Chapter 556 - 557: Darkness
Chapter 556: Chapter 557: Darkness
Next, Ishishita Saburō and his men ushered in the most tragic and darkest days of their lives.
The first to bear the brunt were their eyes. They went blind, regained their sight, and then went blind again...
What terrified them the most was that this was only the beginning.
Soon, they found themselves contracting various illnesses. Sometimes their skin would undergo strange mutations, causing them to scratch themselves until their skin was a bloody mess. But before long, that demoness would step in and cure the issue for them.
However, that was immediately followed by a myriad of internal organ problems. Every day, they lived in a state worse than death.
What made them feel the most helpless was that they couldn’t even seek death. Often, they would torment themselves to their last breath, thinking they were finally about to be freed, only for their lives to miraculously recover once more...
Unable to speak, they could only kneel on the ground and beg for mercy incessantly every time that demoness and the old lady came over.
Compared to them, their accomplices who had been hauled to the county town on ox carts in exchange for bounties were actually the luckiest. After all, thanks to the poison arrows, they had suffered almost no torment, not even knowing why they had lost their lives.
The only trouble was that when the County Magistrate saw those corpses, he became very interested in the poison used on them. However, Nanny Pang and the others had prepared for this in advance. Merely providing the names of a few toxic substances immediately curbed the County Magistrate’s curiosity. He repeatedly and strictly ordered that such poisons were not to be used again unless absolutely necessary.
Lin Hua and the others naturally agreed without hesitation, promising never to use them again.
This was exactly what they had expected. After all, this poison was incredibly potent, and the County Magistrate wasn’t confident in his ability to control it. If it ended up harming their own people, the loss would outweigh the gain.
What a joke! Nanny Pang had at least several dozen, if not a hundred, types of drugs in her possession. Even if they rotated them, they still had to choose carefully.
After receiving the reward, Gu Kaiyuan distributed the silver on the spot to the men who had exerted themselves that night, praising them profusely. He then ordered several tables of food from a restaurant for a small celebration.
Bai Suihe felt they couldn’t remain so passive, so she discussed with Gu Kaiyuan whether they should investigate the enemy’s lair.
"Aren’t all those people poisoned mute by you?" Gu Kaiyuan asked.
Bai Suihe chuckled. "It’s fine. We can just waste a dose of medicine to let them temporarily recover."
Having been mute for so long, coupled with the experiments during this period, these people were likely on the verge of collapse. At this point, they didn’t even need to use any other methods. As long as these men were given a sliver of hope, they would confess everything.
What more was there to say? Gu Kaiyuan agreed without a second thought.
Once Ishishita Saburō and his men were cleaned up and forced to gulp down a bowl of medicinal liquid, Bai Suihe and the others leisurely appeared before them.
"Speak up," Gu Kaiyuan said. "What other accomplices do you have, and where are they?"
Ishishita Saburō and his men all shook their heads. What could they say now?
"No way. You’re still covering for them? You’ve been here for so many days, yet no one has come looking for you," Bai Suihe said carelessly.
Little did the captives consider that the very next day, their captors had ostentatiously delivered the bodies to the county office. To serve as a deterrent, the county office had hung those corpses on the city walls for two days. In the end, because the stench became unbearable, they were taken down and burned.
This news must have reached their accomplices long ago. This ragtag bunch had never cared for morality or loyalty anyway; naturally, they wouldn’t risk their own lives to seek revenge for them.
"You can speak now," Gu Kaiyuan reminded them, struck by a bout of benevolence as he recalled how desperately they had tried to open their mouths to speak these past few days, only to fail, leaving them in utter despair.
"You..."
The moment a single syllable escaped their mouths, Ishishita Saburō and his men were instantly overjoyed. They could finally speak again! Their first reaction was to fall to their knees and kowtow incessantly.
"We know we were wrong! Please let us go!
"We are willing to hand over all our wealth to you. Please, spare us..."
The endless pleas for mercy were annoying. Gu Kaiyuan slammed his hand on the table. "Shut up, all of you!
"Now, you’d better answer whatever I ask. Otherwise, I have plenty of this potion for you."
Ishishita Saburō and his men stared at the medicine bowl resting on the table and were immediately frightened into silence. That chipped, large bowl had become their nightmare over the past few days. Whenever this thing appeared, they would suffer another bout of torment.
Now, without even waiting for Gu Kaiyuan to speak again, they scrambled to talk. "I’ll speak... We’ll confess..."
Seeing their lack of backbone, Gu Kaiyuan wasn’t surprised. If they hadn’t relied on this sea area, any General in the imperial court could easily wipe out people like them. Unfortunately, the imperial court didn’t value the navy and hadn’t trained much in this area, allowing these men to exploit the loophole.
Without a hitch, Gu Kaiyuan recorded their detailed personnel and the location of their lair. After verifying the information, he spoke to them with a sinister tone. "Since you’ve been so cooperative, we’ll let you off for the next two days. But if even a single word you said is a lie, then don’t blame us for being merciless."
"We wouldn’t dare! We wouldn’t dare!" The few men trembled with fear. Inwardly, they rejoiced that out of pure terror, they hadn’t actually played any tricks just now.
Chui Shi gathered his courage and spoke up, "However, we’re not sure if they are still staying there. After all, it’s been a few days since we went back..."
"Then we’ll have to see how good your luck is," Gu Kaiyuan replied.
If they came back empty-handed, someone would have to bear the brunt of their anger. So, if that happened, they could only blame those people for being too cunning.
The faces of Ishishita Saburō and his men turned even uglier. So after confessing so much, they had only bought themselves two days of peace? But they had no choice now, even though they couldn’t even seek death.
Having obtained the information, Gu Kaiyuan naturally wanted to strike while the iron was hot. Over the past few days, the shipyard had also built some small boats, which were sufficient for near-shore sailing.
"We aren’t very familiar with this sea," Bai Suihe said, unwilling to let them set sail just like that. "Go ask around the neighborhood and find an old fisherman to lead the way."
Gu Kaiyuan had the memories of his previous life and was actually quite familiar with this sea area. Still, he knew Bai Suihe’s worries weren’t unreasonable. In his previous life, the lieutenants under his command had been carefully selected, and several of them were originally fishermen. Therefore, he did indeed need to find some helpers.
Gu Kaiyuan readily agreed and went out to look for people familiar with the sea. He had interacted with such people in his previous life, so he quickly found someone. However, upon hearing that they were heading out to sea to find the lair of those shorties, the man was frightened and frantically waved his hands in refusal.
What a joke! Those people were incredibly brutal. How could they possibly defeat them?
Left with no choice, Gu Kaiyuan displayed a bit of his martial prowess. He promised that as long as they guided them out to sea and reached the destination, they would be provided with a small boat. If they noticed anything amiss, they could leave first.
This condition successfully swayed the other party...