Chapter 96: Chapter 50: Heroes
Zhao Hai Zhen took a step back with the flashlight, not saying a word, completely ignoring He Kao’s reaction. Another stranger walked in from outside, approached, and delivered a slap.
The slap was heavy. He Kao instinctively tried to dodge, so the position was slightly off, landing near the upper side of the ear on the temple. He Kao’s head buzzed, and his eyes saw stars, instantly losing that so-called extraordinary perception ability.
He Kao was dazed for two seconds, then began to struggle desperately: "Who are you... what do you want, money? I can give it to you..."
The person backhanded another slap, since He Kao was moving, this time the back of the hand hit the cheekbone and nose bridge. He Kao felt a burning pain, his right nostril heated up, and a line of blood flowed out.
"Don’t shout, don’t move! I’m asking you questions, answer honestly!" The person delivered two slaps, in this sinister and horrific scene, like a ghost crawling out from hell.
He Kao was indeed afraid to move, his voice hoarse and carrying a sob: "What questions, ask them."
Zhao Hai Zhen finally spoke: "Xiaotao, don’t be so reckless, why hit him first. This classmate He Kao has a point, you didn’t ask, what is he supposed to answer."
He Kao seemed to grab onto a lifeline, nodding: "Right, right, what do you want to know? I’ll tell you everything..."
The man named Xiaotao lifted a foot, not too lightly, not too heavily, stepping on He Kao’s lower abdomen, leaning forward, and brought his face close, "Do you know Hidden Moth? Hidden as in concealment, Moth as in the insect!"
He Kao was stunned, then quickly said: "I know, I know, are you here to ask about this too?"
Xiaotao’s voice immediately rose, pursuing, "How do you know, who else has asked?"
He Kao: "There is a person surnamed Wu Yan, calling himself Xiaowu, he came to me and talked about many strange things... Later, there was our unit’s Old Qian, who invited me to meet someone, a lady surnamed Lin..."
The people opposite were all sorcerers, five Tier Three, six Tier Two, though it’s unclear which magic sect they came from, He Kao knew these people’s methods were not simple.
He Kao also heard from Old Qian that ordinary people find it difficult to lie in front of him, as a Tier Three Zongheng Scholar, though he cannot directly discern the truth of what is said, he can detect if someone is trying to deceive him.
He Kao was shocked at the time, he asked whether it was "difficult" to lie, or "impossible" to lie. Old Qian replied it was merely difficult; he uses Qi Observation Skill to judge people’s attitudes towards him, making indirect conclusions.
To discern the truth of everything in the world is almost impossible, even a Tier Six Seat Master cannot do it, humans after all are not immortals.
Therefore, what He Kao was saying now was the truth, the emotions he displayed were genuine. Naturally, he was full of tension and fear at this moment, trapped in near hopeless panic.
Wu Yanjun had come to see him, there was nothing he couldn’t say about this matter; Xiaowu spoke of things that possibly shouldn’t be divulged, so there’s no need to relay them.
Qian Guran invited him to meet Lin Qingshuang, introduced events related to the magic sect, and explained the series of incidents surrounding He Kao; there was nothing he couldn’t disclose about this either, those watching him covertly likely all knew.
He Kao not only heard rumors about Hidden Moth, but he also knew his father might have been Hidden Moth back then. He finally even told the interrogator before him that he had wanted to study techniques with Lin Qingshuang as his master, but was rejected.
He merely omitted a few things, after all the other party did not ask, and it had nothing to do with Hidden Moth.
For instance, he was tinkering and came up with a set of "secret techniques" he was cultivating, Lin Qingshuang not only annotated them but also sent a few bottles of spirit medicine via Old Qian... he didn’t need to specifically mention these.
Time was limited, it was impossible to recount everything in detail.
Xiaotao applied more pressure with his foot: "Since you know the secrets of techniques, then you should be aware of who we are, possessing methods you can’t even imagine, naturally able to verify truth or falsehood... If there was one lie just now, I’d crush your balls!"
He Kao was in extreme pain from the stepping, struggling: "I haven’t lied once, it’s all true!"
Zhao Hai Zhen coughed again: "Take your foot off, if you’re asking, ask properly."
"I’m helping him strengthen his memory!" Xiaotao said with his mouth, but still lifted his right foot, then picked up the four pendants from the table and brought them to the light, asking: "These pendants, seem familiar?"
He Kao: "Familiar... how do you have so many?"
Xiaotao: "These are all fake; the one you originally wore was real. It was stolen by Qian Guran, and you just said it was rented to Lin Qingshuang?"
He Kao: "Not rented, leased, Sister Lin gave me a deposit of two million, said the rent was five hundred thousand, shortest three months, longest half a year before returning to me..."
Regarding the peculiarities of the Beast Claw Pendant, he didn’t conceal, after all, he couldn’t discern them himself; these were all information told by Qian Guran and Lin Qingshuang.
Although the Beast Claw was not a Hidden Moth Object, it possessed such wondrous functions; those present were shocked upon hearing it. But upon reconsideration, it wasn’t impossible, Zhou Du from back then was indeed Hidden Moth; he would surely have access to such valuable items.
