20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 720: Means
The burns began to fester and bleed, and the burlap stuck to the skin, causing pain and itching. Finally, someone tore it off abruptly.

Song Lucheng let out a wail, fell to the ground on his side, and his eyes gradually adjusted to the light in the room.

This seemed to be a warehouse, far away from the downtown, with loose doors and windows, and drafts everywhere. The interior space was very large, because apart from a dozen thugs, there were no other unnecessary furnishings, only a square table and a bench.

There was a man sitting on a stool, one hand on the table and the other on his knee. He was dressed sloppily, but his facial features were quite familiar - it was Mr. Li Sanye of the Jiang family.

Seeing this, Song Lucheng's shoulders sank, knowing that he was in trouble this time.

The people who kidnapped him and the people who interrogated him were not the same group. This is a common tactic used online. The kidnappers would not stay with Yangzi for a long time, for fear of being tricked by Yangzi.

Li Zhengxi stared at Song Lvcheng coldly, while Laizi, Shitou and others behind him were also rubbing their hands, eager to give it a try.

After a moment of silence, Xifeng slowly spoke:
"Boss Song, you were going to detain me, why are you silent now?"

Everyone laughed silently.

Song Lvcheng didn't say anything. He struggled instinctively twice, but the hemp rope on his body became tighter and tighter. Finally, he gave up and hung his head in depression.

Just when I was feeling depressed, I felt a slap coming from the side!

Suddenly there was a "pop" sound, followed by a curse: "Fuck you, Third Master is asking you a question, what's wrong, are you mute?"

Song Lvcheng fell to the ground, curled up and groaned. It was not because the slap was too strong, but because there were multiple burns on his face. The blow caused blood and pus to ooze out, stinging him to death. He begged for mercy in simple Chinese: "Don't hit me, don't hit me!"

"Damn it, are you scared now?"

Everyone shouted at him, "I heard you're pretty arrogant, come on, glare at us again so we can see it!"

Huluo Pingyang was bullied by dogs.

What's more, Song Luben was not a fierce tiger to begin with. Now that the situation was hopeless, how could he still be tough? He could only grit his teeth and endure the humiliation and let everything go his way.

Li Zhengxi raised his hand to stop everyone, then raised his chin towards Song Lvcheng and asked, "Boss Song, can you understand what I'm saying?"

"What are you talking about?" Song Lucheng seemed to understand.

Li Zhengxi was a little helpless, and sighed, "I'll ask you a few questions, and you answer me honestly. If you answer well, I can give you some respect."

"What's the problem?" Song Lucheng looked a little confused.

Due to the language barrier, it was inevitable that there would be more trouble.

Everyone talked at once and patiently explained for a long time before Song Lucheng finally understood. He then asked, "What do you want to know?"

"How many people are there in your Qingqiu Society?" Li Zhengxi asked.

"How many people?" Song Lvcheng frowned, counted silently, and said blankly, "Including the waiters, there are a total of 27 people."

Upon hearing this, Li Zhengxi turned slightly, called Shitou closer, and asked quietly, "What did the Second Master say?"

Shitou bent down and whispered to Xifeng, "Second Master said there were 26 bodies at the fire scene, four of which died from knife wounds. Including him, there are exactly 27 people."

Li Zhengxi nodded, turned around, and when he looked at Song Lvcheng again, his eyes suddenly flared with anger. He immediately slammed the table and cursed, "Damn it, at this time, you still dare to lie to me! Lecher, go teach him a lesson!"

Laizi responded and immediately walked towards Song Lvcheng with his eyes wide open.

Song Lvcheng was confused and saw that the situation was not good, so he quickly argued: "Hey, it's the truth, I said it all the truth..."

Laizi turned a deaf ear to him, strode up to him, and grabbed Song Lvcheng's throat. He didn't hit or scold him, but just stared at the blisters on Song Lvcheng's face caused by the fire. He scratched and picked at them, destroying them one by one, and went straight for the tender pink flesh. Immediately, a wailing sounded in the house.

"what--"

Before long, Song Lvcheng was shouting until he was hoarse, and salty sweat slid down his forehead and flowed into the wound, causing another round of needle-like pain.

"It's the truth. I'm telling the truth. There are really only twenty-seven of them!"

"alright--"

Li Zhengxi raised his hand to interrupt again, and said reluctantly, "Boss Song, I will trust you this time, but if you play tricks on me again, don't blame me for being rude."

Song Lvcheng was confused and just kept emphasizing: "It's the truth, everything I said is the truth..."

"Then let me ask you, who supports your Qingqiu Society?"

"The detective captain of the Toyo Police Department, Saito Rokuro."

"Did he instruct you to go against the Jiang family?"

