Betrayal

Since death awaited him either way, he naturally had to make a choice. He believed Meng Zhao was so fixated on these people's whereabouts only because he wanted to vent his anger. Rather than that, it would be better to offer more silver and settle things.

Seeing that Sun Chuanshan's thoughts were completely on a different wavelength from his own, Meng Zhao could no longer be bothered to maintain any so-called poise.

His eyes widened in fury, his expression twisted. With two sharp slaps, he struck both sides of Sun Chuanshan's face and roared,

"Is it nothing more than killing a few people? Shouldn't they be wiped out root and branch? You're an idiot, a fool—used by others, yet still full of yourself.

"To tell you plainly, I can overlook the looting of the estate, the murder of my subordinates, even the attack on me.

"But they took something they should never have taken. That thing is very important to me.

"I must find them now and get it back. Do you understand?"

Meng Zhao had hit him hard. Both of Sun Chuanshan's cheeks swelled red at once; he could even feel his gums loosening, his mouth filling with a fishy sweetness.

Yet Sun Chuanshan completely ignored the slaps. Meng Zhao's brief words echoed over and over in his mind: calling him a fool, saying he had been used, saying they had taken someone else's belongings. In an instant, he grasped a crucial point.

So Meng Zhao had come straight to him not to settle accounts. Or rather, what he had done had not made the other party desperate for revenge.

What the other party truly cared about was the whereabouts of a certain item, something Bai Yang or the men he had sent out might have secretly taken.

Sun Chuanshan did not know what the item was, but he knew that for Meng Zhao to care about it so much, it had to be exceedingly precious and rare.

For a moment, Sun Chuanshan's anger overwhelmed his fear. He said furiously,

"So that's how it is. Those damned bastards actually dared use me? Sooner or later, I'll make sure they die without a burial place..."

He kept cursing under his breath, launching into a stream of abuse right in front of Meng Zhao. He truly had been angered into confusion.

But his curses were dry and uninspired, with nothing worth hearing, and Meng Zhao soon grew impatient.

A chill ran through Sun Chuanshan's entire body. When he met Meng Zhao's icy gaze, his cursing abruptly stopped. Lowering his head, he said obsequiously,

"If that is the case, I do have a way to deliver that group into your hands."

Seeing no response, he cautiously raised his head to glance at Meng Zhao and continued,

"This is what I have in mind. You can set a trap and station experts in ambush on both sides.

"I'll go to my cousin and hire that group again, using some errand as an excuse. Then I'll lure them into the trap.

"Once Young Master Meng captures them, you can interrogate them as you please. Just leave them with one breath."

As for being captured and tortured, and those people coming after him afterward, he could simply claim that they were useless, incapable, and had caused him considerable losses, muddling the matter over.

He knew the trick of striking first and playing the victim inside out.

And based on what he knew of those people, after suffering such a loss, they would most likely swallow their broken teeth along with their blood. They would hate Meng Zhao, but would not spread the matter until everyone knew of it.

What he proposed was no different from defecting to the enemy and selling out his friends.

He was selling the very people who had worked for him. Such contemptible conduct was enough to make people sneer—a true petty villain's way.

Yet Meng Zhao's eyes lit up. He nodded in satisfaction; this was an excellent idea, with a high chance of success.

The only thing he needed to make sure of was that Sun Chuanshan would not regret it after leaving this room.

But Meng Zhao had long prepared for this. He drew a small porcelain bottle from his sleeve, took out a blood-red pill, and casually tossed it before Sun Chuanshan.

"Swallow this Rouge Red, and I'll believe in your sincerity. And I promise you, once this is done, I will give you the antidote.

"Oh, Rouge Red is a highly secretive poison, and its effects are extremely fierce.

"If you are afraid, you may certainly ask the Sun Family's divine physician to try detoxifying you."

The poison was real, but its name was false.

Meng Zhao actually hoped Sun Chuanshan could find an expert capable of curing Rouge Red. Then Meng Zhao could directly ask that person to cure the deadly poison in his own body; he would not even want the Earth Spirit Pearl anymore.

After all, martial arts could be cultivated again, but one only had one life.

Leaving one's life and death in another's hands was truly dangerous.

Sun Chuanshan's face turned ashen. But after his inflated ego had been brought down a notch, he became especially aware of the times.

Knowing he could not avoid taking the poison, he shut his eyes, gritted his teeth, and swallowed the pill. Perhaps it was only psychological, but he felt three parts of his vitality drain away at once.

As for whether Meng Zhao would keep his promise in the future, he held no such hopes. He merely intended to live one day longer if he could.

Seeing this, Meng Zhao's expression softened. He said warmly,

"Good. Young Master Sun is so forthright, with the spirit of a hero. As expected of a son of the Sun Family.

"The floor is cold. Get up quickly."

At this, Sun Chuanshan silently climbed up from the floor and sat back down in his chair, weak all over. He forced a bitter smile at Meng Zhao while pondering how to sell out that group without implicating himself.

But Meng Zhao's true target was Bai Yang. He continued,

"What about Bai Yang?

"I believe Young Master Sun has no contact with him, and that he has indeed vanished without a trace. But compared with us, you have known him for so long. You should understand him very well. Can you provide any useful clues?"

Meng Zhao found Bai Yang extremely troublesome. This man was bold, lawless in his actions, and possessed quite a few tricks.

He truly feared that the longer this dragged on, the less likely it would become that they could find Bai Yang.

Sun Chuanshan was now entirely focused on pleasing Meng Zhao, hoping this lord would show mercy and give him the antidote. Thus, he racked his brains with particular effort, hoping even a few words might help Meng Zhao.

And indeed, his memory was quite good. He had known Bai Yang for several years and knew more or less a little about his private affairs. He said,

"Young Master Meng, I just remembered something that might help find Bai Yang.

"Perhaps two or three years ago, he was very fond of a girl from the Spring Welcome Pavilion and wanted to redeem her, but he lacked both the connections and the silver.

"At the time, we got along fairly well, so I lent him a hand. That girl was redeemed through my connections, in my name.

"That is why I remember it so clearly.

"Later, I did not know where he settled that woman, but from the way he spoke,

"it seemed he had a child. During that period, he was very excited as well.

"Young Master Meng might have your men investigate along this line. Perhaps they will find something."

Meng Zhao was first startled. According to Lü Zhong's investigation, Bai Yang had neither relatives nor family in the estate, nor had he married or fathered children.

Who would have thought that he had secretly redeemed a woman outside and even had a child, yet had never told anyone?

From this alone, Bai Yang must have harbored thoughts of betrayal long ago.

Then Meng Zhao was delighted. The girl from the Spring Welcome Pavilion would have detailed records of her contract of sale, and since it had gone through Sun Chuanshan's connections, following the vine to find the melon—finding Bai Yang through this—was no wild fantasy.

Sure enough, when it came to selling out teammates, Sun Chuanshan was the man to watch.