once more, a trace of subtle pain flashing in his eyes. "There was no specific number. Or rather, the number of people alive changed every day. Because every once in a while, the instructors would make us kill each other. Those children whose skills weren't up to par would be killed and then thrown directly into the sea to feed the sharks, leaving no remains behind..."

Shen Jianan, who was busy taking notes nearby, couldn't help but stop her pen when she heard this. She looked up at Chen Mo, her eyes shimmering with shock and sympathy. She couldn't imagine that this Chen Mo had actually experienced such a cruel life.

Ye Qingcheng was also filled with emotion, but now was not the time for sentiment; the questions had to continue. She coughed lightly to mask her emotional fluctuation, took a deep breath, and continued, "And the instructors?"

"The instructors..." Chen Mo murmured the word, then smiled helplessly. "The instructors would be replaced in batches every so often. Or, if one of us orphans reached the Mingjin Stage, they would be promoted to an instructor."

He paused at this point, seemingly organizing his thoughts. Ye Qingcheng and Shen Jianan both watched him quietly, waiting for him to continue.

"I reached the Mingjin Stage when I was fourteen," Chen Mo continued. "In the Slavery Camp, as long as you reached this Realm, you no longer had to participate in the mutual slaughter. After being promoted to instructor, you would be responsible for training new orphans, and your living conditions would improve significantly. I lived like that for another two years in the Slavery Camp. When I was sixteen, the organization held a selection for those who had reached the Mingjin Stage. Because I have an Asian face and my physical condition was decent, I was selected by Boss Lei. From then on, I left that nightmare of a place."

Ye Qingcheng felt a wave of pity in her heart, but she didn't show it. Instead, she continued to press: "Where were you taken after you left the Slavery Camp? How did you get there? How long did the journey take?"

Chen Mo smiled bitterly and shook his head. "We were taken onto an Ocean-going fishing vessel. After entering the cabin, everyone was hooded and forbidden from speaking. Someone would bring us food and water on schedule, but we spent that time in a daze, having no idea how long we drifted at sea. It was only when the boat docked and we were led off that we realized we had arrived at another island."

"Do you know where it was?" Ye Qingcheng asked urgently.

"I'm not very clear," Chen Mo shook his head. "No one told us the specifics of that island. However, it was much better than the one where the Slavery Camp was located, and it was larger. The island had mountains, water, and jungles. Hidden within the jungle was a castle-like building. I guessed that might be Boss Lei's residence. Because ever since I started following him, I lived in that castle and never left. It wasn't until later, when Boss Lei assigned me a mission to operate in Southeast Asia, that I left. Since then, I haven't seen Boss Lei again."

After listening to Chen Mo's account, Ye Qingcheng couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration. She had originally thought she could obtain deeper secrets about Hongmen from Chen Mo, but she hadn't expected Hongmen to act so cautiously. With Chen Mo's status, he clearly hadn't been able to touch the true core secrets.

Ye Qingcheng fell silent for a moment, quickly adjusted her mindset, took a deep breath, and continued: "What about the others in your Dark Net Quartet? Were their experiences the same as yours?"

Hearing this, Chen Mo shook his head slightly in denial. "Number Three, Zhang Min, is a very beautiful woman and also an orphan. Her experience should be similar to mine. However, we weren't in the same batch following Boss Lei. She probably entered the Slavery Camp after I did. But her strength is above mine, which is why she's ranked third among the four of us."

"Then where is this Zhang Min now?" Ye Qingcheng asked urgently, hoping to find a Breakthrough from this lead.

"As far as I know, she's currently on Hong Kong Island, assigned by Boss Lei to serve as a secretary for President Chu," Chen Mo replied.

"President Chu? Who is he?"

"I once heard Zhao Lintai mention him on the phone; he's supposedly the older brother of Chu Weiguo, the chairman of the Chutian Group in the Magic City," Chen Mo said, recalling.

Ye Qingcheng was shocked to hear this. This Chu Weiguo had been a soldier under her grandfather back in the day. Moreover, as far as she knew, Chu Weiguo's older brother had passed away long ago. What was going on? Was there some hidden story behind this?

She suppressed the doubt in her heart and decided to continue asking about the other two first. "What about the other two? How much do you know?"

Chen Mo pondered for a moment and continued: "Number Two, Hong Ying, is a retired special forces soldier from Dragon Country. She's different from me. Of course, this is just what I heard from her. It was about two years ago when she retired due to an injury and felt that life was hopeless, so she jumped into the sea to commit suicide. Somehow, she encountered Boss Lei. Boss Lei rescued her from the sea and, through some unknown means, actually healed her leg. Since then, she has followed Boss Lei. Moreover, she has mastered a miraculous Disguise Technique, which Boss Lei greatly appreciated, so he took her as his Goddaughter. Because she is a native of Dragon Country and has a legal identity as cover, Boss Lei has always had her operate within Dragon Country. But I'm not clear on her specific location. If you can find her, perhaps you can get more information about Hongmen from her."

