Volume 1, Chapter 20: Having to Take Matters Into One's Own Hands

"So, you're saying Qingwu has already fallen into your hands?"

Song Fanghuai was utterly desperate, a wretched smile plastered on his face. What a cunning scheme! If not for the wanted notices issued for Shen Ji and Chichi, they might have waited a few more days before contacting the members of the Fire Worship Cult. The opportunity they thought they had found was nothing but a trap meticulously laid by others.

Shen Ji smiled faintly. "Otherwise, did you really think the Princess would have brought me to the Song residence to make an arrest based on just a few words from me?"

Early this morning, Qiu Yi had already sent someone back to report. They had rounded up Song Qingwu and several cultists from the Fire Worship Cult in one fell swoop. Currently, they were interrogating the cult members, demanding the whereabouts of the silver.

"I should have killed you sooner!" Song Fanghuai glared at Shen Ji, his heart filled with bitter regret. If not for this good-for-nothing accidentally stumbling upon the secret conversation between Qingluan and that person, none of this would have happened.

Shen Ji shook his head slightly. "I should say, I should have seen through the true faces of you cold-blooded, ungrateful wretches sooner!"

"You should be thankful for your own stupidity!" Song Fanghuai stared fixedly at Shen Ji. "If you weren't so foolish, do you think you would have lived until now?"

In truth, he had wanted to get rid of Shen Ji early on to seize his family's assets. However, Song Qingluan felt that such an approach was too aggressive and might arouse suspicion from others. That was why they had resorted to trickery to swindle Shen Ji out of his wealth. And that good-for-nothing Shen Ji had been remarkably cooperative. Had he not been so compliant, they would have seized his assets in a much simpler and more direct manner long ago.

Who would have imagined! The Song family rose to prominence because of Shen Ji, and now they would perish because of him. In the end, all their calculations were for naught.

If only his daughter had not met with trouble! Then, even if that half of the jade pendant had fallen into Shen Ji's hands, and even if this Princess had set a trap for the Song family, with his daughter's intelligence, she would certainly have realized it was a trap.

Just as Song Fanghuai sighed inwardly, Qiu Yi walked in quickly.

"Did you find the silver?" Before Qiu Yi could even speak, Ning Shu asked impatiently.

"I am incompetent," Qiu Yi lowered his head. "Those two cultists from the Fire Worship Cult insist that the silver is in the Qingshan Lake..."

Those two were the only survivors they had intentionally kept alive. Despite undergoing brutal torture, both continued to claim the silver was in Qingshan Lake. Song Qingwu, however, was a spineless coward who had confessed the method the Song family used to transport the silver all at once. According to Song Qingwu's confession, it was proven that those two were lying. The silver could not possibly be in Qingshan Lake! The Song family was planning to build workshops to move the silver.

Could these workshops be built on top of Qingshan Lake? Furthermore, if the Song family were salvaging silver from Qingshan Lake, the local authorities would have undoubtedly discovered it. Yet, no matter how they interrogated them, the two continued to repeat the same claim.

"Hahaha..." Just as Qiu Yi was explaining the situation, Song Fanghuai suddenly let out an eerie laugh.

"Insolent!" Qiu Yi snorted coldly. With a flash, he appeared before Song Fanghuai and delivered a heavy kick to his chest.

"Pfft!" Song Fanghuai spat out a mouthful of blood, his body slamming heavily against the ground.

"Cough, cough..." Song Fanghuai coughed up more blood, enduring the pain as he looked at Shen Ji with malicious glee. "So what if you captured the Fire Worship Cult members? If you can't find the silver, you still face the charge of deceiving the Emperor! I'll be waiting for you on the road to the underworld! Hahaha..."

As he spoke, Song Fanghuai laughed maniacally again. He knew that from the moment Song Qingwu was captured, they had no path to survival. Now, he only wished to drag Shen Ji to the grave with him.

"In my eyes, you are the most foolish one of all!" Ning Shu looked at Song Fanghuai with cold disdain. "Even if he cannot find the silver, the merit of him exposing you, old thief, is enough for me to ensure he remains unharmed!"

Hearing Ning Shu's words, the smile on Song Fanghuai's face vanished instantly.

"Your luck is truly incredible! Cough, cough..." Song Fanghuai lamented with bitter resentment, his face full of unwillingness. Had Shen Ji not stumbled upon the lecherous Zhou Tong by sheer coincidence, he would have been dead for sure this time!

"What do you mean by 'luck'?" Shen Ji was displeased. "This is called good people being rewarded for their good deeds!"

*You consider yourself a good person?* Ning Shu glared at him and asked, "Do you really know the approximate location of the silver?"

"Heh..." Before Shen Ji could speak, Song Fanghuai sneered again. "And you call yourself a Princess? You actually believe such nonsense?"

Ning Shu frowned and gestured lightly to Qiu Yi. "Make him shut up!"

"Understood!" Qiu Yi acknowledged.

"Wait!" Shen Ji stopped Qiu Yi. "Let me handle this; I'm an expert!" With that, Shen Ji stepped forward quickly and kicked Song Fanghuai directly in the crotch.

"Ah..." Overwhelmed by the excruciating pain, Song Fanghuai let out a heart-wrenching scream.

Seeing this scene, everyone present felt a chill run down their spines. Feng Min even subconsciously glanced at his own crotch. *Damn it, why does this bastard like this particular move?* He worried that one day he might end up on the receiving end of a kick like that from Shen Ji.

"Gag his mouth!" Ning Shu ordered, then turned to Shen Ji. "Do you truly know the approximate location of the silver or not?"

"I do." Shen Ji nodded with rare seriousness, though he grumbled inwardly. *The people under Ning Shu are truly unreliable. They didn't even wait until they saw the silver before showing their hand! Now they've caught the people, but they refuse to talk.*

*I just hope I wasn't mistaken before. Otherwise, this will be quite a hassle!* He needed to finish this mess quickly so he could focus on strengthening his physique and building his own power. Without his own strength, doing anything was inconvenient.

Upon receiving Shen Ji's affirmative answer, Ning Shu stopped wasting time and immediately ordered her guards: "Escort this old thief. I want him to see with his own eyes how we find the silver!"

Soon, they were escorting Song Fanghuai out of the city. Feng Min ordered his men to detain everyone in the Song household and hurriedly followed.

As Feng Min caught up, Shen Ji sidled up to him, looking him up and down. Meeting Shen Ji's gaze, Feng Min felt a sense of dread. No matter how he looked at it, Shen Ji seemed to have ill intentions.

"Young Marquis, what are you looking at?" Feng Min managed a forced smile.

Shen Ji stroked his chin and smacked his lips. "I don't know why, but I keep feeling like you are in league with the Song family and those cultists from the Fire Worship Cult."

*Go to hell, you bastard!* This scoundrel wouldn't be satisfied until he had ruined him! Feng Min cursed Shen Ji's ancestors eighteen generations back in his heart, while saying with a stern expression, "Young Marquis, you shouldn't make such baseless accusations! If I were involved with them, wouldn't I have sent them a warning the moment I learned of the Princess's plan yesterday?"

Shen Ji shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe you didn't want to, didn't dare to, or perhaps you simply couldn't?"

"I..." Feng Min's face twitched uncontrollably. For a moment, he truly wanted to rush over and throttle this bastard! *Yes, and that idiot son of mine too! If it weren't for that fool Feng Yuan, would we be in this mess?*