Mortal Mirror

Li Ergou sat on Black Beard's back, feeling delighted. He hadn't expected this fellow to be so plump and comfortable to sit on. The Black Beard goat seemed slow, but when it walked, it was as swift as the wind.

Arriving at the county government office, Black Beard simply lay down in the courtyard. Everyone saw that it was Li Ergou's mount, so naturally, they didn't dare say much. Those who were good at currying favor would even bring Black Beard the goat some food and drink.

Li Ergou had just stepped into the county government office when two people walked over to him. They were the two constables who had helped him yesterday. The person who came up to him was overjoyed to see Li Ergou.

One of them came forward and said, "Sir, you've finally arrived! We've been waiting for you for a long time."

Li Ergou nodded slightly, then remembered to ask, "What are your names?"

"I'm Zhang Kui."

"I'm Wang San."

The two of them excitedly reported their names. They were joking—as long as the boss knew your name, all the hard work would be worth it. How could they not be happy?

Li Ergou nodded slightly and said, "Good, well done. I've remembered your names. Let's go, take me to see the prisoners."

The two led Li Ergou to the interrogation room. Pushing open the door, he saw the two burly men who had kidnapped the hostages yesterday tied to two wooden stakes.

At the moment, the two were not being interrogated. Beside them, in a charcoal brazier, a branding iron was being heated red-hot. The two men, however, looked fearless.

At that moment, they saw someone coming and immediately said arrogantly, "Release us immediately, or our young master will definitely not let you off!"

Li Ergou nodded slightly, picked up the branding iron without a second thought, and pressed it onto the chest of the person who had just spoken.

"Sizzle..."

The smell of burning flesh instantly filled the air.

The burly man screamed and fainted in disbelief from the pain.

Wang San and Zhang Kui widened their eyes, their hearts filled with excitement and trembling. They had long heard that Li Ergou was extraordinary, but they hadn't expected him to be so ruthless and merciless. Without asking anything, he just branded them. Just this move alone would make him the top dog in the yamen.

Li Ergou blew on the branding iron and threw it back into the brazier.

He then looked squarely at the other person, who was already terrified.

He reached out his hand, and Wang San immediately understood what he meant. He quickly grabbed a whip from the side, and Li Ergou soaked the whip in the prepared chili water.

Without saying a word, he lashed out at the person, causing Wang San and Zhang Kui to tremble in their hearts.

The whip was sharp, and the person being whipped was immediately torn to shreds, his screams were extremely miserable.

As he whipped, he said, "I'll let you be stubborn, I'll let you be stubborn. Let's see if your mouth is harder or the whip is harder."

After a burst of whipping, the person was half-dead. The person being whipped said in a trembling voice, "Sir, please stop! Please stop! What do you want to do? At least let me die knowing why."

Li Ergou snorted coldly, "I'll let you be stubborn."

The man groaned, looking utterly hopeless, "Sir, you didn't ask anything, and you said I was stubborn. You should ask!"

Li Ergou deliberately showed a surprised expression and said, "Oh, didn't I ask?"

He turned to look at Wang San and Zhang Kui.

The two were dumbfounded, thinking, 'Are you pretending to be confused?' The two immediately nodded and said, "Uh, I think so."

Li Ergou then patted his forehead and said, "Oh, I forgot. I was angered by you. You dared to kidnap disciples of the Vermilion Bird Academy in broad daylight. I think you're really tired of living. Immediately confess your motives and the mastermind behind you."

The man was dazed from the whipping and was scared by Li Ergou. He immediately nodded and said, "I'll confess, I'll confess everything!"

Li Ergou smirked, revealing a hint of charm, and said to Wang San, "Go and call Lu Yun and Zhang Long to handle this matter."

Wang San immediately ran out without stopping.

Li Ergou handed over the matter here to Lu Yun and Zhang Long and went to Huang San, wanting to talk to him about Ximen Shang. As soon as he entered the room, he saw Huang San sitting there with a worried look on his face.

Seeing Li Ergou, he asked doubtfully, "Sir, what's wrong? Why do you look so worried?"

Seeing Li Ergou, Huang San immediately said, "It's Ergou. I was just about to talk to you."

Li Ergou hesitated and asked, "What's the matter?"

Huang San thought about it and said, "Ergou, you and I are not outsiders. I'll be honest with you. Did you arrest Ximen Shang's people?"

Li Ergou nodded and said, "Yes, I didn't expect you to find out so quickly."

Huang San said, "Alas, do you know that we can't afford to offend Ximen Shang? This person is not only the county magistrate's brother-in-law but also one of the major families in Bitter Water County. I know you hate evil like an enemy, but unfortunately, we can't control such people.

Therefore, I hope you release them."

Li Ergou was slightly stunned. Although he knew that Ximen Shang would not let it go, he didn't expect it to come so quickly. Huang San also compromised faster than he had imagined. In this way, this matter was a bit troublesome.

Li Ergou pondered for a while before saying, "Sir, is there no way?"

"Alas, unless the county magistrate wants to deal with him, otherwise, we can't get past the county deputy magistrate's level. Moreover, we shouldn't become enemies with him for the sake of two small fries."

Li Ergou naturally knew Huang San's difficulties. Moreover, he was currently weak and inexperienced. If he offended the county deputy magistrate, he would probably suffer a great loss. In this way, the plan really had to be changed. He had thought about this matter a bit too simply.

Seeing Li Ergou's expression changing constantly, Huang San slowly said, "Ergou, I know you hate evil like an enemy, but unfortunately, you are still too young. Don't do things impulsively, otherwise, it will only backfire."

He still listened to Huang San's advice. After all, he had too little life experience. Li Zheng'an told him to listen to the words of his predecessors, and he would naturally not be wrong.

Therefore, he chose to listen and chose to believe. His personality was not noble enough to risk his life for a stranger.

At that moment, a loud bang suddenly came from outside, which was frightening.

Li Ergou was puzzled and quickly walked out with Huang San.

At the door, a gorgeously dressed, tall, and mighty figure with a face like a knife, led dozens of burly men into the yamen.

When everyone saw this person, they were slightly surprised. Someone stepped forward to ask, but was beaten violently. For a time, everyone in the yamen was a little dumbfounded.

At that moment, the young master shouted loudly, "Who are Wang San and Zhang Kui?"

At this moment, the two had just come out of the interrogation room when they heard someone calling their names. When they went over to take a look, they were slightly stunned because they recognized Ximen Shang. Seeing this, the two felt that something was wrong.