Chapter 188: The Bai Family
Yao Anyang said, "I won't tell you, Marshal. I'm sorry... You've cultivated and supported me for so many years, and I truly am sorry, but I really won't tell you. Give up."
Yu Lanfeng said, "Give me a reason."
Yao Anyang remained silent for a while before saying, "All I can tell you is that none of those Mental Power Users were citizens of the Empire, so you don't need to worry about anyone tracing their disappearances back here. All you need to do now is kill me, then kill Shuang Qingyue, and you can pretend none of this ever happened."
"I disposed of those people's bodies completely. I didn't leave behind a single clue."
Yu Lanfeng was about to say something, but Yao Anyang spoke first. "Actually, the idea came to me suddenly. Then somehow, I came into contact with people from the organization, and we reached an agreement. They wanted me to personally conduct this experiment. I had to provide them with the experimental data, while they gave me the Mental Power Users I wanted. They even provided me with a Mental Power User to use as a tool."
Nan Yu knew that the Mental Power User Yao Anyang referred to as a tool was most likely Shuang Qingyue, who was locked up elsewhere. Shuang Qingyue himself probably did not even know that he was nothing more than a tool.
"But the experimental data I gave them all contained errors. They were very inconspicuous errors, but once you connected everything from beginning to end, the entire thing was completely wrong! How could I possibly give them the real experimental data?"
"I knew Shuang Qingyue could basically be considered one of their people, so I pursued him and made him mine. That way, even if he noticed something wrong with the experimental data, those discrepancies were so minor that looking at any single one of them would never reveal the larger problem."
Besides, Shuang Qingyue was actually very simple-minded. Deceiving him was far too easy.
That was why Yao Anyang had managed to deceive him all the way until now. Even now, Shuang Qingyue still believed Yao Anyang genuinely liked him rather than having some ulterior motive.
After saying this much, Yao Anyang clearly had no intention of continuing. It seemed he did not plan to reveal anything else to them.
But could they really leave things like this?
Kill Shuang Qingyue and Yao Anyang, then pretend none of this had ever happened?
Yu Lanfeng naturally refused to accept that. "Tell me where those people's bodies are. Since you had the nerve to do something like this, you must have been prepared to drag everyone down with you."
He paused before continuing, "Do you really think I'd believe what you just told me?"
"Your Mental Sea is already on the verge of collapse. Unless a Mid-Tier Mental Power User is willing to sacrifice all of their mental power to repair your Mental Sea, and that Mental Power User also happens to possess the ability to repair Mental Seas, you have no chance. Here and now, who besides Nan Yu has that ability?"
"You've certainly made your calculations well. But I've commanded this legion for so many years. What's inside my head isn't merely there for decoration."
"Let me guess your objective and your methods. First, you want to gain our sympathy, or perhaps use the information you're deliberately withholding to force Nan Yu to treat you. Your Mental Sea is already in tatters. This is exactly when you need a Mental Power User to repair it."
"If Nan Yu repairs it for you, then from your perspective, Nan Yu's mental power would be material that has already purified its own mental intent, entered your Mental Sea on its own, and is even actively helping you rapidly repair your Mental Sea."
"Once you've recovered, your mental power will probably undergo another breakthrough. Combined with your already formidable strength, all you need is for me to take Nan Yu away to rest, and you'll have an opportunity to escape."
"By then, Nan Yu at my side will be incapacitated, while every military base will still be filled with spies belonging to the organization. Apart from Border Regions One, Five, and Six, every other base could fall under your control. Then you'd expose what happened at this base and claim that Nan Yu and I did all of it together. You'd say Nan Yu became so weak and sickly because he suffered a backlash, while the mental power Nan Yu previously extracted from your Mental Sea would serve as the most direct evidence."
Nan Yu looked at Yu Lanfeng in surprise.
He had not expected that once Yu Lanfeng became anxious over something that might harm Nan Yu, he would actually say so much in a single breath.
Even Yu Lanfeng himself seemed somewhat surprised.
But this was a good thing. To some extent, perhaps it could even cure that perpetually expressionless face of his.
"Now, why don't you guess what would happen then? I would have no one trustworthy left at my side, and apart from these three bases, every other military base would descend into massive unrest. What would that lead to?"
"The border guarded by my legion would fall. Then Ability Beasts would continuously pour through those breaches and enter Imperial territory. Why don't you guess how devastating the losses would be?"
"And that's not all. What you said earlier about disposing of the bodies and handing over the experimental data to me is another move in your plan. When the time comes, you'll stand up and claim all of this was my conspiracy. You'll say I forced you to become an experimental subject and repeatedly captured Mental Power Users from the Empire to use as expendable experimental materials. Then you'll claim that Nan Yu, who stays by my side, was actually recruited by me so I could extract other people's mental power more efficiently. After a series of threats and temptations, he supposedly joined me in committing these crimes."
