Anchor with goods, the price of F2 is very reasonable, right?

Chapter 829 Kneel down and beg for mercy
A few minutes later, several people brought Xiao Liu in. Upon seeing this, he immediately knelt down and begged for mercy.

"Brother Wen, what are you doing? I didn't do anything, I just went out to buy some supplies, why did you arrest me?"

"You know perfectly well what you did and didn't do. Last time you told them you saw my wife and me holding hands in public, was that true?"

Xiao Liu stared at Wang Yang in terror. At that moment, Wang Yang looked down at him, his eyes so sharp they seemed to want to devour him alive.

"At the time, I only saw a figure from behind and thought it was you. Then you went into a house, so I guessed that person might be your girlfriend or wife."

"You think it should be? And what a coincidence, that person really was me? Don't you think you have some kind of precognitive ability?"

Xiao Liu shook his head repeatedly: "I'm sorry, Wang Yang, I was just guessing at the time. But I knew everyone was curious about your identity and wanted to know the truth, so I told them. I shouldn't have said anything."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yang burst into laughter.

He never expected that this Xiao Liu would be so cunning, shifting all the blame onto himself in just a few words.

"I'm quite impressed with you; you're very clever. According to your logic, it makes it seem like I didn't want everyone to know the truth, and you just accidentally revealed my secret. Now it's me criticizing you, isn't it?"

Wang Yang's words made everyone suddenly realize the truth. Indeed, their initial intention in questioning Xiao Liu was not this.

"I only ask you, how exactly did you confirm that person was me? And did you really see me walking hand in hand with a woman?"

“I’m not entirely sure, it’s just a guess. So when I mentioned this to Shen Qing and the others, I only said that I seemed to have seen Wang Yang walking into a house hand in hand with a woman.”

Wang Yang shook his head and sighed; the truth was clearly not like that.

"I think I understand why you chose to tell Shen Qing about this. If you told others, they might not have investigated as you wished, right?"

Only Shen Qing, because of her feelings for Wang Yang, would do anything to verify the news of him being seen intimately with another woman. That's why she broke into that house.

“You’re smart; you didn’t tell Wenming and the others. Because you know that even if you did, they wouldn’t investigate. I’ve already told them not to ask me about any of my private affairs in Beicheng.”

Xiao Liu lowered his head and remained silent, realizing that Wang Yang had completely seen through his previous trick.

"You're just guessing whether I live in that house, and that guess involves a woman. You must have seen me pass by that house and seen Qin Tongtong come and go, right?"

Xiao Liu hurriedly denied it: "No, that's not it. Maybe it's just a coincidence, I just happened to be mistaken, I didn't expect you to actually be there."

Wang Yang knew perfectly well that this was no accident. Xiao Liu was clearly an informant sent to monitor him.

"To be honest, Shen Qiang sent you to monitor me, didn't he? He probably wanted to find out my true identity in Beicheng, but he was unable to do so due to a lack of manpower."

Wenming, standing to the side, was even more furious. This Xiao Liu was someone he had personally groomed, someone he thought was loyal and devoted, but it turned out he had already been bribed by Shen Qiang.

"Xiao Liu, tell us honestly now, how exactly did Shen Qiang bribe you? What did he ask you to do? If you confess, perhaps we can be lenient with you."

Even at this critical juncture, Xiao Liu kept his lips tightly shut and knelt on the ground without uttering a word.

"Do you think you can get away with this by remaining silent? You haven't shown your face at all. Shen Qiang's people should know you've been arrested, right?"

Xiao Liu remained silent, but Wang Yang knew he had guessed correctly. "Luckily, you set a rule that only one person would be allowed to go out and deliver messages every few weeks. Otherwise, my secret with Qin Tongtong would have been leaked by him long ago."

Xiao Liu went out today to deliver intelligence to Shen Qiang, but he was captured before they even met.

"I'll ask you one more time, what exactly did Shen Qiang promise you? Or does he have any leverage over you? Or is he threatening you with something?"

Even after Wang Yang had gone to such lengths, Xiao Liu still refused to speak, which surprised him somewhat.

"Think about it. Given Shen Qiang's character, if he really has any leverage over you, once you lose your usefulness, do you think he'll still keep your secret?"

Xiao Liu slowly raised his head and looked at Wang Yang, his gaze finally landing on Wenming. He felt most guilty towards Wenming, who had always treated him as a trusted confidant and nurtured him over the years, yet he had chosen to betray him.

"I know you have all treated me well, and it was wrong of me to betray you. Do with me as you please."

“We don’t want to do anything to you; we won’t take your life or torture you. We just want to know how Shen Qiang contacted you. Since you feel guilty towards us, you should at least do something to make amends.”

After a moment's hesitation, Xiao Liu slowly revealed the truth: "After we arrived in Beicheng, he suddenly approached me. He was one of his men, someone I didn't know. He promised to give me a large sum of money if I was willing to gather information for them."

Not only that, they also promised to send him abroad so that he would never have to live such a life of wandering again.

"Moreover, I feel that following you around is a lifestyle I am not used to."

Therefore, when Shen Qiang made this request, Xiao Liu agreed almost without hesitation.

"That's ridiculous. If you can't adapt to this kind of life, why did you come with us in the first place?"

“Wenming saved me back then, and I only followed him because I had nowhere else to go. But I never expected to do something like this. At first, I tried my best to please him just to make more money.”

Wang Yang chuckled upon hearing this. What Xiao Liu didn't expect was that this journey was full of danger and hardship, yet the reward was pitifully small. Although food and lodging were provided, the extra income was indeed meager.

"So that's how it is, it all comes down to money?"

"To be precise, that's not entirely true. I just long for a peaceful life. Who doesn't yearn for the ordinary life of a wife, children, and a warm bed? I have absolutely no interest in searching for some Shangri-La."

These words struck Wang Yang like a chord. Indeed, there were still many people in their group who had nothing to do with the events of that year. Perhaps they had no such intention, and forcibly keeping them was not a good idea.

“I understand what you mean. I could have sent you abroad and given you some money so you could live a comfortable life. But I don’t dare to do that now, because you know my secret.”

Xiao Liu suddenly looked up: "Wang Yang, please rest assured, I will never reveal this secret. I will pretend that I don't know anything, and I will definitely not tell Shen Qiang."

Wang Yang did have a moment of weakness. He understood Xiao Liu's desire—to live a stable life and not want to drift aimlessly like them.

If he had made the request earlier, Wang Yang would have certainly agreed. He was not an unapproachable person.

“If you had this intention earlier, you could have just told me directly. At that time, you wouldn’t have known our core secrets, and I would have naturally granted your request and let you go. But now that you hold my biggest secret, I dare not take the risk of letting you go.”

Wang Yang's words came from the bottom of his heart. If it were any earlier, he would have definitely let Xiao Liu go. But times had changed, and he couldn't take such a big risk.

(End of this chapter)