knife

Chapter 196 Madness
With a loud bang, the sturdy iron door was opened, and the burly He Zudao walked in. The guards inside immediately stood up and bowed.

He Zudao nodded and walked to the fence to look inside.

This is a water dungeon.

Inside the fence were steps leading up to the bottom of the stairs. Below the steps, the dark, foul-smelling water wafted out. A person was hanging in the air, submerged from the waist down, head drooping, his fate unknown.

"Still not going to recruit?" He Zudao turned around and asked.

"General, this guy is really tough. He hasn't said a word to me, and he hasn't even opened his eyes to look at us! He's kept his eyes closed since he came in. We've tried everything, but we haven't gotten anything!" a soldier said somewhat embarrassedly, his hand brushing over the jingling gadgets at his waist, each one gleaming with a purplish-black bloody light.

This was a skilled interrogator, yet he failed miserably against this criminal.

Although he failed, his tone revealed his admiration for the person.

I've encountered tough guys before.
But it's rare to see something this tough.

This soldier was someone I'd never seen before.

He Zudao nodded and beckoned with his finger. Several soldiers understood and turned a handle on the wall. With a splashing sound, the prisoner in the water was hoisted up and then slowly moved to the edge of the fence, where he fell to the ground.

"You all go out, I'll have a good talk with him!" He Zudao said with a smile.

Several soldiers bowed and withdrew, thoughtfully closing the cell door behind them.

"Liu Chengdong, I'm here. Aren't you even willing to open your eyes and look at me?" He Zudao said with a smile as he took a leather pouch from his waist, pulled out the stopper, and handed it to the prisoner through the fence.

The strong aroma of wine seemed to lessen the stench and blood in the water dungeon. Liu Chengdong finally opened his eyes, glanced at He Zudao, took the wine flask, and drank it down in large gulps.

"Your Liu family has killed countless people in this water dungeon. Now it's your turn. How does it feel?" He Zudao laughed. "A dignified Xuan Yuan Ninth Rank expert, with his true qi sealed and subjected to all sorts of torture by a few Solidification Stage soldiers, must feel terrible."

Amid He Zudao's sigh, Liu Chengdong's body trembled slightly, and he tilted his head back, gulping down the rest of the wine.

“A year ago, when I was imprisoned on the fourth basement level of the Black Ice Platform, my true energy was also sealed. The despair I felt at that time was truly indescribable. Because I knew that no one had ever been able to walk out of the fourth basement level of the Black Ice Platform!” He Zudao shook his head and said, “Many people went mad there, you know? In more than a year, I personally witnessed several people go mad, but even death was a luxury there.”

"Back then, all I thought about every day was being able to get out of the house. I'd be willing to be a dog if it meant it! But nobody paid any attention to me. With each passing day, my despair deepened, and my resolve wavered a little more."

"Just when I was about to go crazy, the person I was waiting for finally arrived."

"I am free!"

"So, Liu Chengdong, you're still persisting, do you believe you'll eventually gain your freedom?"

Liu Chengdong, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. The head of the Liu family in Hedong suppressed his immense hatred and stared intently at He Zu, saying, "The Liu family is not limited to Hedong. If you dare to kill me, other members of the Liu family will one day tear you to pieces for me. No one from your He family will live!"

He Zudao burst into laughter.

"Yes, yes, the branches and sub-branches of the Liu family in Hedong are spread all over the country. Even in the imperial court, there are many high-ranking officials and nobles. Furthermore, through marriage alliances, they have formed in-law relationships with local aristocratic families, powerful clans, nobles, and high-ranking officials. They collude with each other and are deeply entrenched. No one dares to truly offend you. Even if you commit heinous crimes, they will only raise the issue high and then let it go lightly."

"You know that much is good!" Liu Chengdong said, "It's easy to destroy my Hedong Liu family, but He Zudao is nothing. Think about the future of your He family. I guarantee that there will be no place for you to stand in this world."

“I believe that, it’s like the saying goes, ‘If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold’!” He Zudao said calmly, “But I’ve already done it, what can I do? Liu Chengdong, I’ve almost wiped out your Hedong Liu family, only your direct line is left. Now that the hatred has been formed, how can I expect you to be lenient and spare my life in the future?”

"Those concubines and collateral branches, they're dead, so be it. As long as my direct line survives, the hatred between us and the He family can be resolved!" Liu Chengdong said. He Zudao laughed: "This is the true face of you powerful families! You dare to say anything, make any promise, and don't care at all whether you can keep it. You can find countless excuses to make your actions seem legitimate. I've seen too much of this over the decades! When it comes to manipulating things, I admire you to the core."