"By then, not only will you have achieved your objective, you might even replace me as the new Marshal of this legion and receive praise from everyone in the Empire."
"Go on. Tell me, which part of what I said is wrong?"
Nan Yu was stunned!
He had never even considered that something like this could happen, yet everything Yu Lanfeng had just described really was entirely possible.
Yao Anyang was definitely not someone to be underestimated.
In other words, from the very beginning, they had dug an enormous pit and had been waiting for Yu Lanfeng to jump into it. Even losing nearly twenty thousand spies had not made them abandon the plan, which meant this scheme had obviously been carefully devised by the organization after extensive consideration.
That meant the most important thing right now was actually finding where the bodies of those Mental Power Users had been hidden.
If they could not find them, then even if Yao Anyang and Shuang Qingyue both died and all the experimental records were destroyed, who could guarantee that Yao Anyang had not hidden fabricated records and evidence somewhere else?
And what about those corpses?
As long as those things existed, they would inevitably be discovered sooner or later.
When that happened, it would not merely bring disaster upon Yu Lanfeng personally. The name of the legion, Nan Yu himself, and even the entire legion would face annihilation.
Yao Anyang had truly planned on a grand scale.
Nan Yu had previously been wondering how he could wipe out this organization in one devastating strike, yet in the blink of an eye, the other side had already begun implementing a plan to destroy their entire legion.
And the plan was already halfway complete!
If they had not accidentally stumbled upon Yao Anyang's scheme this time, it might already have been too late by the time they discovered it.
Fortunately, they had discovered it early enough, and no outsiders knew anything about it yet.
For a plan like this to work, it had to remain completely concealed while it was still developing. The slightest clue being discovered would render all their efforts useless.
In other words, they really should consider themselves fortunate that the plan had been exposed before it fully matured.
Yu Lanfeng said, "Tell me where it is. If you refuse, that's fine too. This matter has already been completely exposed. We can simply ask Shuang Qingyue."
Yao Anyang sneered. "If you can find it, then go ahead and look. I won't tell you anything. So what if the truth has been exposed? Sometimes, people don't care about the truth. They care about whatever can stir up the brutality buried deep inside them and make them stand completely against you. Besides, even if you clear your names afterward, so what?"
"No one will believe you. They'll only think the Empire's upper ranks are trying to whitewash your crimes—a criminal responsible for the deaths of so many Mental Power Users."
At this point, Yao Anyang calmly spread his hands. "I admit I did all of it, but so what? I'm going to die anyway. Once I'm dead, all of this will be made public. Just wait and watch your legion disappear completely."
His curse left both Nan Yu and Yu Lanfeng displeased.
They had originally intended to question him for more information, but now it seemed there truly was no need to keep him alive.
However, they were somewhat worried that if they killed him, the things he had mentioned might immediately appear on the Star Network or somewhere else.
In any case, he could not die yet.
Yu Lanfeng slowly walked toward him.
Yao Anyang kept saying that he was not afraid of death, but as danger approached, as Yu Lanfeng came closer one step at a time, as he experienced death itself gradually approaching him, he finally discovered that perhaps he had never been unafraid of death at all.
In fact, it was precisely the opposite.
He was terrified of death.
And he was terrified of pain.
Just as he thought Yu Lanfeng was about to kill him, he heard a crisp sound from the direction of his left foot. Then something was kicked away by Yu Lanfeng, flying into another corner of the cell and leaving a trail of blood behind it.
Yao Anyang instinctively grabbed the place where he had felt a momentary flash of pain.
Only when he touched it did he realize his left foot was gone.
All that remained below was jagged bone and a bloody mess of mangled flesh.
His gaze shifted toward his left lower leg.
He immediately saw that it had been severed halfway down.
Everything below that point—his foot—was gone.
Blood kept pouring down, already forming a small pool on the floor.
His gaze followed the trail of blood across the ground.
Sure enough, he saw his own foot lying in the opposite corner.
Just now, Yu Lanfeng had actually...
He had simply stomped down!
He had crushed Yao Anyang's lower leg apart, then kicked his left foot away, tearing through the remaining flesh that still connected it to his leg.
Just like that...
Yao Anyang seemed completely terrified by what he was seeing.
He had never imagined that he would be treated this way.
He had expected interrogation, mild torture during questioning, mental pressure, or other similar methods intended to force him to reveal his secrets.
But only now did he realize that he was nothing more than a fish on a chopping block.
How he died depended entirely on what the person holding the knife wanted to do.
That person could bring the knife down and chop the fish's head off, ending its life instantly.
Or he could slowly torture it to death, little by little.
Or he could start at the tail and gradually chop it apart all the way to the head, torturing it alive until it finally died.
