Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

Chapter 417: Torture, "Coward"

Wang Zhao was imprisoned in a dark little room. Although the other party did not kill him, they would not let him have an easy time. After all, it was because of their existence that the last war, which should have been a big victory, ended up with only a small victory.

Suddenly, the door opened with a bang, and the dazzling sunlight shone into the small and dark room. The sudden light made Wang Zhao unable to open his eyes. In his perception, a tall figure stood in front of him. Wang Zhao raised his hand to cover his eyes, and squinted his eyes hard, trying to see who that person was.

But before he could see clearly, the other party's voice reached his ears.

"How is it? How does it feel? Staying in a place without the sun, dark and damp, with snakes, rats, ants and insects as companions, it's exciting just thinking about it, hahahaha."

Hearing this familiar voice, Wang Zhao curled up his lips into a sneer. How could he not recognize this voice that found him?

“It’s very exciting.”

Wang Zhao's tone was cheerful, as if he was remembering something pleasant.

"Believe me, when the Lord unifies the world, you will also be able to experience it."

The next moment, Xiahou Dun kicked out and stepped on his chest, kneading his chest left and right with his toes. The severe pain made him unable to hold back and groan, but then he clenched his teeth and no longer made any sound.

"You are still stubborn even when you are about to die. What's the matter? Do you, Liu Bei's subordinates, usually practice talking skills?"

Xiahou Dun sneered, his face full of disdain and ridicule, then threw a piece of paper on the ground and withdrew his toes from Wang Zhao.

"Don't dream that your lord will come to save you. He has sent a letter saying that he will not accept the condition of exchanging you for the first-class warhorse. He has given up on you. Do you still want to continue to work for him?"

Wang Zhao stretched out his hand to take the paper and see what was written on it. Seeing Wang Zhao's action, Xiahou Dun did not stop him. Instead, he stood there and looked at Wang Zhao with a playful expression. Just when Wang Zhao was about to touch the paper, he suddenly withdrew his hand and stopped looking at the contents.

Xiahou Dun was slightly surprised. He thought of many possible situations. For example, after he learned that Liu Bei would not save him, he would have a breakdown and betray all his colleagues in anger. Or, after he learned the news, he would remain silent and unable to ask anything.

But he never thought that he would stand in this situation. Wang Zhao just sat there without any movement. Xiahou Dun wanted to reach out and pick up the paper to show it to Wang Zhao, but was interrupted by Wang Zhao. He just sat there like an old Buddha in meditation. Sitting in the same place, his lips slightly opened.

"Don't waste your time. Even if the lord really abandons me and is unwilling to exchange the so-called first-class warhorse, I will not blame the lord, let alone bear a grudge against the lord. As early as when I came here, I already knew my fate. It all depends on me and has nothing to do with the lord. So, kill me. You won't get any useful information from me."

Wang Zhao spoke in a calm tone and slowly, because he knew that the sun was rare, so he wanted to enjoy the hard-earned sunshine more in his limited life. In response to Wang Zhao's words, Xiahou Dun did not express any opinion and put away his previous ridicule.

Because apart from Wang Zhao, the other person they caught, like Wang Zhao, did not say a single useful word, which made Xiahou Dun return empty-handed. Except for the baggage camp, which could judge through the travel accounts and purchase accounts who went to the fine salt shop and went there frequently, and use this method to screen out the corresponding suspects, there was no way to investigate the others.

Their clues were also cut off because of Wang Zhao and another person's silence, and they could not track them down. Although Gu Rubing agreed and was willing to exchange them for first-class war horses, how much could they get in exchange for just a few people? Xiahou Dun frowned. Cao Cao gave him an order to catch all the spies before Gu Rubing came. Only in this way could they get enough war horses.

Xiahou Dun had gradually lost his patience with Wang Zhao. Even if he and the other man were alive, that would only be 700 first-class war horses. Although it was better than nothing, it was definitely not what Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun wanted. Therefore, Xiahou Dun made up his mind and began to torture Wang Zhao to extract a confession.

"Drag him down to the basement and get everything ready for me."

Xiahou Dun gave instructions to the soldier beside him. After Wang Zhao left, Xiahou Dun pointed to the confinement room in another direction and said to another soldier.

