Chapter 403: Betrayal in Times of Trouble
In the dark and gloomy torture room, Long Feng was suffering inhuman torture. His screams were like the cries of a night owl, piercing through the silent night sky and making people shudder.

When Zhang Zhi saw his senior brother being tortured, he wished he could take his place. Unfortunately, he was tied up and couldn’t speak, so he could only struggle continuously.

Time passed slowly in the torture room. Zhao Ji remained calm, but Long Feng’s will gradually collapsed under the torture.

The steel needle burned red over the candle flame and pierced into the flesh. It was not as cruel as a branding iron, but it had its own unique feeling.

“Ah!!!” There was only wailing coming out of Long Feng’s mouth, as if he wanted to vent all the pain.

The candle flame swayed in the breeze, and Long Feng’s heart swayed along with the flame.

He felt as if he had been tortured for several hours, but in reality only a short while had passed.

Zhao Ji was still making sarcastic remarks, exerting psychological pressure on Long Feng: “I know that you belong to an organization called the Iron Hand Group, and all these major cases in Yangzhou were committed by you!”

“Your leader is Prince Ying Yuanqi, right? In fact, I know everything. I just want to confirm it with you. If you just nod, you won’t have to suffer any more!”

Long Feng was in so much pain that tears streamed down his face. He was shaking and wailing continuously, but still didn’t say a word.

Zhao Ji continued, “Look at the brother next to you. He looks silly, but he is smarter than you. I am a trustworthy person. He helped me with a few small favors, so I won’t make things difficult for him. You see…”

When Zhang Zhi heard the slanderous words, he immediately struggled to refute, but his mouth was blocked and he could only whimper, and the Qianniu Guards held him down.

Long Feng’s tears streamed down his face and he was on the verge of collapse.

Zhao Ji was playing with a sharp knife in his hand, with a playful smile on his face: “My patience is limited. If you refuse to cooperate, then I will have no choice but to choose a less pleasant way for you to die.”

“Perhaps this will make your brothers more obedient, and your death will not be in vain…”

Long Feng is completely different from Zhang Zhi. His mind is complex and changeable. This kind of “smart people” with delicate minds are often the ones who find it most difficult to endure torture.

At this moment, he was on the verge of excruciating pain, tears and sweat mixed together, rolling down like beads from a broken string.

His body was shaking with intense pain, and every moment it felt like it was being cut by countless sharp blades.

Compared with Zhang Zhi’s safety, he felt unfair and wronged that he had to endure this torture alone.

Finally, his will collapsed in endless pain, and he cried and begged for mercy: “I confess, I confess everything! What you said is true, we are the Iron Hand Group, and those major crimes were indeed committed by us! Stop it, please!”

Zhao Ji immediately signaled Qianniuwei to stop, with a smile on his face: “I knew you were a smart guy!”

When the pain eased a little, Long Feng gasped, with a glimmer of survival in his eyes.

He tried to gain a glimmer of hope for himself: “Since I have told the truth, can you…can you spare my life?”

Zhao Ji nodded without hesitation and said exaggeratedly: “Of course, you should have heard of the Snake Spirit. The Snake Spirit is such a rebellious organization. The killers are anyway, and the court will not kill them!”

When Long Feng heard Zhao Ji’s promise, tears welled up in his eyes again. He felt as if he had just sold his soul and was filled with remorse.

Seeing this, Zhao Ji nodded with satisfaction, signaled Qianniuwei to untie Long Feng, and personally put the clothes on his shoulders: “That’s right, he who knows the current situation is a hero!”

Zhang Zhi was furious when he saw that Long Feng surrendered so easily.

He struggled to attack Long Feng, but was held down firmly by Qianniu Guards.

No matter how much he regretted, he had to save his life. Long Feng trembled all over and said, “Since Your Highness already knows the truth of this case, what else do you want me to do?”

Zhao Ji didn’t waste any words and said directly: “The Iron Hand Group is a very large organization. I know that you are colluding with the government to monopolize the salt market. In the whole Yangzhou, you have woven a huge network through the Hongtong Counter to manage all of this.”

“I want all the accounts and transactions of this illegal salt business. I want to catch the Iron Hand Group, the corrupt officials, and those who are in cahoots with them!”