Right now, Yu Lanfeng looked as though he intended to use the third method on him.
Had he said too much earlier?
Was it because he had threatened Yu Lanfeng's life's work, his entire legion, that things had become like this?
No, no...
He had not lived enough yet.
He still wanted...
He still wanted...
"Marshal... Marshal... You can't do this. Just give me a quick death..."
Yu Lanfeng said, "Which part should be next?"
Nan Yu leaned against the wall behind them, watching Yu Lanfeng.
To tell the truth, he had never seen this side of Yu Lanfeng before.
Perhaps he could consider himself lucky to have witnessed it?
He really wanted to record it, but the most important thing right now was finding whatever Yao Anyang had arranged elsewhere.
Even if those accusations were nothing more than fabricated rumors, spreading a rumor was easy while dispelling one was difficult.
Many people would be willing to believe Yu Lanfeng, the Empire's God of War, but there would always be some who thought the accusations might be true.
So what they needed to do now was deal with Yao Anyang's arrangements as quickly as possible. Otherwise, they would become a major problem later.
Nan Yu took a deep breath. "Brother, what should we do now? We might not get anything out of Yao Anyang by interrogating him here. I'll go over there and talk to Shuang Qingyue."
Yu Lanfeng nodded. "Go. I'll stay here a little longer."
After Nan Yu left, the corner of Yu Lanfeng's mouth curved upward slightly.
His back was toward the door, his face turned toward Yao Anyang.
The instant Yao Anyang caught sight of that fleeting smile, he knew he had no chance left.
"Marshal... I can kill myself. You can't stop me. I can kill myself..."
But as he continued speaking, he suddenly realized something was wrong.
Why was there nothing?
Had the thing he had hidden on himself really disappeared?
Where had it gone?
Impossible.
He had hidden it perfectly before. There was no way anyone could have known about it.
Only one person knew.
Himself.
Yu Lanfeng said, "Do you know something? The human body has limitless possibilities. No matter how severe an injury is, as long as it's properly controlled and treated, a person can actually remain alive."
"For example, I once read a very, very old book about methods of torturing people. There was a particularly interesting method in it. I remember telling all of you before that if I ever encountered a traitor, I would entertain them using that method."
At this point, Yu Lanfeng's gaze settled on him.
"Do you... remember?"
At first, Yao Anyang looked at Yu Lanfeng in confusion.
Then he seemed to remember something.
His brows gradually furrowed.
Finally, his face turned deathly pale and terror filled his eyes.
"No, no, no... Marshal! You can't do this to me! I'm still a citizen of the Empire. You can't treat me like this! I'm an Imperial citizen! The Empire hasn't revoked my citizenship. If you torture me like this, you're committing a crime!"
"Even if you're the Marshal, you'll still be arrested!"
Yu Lanfeng looked genuinely puzzled. "You don't know?"
Clutching his severed leg, Yao Anyang stared at the expressionless Yu Lanfeng standing before him. "Know what?"
Yu Lanfeng said, "Imperial law permits a legion to directly execute military spies when sufficient evidence exists. Do you think I have enough evidence to prove that you're a spy?"
He did!
Of course he did!
Yao Anyang was absolutely certain Yu Lanfeng possessed more than enough evidence to prove that he was a spy.
That meant even if his Imperial citizenship had not officially been revoked, Yu Lanfeng could still torture him to death at will.
"But you should think carefully. When the time comes, you'll become just like me, a spy lurking within the Empire... No, no, that's not right. You're different. You'll be trash who betrayed the Empire. You'll stand against everyone in the entire Empire."
"When that happens, you'll get to see how the Empire you've protected for so many years—and the citizens of this country—treat their great hero, their God of War."
"Hehehehe... Too much of anything becomes a curse. Your reputation was too good before. You stood too high. There are countless people waiting to drag you down, to make you fall into an endless hell from which you'll never crawl out again."
"I'm one of them."
Even now, Yu Lanfeng was genuinely puzzled. "You hate me that much?"
At those words, Yao Anyang even forgot about his severed leg.
He glared at Yu Lanfeng through gritted teeth.
There was no trace left of the spirited expression he had worn when Yu Lanfeng first saw him, nor of the easy familiarity from all the years they had gotten along.
"Of course! If there's one person I hate more than anyone else in this world, it's you! I wish you would die! Go die right now! I've had countless opportunities to ambush you and kill you before, but I never did it. I was waiting for the perfect opportunity."
"I wanted to wait until you stood at the very highest point before striking. That way, after you fell from the very top straight into hell, what kind of expression would you make?"
"I've always wanted—wanted so badly—to know!"
Yu Lanfeng said, "You won't tell me why? That's fine. It doesn't matter. You can't die anyway."
Only after hearing those words did Yao Anyang remember what Yu Lanfeng had reminded him of earlier.
