Liang Hao was responsible for taking all these people to another Jingxian Building to be detained together, while Mo Jiuye and Sixth Elder Brother took the unconscious man in purple clothes with them to meet Mo Chuhan at that abandoned courtyard.
Mo Jiuye still couldn't confirm whether there were still people from Jingxian Building in the government office. All he could find now was this many. He could only hope to get some useful information soon.
He hoped their purpose here had nothing to do with the Mo Family. It would be best if he was just being paranoid. But if they really came for the Mo Family, he had to take precautions in advance.
When he met up with Eighth Brother, the warrior's eyes immediately fell upon Mo Jiuye and the others carrying the purple-clothed man like a chicken.
Mo Jiuye clearly sensed a fleeting astonishment in the warrior's eyes when he saw the purple-clothed man.
"Is this your master?"
In fact, Mo Jiuye didn't know the identity of the purple-clothed man either. He only asked this question to test the waters.
The warrior gritted his teeth, "I don't know him."
"You don't know him?" As he spoke, he had already approached the warrior and sprinkled itch powder on him.
The effects of the itch powder took hold quickly. Soon, the warrior began writhing all over.
"You...what did you give me?"
This feeling made the warrior very uneasy.
Mo Jiuye stood with his arms crossed, watching him coldly.
"Let me ask you again, is that man your master or not?"
"Just kill me. I won't say anything..." The warrior was now rolling on the ground, hoping to alleviate the discomfort through friction.
But the more he struggled, the more intense the itchiness became.
This was not Mo Jiuye's first time using itch powder. Minister Si Meng had planned for so long and was much tougher than this warrior, yet even he couldn't withstand the itch powder. This warrior before him was even less worth mentioning.
Sure enough, after struggling for a while, the warrior began begging for mercy.
"Please...just end it for me."
At this point, Mo Jiuye felt the warrior had no reason to lie.
"Tell me, who exactly is that man?"
Mo Chuhan had disliked the look of the warrior from the start. Without waiting for Mo Jiuye to speak, he stepped forward and viciously kicked the warrior.
"Speak. Who is that man? Give me a satisfactory answer and I'll consider ending it quickly for you."
No one else could understand the agony of being tormented by itch powder. The warrior now only wanted a quick death.
"You mean it?"
"Of course." Mo Chuhan said disdainfully.
"He is the eldest young master of our Jingxian Building, Xue Fan."
Mo Jiuye had assumed the man in purple was just a subordinate cultivated by the Xue family, albeit one of higher status than the thugs and warriors. He didn't expect him to be the eldest young master of Jingxian Building.
Mo Jiuye had heard of Xue Fan from Nan Qi before, but he didn't investigate him extensively and wasn't very familiar with the details. Judging by the sharpness this man had shown in combat earlier, he was likely a master as well.
Unfortunately for Xue Fan, he had the misfortune of running into Mo Jiuye. If he had encountered someone less skilled, perhaps even they wouldn't have been a match for him.
This showed that the Xue family's presence in the northwest under the guise of opening Jingxian Buildings, plus sending a martial arts expert to oversee things, clearly indicated ulterior motives.
Mo Jiuye continued questioning the warrior, "What exactly is your purpose coming to the northwest?"
The warrior answered, "I don't know. The family master only said that after we arrived in the northwest, we were to follow Young Master's arrangements in everything."
At this point, Mo Jiuye felt the warrior had no reason to lie.
"How long have you been in the northwest?"
"We came with Young Master, it's been over ten days now."
"What have you been doing these past ten-odd days?" This was what Mo Jiuye cared about most.
"We've been following Young Master to set up the shops, then opened two Jingxian Buildings."
Mo Jiuye asked, "Did Xue Fan give you any other tasks to do during this time?"
The warrior replied, "Originally Young Master said there might be some action tonight, though he didn't say what. We were just standing by."
Mo Jiuye: "How many people did you bring to the northwest in total?"
Warrior: "There were ten warriors like me. Then there were five thugs to help run the buildings. "
After listening to him, Mo Jiuye calculated the number of people they had captured. It matched up, which reassured him quite a bit. At least there were no loose ends.
He could also confirm that this was likely all the warrior knew. In his current state, desperately seeking death, he would have gladly revealed more if he knew more, for a quicker end.
Mo Jiuye glanced at Eighth Brother, signaling that this man was of no more use.
As the captain, Mo Chuhan's first thoughts were of his family's safety. He also hoped to have a witness who could speak at the trial.
Therefore, he had no intention of immediately executing the warrior. He stepped forward, pulled out a dagger, and severed the tendons in the warrior's hands and feet. This was to prevent him from escaping.
Having his tendons severed caught the warrior off guard. He painfully suppressed the itchiness and angrily cried, "You despicable people! I've told you everything yet you still won't end it quickly for me."
At this point, the warrior only felt it would be better to die. The unbearable itchiness wracked his entire body, and his hands and feet were in unimaginable pain...
Mo Chuhan paid him no mind and simply picked up the man and threw him to Liang Hao nearby.
"Take this man to the other Jingxian Building and keep him there along with the others to be taken away later by the authorities."
"Understood, I'm on my way." Liang Hao acknowledged and left with the man.
Although Mo Jiuye wanted to find out the real reason the Xue family had come to the northwest to open Jingxian Buildings, he couldn't delay things at the government office either.
Especially after interrogating the warrior just now, he understood clearly that Xue Fan was a key figure in this case.
Otherwise, he could have brought Xue Fan back to Xi Ling Village for a thorough interrogation at his leisure. Of course, he wouldn't have let Xue Fan leave alive.
Considering the government office's efforts to clear Tang Mingrui's name, they really couldn't take Xue Fan back for slow interrogation.
Mo Jiuye fetched a basin of cold water and poured it on Xue Fan's face. Xue Fan soon regained consciousness, though his head was still groggy. This didn't stop him from recognizing the danger he was in.
"Who exactly are you people? Why are you making an enemy of my Jingxian Building?"
Xue Fan wasn't stupid. After exchanging moves with them earlier, even if it were just one person instead of a group, he probably wouldn't stand a chance.
All he could do was invoke the name Jingxian Building, hoping they would retreat upon hearing of Jingxian Building's background, whether they were jianghu folk or influential officials.
This Xue Fan really had been badly frightened, with his mind in disorder. They were right in the backyard of Jingxian Building. How could they not know of their ties to Jingxian Building?
"And what can Jingxian Building do about it?" Mo Jiuye couldn't help but laugh.
Xue Fan had only mentioned Jingxian Building in anxious desperation just now. Seeing they clearly didn't care at all about Jingxian Building, he could only think of another way to escape.
"I don't know who you people are. I just arrived in the northwest and haven't offended anyone. Isn't treating me like this contrary to reason?"
