Chapter 141 — Old Buffon's Origins

"Do you know why I brought you here?" No sooner had the words left Yang Yanchuan's mouth than he found them rather amusing himself. It sounded like something out of a TV drama—a cop interrogating a suspect.

Lü Silong rolled his eyes and said nothing.

"If you don't want to suffer, tell the truth." Yang Ce sat down in the chair opposite Lü Silong and demanded sharply.

"What is it you want to know, and what is it you want me to say?" Lü Silong finally spoke, though his tone was utterly indifferent.

"You were with that bunch today, weren't you?" Yang Ce asked after a moment's thought.

"That bunch? What bunch? I'm just a waiter. I don't know anything about any of that." Lü Silong wore the look of a dead pig that no longer fears boiling water.

"Is that so? Then how did you so conveniently dodge that teapot the kid threw at you?" Yang Ce gave a cold laugh.

"I dodged the teapot—that only means I was lucky. What do you mean, conveniently?" Lü Silong said carelessly. "If you want to talk about convenience, I'd say that move of yours was the convenient one—knocking the teapot right back with one hand. Now that was convenient."

"So you're one of those who won't shed a tear till they see the coffin, eh?" Yang Ce waved a hand at Hou Lin. "Give him a little taste of it."

Hou Lin nodded and walked toward Lü Silong, a stun baton of unknown origin in his hand.

At the sight of the crackling blue sparks, Lü Silong was no longer as calm as before. A flicker of fear slid through his eyes, and he seemed hesitant, seemed to struggle—yet he clenched his jaw tight.

All of this was seen by Yang Juehuan. He was somewhat puzzled, unable to tell what this fellow in front of him really meant. Call him timid? He had been so composed earlier.

But what he had shown in that instant just now was not so composed either.

"Don't electrocute him to death. Aim for the fleshy parts." Yang Ce rather wanted to see how long this fellow could keep up his act.

"Sss—" Lü Silong drew a sharp breath. Clearly, the voltage on Hou Lin's baton was set low, so a shock brought pain without doing any real harm.

"I'll ask you again—were those people today with you?" Yang Ce looked at the grimacing Lü Silong and asked.

Lü Silong clamped his teeth shut, eyes closed, his face a mask of agony.

"Continue," Yang Min ordered Hou Lin.

"Yes." Hou Lin adjusted the baton, then jabbed it into Lü Silong's belly.

"Agh—" Lü Silong let out a howl, the veins on his forehead bulging out.

"This should be about enough, right? I've taken a good bit of pain now. Saying it at this point shouldn't arouse any suspicion, should it?"

A voice surged into Yang Juehuan's mind. There it was—there it was again. Yang Ce watched Lü Silong with keen interest. This fellow's thinking was rather peculiar. What did he mean, saying it now wouldn't arouse suspicion? Had he been putting on an act this whole time?

"No, I can't take it. If this goes on, I won't be able to stand it."

"Awoo—" Lü Silong cried out, then said, "Stop shocking me! I'll talk. I'll tell you everything."

Hou Lin withdrew his hand and stood to one side. Yang Ji fixed his eyes on Lü Silong. "Talk. What's your name?"

"My name is Lü Silong. Everyone calls me A-Long," Lü Silong said meekly.

"That bunch today—were you with them?" Yang Ce pressed on.

"That's right. I really was with those people today," Lü Silong said.

"Oh? So this was premeditated, then?" Yang Yanchuan said.

"I'm just a small fry. Whatever the boss says, we do," Lü Silong said.

"And who is your boss?" Yang Ce continued.

"I—I can't say. If I say, the boss will kill me." A look of terror came over Lü Silong's face.

"If you don't say, I'll have you killed right now." Yang Ce gave a snort. "You think I'd let you walk out of here before I get a satisfactory answer?"

"I really can't say it. If I do, I'm dead either way," Lü Silong said, shaking his head over and over.

"Da Hou, since he won't talk, drag him out and shock his little john until he's dead," Yang Ce said, looking up at Hou Lin.

"No problem." With that, Hou Lin made as if to seize Lü Silong.

"Mother of god—didn't the boss say there was no danger? How come this Yang Juehuan does things so viciously? Forget it, I'd better just say it early. No point suffering for nothing. Saying it now, he shouldn't get suspicious—after all, my situation right now is pretty desperate."

Yang Ce heard what was in his mind, though his expression did not change. This was his secret—the secret of his victories.

Seeing Yang Ce's eyes fixed straight on him, Lü Silong felt a pang of guilt, but braced himself and said, "Fine, I'll talk, I'll talk. Stop shocking me."

"Talk," Yang Ce said, waving a hand to signal Hou Lin to wait.

"It—it was Sun Jie," Lü Silong said, trembling.

To be continued

676. The Right Elder

"Sun Jie?" Yang Ce stared at Lü Silong in astonishment. Sun Jie had sent someone to kill him—was he mistaken?

"You must never tell her it was me who said this, or I'm dead for sure," Lü Silong said cautiously.

"You're certain it was Sun Jie?" Yang Ce looked at Lü Silong strangely. "I say, do you even know who Sun Jie is?"

"She's the one sitting across from you today, of course," Lü Silong said.

"Then tell me, why would Sun Jie want me dead?" Yang Ce did not believe for a moment that Sun Jie would send someone to kill him; there was no reason for it at all. He and Sun Jie bore no grudge against each other—if anything, there was even a certain inexplicable ambiguity between them. The idea that Sun Jie would kill him was the biggest joke in the world.

Even if the means by which Yang Ce had won Sun Jie over had been somewhat crude, it was still nowhere near enough to earn him Sun Jie's hatred.

Yang Ce stared at Lü Silong and said nothing, just looked at him like that.

Lü Silong, however, felt a pang of guilt, and a trace of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Still, he could not think of any reason why Yang Yongjin would believe him, so on the surface he kept up a perfectly composed appearance, while his heart churned violently.

"He ought to believe me now, surely. There was nothing flawed in what I said."

"Sorry, but I don't believe a word of it," Yang Hengye said. "Full of holes."

"Huh?" Lü Silong froze, staring at Yang Ce in disbelief. It was as though the man had known exactly what he had just been thinking.

"Da Hou, carry on. I want to see what a roasted little dick looks like," Yang Yanzhou said.

"No problem." With that, Hou Lin grabbed the electric baton and advanced on Lü Silong.

"No, no, please, anything but that!" Lü Silong's voice cracked with fright. "I've already named the man behind it all—why are you still going to shock me?"

"Did you? You haven't told the truth at all," Yang Ce snorted.

"I really didn't lie to you—how would I dare lie to anyone?" Lü Silong said again and again.

"Whether you lied or not is written plain as day on your face. Do you think I can't see it?" Yang Ce sneered.

"I—" Lü Silong's heart was seized with doubt and dread. Was he really that hopeless at acting?

"If I'd known, I never would have taken this job. Ugh, this bastard is really hard to deal with. Didn't Boss Yun say this task would be easy? Damn it, he's going to be the death of me. Next time, no matter how much money they offer, I won't do it."

Boss Yun—Yang Hengye had caught it. Fine, you don't have to tell the truth, but your own thoughts have already betrayed you. And at that moment, Yang Shuoxuan let out a deep breath of relief.

Earlier, although Yang Ce had not believed that Sun Jie would send someone to kill him, he had still harbored some doubts. After all, among all his women, Sun Jie was the one he could least fathom.

Yang Ce simply could not guess at Sun Jie's thoughts. She clearly held some affection for him, yet she stubbornly refused to yield.