"Take that man to the interrogation room on the other side so he can hear the sound."

After doing all this, Xiahou Dun turned and walked towards the basement. In the basement, there were various torture instruments, burning irons, boiled dogwood water, and various knives used for dissection. There were also indelible bloodstains. Those were the marks left by previous prisoners. After years of accumulation, these bloodstains had seeped into the wood here.

Wang Zhao had been placed on a rack, with his hands hung up and only his toes touching the ground. The strong sense of uneasiness of not being able to touch the ground made Wang Zhao try hard to stand on the rack, but it was in vain. Xiahou Dun took off his armor and walked in in casual clothes.

"To tell you the truth, your lord has not given up on you, and he has prepared first-class war horses in exchange for your life. He repeatedly reminded us in the letter that we must not kill you and must keep your life. But unfortunately, my lord and I have changed our minds. We both agree that you are more important than 500 first-class war horses."

"Ah."

Wang Zhao raised the corner of his mouth and smiled contemptuously.

"I don't know what tricks you're going to play, but just go for it."

"Tricks? No, no, no, I'm not going to play any tricks. I'm going to give you two choices. One, endure torture and die here, disappointing your lord. He has been waiting for you to return. If you die, what will happen to him? Moreover, I will do everything I can to uproot all the people under your command who are stationed here and kill them all. If you die, they will die too."

Xiahou Dun walked to the side, took out a branding iron from the red-hot bucket, and came in front of Wang Zhao.

"The second method is the best way for us. As long as you tell me the names of all the spies in Cao's army, I promise you that I will never make things difficult for them and will allow them to leave here alive. There will be no accidents and no one will be lost. I promise you!"

"Te!"

A mouthful of spit flew out and hit Xiahou Dun's face. Xiahou Dun, who was originally speaking kindly, suddenly lost all his patience and pressed the branding iron in his hand hard on Wang Zhao's chest. The red-hot iron sizzled on the flesh, and a wisp of smoke rose up. Wang Zhao roared loudly in pain.

"Tell me! How many people are there lying in ambush here? What are their names?!"

Xiahou Dun's face was ferocious, and he continued to press down with the branding iron in his hand. Wang Zhao roared even louder, and his whole body trembled violently in pain, but he still didn't say a word.

After taking the iron off, a piece of flesh appeared on Wang Zhao's chest, which had been burned and collapsed. Wang Zhao fainted from the pain. Xiahou Dun threw the iron into the stove nearby and waved to the soldiers watching.

"Wake him up with vinegar."

After saying that, Xiahou Dun turned and walked into another room. In this room, another scout was imprisoned. His name was Chen Chao. He joined Gu Rubing's army at about the same time as Wang Zhao. He was also hung up at this moment. After seeing Xiahou Dun enter, Chen Chao said disdainfully. "What's the matter? You didn't get the information you wanted from Old Wang, so you came to me? Bah, I tell you, Old Wang didn't say anything, and I won't say anything. How did you abuse Old Wang? Come on, give me double the amount!"

Chen Chao spoke loudly, and Xiahou Dun's eyes twitched. This Chen Chao was even more unreasonable than Wang Zhao. No matter what he asked him, Chen Chao only had one thing to say: if Lao Wang didn't say it, he wouldn't say it.

Once, Xiahou Dun told him that Wang Zhao had given instructions and wanted to try to get something out of Chen Chao, but what he didn't expect was that Chen Chao's words almost made him collapse.

"Did Lao Wang really say that? Did that bastard really say that? Damn, we agreed that when we become rich and powerful, we will not forget each other. I didn't say anything, but you said it first?"

Then Wang Zhao started to scold him. Xiahou Dun finally got tired of listening to it and interrupted Chen Chao.

"You don't have to yell here. As long as you can name a few names, you will also have everything he can get?"

After these words were spoken, Chen Chao stared at Xiahou Dun as if he were a fool, and then spoke.

"Didn't Lao Wang give you everything? What else do you want from me?"

This sentence choked Xiahou Dun. Then Chen Chao ignored Xiahou Dun and continued to yell and curse. He said he was cursing Wang Zhao, but he was actually cursing Cao Cao. Xiahou Dun ignored him and walked out of the room.

