Given the situation, to survive, there doesn't seem to be a better solution than what the tall guy suggested.

Upon seeing the two big shots, Huang Yingying had no other words. First, he let out a wail and cried, then directly fell to his knees, screaming at the top of his lungs, "City Lord, save me, someone wants to kill me, City Lord, save me, someone wants to kill me..."

From the start, his crying was heartfelt, tears and snot flowed, coupled with his miserable state, it was indeed a spectacle of tragedy.

Even without his current pitiful appearance, Li Xianghong wouldn't have taken a liking to him, and truly couldn't understand why Bai Qiru would marry such a thing.

She sternly reprimanded, "Do you have any semblance of a man? Stop crying! Alright, tell us what exactly happened."

As she spoke, she glanced at Po Yuan, who was assessing Huang Yingying. She wondered if he would be disappointed after seeing Old Huang's demeanor and still believe such a person could be the murderer?

"Yes..." Huang Yingying wiped his tears with his sleeve, stopped crying quickly, and added in a garbled spiel, "Yesterday afternoon, Bai's Rice Shop received a large order to deliver a thousand sacks of Spirit Rice to Block the Slope outside the city. My wife ordered me to escort the cart, and who knew once we arrived at the slope, a group of masked assassins suddenly appeared. I tried to escape with the Earth Escape Technique but was pulled back by a flying chain around my leg. They knocked me out and took me away. When I woke up, I found myself in a cave. A group of masked people coerced me into helping them with something. I refused, so they tortured me..."

He spread his hands and tilted his head, revealing a body full of injuries, "Later, they even threatened my life. I truly couldn't bear it anymore, so I used the Earth Escape Technique to help them with a few tasks."

Upon hearing this, Po Yuan immediately pursued, "What did they make you do?"

Huang Yingying shouted, "I really didn't do it willingly, I was truly forced."

Po Yuan ordered, "What did they make you do?"

Huang Yingying mumbled, "First, they had me lead someone into the city, sneaking into an unknown person's bedroom, but..."

Li Xianghong: "What are you stalling for? Either say it or don't ever say it!"

Huang Yingying quickly replied, "City Lord, the masked people tried to obscure our paths, only specifying the distance and not letting me know whose place we were going to. But I am somewhat familiar with Dazhi City's layout, and for someone adept in the Earth Escape Technique like me, with a little estimation, I could probably guess the location. If I'm not wrong, it should be a bedroom in the 'Chao Yue Hall.'"

Po Yuan indifferently said, "What else?"

Huang Yingying hesitated slightly, puzzled by how the other party lacked any curiosity, not sure why the tall guy instructed him to fabricate these events he never did. He continued, "Then they made me use the Earth Escape Technique to take him running everywhere underground outside the city, almost tiring me to death, beating me if I slowed down. I couldn't figure out what they were up to."

Po Yuan asked again, "When you were running everywhere underground outside the city, did anything unusual happen?"

Huang Yingying thought for a moment, then said, "While emerging from the forest to breathe, someone suddenly landed, started shouting upon seeing us, and the person holding me clamped his mouth shut with a slap. Then they had me continue using the Earth Escape to leave. Does this count as unusual?"

Po Yuan asked in a deep voice, "Is that all?"

"What else is there?" Huang Yingying thought for a moment and said with a troubled face, "If the lord wants to ask me something, just ask directly. I will not hold back, but I truly don't know what counts as unusual otherwise."

Po Yuan stared at him intently and asked, "After he injured someone and escaped again, was there anything unusual during the escape, like a fight?"

"There were no further fights," Huang Yingying shook his head and hesitated again, "However, there was a noise behind us getting closer; it seemed like someone was chasing us underground. When the noise approached, the person holding me released some light; I focused on the Earth Escape and only felt a flash of light behind, then the chasing sound disappeared. Does that count as unusual?"

He sounded very earnest, but inside he was nervous, unsure if the story the tall guy made him tell could get by.

Because this kind of reckless way to bluff was too crude, not stable at all, basically asking to risk one's life, which was why he truly didn't want to be there.

Po Yuan fell into silent contemplation.

Li Xianghong glanced at him and then asked, "Who was the person holding you hostage?"

Huang Yingying: "They were all masked; I truly don't know who they were."

Po Yuan suddenly snorted coldly, "According to you, the person holding you hostage should be very skilled. How could they let you escape so easily?"

Huang Yingying exclaimed in surprise, "I didn't escape; they released me, saying the matter was already settled, mentioning they had been exposed and had to go on the run. They said they bore no grudge against me, so they let me go."

Li Xianghong frowned, "Since they already released you, why are you still shouting that someone wants to kill you?"

Huang Yingying looked somewhat hesitant and said, "Those people were very secretive, not saying anything real, and also..." Then he began to wail again, "They killed my shop assistants! All three assistants in my shop were killed by them; what if they find me again? City Lord, you and my wife are friends; you must protect me. Can you lock me up on the mountain until you catch them, and then release me?"

