Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

Zhou Qingfeng took out the Heart-Nourishing Pill, sat cross-legged, held the Food-Eating Mudra, and swallowed the pill in one gulp.

The medicine entered the stomach and transformed into streams of cold, filthy, pure black energy, which slowly gathered in the turbid heart.

His magical power was growing at an alarming rate.

Without the assistance of the White Bone Foundation Building Tower, his cultivation speed was already half as slow. It would take him six or seven days of arduous cultivation to cultivate even a fraction of magical power. This was only because of his high talent; if his talent were lower, it would be even slower.

But now, after taking the medicine, I can increase my magic power by one coin every half hour.

My magical power has increased by leaps and bounds; in short, it feels great.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye. Zhou Qingfeng secluded himself to cultivate and take medicine. When he ran out of medicine, he asked Jin Wei to prepare some. In just five days, his magical power had quietly broken through the hundred-coin mark.

Meanwhile, Xiao Hongyun and Ye Tingxiu were still busy with official duties and could only find time to cultivate.

On this day, Jin Wei came to deliver the good news: "Congratulations, Commander! Double happiness! Your magic power has reached a hundred coins, and you can prepare to leap to a higher realm."

Zhou Qingfeng chuckled: "To ascend the steps now, we still need three essential materials. Besides, preparing to ascend with only a hundred coins' worth of magic power is a bit too hasty and not very safe. You mentioned double happiness, could there be other joyous events?"

Jin Wei clasped his hands and said, "Yes, Commander, Xilai De has finally spoken. I have come to report the good news. Should Commander go to the prison to observe immediately?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng perked up and stood up, saying, "Of course I'll go. I've been waiting for him to ask."

In the prison cell, Xi Lai De squatted on a chair, eating roast chicken with one hand and drinking fine wine with the other. His buttocks, which had been beaten badly, were now covered with medicine. He didn't look like a prisoner at all; he looked like a shrew.

When Zhou Qingfeng arrived and saw this scene, he was quite surprised.

Xiao Hongyun pulled him aside and said, "Old Zhou, you have to give me a good credit. Do you know how much effort I put in to get this guy to talk?"

"This bastard shouts to confess everything as soon as he's tortured. When we stop beating him, he acts like a scoundrel and asks for this and that. After he's eaten and drunk his fill, he says he'll confess tomorrow. How many tomorrows is that?"

"Do you know what's the worst part? He actually wanted to find a geisha from a pleasure boat to spend the night with him. Damn it, I've never even been with a geisha before, why should I find one for him?"

"Today is the deadline I set for him. If he doesn't tell me, I'll skin him alive."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng glanced at Xi Laide, who was eating and drinking heartily: "Didn't you see it when you were in the thick of it? This guy is clearly stalling for time, giving the people behind him time and space to maneuver. You've been played."

Xiao Hongyun's face turned ashen with anger. He suddenly realized that he had been led by the nose because he was too eager to get the other man to talk.

"Damn it, what are you eating? Hang him up and beat him!" Xiao Hongyun was furious. He strode back, pointed at Xi Lai De who was eating and drinking, and ordered his strongmen to lift Xi Lai De up and tie him to the rack.

Xilaid raised his hands high: "I'll talk, I'll tell you everything, please don't hit me!"

Xiao Hongyun, his eyes red, pinched Xi Laide's face and said, "This is your last chance. I don't have the patience to play with you anymore."

Xilaide's eyes darted around, glancing at Zhou Qingfeng, who stood alone to the side. A hint of resentment and hatred flashed in his eyes. If it weren't for Zhou Qingfeng, he wouldn't have ended up like this.

Zhou Qingfeng crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame, glancing sideways at Xilaide without taking him seriously. He wouldn't have bothered to come and see such a minor character if he didn't know some secrets.

"Look at your father, speak up!" Xiao Hongyun slapped Xi Laide across the face.

Zilliard was brought back to his senses, swallowed hard, and knew that his ultimate fate was death.

A few days ago, a mysterious note was passed in, telling me to hold on for as long as I could.