"Not just the Jiang family, but all the Chinese in Fengtian... He said he wanted to wipe out those Chinese gangs, so he will help us no matter what..."

Song Lucheng was out of breath. In order to avoid physical pain, he told the whole story on the spot, including how he came to Fengtian through the Oriental Colonization Company and the mission he was responsible for.

Li Zhengxi listened patiently, and then had a premonition that the Qingqiu Society group might just be the beginning.

As long as the backing of Xiao Dongyang is still there, traitors like Song Lucheng will surely continue to grow like leeks, one after another, and will never be eradicated.

But he didn't have time to think about it now, and he had to continue to focus on completing the task assigned by his sister-in-law.

Afterwards, Li Zhengxi asked Shitou for a piece of paper and pen, threw it in front of Song Lvcheng, and ordered in a cold voice: "Write out the roster of your Qingqiu Society!"

"Roster?"

"What are the names of your brothers? Write them down on this piece of paper."

Song Lucheng didn't understand for a moment, and subconsciously asked: "Aren't they already dead? Why...why are you still asking these questions?"

"Why are you talking so much nonsense? Just write it when I tell you to!" Laizi and the others immediately rolled up their sleeves, glared at him and cursed, "Are you fucking itchy again?"

"No, no, no, I'll write, I'll write..." Song Lvcheng begged for mercy, looking around and asking, "But, my hands, how can I write like this?"

Seeing this, Li Zhengxi nodded and ordered, "Untie him."

Everyone obeyed the order without any worries.

There were more than a dozen brothers present. If they couldn't even keep an eye on a half-burned Korean, they would be dead.

Song Lucheng stuck out his butt, picked up the pencil tremblingly, bent on the ground, and wrote down the names of all the brothers in Qingqiu Society.

The dead are sometimes more useful than the living!

The roster of twenty-seven people was written entirely in his memory, so there might be omissions and he couldn't remember it. Li Zhengxi gave him time to think carefully and write patiently.

Interestingly, although Song Lvcheng spoke Chinese haltingly, he wrote Chinese characters very smoothly. Each stroke, although not beautiful, was quite neat.

He started writing and in a short while, he had finished writing.

Li Zhengxi took the roster, turned it upside down on the table, and ordered, "Write another one."

"what?"

"Write another one!"

Song Lucheng had no right to refute, so he had to obey and write another one.

After finishing the second one, I immediately wrote the third one.

After all three rosters were placed on the table, Li Zhengxi checked them one by one. Seeing that there were no typos, omissions, or discrepancies, he nodded with satisfaction and winked at Laizi and the others:

"Inserted!" Before Song Lvcheng could figure out what it meant, he felt a chill in his throat and blood gushed out. His eyes widened, he coughed violently twice, and finally drowned in a pool of his own blood.

When Li Zhengxi put away the roster, it was already getting dark outside the window.

"I have to go back quickly. You guys clean up here." He walked to the door and glanced coldly at Song Lvcheng's body. "After dark, sink him in the water."

"I know, third brother."

Lai Zi, Shitou and the others responded, and then they sent a few people to follow Xifeng, pushing open the door against the wind and heading straight for Jiang's house in the north of the city...

…………

"Clang-crack-"

Master Jiang casually closed the door of the interrogation room, fastened the iron lock, and walked in with two followers.

The electric light on the ceiling was dirty and dim. In the middle of the room was a tiger bench. Big Flagpole was tied up and sitting on the bench with his head drooping, dying. In the temporary cell on the left were several of Big Flagpole's apprentices, all of whom were covered in dust and looked exhausted.

Hearing the noise, several apprentices hurried to the fence and looked towards the door with pale and helpless faces.

The great flagpole seemed half dead, motionless and unaware.

On the table were papers and pens used for interrogation, as well as a swollen and smelly human head.

Mr. Jiang immediately pinched his nose, waved his hands, and said, "Take it away, take it away. It's been such a long time, aren't you afraid of causing a plague?"

The two old men frowned and sighed, "Second Master, there is no other way. This is the interrogation procedure. We must show it to him first."

Master Jiang cursed and said, "You've already seen it, so pack it up and take it away. Don't leave it here to annoy others."

The two old men immediately did as they were told and made room for Mr. Jiang to sit down for questioning.

"Qi Maochun... ahem, big flagpole!"

After calling out twice in succession, the flagpole showed no response, so Jiang Erye had no choice but to gesture to his men: "Go, wake him up!"

"Wow--"

A basin of cold water was poured over his head, and Daqiganzi shuddered all over. When he looked up and saw Master Jiang, he opened his mouth and cried, "Master, I am innocent——"

"You are such a rude and unruly person!" Master Jiang shouted, "I haven't even asked you yet, why are you crying foul?"

"Second Master, I am really wronged——"

"How dare you! The government office is the place where you can protest your grievances. The government office is a place where reason prevails!"

