Chapter 397: Chapter 397. Reunite with Everyone
"AAAaahhhh...!!!"
The bandit lieutenant’s scream echoed through the valley. If there were animals that weren’t scared away by the earlier battle, they would flee now due to this terrible scream.
Amon gave the bandit lieutenant his newest poison, the Eternal Anguish Poison. He only ever tested this poison on rats. This was the first ti he applied it to a human.
Amon watched the skins on the bandit lieutenant develop lesions before quickly healing. These repeated rapidly. The lieutenant’s pupils darted around erratically as if witnessing things that weren’t there. The description of the poison in the 101 Primal Poison To only indicated its physical torture trait and ti dilation, but perhaps this poison applied ntal torture as well.
Amon gave the bandit lieutenant a dose that made the poison last ten minutes. From the bandit lieutenant’s perspective, the experience lasted two months.
After the poison’s effect ca to an end, the bandit lieutenant stopped screaming. He desperately gasped for air like people who had almost drowned. He seed totally exhausted. Amon removed the engraved rope binding him. He didn’t have the energy to move, much less try to escape.
"What... Why... But... How did I..."
The bandit lieutenant muttered without making any sense. Amon let him be. The Eternal Anguish Poison seed more potent than he estimated.
After the bandit lieutenant cald down a little, he asked with a trembling voice, "What...? How long has it been?"
"It has only been ten minutes since I fed you this, but it should feel like two months for you," Amon answered.
The bandit lieutenant stared at the bottle in Amon’s hand in horror. He couldn’t tell exactly how long he was in torture, but it was certainly not ten minutes.
Amon spoke, "Do you have enough? If not, I can let you taste more."
"No! No! Anything but that! No...!!!" The bandit lieutenant scread.
"Okay, then I want you to answer everything I ask truthfully," Amon said.
"Ask! Ask! I will tell you everything!"
"Who told your group to attack this caravan?"
"I... I don’t know..."
When Amon lifted the bottle containing the Eternal Anguish Poison, the bandit lieutenant panicked and yelled, "I’m telling the truth! I swear! It was our leader who made the deal. He never told us anything about his contact. But... but I did hear so rumors."
"What rumors?" Amon asked.
"That the client who paid us to attack this caravan is a bigshot clan from the capital. That’s all I know. I swear. Please, let
go."
"I think you should know by now that your life is over. The question is whether you die, or you suffer first."
Amon dangled the bottle containing the Eternal Anguish Poison while speaking.
The expression on the bandit lieutenant’s face showed that he was resigned to his fate. "End
quickly... Please don’t feed
that thing again."
"You will never taste this thing again, but you have to do as I said," Amon said.
"Anything...," the bandit stated.
"Good," Amon uttered with a grin. "If you follow my instructions, you will most certainly die. If you don’t, I will get my hands on you again. When I do, I will keep you alive and give you this daily. Daily! Which ans years of torture in your mind. Do you understand?"
The bandit nodded vehently with a terrified expression.
*
After a few hours of rest, everyone was ready to resu their journey. They were by no ans recovered, but they couldn’t just stay there until they fully healed. They were simply patched out enough to move. Xin Wuming picked up the bodies of their fallen comrades. They would be brought back to the capital, and their families notified.
Amon tied the bandit lieutenant behind the caravan, so he walked with them. Amon accompanied the group and escorted the caravan to its destination. He sent Qiang Dan and Lu Fei back. The two were underworld mbers, after all. It was not good for the escort company to be seen with them out in the open.
Xin Wuming filled Amon in with more details about the developnt of their organization during the journey.
Arriving at the destination, Xin Wuming delivered the caravan to San Guo’s contact in that city and received paynt. They were ready to return to Golden Stone City afterward.
Normally, they rent enhanced steeds to return faster, but Amon took them to the Sky Stable instead. He had the Kingdom Badge given by Princess Huang Er. This badge gave him access to multiple exclusive facilities, including the Sky Stable.
