"Run, why don’t you run, weren’t you good at running..."

Sadistic, gleeful laughter accompanied by chilling screams, something utterly inhumane was clearly occurring here.

Outside the city, nestling by the mountains and rivers, within a sprawling estate.

Mr. Xie’s hands were bound together, suspended from a beam, at least a foot off the ground. His clothes had been stripped, leaving only his inner garments, hair disheveled, his face bruised and swollen, the blood on his mouth had long caked into black.

His body was covered in whip marks, especially his front and back, not a single patch of unscathed skin could be found. His heels were also worn to shreds, likely from dragging on the ground; this was plain evidence of inhuman torture.

He had already fainted several times but had been brought to consciousness each time by the others.

Ye Mi Yuan was a theft officer, skilled in interrogation techniques, capable of inflicting extreme pain without fatal consequences.

Yet even so, he underestimated Mr. Xie’s willpower.

Having used torture to this extent, Mr. Xie stubbornly refused to utter a single word against Lin Miao.

Ye Mi Yuan had encountered stubborn people before, but someone like Mr. Xie was quite rare, though he was confident he could make him talk.

It’s just a matter of time; of all the death row criminals he had interrogated, none remained silent forever.

But the people from the Huang Family and Green Blade Sect were losing their patience, because Mr. Xie’s disappearance would surely alert Lin Miao.

If Lin Miao were to report this, it’d alarm the authorities and become troublesome.

Moreover, if they failed to seize any evidence against Lin Miao this time, it’d be difficult to do so next time.

If they could pry open Mr. Xie’s mouth and obtain incriminating evidence against Lin Miao, they could use official means to target Lin Miao.

Of course, if it could be resolved privately, even better.

"Mr. Ye, we’ve just received news that Lin Miao has allied with the Su Family and Snow Mountain Sect. Snow Mountain Sect has even stationed people at the Lin Family..." This time, it was Du Heng, the disciple of Green Blade Sect’s elder, coming forward; he’s also the brother of Du Ziyu who was once beaten up badly by Lin Miao, and a master of the Upper Grade Blood Fusion Realm.

"Mr. Du, are you sure?" Ye Shengyuan was startled. If Lin Miao indeed had ties with Snow Mountain Sect, it would be a major problem.

"Yes, the news came from my master, hardly false."

"Then we must immediately pry open Mr. Xie’s mouth. As long as we get his confession, we can accuse him before the court. By then, neither the Su Family nor Snow Mountain Sect could save him!" Ye Mi Yuan gritted his teeth.

"Mr. Ye, if his mouth can’t be pried open, can’t we use Mr. Xie to set a trap and lure Lin out..." Du Heng, a man of the martial world, preferred using streetwise solutions and disliked the slow legal process.

"Mr. Du, didn’t you set a trap at the Shang Family last time and lost some disciples?" Ye Mi Yuan said, "We’ve underestimated this kid’s skill and combat prowess."

"Lin is too cunning; who would’ve thought he’d drug the water jar, catching Men Dong off guard." Du Heng said, not believing Lin Miao, a Bone Forging Realm, could be a match for Men Dong; he felt Lin won merely by trickery.

"Still, Lin’s martial arts aren’t weak, likely at the Upper Grade Bone Forging Realm. We must devise a foolproof plan, not like with Mr. Xie where we lost several people capturing him." Ye Mi Yuan reminded.

"I’ll discuss with Mr. Huang."

"Then I’ll continue interrogating this old fellow..."

...

Although Si Miaoxue had been out of contact for four days, Lin Miao was keen on finding Mr. Xie first. His sudden disappearance surely meant trouble.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be gone for a whole day and night.

Lin Miao directly took leave for the day, secretly heading out of the city early in the morning to search along Mr. Xie’s intended route to Jin’s Brick Kiln Factory.

Lin Miao met the kiln factory owner and saw Mr. Xie’s personally signed contract for purchasing green bricks, confirming the departure time.

Thus, Lin Miao spurred his horse quickly towards the quarry, inquiring there; all claimed they hadn’t seen Mr. Xie.

Clearly, Mr. Xie was either delayed by something en route to the quarry or encountered trouble.

Retracing the road, Lin Miao traveled slowly, examining the path closely for any signs left by Mr. Xie.

If something did happen, Mr. Xie would definitely leave clues for him, this mutual understanding was at the very least established.

Amidst a pile of scattered stones, Lin Miao noticed something peculiar.

He dismounted to approach.

Upon inspection, it was horse dung. Squatting down to examine it, it appeared fresh, left within the past day or two, and upon closer scrutiny, not the feed of draft horses but the refined feed for riding horses could create such dung.

Why would riding horses appear in this place?

Lin Miao led his horse, tracking prints along the way, finally spotting a patch of blood on the ground. Based on the marks, he assessed.

It seemed to be blood left by a horse falling and injured after being shot with an arrow. If it were human, likely they’d have bled to death.

The injured or dead horse was dragged away...

In the grass, Lin Miao found a broken arrow, possibly overlooked during searching; the arrowhead was forged from refined steel, extraordinarily sharp, not typical for regular hunters, resembling military-grade arrows. The arrow shaft material, birch wood, was of exceptional craftsmanship, clearly not made by ordinary craftsmen...