"He Zudao, I think you can see clearly that the world is about to descend into chaos. Do you think you can just support the Qin Dynasty? Even if there were ten He Zudaos, they couldn't save the Qin Dynasty. With chaos approaching, who do you think will survive in the end? Someone like you? No, no, no, you've also studied history. Count back, Zhou replaced Chen, Yong replaced Zhou, Qin replaced Yong, who was the one who had the last laugh?"

“They are all from powerful and wealthy families like yours!” He Zudao nodded and said, “Every time, riots and uprisings break out in various places, and all sorts of outlaws gradually gain power and sweep across the world, but in the end, it is always you who reap the greatest rewards.”

“Since you understand this, why are you making trouble for us?” Liu Chengdong said, “The Liu family is not just what you see on the surface. The Liu family of Hedong is just the tip of the iceberg.”

He Zudao nodded repeatedly: "That's why I hung you here! Liu Chengdong, I know you're all plotting something big, trying to repeat the Li family's usurpation of the Yong throne. So, for countless years, you've been preparing. But this time, when I raided your Hedong Liu family's stronghold, what I found greatly disappointed me. This doesn't seem like a family preparing for something big! It doesn't match the reputation of your Hedong Liu family!"

"What do you want to do?"

"Liu Chengdong, give me what you've hidden, and I'll give you a quick death, okay? I promise, if I ever encounter anyone from the Liu family again, I'll kill them one by one with a single blow, and I won't torture them, okay?"

"You wish!" Liu Chengdong said angrily, "He Zudao, you lowly commoner, all that the Liu family has now should have dazzled your eyes. Even if your father has become a general, even if your He family has been acting like we're equals all these years, do you recognize all of my family's things? Do you know how to use them? Hahaha! A lowly commoner is a lowly commoner."

He Zudao wasn't angry. Instead, he nodded earnestly and said, "You're absolutely right. There are so many things that I can't confirm, let alone explain why they're so good. Poverty has limited my imagination, but that's alright. Aren't there people like you surnamed Liu? With them explaining and demonstrating things to me one by one, I've learned quite a bit these past few days, haha!"

He Zudao lowered his head and looked down at Liu Chengdong: "Last night, your wife, your two daughters, and I slept together under the same quilt. Tsk tsk tsk, as expected of the Liu family's housewife, you are over forty years old, but your skin is still as smooth as cream. Every smile and frown is captivating, and you are really so radiant! Compared to your wife, your two daughters are inevitably a bit inexperienced, which I find quite displeasing."

With a howl, Liu Chengdong leaped up from the ground, still chained, and punched through the fence at He Zudao.

Unfortunately, his true energy was sealed. Although the angle and accuracy of his punch were excellent, it was weak and powerless. He Zudao reached out, grabbed Liu Chengdong by the neck through the fence, dragged him to the fence, and sneered, "Well? Will you talk or not?"

"Pah!" Liu Chengdong spat at He Zu.

However, He Zudao's martial arts cultivation was at the ninth rank of Xuan Yuan, so how could this spit do anything to him?

"Bring him up!" He Zudao said coldly.

The prison door was opened again, and several women dressed in fine silks and satins were pushed in. Upon seeing Liu Chengdong, the women immediately burst into loud sobs.

"Liu Chengdong, I'll give you one more chance. Talk or not. If you don't, I'll have my men enjoy your wife and daughter right in front of you. Then, I'll strip them naked and put them on the busiest street. For just one coin, everyone can taste what the Liu family's first wife and eldest daughter are like. In that way, I imagine your Liu family will become even more famous throughout the world."

“What nonsense! My wife is the legitimate daughter of the Li family of Caozhou!” Liu Chengdong roared.

"So what? Can the Li family of Caozhou come to Hedong and bite me?" He Zudao stood up, laughing maniacally. "Liu Chengdong, I'll ask you one last time, will you talk or not?"

As He Zudao's voice rang out, an officer stepped forward, grabbed a woman's clothes, and ripped them open with a loud tear, exposing the woman's snow-white skin to the air.

“You win, I’ll talk!” Liu Chengdong took a deep breath. “But He Zudao, after I tell you, will you kill us?”

"Good!" He Zu said, "As long as what you said is true, I guarantee that no one in your Hedong Liu family will suffer any more humiliation. I will just give them a quick death!"

“Swear in your father’s name!” Liu Chengdong said.

“Very well, I swear in my father’s name that if I break this promise, my father will be pierced by a thousand arrows and die a terrible death!” He Zudao shouted.

"My Liu family has eight military and financial storage points in Hedong!" Liu Chengdong was utterly despondent!

(End of this chapter)