Chapter Twenty-Five: The Truth Comes to Light

"That’s enough, Uncle Hu. Stop beating him, lest you injure yourself."

After several men had been pummeling him for a full ten minutes, Qin Song finally signaled for Hu Shangdong to desist. The man, with blood streaming from his mouth, nose, and even his eyes, no longer possessed even a shred of the arrogance he had displayed moments before.

"Old Gou, is it? He’s all yours." Qin Song gestured toward the one-hundred-tael banknote on the table and spoke lightly.

"Leave it to me, Young Master Qin!"

Old Gou, his back hunched, walked tremblingly toward the man and withdrew a pouch of silver needles from his medical kit. To Qin Song’s surprise, the moment Old Gou held the needles, he seemed to transform; his body stopped shaking entirely. Amidst the curious gazes of everyone present, Old Gou pulled out a two-inch needle and plunged it into a specific acupuncture point on the man’s head.

Almost instantly, the man, who had been beaten into a state of lethargy, snapped awake as if he had been injected with adrenaline.

"Could you gentlemen do me the favor of holding him down?" Old Gou asked politely toward Hu Shangdong and the others before placing the second needle.

Glancing at Qin Song, Hu Shangdong led his guards forward to pin the man down. Moments later, Old Gou inserted the second needle into the man’s scalp. The next second, the man’s body began to convulse, and his complexion turned a vibrant, terrifying crimson.

"Aaaah!" The man, unable to bear the agony, let out a heart-wrenching scream. Clenching his teeth so hard they nearly cracked, he stared wide-eyed, the veins on his face and neck bulging in a grotesque display of suffering.

Only two needles, and he was already reduced to this?

"Continue," said Qin Song, his expression icy. Seeing the man still refused to speak, he added, "Young Master Qin, ever since I invented this technique, no one has ever been able to hold out past the fifth needle. But the more needles used, the greater the toll on the body."

"I told you, if you make him talk within the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, this hundred taels is yours. Besides, for a man like this, tearing him limb from limb would not be enough."

"Very well!" Old Gou nodded. "Then I shall place the third needle."

Under the horrified gaze of everyone in the room, the third needle pierced the man’s head. His body gave a violent jolt, and Hu Shangdong and his men strained to hold him steady. The man, who had been screaming a moment ago, was now unable to even make a sound, reduced to emitting only hoarse, guttural roars.

After barely a dozen seconds, the man’s eyes turned completely bloodshot, and his entire body flushed a deep red, resembling a boiled shrimp.

"I’ll talk!"

The man could endure no more. With the last of his strength, he gasped out the words. As soon as he spoke, Old Gou swiftly withdrew the three needles. The man let out a long, shuddering breath, and his rigid body went limp. In the span of a few minutes, he had been through a living hell; drenched in sweat, he looked as if he had just been pulled from a pool of water.

"Tell me, what is your name?" Qin Song asked after a long while, once the man had recovered a sliver of his strength.

"Zheng Tong," the man replied weakly.

Standing to the side, Uncle Hu memorized the name before stepping out of the room.

"Why did you go to see Qin Hu tonight?"

"The Qin family unloaded a batch of fabric from the boats this morning. Lin You ordered me to find Qin Hu and confirm what kind of fabric it was."

"And then?"

"Once I learned it was Xiangyun brocade, I met with Lin You that very night. He wrote a letter and told me to deliver it to Wang Long."

"Wang Long? The river pirate known as the 'Dragon Amidst the Waves'?" Zhang Pengyuan, standing nearby, asked urgently upon hearing the name.

"Yes."

"How does Lin You know Wang Long?" Qin Song glanced at Zhang Pengyuan before continuing his interrogation.

"Lin You has known Wang Long for three years."

"You are saying that Lin You, the Prefect of Yuezhou, is secretly colluding with the river pirate Wang Long?"

"Yes." Zheng Tong raised his head, glanced weakly at Qin Song, and nodded in confirmation.

Although he had already suspected as much, the confirmation left Qin Song’s expression grim, his eyes burning with overwhelming murderous intent.

"How did you convince Qin Hu to be your mole?"

"I do not know about that," the man wheezed, his voice growing fainter.

"The Qin family’s merchant ships have been repeatedly raided by Wang Long over the years. Was it Qin Hu who leaked the information?"

"Yes."

"That bastard!" Qin Song cursed.

Just as he was about to press for more, Zheng Tong’s head lolled to the side, and he lost consciousness.

"Old Gou, what’s going on?" Zhang Pengyuan asked anxiously.

"My Lord, Young Master Qin, he has simply fainted. He will wake up soon." As Old Gou spoke, his eyes remained fixed on the banknote in Qin Song’s hand.

Qin Song held the money out, but as Old Gou reached for it, Qin Song pulled it back.

"Hmm?"

"Young Master, rest assured, this matter will go to the grave with me!"

"Good." Only then did Qin Song hand over the hundred taels.

"Thank you, Young Master!" Old Gou was visibly ecstatic.

Seeing that Zheng Tong was out, Qin Song stood up. "Brother Zhang, keep him locked up here for now. Once he wakes, we will continue the interrogation. I hope to find some clues regarding Wang Long’s whereabouts. Also, Uncle Hu has already gone to investigate his background."

Qin Song had many more questions for Zheng Tong—how Lin You met Wang Long, how they communicated, and whether Zheng Tong knew the location of Wang Long’s lair.

"Don't worry," Zhang Pengyuan replied. "Aside from myself and Old Gou, no one else on this ship will know he is here."

"Very well. Since dawn has broken, I must return home. Now that we have caught the mole, he certainly cannot be allowed to remain." The thought of what Qin Hu had done behind the Qin family's back all these years filled Qin Song with a cold, killing rage.

After leaving two guards to watch over Zheng Tong, Qin Song led the rest of his men away from the naval base and back to the Qin estate, where Madam Wu had been waiting in the study for quite some time.

After he laid out everything he had learned, Madam Wu sat in her chair, silent for a long time.

"Mother, I have already ordered all the stewards to gather at the workshop tomorrow morning."

"Song'er, for these traitors, the Qin family must show no mercy." Madam Wu stared at Qin Song, her eyes flashing with a terrifying, torrential intent to kill.