He started crying again, that old face was simply unbearable to look at.

"Shut up!" Li Xianghong shouted, looking at his wailing with annoyance.

Po Yuan interjected, "Huang Yingying, do you know Fan Wuzhe?"

Huang Yingying wiped away his tears with his sleeve, quite straightforwardly, "I don't know him."

As soon as he said this, Po Yuan and Li Xianghong's faces turned grim. Fan Wuzhe had already confessed.

Li Xianghong said in a low voice, "Are you sure you don't know him?"

Huang Yingying asked in surprise, "Do I know him?"

His words threw off the atmosphere of the scene.

Seeing that everyone was about to lose their temper, he quickly added, "Can you give me a hint?"

If it were someone else, Li Xianghong would have definitely dealt with them first, but considering Bai Qiru, she held back and countered, "You haven't seen the person Dong Wenshu's second daughter is going to marry, from Chao Yue Hall?"

"Ah? Oh, that pretty boy, yes, I've seen him, Fan something, you're talking about him? Yes, I saw him yesterday afternoon, but not..." Huang Yingying muttered to himself, looking like he wanted to say something but stopped.

No matter how you look at him, he doesn't seem like a man, Li Xianghong couldn't bear it, a lock of her long hair suddenly floated up like a spear and pierced through Huang Yingying's left shoulder, twisting like a snake.

If she wished, each strand of her long hair could swim into the other party's every blood vessel.

"Ah!" Huang Yingying screamed in pain, hurriedly shouting, "A month ago, a month ago, I also saw him at the tax supervisor, he was being tortured by them! I really didn't know he became the son-in-law of Chao Yue Hall."

Li Xianghong and Po Yuan exchanged a glance, realizing that it matched Fan Wuzhe's confession.

Swoosh, the long hair withdrew from Huang Yingying's shoulder, causing him to groan in pain and lean to one side.

Po Yuan asked, "You don't know who kidnapped you?"

Huang Yingying shook his head, quickly replying, "I don't know, I've never had grudges with anyone, nor have I offended anyone, I don't know why someone would kidnap me."

As he spoke, tears and snot ran down his face as he started crying again.

After a round of detailed interrogation, he finally got what he wanted. Didn't he want to be locked on the mountain? He was indeed escorted to the dungeon and imprisoned.

With the eyesore gone, Li Xianghong, though still displeased with Huang Yingying, spoke on his behalf, "He might truly not know who kidnapped him; even if he recognized that Fan Wuzhe had been taken by Mei You's men, he likely wouldn't have known about their plans against the bookstore beforehand. If he hadn't seen the kidnappers' faces, he wouldn't think Mei You would kidnap him."

Po Yuan said, "There are too many clouds of doubt in this case that can't be cleared. Did you capture Mei You because of his wife? Did Mei You target him because he discovered Fan Wuzhe's secret? Fan Wuzhe's bedroom, he has entered it. He was involved in the killing of my left and right hands. Now the kidnapper supposedly released him because they had no enmity with him. Everything is connected to him. Can he be let go just because his words seem reasonable? How did Mei You die? Who sent the letter and the Mother-child Talisman you received? Why does the mastermind want A Xun's relics? We don't know any of the real reasons, how can this person be released?"

Li Xianghong retorted, "Do you think this can be clarified? The mastermind has clearly succeeded and retreated; should we just keep him detained if we can't clear things up?"

Po Yuan said, "If we can't clear it up... he shouldn't have left the Divine Mountain in the first place, he should stay there forever as a slave; we have an excuse to take him back and re-enslave him."

Li Xianghong gave a slight glare, "Don't forget why he was released, don't forget he's Granny Qi's granddaughter's husband."

Po Yuan said, "Granny Qi is far away on the Phoenix and Qilin Continent, whether she even knows her driven-out granddaughter found someone like this is another matter. If it weren't for his connections, could we have talked to him so nicely? He would have been taken for questioning long ago. Some things are not our concern; I fear that this series of events is because those scoundrels won't give up, it's better to take him back to Divine Mountain and watch over him. If someone indeed intercedes for him, then we'll discuss it. It's not our concern, the higher-ups will decide!"

Seeing his decision was made, Li Xianghong looked a bit grave, thoughts spinning on Bai Qiru's side before returning to the main topic, "Lou Xiu is definitely involved in this, Mei You was likely silenced by him, and he might even know who the mastermind is."

Po Yuan asked, "Do you have evidence?"

Li Xianghong's face changed, "What do you mean?"

Po Yuan paused for a moment, then slowly said, "I received a message from the Divine Mountain, if you have evidence, then handle it as it should be, he deserves it, there's nothing more to say. If there's no concrete evidence, given that you two have reached this point, he'll be transferred, back to the Divine Mountain."

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