As Jiang Erye unscrewed the pen, he cursed, "Also, stop calling me 'Erye' all the time. Do I know you well? This is the gate of the government office. You have to call me sir. Do you understand?"

The big flagpole suddenly lost his spirit, nodded dejectedly, and said no more.

Mr. Jiang put the pen to the paper and asked, "Qi Maochun, do you admit your guilt?"

The big flagpole had a desperate look on his face, and said with tears in his eyes: "Second Master... No, no, no, sir, I... I am really innocent!"

"You are not guilty?" Master Jiang snorted coldly, "You have been in prison since you were sixteen, and you are a habitual thief and a habitual criminal. You have been to the imperial court several times over the years, and you still have the nerve to say that you are not guilty?"

The big flagpole woke up and said quickly, "Oh, yes, yes, I did steal things, but I really didn't set the fire on Gaoli Street!"

"Ah! There was a big fire in Xita Gaoli Street last night. The disaster is still under investigation. Even the government has not yet reached a conclusion. You insist that it is arson?" Mr. Jiang ordered immediately, "Hurry up and write down what he said. You are just being too smart. It is tantamount to confessing yourself!"

The two old men wrote with their pens, dotting and writing in black and white on the paper, which deepened Qi Maochun's suspicion of committing the crime.

Daqiganzi is an old hand. He is very familiar with this routine and knows that all resistance is futile. In desperation, he starts to think about their past friendship.

"Second Master, we are old friends. What is going on here? Others may not know, but don't you know?"

"Stop talking nonsense, if I knew everything, why would I ask you?"

"Second Master, don't be like this, have you forgotten that I once treated you to a meal?"

"Bullshit! If you dare to talk shit again, I'll peel off your skin first! Just talk about the case, don't talk about those useless things!"

Mr. Jiang interrupted loudly and quickly brought the interrogation back to the main topic.

Daqiganzi might have really invited him to dinner, but so what? Today, he must plead guilty and be punished. This is not only the intention of the Jiang family, but also a hint made by the provincial government to appease Xiao Dongyang - there must be an explanation for this arson case.

Prime Minister Bai knows he still presses the sword, and Zhumenxianda smiles and flicks the crown.

It’s not that Daqipole doesn’t understand this truth, but he is at the end of his rope and can only beg for mercy.

Master Jiang pointed at the head behind him and asked, "Is this dead man your apprentice?"

"Yes……"

"There are witnesses who pointed out that your disciple has been in Qingqiu Society for the past few days, and was beaten by people from Qingqiu Society. Is this true?"

"This...this, I haven't seen him for several days. Who knows why he has become like this?"

"Oh, so in order to seek revenge, you led these disciples to Qingqiu Society at two o'clock in the morning to kill people and set fire. Am I right?"

The big flagpole didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and argued in vain: "Second Master, you should know that the first time I saw this head, it was Jiang..."

"Huh?" Mr. Jiang slammed the table and glared, rebuking him harshly, "Qi Maochun, I'm warning you, you have to have evidence when you speak. If you slander someone's innocence out of thin air, you may be punished even more severely!"

"I--"

The big flagpole was speechless for a moment.

Even now, he still doesn't dare to call Jiang Lianheng by his name, which shows how powerful the Jiang family is.

However, he didn't dare to say it, but his young disciples were unwilling to sit and wait for death.

"Master, it's already this time, what are you still afraid of? Why don't you just tell them that it was the Jiang family who sent the head?"

As soon as the words fell, the two old men immediately picked up their batons and ran straight to the cell, knocking on the bars while wantonly threatening: "Fuck, who is from the Jiang family? Do you have any evidence? I think you are all itching for trouble, so I will treat you well later!"

"You dog official! You're a lackey of the Jiang family! Jiang Lianheng wants to sleep with your wife, are you going to send her to him too?"

"Damn it, you still dare to be so stubborn!"

The two old men immediately rushed into the cell, swung their batons, and started beating him on the head.

The disciples were handcuffed and shackled, so they naturally had no way to resist, but when they thought that they had no way to escape, they just cursed loudly.

Suddenly, the interrogation room was in chaos.

Mr. Jiang watched with a smile, and did not stop him. He turned to the big flagpole and asked, "It was past two in the morning today. Where were you?"

"I...I'm at home."

"Besides your disciples, are there any other people who can testify?"

Daqiganzi wanted to say that he had been living under the surveillance of Jiang's "Xiangzi" for the past few days and could not leave the house at all. However, after hesitating for a long time, he did not speak. Suddenly, he smiled with a hint of self-mockery and asked:

"Second Master, for the sake of our old friendship, please spare my disciples. I admit the arson, isn't that enough?"

(End of this chapter)