Zhao Hai Zhen interjected: "The one you wore since childhood, lent to the Lin lady, and the one Xiaowu’s junior made, you still wear. As for the other two, one was returned to you by Xiaowu, you mentioned just now.
And another, was given by a mysterious person the day you reported to the police, you’ve also talked about this. Now, where are these items?"
He Kao: "I stored them in a bank’s safe deposit box."
Xiaotao continued to ask: "Which bank’s safe deposit box?"
He Kao: "Construction Bank, stored on the first of this month."
Xiaotao: "You knew they were fake, useless trinkets; why store them in a safe deposit box?"
He Kao: "Before the holidays, the bank called saying a safe deposit box left by my father twenty years ago was expiring. I went through a bunch of procedures, and finally retrieved the contents, which were a pair of pure golden paperweights and a property deed.
I didn’t know where to put those pure gold paperweights, so I simply rented a safety deposit box and stored them there, along with those two items."
Xiaotao: "We know about this too. What else did you get from the safety deposit box?"
He Kao: "Just a pair of golden paperweights and a property deed, nothing else."
Xiaotao kicked him again, hitting his ribs painfully: "Think carefully. Do you need me to help you remember?"
He Kao: "There’s really nothing else."
Xiaotao waved his hand and delivered another slap: "You’re lying!"
This slap landed solidly, and He Kao felt his left cheek swelling up, mumbling, "There’s really nothing else."
Xiaotao: "Not a single document?"
Earlier when he asked what was in the safety deposit box, He Kao was very surprised. He thought these people were coming for the Hidden Moth; that was indeed the case, but why did it seem to be connected to Gu Yunteng?
When Xiaotao slapped him and mentioned that document, He Kao was already mentally prepared, still very scared but not as shocked.
He Kao: "There’s no document at all."
Xiaotao: "Since I mentioned it, I already know the situation. Lying is useless. If you lie one more time, don’t think about keeping your life!"
As he spoke, Xiaotao put his foot between He Kao’s legs and started to apply pressure slowly, and He Kao finally cried out: "If you say there is, then there is!"
Xiaotao: "What kind of document?"
He Kao: "Brother, whatever you say it is, that’s what it is."
At this point, Zhao Haizhen stopped him: "Stop torturing him, keep asking. If he’s dead, we won’t be able to ask."
Xiaotao retracted his foot again and asked: "Who else saw what was in the safety deposit box?"
He Kao: "Old Qian, the Old Qian I mentioned earlier, who was just promoted as our company’s Vice President Qian."
If it weren’t absolutely unavoidable, He Kao did not want to answer this question.
But since these people could abduct him silently, they obviously already knew his whereabouts. So, the fact that Old Qian picked him up at the bank entrance probably couldn’t be hidden, he might as well tell the truth.
He Kao wasn’t able to catch a part of the conversation Zhou Du and the others were having in the hallway, so he wasn’t aware at this moment that Qian Guran and Huang Xiaopang had already noticed him missing and were searching separately.
Old Qian had found one accomplice of Zhao Haizhen’s group and questioned if they had kidnapped He Kao and Gao Xue’e, demanding their release.
But the other party didn’t admit it, so Old Qian left, and Zhao Haizhen’s group had just heard the news.
Xiaotao picked up a small white ball from the table and asked under the lamp: "Where did this Peiyuan Pill come from?"
He Kao: "It was also given to me by Old Qian. He even apologized for the pendant swap."
Xiaotao snorted, "You didn’t even ask what a Peiyuan Pill is, it seems you already know."
He Kao: "Old Qian told me what it was when he gave it to me, I just haven’t gotten around to taking it yet."
Just then, Zhao Haizhen finally gestured and said: "The woman is about to wake up, let’s ask later, take a break and go for a smoke!"
Both of them walked out, casually closing the door behind them. The room fell into silence and darkness again.
At this moment, He Kao admired the heroic figures he read about in books, those who remained strong and unyielding under the enemy’s severe torture. Today’s situation was far from that, but for ordinary people, they might confess everything as soon as they spoke.
Mental willpower is invisible and intangible, yet real and substantially different among people!
He Kao is not some heroic figure; he’s just an ordinary employee at a big internet company, but he knows he absolutely can’t reveal the answer they want, not even letting them know he knows the answer.
If He Kao doesn’t speak, he and Gao Xue’e still have a glimmer of hope for survival. If he speaks, not only he and President E won’t survive, but even Xiaopang will suffer.
All he could do now was hope for Old Qian and Xiaopang — one is a Tier Three Zongheng Scholar familiar with the sorcerers’ methods, the other is the Hidden Moth, who is said to possess unfathomable abilities.
He Kao didn’t have his head cover put back on, but he still couldn’t see anything. The kicks and slaps he received made it temporarily impossible for him to concentrate or enter a state. Though the injuries weren’t severe, they were quite painful. More unbearable was the overwhelming sense of impending collapse.
Especially those two kicks down below, which drenched his whole body in sweat. At this moment, he felt like he should be intact, but his gun might have a bit of bruising and swelling.
He Kao closed his eyes, slowly adjusted his breathing and posture, trying to calm his mind and regain his perception. Through the earlier interrogation scene, he already knew where he was.
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