The situation is the same now. Xiahou Dun has also tried to torture him, but the result is that he is even more difficult to deal with than Wang Zhao. Even torture has no effect on Chen Chao. Xiahou Dun's eyelids are twitching now. He controls his emotions and walks towards Chen Chao.

"You are useless. He has already confessed everything."

As he spoke, Xiahou Dun pulled out the dagger hidden in his calf and walked towards Chen Chao, who smiled slightly.

"Do you have any new tricks? Why are you still doing this?"

Before Chen Chao could finish his words, Xiahou Dun stabbed him in the abdomen. Blood gushed out. Xiahou Dun waved to the soldiers in the room.

"Let him go and follow me."

Xiahou Dun brought a few people and carried Chen Chao to Wang Zhao's room next door. Before entering the room, Chen Chao heard Wang Zhao coughing violently. After entering, he saw Wang Zhao being pressed on a chair with two layers of white gauze covering his face and vinegar being poured on his face.

When Chen Chao saw Wang Zhao's appearance, he could not help but clench his fists. After Xiahou Dun came in, he signaled the soldiers who were pouring vinegar to stop. Wang Zhao was dragged up and sat on a chair. He was a little dazed by the vinegar. He coughed a few times, spit out a few mouthfuls of vinegar, looked up and looked at Chen Chao, then moved his eyes to the dagger still stuck in Chen Chao's abdomen, and his whole body trembled visibly.

"You two are both stubborn. I understand that ordinary methods are useless to you. So, I just came up with a very good idea."

Xiahou Dun waved his hand and had Chen Chao dragged over. He made the two sit opposite each other. Xiahou Dun waved a dagger in his hand and pointed at the dagger stuck in Chen Chao's abdomen.

"I heard that you all value the friendship between colleagues. I want to see how much you value it. If I ask you a question and you don't answer, I will stab you."

Xiahou Dun pointed his knife at Wang Zhao again.

"First question, is there anyone else in the baggage camp besides the four of you?"

"What does it have to do with me... Lao Wang!"

Chen Chao had only said half of his words when Xiahou Dun, without any hesitation, immediately stabbed Wang Zhao in the abdomen. The stab was not fatal, but was just for torture.

"I no longer have the patience to waste time with the two of you. As long as your answer is not what I want to hear, I will stab the other person until you give me the answer I want."

Xiahou Dun did not pull out the dagger. In this situation, pulling out the dagger would only accelerate their death and cause them to bleed to death. With the dagger blocking the wound, the bleeding would be reduced a lot. If the organs were injured, pulling out the dagger would only cause faster death.

Although Xiahou Dun was torturing them, he did not really want to kill them. Cao Cao told him that as long as they were not dead, it would be fine. Even if they were half-dead and died in Liu Bei's hands, it would have nothing to do with them. Now Cao Cao's forces were not too afraid of Liu Bei.

"The second question is, who is your upline? Who is your downline?"

"Online is your father! Offline is your mother!"

Chen Chao didn't buy Xiahou Dun's trick at all and stared at him fiercely. When Xiahou Dun heard the first sentence, he had already raised the dagger in his hand. As soon as Chen Chao finished speaking, Xiahou Dun's dagger stabbed Wang Zhao in the abdomen.

Seeing Wang Zhao lowering his head in pain, Chen Chao's eyes widened with anger.

"you wanna die!"

Although Chen Chao said that he didn't care, how could he really not care? He had already been tortured by branding and jealousy, and before he could recover, he was stabbed twice. His mental state deteriorated rapidly and he began to become listless.

"If you don't want him to continue to suffer, answer my questions. As long as your answers satisfy me, I will let him go and stop torturing him."

Xiahou Dun grinned. This method was told to him by Cheng Yu before he came. The effect was immediate. He had tortured them for several days but failed to make them waver. But now, after only two cuts, Chen Chao had become emotional. As long as Xiahou Dun continued like this, it was only a matter of time before Chen Chao could not hold on.

Chen Chao looked at Wang Zhao with trembling lips, and had a fierce ideological struggle. Just when Chen Chao was in a trance and could not bear to look at Wang Zhao's appearance and was about to agree, suddenly a hoarse voice sounded.

"Damn it, I knew it, you're such a coward."

(End of this chapter)