Long Feng was shocked when he heard this. Although he bowed his head and confessed, the pain in his body was relieved, and the cruelty of Yuan Qi’s methods and the terror of the Iron Hand Group surged into his mind again.

He was now regretful and afraid, and was evasive in his words: “Your Highness, you don’t know, this… this Iron Hand Group is very powerful. How easy is it to completely eradicate them?”

Zhao Ji sneered: “I know, but how can you compare to the snake spirit? The snake spirit was rampant for a while, but it was still destroyed by me. Fighting against the imperial army is a dead end!”

“Besides, don’t you have our help? I know you are a veteran of the Iron Hand Group. If you are willing to help, things will be much easier!”

Long Feng swallowed his saliva and tried to lower his importance in an attempt to deceive Zhao Ji: “Your Highness may be disappointed. Although I have a lot of experience in the Iron Hand Group, I am just a thug.”

“The private salt trafficking and official dealings are all controlled by a mysterious man named Lin Yang. Apart from him, only the sect leader knows the accounts… I… I really can’t help!”

Zhao Ji smiled, as if he noticed Long Feng’s perfunctory attitude: “It doesn’t matter, you can go back and find out!”

Long Feng was extremely shocked and stammered, “Go… Go back?!”

Zhao Ji smiled and nodded, his eyes revealing an unfathomable meaning.

Long Feng still couldn’t believe his ears: “You want to let me go back?”

Zhao Ji nodded again, then turned around, with a hint of contempt in his tone: “That’s right, I want you to go back undercover, secretly monitor Yuan Qi’s every move, and find an opportunity to steal the accounts I need.”

Long Feng was stunned. His mind was racing as he weighed the pros and cons, trying to find a chance of survival.

Finally, he agreed: “I am willing to go back undercover!”

Seeing Long Feng agreed, Zhao Ji flashed and quickly stepped forward, pinched Long Feng’s jaw, and forced him to swallow a pill.

Long Feng was terrified and grabbed his neck tightly with both hands, trying to force the pill out, but it was too late.

Zhao Ji sneered, “This is the secret snake venom of the Snake Spirit Organization. You can try to use your internal energy to see if there are any signs of poisoning!”

Long Feng practiced his skills as instructed, and his expression changed drastically in an instant, with fear in his eyes.

Zhao Ji took out a few more pills and handed them to Long Feng: “This is the antidote, but it only treats the root cause. Taking one pill a day can help you relieve the pain for a while. But in about ten days, you will still die from the poison!”

Long Feng was a smart man. He immediately understood what Zhao Ji meant: “If I can complete the task within ten days, I can get the antidote?”

Zhao Ji laughed out loud, with a hint of joking in his voice: “There is no antidote, but Di Gong is in Yangzhou. He has the ability to bring people back to health. I will ask him to detoxify you.”

“In the next ten days, your symptoms will become more and more severe, and you will become weaker and weaker. I hope you will take care of yourself and don’t reveal any flaws!”

Long Feng’s face turned pale, but he had no choice but to nod helplessly.
–
Inside the Hekou store, the lights were dim and the atmosphere was solemn.

Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang have revealed their identities, and Fang Jiu has also revealed the news about Hu Jinghui and the experiences of the villagers.

“Just like that, Brother Wang’s life or death is unknown, and his whereabouts are unknown. I followed his previous instructions and went to Yangzhou to file a complaint, but I met the two adults here.” Fang Jiu’s voice was a little choked.

Di Renjie let out a long breath and stood up: “I didn’t expect Yangzhou to be in such a mess!”

Li Yuanfang was more worried about Hu Jinghui’s safety: “We have to rush over as soon as possible and find Brother Jinghui!”

Di Renjie was also saddened by the fact that Hu Jinghui’s life or death was unknown, but he still kept his sanity: “Distant water cannot quench near thirst. It will be useless for us to rush over now. The most important thing now is to solve this huge case and not let Jinghui’s hard work go to waste.”

“Wait until tomorrow morning, when we catch Yuan Datou’s accomplice, we will follow the clues and summarize all the clues. Then we will notify Cheng Yuan and ask him to mobilize troops to help go north and find Jinghui’s whereabouts!” Di Renjie’s tone was full of determination and courage.

Li Yuanfang sighed helplessly, but could only accept this reality: “This is the only way!”

(End of this chapter)