Being an emperor is not something he can do, so he can only rely on his connections.

Zhang Jingwei sat on a hardwood chair, a ruler casually resting on his knees, yet he exuded an air of authority without even being angry. Yang Zhao, with his arms folded, stood silently in the shadows to the side.

"Ge Dabao," Zhang Jingwei's voice was low, but like a cold iron spike, it pierced the dead silence of the torture chamber. "You are a Taoist priest of the Shi family. How many Taoist priests like you do the Shi family employ?"

Ge Dabao's body shuddered violently, his throat rolling as he let out a hoarse, bellows-like sound: "Reply... Reply Your Excellency... probably... probably hundreds of them..." He swallowed hard, trying to moisten his burning throat. "You call us alchemists, but actually... we were originally... just ordinary people... the common people at the foot of Huangshan Mountain in Huainan."

"Huainan again..." Zhang Jingwei's brows were instantly furrowed. This word touched his sensitive nerves.

Yang Zhao, who had been silent all this time, spoke at the right time. His voice was low and clear, and he added in a professional tone: "Sir, the area around Huangshan in Huainan is located on the edge of the prosperous area south of the Yangtze River. It has fertile soil and water, and is crowded with merchants. The people there should have a very rich life." His implication was very clear: unless there were special reasons, how could people from such a place be willing to leave their hometown and run to this bitter and cold place in the north to refine some "magic pill"?

Zhang Jingwei's gaze was like a knife, fixed on Ge Dabao again. "Master Yang is right. Since our hometown is prosperous, why did you travel thousands of miles to this northern land to bring disaster to the people of Hedong? Speak!"

Ge Dabao shuddered again at the sudden, stern shout, his eyes filled with deep pain and bewilderment. "It's all... it's all because of the Nine Lords Sect, sir!" His voice tinged with tears. "You know, sir... Huainan has been a sacred place for Taoism since ancient times, and belief in the gods... is deeply rooted... We, the common folk, are even more steadfast in our faith..."

He seemed to be trapped in some unbearable memories, and his eyes became a little vague: "I... I can't remember which day it was... I only remember that a group of people suddenly came, wearing Taoist robes, claiming to be high-ranking officials of the Jiujun Sect... They spread the word everywhere, saying... that our Huangshan has produced a prime minister, and this must be the Wenquxing Lord from the sky who has come down to earth to bless our Huangshan Fengshui... Then... then the Shi family came..." Ge Dabao's voice was filled with a kind of grief and indignation of being fooled, "They... They built Seven Star Temples in all the villages around Huangshan! They were magnificent! They told us that if you worship Wenquxing, your child will be able to become the top scorer in the imperial examination; if you worship Wuquxing, your son will be able to become a general; if you worship Lucunxing, you will make a fortune... We... we all believed it!"

"Get to the point!" Zhang Jingwei impatiently knocked on the back of the chair with an iron ruler. The crisp sound woke Ge Dabao from his memories. "Why did you come to Hedong?!"

"Yes... yes..." Ge Dabao quickly gathered his thoughts and answered eagerly, "We came to Hedong... to follow Master Shi... Shi Chongshan! At that time... he was recruiting people in the Huangshan area, saying he was looking for 'intelligent' alchemist apprentices... The salary... was so generous! The silver he paid in a year was enough to cover several years' harvest back home! I... I and many of my fellow villagers, seeing the huge sums of money, just... followed him..."

He took a breath and continued, "The north... the war had just ended at that time, and I heard it was very desolate. Master Shi... he seemed to have listened to the words of a great star official in the Seven Stars Sect, who said... that there was some 'dragon vein eye' in Hedong, which was an excellent place for cultivation... as long as we find a place to build a Taoist temple, we can achieve immortality... He also promised us... that after he... after he 'attains the Tao and returns to heaven', he will give us, the alchemists who follow him... a lot of rewards, enough for us to return home and become rich men..." Ge Dabao's voice was full of the longing he was tempted at that time and the bitterness after his awakening now.

"Grand official?" Zhang Jingwei leaned forward slightly, his eyes piercing. "Is it Shen Kaiyang?!"