They'll give me an extra 100,000 yuan in resettlement fees for every day I hold out, and I've already delayed for five days.

A settlement allowance of 500,000 coins is enough for a family to live a worry-free life in Sword Tower City.

Seeing that the other side was about to get serious, Xilaid decisively chose to betray his teammates: "Every time I kidnap someone, I take them to the meat processing workshop in the south of the city. The person I'm dealing with is a guy named Xigua."

"Slap!" Xiao Hongyun slapped him again: "Watermelon, watermelon, you motherfucker, watermelon, say your real name, otherwise how am I supposed to know who watermelon is?"

Xi Lai De gritted his teeth: "Xigua is called Niu Erlang, the owner of the meat processing workshop. There's also a warehouse manager named Yun Li. Everyone is kept in the meat processing workshop's warehouse. I don't know anything else."

Upon hearing this, Jin Wei whispered in Zhou Qingfeng's ear, "Chief, Niu Erlang is Madam Niu's younger brother, and Madam Niu is Chief Feng's wife. Yun Li is Chief Yun's father."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng narrowed his eyes and nodded imperceptibly.

Xiao Hongyun pointed at Xi Laide: "Men, take him back to the death row and lock him up to await his sentence."

"Wait a minute," Zhou Qingfeng said.

Xiao Hongyun turned to look at him: "What's wrong? Did you miss something during the interrogation?"

Zhou Qingfeng said calmly, "Xilai De, why did you suddenly give in after dragging this out for so long?"

He was being held up like a dead dog, and he looked up with a disgusting smile: "Curious? Beg me."

Zhou Qingfeng touched his forehead, speechless: "Old Xiao, hang him up and beat him until he's willing to talk."

"You're at their mercy, like a fish on a chopping board. You think you're doomed, yet you dare to provoke Zhou Qingfeng. Isn't that just plain stupid?"

Although Zhou Qingfeng could neither let Xilaid live nor let him die immediately.

However, Zhou Qingfeng has the power to control whether Xilaid lives or dies.

"Ah~~~" Xilai was hung up again, his body slapped against the small leather whip, and he couldn't help but let out bursts of pain.

Xiao Hongyun frowned slightly: "Old Zhou, do you suspect someone is tipping him off? Asking him to stall for time?"

Zhou Qingfeng hummed in agreement: "There's a mole within the company."

Xiao Hongyun said, "What makes you so sure there's a mole inside?"

Zhou Qingfeng glanced sideways: "When suspicion arises, the crime is already established. Whether he admits it or not, I have already concluded that there is a mole tipping him off, unless there is solid evidence to overturn my suspicion."

Xiao Hongyun frowned and said, "Since he can tip us off, then he should be able to kill him to silence him, cut off the clues, and make it impossible for us to investigate. Why let him delay for these few days and expose the person behind him?"

Zhou Qingfeng glanced at him sideways, too lazy to explain. Those who know, know; those who don't, he wasn't his teacher, why waste his breath trying to teach him?

Seeing this, Xiao Hongyun pondered. With Zhou Qingfeng's talent and intelligence, he would never speak without reason. He must have seen through something that Xiao Hongyun himself had not. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"I'll talk, I'll talk, stop hitting me! Someone did tip me off!" Xi Lai De's mind finally cleared up under the whip, and he realized that even if he resented Zhou Qing Feng, he had no right to negotiate.

Zhou Qingfeng stepped forward, reached out and lifted Xilaid's chin, looking him into the eyes and said, "Who?"

Xi Lai De grinned and said, "I don't know. A gust of wind carried a note into the cell. The note told me to hold out for a few more days before talking, and that my family would receive 100,000 yuan for every day I delayed."

Zhou Qingfeng narrowed his eyes, withdrew his hand, and said, "Using magic to send a message, you're really cautious."

"However, just as geese leave their traces and winds leave their sounds, if someone knew the exact location of Zilliard in the prison and accurately delivered the letter to him, then it must have been done by someone inside the prison."

At this point, Zhou Qingfeng turned around and shouted, "Where is Jin Wei?"