Too many female prisoners, a special forces soldier transmigrates and marries wildly.

In the deepest, darkest, dampest torture chamber of the Shuofeng City prison.

The walls were covered with all sorts of torture instruments, rusty or stained with dark red dirt, which gleamed coldly under the dim yellow oil lamp.

Wang Heng was hanging in mid-air, barely breathing. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest, he would have been practically dead.

Two executioners stood on either side, their hands covered in blood, their faces showing exhaustion and impatience. They had exhausted all means: waterboarding, whipping, branding irons, clamps... they had used everything they could, but Wang Heng was extremely stubborn, either remaining silent or repeating the same few phrases over and over again: "I don't know" and "I'm just doing this for money."

Lin Feng stepped into the torture chamber.

He dragged over a stained wooden stool, sat down in front of Wang Heng, and said nothing.

Silence is sometimes more oppressive than any form of torture. Only the crackling of the burning oil lamp wick and Wang Heng's heavy, labored breathing echoed in the torture chamber.

After a long silence, Lin Feng slowly spoke: "Wang Heng is a native of Shuofeng. His father died early, and he was raised by his widowed mother who did laundry for others. He joined the garrison at the age of sixteen, and because of his diligence and hard work, he was promoted to sergeant at the South Gate at the age of thirty. He has an elderly mother who is over sixty years old and in poor health; his wife, Wang, is gentle and virtuous, and they have a son and a daughter, the son is eight years old and the daughter is five years old, both lively and lovely. They live in Xinghua Lane in the South City, and there is an old locust tree in front of the door. Your son often plays under the tree with the neighborhood children."

With each word he spoke, Wang Heng's drooping head moved almost imperceptibly, and his breathing seemed to become more rapid. Beneath his tightly closed, swollen eyelids, his eyeballs seemed to be moving violently.

Lin Feng continued, his tone calm, yet every word piercing: "Your mother's eyes were only able to retain a semblance of light after you hired Doctor Xue from 'Jishetang' last year and used three doses of expensive medicine. Your son is starting his education at the 'Wenqi' private school in the south of the city, and the tuition is quite high. Your courtyard was renovated three years ago; with its blue bricks and gray tiles, it's considered respectable in the southern part of the city. The pair of heavy silver bracelets on your wife's wrist were a gift from you for her birthday last year. Wang Heng, how much is a garrison sergeant's annual salary? How could you possibly afford all this?"

Wang Heng's body began to tremble slightly, and a strange "hoarse" sound came from his throat, but he still clenched his teeth and remained silent.

"Do you know that what you passed on was not only the defense map of Shuofeng City and the changing of the guard times, but also the location and guarding status of the batch of 'Divine Crossbows' newly allocated to the Shuofeng border troops by the imperial court three months ago? If the Di Rong wolf cavalry's sneak attack last night had succeeded, the first target would have been the armory storing the 'Divine Crossbows'! At that time, not only the soldiers defending the city would die, but also your comrades, your neighbors, your son's playmates, and the neighbors your mother prayed for you every day! If Shuofeng City falls, how many days can your wife, children, and elderly mother survive under the iron hooves of the Di Rong?"

"No...no...I didn't..." Wang Heng suddenly raised his head, his swollen eyes barely opening a crack, filled with bloodshot veins, a mixture of despair, fear, and struggle.

"I...I didn't know they wanted the Divine Crossbow...I was just greedy for money...I'm sorry, Commander, I'm sorry, brothers..." He spoke incoherently, tears streaming down his face.

"Don't know?" Lin Feng sneered, took out the half of the jade pendant from his pocket, and waved it in front of Wang Heng.

"This jade pendant, was it the 'reward' you received last year after you delivered 'goods' to Jingzhou for someone? Didn't the person who gave you the jade pendant tell you its origin? Didn't they tell you who this person was? What they asked you to do was far more than ordinary smuggling!"

Upon seeing the half of the jade pendant, Wang Heng was struck as if by lightning. His whole body trembled violently, and the last glimmer of hope in his eyes vanished, leaving only utter despair.

His lips trembled as he looked into Lin Feng's cold, iron-like eyes, then at the half of the jade pendant that seemed to carry an ominous aura.

"Hah...hah..." A rumbling sound, like a broken bellows, escaped his throat. His eyes were unfocused, as if he were staring at a distant place where his elderly, blind, yet kind mother, his gentle and considerate wife, his lively and adorable children, and the ordinary yet warm home he had once desperately tried to protect were all he had ever wanted to do. And now, all of this was about to be reduced to dust because of his momentary greed and wishful thinking.

"I said..." Wang Heng's voice was so hoarse that each word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, mixed with blood and foam.

"It was... Li Bing's men, the garrison commander of Jingzhou... who came to me... The jade pendant... is a token... The other... half is in the hands of 'Swan Head'..."

Lin Feng's eyes suddenly sharpened like knives: "Who is 'Sniper'? How do we contact him?"

"No... I really don't know..." Wang Heng coughed violently, gushing out mouthfuls of black blood.

"Each time... it was a one-way communication... Huai Niang relayed the message... or at the 'Yongchang' pawnshop in the West Market... left... left a secret signal... using a jade pendant to... the other half..."

"What else was planned last night besides arson and chaos at the city gates? How did the Di Rong wolf cavalry know the exact location of the mechanisms at the west gate and the shift change intervals?"

Lin Feng pursued relentlessly.

"It was...it was the map given by 'Swan Head'...detailed structural diagrams of the West Gate and South Gate...and...the exact time of the troop rotation...Di Rong has...a dedicated person to coordinate...the handover is...at the abandoned mountain god temple on the eastern slope of Black Wind Valley..."

"Armaments! Where did those non-standard crossbows and longswords come from?"

"Jing... Jingzhou... Li Bing's... private mine... private craftsmen... crafted... mixed in... caravans... transported... 'Zhang's'... only... modified... assembled..."

"How long has Li Bing been colluding with the Di Rong? Besides 'Shadow Scouts,' how many other people has he planted in Shuofeng City and among the border troops?"

"No...I don't know...I...I'm just a nobody...I only...only had contact with Huai Niang...and...and that contact person...Li Bing...he...he wants the military power of Shuofeng City...and...the trade route to the Western Regions...the Di Rong...promised him...the three prefectures of the Northern Frontier..."

Wang Heng's voice grew weaker and weaker, his pupils began to dilate. Massive blood loss and continuous torture had exhausted his last vestiges of life.

"And... that embroiderer... Yun Li..." Lin Feng suddenly lowered his voice and asked the most crucial question.

Do you know her connection to "Shadowhawk" and Li Bing?

"Yun...Li?" A hint of confusion flashed in Wang Heng's unfocused eyes. With his last ounce of strength, he hissed, "Xiu...Xiu Niang? She...I don't know...she's not one of us..."

Before he could finish speaking, his head lolled to the side, his last breath ceased, and he fell silent.

The torture chamber was deathly silent, with only the occasional crackling sound of the oil lamp popping.

Li Bing, the garrison commander of Jingzhou, was indeed one of the masterminds behind the scenes!

His ambitions were so great that he even wanted to seize military power in Shuofeng, collude with the Di and Rong tribes, and plot to seize the three prefectures in the north!

The identity of "Swan Head" remains a mystery, but he has close ties with Li Bing and possesses the other half of the jade pendant.

Non-standard military equipment came from private mines and craftsmen in Jingzhou and was transported to Shuofeng through the "Yinghu" network.

And that Yun Li... she shouldn't be one of them.

Instead of returning to the government office, he mounted his horse and said to his guards, "Go to the west gate."