Ge Dabao shook his head blankly, his facial muscles twitching with pain: "This... I really don't know this, sir... I only know... after coming here, we were assigned to different places... There was a Taoist priest who claimed to be the chief alchemist who came to select apprentices... I... I happened to know a few words, so I was selected... We were locked up in the cave... We made elixirs day and night... The medicine we made... would be picked up regularly by 'Daoists' in Taoist robes... They... They came on a small boat..." When he mentioned the "small boat", there was still a trace of confusion in his eyes about that mysterious method of transportation.

"A small boat?!" Zhang Jingwei stood up suddenly, slamming his iron bar down onto the ground with a dull thud. His eyes flashed as he stared at Ge Dabao. "You mean, there's a river in that cave where you're refining the elixir?! Running water?!"

Ge Dabao was startled by Zhang Jingwei's reaction and nodded subconsciously: "Yes... yes... sir... deep in the cave... there is a dark river with a fairly large current. That's where our boat came from."

Zhang Jingwei quickly exchanged glances with Yang Zhao, and both of them saw the shock and confirmation in each other's eyes - Fang Yue's inference about the underground cave and secret river was confirmed!

"Why were there only two of you left in the cave?" Zhang Jingwei asked urgently.

Ge Dabao's face was instantly filled with fear, as if he remembered something extremely terrifying: "At the beginning... there were many people... more than a dozen... Later... Later, someone... someone stole and ate the 'immortal medicine' we refined..." His voice trembled violently, "After eating it... the whole person... went crazy! Crying and laughing, with great strength, beating anyone he saw, and... talking nonsense, saying that he saw gods... Later... he became useless, stupid and foolish, foaming at the mouth... Those Taoist priests found out... and took them... all away... and never came back... In the cave... only Lao Li and I are left..." The "Lao Li" he mentioned was obviously the unlucky guy who ate the baguette.

"You are locked up in a dark cave all day long?" Zhang Jingwei's voice was as cold as ice.

"Yes... we basically don't see the sun for a month or so..." Ge Dabao's eyes were empty, "Only... only when those Taoist priests come to get medicine or deliver supplies... will they occasionally take us out... to get some fresh air... People outside... all respect us very much... and call us 'Master Alchemist'..." A self-deprecating smile appeared on his face, which was uglier than crying.

Zhang Jingwei slowly walked up to Ge Dabao, squatted down, and looked directly into his eyes, which were filled with fear and confusion. This time, his voice was no longer a cold question, but was filled with a heavy, suffocating compassion and anger:

"Ge Dabao, do you know how many people have been killed by those 'immortal medicines' and 'golden elixirs' you made with your own hands in that cave without sunlight, using the water from that underground river?"

"I... I don't know..." Ge Dabao shook his head instinctively, his eyes evasive.

Zhang Jingwei spoke each word with such intensity that it struck Ge Dabao like a hammer. "Sangshui Village, seventeen households, eighty-three people! Chongziguan military households, forty-six people! Yangxia Town, eighty-nine people! Over two hundred lives lost! And now, there are still dozens of people like those 'madmen' in your cave, insane and like wild beasts, imprisoned in the deepest part of the county jail, living a life worse than death! Their families, their children, cry every day!"

Ge Dabao was completely stunned, his pupils dilated with extreme shock and fear. Over two hundred lives… that number burned like a red-hot iron, searing his soul. He opened his mouth, a strange hoarse sound emanating from his throat, but no words came out.

"What you're refining isn't an elixir!" Zhang Jingwei's voice suddenly rose, like a thunderclap, filled with thunderous fury. "What you're refining is the Five Stone Powder! It's a poison that corrodes bones and rots the heart! It's a poison used by those evil Taoists in Taoist robes to harm the people of Gaoyang, exploit their wealth, and disrupt the government!"

"I...I..." Ge Dabao's entire body trembled violently, a huge sense of guilt and despair of being deceived instantly overwhelming him. He suddenly lowered his head, banging his forehead heavily on the cold stone ground with a dull sound, and let out a heartbreaking cry: "I am guilty...Sir...I am guilty!"