Can a System Have Bad Intentions? - Chapter 188

At the moment Gu Zongming confessed, the reading pen on the map lit up a spot in the Li Mountains. The highlighted area had a name: Yun Village.

Everyone’s attention was on Gu Zongming, as his confession under the influence of excrement was truly astonishing.

Lu Tang hurriedly moved the map and the reading pen towards herself, blocking Qin Mo’s view, and quickly asked, “Did you hide people in Yun Village?”

Gu Zongming was shocked.

He had only admitted that there were private soldiers in the Li Mountains, so how did Lu Tang know about Yun Village?

Instinctively, he wanted to clench his teeth shut, but instead, he said, “You claim your ancestors’ dragon veins originate from Yun Village, yet our warriors from the State of Zhao slaughtered all the villagers there and set up camp. Where was your dragon vein’s protection? Was it a fake, or did our warriors scare it away?”

Upon obtaining the precise location, Qin Mo immediately instructed a guard outside, “Inform Song Qingzhan to send troops to Yun Village in the Li Mountains. There are 8,000 iron cavalrymen from the State of Zhao.”

The guard obeyed and left.

Gu Zongming’s twisted and ferocious face was a sight to behold. “Do you think you can conquer our 8,000 warriors? You’ll be marching to your deaths. Each of our warriors has become an authentic villager of Yun Village. Can you tell who is a villager and who is a warrior? You’re simply sending your men to die.”

Lu Tang then asked, “How can we distinguish between villagers and your warriors?”

Gu Zongming looked at her with disdain. He wanted to say, “Why would I tell you?” but instead, he said, “We have our own communication methods, using secret codes.”

Lu Tang followed up, “What are the secret codes?”

Gu Zongming thought he was going insane, about to tell them everything. “The last three lines on the second-to-last page of Yun Village’s local chronicles are the secret command codes my people use.”

Magistrate Zhao and the others were astonished.

Could excrement really be this effective?

Gu Zongming, realizing his mouth was uncontrollable, instinctively tried to bite his tongue off. Qin Mo, who had been watching him closely, leaped forward and punched Gu Zongming’s mouth repeatedly, shattering his teeth.

With his teeth gone, Gu Zongming’s cheeks quickly hollowed out.

In this serious and disgusting interrogation scene, Lu Tang suddenly realized that pulling teeth could indeed slim down a face, even giving it dimples.

“Besides the Li Mountains, where else do you have private soldiers?”

Qin Mo, wiping his hands with a cloth handed to him by a servant, coldly asked.

Gu Zongming wanted to clench his teeth, but without teeth, he couldn’t. A mysterious force compelled him to answer, “You fools have no idea that I have eight locations where I raise private soldiers. I can have Gu Yunhe take people from Qingshui County, and I can have others take people from other places. Those who are weak and good-looking are sold to the male brothels to earn money. The money funds my private army. The strong ones are sent to various training camps, becoming living targets for my soldiers.”

As Gu Zongming listed the mountain ranges, the reading pen lit up specific spots on the map, displaying names for a brief moment.

Lu Tang quickly noted these locations with a brush.

After about two hours, Qin Mo had extracted all the information about the private armies and left with the confession.

Next, they had to interrogate about the water management and dams.

Gu Zongming, although not directly managing the dams, was in cahoots with Huang Yunsheng and Huang Bangyuan. Gu Zongming had not confessed about Huang Bangyuan in prison. As long as Huang Bangyuan was free, Gu Zongming believed he wouldn’t die. This was his safeguard.

After Gu Zongming was captured, Huang Bangyuan fled. The court issued a wanted notice, but he hadn’t been caught yet.

Magistrate Zhao glared at Gu Zongming, “Where is Huang Bangyuan?”

Gu Zongming laughed hysterically, knowing he couldn’t hide Huang Bangyuan’s location anymore.

“You think you can find Huang Bangyuan? He’s hiding in the belly of the Liyang Dam. If you harm me, he’ll destroy the dam. The dam was built with a flaw, discovered by Jiang Yi but not fixed. Only Jiang Yi knows the problem. If you want to save the dam, you must save Huang Bangyuan, because Jiang Yi is with him. To save Huang Bangyuan, you must release me.”

Lu Tang laughed, “You think Jiang Yi is with Huang Bangyuan? Dream on.”

Gu Zongming sensed something was wrong.

Lu Tang continued, “Do you think your illegitimate son is dead?”

Gu Zongming’s heart trembled.

Lu Tang said, “Your son is alive and has reunited with Jiang Yi. They’re studying the Liyang Dam. He showed Jiang Yi the repair plans, and she’s delighted.”

“No, he’s dead. He died at birth.”

Lu Tang sneered, “Thank your colleague Xie Chengnian. When you forced him out of the capital, he stole your son as insurance.”