Renting a Great Eagle, they returned to the capital in one day.
Xin Wuming paid the four surviving mbers their fare shares before sending them back to the company’s office. He transferred the bodies of their fallen comrades to them to bring back to the company. The administrator in the office would know what to do with the bodies. The families of the fallen would be notified and compensated. This was not the first ti they lost a mber. The escort business was a dangerous venture, after all.
Xin Wuming followed Amon, who brought the bound bandit to the constable’s office. There, Xin Wuming reported about the assault on their caravan. Under Amon’s advice, he told the constable the assault was conducted under the order of the Gao Clan. The bandit collaborated with the claim. They left the bandit to be taken into custody.
"Do you think the authorities will trouble the Gao Clan for this?" Xin Wuming asked after they were outside.
"No," Amon answered. "They have a better connection to this city’s authorities. Most likely, our report will just be ignored."
"Then why bother framing them? Though I still think it was them who hired the bandits to assault us."
"To give precedence," Amon answered. "The next ti sothing happens to us, we can claim it is them again. Have Gao Lan spread the news about our report and the bandit in custody who testified about their involvent. This will hurt their reputation. They will think twice before coming at us again."
"They will most likely kill the bandit in custody," Xin Wuming said.
"Let them. Why do we care about his fate?" Amon replied.
"But what if that bandit changes his story under their pressure?"
"He won’t dare to. He would rather get killed than cross . He knows his fate will be worse than death if I visit him again."
Xin Wuming didn’t quite understand Amon’s claim, but then he rembered the sound of the bandit’s scream when the others were recovering after the battle. He decided not to pry.
Xin Wuming took Amon to Demon Gang’s secret hideout. Gao Lan and San Guo were there, and so were Qiang Dan and Lu Fei. The two still had not yet fully recovered. Aside from them, the ex-Royal Academy students who headed the Demon Gang’s secret workshop in Qishurg City were also there. They were Ah Bin, Hu Hua, Shi Hei, Diao Xin, and Bian Cheng.
"Boss!" They all exclaid when Amon entered the room.
Amon nodded at them. "I’m glad all of you are safe and still together. You all keep our organization intact despite my absence. Good job!"
"Where have you been all these years, boss?" Gao Lan asked.
"Where I was is not important. What’s important is I’m here now," Amon answered. "I have learned about the general situations from Xin Wuming. Right now, our biggest problem is we lack influence. We need to regain the backing from a top kingdom official again."
San Guo sighed at the ntion of that. "Since the thirteenth prince abandoned us, I have tried to get support from so kingdom officials I befriended when we were still under the prince’s umbrella. Unfortunately, those officials never truly put
in their eyes. They refused to have anything to do with ."
"Politics are filled with people like that. It is hard to find a reliable ally. Most will abandon you if they think you don’t benefit them anymore. That’s why we need to reestablish contact with Prince Huang San."
"No one knows where he is. We don’t even know if he is in this capital," Gao Lan said. "He sorts of keep himself out of the public after the incident with Qishurg City."
"Dig deeper. Once you know his whereabouts, let
know. I will et him in person," Amon said. "If you can’t find him, find Xa Jien. That man should know where Prince Huang San is."
Gao Lan nodded.
"What about Princess Huang Er?" San Guo asked. "From the rumors I heard about the last ti you visited this capital, you left quite an impression with her. If you show up before her, she may be willing to be our backer."
"She is my next choice if things don’t work out with Prince Huang San," Amon answered. "She is more difficult to maneuver around because she already has a decent force loyal to her. For my long-term plan, Prince Huang San is the more ideal candidate."
Those in the room looked at one another. They had no idea what plan Amon was referring to, but Amon’s confident tone assured them that he had their future figured out.
"It’s truly good to have you back, boss," San Guo said, and everyone nodded. Their situation might be in a decline these past few years, but they believed things would change starting now.
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