He finally realized that Yu Lanfeng might not have been joking.
Because Yu Lanfeng had taken out an utterly ordinary gun.
The bullets in this gun were specifically designed to deal with extremely small Ability Beasts.
Ability Beasts roughly the size of a fist or a human head.
They moved extremely quickly and did relatively little direct damage, but once they got close enough to bite someone, the toxins hidden in their teeth would enter the human body, leaving the victim paralyzed for approximately three to five seconds.
On a battlefield, even a momentary mistake could not be allowed.
Otherwise, death could follow immediately.
The existence of such Ability Beasts had therefore caused them considerable trouble for a time.
Later, several geniuses had invented this weapon, which could track the unique characteristics of those tiny Ability Beasts and used specialized ammunition against them.
So what was the point of taking out this gun here?
Yao Anyang did not quite understand.
But after connecting it with what Yu Lanfeng had said earlier, he became uncertain.
Could it really be true?
Did Yu Lanfeng genuinely intend to treat him that way?
Nan Yu was no longer here, so he did not know what Yu Lanfeng intended to do.
But even if Nan Yu had still been present, he probably would not have understood what their words meant.
Clinging to his last shred of hope, Yao Anyang said, "If I tell you all the intelligence I know, will you let me go?"
Yu Lanfeng's gaze settled on him.
It was so cold that Yao Anyang shuddered.
"I'll give you a quick death."
Yao Anyang thought, Just as expected.
He had known it would be like this.
"What if I tell you many of the organization's secrets?"
Yu Lanfeng said, "I can send you to a military tribunal. Perhaps you'll still have a chance to survive."
The corner of Yao Anyang's mouth twitched.
Was he joking?
If he was sent before a military tribunal, how could he possibly survive?
He had killed so many Mental Power Users and leaked so much classified intelligence from the legion.
Either crime alone was severe enough to warrant death.
How could there possibly be any chance of survival?
If that was the alternative, he might as well let Yu Lanfeng kill him here.
Yu Lanfeng's side was making uncertain progress, but things moved much faster after Nan Yu went to find Shuang Qingyue.
The moment he entered the cell and saw Shuang Qingyue inside, Nan Yu knew he would definitely be able to get something out of him.
When Shuang Qingyue saw him, he said weakly, "What now? Do you have more questions? Just ask. If I know, I'll tell you. If I don't, there's nothing I can do."
Nan Yu did not waste time on pleasantries and asked directly, "Does Yao Anyang have some extremely secluded place where no one except himself is allowed to approach?"
Shuang Qingyue was just about to say that he did not know when, for some reason, a certain place suddenly came to mind.
But there had not seemed to be anything unusual about that place.
Could that really be it?
Seeing his hesitation, Nan Yu said, "There is one, isn't there?"
Shuang Qingyue glanced at him, looking somewhat frustrated. "There does seem to be such a place, but I only know the general area. Don't ask me for the exact location. That's all I know."
Nan Yu said, "Then tell me the general area. I'm going to investigate it right now. If we really find something there, I can promise to put in a good word for you in front of Marshal Yu Lanfeng. Maybe things will be a little easier for you when the time comes."
Shuang Qingyue's eyes lit up. "Really?"
He was actually somewhat curious about the relationship between the two of them, but he had never dared ask.
Now it seemed there really was something between them.
Otherwise, how could a Marshal as stern and impartial as Yu Lanfeng possibly reduce Shuang Qingyue's punishment merely because of some information that might not even prove useful?
But since Nan Yu had spoken with such certainty, he surely would not deceive him.
So Shuang Qingyue quickly told Nan Yu the general area of a place he had accidentally learned about before.
As a bonus, he gave him another piece of information.
"Every time he goes there, it seems like there are always people secretly helping him guard the surrounding area so no one can approach. Whenever he goes there, he usually stays for half a day or an entire day."
Nan Yu immediately knew this had to be it!
Because Yao Anyang always brought soldiers from the military base to secretly guard the area whenever he went there, no one had ever suspected that something might be hidden there.
Everyone would naturally assume it was a place where Yao Anyang secretly contacted his superiors, or perhaps somewhere he waited to receive confidential missions related to the base.
The presence of soldiers guarding it made everything seem open and aboveboard.
And precisely because Yao Anyang behaved so openly, no one had ever suspected his explanation.
Nan Yu said, "So that's the trick. No wonder no one has noticed anything wrong all this time. What about those people? Have we already killed them, or are they gone?"
Shuang Qingyue said, "I didn't see them enter that interrogation room, so Yao Anyang probably deliberately avoided using any of the spies. He had people who genuinely had no problems secretly guard the place instead."
Nan Yu said, "Good. Give me their names, or any useful information about them that will let me identify who they are. If that place really does contain something valuable, then when I come back, I'll mention your situation to the Marshal."