After listening to Chen Mo's story, Shen Jianan and Ye Qingcheng looked at each other simultaneously. Both their eyes shone with surprise. They hadn't expected Sister Hong to have such a bizarre and complicated past, let alone that she had taken Boss Lei as her godfather.

At the same time, Ye Qingcheng understood why Zhang Yu would risk everything to appear and rescue Sister Hong. Sister Hong's status in Hongmen was clearly much higher than Chen Mo's, and the information she possessed was bound to be more important.

"And Zhang Yu? How did he come to follow Boss Lei?"

Chen Mo shook his head again, looking troubled. "I'm really not clear about that. When I was selected by Boss Lei, Zhang Yu was already his favorite. I only know that he is Boss Lei's most prized assassin and once committed a major crime in Dragon Country, for which he is still at large. Furthermore, he was taught the most domineering technique among the four of us by Boss Lei, called the 'Supreme Soul Suppressing Art'!" As he said this, a flash of envy appeared in his eyes.

"'Supreme Soul Suppressing Art'? The name is certainly domineering, but what are its specific effects?"

Recalling how he had heard his boss Zhang Yu's voice on Ye Qingcheng's phone earlier, Chen Mo smiled helplessly and asked back: "You should have already experienced it, right?"

After a light cough, Ye Qingcheng said sternly: "Am I the one questioning you, or are you questioning me? Speak up!"

"Once the 'Supreme Soul Suppressing Art' is used, with the user as the center, all living things within a certain range will have their mobility restricted, as if they've been hit with an Immobilization Spell. The higher the Realm of the technique's cultivation, the larger the range of effect and the more significant the results."

"Is it really that domineering? Is there no way to break it?"

Chen Mo gave a bitter smile: "Theoretically, there is a way to break it, but in practice, it's very difficult to use."

"Oh? What way?" Ye Qingcheng and Shen Jianan asked in unison, their faces showing expectant looks.

"As far as I know, the 'Supreme Soul Suppressing Art' cannot be used indefinitely. Each time it's used, it only lasts for a period of time, after which the power of the 'Supreme Soul Suppressing Art' will automatically vanish. Furthermore, it cannot be used continuously; it requires a period of cooldown. It's just..."

"Just what?" Ye Qingcheng couldn't help but press.

Chen Mo paused and continued, "This is only a theoretical way to break it. Because in actual combat, once you lose your mobility, Zhang Yu will not hesitate to kill you, giving you no chance to resist at all. Unless your cultivation Realm is higher than his, in which case the effect of the 'Supreme Soul Suppressing Art' on you would be significantly weakened, perhaps only making your movements a bit sluggish. But even so, that's enough to give him an opportunity to escape."

"So, this 'Supreme Soul Suppressing Art' was personally taught to him by Boss Lei?" Ye Qingcheng asked thoughtfully.

"Yes. For everyone selected by Boss Lei, he would choose a suitable Cultivation Technique to teach based on their individual characteristics and talent. My strength is relatively weak, but my physical condition is decent. So after I followed Boss Lei, he taught me that lightness technique, 'Lost Ghost Steps'. This technique can be used for sneak attacks on enemies and can also help me escape from danger at critical moments."

"What about Zhang Min? What technique does she know?"

"Boss Lei taught her a technique that uses hidden weapons, but I'm not very clear on the specific name."

"And Hong Ying? Was she taught any special technique?" Shen Jianan asked curiously.

Chen Mo thought for a bit, then shook his head. "It seems she doesn't have anything besides her family's Disguise Technique. I didn't spend much time with her, and she never demonstrated anything in front of me. So, I don't know if Boss Lei taught her any additional techniques."

After saying this, before Ye Qingcheng could continue her questioning, her cell phone suddenly rang.

Ye Qingcheng frowned slightly and quickly picked up her phone to check. The name displayed on the screen was the Director of the Security Bureau.

She instinctively glanced at the time; it was already three in the afternoon. The Director calling at this time was surely urgent to know the progress of the interrogation.

Thus, Ye Qingcheng took a deep breath, stood up, and said to Chen Mo: "Alright, let's end today's interrogation here. Chen Mo, if you think of any more important information, you must tell me immediately, understand?"

"Yes." Chen Mo nodded, his gaze complex, containing both gratitude and worry. He hesitated for a moment before finally asking nervously, "Captain Ye, could I trouble you again... how are my wife and child now? Are they safe?"

Seeing Chen Mo's anxious and expectant eyes, Ye Qingcheng's heart softened. She comforted him softly: "Don't worry, they are very safe right now. A Dragon Country vessel is the safest place; if there's any news of them, I will tell you immediately."

After saying this, Ye Qingcheng didn't linger and turned to leave the confinement room.